I don’t quite know where to begin telling you all what happened. I guess everything, like me, has a beginning so I’ll start there, despite the urge to jump into what is happening now. When all the insanity started, I was just a girl. Probably no older than eight.
I was at school. Recess was half over. My friends and I were hanging out at the back by where the schools touched the backyards of some of the surrounding neighborhood houses. It was a calm day. But something felt off. A strange energy in the air.
I felt uneasy. My friends were also jumpy. A twig snapping would send us doubling back a bit until we could assess the situation further. But they didn’t see it. A shadow darted across the side of someone’s garage. I wanted to speak but I couldn’t. I was too clouded by doubt, that perhaps it was just a bird shadow or I had the sun in my eyes and was getting those sun spots where you can’t see for a few moments after being in bright light.
But what happened next had no explanation. And we all saw it. The shadow against the building. And a rock, about the size of an orange, lifting itself off the ground as if something were lifting it. We all froze, trying to process what was going on. Were we really seeing what we were seeing? It was only the thud of rock against metal that confirmed what we were seeing was real. Luckily for us, the bell rang to signal recess was over. We high-tailed it up the field to the lines for our class and vowed to make it our secret.
I couldn’t hide it forever. Not with what’s happening now. The craziness escalated. It followed me home. I can hear it scratching in the walls. I can feel it watching me. And I know it does; it proved its existence to me when I was 13.
I had trouble sleeping on a night just before finals. Anxiety, the usual worry if not passing the class. I had my desk light on because I was working up the nerve to study more despite being exhausted. At about a half an hour passed midnight, I decided to study more.
I was laying in bed, facing my window, and I rolled over. I thought I was alone in my room, but I wasn’t. I came face to face with something I can’t even put into words. All I remember is the black shadow, glowing red eyes, growling, and the feeling that all the happy had left the room. And the distinct scent that smelled like something rotten.
Now me, being only 13, did what anyone would do; hide. I buried under my blanket and I did something I rarely do; I prayed. For my family, for myself, my friends, my house, and my sanity.
As quickly as it came it was gone. It’s been ten years since that night. And every night, at least once, I can smell that awful scent, and hear it growling at me from the corner of my room. I sleep with a cross and healing crystals above my bed in hopes that it won’t have the strength to harm me… I don’t know how long my little ray of hope can hold it off.