2:49am

I’ve always had night terrors, and wake up in such a horrendous state. I cling to everything, and scream at the top of my lungs. Some are extreme, while some are more easily forgotten. The worst case? Oh, god. I hate to think about it… but, I can still feel him..

he still wants me…

It was dark in the room, and the outside light barley helped illuminate it whatsoever. And cold. I can remember that.

I always keep my alarm clock beside me in bed, so I don’t have to walk a mile in the cold to shut the alarm off. I glanced at the time, rubbing sleep from my eyes. The clock blinked 2:49am in bright red. I flopped my head back on my pillow.

“Not.. again”.

It was always this time. The third night in a row, too. I don’t know why I’m always waking up at this time either. It just happens. But this time-it was different.

I suddenly felt so alone. So small and defenseless in my own room. The feeling ran over me like a truck. The rooms’ quietness started to settle in my ears. Nothing made a noise. Only the minuet buzzing of the LED alarm clock beside me.

A little shooken up, I tried my best to think rational, and not get myself worked up over flashes of imagery playing in my head of different monsters appearing. It didn’t work. The rationality started to wear off, and I felt like something was in this room with me. Trembling, I tried my hardest to act casual and tucked myself in a little. I kept telling myself in my head to “go to sleep, go to sleep, it’ll all be over soon”. Little did I know the later was too true.

In the quietness of this room, even a mouse can seem like a megaphone. But that’s not what I heard.

A manly, raspy breath came from my closet. My eyes flashed open to the darkness of the room. My heart sank in my chest. Another shallow breath came from the closet. I started to shake. Another wheeze, this one sounding closer than before. My mind was processing everything that I could do. Should I run out to the living room?! Could I yell for dad?! Can I even make it out of this room?! So many dark scenarios flashed through my head.

I needed to know if this was real. It’s that one thing where for the life of you, you don’t want to look, but something inside you needs to know. I quickly grabbed my instant camera from my head shelf. It was the only light source I could think of on the spot. I very slowly turned my head toward the direction of the closet. I flicked the camera on. The small buzzing of the flash charging was deafening. A red light appeared when it was ready. My whole hand numbing, I placed my finger on the shutter button. A small press, and a bright flash lit up what was going to be my death. It was him..

Jagged teeth stabbed into my face.



I shot up from bed. Screaming from the top of my lungs, and clinging to my blankets.

Credit To: Jarred Graham