11:43

You know that feeling you get when you feel like you’re being watched? The hair on your neck stands up, your skin gets that shivery, crawly feeling, and you get that chill up your spine? I’ve been getting that feeling every night at 11:43 for the last 3 weeks. I started getting freaked out when I noticed on the third day it was around the same time as the previous two nights, but it wasn’t until the next night when I checked the clock and saw it was at the exact same time. When I saw the clock and recognized it had been at the same time every night I got so terrified that I jumped onto my kitchen counter with my feet against my chest and back against my cabinets and just stared at my empty kitchen for the next 15 minutes until I was sure nothing was there. Maybe I was overreacting at this point but there was something so inherently creepy about the fact that it was always the same time. It made it feel more… deliberate? If that’s the right word. Or more explicitly like something was causing it. Again, maybe it was just paranoia.

I started to feel OK when I went back to my parent’s house in the suburbs for the weekend. I still got the same feeling but this time I didn’t get the same fear reaction. I didn’t think whatever was causing it could have “followed me” to the suburbs, so I rationalized it as being something biological, like an inner clock getting messed up. I had always been able to do that thing where you think of a time in the morning before going to bed and you’re able to wake up at roughly that time, so I figured I just had a strong biological clock and something was amiss.

Well, I fucked that up on the following Saturday night. My siblings were also visiting the house and we were having a good time, playing some card games and watching one of the movies in the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 season. I was in a such a good mood after rationalizing away why I was getting this feeling that I completely lost track of time when I went upstairs to shower.

I had heard my phone buzz from a text while I was in the shower so when I got out I put on a towel and went straight over to the sink to pick up my phone, and course as soon as I pick it up I see the clock on the phone switch from 11:42 to 11:43. I felt that familiar wave of fear hit me as I waited for the feeling to crawl up my back, but I quickly tried to push that down, reminding myself that it was just something biological or psychological going on. I looked at myself in the mirror as I told myself to suck it up, and at that instant I felt the now-familiar shiver hit me and as I stared in the mirror, I saw something move. I was so shocked and terrified that I flailed my arm in a sweeping, striking motion as I spun around and screamed a weird, barely human yell that got stuck in my throat, something between a “WHOA” and “AHH” that just came out as “WAA!”. Naturally this caused my siblings to come thundering up the stairs asking what was wrong and opened the bathroom door to find me standing in a towel with my face white as a sheet. I explained to them I was alright, that I thought I had seen something but it was probably just steam from the shower. I didn’t mention the reoccurring shivers that were stalking me every night. I got dressed as quickly as I could and ran downstairs to join them again on the couch. I’m still not sure what I saw, but I know it wasn’t steam. It was like seeing my shadow lean out from behind me, or some kind of dark gray mist. I can’t say if it had a shape, it was only for a second and I spun around as soon as I saw it. Since then it’s been getting worse.

I’ve tried not thinking about it, to let the time sneak up on me so I don’t spend all night waiting for it to hit me. But even when I purposefully left my phone at work and unplugged my microwave so I couldn’t keep staring at the minutes winding down, the fear of constantly wondering if it was close was way worse. It’s been affecting me now to the point where I have been getting violent panic attacks in the minutes leading up to it and shiver aftershocks lasting hours into the night after so I can’t sleep. I just lie on the couch with all the lights on and pressing my back as hard as I can into the seat of the couch so I know nothing can be behind me. Even during the day now I keep spinning around, thinking I see something in the corner of my eye. I’ve spent hours staring into the mirror during the day and night to see if I see anything, but for some reason I’d been too scared to do it again at the time the feeling hits. Until last night.

I was being driven too crazy not to do anything about this anymore. I resolved to stare at the mirror and when it showed up to keep staring until I could see what it was. It hadn’t attacked me or anything yet, so what’s the worst that could happen? I felt pretty good going into it, no panic attacks leading up. At 11:35 I went into the bathroom, gripped the sides of the sink, and stared. Every couple of seconds my eyes would dart down to my phone to check the time. 11:37… 11:39… 11:39 again, too soon…. I closed my eyes and made myself count to 60 to let the time pass on its own and to calm down. When I looked down and saw 11:41 I just keep staring until it hit 11:42 and started counting to 60 as I kept my eyes on the phone. When I got to 60 and the time didn’t move up, I figured I was pretty close and just counted too fast, and looked up at the mirror. I was terrified but gripped the sink harder and kept staring; my hand, arm, and back muscles clenching, determined to see this through.

I kept staring and nothing happened, after a while my muscles started to get exhausted and I lessened my grip. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but eventually I looked back down at my phone. 11:44. Nothing. Nothing happened. A giant smile grew on my face as I looked back at myself. I was crying I was so happy and I was about to lift my head up and laugh when I suddenly saw a grey, misty shape swing into view from the side of the mirror. It came in so fast I almost didn’t see it then suddenly what I can only imagine felt like a baseball bat hit me right below the ribcage, lifting me off my feet and throwing me across the room. I immediately knew I had to have broken a few ribs but my adrenaline was so high I scrambled on all fours and immediately ran out of the bathroom, through my apartment, and into the hallway. I kept running down the hall, down the stairs, and outside the building. Eventually I found someone coming into the building and borrowed their phone, as I had left mine in my apartment and there was no way I was going back in, and called my parents. That was last night. They picked me up and I’m in the hospital now for the broken ribs. I haven’t been able to tell them or the cops what happened, but that doesn’t matter. I know this isn’t going to stop. I don’t know what it is or why it’s doing this but all I know is that it likes it when I’m frightened.

Congratulations, you won, I’m fucking terrified. It’s 11:40...