An Uneasy Feeling

Feeling the warmth of pending slumber, I lay quietly in bed beneath the covers. As a strange silence descended upon the household, an uneasy feeling surfaced in the back of my mind. Waking long dormant instincts, the hairs on the back of my neck rose abruptly as I sensed something vile slip into the bedroom. Exuding a sense of overwhelming evil, a nebulous presence arose near the foot the bed, consuming even the very darkness filling the room.

Remaining deathly still to hide my presence, I vainly searched the impenetrable cloud of blackness, seeking to identify that which had taken residence in the room along with me. A sense of panic swept through my body as I felt an entity slowly creeping upwards from the foot of my bed. Step by step, I could feel massive unseen limbs trudging forward, causing the bed to sag under their enormous weight. Crushed beneath the lumbering behemoth, my body frozen with fear, ignored my will to flee.

Feeling its icy cold breath rasping over my skin as it hovered mere inches from my face, I could smell a stench unlike any other. With the death so close at hand, I struggled to confront the phantasm in a last-ditch effort for survival. Primal fear, triggering a massive adrenaline surge, nearly caused my heart to burst from my chest. As my pulse rate neared its limits, I broke free from the strange paralysis. Jerking my torso upright, I instinctively clawed with jagged fingers at the stagnant air in front of me. Unable to strike the shapeless foe, I twisted my body sideways and leapt from the bed only to slam into the nearby wall. Oblivious to the pain, I spun around to crouch in a defensive posture. With one armed folded to form a defensive shield and the other cocked back ready to lash outwards, I readied myself for its aggressive attack. Seconds passed as the sounds throughout the household settled back into a normal cadence. Intently scanning the darkness, I no longer sensed the foreboding danger which was present mere moments ago.

Unable to locate the apparition, I edged my way along the wall to the light switch. A quick flick of the lever flooded the room with light. Seizing my cane from its perch on a nearby bookshelf, I hastily poked at every crack and crevice throughout the room. With the exception of the lingering foul odor, I found no other trace of the wraith’s presence. Collecting myself, I took several deep breaths to calm my jangled nerves.

Drenched with sweat, I pulled my soaked T-shirt over my head, intending to replace it with a dry substitute. It was then I became keenly aware of the fact the T-shirt was shredded, as if talons from a massive claw had swept over my back in an arc meant to rip me asunder. Nervously, I located a dry T-shirt and pulled it over my upper body before carrying out another inspection of the bedroom. Not satisfied, I cautiously returned to bed, leaving the overhead light to burn. With uneasy glances about the room, I nervously waited until the night finally passed and gave way to the rising sun. Fighting to restrain my newly found fear for the shadows of darkness, I dreaded the thought of the upcoming nightfall.