Hidden in the Shadows

 She's only seen them out of the corner of her eye, or when her eyes glaze over out of focus. It happens a lot, when she stares out at nothing in particular and the world around her grows fuzzy. When her vision relaxes and any effort she had put into actually using her eyes seemed to melt away. It's time like that when she can really see them.

It started out as wobbles in her vision. She'd be zoned out, her eyes glazed over, looking but not really acknowledging a door or a wall and all of a sudden the wall or the door would wobble. Small lines of gray would flit through her vision and she'd shake herself back to focus. They'd be gone the moment she focused again. The moment she put effort into seeing.

She had noticed them, sometimes just in the back of her mind, a sign that she needed to focus again. But other times, other times they seemed to send a chill down her spine. She didn't know what they were, or if they were even real to begin with, but she knew they were there. She knew that even if it was all happening inside her head it was still real in a way.

This time though they seemed larger, more prominent, in the room. They were by the door to her kitchen on her right. By the bookshelf on her left. She didn't know what they were and usually she didn't mind seeing them. But this time it felt different. This time a chill radiated through her spine. She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, they would be gone. But when she opened her eyes again they were there, darker than before.

She turned to face them and for a split second they didn't disappear when she looked directly at them. They didn't fizzle out like normal. She curled up on the couch, pulling the blanket around her. If she paid them no attention they would go away. If she pretended she didn't see them, they would just disappear.

They were moving closer though, they were surrounding her, filling up the corners of her vision. She was trembling, holding herself tight under the blanket, squeezing her eyes shut and re-opening them, hoping, praying, that they would go away. But every time she opened her eyes they would move closer, they would get darker, they would become more real.

She felt them now, felt them taking over her, moving closer and closer. She should have run she should have left, but she couldn't. She was frozen in place, she was there alone, and no one was coming to save her.

The figures seemed to wrap around her, encircling her, clouding her vision until all that was left was darkness, pure darkness. Then, nothing. She felt tears drip slowly down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes closed. She felt the pressure of the figures around her moving closer and closer, suffocating her under the blanket. When she opened her eyes, they, and everything else around her was gone. There was nothing. No darkness, no light, just nothing. The figures were gone, the air around her had cleared, the pressure lightened up, the chill in her spine warmed.

There was nothing left.