Exposition.

Darkness.

Keep on haunting me.

-Haunting, Halsey

*

After that night, nightmares became a normal part of her life.

Running in the dark from an unidentified pursuer. Calling out for help. Begging for respite. Praying for a reprieve from the torture. But no one ever came to her rescue. No one ever would. There is no escaping from the nightmares. No escaping from him.

One night, she woke up screaming, in cold sweat. This had been the worst nightmare by far. For the first time, she had seen a light, but the more she ran, the farther it seemed to get. Then she realized that he had grabbed hold of her. He was pulling her back. She turned around, but all that was behind her was the darkness. She thrashed and kicked, but there was no one to thrash against or kick. He pulled her back with such intensity that she awoke.

Once she got her breath back to normal, she glanced at her bedside table, expecting to see an old-fashioned alarm clock telling her the time. It took her a while to remember that, after a particularly bad nightmare the previous night, she had woken up in a frenzy, only to hear the incessant tick-tock of the clock. Panic overtook common sense, and she threw it against the wall, smashing it to bits.

Well, she mused, maybe I'm finally going crazy. At least I'll have substantial proof to present to Dr. Molinari next time.

Knowing that it would now be impossible to go back to sleep, she got out of bed. She had taken to sleeping with the lights on, thereby ensuring that, at least when she woke up, she would not have to encounter the darkness. She had just walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water, when she felt the breath against her cheek.

"Hello again, Maya", a familiar voice growled. "Miss me?"

They say her screams were heard from four houses away.

*

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