What I See

Prologue

Ever since I was young, they were there. The voices tugging at the back of my head, clawing their way to my conscious mind. I could hear them whispering in the dark, urging me tl come out of my protective cucoon of blankets.

I didn't dare move. I'd stay curled up in the same position all night, not moving a muscle for fear they would hear me, or see me, and come to kill me. I wouldn't sleep a wink and in the morning I would be exhausted... but how could I sleep when there was scratching at my door, insistive tapping on my window, whispering voices all around?

On good night's, when it was quiet and the voices were a mere whisper on the wind, the harsh tapping was reduced to a gentle thud of a tree branch every now and then, and the scratching sounded like nothing more than a rustling of sheets, I would venture out.

I would leave my room slowly, clinging to the door handle as though it was a lifeline. I'd peer down the hall, left and then right, checking for monsters or shadows that might grab me. I would see none. Only the family pictures hanging on frames, the peeling wallpaper, the dirty carpet.

And so, I would venture farther. I would tread lightly down the hall, heading towards the kitchen for a snack or a drink of water. I would see nothing, hear no strange noises. I wouldn't be afraid. On those few good night's, I was just a normal little boy in a normal house full of completely normal things and normal people.

But those nights were rare. Most were filled with screams that sounded eerily like those of my mother from down the hall, snarls and growls of beasts awaiting me outside my door, shadows twisting and curling into sinister forms before my eyes.

People told me there was nothing there... People told me it was just my mind playing tricks on me... People told me that I was just a kid with an overactive imagination. They said it was all a dream, or it was just me being foolish or silly.

But I knew they were there. I knew they were always there. No matter what anyone said, those demons and monsters and shadows and screams and scratches and howls were there.

They haunted me back then, as they still do today. And yet, people still tell me it's just my imagination. I guess... I guess I'll just have to show them... that it's really not.