Haunting

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I wake up drenched in sweat with my mom squeezing me to her chest yelling for me. "Delilah!" She yells with a tremble in her voice. I hold her tight and catch my breath. "You were screaming" she says, tears stream shamelessly down her cheeks. "Are you okay? What happened?" She demands, her voice drips with concern.
"Just a bad dream mom." I sigh. Thr image of her  begins to fade from my memory, the dream is just a wisp now.
Mom stayed with me for the rest of the night, but we didn't sleep. In the morning we shared coffee and toast before going our separate ways.
I was looking forward to class, not that I am fond of school. I just wanted the distraction. It didn't work.
It started slow, a flash of red behind a locker door, a black streak of hair in the mirror behind me. Things like that. Always out of the corner of my eye.
By the end of the week my friends had given up on me. I couldn't focus on them. I was paranoid and hyperaware of her. I wasn't sleeping. My teachers referred me to the counselor but I didn't go. What would I say? "The demon is haunting me," everyone knows if you see her, you die within minutes. It has always been that way. They would just think I was crazy.
I tried to not be alone, but I found that I couldn't interact with anyone. I had to be vigilant. She could come for me at any time.

Delilah and the DemonWhere stories live. Discover now