Followed

The Grey

As I lay in the harrowing blanket of the night, I felt the tingling at the tips of my fingers begin to work its way up to my wrists. My breathing shallowed, my eyes tried to force themselves shut. My body began to shut down, piece by piece. The more I fought to rip myself free of the unsettling stillness, the deeper I fell into it. My mind was alert with panic and terror. Not tonight, not tonight, not tonight. The tingling reached my shoulders and pinned them to the bed, my breathing becoming rapid. Why won't he leave me alone?

He used to visit me every night when I was an infant. My parents told me I would scream "shadow man, shadow man!" whenever they put me to bed, and eventually, I refused to sleep alone altogether. The visits stopped for a long time after I started going to school. I figured that it had just been my imagination and that I was growing out of it.

The buzzing began to screech in my ears. This is how I knew he was close. I pushed my eyes open enough to observe my surroundings – I wanted to see him. I wanted to know that I wasn't crazy. The blinding light from the hallway lamp filtered into the corner of the room as the door drifted slightly open. He cast a silhouette along the wall as he slid inside the bedroom... I can't really say he cast a shadow as such, because...well, he IS a shadow.

I focused my blurred vision as accurately as possible in his direction. What do you want? I knew he couldn't read my mind, but I needed to know what he wanted from me, why he wouldn't ever let me sleep.

The silhouette against the wall grew as he moved closer, his scarlet-red eyes piercing mine. He knelt at my bedside. His face lingered above me and I felt his threatening presence over my entire body, the tingling intensifying. He moved his face towards my ear and whispered the most terrifying thing my mind could have comprehended... "You're mine".

The buzzing in my ears turned into screeching. I tried to scream, but my mouth wouldn't open. I heard a bang, and it felt like my world had imploded. He disappeared. The screeching halted. I still couldn't move a muscle, but the terror disappeared. I felt... at peace. Like I had entered nothingness. Was this it? Was I dead?

I screamed at myself in my head to pull myself out of this nightmare... this nightmare that I couldn't believe wasn't simply a nightmare. I screamed. I pleaded. I prayed. Jesus, please, help me.

All bodily function returned in an instant and I flung myself off the bed. Steadying my breathing, I grabbed the box of tissues from my bedside table and blotted the dripping sweat from my forehead. Don't cry. Do not cry.

My back against the bedside table, I reached above my head to grab my phone from it, checking the time –3:35. It always happens around this time.

I knew there was no chance of getting back to sleep before sunrise – but I crawled back under my covers and attempted the impossible anyway, keeping my eyes squeezed shutout of fear of my mind playing tricks on me.

-----------------------------------------------------

What the Hell is this rubbish? I grimaced as I placed the scruffy – and slightly dirty – short plaid trousers back on the market stall. Sunday morning markets weren't exactly a Utopia of great buys, but on a janitor's salary with medical student debt, I didn't have much choice but to shop there.

"Cheers, mate". I handed the £7.49 to the stall owner for my collection of bargain polo shirts and collected my items to leave. As I dawdled towards the exit, counting the change I had leftover, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped my head around to meet a pair of dark brown, harrowing eyes – eyes that looked as if they had seen a lot of pain.

"I know, Michael".

I turned fully and stared blankly at the middle-aged lady in front of me. She sounded as if she was foreign – Brazilian, maybe? She knew what, exactly?

"How do you know my name? Have I met you somewhere?"

"No, darling – but I've met you." I could barely concentrate on her words – her eyes were piercing. "I see him too."

"See who?"

"The Grey".

"Forgive my ignorance, but what are you talking about?"

"I'll see you soon, Michael."

She smirked and crossed my path as she headed for the exit, and I realised that I had forgotten to ask a vital question.

Snapping myself around, I shouted after her. "Wait, what's your name?"

"Jasmine."