There’s a storm raging outside. My internet connection is on and off. I’m sitting in my bedroom with the lights turned to the highest setting of brightness. There’s never a moment anymore where I can exist in the dark.

Why don’t you just come over here?

I glance to my right at the demented smile gleaming from the darkness of my open bedroom door. The giant redness of eyes with a black pupil dilated directly at me.

My hands pause over the keyboard, but I don’t give the creature the satisfaction of knowing it has me shaken.

The thing popped up randomly one night in the dark as I searched for a pair of shoes with just the light of my phone. The storm had knocked out the power, so I was forced to scourge with my small light.

When I shined it on the floor, the thing was peeking out from under the bed, its clawed hands clutching the edge of my bed sheets.

The lights came on just as the thing tried to jump out at me, and the next second it was gone.

After that I would see it everywhere in the dark. The watery, red eyes always widened with the excited, sharp-toothed smile glued to me.

It always looked so excited to see me. There was a fidgety manner to its hands; always a constant fidgeting of its long fingers. I figure he wants to eat me with those saucer eyes and saliva-filled mouth.

Please turn the light off.

His nails skim over the doorknob, scratching the metallic surface with a light scrape.

When I finish my assignment, the thing is still standing at the crack in my door waiting still. The dedication is much like a puppy, but void of any happiness or cutesy affections.

I’m going to crawl into bed when it asks me again.

Please come over here, or turn the light off tonight.

It sounds like the character

I turn to the monster in annoyance.

“What makes you think I would ever do that?”

The smile turns down into a deep frown, but with all his teeth still on display.

I just want to be close to you. Now please, come over here.

His voice shivers in excitement at the prospect of his request being granted.

I try to hold back my fear from such a disturbing fact. This creature is the ugliest of things I’ve seen, so it’s affections become unwanted on my part.

I’m very hungry. You’re supposed to feed guests. You never offer me anything, but I want you to know I am very hungry.

“I’m not feeding a stalker-monster. You’re fucking creepy so get out of my house.”

My voice raises with each word and just as I shriek the last word the lights flicker out.

It lasts just a second, but it's enough for me to have felt the sharp nails dig into my arms, and feel the hot, swampy breath on me.

They flicker back on in the same second and I want to cry. I watch the shape of it move blurrily back into place although we both know he was not there that whole time.

I break down crying.

“I don’t understand why it has to be me?”

I’m sobbing when the lights flicker on and off again. They do this several times, and each time, I find myself on the verge of tears.

I scream each time and resort to tears, but the funny thing is so does that monster. Every time it fails to eat me I hear it whimpering in annoyance.

When the red welts on my arms swell, I know the worst part of this is I won’t be able to heal from those wounds because 5 seconds later I shut the lights off myself and let the freak consume me. SInce we're both miserable, we might as well just get the inevitable over with.

No one can live in the light their whole life.