(Continued from previous article.)

I turned around, looking at the buildings next to mine for some indication – any indication – that someone else was hearing the noise. The lights in all the windows were shut off, and it looked like all the other tenants were sleeping soundly.

Frustrated, I walked back inside and into my bathroom. The cool linoleum felt nice on my tired feet, and I reached up with one hand to run my fingers through my hair. With the other hand, I flipped on the bathroom light.

Looking in the mirror, I froze. I saw my reflection, complete with mussed-up hair and bags under my eyes. I watched all the color drain from my face as I saw in the mirror something that looked to be standing behind me.

It was dark and thin, like an elongated shadow cast on an uneven surface. It had no face, only a swirling mass of what looked to be black clouds that vibrated and shifted uneasily. I noticed that it had something that looked like a mouth.

Its mouth was wide open.

There were no lips and no tongue, only irregular black spikes that appeared like rows of teeth in a bottomless black hole. The wailing that I had assumed was tornado sirens grew louder until they pierced my ears. Unable to hear myself, I screamed, “Why are you doing this?”

Just then, the wailing stopped.

I was panting, clutching my ears that were still ringing. The creature’s mouth slowly shifted. Where it had been a gaping hole, the corners of the mouth squeezed together as it turned upwards.

Is it…smiling?

It stepped forward, closer to my back.

“Wait,” I stuttered. “What are you doing?”

The creature’s mouth opened wide once more as it leaned down towards me, sinking its teeth into my scalp. I screamed, letting go of my ears and flailing my arms to try and get the creature off of me. Nothing worked. The creature’s teeth sunk deeper into my scalp, pulling my forehead skin taut and forcing my eyes open. I stared at my reflection in horror as blood streamed down my face, dripping onto my shirt as my arms flung wildly in all directions.

“Stop,” I screamed, “STOP!”

But the creature persisted. Its claw-like arms grabbed my sides as its mouth dug further into me. My vision started to fade, until I could no longer see anything at all.

My arms fell down to my sides as my screaming stopped.