By Kayli Harley, TIWP Student

I sense it. The room does not change but everything feels darker. My skin chills, my breath hitches, and my heartbeat quickens.

“Hello,” my voice shakes, betraying my false sense of confidence. It does not respond, it only lets out a low, raspy hum that sickens me to my core. I have never seen it before, I have never wanted to. I always thought that I would perish on the spot, that in some twisted version of this encounter I would turn and there would be a mirror. But I need to know. I need to face it, it encompasses me, I have felt it everyday.

My muscles shake vigorously as I turn to face this unknown being. It is black and ghostly. It has no face, but I feel it staring at me, looking into me, understanding the depths of my mind in a way that nothing else can.