Phantom's Tribute

Prologue

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9 Years Ago

"Goodnight Alicia!" Mom whispered through the crack of the door, eventually closing it. Darkness embedded the room, little to nothing was visible. I immediately sat up and my eyes darted around the room. My 5 year old brain raced for an explanation as I saw a shadow bleed out from under my bed. The darkness of the thing covered the entire room, making it look even darker. I held my breath, getting tunnel vision as everything seemed invisible and movements were seen in every corner of the room. I let go of the breath and started hyperventilating- something was there, something ready to strike at any second. I hated every second of it, the feeling of being watched was spine-chilling. I felt sick- something was watching me, stalking my every movement, nothing was clear. My mind was racing and sweat dripped off my face. Was I overreacting? I hadn't noticed. I calmed down for only a second to check my temperature. My breathing slowed as I took my mind off my fears. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes- but something pulled me out of it. My eyes snapped open at the sound of a cat- it sounded like it was in pain, and it sounded very, very close. The distress calls cut off as soon as I hung my legs off the bed. I didn't feel scared, I was worried- this 'cat' had taken my mind off of everything. I looked around the room, everything was still dark- it looked inky. I kept looking and then- there it was.

Two, pure white, large eyes stared back at me. They were directly in front of me- they made my blood run cold, and my face went completely pale. I was stuck were I was, unable to move as fear held me in restraint. What was it? What did it want? Would it kill me? All these thoughts circled in my mind, and the thought of what it could be made it worse. This was no human, this was no animal. There were no pupils, just and endless sea of white. I was frozen. Its eyes narrowed, closed, and then it was completely gone.

I was free, the room seemed to be lighter, and the beast had seemingly vanished. I pulled my legs up from the side of the bed immediately, like a bat out of hell. I pulled my knees up to my chest, and in the moment- I had no idea what had happened. It seemed incredibly fast, I barely remembered what happened. I felt like I was in a trance, un able to do anything but think. After about five minutes, I burst into tears. I wasn't making any sound, just silently crying. I had no idea what happened and was scared out of my mind.

I got no sleep that night. That was my first ever encounter with the 'monster under the bed'. I thought everyone had just been making up stories. My friends had seen theirs earlier than I had, and my parents told me to always be careful of it. I'm 14 now, I've only encountered the thing 27 other times since then. Yes, I kept track. I have never named it, mom said if you name something, you'll get attached to it. After that night, I was almost numb to the monster. It was never as aggressive as the first time, it always just... watched me. Now, it's just an every day thing. The thing rarely comes out- it's different for everyone, some a lot more than others, some only see it once every two years. I've always thought they have a purpose-

I mean, why would they be here just to scare us?