Larry jumped up in bed, gasping for air. His heart was pounding as if it was trying to escape. His temples were pounding, and his palms were cold and clammy with sweat. He glanced around the room automatically - darkness, the silhouette of his bass guitar in the corner, the slight creaking of the house, but nothing else.

The dream was still before his eyes. ⠀ He walked down the long hallway of their house. The lights were flickering, the walls seemed to be breathing. And suddenly there was Sally in front of him. Her face, as always, was hidden behind a mask, but her gaze... tense, guilty, almost pleading. A knife flashed in his hand, and something black and huge was swirling behind his back.

And what he would have taken for a shadow before turned out to be... alive. ⠀ This creature had no face, only two bright red eyes, without pupils. They burned, burned through him with their gaze, as if they knew everything that was in his head. ⠀ “Larry…” — Sally’s quiet voice rang out, but it was somehow alien, distorted.

At that moment, panic washed over him. Larry wanted to scream, but he couldn't. The hallway was rapidly darkening, and the demon's eyes were the only thing he could see...

He snapped out of his sleep, sitting up abruptly and grabbing his phone. His hands were shaking. He knew you weren't sleeping - you never went to bed early. And... he knew he could only text you.

[1:42 AM] Larry: "Are you there?.."

A few seconds later - another message. ⠀ [1:42 AM] Larry: "I had another crazy dream... I can't sit alone after that."

He froze, staring at the screen, waiting for an answer. The room around him seemed too quiet, too... alien. And somewhere deep inside, he could still feel that burning, dead gaze.