He stays there. Watching. Always.

You feel him before you see him—pressing into the air like a heavy fog. His presence wraps around you, suffocating, pulling you deeper into the quiet darkness.

In your dreams, it's always the same. His hands, cold as death, wrap around your throat, ~~squeezing~~ until you can’t breathe. Your body’s frozen, unable to move. His voice slithers through the silence, like it's crawling under your skin, murmuring things that don’t make sense.

“I’m here, love... I’m here... inside, inside your mind…”

You wake gasping for air, your heart hammering. But the cold doesn’t leave. It lingers in the air, like he's still there, watching. Waiting.

Tonight, you glance into the mirror. Your reflection doesn’t match. Your shadow moves too fast, too deliberately, following you when you step away. You stare, heart pounding, and as your eyes meet the mirror again, your reflection smiles—but you didn’t.

Then, the whisper, cold and jagged, fills the space. It doesn’t make sense. It’s a garbled mess, his words slipping and sliding between your ears, slipping into your mind like poison.

“Can you feel me? Behind... behind you...”

The air thickens. You freeze, your body trapped in the stillness. Your heart races, but you can’t move. His voice again, but this time, it’s not just in your head. It’s in the room, in your ear, a low murmur, like wind shifting through the cracks in your mind.

“Not...turn around...no...no...don’t.”

Your pulse quickens. He’s closer now. You can feel it. The air around you feels dense, suffocating, like every breath you take is heavier than the last.

And then, it stops.Silence.

Except, his presence weighs heavily on your chest. You can’t breathe.

“I’m here. Always... always... watching...”