This story is one of the October Writing Challenge entries chosen to be a featured story.
.
Dark.
Cold.
Unsafe.
Three words that perfectly describe my surroundings as I sit in the farthest corner. Swirls of dull color float in my vision, with my eyes tightly shut… I hear footsteps, slow yet nearing; my heart’s racing, competing.
I hold my breath.
I feel its presence on the other side of the room, lurking, waiting. It’s looking for me, with eyes that couldn’t see. It’s listening to me, with ears that couldn’t hear. It’s feeling for me, with senses I’ve heightened carelessly.
I made a mistake.
I shouldn’t have given it the strength I couldn’t gain, the anger I so restrain. I shouldn’t have given it the goal to eliminate the pain.
I gasp for air. I pull my hair. My eyes prickle with fear and despair.
It shifts toward me. More footsteps. I try to plan an escape, but with little time, I am too late.
I’ve given it the power to kill anyone of my choosing, made it when I’ve lost hope for a better day. Now gone are those who have used and abused me. Dead are they who have made me such a misery.
I open my eyes. Even the darkness is too bright. I see its silhouette closing in, locked in on its target. No more running away, no more failed attempts… No more second chances.
It comes near enough for me to see the detailed figure, like a mirror when I look through. With an entity of the same height and built as me, but with just my rage made it undeniably askew.
Enigma, they all believed; only I was ever relieved. To have someone look like me but do what I never had the courage for is both freeing and conflicting… What made me think I knew what was in store?
Black shallow eyes pierce through me, despite its lack of sight. It forms a smile on its lips, all maniacal and tight. A laugh echoes in the room as I pray for my life.
But the world has shifted and now it’s on me, this I should have known. For if I had just one person I hated the most, it would have taken nobody else’s life, but my own.