Air is pulled so quickly into my panicked lungs that I nearly choke on it. I trip and stumble across the room, using the walls to keep myself from dropping to the floor. I feel both energized and exhausted all at once. I must look crazy as my gaze flickers around the room repeatedly. There's no explanation for what's happened. I'm entirely alone, and yet, on the floor just feet away is proof that something else resides in this chamber with me.

"Everything alright in here?" a voice says from my side, and my bones nearly explode out of my skin.

I'm shaking all over, unable to speak or move. My neck protests at the sudden painful jolt as I twist my head towards the door. Judith stands waiting for an answer, concern etched into her pencil-drawn brows. I just swing my head side-to-side, speech not an option at this point.

"You okay?" she asks after watching me for a few seconds.

I don't look at her. I'm too busy searching the room for any signs of the demon who left that note. I'm shaken to the very core, and my spine feels like jello. All I want is to melt into my bed and sleep for the next three days, but that won't happen. Sleep is just a fantasy now.

"What happened?" Judith tries again, gently placing her hand on my bony shoulder. Her touch pulls me from my trance and I manage to offer a tight smile—one filled with doubt.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I mutter, once again allowing my gaze to return to its task of searching the room. My hands reach behind me, and I slowly retreat until I feel the softness of the wall at my back.

With a full view of the room and Judith's steady presence beside me, I'm almost safe. But my thoughts keep dancing around the three little words carved into the matting of the floor.

"Who's Johnny?" I ask suddenly, the question obviously throwing Judith off, but then she laughs. It's a soft laugh, not quite humorless, but still lacking the lighthearted amusement that should accompany it.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she says with a teasing smile, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Silence settles between us, but our gazes hold tight to each other. She's still smiling, but I seem to have forgotten how to do so. My lips are tight, puckered with annoyance as my brain strains to understand. I'm trying to put pieces together, but I know so little information.

"He's dead, isn't he?" I hear myself asking.

The nurse's lips flatten, and she's shaking her head side-to-side before she even answers. "Not yet."

No other words are spoken after that until Judith turns to leave the room. My panicked request has her stopping to face me once more.

"Can you leave the lights on tonight?"

She offers a pitying smile and dips her head briefly with a stiff nod. "I'll see what I can do."

Hope blooms to life beneath my chest, and remains there until an hour later... when the lights shut off.

My wide eyes stare into the darkness, working to make out the difference between the dead and the living. Everything seems still. There are no unwanted creatures slinking into the room and gazing at me with empty eyes. There's no blood-covered woman whispering threats into my ears.

After nearly two hours of quiet, my body begins to relax. I can still feel my heart beating its solid fist against my ribcage, but with time, it begins to lose momentum. Finally, I'm calm enough to let my eyes drift closed. Without any odd sounds echoing through the room, I eventually feel the edges of a dream clouding my mind.

But I can't let go.

My eyes flutter open, and a heat that's slowly begun to gather in my chest reminds me how irritated I've grown. I haven't slept in nearly two days. All I want is rest, but my body refuses to let me sleep.

With a huff, I roll onto my back and gaze up at the dark ceiling. The horrors that are taunting me lately seem to have crept to the back of my mind... until something moves out of the corner of my eyes, bringing all my fears to attention. I throw my body up, ready to fight whatever is lingering in the shadows.

Desperately, I search for the creature that refuses to let me rest, but I don't see anything out of place. I get up on my knees, eyes still alert, hoping that I'll have a better view if I'm higher up. Unfortunately, my plan works slightly too well. As I'm looking towards the door, a movement near my bed has my gaze darting downward.

And that's when I see the leg sliding underneath my cot.

I nearly combust with panic. I'm instantly up, standing fully upright with terror racing into each extremity and tingling its way to the tips of my fingers. I shake out my arms, unsure of what to do with my own body. I saw something; there's no doubt.

I'm trembling, nauseated with fear. My breath leaves my body with hurried gasps and I can't control the noises I'm making. Whatever is hiding out under my bed must know I'm aware of its presents.

The longer I wait, the slower my breathing becomes, until the room settles into a muted hum of anticipation. It's like all sound has been sucked into a vacuum, leaving me vulnerable and exposed. There's no where to hide in this tight space, and the more I think about the creature I saw, the more paranoid I grow.

This isn't real. That's what I have to keep reminding myself. The fact I never saw the door open is proof that whatever is accompanying me in my room can't possibly be real. The only explanation is that it's a figment of my imagination. They've actually succeeded in making me psychotic. I'm seeing things and I've only been here for five days. Is my mind really that weak?

A tightly wound ball of courage begins to unravel in my gut, and I know there will be no rest tonight until I verify what I saw. Dropping to my hands and knees, I take a steadying breath before slowly peering over the edge of the bed and into the void beneath.

I barely get a glimpse of the empty space before a hand is wrapping around my throat and dragging me under. My spine nearly tears itself from my body as a shriek rips from my chest. I pray that my heart will just give out in its wild attempt to overpower my fear, but it remains strong. I'm whimpering and gasping as hands cling to me, searching my body as they toss and turn me. I've never felt so violated, my skin stinging from the rough hands clawing at it.

"Please," I cry, sobs elongating the word into a beggars song. "Let me die."

And then I'm spinning around, vomit scorching the back of my throat, until I suddenly stop. I don't even see the face staring back at me in the darkness until it smiles. White teeth flash before me, glistening with wetness just inches away, and for a moment I'm struck speechless. The smile on the man's face drops quickly and I see his black eyes zero in on my youthful features.

"Now," he whispers with a voice as rough as sandpaper on wood, "where would the fun be in that?" His laughter fills the room and I'm nearly begging for the silence to consume me again. My ears are aching for peace, but when it comes it's far worse than I could have imagined.

I'm suddenly alone, panting beneath the suffocating weight of dread. Claustrophobia is quickly awakening as the space around me begins to shrink. It's not until I glance around that I realize the reason for the wall of darkness moving towards me.

There's bodies everywhere.

They almost appear lifeless, as if strings are dragging their limbs across the floor. Their limp arms and legs make jerking movements as they struggle to climb over each other. They slither their way towards me, blocking any escape out from under the bed. I curl my legs into my chest, screams filling the air.

"Let me die," I beg again, my voice hoarse with the efforts to be heard.

"There will be no dying tonight," a familiar gravelly voice says from the end of the bed. I peek towards my feet to see his demented gaze staring back at me, a crazed look in his eyes. "Will there, Henry?

"Who are you?" I manage to mutter past quivery lips.

The dark shape of the man begins to laugh, and then the laughter dies. "I'm surprised you don't remember," he says, a wicked humor dancing in his eyes. "You used to call me Junior."

I could almost laugh in that moment if it weren't for the fear crippling my lungs. I'm having enough trouble breathing as it is, but Junior's words just confuse me further. I feel a heavy sense of dread trickling into my limbs, weakening me. I'm powerless to the horrors I know are coming, but I remain frozen in wait.

"I don't even know you," I stutter, fighting to shuffle my way to the furthest end of the bed. Now that the other beings have vanished, I'm ready to get out from this tight prison.

"Are you sure?" he goads, slipping under the bed and creeping his way over my legs, his cold flesh sliding against my own feverish skin as he moves his way up. I'm almost hysterical; everything feels too real and I'm dying for relief. The fear is throttling me—trapping me.

"See," the shadow says, wriggling closer and closer to my face. "You used to always call me Junior." His breath hovers over my face.

He's now almost directly in front of me, but it's when he turns his head just enough for the light from the small window to catch his features that my worst nightmare becomes a reality. Because the face staring back at me is far too familiar to be that of a stranger. But it's his next words that solidify the truth that my eyes are drinking in.

He collapses his weight against me, a chuckle vibrating from his young lips as he whispers against my ear, "But I prefer Nate."