I sat inside the expensively decorated room, wearing a black lace dress. My mother and sister were opposite me, positioned on a velvet sofa, sitting with their legs crossed.

I looked away from their sinister smiles towards shelves decorated with hundreds of photos. All of them were of me. Me as a baby, me reading with my father, me riding my bike, my graduation. There was a photo for every single important moment in my life.

I lowered my head to look at my dress “What is this? What’s the occasion?”

But they only watched me with knowing eyes, sparkling with wickedness.

The painful silence stretched between us, even hands on the antique grandfather clock moved agonizingly slow, their ticking sound resonating through the room.

“Why am I here?”

Mother and sister shared a look, giggling with joy.

“Don’t you know? We are celebrating!” Said Lena, standing up from the sofa.

“What?” I watched her slowly edge towards me, her face contorted in a mask of malevolence.

She was now standing so close to me, we could almost touch.

“You don’t know?” She said with a surprised voice.

When I shook my head to say no, I heard her whisper “Your funeral.”

My eyes widened in horror “But I’m not dead!” I jumped away from her prying fingers, my back hitting the wall. “I am not even supposed to be here!”

She caressed my golden hair, humming to herself. Suddenly her eyes met mine “No.”

“You’re not!” Hissed an unfamiliar, low raspy voice next to my ear.

I screamed when I was suddenly pulled back, a forceful energy sucking me out of the room. And in mere seconds I was standing in my backyard in Atsanik.

Looking down at my hands I saw how badly they shook. There was no need for glancing around for me to instinctively know that I wasn’t alone “What do you want from me?” I desperately tried to calm my voice, but it broke at the end.

I glanced at Tapeesa who stood on the edge of my property, staring at the thick wall of spruce trees.

Her eyes were fixated on one particular spot somewhere deep in the woods.

Frosty wind gushed around me, slapping my hair into my face. It was so strong it was hard to breathe properly.

“I told you to run. Well, it’s too late now.” She said calmly, not looking in my direction.

A terrible shriek echoed through the forest, it’s horrifying sound piercing my body with pure terror.

My muscles gave way and I lost my footing. Crawling, I pushed myself further away from the darkness that threatened to pull me in.

“No! What did you do?” I screamed at Tapeesa in panic. The only sound I heard now was the frantic beating of my heart, pounding in my head. Nausea overtook me as I heard the familiar rustling of leaves and branches.

“No ….” Tears of fear rolled down my cheeks “Leave me alone! I am begging you!”

An appalling shadow emerged out of darkness, standing up to its full height.

And then I screamed.

I sat on my bed, drawing deep breaths to calm myself down. I tried to massage my head, willing the loud ringing voice to stop, but it was no use.

My body and clothes were drenched from the terrible nightmare, droplets of cold sweat still dripping down my spine. Reaching out I grabbed my phone to glance at the clock – 3 a.m.

Amaruq and his stories were getting to me in a way that was becoming quite frightening. I tried to convince myself it was only a bad dream, but it seemed so realistic.

My throat was scratchy and dry almost as if I was really screaming.

I pushed the covers away, my feet hitting the cold ground as I stood up.

Dragging myself to the kitchen I poured myself a glass of water to quench the thirst I felt. The terrible dryness in my throat vanished, but I still couldn’t stop my hands from shaking or chase away the disturbing aftermath of my dream.

I slowly approached the uncovered window in my bedroom, hesitantly leaning in to make sure my nightmare wasn’t real. With my free shivering hand, I pushed the heavy drape away, almost afraid to glance outside.

Thick mist rolled around the trees covered with snow, but other than that everything looked peaceful. There was no blizzard or Tapeesa. No sign of a sinister presence.

I returned to bed, cursing Tapeesa and everybody else who completely disturbed the picture of this little, serene town that was supposed to be my escape. I tried to ignore the creaking sounds underneath my bare feet, the old parquet flooring protesting every time my toes hit the polished surface.

I exhaled with relief when I finally tucked myself underneath the covers, warming my cold feet. Never before was I afraid of the dark but now, now I watched every shadow casting from my furniture, my eyes nervously flickering around the room. I was almost grateful for the exhaustion that was caused by my nightmare for it was the only thing that eventually lulled me back to sleep.

Without warning the branch snapped somewhere behind the house and I my body instantly jerked back into sitting position.

The noise was gradually getting closer until I could distinctly hear the sound of heavy footsteps.

This time there was no doubt, someone was behind my house.

I was paralyzed by fear, not daring to breathe or even make the slightest sound. Holding my breath, I only heard the heavy pounding of my heart.

The person outside moved even closer and I could swear I could hear their raspy breaths accompanied with high-pitched wheezes.

The instant I broke out of my stupor, I quietly pushed the covers away. I slowly crouched towards the window, with my head bent low. I needed to see if this was some cruel prank or if Tapeesa’s words held any truth to them.

My back was plastered against the wall as I slowly lifted myself up, glimpsing out of the window.

And my blood turned to ice.

There was a grotesque shadow looming near the forest, the creature’s stare boring straight into my eyes.

I sidestepped as fast as I could, hiding from its unmoving stare.

My hand shook so badly, I dropped the phone to the floor, its fall echoing with unbearably loud noise. Holding in a breath I prayed to God the ghastly creature didn’t hear it.

This was no Tapeesa or anyone from the town. This shadow was the same as the one out my nightmare. It was too dark to see, but the creature’s enormous frame didn’t fit any of the inhabitants of Atsanik.

And I knew for a fact it was a male figure.

I must have sat there for hours because when my body, frozen with terror allowed me to move again, the sun was already rising in the sky.

Still clutching my phone, I barely hoisted myself up, my quivering muscles riddled with shock. I dared to sneak a peek through the window, the light of day giving me enough courage to examine if the creature still lurked behind my house. But the yard was empty.

I carefully exited my house, heading to my backyard with painfully slow movements. My eyes danced in every possible direction, inspecting surroundings for any kind of unexpectable movement.

It was completely empty and silent now, not even a single branch was broken or misplaced. It looked as if nothing ever happened, almost as the night before was only a figment of my imagination.

Everything except for large boot prints. They were barely visible for they were almost covered with freshly fallen snow.

And right at that moment I knew this wasn’t only in my mind. Something unnatural was lurking in these woods and that something was chasing its pray. I had a sick feeling that what he was chasing after, was me.

“Josh?” I said into my phone. My voice was so strangled it was barely understandable “I need your help. Right now.”