Anguli Pythonissam

*10 years ago*

I was just laying in bed, watching my favorite YouTubers, and eating some chips, slowly dozing off but fighting the urge to fall asleep. The video was almost over anyway, might as well finish it. But my body had other plans. All of a sudden, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, there was a ringing in my ears, and all I could see was straight into the eyes of...something. It was a black mass, almost having a human figure, but things were just not quite right to say it was human. It had big, glowing eyes that seemed to not allow me to look away, and a mouth full of sharp teeth, dripping with blood. It was moving towards me from the corner of my room. It reached out its hand as it glided over, its limbs too long to be natural.

I knew what it wanted...me. I started to panic, trying to move my body in any way, but I was paralyzed. I couldn't even scream. I was running out of time. Then, somehow, I gained control in my toes first, then my legs, and soon I sat up, gasping for air and trying to slow my heart rate.

"What was that thing? Was it even real? Was that a nightmare?" A million questions were racing through my mind to try and figure out what had just happened. "It felt like I was going to die..." Too freaked out to stay in that room much longer, I left to join my family in the living room. But ever since that night, I never felt truly alone in that room.

*Present Day*

I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. Twenty-three years old, living in an apartment in New York with my lovely fiancée, Isabella, working as a journalist for a media company, and I still think back to that night. Nothing like that has happened since, so why am I still thinking about it? It was obviously just a vivid bad dream I had as a kid.

I jump when my phone starts to ring. I didn't have to look at the screen to know that it was my mother due to her specific ringtone.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?" I answer the phone with.

"Hey, Lee, I was just calling to let you know that your father has gotten into a bad car accident. He is going to be OK, but they need to transfer him to a new hospital in two days and I have to go with him. I know this is last minute, but could you come home and watch the house and dogs for a week?"

My heart sank to my feet. I have to go back to that house, I thought to myself. But I was just being silly, right? Not going back to that house because of a nightmare I had when I was 13 did not seem like a very good reason to give to my mother.

"Sure, mom," I say with a slight waver in my voice, "I'll do it."

"That's wonderful honey, I'll see you in a bit. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye." I press the end call button with a shaky hand. Why was I getting so worked up about this? I couldn't let Isabella see me like this. I calmed myself down before entering our bedroom. She was tying her hair into a messy bun while staring at our TV, the news currently blaring. I tried to act as normal as possible to not raise any suspicion.

"Who were you on the phone with, sweetie?" Isabella asked me while turning to face my direction. I saw that she was wearing that sexy black nightgown I got her for birthday. I tried to focus on that to suppress my nervousness. "Are you alright? You seem shaky."

Shit.

To be continued...