Julia

Julia’s black hair covers her chest like a mourning shroud as she sits on her couch, staring into the dark closet with wide eyes.

 Does she finally see me? 

I will do anything to make her see me. 

Anything. 

She holds out a hand to the cat, beckoning it closer, but the beast keeps staring at me, its back arched. Its hair stands up on end.

I hiss at the wretched thing, baring my fangs. 

 Henry is an ugly cat with clipped ears and crooked whiskers. I don’t understand why Julia likes it. She would be better off with a fish, or some sort of lizard…

I really don’t care that the cat can see me. I don’t want the cat…

Julia’s face is pale. Why is she scared? It’s a shame, really… Though I do enjoy making an impact. Fear is like a succulent meal to my kind. Filling and energizing. 

 She must be scared because she thinks she’s alone, but she’s never really alone. I’m here, always watching, always with her. 

Sweet Julia.

 She will know me soon…

 No one stays long, or at least, they don’t seem to stay long in my house. But time is not my strong suit, so who can say? Three weeks feels like one hour. One hour sometimes feels like an eternity. Time moves differently in the dimension of the living, a place I don’t belong, but can’t leave.

Many living souls have passed through these walls, doing their best to ignore me and all my work. They blame my voice on the wind, my footsteps on the age of the house… That is, until Julia came. She knows I’m here.  

She’s different. 

 She is so full of life that I like to imagine myself alive. What did that feel like? 

I don’t remember death or life. Did I ever have one? 

 A box sits on the ground in front of Julia, full of her clothes and little knickknacks she had taken off the fireplace mantel.

 She thinks she’s leaving. 

I have been working tirelessly to make her see me. I’ve been weaving my way into her dreams almost every night. Inciting nightmares that feed me. When she stands at the sink and washes her dishes, I stand behind her, breathing on her soft neck, latching onto any crumb of fear she gifts me.

She is very generous.

I want her to stay. 

Forever. 

She pulls her blanket up to her chin and says something into the darkness, her eyes unblinking, staring blindly into the closet where I lurk. She wants to see me. She needs to see me. 

I strain to hear her musical voice, but it’s as if she’s speaking through water. 

L-L-L-Louder… I croak, reaching out a clawed hand. My fingernails are long and sharp, black in some places, rotting in others. Have they always been that way? I can’t remember. 

She pulls out her phone and begins to type frantically. She’s writing a message… to the man.

That’s not allowed. 

Julia knows better. The last time she brought that man into my house, he tried to take Julia away with him! I have to protect her, if even from herself.

He’s not invited! I hiss, reaching into the lamp on the side table and leaching its light. It flickers off and on. 

Julia screams.

Her voice is like crystal-clear water. Beautiful and pure. I slurp down her fear eagerly, shivering in delight.

What is she so scared of? I chuckle. Doesn’t she know I’m only playing with her? 

She holds the phone up to her ear. A tear falls from her dark eyes and makes a path down her cheek. 

Had the man hurt her?

I stop laughing. Rage builds inside me as I wrap my claws around the base of the lamp and toss it against the wall. 

The room darkens as the lightbulb shatters, but I’m used to the darkness; in fact, I like it. 

Julia’s frantic screams fuel me. It’s so nice to hear her voice… so clear.

She runs for the door just as I move in front of it. 

Her outstretched hand freezes.

Julia… I croak. Stay…

 “Don’t hurt me.” She mouths with quivering lips. Her fingers close around the doorknob and turn, pulling it open. Cold moonlight pours in, casting shadows through the room.

Don’t leave! I slam the door hard.

Julia tries again, but the door won’t budge this time. “Let me go!”

I grab her hand and sense goosebumps rising up her arm.

She shrinks back against the wall.

 I step towards her, the floorboards creaking under my weight. Then another step, and then another until I’m standing right in front of her. I reach out my hand; it will only hurt her for a second, but it’s for her own good. She won’t even remember the pain. She will thank me one day. 

My finger traces her chin. S-S-Stay….

“Please.” Julia whimpers.

She’s begging me. She wants this… I trace her hair down to her chest, where her heart is beating wildly, like a caged animal that wants to be free. 

I will set it free.

I press a finger through her shirt, skin, bone, and caress the beating heart. 

She gasps and struggles to breathe. 

I see Julia’s family, playing tag out in the garden. Her father kisses her cheek when she goes off for school, and her mother hugs her tight when she returns. Snippets of her life pass before my eyes in an instant. All boring compared to the life she will have with me. 

 White-hot light blinds me.

The man is there.

I yank my hand out of her chest, hissing. 

He had slunk his way into her heart! He had made himself a home there. What gave him the right? The man has something about him that I cannot stand. He is full of something I hate. He is dangerous to Julia. 

I must protect her. 

The next part will be unpleasant for her, but it must be done. How am I to protect her if she’s not with me all the time?

I grip her throat. Her eyes roll, her long lashes fluttering. It will all be over soon. I sense the heart slowing. You will be with me. You want to be with me…

Julia collapses onto the ground in front of the cold fireplace and begins to convulse. 

Henry paces around her, rubbing against her as if he might save her. 

She’s mine now… I growl.

The door bursts open, kicked in by a strong force. 

Light pours in; I’m blinded for several moments. 

I hate it! I hate it! I hiss, covering my eyes. 

The man stands in the doorway, sweat dripping from his brow; his chest is heaving as if he had been running. He searches the room, then his eyes land on Julia. 

Mine! I pounce in front of her, guarding her like a wild dog guards his dinner. 

The man disregards me entirely.

My anger only grows as he drops to his knees and cradles her body.

MINE! MINE! MINE! I scream, exploding with rage. Books fly off the shelves and crash on the floor with broken spines. LEAVE! 

The man drags Julia to the door. His desire for her has made him brave, but not for long. I can’t let him take her from me. 

I grab her long hair and yank her back to me. The man yells something, and I pull again, with stronger force. 

The man’s hands slip, and he falls back into the fireplace mantel where the sound of his skull cracking tickles my ears. 

Julia easily glides across the floor with me after that. Light as a feather. 

I drag her lifeless body to the open basement door. 

The man recovers just in time to see her slipping into the darkness of the stairwell with me.

Mine… I hiss for good measure.

Julia hits her head on each step on the way down. She shouldn’t feel anything, and if she does, she won’t remember. Her body lands limp on the cold stone floor at the base of the steps. She looks like a painting, lying in a bed of inky black hair, blood dripping like molasses from her head. I watch her lifeblood seep out, until at last, she is empty. 

Any moment now. I will be here to comfort her when she wakes... 

A yell from the top of the stairs grabs my attention. I almost forgot about the man in my admiration.

He is looking down at us. His voice rings out again, weak but confident. He calls for Julia. But she will not be answering him this time.

I lick my lips with a forked tongue, relishing in the chaos. I run back up the stairs and shove him with all my energy.

He is disoriented and dizzy. He does not resist. The sound of his elbow cracking on the third step gives me chills, and his neck breaking on the sixth step causes me to laugh in delight. He lands in a broken pile at the bottom of the stairs next to Julia. 

I revel in the glory of my accomplishment. 

“Where am I?” a voice as pure as winter ice said from somewhere down in the basement. 

Julia is joining me now. 

A grin spreads across my lips as I straighten my tattered suit and slick back my greasy hair to make a good first impression.

“Julia?” The man’s voice replies, strong and clear. “I’m here!” 

My smile quickly disappears as I realize my mistake. Light is growing from the bottom of the staircase. It won’t stop growing.

My skin sizzles and burns when it reaches me. 

I shriek back.

The ugly cat sits in the square of moonlight streaming through the kitchen window, licking his paw, unbothered; it’s as if he’s laughing at me. 

His diamond eyes follow me mockingly as I dart into the very last shadow of darkness in the closet where I crouch, hiding.

Cowering.