*Tap tap*

The faint sound of footsteps heading my way was more than enough to bring me back to my senses. And, as the haziness of sleep was slowly drifting away, my blurry eyes opened.

In the darkest hours of the night, I found myself hunching over my coat on top of a wooden bench that had turned wet from the moisture. Feeling the coldness emanating from the frozen bench, I made an attempt to stand up, but my body refused to listen. Paralyzed in my seat, I could only stare forwards into the grey veil of fog enshrouding the streets.

The sole heat source in the area was a small, jet-black street lamp situated on the bench’s side, providing what little illumination it could offer. The dim light coming off of it flickered now and then as if to send a warning of the imminent danger coming my way.

*Tap tap*

As my hazy senses slowly cleared up, the sound of footsteps similarly got closer to where I lay. And yet, my body still refused to move.

With my gaze still fixed forwards, I could now barely make out the faint shape of houses in the distance. They couldn’t be too far, could they? Ten, maybe fifteen meters ahead. It’s just that, they seemed to stretch further and further the more I focused on them.

In my numbness, I could clearly listen to my heart thumping faster and faster as it pumped blood throughout my body.

It’s strange, the way adrenaline works in such situations. Being unable to move as much as a finger when someone approaches you in such circumstances would definitely drive terror into anyone’s heart. And yet, here I am, stuck on top of a bench, calmly processing all the information I can gather. Is that even normal?

*Tap tap*

Even though I didn’t cower in fear, I couldn’t help but have cold sweat running down my forehead the moment I focused on the sound of footsteps. Whoever they belonged to couldn’t have been more than a dozen of meters away by now and was definitely heading my way.

*Bzzt Bzzzt*

The light bulb’s flickering intensified. It would most likely go out any moment now. Was it really a warning? I couldn’t help wondering as an intense coldness rushed through my already frozen and paralyzed body. It felt like the temperature suddenly dropped by five degrees or so, forcing me to fully wake up.

Feeling the anxiousness slowly crawl in, I frantically tried to move my numb limbs around. Needless to say, it turned out to be a pointless struggle. All I managed to achieve was to tire out my already weary mind.

*Step step*

I couldn’t help shivering by now. Judging by the sound alone, the footsteps must have belonged to a man wearing a thick pair of leather boots. But who knows? Sound alone can be deceiving. Maybe it wasn’t a man? Maybe it was something entirely different. Far scarier than a mere man. After all, there are no men who can make the temperature drop... Are there?

Driving the irrelevant thoughts out of my mind, I used all the willpower I could muster to slightly turn my gaze towards the direction where the footsteps came from. And there, in the corner of my vision, I could finally see the shadow of what appeared to be a person reflected inside the flickering light.

*Step!*

Feeling my gaze on it, the figure ceased moving. Was it surprised by my actions? Angered maybe? Yea... It was definitely angry. For I could feel the already freezing environment turn even colder.

*Bzzz...*

Unable to take any more of this pressure, the light bulb finally went off. And, following the disappearance of the sole source of lighting in the area, an unprecedented silence emerged. Amidst the silence, all I could hear was the suppressed breathing coming out of my mouth.

‘Where is it?’, I couldn’t help wondering as my gaze darted from one side to the other. I could no longer discern the difference between the shadows, but without a doubt, I could feel its presence nearby.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out, for I could feel the creature’s icy hands stretch around my neckline. Its cold fingernails touching my bare skin were more than enough to send goosebumps down my spine. Was it feeling my neck? Was it searching for the best spot to choke me from? Or was it just curious?

And then it stopped.

Its fingers moved back and the freezing temperature receded a bit. Feeling the tension escape my body, I was able to let out the breath I‘d been holding in for a while now.

“Gah!”, that’s when it happened. You think it’s over and then before you even realize it yourself, it attacks at the worst possible time. Did it think I wasn’t scared enough? Or that I would struggle less if it took a step back?

The pain was excruciating. Having let the air out of my lungs earlier made it even worse than it was meant to be. I tried to struggle, but its frozen grip around my neck was too much to fight against.

All I could think as my lungs desperately begged for oxygen, was ‘why is this happening to me?’

And yet, before I could die from suffocation, everything turned into endless darkness.

“Huff! Ha! Haa...” Inside a small one-man room, the figure of a young man jumping out of bed could be observed. Covered in a cold sweat from head to toes, the man huffed and puffed heavily as he tried to calm down.

‘It happened again…’ He couldn’t help thinking as his gaze fell towards the digital clock resting on top of the nearby desk.

[3:19 AM]

Sighing lightly, the man fell backward onto the bedsheets, looking tired and mentally exhausted from the whole ordeal. This wasn't the first time he hadn't had a good night's sleep though. That nightmare had already been haunting him for the past few weeks now, making it impossible to get a good night’s rest.

Alas, what could he do? It wasn't something he could take control of or pick the time it happened.

The young man silently stared at the ceiling for a few moments and then slowly raised his weary body up from the bed. The prickling sensation coming from his numb feet as they touched the chilly ground made it slightly harder for him to stand up but, nevertheless, he had long since been accustomed to this and not in a good way.

Using the room’s wall for assistance, the young man headed towards the kitchen where a half-empty bottle of whiskey awaited him. He had to get a drink or his nerves wouldn't be able to stand the pressure any more than this.

With trembling hands, he poured a few shots of whiskey into the mug he had long since prepared and downed it in one go. “Haah…” A little bit of rosiness seemed to return on his face as the scorching heat of the alcohol moved down his throat, enough for him to make it to the toilet without needing the wall for assistance at least.

Once there, he took a quick shower to warm up and then brushed his teeth to wash away the taste of alcohol in his mouth. With a towel covering his nether regions, the man’s gaze fell into the mirror before him.

Inside the mirror’s reflection, a head full of curly black hair that still had water droplets falling out of it, as well as a pair of pitch-black eyes staring right back at him could be observed. Maybe due to the nightmares, the man’s figure was on the petite side and deep black circles could be seen under his pair of tired eyes.

‘How long has it been since you last had a good night's sleep?’ The figure in the mirror asked as a disturbingly evil grin formed on its face.

*Crack… Crack.*

A punch was deeply embedded into the mirror’s surface. The mirror instantly shattered into hundreds of pieces, distorting the man’s shape inside it. Feeling distressed, the man ruffled hard at his dark hair and then glanced at his bleeding hand.

“You need to get your shit together Nathan,” he mumbled to no one in particular and then started tending to his newfound wound.