Awake with the Demon

They say sleep paralysis is harmless, that the shadow sitting on your chest is only

in your head. But last night, the thing on top of me wasn't a shadow,

it was breathing. I woke up frozen, eyes pinned open, and there it

was, a tall twisted figure crouched on my rib cage,

its face inches from mine, and its skin crawling with veins that

pulsed like they were alive. I tried to scream,

but the sound died in my throat. Its long fingers slid across my

neck, cold, bony, deliberate, and it whispered,