Looking In

His matted, oily, black hair in clumps on his head, barely hanging on to his scarred scalp. His eyes, bloodshot, ominous, and a menacing orange, seemingly staring into my soul. His mouth, with his lips sewn shut in some areas, and some not, expose his shattered, grimy, yellow teeth. His nose crooked and broken, and curved like a crow's, flares at the sight of any human.

He lays hunched over, his long winding legs cracking with every movement he makes. His twisted and contorted arms, held out wide, ready to grasp any prey foolish enough to fall into his deadly schemes. His skinny frail body, a fiendish shade of pale white. His tattered clothes, torn by his own sharp claws.

He always has the same twisted smile etched across his scarred face, never gone, no matter what the situation happens to be. He always has his eyes fixed upon me, like a panther stalking its prey, waiting to strike.

He's been at my bedroom window since I was 14, and hasn't left since. He seems to be held back by the window, as if it's some kind of protective force, keeping the disfigured man at bay, and leaving me safe from his evil intentions. However, even with that protection, I'll sometimes feel his presence.

Occasionally, whilst doing homework, I'd feel a warm breath on my neck, and have my nostrils invaded by the pungent smell of rot and disease, but upon looking behind me, I'd see nobody, well, nobody other than the man hellishly smiling by my window.

Nobody has been able to notice him other than me, and he still has not been captured on film. He has led me to the brink of insanity time and time again, as he never leaves my bedroom window, no matter where I happen to be sleeping. I used to go by the logic of just not sleeping so that I wouldn't be murdered, but after seeing the man not harm me when I occasionally dozed off, I learned how to get at least 4 hours of sleep every night, and still feel somewhat safe and secure.

I've been told that I am being harassed by a demon of sorts for my sins, but I don't remember sinning too much at the age of 14. I decided it was better safe than sorry, so I had my house and bedroom blessed by a priest. This did nothing to keep the man at bay, in fact, he seemed more fixated than ever about getting in.

This man would sometimes find his way into my dreams, corrupting them into nightmares of his own sick creation. He would tell me things I would have to do, terrible things. He told me to kill my girlfriend and my mother to keep him away. Some nights he would instruct me to take the blood of a non sinner and bring it to the window. He would always at the end of my dreams tell me that my time will be up, followed by the numbers, "9208514".

I never could decipher the strange code, but in all honesty I didn't want to find out. Throughout my days I have seen that number more frequently, or at least parts of it. I'll run in a marathon, what number am I? 920. I join a website, what number user am I? 8,514, and those are just a few examples. I've spent the better part of my life attempting to find the meaning to these numbers, but I never could.

As time went on with the man eerily staring in at me from my window, his offer seemed more and more plausible. All I needed was the blood of a non sinner, such as a priest. Although I hate to admit it, on a few nights I have driven down to my church to find a priest, and.. well, you know what. I never could bring myself to commit such a horrible crime, so I just began to think of a way to crack the code.

Even through all of this effort to find an escape from the man, I've grown to not resent him as much. I mean sure, he still strikes fear into me like he always has, with his menacing looks and bloodthirsty nature, but at this point I don't really fear him killing me any more. He's always been confined to my window, never to get in, nor able to get out. Sometimes I don't fear him both because of that, and because I just believe he is a figment of my now degrading mind, although that in itself is horrifying in its own right.

I've always felt safe and secure around my window, as it has always protected me. I went to sleep tonight, avoiding looking at my window in fear of seeing the man taunt me once more. I shut my eyes and went to sleep early, hoping to have a nice dream for once.

I was awoke soon after falling asleep to feeling a weight on my bed, and when my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a mangled, scarred face looking down at me, and a claw aimed at my chest. Before the man finally plunged his razor sharp claws into me, I looked at the time and remembered the date.

It was 9:20pm, August 5th, 2014.

~Incorrect3