For weeks, I had been thinking about the silent watchers who stood in my doorway each night. I had decided that tonight, I would face them. I stayed up late, reading a book to keep my mind occupied and my courage from failing. When the clock showed midnight, I knew I could wait no longer.
I walked slowly to my bedroom. The door was already open, which I found strange as I always closed it. I tried to ignore this and lay down on the bed, looking straight ahead. I had not turned on the lamp, so the only light was a thin, silver line from the streetlamp outside my window.
I pulled the quilt up to my neck and kept my eyes open, fixed on the empty space across the room. My heart was beating fast. I was too tense to even blink, repeating in my mind that they would not appear if they knew I was watching.