Excerpt
Mitch was awakened out of a deep state of sleep by an unexplainable heaviness on his chest and legs. He felt drugged his eyes hazy and unfocused. He watched as the television screen in front of him went blank and then began skipping channels on its own. The room temperature had dropped so low he could see his breath escape his lips in a foggy mist. Petrified, Mitch slowly looked down the length of his body to see who or what was holding him to his chair. There was nothing in sight. He tried to move his arms to no avail, then his legs one by one, nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a mist of breath not his own escape from behind him.
“Who’s there?” he shouted, “If its money you want, my wallet’s in my pants pocket.” Not a sound could be heard in the room except the TV that now shut itself off.
The cold mist passed by his right ear this time making the hair on Mitch’s neck stand on end. “What do you want?” Mitch called out frantically.
“In time,” a low raspy voice growled.
On the table next to his chair, Mitch could see the half empty beer he’d left there an hour earlier. He reached out to grab it. Carefully he stretched out his fingers in an attempt to latch on to the neck of the bottle instinctively needing to defend himself in some small way. Laughter immediately filled the room, laughter unlike Mitch had ever heard before, sinister, and mocking.
“Stupid man, stupid, foolish man!” the voice teased as the beer bottle was sent crashing to the floor shattering into pieces. Mitch’s heartbeat pulsed loudly echoing in his ears, certain this was the end. He closed his eyes shaking in sheer terror anticipating what would come next.
As suddenly as he’d awakened to this nightmare, the television flickered back on to Court TV, the room returned to its normal temperature, and Mitch sat upright with all the senses returning to his arms and legs with a tingle. In his lap, sat Star’s file, only now it was open to a picture of her looking out the window from the back of the patrol car. In the reflection of the window, there was the outline of a shadowy face that appeared to be smiling.