When my minty spit splattered onto the ceramic of the sink, the air felt charged. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention and goosebumps coated my skin. Knowing what was to come, I stepped backward to get distance from the running water. The bathroom lit up brightly before I was submerged in darkness. A loud pop sounded from somewhere in the house and silence crept into my ears as the ever-present hum of electricity died.

I finished up in the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen for breakfast in the dark. The pounding of rain on the house was occasionally overshadowed by sharp cracks of lighting and the distant rolling of thunder.

Floorboards creaked beneath my weight and I stuck my pointer finger to the wall on my right. The clouds outside allowed no early morning sunlight to peek through, so I was walking blindly. As I neared the kitchen I took a detour through the last doorway which housed my study.

I walked toward the corner where my desk sat and felt around its surface for my phone. A bolt of lightning provided enough light for me to grab its charger and see the tall, dark mass sitting in my desk chair. A scream escaped my throat and I yanked my phone from its charger in a haste. After sprinting back to the doorway I tried the light switch. I vocally laughed at my stupidity before using my phones’s flashlight. The purple blanket that I wrapped around myself last night sits in the exact place that I left it—on my chair.

I let out a small chuckle of relief, but still couldn’t seem to shake the unease. I returned to the hallway, this time equipped with a light, and tried to rationalize what I saw to ease my panic. Shadows continued to play tricks on me before I would flash them with a beam of light and see them for what they really were.

I set my phone face-down on the dining room table to light up the entirety of the kitchen. With a hankering for toast, I grabbed two slices of bread from the bag on the counter and huffed as the realization of no power hit. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich would suffice. While I stooped down to look in the refrigerator for jelly, a feeling of being preyed on washed over me. My torso reverted to its upright position, and I scanned my surroundings. Once I made a 180, the feeling increased tenfold. Sweat broke out on my palms as my heart rate spiked slightly. I was now face to face with the dark depths of the pantry. I never failed to close the door, because if I didn’t, Milo would certainly help himself to an all you can eat buffet of cat chow.

A recollection of Milo’s yowls from the night before crossed my mind. I had to hold him back with my foot as I shut the door because he hadn’t eaten in three hours. Presently, in contradiction to my memories, the door stood wide open. Light seemed to be barred from entering the room because the black doorway only darkened the longer I stared into it. Without breaking eye contact with the darkness, I shut the refrigerator door and grabbed my slices of bread off of the counter. Stale sourdough for breakfast sounded just fine to me.

Out of paranoia, I quickly lunged for the phone on the table before holding the light out toward the pantry. The change in angle did nothing to brighten its dark interior. A sick feeling settled in my stomach and I sped walked to the front door.

I kept my phone pointed toward the living room as I threw on my shoes. _It’s an old house._ I told myself._ Things settle in the night._ Never enough to open securely closed doors.

Anxiety consumed me and I ripped my raincoat from its hanger on the wall. After zipping it up, I grabbed at the empty corner next to the door for my umbrella. _Where did I leave it?_ I wouldn’t leave it anywhere besides its designated bucket. _It’s probably on the porch._ Probably.

From the small table next to the door, I collected the lanyard holding my house key and bus pass. Light noises beyond the foyer caught my attention and I paused with my hand on the doorknob to listen further. After a minute of silence, I reminded myself, _it’s your mind playing tricks. _I believed this until the sound of quick and heavy footfalls echoed from the hallway. I did not stay to find out if they truly were from my paranoid mind. Water splashed beneath my feet as I ran down my gravel driveway and reached the incredibly weathered road at the end of it. _Locking the door and umbrella be damned_.

After jogging about a quarter of a mile on the main road, I reached the pole marking the bus stop. I took a moment to catch my breath. I tapped the screen of my phone but the water coating the glass prevented it from registering. Instead, clicking the button allowed me to see a blurry _7:36. 9 minutes until the next bus._

A charged feeling rushed over me once again. The hair on my body stood on end and I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to not be the target of the lightning bolt soon to come. Thunder bellowed from the clouds above, but no lightning preceded it. Rustling came from the forest behind me. I chalked it up to an animal to avoid stirring up the paranoia that I was still working on settling. I checked the time again out of both impatience and distraction. _7:39. Are you serious?_ Crunching replaced the rustling behind me. The sound progressively got closer.

Goosebumps burned their way across my skin and a shiver violently racked my spine. _It’s a curious animal_. _A squirrel, maybe. _A branch snapped. _Heavy ass squirrel. Okay it could be a deer._ Feet drug onto the concrete next to me._ Try a bear. _Heavy breaths filled the space beside me, the hood of my jacket blocking my peripheral view. My own breath stopped as the rain pelting my jacket ceased its assault on me. The chorus of raindrops bounced off of whatever now covered the air above my head.

My heart leapt into my throat, showing me that it was still in fact beating, though erratically. A strangled sound escaped my lips as I slowly craned my neck to look above me. Peering down at me from the black fabric were two white initials _W. P_. I was looking up at my own umbrella that I labeled to avoid confusion at the office. The same umbrella that was missing from its corner less than 15 minutes ago.

Every muscle in my neck burned in protest as I swallowed against the dryness in my mouth and looked to my left. If i had eaten the slices of bread instead of leaving them by the front door, they would be partially digested and lying on the ground right about now. Even in the absence of light, I could see the features of the thing standing next to me.

It is identical to what I saw this morning in my study, and it feels like whatever was emitting from the pantry. Its small smile barely visible against its massive form. It stood, unmoving. Its blank, white stare fixed on me despite the amount of water splattering against its face. The noisy breaths came from the air entering and exiting the hole where its nose would be. Water leaked down its face and entered the hole, but it did not to be disturbed by it in the slightest.

A third eyelid slowly crept over its white irises and its smile deepened. The grip that it had on the umbrella did not falter. _Why is it helping me?_ My phone vibrated in my hand, bringing me back to reality. Realization dawned on me that my phone had an SOS setting. Five quick clicks to the power button later and I regretted my decision. A blaring alarm accompanied each second that ticked down. With every second that passed, the monster’s smile grew another inch. As the emergency operator’s voice sounded through the speakers, I could only react with a blood curdling scream. Rows of razor sharp teeth were revealed in the creature’s grin before it began to lean closer to me.

The world around me seemed to go black, locking me into a void with the thing before me. My skin began to buzz and my body succumbed to numbness. I tried to scream but found myself paralyzed. As the creature opened its jaws, I closed my eyes, forced to surrender to whatever it had planned for us.