A glowing green eye appears above my windowsill. (Or where I guess my windowsill to be- I can't see it.) It is open impossibly wide, and it is bigger than my fist. The pupil shrinks, focusing on me. It is darker than the night around it, more than simply the absence of light. It is a black that has substance to it. A living, malevolent blackness, filled with hate.

And all that hate is focused on me.

I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes to me. I am helpless and paralyzed in the gaze of the eye.

TAPTAPTAP.

The guttural breathing grows louder. How is it breathing? Does it have a mouth? What is this thing? How is it tapping?

Suddenly the eye disappears as if it was switched off. Somehow this is more alarming than having it stare at me. The guttural breathing remains though. Now it seems to not just be coming from the window, but from behind me as well. It fills the room, rasping and unbearable, like sandpaper with allergies.

I still can't move, can't scream. Hot air blows against my neck. Every hair on my body stands on end.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Something cold and hard taps the rhythm against my forehead.

If only I could cry out, wiggle my fingers, anything! It's right behind me. I know it is. I feel the claws- for I don't know what else they could be- tapping the three, short, staccato beats against my skin. They work their way down my forehead...my cheeks...my neck...my shoulders...cold and hard as ice. When they get to my arms, they stop tapping and grip tightly. Iron nails dig into my skin and puncture my flesh. I feel blood running down to my hands.

I scream until my throat is hoarse, but still, not a sound comes out.

And then-