The Sleep Demon

I woke up at 8 am as usual but today I was feeling a little drowsy, maybe because from the past 3 days I haven't got enough rest. It's exam season and I am not one of the brightest when it comes to studies! Rebecca is my savior in such situations. She is the best friend and best mentor I have got in my life. I got freshened up and came down for breakfast and was running a little late.

"How many times have I told you not to run through the stairs Emma!" yelled my mother.

"I am late mom! Can you yell at me when am back?"

"Yeah, after all, that's all I have got to do in my life so why not!"

"You know what I guess am just gonna skip both your torture and my breakfast for today"

I left home slamming the door behind me. I know I was rude but I just don't get along with my mother these days. Maybe that's just the teenage thing. Anyways I rode on my bicycle to school where I met Rebecca and we discussed the history paper that was about to start in an hour.

The school was finally over, don't ask me about how was my exam because there is no way I can say in which you won't be judging me! I got back home feeling low from the earlier war I fought but there was no time to mourn as there was another to be fought tomorrow. I had my dinner and brushed my teeth before going to bed. It was the best place for me- my bed. Always felt like a charging place, you lie down on your bed drained out and by morning you feel all energetic to face a brand new day. I turned off my lights, lied down under my blankets ready to get charged and within 10 minutes I slept like a baby. It was those winter nights where the sky is particularly darker than usual. My window is on the left side of my bed and that's why the moonlight always falls squarely on my face. The lock of the window is broken and so it remains a little open all the time letting the cold breeze whoosh around my room. I usually sleep all curled up with knees bent, but today I was struggling to find a comfortable position to sleep. Finally, I got on my back as if lying in a coffin with one hand near my head and another on my stomach and my head facing the ceiling. I was still asleep when the mischievous air played with my hair waking me up. Slowly I opened my eyes in irritation and there it was!

I saw a human-like silhouette on my ceiling right above me. At first, I thought it was just some shadow but then it moved. It moved towards me! The spooky shadow was marching in my direction forming and deforming in shape. It looked part human and part devilish. I was lying on my bed trembling, unable to get my voice out, paralyzed- all I could do was look at the shadow and feel the terror. I could feel my soul screaming but knew that no one was able to hear it. I could feel my inner self trapped inside my own body like you are locked inside a container that is drowning. I felt helpless, horror, anxiety, and what not! And all I could do was to stare at the figure that might blemish me. It flew towards me and now I could see it more precisely. At his moment it wasn't just a shadow it was kind of a deformed human with long but skinny hands, a small torso, broken legs, and head tilted on one side with messy hair. I couldn't see the face properly even though it was close to me. Suddenly I felt a strange sensation on my hand resting on my stomach. When I looked there I saw some elongated sharp nails on its legs that could slice you up in a single stroke. The creature landed on me, folding its leg such that the knees were parallel to chest and hands holding my shoulders. The tilted head was now straightened moving closer to mine, so close that now the moonlight was slowly revealing the minute features on its face. The hair strands were covering half of the face and the other half had an eye glaring at me as if trying to warn me about what was going to happen next. It had a big nose, small sleek mouth and skin damp and crumbled. It was now facing to face, close enough to feel its breath. My heart was thumping so fast and loud that if there was someone in the room they could have heard the beats. It was looking at me leaning the head from left to right and vice versa then it stopped and gradually widened its mouth, opened in such a way that I was able to see hundreds of sharp pointed teeth. My eyes broaden by the fear and I was whimpering silently, moaning on my misery of not able to save myself from this demon. Suddenly I felt something being pulled out of me like my skin was being peeled off. The demon was there simply with its mouth wide open. That feeling of being torn apart from me was now growing. I was feeling like, that helpless soul of mine was being sucked out of me ruthlessly.

It took me a while to understand that it was the demon or ghost or anything you might call it- was feeding itself on my soul. The cacophony of its growling was freaking me out to death but then I was losing from the beginning and now the war was about to end. I was feeling like not much is now left in me. Everything that belonged to me- the pain, the fear, the distress everything was now coming to an end. All of it was fed by the evil structure with a scary face residing on my body and eating my consciousness slowly like a predator. I tried lifting my hand but no luck, my body was now stiffened and even my room looked in despair. The cool breezes running in my bedroom were not there anymore, there was pin-drop silence and me on a bed, scared and petrified almost losing my life. No one could have done anything about this paranormal activity as nobody knew what was happening. Within a few seconds, my consciousness was dwindling and darkness was dwelling from my peripheral view.

Thud... a loud bang was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

.

.

.

I was awakened by my mother shaking me from shoulders and screaming my name. I was back alive, bewildered on what was happening. It was hard for me to react, still was not able to move and the only difference this time was that the demon was gone.

It was a short time after this incident I understood what Sleep Paralysis meant.