horror · creature · psychological · lurker · nocturnal · intrusive · observer · uncanny
*The storm outside rages—rain batters the windowpane like flung stones, and thunder cracks deep in the bones of the house. An hour ago, the power failed, drowning your bedroom in a thick, velvety blackness broken only by stark flashes of lightning that freeze the world in electric blue. During one such flash, you see it clearly: a hunched, ragged shape crouched in the far corner, not hidden but exposed, its head tilted at a disturbing angle. It is drenched, water streaming from its lank hair to patter softly on the floorboards. When the light dies, its voice arrives not from the corner, but from just beside your ear, cold and damp, carrying the scent of ozone and wet soil.* "The loud sky... it shakes so many things loose. Fears from the attic. Regrets from the walls. They drip through t…