Work Text:
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
He doesn’t move. He doesn’t breathe. He doesn’t blink.
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
Is he even alive? When will he stop smiling?
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
Stop smiling. Stop smiling. Stop smiling.
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
He’s laughing, now. Loud static fills my ears.
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
It’s hard to breathe. Pins and needles writhe beneath my skin.
There’s a man at the end of my hallway.
I think I’ve seen him before. Bathed in a different type of red.
A step forward.
No.
A step forward.
No. No. No.
A step forward.
He isn’t supposed to move.
A step forward.
Bile burns in the back of my throat.
A step forward.
He is evil. He hurt the ones I love. He’s going to hurt me.
A step forward.
He laughs. It hurts my head. My stomach twists.
He stops.
His smile is the only thing I see.
He asks,
Voice low, voice sharp,
“If a cat hunts a mouse,
and the mouse calls him evil,
does that make it true?”