The Stranger

Do you ever really know who you're living with?

Do you know what it’s like to live with a stranger? I do. Don’t get ahead of yourselves though. This isn’t one of those “after all these years I can’t believe you would do that. I just don’t know you anymore!” kind of stories. I’m not talking about some roommate in college I’d never met before either. So, don’t go wandering down that path.

It started with little things, not being able to find my keys where I left them, organizing my clothes and then coming back later with everything a mess. Like I said, little things. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “That happens to me all the time. You’re just being paranoid. It’s easy to misplace a set of keys, or think you’ve done something when you really haven’t” You’re wrong though. YOU might have those types of problems, but I don’t. I’m very particular, you see. Maybe you've heard the old saying “a place for everything and everything in its place”, I sure have. I was 6 the first time I heard someone say that. My teacher, Mrs Reynolds her name was, she had just finished hanging a jacket and hat that a student had left on the ground. “A place for everything and everything in its place” she said. Stupid woman, she didn't care enough to realize that she hung the hat next to the wrong jacket. She didn’t notice, but I did. That’s how I knew I wasn't being paranoid, not at all. I was just being observant, the way I’ve always been, noticing the kinds of things you would ignore.

Things got worse after awhile. Food started disappearing from my refrigerator, or I’d hear footsteps in the next room. There were times I was sure someone was standing behind me, looking right over my shoulder while I was going about my business. They were breathing against the side of my neck. I was sure of it! Unfortunately, "sure" just wasn't good enough. I would wait until I knew, I mean really knew that someone was there. Then I’d turn around, quick as a thought, but they were always faster than me.

He started watching me as I slept. How did I know it was a he? I see more than you do, that’s how. You see with your eyes, but I know better. I know that the eyes are just a small part of the equation. I know that you can’t always trust your eyes. I know he was there, standing over my bed, watching me try to drift off to the safety of my dreams. You don’t believe me, I know you don’t. That doesn’t make me wrong though. I can still feel his eyes, digging their way into the recesses of my mind, clawing at my sanity. I’m not crazy though. I’m stronger than you.

I don’t know how long this went on for. Not because I can’t keep track of time, I’m not a moron. I just stopped caring about what day the calendar said it was. The only thing a calendar is good for is telling you the last time your head a hit a pillow. I didn’t need that anymore. I didn’t have time for it. I didn’t want it. Do you want to spend 8 hours a day sleeping? Do you? What if it was 5 hours? What if it was 2? What if it was 0?

He thought he was clever, he thought he was smarter than me. F*****g idiot, he had no idea who he was up against. I knew if I was patient he would make a mistake, and I was right. Have you ever looked in a mirror? You think you have, but you haven’t. Not the way I have. I know you, all you see is yourself. Everything else is a haze, a mindless blur your eyes fill with the visual equivalent of white noise. That’s how I'm going to catch him. He thinks I'm like you. You know better by now though, I’m nothing like you. NOTHING! 

 

So here I am, staring in the mirror waiting for him to sneak up behind me, breathing down my neck the way he does. He doesn't know that I’ll see him. He doesn't know I’m ready this time. He’s fast, but he’s not faster than a bullet. I’ll show him this time. I’ll show all of you. You’ll believe me now…. Won’t you? He’s coming, I know it. He’ll be here any minute now. I’m scared. Don’t leave me alone with him. Please….