The wave of spiders tumbled over each other as they sped toward me. My entire body was frozen. I remember opening my mouth to scream. Nothing came out except for that hideous knocking noise.
It burst from my lungs like a radio speaker, vibrating my rib cage. Knock. Knock. Knock. Something inside me wanted out. The darkness was suffocating. I blinked and the sea of spiders morphed into a tall figure. My hands gripped the couch, but I couldn’t move as it descended on me.
Fingers made of thousands of crawling spiders reached toward me. My eyes watered. It grabbed my face in one hand, but it was fleshy and moved against my skin as the spiders crawled over each other.
I don’t remember what happened next. When morning came, I was on the floor of the living room. At first, I thought I had dreamt the whole thing. Thought that maybe I needed to abandon the idea of monsters, or booking another air conditioning service near Brisbane. Maybe it was sleep paralysis.
The air conditioning unit was no longer making any abnormal noises. In fact, it was heating the room up as it was scheduled to do.
That calmed my brain. However, don’t think that I only wrote to you with a story and no hard proof. I was a sceptical person at heart, before all of this happened. It was a point of pride. Maybe that was why I clung on so stubbornly to the idea that I needed to try every heating service around Brisbane. I was terrified of the idea that I was losing my mind.
I wish that it had been so simple as a dream but, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, I wouldn’t be writing to you if it was. When I looked in the mirror that day, I knew that I hadn’t imagined it. Across my face was a large red handprint.
I don’t know what happened that night; not fully. This is the last time I ever want to think about it. I moved out the following day and haven’t looked back since. I thought maybe writing to you would help me find peace but… I am starting to feel watched.
I have to go.
Goodbye,
Annabeth Piltoove