Page 21 of Cruel Cravings

“What are you talking about?” the motel manager snaps. “Who’s here? Who’s watching you? You ran right into me.”

“There. Over there!” I turn back around to point him out only to find the space is empty.

The massive hulking shadow man is gone. He’s nowhere in sight as if he was never there.

“I saw him,” I mumble. “I just saw him.”

The manager’s mouth presses into a tight line. “There’s no one there. Watch where you’re going next time. You could’ve knocked me over.”

He steps past me, allowing his shoulder to bump into mine. I stay where I am, stunned into silence, blinking in confusion.

How could I be so sure what I saw when no one else ever sees it?

I scoop up my soda and chips and then rush toward my room. Slamming the door shut and sliding the latch into place, I back away heaving deep breaths.

“I’m not crazy,” I mutter. “I’m not crazy. Why won’t anyone believe me?”

My knees give out and I crumple onto the bed, covering my face with my hands and refusing to look anywhere. If I do, I risk the chance I’ll see him. I’ll imagine the lock’s come undone or there’s a lump behind the shower curtain.

But it does nothing to change the fact that I still feel him. His presence. His energy. He’s here with me, invading my life, and escape is impossible.

The sunrise spills through the narrow part in the curtains, a pale wash of pink and orange that creeps across the motel room walls. I sit in the chair by the window, knees tucked to my chest, arms wrapped around myself like a shield. My eyes ache from staying open too long, the lids heavy, but I don’t dare close them.

The caffeine won’t allow it anyway.

The soda was the beginning. I drained the bottle and left it empty on the nightstand alongside a couple paper cups I drank coffee out of. I used the little coffeepot in the bathroom to brew it, making some of the muddiest coffee imaginable.

But it did the trick for the time being.

He’s still out there. He’s still after me along with everyone else.

Every time I peer out the window, I half expect to see him in the parking lot, his towering silhouette outlined against the dawn light.

He’s waiting for the right moment. He won’t give up. I can’t either.

My chest tightens, panic clawing its way up my throat.

I think about my sister and why she’s vanished. It’s as if she’s poofed into thin air, never to be seen from again. But I know she’s not dead like they say she is. I would feel it if she were.

It’s something else. Something that drove her away. Something she was desperate to escape. It’s then that I know, that I realize what’s going on.

How didn’t I see it before?

My sister saw him too.

It makes sense now. The shadow man must’ve been after her, haunting her like he’s been haunting me, and she was desperate to find a way out.

What if the shadow man is the Cleaver? What if they’re working together? What if they’re all after us and we’re the only two who we can rely on?

It wouldn’t be any different from our childhood. We were all we had then too.

A shiver racks down my spine. My sister could be anywhere, but I’ll find her one way or another. I’ll make sure this stops.

The realization blooms to life gradually, sinking into my bones. My whole life has been an endless cycle of fear and flight, of being misbelieved and dismissed. No one’s ever taken me seriously and it’s made me unravel thread by thread.

Maybe Iamcrazy.

But if I am, so are they.

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