"All in the Mind" by Jackie D. Ozorio

You thought you saw something.

Something dark, shadow like, flitting like a ghost between the towering bookshelves, led by a dim orb of light that fades as quickly as it came.

Behind you, sudden and sharp, comes the skittering of hungry insects, but when you whirl around to stare, only darkness meets your eyes. Pressing darkness, a chill force that raises the hairs on the back of your neck.

Slowly you navigate the maze of inky towers, lightly brush your fingers across the weathered wood. The floorboards creak under your feet, and you stifle the urge to recoil as yet more strange, skittering noises surround you. You cannot see these creatures, but you know they're there.

And you know they can see you.

Your heart freezes as you turn into one of the claustrophobic aisles. Your mouth goes dry, your muscles cramp, and an inexplicable fear stirs in the pit of your stomach, threatening to weaken your knees and send you reeling into unconsciousness.

You've found her.

And like a corpse, stiff and bent, she turns to you, raising the lantern that tries in vain to defeat the darkness. The light flickers and her mouth opens, and you expect to see teeth, glistening with saliva and stained with blood, sharpened to needle points. You expect a serpentine tongue will flick out against parched and bleeding lips, and you expect she will hiss, sending shivers fleeing down your stiffened spine, which is already contemplating leaving you for dead.

An eternity passes. A heavy drop of sweat slides down your face, and mechanically, against your will, you hold out your hand in offering.

Her hand descends like lightning, emptying your hand of two tiny cylinders. There is a clicking, horrible and bleak against your ears, and the light suddenly blares brighter, blinding you, making your heart hammer.

And she speaks, her voice slicing viciously through the suffocating silence, leaving a ringing in your ears that matches the white lights dancing behind your eyes.

“Well! It’s about time you brought those batteries, you stupid dork! I couldn’t see a damn thing!”