What Lurks Behind (part 1)

When I was little, I had several imaginary friends. A pink alligator, who silently guarded my room. A little group of beings in my closet who never talked, but gave me a sense of being loved, and they were great listeners. An elephant, who took the form of a stuffed animal I still sleep with today. The elephant is the only one I ever named, for some reason. His name being Eny. I'm not quite sure how I got that name. But it's always been this way, and I cannot remember a time in my life when Eny was not in it. I use to think he was the only figment that I carry with me to this day. Boy was I wrong.

It all started in 2015. My family and I were living in a motel with communal bathrooms, complete with showers, and kitchen. It didn't matter much to me, as long as there were no bedbugs, like the last place. At least, it didn't matter until I saw it. The figure in the bathroom. It never spoke, never appeared out of my peripheral vision. It really only appeared when I was on the toilet, which other than being creepy, didn't bug me much. It made it's home on the other side of the sink, so it's not like it could see much in the first place. It didn't have a shape, either. Just a four foot tall, thin lump of shadow. I shrugged it off and did my business when I needed to.

Later that year, after suffering the death of my stepfather, we moved. The figure moved with us. It was no longer confined to the bathroom, and there was more than one, but I don't have an exact number. I know there was at least two. The original figure liked being in the bathroom, and by the fridge. The other one liked distorting my face in dark reflective surfaces. At this point, I never entered a bathroom without turning on a light first. The first figure was neutral, but the second one seemed a bit more of a, trickster or troublemaker. I didn't say anything about it, and tried not to get too creeped out.

During this period, I know some came and went. There was one that liked to make odd points and bits appear out of the sides of shadows, little spikes and such, that were definitely not part of the original shadow. This one especially liked putting devil horns on people's shadows, specifically mine. Because these things mess with specifically me, mostly when I'm alone, it's rather annoying.

When my family and I moved into a real apartment, I was excited. My own room! Sort of. It's shared, with a divider down the middle.

In the new apartment, I noticed four distinct figures. The original figure, and the shadow-changing figure, who still comes and goes as it pleases. The mirror figure has left, and has been replaced by a figure who is very clearly sitting in the lefthand side of my closet, with long hair and it's knees pulled up to it's chest. This one is still shrouded in shadow, but is more defined. I'm not entirely sure it's the same kind of entity as the others.

Then there was the scariest one. This one wasn't a figure, so to speak. It never had a shape. It just picked a dark corner of the room and made the darkness pulsate and conquer the room. I hate this one. It doesn't appear as much anymore, because in summer time, the sun hardly goes down. But it's still there. In the bathroom, lurking behind doors. Waiting.

I don't think any of them can hurt me physically, but I've been up for long nights because of them. These things, when they want to be, are terrifying. But at the same time, they're fascinating. I kind of can't wait to move into a new place, to discover what lurks just out of sight there.