Am I going insane?

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It was a cold and snowy December night in my small town and I was making my way home from some god-awful tiring police meeting. I’m a total opposite of a winter enthusiast to be honest, in fact there is nothing I hate more than freezing wind and slippery streets so I always try to get to the comfort of my house as fast as I can. As I am making a left turn a couple of blocks from my home I notice my old neighbor, Mrs. Baker, across the street and make eye contact. I can’t exactly put my finger on it but something was definitely off with her behavior. Maybe it was the empty stare she gave me or the way she took off without even a wave or a smile she usually gives me. It was too cold to give the situation too much thought so I just kept going my way knowing that I need another solid twenty minutes to reach my destination.

At last, I thought to myself while opening the front door of my apartment building, I can get some peace and quiet.
“Hello dear, how are you doing today”, a soft familiar voice interrupted my thinking.
“Oh, hello there Mrs. … “ I stuttered for a second, “Baker?”
She was feeding some stray cats in front of her door and all I could think about is how in the world did she get there faster than I did.
“I’m doing quite fine, how about you, how was your walk this evening”, I continued trying not to seem distracted.
“My walk?”, she asked visibly confused, “I haven’t left my apartment today dear, it is way too cold for me to stroll around”, she said with a soft genuine smile on her face.
“ My mistake, I must’ve confused you with someone, it’s been a very exhausting day after all. I’m going up to get some rest, good night Miriam”.
“Good night dear”, she responded and continued to enter her flat.
As I was walking upstairs everything about the past hour seemed quite strange, but as soon as I reached the front door I just shrugged it off and concluded that my mind is playing tricks on me. I entered my apartment, brushed my teeth and went straight to bed, I need to get up at 7 AM as I’m working the morning shift tomorrow.

My alarm clock snapped me awake just in time for me to go for quick shower, grab a bite, put on my uniform and get going. By the time I reached the station, the occurrences from last night have completely left my head and all I thought about is how boring the following day will be. I had been mistaken. Although everything was quiet and peaceful during the entire work day it’s bare end was everything but that. I was getting some of my stuff from the locker room when I came across our janitor, a very positive Mexican guy, Gabriel, who would always take a minute to stop and chat with every person from the precinct. I started opening my mouth to greet him, but I stayed silent, almost paralyzed when he looked into my eyes. He didn’t say a word while exiting the room, in fact he did nothing at all but maintain eye contact, staring blankly at me. His entire figure, the movement and posture made me feel extremely uneasy, so I just grabbed what I came to get, and rushed out without saying goodbye to any of my coworkers.

I’ve spent the next several hours locked inside my apartment trying not to freak out and connect the dots in my head. I have even called my friend who is a psychiatrist to come see me. After a few very long hours his only conclusion was that I’m way too stressed and that I need some time off to “blow off some steam”, as he put it. My conclusion on the other hand was that there is something sinister going on and that I shouldn’t just forget about everything and act as if nothing is happening. I walked my friend out and after a while of replaying the two encounters in my head, my mind and body couldn’t take it anymore and I started to drift off into sleep.

A creak coming from the next room interrupted my not so good night rest. With my eyes half open I could barely distinguish the figure which was now entering my bedroom. “Mrs. Baker? What in the world are you do..”, before I could finish my sentence she pulled a knife on me with movement so quick I almost had no time to react. I grabbed her wrist with the knife hovering no more than an inch from my face and plied the knife out her hand. She was way too strong for an eighty year old woman. Overwhelmed with adrenaline and fear for my life, I turned the knife in her direction and jammed it in her neck without hesitating even for a second. Whatever the thing I stabbed was, it was most certainly not Mrs. Baker. It started to shed the skin away, much like a snake would do, revealing a blue body underneath and let out a horrifically loud screech of pain. Its eyes were by far the most disturbing thing about it, their fluorescent yellow color made the creature look so unnatural, so inhuman. It took two steps back while pulling out the knife from the neck, letting it fall to the ground, and started to change its appearance to Mrs. Bakers once again. Everything was happening so fast I had no time to make sense of it, the only thing I knew was that it had to die. I picked up the blade and started running after it as it tried to flee. It was so damn fast and I was falling behind while chasing it down the stairs. The creature reached the bottom floor and crashed straight through the door of Miriam’s apartment with such ease as if they were made from glass. It was pitch black inside and I had to use my hearing to move around. I started going for the kitchen when a step from behind me gave its position away. With a swift turn I jammed the knife straight into its ribcage all the way through the heart. Only then I realized the horrific thing I’ve done. Miriam’s lifeless body was lying in my arms, mouth wide open with a face expression that showed nothing but fear and horror. The entity I was chasing was nowhere to be found.

My colleagues came and took me away in handcuffs. The trial would normally had been finished very quickly in a situation like mine since there was not a single evidence that would help my defense, but since I was a police officer myself it took way too long. It took so long that I’ve started to question my sanity, fearing that I’ve gone completely mad. Was what I saw real or just a figment of my imagination I couldn’t tell for sure at this point, the only thing that was clear to me, creature or no creature, was that I murdered an innocent woman and needed to be punished. They sentenced me to death by lethal injection. The very next day my execution was already set in motion, two doctors had my arms and legs strapped to a bed and a needle was inserted in my vein. In my final moments I noticed a scar on one of the doctor’s neck. He faced me and stared at me without uttering a single word. His eyes flashed yellow for a split second and I felt relief. “I’m not insane”, was my final thought and then everything went dark.

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All images were taken from Pixabay
This is my original work, copyright restricted

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