episode 3

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I died that day, but my body lived on. I can stare into space for hours,

watching shadows stretch across a room and shrink back into the corner,

without a thought in my mind or an emotion stirring in my chest. Sometimes

I don’t know if it’s better to feel nothing at all or everything.

Time keeps ticking until I find another brown parchment in my hand. They

make me feel like I have a heart, whether they make it flutter or thunder, I

feel alive.

I wonder what you taste like, my dark storm.

Your whimpers are like a symphony of angels. What will your

screams sound like?

Lilith, my night monster, my perfect other, soon, you will be

all mine.

“Turn that thing off,” Evan groans.

I blink, finally registering that the alarm has been blaring for over a minute

already. Hitting the ‘end’ button, I mutter, “Sorry.”

“It’s like you’re trying to give me a headache.”

I swallow, and wait for the bed to dip and hear the shower start before pulling

myself from the pillow to stare at the teddy bear sitting on top of my drawers.

Its beady black eyes are trained on me as I pull out my phone and rewind

through the nanny cam recording.

As always, the screen flickers, hours of recording disappearing along with

any trace of what might have happened: whether the Faceless Man came intomy room or if I really did walk the halls and leave myself notes, blissfully

ignorant to reality.

The shower stops and the telltale sign of the curtains being drawn pulls me

from my phone. I don’t know why I bother checking anymore. I never find

anything.

As soon as I step into the bathroom, I grit my teeth and glare at the puddle of

water saturating my socks. “Can you please use the bath mat,” I call out to

Evan, knowing he can hear me past the ticking of the gas stove turning on.

An exacerbated sigh comes from the kitchen. “Jesus, Lili. It’s too early in the

morning for you to start an argument. It was obviously an accident.”

I bite my tongue and swallow whatever retort would have never made it past

my lips, and step into the shower only to wince when nothing but cold

streams out. After four years, I know better than to say something back, even

though he never used to be like this.

I close my eyes and let the cold bite my skin. At least it makes me feel

something, even for just a little while. Evan stuck by me after the accident

and stayed when I made claims about seeing the Faceless Man.

He didn’t need to stay around or stand by me, but he did. I’m not sure how

much longer I can keep holding my breath around him. I just know that I

can’t bring myself to say the words that would tear us apart.

“Soon, my love.” The baritone whisper chills me more than the water. I snap

my eyes open and suck in a sharp breath from the dark shape just beyond the

curtain.

He’s here. The Faceless Man is here.

Gripping the plastic material, I yank it back expecting to see Evan or the

Faceless Man. Instead, I’m greeted by my empty bathroom and the puddles

of water on the tile floor.

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