About a 9-minute Read

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“I don’t think she respects what you bring to the table. You need to better advocate for yourself or you will never get that promotion.”

That’s my night terror demon, Harvey.

“Couldn’t you pay her a visit? Maybe drop a subliminal message or two?”

And that’s me.

“Sorry, not how it works. You’re my guy until you’re not. I’m loyal like that.”

“What do you mean, ‘until I’m not’?”

“What do you think I mean?”

“I hate when you play coy.”

“Sorry, it’s how I’m made.”

“I would guess it means until I’m dead?”

“See, you are smarter than you think.”

Harvey has essentially been in my life since I could form memories. His, and I use “his” because it feels wrong to refer to Harvey as an “it” after so many years together, his real name is something from the earliest periods of humanity that I cannot pronounce. I suppose he could just as easily be an Ethel or Taylor, but using the name Harvey helped me get over the terror of his earliest appearances.

Harvey first appeared as a shadow. I remember waking up after a couple hours of deep sleep and having a feeling that I was not alone. My room’s night light forced the usual shadows on the wall. I recognized my stuffed animals, dresser, and other toys. As my eyes scanned across the room, trying to calm my racing thoughts, I noticed shadows that looked darker than the others. My breath caught as I stared into the depths of that infinite blackness. Then, the shadow shifted.

An arm extended to the side and unraveled its length to culminate in a hand with long, sharp fingers. Then another arm slipped out the other side, followed by a long, unnaturally skinny leg. A second leg appeared before a torso emerged from the depth of the shadow. Lastly, a narrow, oval head with what I took to be a sharp chin slowly came forth. There were no features. No eyes or mouth, just blackness, but I could tell the entity looked at me. It moved quietly with great agility while fear gripped my entire body and held me hostage. I could not move and had to lie there as the entity crept ever closer. It stopped, straddling over me. Its face hovered inches above mine and just stared, as much as an eyeless, featureless face can stare. The moment probably lasted less than a minute, but the terror I felt froze time. Eventually, the entity withdrew into the shadow, and the extreme darkness of its genesis dissipated.

These events occurred roughly once a week for a year. The entity would alternate between actively approaching me as I lay paralyzed in bed, or standing at the foot of my bed, or shifting around the room from one pocket of shadow to another. There was no direct interaction between the entity and me, but each occurrence felt like it took a piece of my sanity, even as a kid. Then, one night the dynamic changed.

“Think about when you stood up to me. There I was, torturing your psyche time and again. Then, one night, you blurt out, ‘Can I call you Harvey?’ I mean, what a line, completely out of nowhere. And that comes after the shock of having someone talk to me. It’s never happened before. Sure, there’s the typical whimpering and stifled screams, but never the possibility of conversation. You are unique, and that is why you need to stand up for yourself.”

“It’s different with her.”

“Are you implying she’s worse than me, a demon of the night?”

“In a way.”

“Nonsense. That is you succumbing to your imagination. At the height of your fear, you confronted me. Now look at us, regular chums.”

“Somehow. Oh, random subject change, I don’t think I’ve ever asked, why did you keep coming back after that?”

“I debated whether I should move on, but it’s not like there are any rules saying I had to. I think I was too intrigued to leave. You were a first.”

“Makes a guy feel special.”

“It should. We demons aren’t impressed by much anymore. Anyway, you’ve got a big day tomorrow. I should go.”

“I’m going to be up thinking about it anyway.”

“Then at least someone is doing my job.”

“Funny. Hey, one more thing that I’ve wondered about for years but never think to ask.”

“I’m all invisible ears.”

“Are all, things like you…”

“That do night visits?”

“Yeah, are all things like you, er, demons?”

“Oh wow, now you’re really trying to pull back the curtain.”

“I’ve been curious. I feel like other stories I hear have different types of visitors.”

“I guess you’ve never seen the others then.”

“Wait, what?”

Harvey vanished into the shadows.

The next night, I awoke with a feeling of uneasiness I’d not had since childhood. The sensation of not being alone was strong, but I immediately knew it was not Harvey. Something was just different enough to add a new degree of unfamiliarity to the room. My wife, lying next to me, usually had an adorable, quiet little snore, but tonight, there was nothing. I wanted to check on her, but I couldn’t move. I’d not experienced sleep paralysis since I called out Harvey. I tried to say my wife’s name, but I could not even speak.

As my brain, at full alertness, tried processing the situation, my focus snapped to the closet door parallel to the foot of our bed. The door had moved. It moved again. The door opening continued widening until the entire closet should have been exposed but was instead replaced by a black void. I recognized the darkness as the same Harvey crawled from, but now something different stirred within. This time, it was not a shadow moving within a shadow. Within the inky blackness, the room’s ambient light caught a faint shade of white that continued to brighten as its source slowly moved closer to the closet’s threshold. As it neared, long-dormant fear came flooding back and gripped the roots of my soul.

A ghostly white child, a girl, emerged from the closet, draped in long dark hair and sporting hallow, milky eyes. She took slow, jerky steps toward me while locking her stare into my own. She reached the foot of my bed and levitated, rotating forward until she was parallel with my own inert body. The girl’s horrible face only inches from mine, her mouth opened to release a deep, rumbling roar that felt as though it froze the marrow in my bones. My mouth flew open to release its own bellow of terror, but before any sound came forth, she vanished. Within seconds, as though a switch flipped to erase the experience, I was back asleep and stayed so until morning.

For the next several days, that night’s experience stayed on the periphery of my consciousness. While I did not spend the days reflecting upon the encounter, flashes of imagery occasionally popped into my head to send a chill down my back before quickly dissipating and allowing me to continue about my day. In fact, I operated as if nothing unusual happened. Eventually, Harvey returned. He emerged from the shadows as usual, but this time, he said nothing. I had to break the silence.

“You missed last week.”

“But you didn’t.”

The memory crystallized, and the realization stunned me like a slap to the face, “The girl.”

If Harvey had expressions, I imagined there was a smile, “What did you think? She owed me a favor.”

“You sent her?”

“You asked if we were all the same. Now you know.”

“I was looking for a verbal answer, not necessarily needing to meet your friends.”

Harvey shrugged, “I’m not much of a demon if I don’t cause a little chaos now and then.”

“That was awful. I never want to experience it again. What’s her story?”

“She’d have to tell you herself. I could always invite her back…”

I emphatically waved my hands, “No, no, I’m not that curious. But, why didn’t I remember it until now?”

“That’s how it works in the beginning. I probably sat watching you a dozen times before you woke up remembering anything. It adds to the overall effect, you know. You experience it but refuse to believe the event is real.”

“So what made me eventually realize what was happening with you?”

“Human biology probably. I don’t know. Always figured it comes down to the human brain maturing enough to register and store the fear.”

“This whole thing is pretty messed up.”

Another Harvey shrug, “Tis the business I’m in, my guy.”

“Whatever. Anything else for tonight?”

“I’m probably not supposed to say anything, but word is there’s a new assignee to your family.”

I wasn’t sure what I’d heard, “What?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still be here. This place is going to get crowded though.”

“Am I getting double-teamed?”

“Nah, not our thing.”

“Then wha…,” realizing I wasn’t alone in the bed, I looked over, “Becca?”

“Not exactly.”

Harvey was not making sense, “I’m confused.”

“All I’ll say is, there’s going to be a new household member, and they’re marked for visitation. I probably shouldn’t have even shared that. Well, better run. See you next week!”

Before I could protest, Harvey vanished into shadow. I sat there, dumbfounded. I was not expecting Harvey to drop a riddle on me and split. My brain raced through potential solutions. I looked over at Becca, still sleeping soundly. As I watched her sleep, disconnected thoughts and observations came together. Becca had spent that last week or two feeling extra tired, so she had been going to bed earlier than normal. Earlier that night, we dined at our favorite restaurant, and this time she could not finish the dish she ordered every single time. She said it tasted weird. On top of all this, though she had not said anything, I heard her in the bathroom throwing up more than once in the past week. My sleuthing brain kept me fixated on solving the mystery. The answer was forming, feeling like it should have been so obvious. Finally, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Fatigue – click. Changing tastes – click. Morning illness – click. Crowded household – click.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at the shadow Harvey used as his doorway, his words suddenly making all the sense in the world.

“Oh shit.”

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