Apparition

He's everywhere. Whenever I look at a mirror or through glass, or in my dreams, He stands there, looking at me with his unnatural face.

I don't know why he first appeared, but it was after the day I was called to investigate a chain of events at the Garnatius Hospital for the Mentally Ill. Basically, it was an asylum. Oh, I forgot to say that I was a detective at the time, and this was a unique case.

You see, five strange things were happening. 1: every few nights, there would be footsteps in a corridor, usually stopping several second later than it had done previously. 2: an hour after the footsteps stopped, there would be a scream coming from one of the patients cells and were found dead in the morning. 3: patients would complain about a night mare about a figure staring at them, and usually would have them until they took their own lives. 4: a symbol would be found cut into the cheek of the murder victims. And 5: security guards would sometimes find themselves stumbling into a dark room, exiting from it while mentally ill. For these reasons, they were nicknamed the Mental Apparition Case.

Anyway, I decided to investigate the bodies of the poor victims, as there may have been a clue. And sure enough, there was one: a black shard of something, embedded in the symbol. It was protruding from a man's left cheek, shining ominously. I took it away for analysis. Apart from that, there were no other leads and decided to call it a day. By the time I got to the station, it was closed, so I took the shard with me. No harm done, right?

That night, I had a dream. I was in the middle of darkness, while I was able to see everything before me. I thought I was alone, until I saw a boy. He must have been in his late teens, from the look of him. His back was turned, and all he wore was a black cloak, the sort you see monks or priests wear at a church. Suddenly, as if he sensed my presense, he turned.

The boy had not much of a face. Instead of having all of his facial features, he only had a mouth full of teeth, teeth as sharp as knives. Two symbols were glowing in the place his eyes should have been. The symbols, they...they were the same as the ones those victims had. He leaped at me and I woke with a start.

Tired and afraid, I walked into the bathroom and splashed water in my face. I looked up, and saw him again. It was impossible, I must still be asleep! But no, I wasn't, as I heard nails scratching the mirror's surface. I ran out of my home, running as fast as I could go.

Work wasn't better, though. I handed the evidence to my boss and drank some coffee. The cleaner asked me to fetch some cleaner from the cupboard, which I did. As soon as I turned on the light... There he was. I stumbled backwards. After I raised my head, he had vanished. Why was this kid following me?

Walking back home several hours later, my neighbour asked how I got scratched. I had no idea what he was talking about, until I felt my cheeks. The right one had the symbol etched onto it. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat in confidence, I couldn't go to work, and when my pals found me in my kitchen rocking back and forth with fear in my eyes, I ended up in the asylum.

It's only a matter of time. He'll kill me eventually. And if you're unlucky enough, he may appear before you next.