My family locked me in the basement to give birth. Days later, they returned to find a dark red liquid seeping from the door. As my mother screamed, a voice whispered behind her, “Looking for me?”

flow out into the hallway above, waiting for the illusion to strike its target.

It took less than two minutes.

A guttural, piercing shriek tore through the acoustics of the house.

“Walter!” Eleanor’s voice was unrecognizable, a ragged tear of pure terror. “Oh my god, Walter, come here! Quickly!”

The heavy, frantic pounding of my father’s leather oxfords continue reading …