“I really despise this couch. Everything about it. You need to get a new one, or I’ll stop coming to these little chats.” “Focus, Daniella,” the therapist’s voice is low and colorless, like a forced kind of calming. “You were going to tell me about that night in the village, please, let’s just stick to talking about what happened that night.” Daniella fidgets, her lithe frame squirming as if her tattoo-covered skin is cra...

Mom screams. Short and piercing like she’s just stumbled across something startling. Her shriek comes from downstairs. ‘Sounds like she’s in the kitchen but why is she awake and out of bed at this hour?’ She screams again, calling my name. ‘She needs me.’ I spring from my bed, confused. Scared. Pausing at the threshold to my room, I look left. Mom’s door is open. I look right and see what appears to be the dim flicker of...

We had moved, thousands of miles away. Dad claimed it was a job transfer, but I knew the real reason. I knew it was because of the shadow in the house.  At first, my parents didn’t believe me. Said I was just hearing things; all in my head. Then, out of the blue, Dad announced a job offer, ironically very far away.  I felt safer the first night after the move. There was something oddly comforting about the new home’s unfa...