“Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams,” the man said, smiling. “I promise you, it will help.” His teeth were shockingly white, directly contrasting the pitch-black suit jacket he wore. 

“Okay…” I sat in the reclining chair and peered around the room. He didn’t seem to have any degrees hanging up on the walls. He probably just has them in a drawer or something, I thought. 

“Oh, my dear it will help you!” He shouted manically, spinning around and grabbing a clipboard from the small table behind him. 

His movements reminded me of a bird’s. Everything was sharp and quick, as if he had drunk four energy drinks just before coming into the room. The more I thought of it, the more he really did remind me of a bird. His nose was long and pointed; his eyes were small and beady. Even his hands had long, yellowed fingernails that could pass as talons to someone with an especially dark imagination. 

“Just relax and be patient. The process is long but the results have been outstanding!” 

“Could you be…” I took a long, deep breath, “maybe just be a bit more quiet? Loud noises make me nervous.” 

“Oh, of course, my dear. I apologize.” He withdrew a pencil from within his mess of grey hair and jotted down a few notes on whatever he had on the clipboard. “Alright we must get started. Not a lot of time now!” 

I flinched at the sudden crescendo in energy and the man slapped a hand over his mouth. “Now, now, now, now…’ he whispered, glancing up at the ceiling or out the window every few seconds. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was again?” I asked. My chest began to heave with panicked breaths. Why am I here? I told myself I wasn’t going to do this. 

“My dear, my name is Doctor K. Do you have any other arbitrary questions or can we continue with your session? We want to cure the thoughts that are plaguing your mind, no? Yes, of course we do. You must close your eyes… yes… close them. Surrender to the darkness that consumes you. It’s the only way.” His tone had turned sour. It was no longer overly chipper and energetic. He rushed to the window on the other side of the room, spending a few minutes just standing there, staring at the dark night sky. 

“Doctor?” I whispered tentatively. 

He whipped around and stumbled over his own feet as he made his way back to the small table. “Yes, of course. I apologize. We must get started.” 

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. This is for your own good, Emma. He knows what he’s doing… just believe in his abilities. You need this to stop.

“Okay.” He kneeled on the ground next to me and placed his hand gently over my eyelids. “Close your eyes. Surrender. Allow the darkness to wash over you like ink washes over a white surface. I will take it from there.” 

I allowed myself to fade into the space around me. As I broke down the floodgates of my subconscious and thoughts made their way through my body and mind, I could feel myself fading into the nothingness around me as Doctor K whispered, “you will be cured.”

My eyes snapped open, and I found myself in a room. Similar to my childhood bedroom but there was something off about it. Something I couldn’t quite grasp. I was laying down on my side, buried under three layers of heavy blankets. An overwhelming sense of dread took over my entire being. 

Something is behind me. It’s there. It never really did leave, did it? 

I tried to force myself to turn around, to comfort myself that nothing was there. But a fear paralyzed me from taking the simple action. I wanted to scream, knowing nothing was there, but feeling that it was sitting there, just on the other side of the bed. Just turn around, Emma. You have to do this. Minutes passed, and I had almost convinced myself to face whatever was lurking in my room, but a knock came from the door opposite me. I screamed and shot up into a sitting position. The weight on the bed was gone, and nothing was there. 

Cautiously, I made my way towards the door. The knock came again, louder and more forceful. Out of sheer panic, I lurched to open the door. There should have been a hallway there but instead, when I opened the door, I found an empty, black expanse of nothing. Oddly, I wasn’t surprised. I had seen it before.

My dreams -- no, my nightmares -- were all real. I knew it. At that point, it wasn’t the abyss beyond the door that was unsettling to me. It was what would come at the end of the darkness that set me on edge and gave me pause before I stepped through the doorway. 

These are childish fears. Just take the step. 

The air was deathly cold. My toes were chilled as soon as they crossed the threshold, followed by the rest of my legs up to my hips. As I tried to place my foot down, it became clear that there was no floor, and I began to fall. 

Panic rose within me again as I tumbled through the air. Faster and faster and faster I fell. Was there an end to the darkness? To the nightmares? As a child I had always hoped there would be, but they never truly disappeared. They plagued my every waking moment and my unconscious ones as well. My anxiety was amplified with every new intrusive thought; every new monster under my bed. 

A light appeared beneath me, revealing a tiled floor. I screamed as I hit the ground and everything went black. 

When I woke up, I was swimming. Back and forth across the 25 meters of slightly opaque water. A layer of steam graced the surface of the water and swirled around as I swam. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. How did I get here? As I tried to think back to what had led to me getting in the pool, my memory faded. 

I turned my head to breathe once more, and as I plunged back into the water, something caught my eye through the thick layer of white mist. A figure stood on the side of the pool.

With a gasp, I jerked out of my rhythm, coughing up water that had made its way into my lungs. I spun around, searching for whoever, or whatever, had been standing there just moments before. 

The only other creature I could see nearby was a crow, perched on the stone wall beside the pool. It curiously cocked its head at me. 

“There’s no one there,” I whispered to myself, returning to my swim set. 

I reached the end of the pool, I flipped, launching myself towards the other wall. Once again, I turned to breathe and there was the figure. It was closer this time. I caught more of its appearance before it disappeared once more. The shape was completely black, like a shadow that came to life. It stared at me with small, beady eyes that lacked any pupil or iris.

I saw the crow again, this time perched directly behind where the figure had been. It cawed at me, and without warning made its way towards me with a threatening glint in its eyes. I shrieked and ducked under the water, but not fast enough. The crow’s talons dug into my shoulders. Bubbles floated past my face as I wailed in agony and deep crimson blood made grotesquely beautiful patterns as it flowed through the water. 

That was when I woke up. 

I was in the therapist’s office. Doctor K, I reminded myself. He sat in the same place as before I fell into my trance. 

“What did you do to me?” I spat. As I tried to stand up, he placed his hand gingerly on my shoulder and pushed me back into the chair. I yelped in pain and looked down to see blood soaking through my shirt on both of my shoulders. 

“I cured you, my dear. Or I tried to, at least. You shouldn’t have any more nightmares. But I insist you stay here for a while longer. I wouldn’t want you to leave now just to have them return tonight. If you stay here for the night, I can make sure that you’re properly observed.” 

“I- I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Looking down at his hand that was still pressed to my shoulder, I saw blood caked underneath his long, sharp, yellowing fingernails.

“Oh please,” he said, standing up and removing his hand from my shoulder. His smile grew wider and I watched as his teeth became pointed and plentiful. Thousands of razor sharp teeth filled his mouth. 

His pupils and irises faded as if his eyes were being covered by a milky white lens. His leathery skin stretched as his smile widened all the way from one ear to the other. The last words he said could be likened to the sound of a crow’s call.

“I insist.”