text: “Tell me your biggest fear.” I looked into Sam’s emerald eyes and smiled. Sam was so beautiful and I was the luckiest person in the world. I leaned in for a kiss. “Don’t try and avoid the question! Tell me your biggest fear.” “Just one kiss and I promise I’ll tell you.” I pressed my lips against Sam’s and, just like every other time, it was a drug I could never get enough of. When we pulled away, I could still taste its sweetness on my lips. “Now, what did you want to know?” A smack landed on my arm. “You know exactly what I asked.” Suddenly, I felt pang of sadness. I couldn’t figure out why. Here I was, intertwined with the love of my life, without a care in the world and I was feeling sad? I tried to shake it off but it lingered. “I suppose... um... it would be... being forced to watch White Chicks on a loop forever.” Another smack, this time on my belly. “What?? It is! I love that film and if I ever over did it and stopped loving it, it’d be hell!” “I’m serious! I want to know what shakes you to your core; the one thing that you would rather die than live through.” Those green orbs looked into me and all I felt was the same gloom. My brow furrowed as I wondered why I felt this way. I didn’t like it and tried to change the subject. “Why do you want to know this so badly, right now? Let’s just lay here and enjoy this moment before Life comes along and ruins it.” I burrowed my head into Sam’s brown locks and got lost in the scent. Sam always smelt like coconut. Always. But there was something else. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Different soap? Hair cream? Something wasn’t right. It was almost... metallic. “Babe, did you change your shampoo or something?” No answer. “Babe, are you sleeping?” I pulled back to check if Sam was asleep and a scream tore out of me. I jerked back and pushed away. Sam was covered in blood. But it wasn’t just that; it was the eyes. They were slit like a cat’s. “SAM? WHAT THE FUCK, SAM?” Again, no answer came but a hideous, spike-tooth grin spread across this *thing’s* face. “What’s the matter, honey? Aren’t I your ‘babe’? Don’t you want to just enjoy the moment anymore?” It was Sam’s voice mocking me. What the fuck was going on? I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think. My heart was pounding and my chest was about to explode. What the FUCK?! “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” it laughed. “Your tongue’s not the only thing I’ve got.” A blood-soaked hand - no, claw - reached out towards my chest and I scrambled back until my back hit the wall. Shit. “Oh shh shhhhh. Don’t be scared, I don’t bite,” it said soothingly. Almost sincerely. Then, a large sinister smile. “Not unless you want me to,” it sneered. “S-Sam?” “Is that what you want? Ok, one sec.” Instantly, Sam, *normal Sam*, was back. “Sam? Is that really you?” “What kind of a stupid question is that? Yes, it’s me! Why wouldn’t it be? What are you doing over there? Come back and let’s cuddle.” “I- I could have sworn you were just - I don’t know. It must have been a nightmare or something.” I shook my head to clear it. Such a vivid hallucination. “Oh, honey. You must be terrified. Come tell me about it.” Open arms beckoned me and I started to shift back towards them. “You stupid FUCK!” It was back! “That’s the problem with you people. One speck of affection and you’ll throw common sense away.” “Who- What are you?” I whispered. It was all I could do. My throat was closing up from pure fear. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is, I’ve won my bet.” “What?” “It took me a while. Considering I’ve only been doing this for a few weeks, I got you to crack in 2. The bet was 3. I tried all the cliché stuff first: spiders all over you, falling off a cliff; you know, the usual. But nothing truly scared you, not like this.” “What?” I couldn’t make sense of any of what it had just said, or that it was still Sam’s voice. Spiders? Cliffs? What? “I know you’re not stupid. But you do need to close your eyes and we can do this again, from the top. It’s so fun!” I was never taking my eyes off this creature. Not if my life depended on it. It probably did. I needed to get out. Somehow, I needed to distract the beast and make a break for it. My mind raced as I thought of how the hell I was going to do that. “Come on,” it goaded, “I promise it’ll be just as exciting!” It started to slither towards me and I didn’t think twice! I punched it in the face, jumped out of the bed and sprinted to the door. I was going to get out! Talons landed on my shoulder and dug in painfully just as I grabbed the door handle and Sam said, “you’re going to wish you’d never done that.” \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ “Tell me your biggest fear.” I got lost in Sam’s emerald eyes and leaned in for a kiss. “Don’t try and avoid the question! Tell me your biggest fear.