I never considered myself religious. The act of being on my best behaviour because someone was watching over me never filled me with faith. In retrospect, I hated the idea of being watched – even if the onlooker had the best intentions.
I would scoff at movies where the monster would be battled away with enchanted words. The concept of something inherently good or evil seemed like such a foreign concept to my brain. That… thing though. The one that would claw at my bedroom door in the middle of the night, bringing a freezing drop of temperature with it. That thing was pure evil. I know that in my heart.
A week before it came for me, I decided to try to save my sanity by getting my air conditioning unit fixed. I thought, with a sliver of hope, that the constant whispers really did come from an overactive imagination and a malfunctioning filter or refrigerant leak. Even if the technician had said it was fine, replacing it was my last option.
I found a company that could perform a heating service near Brisbane. They were able to arrive the next morning. I hadn’t slept a wink the night before, overcome by the noises at my doorstep. They tried to inform me that the unit was working as normal, but I cut them off immediately. The technician looked taken aback by my bluntness but maintained their professionalism. They were able to replace the unit with a new one on the same day.
I stood and watched the entire air conditioning installation. Brisbane could have been on fire outside my window and I wouldn’t have noticed. My entire focus was on the units, trying to catch a glimpse of what could have been my nightly visitor.
Nothing. Despite my best efforts to try to see something, it really was just an A/C unit. Cooling down my rising temper, I bid the technician goodbye as calmly as possible. On the inside, I wanted to throw up. I knew, even before night fell and the knocking continued, that the replacement hadn’t done a thing.
I was still being watched.