The patient was quiet. He had stopped straining against the straitjacket and now sat slumped over in the corner, his wild, uncombed hair covering his face. You could just see the muzzle, though, as it came around behind his head. I knocked. He sprung in a flash toward the door, his muffled snarls cut short as he reached the end of this tether. He was collared like a dog, and the sudden stop had nearly knocked him over. He stood in the center of the room, pulling against the long cord which was anchored to the far wall.
I looked into his eyes. They shone like a cat’s, bright and yellow, glimmering in the dim cell.
“It’s a new world,” I said. He growled. “They don’t believe in you, you know, don’t know enough to be afraid. You’re going to have to up your game. You can’t frighten people anymore by playing the uncontrollable monster. As you can see, they have you quite well under control.”
“They’ll fear,” he rasped. “Man is made to fear.”
“No, they’ll play with you, they’ll keep you like a pet, make you perform for them when they’re bored and want to feel a little fright. And can you feed off that fear? How long can you survive off a few measly starts? Jump scares won’t keep you alive.”
Then, he did make me afraid. Slowly, beginning with a low rumble, I heard him laugh, and as he laughed, the fevered notes grew in pitch and volume until he was shrieking as if in pain, bent over and trembling.
“You, man, think you’ve progressed? Countless civilizations have arisen and countless magicians, astrologers, wizards, scientists, have said as much to me. Do you really think you’ve made something new? Man was made to fear. It is not a question of how long I can last. I am the darkness of your dreams, and you cannot stay awake forever. You think that just because it’s dawn the evening will never come again?” He stared at me, his glowing eyes like sparks. “I am ancient, I am eternal, and I thrive in the darkness, in this darkness, where man always casts me away. In the darkness, I grow.”
Tale Told 