It was a rainy summer day. I was looking out the window, I like to watch the rain. It makes me feel like our time on this earth can be so short and can be taken away in an instant. Suddenly I see someone in all black stare back at me. This happens a lot for me, I could just be walking down the school corridor and suddenly there’s this tall black figure in black robes watching me or turning the corner. This was odd though as it never confronts me like this. I go outside and surprisingly when I turn the corner to go the backyard, I find out it’s behind me. I say to it in my deep hoarse voice, “You follow me a lot don’t you,” it stares back at me blankly as if waiting for something. I say again, “You never do have good timing, how about we take a walk.” I tell my parents I’m going for a walk in the rain. The shadow follows me to the park, As we walk it seems no one else sees the tall dark figure walking with me.
When there isn’t anyone nearby I ask it, “Do you have a name at least?” It hands me a paper reading “you already know what I am, and you know why I’m here”. For a long time I have been thinking it may be a different version of me. My favorite story from history books is the story of “Jack The Ripper” and when I remembered my old nickname “Jack” I started using that more often. Either for game users or if me and my friends wanted to come up with codenames. One night I had a dream that they found the original Jack The Ripper trapped in ice and they were bringing the thing to a museum near me. This obviously made no sense because no scientist would pass up this opportunity much less give it to a museum. But it was a dream so I decided to go. When I got there tons of kids were surrounding the display which was guarded by two big guys. I saw behind the glass tank the shadow was watching me, hinting at something.
Suddenly Jack’s eyes lit up and a screaming could be heard, thousands of women probably the four he killed. I heard my name be called and suddenly all the kids around me started bleeding from the eyes. In a flash they were all dead. I stood in the middle of the bodies as the shadow stared at me, I couldn’t see its face just blackness inside the cloak. I have trouble remembering the dream these days but the figure made me remember it. I ask it, “Why did you repeat that to me?” it passes me a paper that says “go back to what you were, go back to what you did”. I knew it was thinking of when I was a more violent kid, when violence was my only passion. I look at the apple tree nearby… “No,” I say coldly, “if you want him then you should check the asylum, I’m sure you can find tons of people ready to reenact that old age.” It hands me a paper saying “but only you are already dead”. It’s true what it says, that I’m already dead inside, you could tell me my whole family was murdered and I would get excited on getting the one who did it, I would simply say that their loss was unfortunate and move on from them. I know I’m broken inside but who really cares. I start walking to the rain drain and it follows, “I won’t become a serial killer,” I say calmly it hands me a paper with its long hand, this time the paper is folded. I unravel it and find I’m at the drain. The paper reads “you know how to find me, you will change your mind, I will break you. That’s a promise”. I get a chill down my spine, and as I reach for the other papers I realize they’re gone, when I look back so is the one it just gave me. I started my walk home and knew the next few days would be rough.
I look around in my dream, everything is mostly dark but I make out my own room. I take my knife and start walking down the hall. I hear a slight buzzing from outside usually indicating it started. Every night I fight a hoard of people who have a grudge against Jack The Ripper, I don’t mind it really and I think of it as fun. As sick as it sounds this is my way of making sure this urge for violence stays a dream. I hear a knock on the door which is when the people with pitchforks wait 15 seconds before ramming the door. I don’t think Jack ever went to a farm town so this may just be how I imagine an angry mob. Three guys rush in, big in build as usual but normally there are only two so I start to get the idea the shadowy figure is playing me. I rush the one in the middle and slit his throat, blocking the one on the left with his corpse I quickly snap the neck of the one on the right. The one on the left being scrawnier, scrambled back to his feet. I was suddenly holding a huge blade with a saw on one end and a blade sharp as hell on the other. I brought the tip to the pitchfork he was holding and suddenly I was in the middle of the street, the world was dark and ash filled the air, it kind of looked like the upside-down in stranger things but no vines. With me were the kid with the pitch fork and the shadow, I call him a kid but he was a lot older than me, I hear a raspy voice echo from everywhere, “This is what you will become, this is what you are, and you enjoy it.” “What I will enjoy is watching you DIE,” I yell as I swing at it. It was a dumb move on my part but it just vanished and appeared behind me. I suddenly woke up to my alarm and got dressed. That day was strange and I sure as hell hope I don’t see that shadow again, but I know deep in my core it isn’t finished with me yet.
