It

Calm. Calm. Alright. I need to talk... need to talk about it.

That's what it is. 'It'. Not 'he'.

I suppose I was in some sort of daze when I saw him- it, so I didn't get to see... Well... I- I suppose I should start from the beginning.

About two days ago I went back to Kip's house to talk to her again. To tell her that she was right. The clouds were heavy in the sky, as they had been for the past few weeks. I could almost smell the ozone. The gloomy darkness kept people inside, waiting for a rain that seemed to be late in coming.

The windows in Kip's house were dark, curtains down so that you couldn't see inside. Curious. Outside her house, however, were eleven rhododendrons, placed in a circle around her house as if to ward off someone... or something. I bit my lip as I approached the house - had Kip moved away? That would make sense though, as the rhododendrons were usually placed at the shrine in the woods, not at the house. And usually multiple weren't added; only one.

I shrugged away my confusion and knocked on the door. Like before, there was silence, an eye appearing in the peep-hole, and then the door opened, Kip standing in the frame.

Before she could say anything, words tumbled out of my mouth. "Kip at first I didn't think you were right but then I called the police and then there was distortion and then I went home and then I was oozing stuff out of my ear and I passed out and when I came to it was dark and the clock in my room said it was 11:11 PM and I went to the window and I saw a glimpse of a tall man wearing a suit and I don't know what to do and I'm lonely and want company-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Void. Calm down."

"I'm TRYING to be calm but- there's a stalker tapping on my window!" I took several shallow breaths.

Kip paused, as if trying to piece things together. "Wait- distortion? Tall man? Wearing a suit? No- it can't be... I thought- I mean, it was fun reading about him but- no, no. You have to be lying, it can't be-" She suddenly looked up and stared at something over my shoulder, her face pale. "No."

I whirled around to see what she was looking at, but whatever it was, it seemed to have vanished.

I felt something whip by me, and with a start I turned back, only to find out that Kip was running. But to where?

It soon became apparent.

The forest.

I ran after her, dashing across the grass into the forest, my surroundings seeming to blur as I ran. There was a sensation of pain in my arm as a branch cut into it, and when I looked back I saw I was bleeding - however, I couldn't stop. I needed to keep on Kip's trail. Where did she think she was going? Why was she running in the first place?

From somewhere in front of me, I heard a sickening squelch, like a fruit smashing onto the ground. I picked up my pace, and then bolted through a cluster of dead trees and into a clearing.

What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

I stood in a puddle of crimson, warm and fresh - blood, no doubt about it. It was loose and ran in every direction, but I had stepped into the center of it. In front of me was a great dead tree, but I didn't pay attention to that. Because in front of it was Kip.

What was left of her, anyway.

Her chest was ripped open, all internal organs sans the small intestine either impaled by tree branches or littering the forest floor. The small intestine was wrapped around a tree branch directly above Kip, in a facsimile of a noose. A noose wrapped around Kip's neck.

I looked away from the body, my mind screaming 'no' over and over again, but my mouth unable to form the words.

That's when I saw him.

An impossibly tall, slender man, wearing a black-and-white business suit, toothpick-arms hanging directly by his sides. His face a blank disc. Paler than pale.

Unable to comprehend this, I looked away, something I instantly regretted as I caught a glimpse of Kip again. I doubled over, unable to hold it in - bile splattered on the ground. By then, the thing had gone. And I became aware of something cold in my hand.

A handgun.

As I picked it up to inspect it, black goop poured out, sprawling two words out on the ground:

"you're it"

I blacked out and woke up in my house. For a brief, glorious second I thought it was all a nightmare. Then I realized I was still holding the gun in my hand.

The panic attack lasted for hours afterwards.