Ever since I can remember, I've been afraid of the dark. I don't even know when it started, but since childhood, I feel like there was something lurking in every dark corner. In my closet, in the space behind my door, and mostly, under my bed.
Being left home alone in my teens was the worst. It wasn't just my general fear of the dark, but also the hormones kicking in. Somewhere during that period of time, I developed a severe case of sleep paralysis. I was unable to go one single sleep without waking up in terror. And then came insomnia.
School was hard, university even harder. It got better when Rowan and I got closer. He was my best friend for a long time. He had even asked me out for prom, but his parents moved away in the middle of the school year, and we never saw each other again. That was back in 2007. Needless to say, I didn't go at all.
Not that it mattered. My grades were barely getting me through graduation, and after that… the fear returned. Being all alone, with no one to run to and hide behind when the darkness became suffocating, was terrifying.
I quit college. Dropped out, just like that. After only 3 or 4 months. And then… I got the worst news of my life, and with it a new beginning. Little did I know that the darkness I was fearing had a face and a name.
I hate everything right now.