Breathing

      It was the witching hour
And the only sound that I could perceive
Was the echo of its breathing
As it climbed the stairs that led to my room.
     My breath was caught in my throat,
Escaping in hollow,
Empty gasps
Every moment the breathing getting closer
     “IN AND OUT,” it said.
“In and out,” I whimpered.
By now it was at the top of the stairs,
It’s breathing heavy and labored.
     I could imagine it
Though I tried not to,
To not picture it outside my door,
Its eyes burning red against its black coat,
     Its mouth hanging open,
The jaw moving up and down,
As it breathed in a out,
In and out.
     Its teeth glistened in the moonlight,
The rays
Casting them in a milky luminescence,
Its sinister grin dominating its face.
     It was as if the smile was all there was,
And everything else was darkness
As the thing
Moved into my room and out of the light.
     I felt a hot tear run down my cheek
As I felt it’s heavy breath against my face
The stink and the heat
Making my skin clammy and my mouth dry.
     “IN AND OUT,” it said.
I remained silent
“IN AND OUT,” it bellowed
“IN AND OUT,” I cried
     The thing reached out its hand,
Its flesh crawling and writhing
With wicked little things
That I could not name, only hear.
     It felt my short gasps on its palm,
My heart thundering in my chest,
As I struggled not to scream
My body aching with fear
     The thing broke out into a grin
Its smile taking precedence in the darkness.
“In and out,” it said, cooing.
“In and out,” I whispered.
     And with that it stepped back into the light
And began to descend the stairs.
I opened my mouth to scream,
But my throat tightening into a death grip
     In a moment it  was on me,
My body crushed under its weight.
"In and OUT," it roared.
"IN AND OUT," I screamed.
     The thing smiled and returned to the stairs.
In a moment it turned and looked at me,
Then headed down the stairs,
As I breathed carefully in and out, in and out.