Dima

I want to tell you a story. It happened to a friend of mine, his name was Dima. One day, we were sitting in the park together, talking. Time flew by, and it was time for me to leave, but Dima clearly didn't want to let me go. Suddenly, he said:

"Listen, have you ever felt like you're being watched?"

"No," I said.

"Well, I get that all the time. You see, I live alone at home now, after Lenka left. So, one day, I'm sitting at home, watching TV, and suddenly I realize someone's staring at me. So intently, without even looking away. I get goosebumps, and I turn around—there's no one behind me, just an empty room. I'd only turn away—and the same thing happened again... Another time, about five days ago, I was sitting at the computer and happened to glance at my cat, who was lying next to me on the bed. And the cat had eyes as big as two saucers, and he kept staring at the door. So, I got scared, threw him out of the room, and closed the door. And then, when I was done, I came out—and the cat was gone. I searched the entire apartment—it was like he'd vanished into thin air...

"Well... Dim, you should move out of the apartment if this is going on," I said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm moving out tomorrow. I've already packed everything, it's my last night, but I'm terrified."

"What's wrong?"

"You see, just the other night after my bath, I was coming out, and suddenly I realized THIS was standing right behind me. My heart sank, I ran into the room, slammed the door behind me, and immediately realized that if I'd hesitated even a second, it would have followed me right into the room. I don't know why, but that thing won't come into my room. I turned on the nightlight and sat there until morning, unable to fall asleep, next to it... And last night I suddenly woke up and heard someone in the kitchen. Well, definitely someone. I left the room and slowly walked to the kitchen... and there was some kind of hell. A shadow in the middle of the kitchen and the refrigerator door scraping, like someone was scratching it with claws. I got scared, so I ran back to the room backwards... This morning I went into the kitchen—and there were grooves all over the refrigerator, as if someone had tried to open it with a corkscrew... You know, I'm afraid to stay there today.

"Do you want to stay with me today?" I asked.

"No, if I stay, I won't go back to the apartment, and my things are there." I think I'll somehow survive the night...

Dima said he'd call me when he woke up in the morning. That was our last conversation. I got up that morning, but the call never came. Later, I noticed the light on the answering machine was blinking—someone had called during the night. I turned it on and looked at the number—Dima's. And on the tape, there were some rustling sounds, scratching... I couldn't make anything out.

It turned out that Dima had jumped out of the window that night and died...