As I left the motel, I looked down the street. No cars were coming, I could hardly see any of the buildings. So many questions were running through my mind. If I had to slay my demon before being allowed to live here then why was I allowed to stay? How did they know that the faceless man was my demon? The biggest question I had was, how was I supposed to defeat it? I didn’t have any weapons.

I walked down the sidewalk, heading in the direction the bus usually came from. I figured this was the way towards the edge of town. Everything felt so weird now, so distant. I pinched my arm a few times to make sure I was still alive, maybe it was me who died during the break-in and this was all just a dream?

I took one last look backward, to see the motel, to see the town. If this man killed me I wanted my last good memory to be of something beautiful. Ravenswood, the town that doesn’t exist.

-

The more I walked the further it felt like I was walking away from life. It’s hard to explain but leaving Ravenswood on foot feels like having an out-of-body experience.

When I reached the Welcome to Ravenswood sign I paused. I took two steps back to read under the words, Population 1, it said. I blinked, that couldn’t be true. There are houses and I know I met at least four different people. I walked up to sign to see more, the number looked like it was shaking back and forth.

I walked around the sign and put my arm out. I could feel my eyes getting tired but only for a second before the feeling went away completely. I found myself standing on the sidewalk, the sign was gone but I knew Ravenswood was behind me. The man wouldn’t tell me to leave if I couldn’t come back, at least I hoped he wouldn’t.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I closed my eyes to try and get my bearings and when I opened them I found myself standing in my living room. I could hear the banging at the door, my mom was telling me not to call the cops yet. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I was holding my phone, ready to call 911.

“If I don’t call, you’ll die,” I told my mother.

“Honey, don’t be silly.” She said to me,

“I’m calling,” I told her as I pressed the call button. The moment my thumb hit that button, my eyes snapped open and I was lying on my bed in the motel. I was just dreaming. I ran out of the room as quickly as possible.

I was moving down the stairs so fast that I almost tripped and went flying.

“Slow down,” Barbra said to me with a warm smile.

“Barbra. I just had the strangest dream.” I ran through the whole dream with her but she didn’t look surprised.

“Ravenswood has a way of making you face your demons,” Barbra told me.

“But I never fought the faceless man,” I told her as I pressed my palms on the counter.

“He wasn’t your regret,” Barbra told me. She placed one of her hands on my hand.

“The phone call,” I mumbled. How could I have been so stupid? My demon was my regret. I should've called 911 as soon as I felt like I had to.

“People like you and me Stella, we have to learn to trust our instincts. Always.” Barbra told me before she let me go.

I stood there for a moment before tucking my hands in my pockets. I decided I was going to stay in Ravenswood. Nothing was waiting for me at home, and although I would always regret not trusting myself that day, I knew that the only thing I could do was keep moving forward.