I just want to talk...

Night one
Do you believe in evil spirits?
If your answer is no, I used to be the same way.
If your answer is yes, please, stop reading, you don’t need to see this, this isn’t how you want your night to go, and believe me, once you’ve read this, it will go bad.
I was up late reading, three days ago, and I came across this story about owls. I used to think of the nocturnal creatures as beautiful, before all this. I won’t say what I was reading, that is something you shouldn’t know. It was just a story designed to creep you out, is what I told myself. I wish I knew back then what I know now. I’m not a big talker, I am actually pretty quiet, mostly cause what I have to say can be conveyed in one or two sentences. Everything else is simply academic knowledge.
Apparently, in some old native cultures, owls are bad omens, some even the representation of evil itself. I had never thought much about how animals can be physical representations of the aspects of “humanity” before. Reading the story about the owls, it made me think; and when I think, I tend to go for walks. My favorite time to walk is usually at night, seeing as I’m not a people person, it’s the perfect time for me, I get to be alone with my thoughts.
I had my earphones in, music on full blast. It didn’t take me long to get ready, and I was out the door not long after I read the story of the owls. During my walk, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, though my earphones seemed to be on the fritz.
I plucked my iPod out of my pocket and looked at it before trying to fiddle with the audio jack for a moment, chalking it up to wear and tear. The static even sounded weird to my ears, almost like… whispering. I couldn’t make out any discernable words, so I shrugged it off and continued on my way, walking toward the waterfront.
It was on my way back home that I heard it. It was soft, so low I wouldn’t even call it a whisper. I only made out the word because it was between songs, that one, silent second when the song is switching, that the word snuck through.
“I…”
I paused, unsure I’d actually heard anything. It wasn’t possible, I was sure it was simply my imagination. I looked around, assuring myself that I had simply heard someone speaking to someone else in the street, but all I saw was the forest, too far away for me to have made out such a softly spoken word, and the empty street around me. Did I imagine it? I waited, expecting to hear something, anything. I even removed my earphones, and was met with the simple silence that hovers over an empty, sleeping town night after night. Placing my earphones back in my ear, I made my way back home for a night of uneasy sleep.


Night two
I’m reading again, I always seem to be reading, it seems, I never realized that my life was so… dull. It was my life, though, and I enjoyed it. It may seem boring and not worthwhile to you, but to each his own, and as I’ve said before, I am not a people person. Now, I study people, but I’m getting ahead of myself…
As per usual, I am reading creepy stories. Mix a little disturbia in to it, this time, and you have my nightly lifestyle before I go for my walk. I’m trying to forget the night before, the owl story, and the weird incident from my walk.
I won’t let it ruin my routine, it’s almost time for my walk again. I never noticed that I had a schedule for it, but it feels right to acknowledge the time, I usually leave around now, just at the cusp of midnight. Funny that I never noticed that before tonight.
Anyway, the story I read, just to try forget the owls, was The Rake, a favorite of mine, don’t ask me why. Maybe I’m disturbed? I don’t know, I never thought of that either. Maybe I’m crazy. I’ve been listening to my music all day, and I keep hearing the white noise, the static voice. I can only ever make out the one word though, so I don’t know what it is.
I look at the clock. With a sigh, I get ready for my walk, the one time I don’t stress about trivial things. Without thinking about it, I take a different route. I usually do that; switch it up every night. This time, I head for the board walk, a beautiful combination of forest and oceanfront scenery. I love the view. It’s so secluded, so quiet.
“I see…”
There it is again. I freeze; I’m sure of it now, it’s a voice, and it’s slightly louder this time. I’m frozen to the spot, overlooking the ocean, hidden in the shadow of the forest. Even if it was somebody who had the same idea to go for a midnight stroll, it would have been nearly impossible for someone to have seen me in the near pitch black darkness that lined where I had decided to sit and watch the sea for a moment before heading home.
Shaking off the chills snaking up and down my spine, I quickly make for home, and another night of even more disturbed sleep.

Night three
It’s been haunting me all day, that voice. What is it? Is someone messing with me? Do they think it’s funny, or something? Seriously, I can’t shake this feeling. It’s like I’m being watched, every hour I get the chills, like clockwork, I feel a tiny bit of relief for a moment, then it’s back. Whatever it is. It’s odd, I don’t get the sense that whatever it is that is watching me is human, at all. It’s feels… more disconcerting. I don’t know how to explain it, but it doesn’t feel human.
I didn’t even bother reading, I just can’t wait to go for my walk, at the time I need to go. I need to keep to my schedule. That’s how I feel tonight, I can’t wait for my time. My watch gives the hourly beep, and I move to get ready, but I pause. What was that I heard? Like a thump on the roof. I heard it, I’m certain. As I am getting my shoes on, I heard a noise again. It’s louder, heavier, but I’m sure it sounds like the crows that usually land on my roof.
I shake off that thinking with a small laugh. It’s just my imagination, I assure myself, yet again. I leave, and head toward the old highway this time. My favorite place, by far. I’m sure everyone hears that all the time, but I swear, I’m serious. It’s gorgeous out here, especially when it snows. The silence can be thunderous or empty, there was never an in-between. Tonight, it was like I was deaf, not a sound to be heard. Even my footsteps, my breathing, sounded too loud, as if there was an echo.
No, wait, what was that? I heard something, I swear I did this time. I only have one earphone in this time, so there was no mistaking that sound. The whisper.
“I see you...”
Unmistakable, it was a voice I had been hearing. I know that for sure now, as I freeze and stare ahead of me. “What are you?” my voice is shaky, loud, but shaky.
I swear, it smiled when I answered it. Its beak didn’t move, but I swear it smiled; eyes bright, gleeful, almost. I didn’t get to escape. I remember the words, but I never stood a chance. Like I said, everything I had to say could be conveyed in a few sentences. I never stood a chance…

Your turn
Now, you’ve read this, and you want to go for a walk, it’s your third day, and you don’t stand a chance. Once you’ve heard my voice, it’s like a trance. You’ve been programmed, in a word, to want this, you just can’t tell, that’s how good this is. After all, I just want to talk, and you, you are curious about what I have to say. I like to talk now, and very, very few can actually out talk me. That’s how it works. We like to talk, we like our lives, and we will win. We will get your soul too. You see, I stated that I wasn’t reading my last night. No, I didn’t lie; I wasn’t reading. I was writing. I was writing my story to make you curious, to get you to come out, so I could see you. So I could plant the seed. Like I said; I just want to talk.