“Daddy? I had a bad dream can you tuck me back in.” Even at my last two houses, this was a reoccurring problem. Every time I’d start to fall asleep, I’d hear her running towards my room. Her tiny feet made heavy footsteps that would echo loudly through the quiet house. I think it has something to do with that creepy Latin book I found when I was clearing out my grandfathers attic. She never woke me up at night until after I read pages from that damn book.

“ Mortuos excipio, me vita iungant. “

The phrase stuck with me but I never even learned what it meant. My eyes start to open as I feel her bony fingers tapping at my shoulder. Although the room is pitch black, I can still make out the silhouette of her small body standing beside my bed. Her hand feels ice cold as I take it in mine, walking her out of my bedroom and down the narrow hallway. I turn on the TV in the living room and hope that some late night cartoons will put her back to sleep. As I begin to turn away, her fragile voice calls out to me again, piercing my ears like daggers.

“Don’t forget my goodnight kiss, Daddy”. My heart begins to beat faster, and every breath I take gets shorter and shorter – so short that I begin to question if I’m even breathing at all anymore. As much as I don’t want to, I turn towards her. The light from the television now illuminates her grotesque face and reveals her sinister grin. Her hair is tangled matted with dried mud, her eyes completely white, and the blood stained dress she wears reeks of rotting flesh. Forcing myself, I lean over and kiss her on top of her pale forehead. She hugs me tight and her long yellow nails dig into my back until I can feel my own blood seeping through my shirt. I don’t know who this child is or where she came from, but I’m surely not her father. I’ve never even had children. No matter how hard I’ve tried, I cant escape her. I want to scream at her, tell her to leave me alone and get the hell out of my house- but one thing’s for sure, I’m much too scared to find out what will happen to me if I do.