We stopped in our tracks, a latte in my hand, and the door in hers as I was leaving and she was entering. We stood in silence, assessing one another and the creatures behind.

“You see it too?” She mouthed to me, her eyes were watery and heavy, the sky blue irises contrasted by the deep purple circles under her eyes.

I gave her a curt nod, not wanting the Beast to see that I saw what I saw. Be vague. Be mindful. Be stealthy. The Beast that followed her was small, not much bigger than myself. It was covered, in what I presumed to be a cape, but I could see the two features that my creature had - it’s stomach churning, pointy tooth smile, and large empty white eyes…my Beast, however, had eyes as black as night.

Our creatures minded a good distance between, a dozen feet or so. Despite that distance, I knew they could hear, knew they could see. The Beast never missed a thing.

On the spot, I had to invent a way to communicate, to speak with this woman. “Oh my gosh, hey! I haven’t seen you in so long!” I exclaimed, bringing her into a hug. “Play along,” I said ever so quietly, I’m not sure I didn’t just imagine it. “How are you?”

“I’m great,” she smiled, a pained smile; I heard the creature behind her snort. “And you?”

I huffed, “I’m exhausted,” I held up my latte. “That’s why I needed this guy, can I treat you to one?”

She nodded, “absolutely!” She let herself in, and I couldn’t help but catch the creature that followed her. Despite the strength and quickness that this woman closed that door, the creature slid through it with ease and grace; almost like a dancer.

She followed me to the counter where I placed the order. “And the name?” The barista asked, very unenthused to be serving me once again. Everyone The Beast touched reacted the same way to me.

“Addison,” she said, and I could feel her creature stir at her words. At her name. At her. My gut started to rumble.

“It’ll be $5.79,” the barista accepted my payment and moved on, while I stood at the bar waiting for her drink, I motioned for her to sit down at a table.

Quickly enough, her drink was in my hand. “Excuse me,” I whispered to the barista, this one reminded me of a pixie. “can I borrow your marker?”

She rolled the marker over to me, clearly uninterested in what I had to say. I jotted down my phone number, and rolled the marker back, catching glimpse of The Beast. Of my creature.

He had an air to him. One of grief. It never touched anything it was around, except for people of course. It was always floating, motionless above the ground. Watching. With black eyes, soulless eyes. And a grin, that stretched the size of its face; containing teeth sharper than I’d ever seen. I’d never seen what those teeth could do, but the nightmares I’d been having told me everything I needed to know.

Right now though, it’s eyes were on Addison’s creature; and it’s was on mine; they knew the other existed. Did they know we could see the other?

I laid her cup down, “well, I really should be going. Have a lovely day,” I hurried out of the shop rather fast, feeling The Beast follow in tow.

•••••••••••••

It had been weeks. I still heard nothing from Addison. These weeks had been rough, the nightmares worse. I don’t know how I know, but I know my time is ending soon. The nightmares are getting worse, my plants are dead, and my loved ones no longer loved me - all because of this creature, my creature, The Beast. As I prepped for bed, I could feel it in the corner watching me; malice in gaze and hunger in his smile. It was nearly feeding time. It was my end.

He had taken everything from me, stolen the life I had built for myself. And now, his meal, baked in its glory; was ready.

I looked at The Beast, tears filling my grey eyes. “I hope you’re happy.” He growled in response, his smile growing wider; he was proud of the meal he had prepared. My phone rang, which snapped us out of our trance. I went to it, not reading the caller. Not particularly caring. “Yes?”

“This…this is Addison,” the voice was faint, fearful. The Beast snapped his head in my direction.

Oh no.

“Are you okay?” I asked, realizing I’d never told her my name.

“You need to run,” she whispered.

I turned around, ready to sprint; instead, coming face-to-face with The Beast.

I wasn’t fast enough.