I am the monster that hides under your bed in the darkness of night, a feeling of exhilaration spreading through me as your feeble body lay trembling above me. When you wake up in a cold sweat, screaming bloody murder, you can know that I'm near. I am the feeling of dread when you know that something bad is going to happen, and there's nothing you can do about it. Your dreams transform into nightmares as I haunt you, playing on your deepest fears. It's very facile, really. Once I'm through with you, your life will become a constant state of worry. I feed off of your strongest emotion and your most primary instinct, Fear, like a venomous predator at dinner.

Many people associate the color black with me. They are not correct in the slightest. I can look like anything. From a 5,000-foot drop, to an eight-legged arachnid, I am one with every single phobia in existence and can appear as so. Many people think I'm just an emotion, just a concept, but I am just as real and alive as you are.

To be afraid of me is to be rational. Belligerence is second nature to me; I am anything but benign. I whisper your name when you're home alone, sending chills down your spine. When you hear my voice, you make up some excuses. 'It's just the wind.' You think, 'There's nothing there.' It's quite pathetic, really.

...So what form do I take for you?