What if when I walk down that dark alley
he falls out of the shadows
the red-eyed maniac on the heel of my footsteps?
What if I run away through the door
and find his blue and white flame on my skin
as he whisks away his cloak
and burns off my clothes?
What if I trip over the rug
and he jumps on my body
tastes my face with his forked tongue
claws at me the whole way to the bed
pushes me into the sheets until I drown?
What if he crawls into my mouth
and doesn’t come out until
he’s devoured my soul
and pinched my blood with his talons
digging and digging
and drinking all of me?
What if he breaks into me
snuffs the light inside
charrs everything in seconds
as if I wasn’t screaming through his teeth
while the red eyes roll over black
and my ribs crack under him
so I suffocate in his fire?
What if —
What if it already happened?