The Watchers Read Online Free PDF

All he could do was stare into the alien’s
eyes.
    It wanted him dead, and yet, it wanted
him alive so it could continue to torment him.
    All Alex could do was stare at it,
feeling more helpless than he’d ever felt in his entire life. And
then...mercifully...everything went black and the pressure around
his throat was gone.

    ***

    The next morning, Alex sat in the
waiting room and checked his watch. He hated to go into work late,
but he needed to see Dr. Reyes. After what happened last night with
the alien... He shivered. It never attacked him before. It had
watched him. Yes, it freaked him out. But it never touched him, and
it certainly never made a move to kill him.
    He closed his eyes and took a deep
breath. He just wanted the alien to leave him alone. He wanted to
be able to get a good night’s sleep again without having to take
pills.
    The office door opened and the
psychiatrist waved Alex in. “Good morning, Alex.”
    Alex nodded and went into the nice
spacious room. He headed for the beige chair and sat across from
Dr. Reyes. Wiping his hands on his pants, he wondered if Dr. Reyes
would confine him to the mental ward of the hospital after he heard
what he had to say.
    “ I heard you had a rough
night,” the older man said as he set a notebook and a pen on his
lap.
    “ Yes.” Alex shifted in his
seat. The man was going to think he was loony. No one else had been
through this. Maybe some questioned the aliens’ motives, but no one
had their own personal alien trying to kill them. Taking a deep
breath, he said, “I saw the alien again.”
    The doctor frowned. “Have you been
taking those pills?”
    “ Yes. Well, I admit I
didn’t one night, but I wanted to see if I could get through the
night without help. You know?”
    “ It’s very important you
take those pills.”
    “ I know. I’m sorry.” Alex
felt like a child. He shouldn’t have to apologize. He was an adult,
and if he wanted to see if he could manage one night without the
pill, that should be his right.
    “ Well, don’t worry about
it. What’s done is done.” The doctor smiled and scribbled something
down in his notebook.
    Alex hated it when he did
that. It made him feel like he was being written up for bad
conduct. Relax, Alex. Dr. Reyes is here to
help you. He’s not giving you a bad grade.
    “ Why don’t you tell me what
happened last night?”
    The man with graying hair gave him a
kind look that made Alex feel easier. “I did take the pill last
night before I went to bed. About two hours after I went to sleep,
I felt a need to panic. When I woke up, I couldn’t move. The
alien...it was sitting on me and trying to strangle me.”
    The man frowned. “I see no marks on
your neck.”
    He absentmindedly touched
his neck. It wasn’t even sore. “I can’t explain it. I felt it. It
was real. I know I was awake.” Here goes.
He’s going to say I’m crazy and have me locked up.
    “ So what happened while the
alien was doing this?”
    “ Nothing. I couldn’t stop
him. I tried to move but was frozen in place. Then I blacked out.
When I woke up, it was gone and it was daylight.”
    The man nodded, said and “um hmm” and
wrote something else down. Glancing up at Alex, he said, “What you
experienced is called sleep paralysis, and it’s not all that
uncommon.”
    He blinked in surprise.
“Really?”
    “ If you gathered together
six strangers into a room, at least one has been through it, though
not as extreme as what you experienced. Sometimes people just wake
up and feel terror that goes away as soon as it comes. Some people
see an old hag or a hooded figure in the room with them. Then there
are those who swear they see things like goblins. There have been
studies done on it.”
    Alex immediately felt better. So he
wasn’t the only one. He dared to ask, “What about aliens? Has
anyone seen aliens?”
    “ Sure. Haven’t you ever
heard of alien abductions?”
    “ Yes. I didn’t think it was
real until all of this