In the Wee, Wee, Blackness of the Night

Twice I heard the gruesome screaming,
in the wee, wee, blackness of the night.
I thought, at first, the screams I heard
were mine, just nightmare fright.

The clocks clicking closed in on me,
the sound, crowded my room.
It was louder than I remember,
each tick, a countdown to doom.

What had I done?
What things fear the light?
What am I hiding,
What lives at night?

Shadows are strangers,
those thoughts that we hide,
the "brother in the attic",
the "us" deep inside.

As I drifted to sleep,
again the scene  played,
a cold hand, pulling my head back,
and on my throat, a cold, blade.

No sound came out of my mouth.
I could only watch as I fought.
Steel slashing, satisfied only
when I was cold, and it was hot.

I wasn't  asleep.
I wasn't awake.
I wasn't sure what was real,
and what was fake.

The sound of the clock,
joined with the beating of my heart,
and something new,
a sound not there at the start.

My heart stopped beating,
the clock stopped ticking.
I screamed when I realized,
the sound was my blood dripping.

Who held the blade,
I didn't see?
I shouldv'e killed the fear,
before the fear killed me.