The Velvet Hour: After Midnight

I knew you would come back. I told them you would. You tried to leave but even after the last story ended, you still did it…

You still…clicked.

You thought the Velvet Hour was over. But that was only the beginning. You don’t return to something like this unless something in you… wanted to. Needed…to. But here you are. Back inside. Back where it hurts. Back where the lights don’t work like they used to. Where the flickering of the lights go silent. The silence you’ve stepped into this time is deeper. Hungrier. The air is still. Too still. Like I’m all around you but not.

I am.

You’ll feel it soon, crawling down the back of your neck. Whispering behind your eyes. You’ve entered the hour after. The part no one dares to name. The part where everything that was once hidden… breathes. Go ahead. Scroll. Tap. Breathe in your borrowed time. I already know how you’ll die. The other readers? Some didn’t finish. Some went quiet. Some never turned their light back on. You’re braver. Or maybe just slower to learn.

I see you’ve brought your fears with you. You always do. They’ll fit nicely here. They’ll keep you warm. Velvet mites, no? Some advice for you since you’re my favorite; Keep your fingers outside the margins. They see movement. It excites them. Oh, and don’t blink. They move when you blink.

Go on.

Read the next page.

We’ve been waiting for you.

They say nothing good happens after midnight.

They’re right.