Terror, terror, terror, terror. The single word reverberated as if it had been sharply released into a long, dark hallway. Just the word at first, insistent, attention seeking, attention getting. The more I tried to ignore it, to deem it irrelevant and unworthy of my attention, the sharper its edges became.

Terror, terror, terror, terror. That which you resist persists, and becomes more alive, as if it was feeding off its own intensity, creating matter and energy from its own fear. Unwilling to be ignored, set aside, diminished, the word cried itself from abstract thought into physical being.

Terror, terror, terror, terror. It took over my body with a practiced ease. Oh yes, it knew me, as I could not help but know it. My breathing, becoming shallow and rapid. Chest tightening, my heart forming a metaphorical fist as though to defend itself from whatever the world would portend. Pupils dilating, the light in the room suddenly seeming to drill into the back of my skull. My ears perked, seeking the sounds behind the word, the hoofbeats of the danger that set the sentry off to sounding the alarm.

Terror, terror, terror, terror. Repeating, repeating, repeating. The soundtrack to the bodily discomfort that was seeping from my brain, past my ears, into my neck, and across my shoulders. The weight, hot, burning like acid eating into my flesh.