"The Real Monster"

Paranoia sinks in like ink to a piece of paper. The fear that everything is watching you is overwhelming. You hear faint whispers behind you, the creaking that could only be the floorboards beneath footsteps. You know something is coming around the corner, you can just feel it. But unlike the cheesy jump scares you find in horror movies, there is no calm before the terror.

Coming home from gathering a few logs of firewood, I locked the door behind me. The cabin I stood within was cozy and cloaked me in warmth. It was my simple safety net from the terrors of the outside world.
I had been living out in this cabin in the middle of the woods because the real world flooded with people was too dangerous. Seeing on the news every other day that there was a shooting, that more and more people were dying at the hands of others, either accidentally or purposefully. I fear for my own life and my own safety, making me believe that getting as far away from them as possible would be the best solution.
I could hear the slight pitter patter of the rain falling against the roof outside. Thankfully I made it inside before it got bad out. I sat my logs beside the fireplace and sat down on my couch. I felt comforted as the softness of the cushions swallowed me up.
I began thinking about the girl I was with, how she would lay on me as we would watch movies together. It gave me such butterflies in my stomach, filling me with the hope that it would never end. Of course, as luck would have it, it did end. But not for a while after that moment.
Remembering back, hearing over the phone that my girl had flipped her car coming home one night, it was by far the darkest day of my life. I rushed out there to find out someone had forced her off the road by driving on the wrong side. I tried holding her hand until her final breath, as she was pinned upside down in her car.
My soul was crushed and my heart torn to shreds. She was taken from us far too soon. She had so much to live for but she was stolen away by the stupidity of man. I knew I would never find the people responsible, but the next best thing I could do was to get away. I had to mourn her. I had to be alone.
The thunder booming outside snapped me back to the real world. I looked over to the fire I had burning, watching it crackle, the flames dancing and flickering. It was almost entrancing.
I heard a knock on the door that made my heart jump. This was completely unexpected, considering I lived out in the middle of the woods. There's no reason anyone should be near here, especially with this storm outside.
I got up and answered it. There stood a man several feet tall, covered in mud. His eyes beamed down at me in almost a glare. I was too terrified by the man to ask him to leave. He walked inside and I backed up as he towered over me.
The man looked like something out of my nightmares. His eyes glowed an impossible red color and his teeth were razor sharp. He spoke no words at all, only low growls.
I asked him what he wanted and he grabbed me. He pulled me close and pressed his head to mine.
In that very instance, I could see his memories, feel his pain. This man was not one of evil but one of misunderstandings. He showed me a familiar scene. There were two cars on the road, out by the woods. He tried crossing the road but didn't see a car coming. The car swerved to miss the monster, only to drive another car off the road. My girl's car.
The monster ran away, only to watch over her. When the police came, it hid in the bushes. It saw me approach her car, hold her hand.
I understood now what the monster wanted, it wanted to apologize.