You're frozen. You stare down at the book in your hands, eyes glued to the page, waiting for this novel to predict your future.

You're terrified. Who knows what could happen. Who knows, what, by reading this, you will accidentally conjure into reality.

You're lonely. No one knows where you are, you're alone in the room. If something happens, no one will be able to help you.

Your fate is left up to the words written on these pages.

The room around you appears ordinary. All its usual things are in all their usual places, but as you read, a strange feeling comes over you. You can't explain it. It almost feels like you are being watched, or someone is standing next to or behind you. The feeling steadily grows in intensity, until it is all you can feel, all you can focus on. That's when you see it. Something moving out of the corner of your eye. A large, shadowy figure. You may have looked up, but as soon as you do it disappears. You hesitate before reading again, and when you do the figure reterns. You watch as it creeps towards you on what looks to be four legs. You can't tell what it is, and strain your eyes trying to get a better look at it, but the form remains dark, and almost transparent. You look up again, and it is gone.

The next time you dare to look down at the page, the words written there take you outside, just feet away from where you sit now, behind the glass of the window. At first, you don't see anything. Everything seems completely normal. The grass is gently blowing in the breeze, the tree next door is docile, but still, that feeling. It intensifies as the seconds tick by, sending shivers running down your spine.

As your eyes run over the words on this page, a figure creeps around the corner of the building. Your pulse races. The figure steadily crawls towards the window you sit only yards away from. It approaches slowly, and when it reaches the window, pauses. You watch, or rather read, in suspense, wondering if it knows about your presence, if it knows how close you are to each other. It smiles. You see the white gleam of pointed, dagger-like teeth. Then to your horror, the figure suddenly and soundlessly opens the window. You swear you locked it. Still, you dare not move. You read terrified, but also curious, as the figure seems to hesitate for a moment, then suddenly jumps through the open window without a sound. It sees you, reading this very book, and smiles again. The dark form begins crawling, stalking towards you. You listen for footsteps, but the room is deathly silent. It creeps closer and closer, until it is only inches away. You barely breathe as it looms over you, preparing to strike from behind...

You managed to rip your eyes away from the page. Your pulse rings in your ears and the rapid beating of your heart courses through you. You take a deep breath, and hesitate, wondering if diving back into the book is worth the risk. You remain cautious, but can't help but wonder if these figures can interact with you physically, or if they are merely hallucinations. Common sense tells you to put the book down, but your curiosity gets the better of you.

Once again, you read. This time the figures, hallucinations, whatever they are, appear almost immediately. A movement on the floor directly in front of you, at your feet, catches your attention. The figure is small, and is too far from your line of vision to determine what it is. It remains still for a moment, and then begins to move. You stiffen as it scurries near your foot, but it stops before it can touch you. That's when you realize what it is. A spider. The biggest black widow you have ever seen. You hold your breath as it lifts one long, hairy leg onto the top of your foot. Your body goes rigid in terror.

You can feel it.

You can't move, fear has frozen your muscles stiff. The spider begins crawling up your ankle. It seems to be smelling you, trying to figure out what you are, or perhaps it is searching for the best place to sink its teeth.

The seconds ticking by feel like hours a the insect climbs further and further up your leg.

Up your torso.

Up your chest.

Up your neck.

Still frozen in fear, you read and feel as the spider reaches your face and hooks one tiny claw, on one of its eight hairy legs, just above your eye.

Finally, you manage to tear your gaze away from the book. You shake in fear, and quickly decide to put the book down, too afraid of what the words on this page could bring to life.