A vrykolakas is a cursed, undead being similar to a vampire from Greek and Slavic folklore. Like an incubus, it preys on sleeping people by sitting on them to suffocate them. People are said to become them if they are deeply offended by something spiritual.

My partner has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which is described as “vampiric” because the abnormalities of the connective tissue cause him and others with the condition to look incredibly youthful while experiencing the bodily dissolution of a very elderly person. He often says he can’t tell if he is a vrykolakas or is being plagued by one. I am caught between watching him be haunted by illness and trying to avoid the attention of the vrykolakas myself. I sometimes dream about being caught in the hellish, paralyzing gaze of a silhouetted figure. In some of these dreams, the figure stretches across a glowing phthalo green pool. I never remember particulars about the face or body of the creature, only being unable to escape the crushing gaze. I wonder then if I am encountering Sam’s vrykolakas or my own.