That process was not unlike that of falling asleep. In an instant
perception was gone; the lighted room was gone, and that obedient
world which he had contemplated just now. Yet self-consciousness for a
while remained; he still had the power of perceiving his own
personality, though this dwindled every moment down to that same gulf
of nothingness through which he had found his way.
But at the very instant in which consciousness was passing there met
him an emotion so fierce and overwhelming that he recoiled in terror
back from the body once more and earth-perceptions; and a panic seized
him.
It was such a panic as seizes a child who, fearfully courageous, has
stolen at night from his room, and turning in half-simulated terror
finds the door fast against him, or is aware of a malignant presence
come suddenly into being, standing between himself and the safety of
his own bed.
On the one side his fear drove him onwards; on the other a Horror
faced him. He dared not recoil, for he understood where security lay;
he longed, like the child screaming in the dark and beating his hands,
to get back to the warmth and safety of bed; yet there stood before
him a Presence, or at the least an Emotion of some kind, so hostile,
so terrible, that he dared not penetrate it.
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