I suffer from insomnia. I’ve found that a good remedy for it is a late night stroll. My area has a nice nature park about fifteen minutes away on foot. After an hour of walking around that park past midnight usually cleared my mind and I could catch a few hours of sleep for the rest of the night.
I never encountered anything strange nor see anyone else, aside from the odd deer, raccoon, or bobcat, I never ran into anything that would scare me.
Until three nights ago, when I found a trail I could’ve sworn never existed before.
It was fairly deep into the park. I checked my phone: 1:15am. I had some time to spare, plus I didn’t have work in the morning. I decided, screw it, may as well see where it leads.
The dirt trail was fairly packed down, so clearly it had been used. I struggled with the darkness and the long grass to keep myself oriented on the path. I didn’t like using my phone’s flashlight in case I attracted some sort of unwanted attention, but I deemed it necessary this time.
The trail led towards the swampy part of the park. I could see my flashlight’s reflection bounce off some small ponds. I didn’t want to go too deep, though I assumed the trail would circle back to a main pathway soon. I pressed onwards, listening to the chittering and chirping of insects that called this park home.
After about five minutes into this unknown trail, I started to hear something faint in the distance.
Sobbing.
Nobody could be out here at this time of night, or SHOULD be. My instincts told me to run towards the sobbing. Someone could be in danger, and I didn’t hear anybody else.
“Hey! Are you alright!?” I called out as I closed the distance towards the sound.
I didn’t even notice I had strayed from the path. I let the sobbing guide me. I was in a small clearing in the swampy woods when I could tell whoever was crying was probably thirty feet from me. The dark trees loomed over me, and instead of comfort I only felt dread. I halted, and waited for my eyes to adjust.
I was right; on the other side of the clearing was someone. It was hard to make out the details, but it looked to be someone in a dress. It was facing away from me, as I could see the prominent arch from their back bending forwards. The sobbing quieted down to a soft whimpering.
“Are you alright?” I asked, softly. “What are you doing here?”
No answer aside from the whimpering. I realized the flashlight on my phone had shut off. I took a few slow steps and looked at my phone before turning on the flashlight- 1:30AM. I flicked on the flashlight.
It was someone in what looked like a tattered, muddy wedding dress. I saw long, white hair. A bride? I shuddered and took a step closer.
She snapped her head back at me, where I could see pure white eyes, and her hair was missing in chunks. Her body began to snap and twist before she screamed at me.
I don’t remember much of how I got back to the trail, but I ran for my life. All the while I could hear her sobbing and moaning, as if she was right in my ear. I stopped outside the park to catch my breath briefly, before I heard the screaming I had heard when I looked at her. I didn’t have much time, but I was almost home.
Cramped everywhere, soaked, and exhausted, I made it home. I didn’t make my arrival subtle as I slammed the door behind me. Lily, my fiancé was out of town for the weekend so I didn’t alarm anyone. I immediately locked the doors, shut the windows, and threw myself into the bathroom with a knife. I didn’t sleep that night. When I mustered the courage to get up and look outside, the sun was already rising.
I didn’t want to scare anyone I knew by telling them what I saw. Hell they’d probably chalk it up to sleep depravation anyways.
And now I’m dealing with something worse, and I’m not sure what to do.
The following night, I actually managed to fall asleep before midnight. I didn’t want to go for a late night walk anyways. Having not slept the night before, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Though this small accomplishment was short lived as something woke me up.
The same sobbing sound. It sounded like it was across the street from my house. Then I heard something else. It sounded like something wet dropping on my doorstep.
Not across the street, outside MY doorstep. I wasn’t trying to confront whatever was outside, I just wanted it to leave me the hell alone. I could hear the sobbing and whimpering linger around outside while I quietly checked my phone. 1:30AM. The sounds persisted for about ten minutes or so before they seemingly vanished. I struggled to fall back asleep, but somehow I did.
A part of me wanted to believe it was a bad dream, but it wasn’t. The nightmare was peristent.
The next morning, I checked outside my front door and yelped in surprise.
Sitting on the doorstep was a human heart.
I called the police immediately and an investigation was underway. Officer Rodrick was on the case. He was top of the line and had the respect of the town. They took the heart with them, and I called Lily and explained the situation to her. She seemed flabbergasted, but she didn’t think I was a serial killer so that’s a plus.
Lily came back that late afternoon, and boy was I happy to not be alone. We caught up, but I was still very much on edge. An hour after her return, the doorbell rang. I initially protested answering it, until I saw one of the friendly grannies in the neighbourhood call out to us.
Lily answered the door and our loveable neighbour informed us that another neighbour had passed away from a heart attack last night.
I was sweating bullets at the kitchen table as Lily offered her condolences to our neighbour. Lily later insisted it was just a coincidence, but how? I began to shake and break down, and Lily held me, supporting me.
That night we both crawled into bed and fell asleep.
I was nudged awake by Lily. The first thing I did was check my phone. 1:30AM. Shit!
I could hear the sobbing outside, and clearly Lily heard it too, as her eyes we’re wide with fear as the sobbing approached the front doorstep. We both felt a lump in our throat as we heard the squelching of something being dropped on the doorstep.
Lily insisted we call the cops, but I didn’t want to move or make a sound. What if that thing hurt the officers? I know it wasn’t sound logic but I didn’t want to put more people at risk. Both of us didn’t sleep much at all that night,
Lily checked outside the door in the morning and came back crying and freaking out. Another human heart was on the porch. We called the cops again. A different officer was there this time, I was hoping to see Rodrick, as this cop was a lot more standoffish and cold. I asked about Rodrick and the cop kept shutting down my questions.
It wasn’t long until it was on the news: Officer Rodrick had died in his sleep from heart failure. He was perfectly healthy. That thing must’ve killed him. People that I know around me are beginning to die.
My insomnia has only gotten worse, and its a matter of time before someone like Lily or my parents wind up dead with their hearts on my doorstep.
I gotta do something about this.