Every night, my cat, Lilith, perches on the window sill, her eyes locked onto something outside that I can never seem to see. Nothing averts her gaze, not people walking by, not the rustling of leaves, even trying to touch her illicits no reaction, nothing seems to deter her unwavering attention from the window.
Lilith for context outside of this weird nightly ritual is the most loving ragdoll cat you’ve ever seen. She’s a little chatterbox who meows, purrs, and cuddles the day away. Come nighttime her entire demeanor shifts into being unnerved. She sits still not moving just starting at the nothings that nighttime brings until the early break of dawn in which she resumes her normal demeanor in which she comes curls up besides me and falls asleep soundly purring.
I dismissed it as her staring at moths or small bugs or even maybe the outdoor cats that live around our place assuming I somehow don’t notice them in the blanket of nightfall.
Curiosity turned to concern when I noticed Lilith’s behavior growing more intense. One night, the air felt unusually charged, and a bone-chilling silence descended upon the room. Lilith’s eyes widened, reflecting an eerie luminescence from whatever unseen force captivated her gaze.
Summoning courage, I joined her at the window, peering into the inky abyss. At first, I saw nothing, just the usual dimly lit surroundings. Then I noticed the rustling of a tree right by my window and a silhouette of a person appeared. Curiosity got the best of me and I sat peering at the figure. At first glance I assumed that it was just some person drunk coming home from the bar that’s a few blocks away and that they somehow stumbled into our yard. Maybe even my neighbors friend coming home late given we have a shared outdoor space. But as the shadow grew closer I felt my stomach sink at the same time that my usually docile goofy kitty started making a deep guttural growling sound.
As the figure drew nearer, my blood turned to ice as its-her features became illuminated in the streetlight. Looking back at me from the other side of the glass was- well me.
I stood there, transfixed by the spectacle before me. My doppelgänger mirrored my movements, but its grin stretched unnaturally wide, sending shivers down my spine. Lilith, usually composed, hissed vehemently at the window, her fur standing on end as if sensing the sinister aura.
Fear gripped me as I stumbled backward, breaking the unnerving connection. I jammed the blinds shut but not before it raised its hand breaking from the gimmick of mirroring me and gave an unnerving wave.
From that night on, I avoided the window, hoping to escape the haunting presence on the other side. Yet, the air in the room remained heavy with an unspoken dread. I started sleeping in the living room, Lilith never wavering from her perch on my bed staring out into the darkness at what I can only assume is my mirror image night after night.
I didn’t know who to tell. How can you explain that? My family would dismiss it as stress from work and life. Finally I couldn’t handle the nerves night after night and I finally told my best friend Lillie. That night she stayed over. Lilith perched in her window spot as usual and for the first time since I saw it I peered through the blinds and saw it again. Jumping back my best friend peered out the same window,
“What? There’s nothing there are you okay?!” She gave me a look that was mixed with concern and confusion.
“What do you mean can you not see it?” I looked back out and the thing was laughing at me with that horrific uncanny valley grin and lifted its finger to its lips making a shhh motion.
“It’s RIGHT there!” I shrieked.
She glanced back out and I averted my gaze to her.
“Dude, there’s nothing there.”
I glanced back out the window and sure enough whatever it was wasn’t there. Defeated I suggested we go make some tea and try to watch a dumb show as a distraction. Watching TV, smoking a bowl, and a hot cup of tea later my nerves had settled a bit.
“Maybe you’ve just been really stressed, not to sound like your parents but your new job keeps you busy and that with the lack of sleep I don’t know maybe it’s causing some sort of walking nightmare?”
Lillie tried to soothe my fears and after some back and forth and brainstorming I started to settle into the idea that maybe it is all stress and trauma induced. The idea actually gave me some peace.
Then at midnight on the dot a low, guttural scratching emanated from the window. my best friend jumped and we exchanged a look of fear. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach as we cautiously approached the window in my room. Lilith, her eyes wide with alarm rather than on her usual perch, cowered in the corner.
The scratching intensified, accompanied by a haunting whisper that seemed to carry my own voice, distorted and twisted. “Let me in,” it murmured, the words sending a shiver down my spine.
“Okay I heard that, what the fuck?” My best friend exclaimed.
With trembling hands I opened the curtains, my doppelgänger was back, still grinning, pressed its hands against the glass, the barrier the only thing keeping it from entering my world.
“Oh fuck, is that…you????” Lillie whispered, her pupils dialing in fear.
With every ounce of strength, I resisted the impulse to unlock the window, to scream at it, to do anything to end this nightmare. My heart pounded as the sinister figure outside became more desperate, its grin contorting into a snarl. Lilith, sensing the imminent threat, hissed louder, her fur bristling as she fled her corner spot and bravely positioned herself defensively between us and the window.
In a swift motion shoved the curtains closed, I grabbed Lilith, Lillies hand, and booked it out of the room. Still hearing the scratching and whispers turn to screaming and pounding on the glass. So sure that at any moment the glass would give way and let whatever that thing is into my home.
As the night wore on, the pounding and yelling reduced back to scratching and whispers that eventually faded away with the daybreak. For the next few weeks I stayed with Lillie and hired movers to get my stuff out and back to my parents. I haven’t heard or seen anything like what I did at my old place since. Lilith has resumed sleeping soundly by my side seemingly having totally forgotten the horrors we all just went through. I’m writing this because I just moved into my new place and once everything was unpacked and things were settled it was just Lilith and I again. We were left alone in the oppressive silence, haunted by the realization that at anytime my doppelgänger, with its twisted grin could be patiently awaiting its next opportunity to break through and confront me with a malevolence I couldn’t comprehend. And Lilith has been giving concerned passing looks at the window as the evening moved in today.