To give some backstory, every night for the past month, I kept hearing something outside my window. As soon as I lay in bed, it would scratch at the glass, making it impossible to sleep. At first, I thought it was a raccoon or something, but after the second day, I knew it wasn’t a raccoon. The scratching was too consistent, like it was done with purpose.
Yesterday, it happened again. I was awoken by what sounded like nails on a chalkboard. The clawing continued, inching me closer to insanity. Deciding I’d had enough, I jumped and tore my blinds open. Something ducked. For an inch of a second, I could see a figure. But as quickly as I saw it, it disappeared.
I sat motionless on my bed, my mind far too tired to make a rationale for this. Before I could even try, something hard collided with the glass, almost making it shatter. I jolted and, like a child, pulled the blanket over my body as if that would help.
The window creaked open and my blood froze in my veins. Slender fingers pressed down on me, the body of the thing entering my room. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even scream. The bitter coldness of it hurt me more than the pressure.
My breath caught in my throat. I figured I was suffocating because of the noise coming out of my mouth, but I realized the sound wasn’t coming from me.
Its vocal cords splintered while attempting to speak. Or at least, that’s what I think it was doing. It was trying to communicate something to me, I just didn’t know what. A hand reached out, fingertips caressing my cheek.
A painful mixture of cold and wet spread across my face. “Open…” is what I assume it said. It was hard to hear over the sound of crackling vertebrae. Again, the creature wheezed out, “Are you… awake..?” The voice continued in an inhumane replica of a human. “Please… look at me.” It sounded like speaking tore its throat apart. Once its vile breath hit my face, it took everything I had to not vomit.
“Every day…” the creature hissed, gagging on its own tongue. “Every day… I’ve tried to make you acknowledge me… but you never looked. Why do you fear me? What… have I done to you?” Silence prompted me to reply, which I ignored. “I know what it is… You fear what I am. Or… what I am not. I can change. For you.” Liquid dripped onto my face, emanating a vile stench. I didn’t know if it was saliva or blood, and I didn’t want to.
Slowly but surely, the voice sounded more human. “You love… your family, right?” I waited for it to continue.
Silence, a sound I hadn’t heard in years. I wasn’t sure whether I should’ve been relieved or afraid. Stuck with my thoughts for so long, I finally felt free of the monster. That thing had finally left me. Its voice had ceased.
Yet the feeling of being watched intensified. I wasn’t free at all. If I looked, I’d see it standing over me.
Then came a horrific, snapping sound, and the creature began moaning in pain.
I assumed that the terror I felt could not be any more prominent. But I was wrong, so wrong. The voice that came out was no longer the creature’s, but something very familiar. It was a poor imitation of it, but I could tell with every fiber of my being that it was my mother’s.
“I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you,” she said, her voice dripping with guilt. “I promise I won’t leave you anymore.”
Vomit threatened to let loose out of my mouth. My teeth were moments from cracking as I held my jaw shut. I was no longer dealing with just a mindless monster. It was smart.
“Alex? Honey, please, say something. Anything” My mother’s voice echoed again. “Alex.” It repeated. This time, hands gripped my body and shook it. Goosebumps grew on my arm as the chilling temperature of her body seeped into mine. It pulled my blankets off of me, leaving me exposed to the air. “Open. Your. Eyes.” The demands continued.
The voice was not my mother’s anymore. The creature’s facade broke, and it knew. Its fingers changed back to the lanky, boney sticks that I felt before. It finally let go of my arm and the frost faded. “No…” It moaned out. I didn’t want to admit it, but the violent sobs that ensued sounded genuine. The possibility that this creature was capable of human emotion frightened me.
It then scampered out of my room, having the decency to close the window behind it. Even after what felt like minutes had passed, I didn’t dare to move. This could’ve been another one of its tricks. I lay in bed, too afraid to cover myself. Too afraid to move.
The blaring siren of the alarm clock tore through my sleepy haze. I rolled out of bed with a groan, and as I stood up, I looked out of the window. It was morning.
Relief washed over me. I escaped the creature’s trap. I breathed in deeply, relishing the cool air that tickled my lungs. After basking in my victory, I began getting prepared.
By the time I was downstairs, my sister was already eating breakfast. She was facing away, oblivious to the fact that I was staring at her. “Morning,” she said with a small smile upon noticing me. “Didn’t expect to see you up so early.”
“Oh, shut up,” I mumbled back, hiding the solace I felt from hearing her voice. Though I was hungry, I couldn’t bring myself to eat. I sat on the opposite side of Lily and scrolled through my phone. She just watched. While I tried to ignore her stare, it only got worse.
“Mom’s already out,” Lily mumbled, her eyes finally finding another target. “She said that you can order something for dinner.”
“Did she mention anything about hearing stuff at night?” My question must’ve sounded desperate because upon asking it Lily’s smile dissipated, worry lingering in her eyes.
“I mean…” She paused, her pupils looking up like she was searching for the answer. “No. She didn’t. Why?”
I leaned in closer, oblivious to how uncomfortable she looked. “What about you? Did you hear a voice, or banging, or scratching, or anything?” She moved back in response,
“N-no, are you okay? You’re making me worried. Did you hear, like, someone try to break in, or something?”
“I—” I stopped when I looked at Lily’s expression. She was looking at me like I was mad. Shaking my head, I pulled my hair back. “No, it… It was just a nightmare, then.” I’m not sure if I said that to convince her or me. Either way, we both knew there would be no point in discussing the subject further.
We ate our meals in silence, and after we finished eating, Lily hopped out of the seat. “Okie Dokie, I’m leaving!” She pranced beside me, giving me a peck on the cheek. She headed toward the door, and I heard it close behind her. My fingers hovered over where her lips had planted and frowned.
They were frigid.
A couple of minutes after she left, I began writing this. I couldn’t go to school, feeling absolutely sick to my stomach. I genuinely don’t know what to do. It feels like I’m going insane, but everything seemed so real. This didn’t feel like a dream. I could still feel the lingering cold on my cheek from her kiss.
I don’t know why I’m writing this. Maybe it’s because I thought I could get some help or an answer that’ll solve everything. It doesn’t matter what, because all I need is one question answered. Am I going insane?