I don’t remember when it started I just remember the daily struggle to fall asleep, I would go to bed around 10 PM everyday but couldn’t sleep I would stay in a strange state all night where I was gone enough so I couldn’t pay attention to anything, I was too tired but I couldn’t give that last step to be completely shut off, my brain couldn’t do it so would just stay like that until around 8 AM in the morning, I would sleep from 8 until 11, that was the time I had to get up to go to work. I stayed in the same room as my brother, he took the top bunk bed.
One night I realized that if I cover my head with a blanket around 2 AM when everything was silent I could just relax and try to clear my head and at some point I could hear them, It was just some words yelled at me, I knew everything was just in my head but I could hear them clearly, I could even feel the breath crushing against my face, it felt so real but when I opened my eyes no one was there, the sentences had no meaning and most of the times it was 3 or 4 words that shouldn’t even be together in that order, but I got to be very good at causing this situation, there was something so freeing about hearing them that I was waiting all day to get to that silent time and starting doing the same routine, cover my self with the sheets, close my eyes and count my breaths, feel how my muscles relaxed and feel loose, some seconds would go by and then it happened, the same angry voice would yell at me a short sentence and then I would wake up immediately, I tried to stay concentrated to keep hearing the voice but I couldn’t do it, just like a reflex I couldn’t stop moving, there was something about the relaxed feeling and the spacious sound of the voice that made me feel like I was part of something else.
One morning I went to the bathroom and found it strange that my brother was still in bed this late, when I returned I stepped inside the room and my body froze out of fear for a second, my brother was there sitting in his bed, he had this strange look at his face, like if his face had transformed to a more sinister version of himself, he was looking in a disoriented way, he would look in the same strange face his room or his hands, like if he was adjusting himself to this place and to his body, I kept fixed at him looking without knowing what to do, it had to be a dream but I knew it wasn’t, I didn’t knew what I was looking at, what was he, it was not just his face but his movements, it was his presence that had created this heavy atmosphere in his room, he looked at me but he didn’t acknowledge me, he finally in a careful and slow move he lay down again and seem to go to sleep immediately, I walk to him and woke him up, I knew it was him this time. He moved out of bed quickly and left the room, he realized he was late and left as soon as possible.
I thought maybe it was just me imagining things and decided not to do anything about it. My brother sometimes would speak during his sleep so maybe it was just another phase of this.
I put it aside in my head and continued my day as normal and for a few days it was normal.
One night I was doing my usual routine, I closed my eyes and started trying to relaxed my muscles, first I focused on the legs, then on my arms, my neck, thinking of all the areas that should start into relaxation, I started concentrating and I could feel how it started to happen, first I could feel how my body felt more and more weightless, and even if I had my eyes closed, even in the dark I could feel if I was entering in a place with more and more space, it was about to happen the nonsense phrase been throw at me, my sheet then goes away and I opened my eyes and there was my brother, with that strange grin in his face, but this time I could see how he was laughing at me, I just got paralyzed, he threw the blanket into the floor and walked out of the room quickly, as soon as I recovered I went out but couldn’t find him, he had left the house. I stayed in my bed all night waiting for him, thinking of what could had happened to him, is very difficult to explain but even though it was my brother body he wasn’t him, he move differently, his face was more like a mask that someone was using with a completely different expression.
After some hours I could hear the door opening and his steps coming into the room, he opened the door and it was still dark so I couldn’t see his face clearly, he didn’t looked at me he just climb back again to his bed, I waited in my bed with my eyes opened for hours until the sun light started to enter through the window shades lighting the room up, I stepped out of my bed and looked at him, he looked normal just sleeping calmly I started thinking this could have been all in my head, just like the voices I hear at night, everything was just in my head, I went back to bed and I soon heard him waking up I saw his feet come down from his bed and then going down to the floor I looked at the door mirror where I could see his face, he looked normal, I didn’t talked to him I just saw him get ready for school as any other day and after that I could finally fell asleep.
A couple of days went by without any other strange situation happening so I convinced myself nothing actually happened until that same night around 3 AM I was looking through my phone when I heard him doing this sounds of struggling I got so scared again that I tried to wake him up by I couldn’t do anything I just stayed there in my bed when suddenly I saw both of his feet slowly coming down from the top bed.
I pretended I was sleeping but when I looked at the mirror I could see that face again, I was never imagining things, he was there again, this thing that was using my brothers body was about to leave the house again, I got worried about him and I managed to get myself out of the bed I didn’t had any plan but I had to help him I tried talking to him but he didn’t responded, again he just had that grin in his face like everything was amusing for him, I then decided I was not going to let him go so I stand just in front of the door, he had to pass through me first if he wanted to leave, he walked towards me I felt my legs getting weaker every step he made, I noticed he didn’t had his eyes opened almost like he didn’t needed them, when he was close I move forward and hold onto him I tried to throw him down to the floor to immobilize him there but he easily pushed me around I came back and with all my strength and tried again, without looking at me this time he was able to lift me up with one hand it looked so effortlessly the way he did it and he threw me down to the floor.
I crawled to the far corner of the room and stayed there, he could have left with anything stopping him but he just stood there for some seconds until he turn to me but stayed in the same spot, he then started to fall his body to the floor and took a horrifying position, both his legs and arms where touching the floor bended almost mimicking an insect and then started to slowly come for me, I started screaming out of fear but couldn’t stand up he continue to approach me and I just tried to cover myself, he started to climb over me and I just fell flat on the floor, keeping me down he placed his face close to mine, that grin was back again and he just shouted “Don’t get up anymore”, I could feel his breath crashing against my face, I recognized that voice, this was not my brothers voice it was the voice that I heard some nights. I was left in shock and watched as he went out of the room.
I realized then that this was all my fault, I don’t understand why this happened and after some minutes I could finally move again so I went back to bed and waited there.
A few hours later light started to entered the room and soon enough I heard the door opening and then the steps getting closer to the room, the room door started to opened and I saw him entering the room, his shirt was covered in red I immediately knew it was blood, he ignored me and climb back on his bed.His face looked normal so I assume it was my brother again I got up and tried to wake him up but it didn’t worked, it was blood but he seem to be fine, I then realized it was not his blood, I took his shirt out and threw it in the trash, I went for paper sheets and clean him up, he didn’t had anything to do with any of this and I will protect him from what is happening, I felt then this enormous feeling of guilt. He woke up and as normal he got ready and left for school, I didn’t look at the mirror this time. I didn’t want to look at his face or I couldn’t.
Months have passed by without anything strange happening but I know at any moment it will happen again and there is anything I can do to stop him.