I am not agoraphobic. At least, not in the typical textbook sense. I can go out during the day quite fine, but it’s only when it gets dark that I’m set on the edge. I lock all of my doors and windows when it gets dark. It all started when I was thirteen, when my parents let me be home alone for the first time. To me, it was the best thing I could’ve dreamed of; staying up late, watching movies and having all the snacks I wanted. I almost could’ve ordered pizza as well, until I realized that I had no money on me at the time.
I remembered watching Evil Dead (not the crapstorm that was the remake in 2013, the original 1981 version), in the middle of the night. I used to watch it with my friends on Halloween, but they went to a party that year because they wanted to hook up with girls. None of them got lucky, though. Those boys didn’t bother inviting their wingman, yours truly. When the movie ended, I was about to turn in for the night before my parents got home until my phone started to let out this loud alarm.
Our emergency alert systems have this sound that is like a jarring European ambulance or fire truck, so it did a good job on grabbing my attention if not making me jump for a split second. When I pulled out my phone to turn it on, there was a message from the emergency alert system saying, “CIVIL DANGER ALERT. LOCK ALL OF YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS. REPORTS OF INDIVIDUALS BEHAVING ERRATIC AND VIOLENT.”
This was a bit odd, but I didn’t think much of it and I locked the doors and windows just like the emergency alert said. I turned off the lights in the kitchen and the living room before going upstairs to my room, thinking that it’ll probably blow over soon. A note; I’m from a fairly gritty or ‘ghetto’ neighborhood so these kinds of things weren’t too much of a shock. I got into bed and opened my phone to catch up on what was going on, and the best way to do that was texting my friends about it.
They were on the same boat as me; finding it a bit weird and just staying inside since there was nothing to do or parents wouldn’t allow them to go out. We simply waited for any news to come of what was happening and if there was an All-Clear. The next message, however, made things much worse. The next alert message read, “CIVIL DANGER ALERT. COVER ALL WINDOWS AND TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS. IT IS ATTRACTED TO LIGHT.”
That was when me and my friends realized that this was serious, and I dimmed the brightness of my phone all the way down and covered my window with the curtains. It was becoming rather unsettling now, without any explicable reason. What exactly was it that was attracted to light? I didn’t risk looking out the window to see. I went back to my bed to talk to my friends about the new alert. Some of us came to our own theories; drug addicts, zombies, vampires. None of us knew what was happening.
I was only in my dark bedroom, curled up in my bed with my phone in hand. I was waiting anxiously for the next alert, hoping it would be an all-clear. Now I was wondering where my parents were and if they were safe. They were probably worried about me if they knew this was happening. I jumped when I heard the sound of glass shattering. Someone was inside. They were inside and I didn’t know what to do. My heart was pounding and my chest tightened, hearing footsteps downstairs.
I heard the footsteps come upstairs, but what happened next almost put me in a full-on panic attack. After I heard the footsteps come closer down the hall to my door, I was anticipating the worst. I then heard a voice,
“Hello, son. MoMmY aNd DaDdY aRe HoMe…”
It sounded distorted, as if the thing that tried to pretend to be my parents was trying to sound human. I didn’t make a sound, covering my mouth as I stayed in my bed and staying perfectly still. It kept taunting me from the door,
“DiD YoU lIkE sTaYiNg uP lAtE?”
“DoN’T bE A-AfRAiD- Be AfRaId.”
“We L-L-LoVe YoU…”
I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t going to let this thing get into my head. I was on the verge of tears, but I managed to hold them back to save my life. The thing let out a loud drone and bellowed,
“OPEN. THE DOOR.”
I wish I could’ve asked my friends for help, but they would be killing themselves if they came here. I heard it banging on my door, rumbling with the force of each hit. I got out of bed and ran into my closet, closing it and sitting in a corner of the closet behind a wall. I kept silent, even when I heard the door fall onto the floor. I heard footsteps going around the room with the creatures letting out distorted cackles and calling my name.
I only came back out after I heard the creature’s footsteps go down the hall and down the stairs. I heard it leave the house through the broken window, feeling relief at last. I texted my friends to see if they were still alive, which most of us were except for one. When the sunrise came out, I went downstairs to see the chaos that the creature caused. So much was strewn about and tossed here and there.
I got a call on my phone, it turns out it was a hospital nurse who asked if I could visit my dad. I ran all the way to the hospital and he was in critical condition, unconscious yet alive. I learned from the police that my mom was found dead and my dad was severely injured, but would never be able to speak again. The next day, there was a man in a suit visiting the families of the victims.
When he came to my door, the suit asked,
“Hello, sir. Can I come in, please?”
“Wait, I’ve seen you around the block. Why are you here?”
“Oh! Um, is your dad here by any chance?”
“No. My dad says I shouldn’t let strangers inside the house.”
“Well, your dad has raised a good boy. I’ll see you soon.”
The man left the front porch before I closed the door, and I wasn’t going to trust this guy to come into my home. It was only a week later that everyone I knew only remembered it as a riot because a football team lost the game to a rival team. It was complete bullshit. I still remember what really happened that night, as well as my dad.
I live on my own now, in a different town. I always close and lock every door and window in my house every night, in fear that another night would come when those creatures came and killed so many people. I can only tell you to stay safe, and be prepared if you’re going out at night. I’m too scared to go out when it’s dark, so I prefer the quiet nights. I know no one will ever believe me, but this is what I remembered.