I slapped myself awake after nearly dozing off behind the wheel. I glanced at the dashboard and saw the digital clock that read: “3:22 AM”.
“Only 2 more hours.. Just.. got to.. Stay.. awake..”
I mumbled to myself and then slapped myself awake once more. It was December 24th, 2022. I was driving to my Mothers house to surprise her for a Christmas visit. We hadn’t seen each other since I moved out of the country in 2008. I used the excitement of seeing my mother again as motivation to stay awake. It worked somewhat, until a few minutes later when I was dozing off again. Eventually I decided it wasn’t a safe idea to keep driving under the influence of sleep deprivation, so I pulled over and shut my eyes. A deep sleep was pulling me in fast, but I was jolted awake by a terrible screeching sound. Suddenly, I was filled with intense paranoia. I shakily and quickly locked my car which I had forgotten to do in my desperation for shut-eye.
A few minutes had passed and I heard nothing. I knocked it down to it being just an animal. I was in the rural countryside, afterall. I attempted to submit to the deep sleep once more, but I was awoken by the same, terrible screeching sound.
“God Damnit!” I yelled in frustration. The few hours of shut eye I desperately craved were being interrupted by an annoying… something.. That wouldn’t leave my car alone. I put my keys in the ignition and decided I would drive for a little bit and pull over somewhere a little ahead. I pulled over in my new spot, but I didn’t immediately go to sleep. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be interrupted by anything once more.
My stomach dropped when I heard erratic footsteps catch up to my car. I became incredibly nauseated when the inhuman and menacing chattering began. I was completely frozen with the most intense anxiety and paranoia I had ever experienced in my lifetime, and the chattering just kept getting louder. It was getting so incredibly loud, my ears felt violated and I felt as if I were being consumed into a pool of despair that I would never escape, that I would never even get the chance to escape from.
Suddenly, I felt the chatter become bearable. It did not lessen, but it was just.. Bearable, almost as if I had been hearing it my whole life. I also realized that I could now move, I was no longer ridden with the paralyzing paranoia. I put my hands on the wheel and screamed in pure terror. The hands weren’t mine. My hands had 7 fingers, all incredibly long, with longer fingernails. They were a horrifying blue color and looked as if they were decaying. I screamed louder when I realized this wasn’t my scream, either. My scream was deep, yet high at the same time. It sounded like an alien attempting to mimic a human screaming as a cruel joke.
I felt totally and utterly trapped. I wasn’t even me anymore, yet alone a human. I opened my door and started to run erratically on all fours, the only way I knew how. I began to chatter from pure discomfort.
I decided to stop and turn to face my car. I saw 3 humans looking distraught around it. There was a teenage girl, an older man, and a middle aged woman. They suddenly came in to give each other a big hug. It was then that I realized what they had done. I didn’t know who or what I was, but what I did know for certain was that they had turned me into what they were. I also realized that must have been the only fix to this. I began to chatter as loud as I could and charge towards them.
“You aren’t supposed to do that! What the hell?” the older man yelled.
I went even faster.
“PLEASE STOP!” the Teenage girl yelled.
I had reached them, I closed my eyes and consumed them in the horror filled wave of chatter with no mercy, just as they did to me. After a few minutes, I felt at peace. I opened my eyes and saw three horrifying figures in front of me. They were skinny, pale blue, their faces were incredibly disfigured and uncanny. They began to chatter and I knew I had to book it. I jumped into my car and pressed the gas. I drove the rest of the way to my moms house. As I pulled into her driveway, I shakily brought down the mirror to confirm I was human now.
I took a deep sigh of relief when the answer was affirmative. I was about to open the door to exit the car when I noticed my fingernails were still incredibly long and disgust ran through me. I had luckily brought some fingernail clippers, so that solved my problem. My mother was excited to see me, but I was an absolute wreck the whole visit. Everytime i would shut my eyes I would vividly remember the screeching.. The chattering.. What those things looked like.. And most importantly, that I was one of them.
It has been 2 and a half weeks since this. I am struggling with severe paranoia and I can only manage to get a few hours of sleep a night and those few hours are filled with the same nightmares about the traumatic incident. I want to seek out therapy but they might send me away to a mental institution.. I feel so alone.