I had one habit that saved me for a year, but I accidentally broke it and now I’m here, cowering in my basement.
I’ve never been much of a superstitious person. I always chalked everything up to random occurrences or tried to explain everything via some scientific reason or another. For the longest time, I’ve always told myself that it’s just me trying to be rational, but now that I’m hiding in my basement, I realize I did that so that I don’t get scared.
It all started one night, just over a year ago. I was busy playing online with a couple of friends, when I happened to look out of the window. I remember it was around six in the evening, which normally meant it was already dark outside for me. At first glance, nothing seemed off. I sure as hell didn’t notice anything odd, until I happened to look out again. I knew it was supposed to be dark, but what I was seeing was not normal. You know how it is: houses, the streetlamps, clouds in the horizon. Heck, everything you should normally see in the day, you should be able to see, right? Except just bathed in the night’s shadow. But this time it was different. It was just. Too. Dark. There was no horizon, just…inky black. And the longer I stared, the more it felt like it was inching closer, swallowing everything around my place. I excused myself from my friends and walked over to my window. Yeah, it was really coming in closer, as if my entire neighborhood was being swallowed whole by the night.
I closed my windows and pulled the curtains shut, before sprinting downstairs. I had to check if, from my living room, I’d see the same thing. And I sure did. Darkness just slowly encroaching my house, seemingly from every direction. Were other people seeing this? Was I going insane?
I’ve read enough scary posts online to not try and tempt fate, so I hurriedly locked every window and door I had in my small house. I even ran down here, to check if the small basement window was locked. And then I went back to my room and waited.
Internet seemed fine, but when I asked my friends if they’re experiencing anything odd, they said no. I didn’t dare elaborate, in case I jinx them. I called it a night back then, and just went to sleep. When I woke up the next day, everything seemed normal again. I thought it was just me hallucinating the night before, but it happened again that night, and the night after, until the days turned to weeks and the weeks stretched to months. Always, always at six in the evening, the darkness started coming after me.
For the past months, I’ve been locking my windows and doors the moment it struck six PM. One time, I tried to rent a small room in a nearby hotel, thinking that it was just my house being affected, but no. When the cursed hour came, I could see the darkness from my hotel window. It was following me. So, no matter where I am, I always had to do my habit and I’ve never broken it. Never.
Until tonight.
It had been a busy day at work, and I was goddamn tired. Too tired. I knew I locked every window in the house, every door leading to the outside, before I crashed in my bed. It must have just been an hour or two, but I do know I had a nightmare. In my dream, I saw myself in my house, in my own bed, my room swirling in shadows. I remember looking at my window, seeing it open.
I cursed. Did I leave it open?! I wanted to move, to stand up and close the goddamn thing, but I couldn’t. I was paralyzed. And as I was struggling to move, I glanced up.
There, above me, was a thin, shadowy figure. It had a woman’s face and long, wispy black hair. Its eyes were round, huge, bloodshot and had a manic look in them. I could barely make out the outline of her thin, wide lips, that were stretched into a twisted smile. It loomed over me, as if wondering what to do with me. My heart raced, but still I could not move. Dread washed over me as I lay there, helpless, unable to do anything. This was one of those bad dreams, isn’t it?! I tried to scream, kick, punch…but I couldn’t do a single fucking thing. All I could do was stare.
And then it opened its mouth. I saw two rows of sharp, pointy teeth and then darkness beyond them. The creature then slowly lowered its head, its mouth opening wider and wider until I was sure it could swallow my head whole.
I tried to move. I fucking willed myself to move, and just when the mouth was above my face, I woke up. My eyes shot wide open, my breathing ragged. But all I could see was black. I guess my room was just that dark, I thought as I let out slow breaths. But then I smelled it, a putrid stench.
As I stared at the darkness above me, I noticed that it was…moving. Upward, slowly…until I saw sharp, pointed teeth.
I screamed.
I don’t know if that creature is just trying to scare me, or is toying with me, but I bolted out of my bedroom. I switched on any light I could pass and made a wild dash to my living room. I saw my phone on my small table and grabbed it as I ran to my basement. I don’t know if it’s moving slow, or is just taking its time, but I’m not going to try and find out.
It’s past 10:30 PM right now. I’ve tried contacting people, but most of them aren’t answering. There is one guy friend of mine who said he’d try to come by, but he won’t be here until around 2 AM. I don’t even know if he believes me. I don’t care. I just hope he does.
I don’t hear any movement from upstairs. I think the creature’s still in my room, waiting for me to come back. I hope the lights I’ve turned on are enough to keep it at bay. I also fucking hope it’s just one creature.
My battery’s at fifty percent. I’ll have to disconnect for now to save it. If you have any idea what’s going on, please, tell me, what can I do?