I walked out into the kitchen for my nightly snack. It was late, and I have a horrible routine of getting hungry at the dead of night, which simultaneously ruins my sleep schedule. I looked at the oven clock, which displayed “2:35” (AM) in small green lettering, then continued perusing my parent’s fridge. My room is a straight shot down a short hall from the kitchen. I could see straight into it while closing the fridge to microwave some hamburger patties and mashed potatoes I found. It was about 25 feet away, and looking into it was never not a little creepy, regardless of the light being on or off. The doorway was small, and most of the room was off to the right of it, leaving almost nothing of my room to be openly seen from the kitchen.I closed the microwave and waited. I had left the light on in my room, and there was a big shadow being cast in the doorway, probably by some furniture. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shadow move.
Immediately my heart began to race. There was nobody else awake in this house, my sister’s room was a little bit off to the left but she wouldn’t be awake at this hour, she had school in the morning. I could hear my parents snoring in their room. There was something in my room. I have a dog and two cats, and although they almost never go in my room, there was still a chance it was just one of them. On top of that, it was really late, and maybe I was just seeing things. Still weary, I stopped the timer on my food with a quiet “beep” so as to not make anymore noise than I must, as I slowly made my way over to my room. The microwave is loud when it beeps and I didn’t want to draw any attention.
I first approached my sister’s room, and listened for her breathing. I couldn’t hear it, but as my eyes adjusted I could see her fast asleep in her bed. That was one less possibility. I slowly stepped toward my room, careful to avoid any creaky tiles in the rather old house. Peering into my room, I saw no signs of an intruder, or any person for that matter. Because of the way my room is shaped, I could not see into my closet, and so I made my way further into my room. My heart was pounding out of my chest now, and I felt like even my hurried, poorly contained breaths could give me away, but as I peered into my closet I saw nothing. I checked under my bed and of course there was no danger present there either, I hadn’t cleaned under it in years. No cats, no dog, nothing to help reassure me that I was safe. I wanted to leave but I was beginning to freeze up. The last ounces of bravery had been used up and I needed to calm myself. I sat down on my bed, and took deep, quiet, breaths. I was petrified, my eyes fixated on either the door or the closet for at least 5 minutes while I caught my breath. I decided I wanted to sit in the restroom for a while, maybe until the sun came out. I had contemplated waking up my parents, but I didn’t think a shadow would be very convincing to them.
I slowly, and quietly made my way there, completely abandoning my food and peaking around every corner to make sure I was alone. I went into to the tiny, rather cramped bathroom which was shared between my sister and I. When I flicked on the light and locked the door behind me, I instantly noticed that the shower curtain was pushed all the way to the right of of the shower/tub. The toilet was right next to the tub on the left, so my sister and I always left the curtain open and pushed all the way to the left side so that we would step out onto the ground next to the toilet. In my 18 years living in this house, I’ve maybe only once ever seen the curtain pushed aside this way. Some combination of curiosity, bravery, and a wish to any higher power I could reach that nothing was behind that curtain, empowered me to walk up to the curtain and see what was behind it. I walked the five long paces towards the curtain and pulled it aside. Empty. I turned around. Nothing behind me. I was safe.
I sat on that toilet for an hour, and my body was starting to shut down after what was probably the craziest adrenaline rush I had ever experienced. Maybe if something was in fact in my room, it decided to leave. I flicked the light off before I opened the door to head for my room, because my sister’s room is right next to the bathroom and she sleeps with her door open. I couldn’t risk waking her because my parents are furious every time I do it. She has enough trouble sleeping already, I guess. The second I flicked the light off, I felt a drop of liquid land on my hair. I looked up, and on the ceiling, hanging upside down by its hands and feet in an impossible and twisted manner, was a large, slender, dark human figure looming over me. It’s only discernible physical trait other than its slim stature was its big, yellow eyes. Although it was next to invisible in the dark, I could almost make out a horrible smile on its face. I would’ve wished I had never been born, or wished I died a long time ago, or something extreme to that effect, but I couldn’t. It tilted its head very slowly. I stared at it, it’s face maybe 3 feet away from mine, and the only thought that formulated in my mind was “why?”. My eyes burned from staring at the creature for so long, and, against my will, I blinked. After the eternal, mind numbing fear of closing my eyes in the presence of that thing ended, my eyes opened back up, and it was gone.
I turned on the light, stomped out to the hallway and flipped on that light too. I continued hurriedly flipping on every light I could until my parents and shortly after my sister entered the kitchen. They questioned me, but I couldn’t listen. I looked at the clock; “4:28”
Maybe I should fix my sleep schedule.