It all started around 3 days ago. I was sitting on the couch, mindlessly scrolling on my laptop. I should’ve been studying for fianls week as it was just a few days away, but I guess I got distracted. My dad was reading something at the kitchen table, and my odler sister was in her room. Suddenly, I heard something. My mom began laughing from upstairs in her room.
Now, typically, when you’re at my house (or any house in general) and it’s quiet, you’ll here the ocassional chuckle from somebody every now and then. When it’s coming from my mom, she’s usually just letting out a small chuckle made by a stupid Facebook meme or something.
But this laugh was different. It wasn’t short, it wasn’t quiet. It wasn’t even a normal sounding laugh. It was a loud, maniacal laugh. And it didn’t stop, either. Even after a good 20 seconds. I didn’t even here her pause for a quick breath break. No, she just kept laughing like a maniac.
As soon as I heard it, a chill was sent down my spine. This laugh was the most empty, souless laugh I’ve ever heard, almost as if it were made by an android. But no, that specific pitch and voice perfectly resembeled my mom.
I sat up, my eyes peeling away from my laptop screen. I looked over at the stairs, hearing the laughter coming from up there. I looked over at my dad with a confused expression, and he looked over at me, his look just as worried. We know what her laugh sounds like. Her laugh was soft and sweet. But this one was unlike any sound that’s ever errupted from her body, or anyone else’s body, for that matter. We both knew something was up. That laugh was just so…uncanny.
Dad looked back at the stairs as that hollow laughter continued. Without saying another word, he sat up and slowly made his way for the stair case. I relunctantly followed him, closing my laptop and palcing it on the couch as I walked next to him. Dad stood at the bottom of the stair case, looking up at the stairs above us. “Honey?” he called, his tone a mixture of confusion and worry. I anxiously waited for her response, but all I could here was that Goddamn laugh. “Mom?” I called, just as worried.
Just then, I heard the sound of a door opening and I saw my older sister walking down the stairs. She looked annoyed and a little pissed because she had been on a video call with her boyfriend and the laugh was disturbing the both of them.
“Dad, is she ok?” I asked cautiously, looking up at my dad standing beside me. Without looking back at me, he hummed out the words, “I…I’m gonna go check on her.”
My sister and I watched as my dad climbed the stairs slowly, still calling my mother’s name. We climbed the stairs slowly too, wondering what was about to happen. Once we reached the last step and my dad stood in front of their room, which was closed, the laughter was much louder from up there. It buzzed in my ears, drowning out any other sound in the word. Nothing else could be heard, just that damn laugh.
Dad hesitantly held the doorknob, then he looked back at us. “Stay here,” is all he said. Then, he opened the door.
That quick second that he opened the door was the closet to hell I’ve ever been. That lugh. It was so loud. Oh my God, I still here it. It was so horrible, so souless, so inhumane. I immidiently covered my ears and closed my eyes tightly, praying for it to go away. Jesus, I wish my sister had done the same.
Once the laughter had been muffled a little, I assumed that meant that the door had closed once again. So, I opened my eyes. The door was in fact closed, and my dad was no where in sight. I looked over at my sister, was was pale as a sheet. Her arms hung to their sides, and her eyes were wide. Her mouth gaped open a bit, giving her appearence a slightly ghastly look. “What did you see?” I asked. She stared with a petrified look at the door, mumbling something incoherent.
I ignored her and placed my attention back onto the door. I anxiously awaited for my dad to plead with her to stop, or ask her what was making her create such a terrible noise. Hell, I would even have waited for her to start angrily screaming at her. But no. Instead what I heard was so much worse. Instead, I heard the loud, horrified scream of my father. My eyes widened and my body shook with fright. I could hear his screaming get closer at the door and he began frantically jiggling the handle. But no matter how hard he pushed or how much he shook the knob, the door wouldn’t open.
He began pleading, screaming both our names. I shoudl’ve opened the door. I should’ve yelled at my sister to open the door. I should’ve kicked it down myself. I shoudl’ve helped him. But I couldn’t. My body stood as frozen as a statue, as if my legs became tree stumps and had grown roots into the ground.
Just then, his screams of terror grew even louder. He stopped pounding on the door and let out a painful, blod curdling scream. I heard a smash, and then, the only thing that could be heard was my mother’s God foresaken laughter. Speaking of which, as this entire thing was happening, she laughed like a psychopath the entire time.
Then, silence. For the first time in 10 minutes was complete silence. The only thing entering my ear drums was the sound of my heart poudning. I slowly looked over at my sister, who had been completely still this entire time.
She turned to look at me, and the horror in her eyes made me tense up in fear. “What?” I asked, my voice beginning to shake in fear. Her quivering lips muttered something too quiet for me to here, then she shook her head. “I…I need to go,” she said after a short pause.
She slowly started walking down the stairs, and I stood there like an idiot, watching as she opened the door and walked out into the driveway. I heard her start her car, and then I heard it pull out of the driveway. Then, I heard the flinching sound of her tires screeching harshly against the road, speeding off to God knows where. I listened as the sound of her quickly speeding away got more and more distant, until I eventually couldn’t hear her at all.
I wish I could say it was silent after that. God, I wish I could say the laughter had stopped at this point. But it didn’t. Now my full attention had been sucked back to the laughing. It was still just my mother laughing.
I walked up to the door, wanting to knock. But everytime I’d lift my fist to knock, my body would tense up again and I would freeze, absolutely petrified. “Mom? Dad?” is all I whimpered out.
Just then, another noise was heard. It was my dad’s voice, and instead of screams of terror, it was another hollow, empty, meaningless burst of maniacal laughter. My heart sank like a stone as it happened. I don’t know what my mom did to them in there, but all I knew was that she had somehow made him like…her.
I felt like crying, but I was petrified to do anything. That’s when I began hearing scrathing on the door. It wasn’t like a small, soft scratch at the bottom of your door like a cat. No, it was as if someone had taken their nails and began quickly slashing them against the door. That’s what jolted me out of my petrified state. I shook my head quickly and ran down stairs. I have no idea what I was doing, but I wasn’t about to stay there any longer and find out what would meet me if my parents continued scratching the door.
I made it downstairs, frantically looking around. I ran to the phone connected to the wall and was about to called the police. As I dialed the first button, I tried thinking about what exactly I would say. “911, what’s your emergency?” the woman on the other end of the line asked me. “I-I don’t know what’s going on, but my parents won’t stop…they…” I struggled to find my words. “What is the matter with your parents?” the woman asked. I gulped. “Um, I don’t know. They keep laughing and I…I think my mom hurt my dad,” I said. “Ok, hang tight. We’ll send over an ambulence. What is your location?”
After I gave her all of my information, she told me to sit tight while I waited for an ambulence. She also told me not to leave the house as my parents could injur themselves, but like hell was I gonna do that. I hadn’t mentioned this to the woman for obvious reasons, but I don’t think those are my parents anymore. I don’t know how to explain it. But I know whoever is making those blasted heaps of laughter are not them. So instead, I sat outside the porch, my head hanging and staring at the ground.
I wondered where my sister had gone, and what she had seen when my dad opened the door. I had shut my eyes and covered my ears so I have no idea what could’ve been hiding behind that door. But I don’t think I ever wanna know.
I could still hear that damn laughter, it plagued and echoed in my mind nonstop. I looked up at the window of my parents, and I still wish I hadn’t.
I could see my parents staring down at me, still laughing. But it wasn’t my parents. Their mouths were smiling so wide, like unrealistically wide. It was like something had their fingers in my parents mouths, stretching them upward beyond any normal length. Their smiles weren’t real, either. I could see the pain and fear in their eyes, but I also couldn’t see any life in there either. Their eyes were sunken and lifeless, and I couldn’t help but feel like throwing up.
I pulled my face away from the window and looked back down at the ground. I closed my eyes and began to sob.
An ambulence pulled up eventually and went inside, and I just stayed outside as I gave the cops my story. Some of them looked at me like I was insane, but I didn’t care. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, we knew something was up. “Where are the paramedics?” I asked. The female cop looked over at the house, and then over at the male cop, who shrugged his shoulders.
Even though I was the one asking the question, I had an idea on wha had happened to them. As they rushed into the house and up the stairs, something in the back of my mind told me that they’d never come back out, not like they had before, at least.
Eventually, the female cop just told me to stay at a friend’s house as they figured things out. As much as I’d hate to admit it, I was relieved. Of course I love my parents, but I geinuanlly don’t believe that they’re here anymore.
I stayed at my friend’s house and explained to him what happened, and he seemed just as freaked out. His parents have been very supportive and aren’t pushing me for any details, they let me stay in his room.
Every day, I miss my family. I know I’ll probably never see my parents again and I still don’t even know where my sister is. I’ve contacted the police for an update, but they aren’t telling me anything. In fact, last time I called, they pretended not to know what I was talking about.
That all happened around 3 days ago and I’m still adjusting. I’m paranoid all the time and nobody seems to understand.
So why am I writing all of this? Well, one of the reasons is because I’m desperate for answers. I’m begging to know if somebody, anybody, knows what happened to my parents and what things they’ve turned into.
The other reason? The main reason? Well, it’s really dark out right now and I keep hearing that Goddamn laughter echoing in my mind, no matter what I do. And everyone’s asleep, and I swear to God I keep hearing scratching against the window. I know they’re coming for me, and I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how much time left I have but I just wanted to get my story out there, so everyone knows what happened to me. So everyone knows that if they ever hear somebody laugh maniacally, it probably has a more sinister reason.