Let me start this off by introducing myself. My name is Lola, and I cannot sleep.
But, it goes deeper than that.
I tell my family all the time, seeing if they can find a way to help me, but they just don’t believe me.
It’s not even the fact that I can’t sleep that bothers me. It’s the fact that when everyone in the house is asleep I see demons. Different ones, every night. I always cry and try not to look at their terrifying faces but it’s hard when you have alternating demons sitting 2 feet away from you every night.
Sometimes, they ask me to play a game with them. I always ignore them, I’ve never spoken to any of them.
They just keep talking;
“Hi, Lola. Want to play a game?”
Worst of all, it’s in the most disgusting, horrible, voice anyone could ever have. I don’t even know how to explain it.
I always keep my phone on my bed. I listen to my favorite music and watch my favorite movies as I try to close my eyes and pray that I’ll fall asleep. But you can probably imagine how difficult it is to distract yourself late at night while you can see a demon staring at you from the of your eye.
I don’t tell my family about the demons for two reasons: one, because I’m the oldest, I don’t want to scare my younger siblings and two, I don’t want my parents to think I’m crazy because I don’t want to be sent to a mental hospital.
One night, I laid down and luckily, I fell asleep. Before everyone in the house too. Because, I saw no demons that night. At least not right beside me.
I had my first dream after not having any for a very long time now. However, instead of having a peaceful sleep and a nice dream, I had the most horrific nightmare I have ever had in my entire life. I was in this dark red room, all the doors were opened but I couldn’t walk through them. In every door there was the same demon, smiling at me, with the widest smile anyone or anything could ever have. There was no way out of the room, just a flight of stairs. Very long stairs. Before I could even walk down, I woke up from my nightmare sobbing. And, right next to me, was the exact same demon I saw in my dream.
Without realizing, I screamed while I was still bawling my eyes out. My mom ran into the room. But, the demon didn’t move. I thought I could finally prove myself to my mom so I asked her to turn on the light.
“Mom! Look, there! Do you see that!?”
“Lola, are you okay? What’s going on with you?” She asked me, with a concerned look on her face.
“Don’t you see that? Right there!?”
“Sweetie, there’s nothing there. Maybe you really haven’t been sleeping. I think you’re going a little crazy.”
I started sobbing again. Maybe I’m just insane? Maybe there’s not even any demons by my bed and that I’m just imagining it.
“How about you come sleep in dad and i’s room for the rest of the night? For you to calm down a bit?”
“Yes, please.”
I took my pillow and followed my mom to her room. The more I walked away, the more the demon turned it’s head, watching me.
The next night came by and my mom told me that I had to sleep in my room again. When I slept in my parents room, it’s the first time I’ve slept peacefully in over a year. I begged her to let me sleep in her room one more night but she told me: “No.” I sighed, preparing myself for a new demon to watch me tonight.
I laid down in my bed watching my door, waiting for a demon to come walk in. Then, my door creaked open. But… it was the same demon from last nights nightmare. This is like a never ending loop I can’t get out of.
“Hi, Lola. Want to play a game?”
If this is my imagination, what if I say yes? What if I play the game? I took a long deep breath as I said;
“Yes. I want to play a game.”