See my original post here if you’re not sure what the title means: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/whu6z3/my_security_cameras_identified_nothing_as_human/
Nothing is back. I think. We went nearly two weeks without hearing anything, and although I’m still rattled, we were both able to sleep again and our cats seemed to be just fine.
I’ve been checking the recorded events on the front door camera, and so far it’s back to its usual nonsense of misidentifying me as a cat or my cat as a parcel or whatever, but no randomly identified objects. I still haven’t set up recording because the camera system I’m using is very DIY and I can’t work out how to get audio to be included, so I just kinda gave up.
Anyway, almost every Friday night we either go out for dinner or get takeaway, a kind of date night if you will. Last night we decided on pizza from our usual place which is just around the corner, so I grabbed my mobile phone and dialled their number. As the phone rang, I noticed the audio was a bit muffled or dull. The majority of our town is wired up with copper and it’s been raining a fair bit, so I just assumed a pit had flooded and some water got into the copper phone line. Happens all the time, and our internet sometimes suffers because of it.
After a few seconds of ringing, the woman on the other end answered. We call her mama, because she’s a lovely older Italian lady. “Pizza Villa” she answered, but her voice was somewhat muffled as well. I could still mostly understand her, and she could still understand me, but there was definitely something odd going on with the phone lines. I’d ordered from there a million times before, so even if I couldn’t hear her, the “script” of the call never changes.
“Hi, can I place an order for pickup please?”
“Sure, what would you like?”
“Can I get a large half Chicken and half Margherita, and a garlic bread?”
“Sure. Anything else?”
“No that’s it thanks”
“No worries. 15 minutes. See you soon, bye!”
I had some time to spare, so I decided to run to the service station up the road before it closed and grab a drink. I grabbed my keys, flicked on the outside light, and walked out.
It’s only been two weeks since the last incident happened, so I’m still very nervous to go outside. As I walk along the path to the carport I start humming to keep my mind occupied and to make some noise I know is coming from me, which calms me down. I start to climb the steps to the carport and unlock the car. We have no lights in that area, so the car’s headlights are the only thing I’ve got to light up the way. I’ve been meaning to call an electrician to get lights installed, but my money has gone towards other things like bills and food. Anyway, I’m about to get into my car, when I hear something that makes my blood freeze.
A dog barking.
A little bit of context here. When I was young my cousin got attacked by a dog. She came over to visit one day, and I distinctly remember her sitting in a chair in our loungeroom with scratches up and down her face and her arm bandaged up. As a result, I was terrified of all dogs (even the tiny indoor breeds) for years. I’m MUCH better with dogs now, but only after years of trying, and random larger dogs wandering around on the street still scare me, even if they’re sweet boys who wouldn’t harm a fly.
I start to panic a little and high tail it towards the car. I don’t know where the dog is, because it sounded like it was coming from all around me, but I’d rather not stop and investigate. As I’m about the grab the door handle, the dog barks again, and I realize something.
The bark was kind of half hearted, dull and compressed.
I jumped into the car and locked the doors. I didn’t know what was out there, hence why I dove for the lock button. The barking continued, and as I listened to it, it sounded as if the dog didn’t really have its heart in it. It had the same feeling as “being half asleep Monday morning, and being forced to put effort and a smile into what you’ve been asked to do”, and sounded like the bark was being played through a pair of crappy $2 speakers from your dollar store. It was really weird, and just like the “human, but something is off” thing I heard not even two weeks ago, it freaked me the fuck out.
It was at that point that I realized that I hadn’t grabbed my flashlight, which was odd because I never go outside at night without it now. I think I was preoccupied with deciding what I wanted from the servo. Instead, I unlocked my phone and turned on the flashlight. It sent a weak cone of light around, but I couldn’t see anything. The barking continued from everywhere, so I had no idea what was going on.
I put my seatbelt on, started up the car, and backed out. The headlights illuminated the side of the house, and I rolled down the window slightly. The barking was still in the carport, so I backed out further and took off. I got to the service station and sat there in the parking space, breathing heavily. Thankfully the barking hadn’t followed me, so after a minute or two of sitting there composing myself, I walked inside, legs shaking, and bought the drink I wanted.
I got in the car, went to the pizza shop, collected the order, then returned home. When I arrived, there was dead silence. I tentatively looked around, then got out and ran inside.
I told my wife what had happened, and her face dropped. Just as we were getting over the unholy shouting, this happens. We eat our pizza, watch TV, and I do my very best to distract myself and forget everything. I’m very keen on the idea of never going outside in the dark again unless I absolutely have to.
After some thinking, I came to the conclusion that someone had put a speaker up and was playing that noise as a prank, but I can’t think of who would do that, and when I went out to the car today I found no signs of a speaker. There’s not really anywhere you can stick one without it being obvious, plus the sound didn’t really have a direction. It was just “in my head, everywhere”. And how would a speaker explain what the hell happened two weeks ago?
I’m seriously spooked. I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t believe in demons or any of that sort of stuff, so I don’t know if things like exorcisms or whatever would work. I’ve ordered a camera to put in the carport, but what is that going to do? I know I had hoped last time would be the last time, but that’s a joke. And I’d also hope that the sounds remain outside, but I mean c’mon, really?