I’ve been going through some strange and terrifying experiences recently. I’m going to be posting a record of events on the slim chance this is real as it feels.
Monday- I woke to scratching at my door. I assumed it was my dog Elphaba. This was typical of her; she was a bit spoiled and was used to sleeping on my bed with me in the mornings before I left for work. I groaned and glanced at the clock on my bedstand. 2:57 glared back at me in glowing green numbers.
“Jesus, Elphy, isn’t it a bit early for you?” I sighed and kicked the grey comforter off me. As I stumbled to the door, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, the scratching got more insistent.
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Hold your horses.”
I opened the door and a large black shape darted into my room and onto my bed. I yelped. Whatever was on my bed was NOT my dog. Elphaba was a 65-pound Weimaraner, so she was big, but the thing sitting on my bed was the size of a wolf. It stared at me with an enormous pair of pure white eyes that shone in the darkness. It kind of looked like a dog, but only if you didn’t stare at it for too long. If I focused on it, its proportions became off. Its legs stretched long, lanky, and at an unnatural angle. The creature opened its mouth and bared its teeth, which were razor sharp. It let out a deep moaning sound that pierced the silence and made me flinch.
“What the hell…” I whispered to no one in particular. As soon as the words left my mouth, however, the…thing… lunged at me, teeth bared, and massive paws stretched wide. I flung my hands over my face, but nothing happened. The creature was gone. I groped for the light switch, and as the lights blinded me there was still nothing besides me in the room. The clock showed 3:02. I was shaken, of course, but there was no tangible proof that what I witnessed was reality. I walked shakily to the living room where Elphaba was sleeping comfortably in her Costco bed. I glanced out the window and swore I could see two white orbs staring back at me.
“I’m going crazy. This is some messed up waking nightmare, or a figment of my imagination. Isn’t that right, Elphy? I’m sorry, baby. Mommy’s talking to herself, and you’re just lying there, aren’t you? Cutie poo.” I rubbed her sleeping head. She raised her head and looked at me inquisitively. I apologized for waking her and hesitantly went back to bed. I didn’t sleep well.
After the horrible morning I had, I knew I wouldn’t have a good day at work. Every time I looked into a dark room or a dimly lit hallway, I swear I saw those goddamned eyes.
Tuesday- Elphaba has always been very protective of me. After Monday’s endeavor with the White Eyed Creature, I didn’t want to take my chances. I brought Elphy into my room before I went to bed on Monday night, and I didn’t encounter anything while I was sleeping. I thought Monday was a fluke, so I shook it off and acted as if nothing had happened. Nothing else happened; nothing until I was driving home from work.
“Alexandria…” A raspy voice hissed from the backseat. An involuntary scream escaped my lips. I jerked my head back and saw a hunched, nearly skeletal figure grinning at me with a manic look in his sunken eyes. Every part of his body twitched except for his face. It was as if he was wearing a mask atop a glitching body. His mouth was much too large for his face, and the way he grinned was sickening. HONK! HONK! HONK! I whipped my head forward and realized, much to my horror, that I had drifted into the left lane into oncoming traffic. Two headlights grew exponentially closer with each passing second. My eyes widened and I swerved back into the righthand lane. My heart felt like a jackhammer, and my breath came in ragged, shallow bursts. I franticly looked in my rearview, only to see nothing but an empty seat. Something was seriously wrong. First White Eyes, and now this. I would have called someone, but who would believe me? No. I just had to deal with this on my own. Whatever it was, I was sure I could somehow fix it or ignore it. Sleep deprivation was what it was; it had to be. It just had to be. I didn’t sleep that night. I lie awake, desperately squeezing my eyes shut. The two monsters I witnessed swam about my thoughts like a murky bowl of alphabet soup. Every time I thought I vanquished them, the horrific grin of the creature in my car - or the way White Eyes lunged at me - would replay in my mind once more and prevent me from doing anything besides lay beneath the covers and wish with everything I had that I could sleep. No matter how much I wished, however, sleep didn’t come.
Today- I was on high alert. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew it was causing me harm. I watched the clock go from midnight to 7am, and I felt every single minute of it. When my alarm sounded in the morning with its signature high pitched beeping, all I could do was sit on the edge of my bed and stare numbly at the wall. If it weren’t for Elphy nudging my hand, as if coaxing me up, I don’t think I would have ever gotten off that bed. I fed her, changed her water, and went to make myself look presentable. When I looked in the mirror, I nearly didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me. I stared at my reflection, in shock of how bad she looked. Hair hung limp around her shoulders, and her eye bags were pronounced and swollen. She looked haggard; unlike anything I’d ever seen of myself. I reached up to tenderly touch my eyes, but my reflection did not. I gasped, took two steps back and felt my back touch the cold wall. My reflection didn’t copy this movement. Slowly, her lips stretched into a thin, cold smile. One hand came up and beckoned me closer to the mirror.
“Come, Alexandria, come closer to me. I can help you.” She lilted in a voice that was mine, but slightly off.
“Who-what are you?”
“Why, don’t you see? I’m you, darling. Or, at least, a version of you. I want to join with you; become whole again.” She said again in that hollow voice.
“What makes you think I’d come any closer to you? And what makes you think I’d ever trust you?” There was no way in hell that I was going anywhere near that mirror. She let out a laugh that sent shivers down my spine.
“One way or another, you will come closer. One way or another, you will be mine.” The mirror began to warp and distort, the glass somehow melting as my reflection pushed at the other side. My head swirled with a static-like noise that drowned everything else. I tried to run out of the bathroom, but every time I got near the door, the further it seemed. I didn’t know what to do. I did all I could think of.
“ELPHY! COME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying she would obey my command. The mirror was starting to give, and I could see a pale hand emerging from the glass. I leapt into the bathtub and watched utterly helpless as my awful reflection crawled from the mirror. loud bark emanated from outside the bathroom. Elphy! She stood in the doorway, the hairs on her back raised. She let out another bark. The doppelganger turned its head to look at my dog. Elphy snarled and took a cautionary step forward. A look of fear painted the reflection’s face, and she stumbled back.
“Get-get back, you wretched creature!” she wailed, her body arching back. Elphy lunged at her, and the doppelganger screamed. I can’t describe the scream, but I’ll also never forget it. It was inhuman, incomprehensible; a scream filled with equal parts rage and fear. It stabbed my ears like a dagger. The lights shut off all at once and the mirror shattered, raining bits of glowing glass throughout the bathroom. I covered my head, but I still felt the sharp pricks of broken glass sting my skin. I felt myself slump down the bathtub as everything went black.
I woke up in my bed at 4:47 AM, today. Elphy was at my feet, sleeping peacefully. I had no idea what happened to the time. Did I somehow go back to earlier in the day? Did
the mirror incident never happen, and it was just a horrible dream? I sat awake, staring into the bathroom. I was terrified to go in there, even though my curiosity was at a peak.
“Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posy. Ashes….Ashes…we all fall down.” I felt myself sing in a voice that certainly was not mine. The voice was childlike and creepy, almost like a broken doll. I screamed as an unseen force flung me to the floor.
“What the fuck?!” I exclaimed. The song was sung from my mouth, but it was certainly not on account of my own free will. I panicked. What was going on with me? Who or what was doing this? Was I possessed? Had I been drugged or something? If I was drugged, when would anyone have had the opportunity to do it? I’d only been to work and my house, so there would be no chance for someone to drug me. No. This had to be something else. But what? I was confused, unsure, and most of all terrified. If it was one isolated incident, I wouldn’t be too concerned. I would be a little nervous, sure; but this has been three separate accounts. Different…creatures…every time, and each time I was in more danger. BEEP BEEP BEEP, my alarm clock screamed. I jumped and looked at the clock: 5:00 AM.
“Hickory Dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck five, the mouse took a dive. Hickory Dickory dock.” The same creepy voice sang, although this time it was not from my mouth. It uttered from nowhere and yet everywhere all at once. My body was yanked like a ragdoll by the same invisible force that tossed me from the bed. I was helpless as I was thrown out of my room and down the stairs. My shoulder hit the hardwood floor with a dull thud, and pain exploded through my arm. I know I should have gone to the hospital, but I was scared to leave my house. The only reason I’m writing this is because I want people to know what’s been happening. I don’t know what’s going on, or if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this, but I want at least someone to know the truth. Even as I sit at my computer, writing this with Elphaba sitting by my side, I can hear the faint sound of singing.
“All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought ‘twas all in good fun. Pop! Goes the weasel.”