“Alfie, is that you?” I heard my mother’s sleepy voice ask from the other side of the covers. Shaking, I managed to squeak out a ‘yes’ and she gently pulled back the duvet to see my frightened face. I was immediately comforted by her manicured hand lightly stroking my cheek as she gazed down at me with a tired smile. “Another bad dream, was it?” “Yes,” I squeaked again. “Come on, Alf,” she pulled me onto her lap and held me close, “We’ve been over this, remember?” I nodded. “I know, it’s just so scary.” “It’s alright, baby.”
She stroked my face again and gave me a kiss on my forehead before carrying me back to my bedroom. After tucking me into bed, she knelt down in front of me and said, “Now, what do we do when we’re scared?” Still wishing I was back in the safety of my parents’ bed, I replied, “Sing ‘My Mommy Loves Me’.” “That’s right! And how does that one go again?” “I love my mommy and my mommy loves me, my mommy loves me, my mommy loves me, I love my mommy and my mommy loves me, I’m as safe as I can be,” I sang, beginning to forget how afraid I’d been just a moment ago. “Very good!” my mother responded, “Now sleep tight, my baby.” And I did.
At the time, we still lived with my maternal grandparents. We moved house after I’d just turned six to a bigger house with more space. My nightmares weren’t so bad after that, if I had any.
My dear, sweet mother passed five years ago now, and I haven’t thought of the ‘My Mommy Loves Me’ song in forever. That was until last week, when I moved back into my grandparents’ home temporarily. (My sister Aubrey has owned and lived in the house for over a decade now, but she’s away for a while and since I work from home, it made sense for me to housesit). I’d like to add that I was the only one of my siblings to have these frequent, horrifying nightmares, despite living in the same house and sharing my room with my other sister Lindsey for a few months. I have no idea what the cause was - or is.
I’d been here for about 5 days, when I was taking an evening shower after dark, and turned around to see a hideous woman-like thing leaning over the bathtub and around the shower curtain trying to touch me. I blinked and it was gone, but I know what I saw. It was bony and its skin was like white chalk, but greyer. Its eyes were empty. I still can’t figure out if there was dried blood and some veins around the edge, as if it had giant eyeballs that had been removed, or they were just black gaping holes from the start. I can remember it both ways. And it’s hair was black and scraggly, sort of like that MoMo thing, but a lot more messy, thin and greasy.
I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen, but I tried to continue like normal.
The day after the creepy shower was free of any strange hallucinations and my fear was starting to evaporate. I mean, how silly is it for a 45-year-old man to be afraid of what, ghosts? Poltergeists, spirits, monsters… It’s all just ridiculous made up nonsense! That was what I kept telling myself, until that night. I’d forgotten about the specifics of the nightmares I had as a kid, but this was all of them in one.
That weird humanoid thing I’d seen in the shower was there -on all fours, with knees and feet facing backwards- along with the creatures I’d dreamt of all those years ago. The giant, hairy beast that appeared to be doused in some black liquid and had razor sharp teeth the size of my arm, and the tall, slender being with just a giant eerie hole on its face and a body covered in terrifying eyes. Behind them all was the hideous man who appeared to melt and unmelt over and over and attempted to imitate my mother’s voice, but it just came out as both a melting version of it and an additional deep, unnerving one. I woke up nearly bawling my eyes out and made my way to the bathroom before I peed then and there.
I did my business, then splashed my face with some cold water, muttering ‘it was just a dream’ over and over again, still believing none of it was real. Except, when I looked up into the mirror, there was something behind me. Something tall, with a circle in its face and… eyes all over its body. I blinked and it was gone. It took me a little while to calm myself down, but eventually I dragged my mentally and physically exhausted self back to bed, keeping in mind I had to wake up at 6am. I was also meeting my daughter for lunch at 12pm and didn’t want to be tired for that.
Reminding myself it was just a nightmare and none of it was real, I climbed back into the spare bed and began to fall asleep almost immediately. I desperately wanted to get up and find out what the faint whispering sounds coming from down the hall were, and the occasional footsteps I could hear as if someone was running in and out of one of the rooms, but I was so worn out I was back to sleep before I could move.
That night, I lay in the guest room petrified of what was to come. Nightmares, visions, hallucinations, or worse? I fell asleep for a few hours but woke up at around 12am to those same footsteps as last time. This time though, they sounded closer, and slow at first. It was like the person, or whatever it was, was creeping down the hall towards my door, but running away at the last second. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, not even turning to face where the sound was coming from; even when I heard somebody quietly open the door, then close it and walk away. I could’ve sworn I heard a sort of dripping sound when ‘something’ opened the door, but I didn’t hear any other sounds that night. Still, I daren’t move a muscle ‘til morning.
The next night was the same, with the footsteps, and the whispering was back too. Then the doorknob turned. And the door creeked open. Sounds of heavy breathing entered the room. The uncomfortable sound of both stepping and shuffling made me feel nauseous the most. It made its way around the bed until I could hear its breaths just inches from my face. My heart dropped when I heard a strained woman’s voice say;
“I know you’re awake.”
With that, I nervously pryed my eyes open to see the woman-like humanoid from the shower. Strangely, this time it had big round, unblinking eyes instead of haunting abysses where eyes should be. It just stood there, looking at me almost longingly as a tear rolled down my cheek. This time I blinked, and it stayed.
“W-wh-what do you want from me?” I managed to squeak.
It felt like an eternity, the thing staring into my eyes, unmoving. Then it spoke again.
“Sing the Mommy Song.”