My eyes opened suddenly and I found myself laying in my bed, drenched in sweat, laying beside my sleeping wife. I gasped as if I’d been holding my breath and sat up, putting my hand on my chest to feel my heart thumping rapidly. I checked the digital clock on my bedside table to see the time - 3:04am. I glanced over at my wife, Zoë, who was sleeping peacefully. Seeing her face as she slept so calmly almost made me forget the state I’d woken up in.
I noticed Peach, our bloodhound, was staring out into the dark, empty hall. I nudged her as I headed to the bathroom, not turning on any lights as I walked through our open bedroom door and into the hall, as to avoid waking up Zoë. Peach retreated back into the bedroom and I swore I heard the bedroom door slam - must’ve been the wind. Turning the bathroom light on, I did my business, before washing my hands and splashing cold water onto my face. I looked up into the mirror and that’s when I saw it; standing behind me was a tall, pale figure with blood trickling down its body. Its mouth curled up into a twisted smile, exposing its blood-stained, razor-sharp teeth.
My eyes opened suddenly and I found myself laying in my bed, drenched in sweat, laying beside my sleeping wife. Wait, didn’t this already happen? I thought to myself, recalling the nightmare I’d just had. I turned to look at Zoë - she was peaceful, pretty, the same as I’d saw her in the dream. Peach was staring into the hall. The clock read 3:04am. Despite my bladder urging me to go to the bathroom, I laid back down and went back to sleep.
That morning, I told Zoë all about what had happened, and she said I must’ve been dreaming the whole time. Despite how vividly I remembered waking up the second time, I agreed with her, and went on with my Saturday. By 2pm, we were both a little tired and decided to nap on the sofa. When I woke up, it’d only been 20 minutes. This time, Peach was staring at me - no, she was staring behind me. Last night’s nightmare still lingering in my mind, I turned to see, well, nothing. Just the wall behind the sofa. I breathed a sigh of relief, and looked back at Peach, but she was gone.
For some reason, I turned back to look behind me again, and written on the wall with what I can only assume was blood were the words, ‘You shouldn’t have looked away’.
I woke up. Peach was staring behind me. It had been 20 minutes since I’d gone to sleep. I didn’t take my eyes off of Peach. I shook Zoë gently and she immediately said, “What?”
“You’re awake?” I asked, confused since she hadn’t seemed to be awake in my dream.
“Yeah, I woke up just before you shook me. I had a weird dream.”
We’d had the same dream. Needless to say, we were both freaked out and decided we’d go out for a walk - being in that apartment was the last thing we wanted.
We didn’t sleep last night. When we got back from our walk, something was off. It’s 6am now, we’re in the bedroom watching TV.
We keep hearing someone -something- laugh in the bathroom.