It started as a typical day. I rose, ate breakfast and combed my hair. The silence of my living room is palpable and always has soothed me. I left to work via the bus. It takes me down the road and I have to walk the rest of the way. As my day at work finishes I make my way back to the bus stop. The cool night air is both refreshing and oppressive, my body twitches slightly uncomfortable as my lungs happily exhale and inhale the fresh air. The bus is late. A few cars are parked on the street empty as always at this time of night. My eyes slowly drift from car to car. When I flick my eyes back and forth between them my mind plays a trick on me, it appears there are some shadowy figures in the driver’s seat of the cars. I do this all the time, I slowly bring my vision back into focus and the cars once again return to their unoccupied status.
I really enjoy my time at this bus stop, my back spasms from the chill in the air and overall I feel secluded. One of my coworkers drives by and asks if I want a ride, I politely decline and tell them I’ll see them tomorrow. I look around to ensure no one is in sight as I start to look at the parked cars again. My eyes rapidly darting between them the shadowy figures are present once again, their shadowy misshapen heads and faces contort and disappear before reappearing a moment later with a different sickening shape. I slowly bring my vision back into focus, this time though the shadows stay, all of them staring directly at me, a minute of horror passes before they slowly disappear. I grabbed my phone and called my coworker and asked for a ride, without saying why, but I was extremely freaked out.
My coworker picked me up and brought me home. I thanked them and went inside. The peace of being at home removed my fear. I made my way to my living room and turned on the lamp next to my chair. I sat down and got relaxed as I glanced around my home, my eyes naturally avoided the shadowy areas. I close my eyes for a moment before hearing a rustling deeper within my home, my eyes open and instantly lock on to where the noise came from, behind the kitchen counter. I turn on my phone’s flashlight and point it at the kitchen counter, the rustling stops in an instant.
I take a deep breath and stand up slowly making my way to the kitchen, ensuring my phone’s flashlight is pointed directly at where the noise came from. As I inch my way closer I see nothing out of the ordinary, I let out an audible sigh of relief and turn away, before I hear a different noise, like a soft scraping, I spin around quickly to see a small toy car sitting on the ground that was previously clear. My heart dropped and I say abruptly “stop fucking with me.” I pick up the car and toss it in the garbage bin. I turn on all the lights within reach. I sit back down in the living room and cover myself in blankets. The chill in my spine is relentless and I feel uncomfortable in my own home. I close my eyes and somehow find sleep.
A scratching sound wakes me. I can tell it’s from the front door. I make my way towards the door and look through the peephole. What I saw can only be described as a shadowy face that slowly changes and morphs, shadowy tendrils leak from it and quickly return to it.
If you don’t hear from me, just know, I’m opening the door.