I’ll start this off with a description of myself. I’m a 27 year old male living alone in a nice little 2-story house. I just moved in around a month ago, and it’s been great. The attic is on the second floor, in the space between the top of the garage and the roof. Up until recently, I never really gave it much thought. However, things have changed.
Around 3 weeks ago, I needed to grab something from in the attic. It was a box of clothes that needed to be unpacked. I had unpacked almost everything else and the clothes were the last on the list. So I walked up to the door, unlocked it, and flicked on the light. There were two parts of the attic; the small front part where I entered and the main part, which was still dark. I walked forward and turned on the lone lightbulb. I found the box I was looking for, and as I picked it up, I happened to glance at the back part of the attic, which was still dimly lit. In the shadows, I saw a tall, humanoid creature standing behind some shelves. It saw me, and started to run towards me. I dropped the box and sprinted faster than I ever have out of the attic, locking the door behind me. I put my ear to the door to listen for any sounds of the creature, but there were none. Breathing heavily, I slumped down on the floor, leaning against the wall. I was shocked. What could that thing have been? I tried to ignore it and rationalize it as just my imagination. To prove this to myself, I unlocked and opened the door to the attic. I grabbed the box, and left. I didn’t notice it then, but the lights had been turned off. In my haste to leave the attic, I had not turned them off.
The next few days went by without incident. But 5 days after the day I had seen the creature, the scratching began. It was 9:30 P.M. As I settled into my bed, I heard it against the wall. My room is directly next to the attic. My mind chalked it up to nothing but house noises. But then it got louder, and moved along the wall towards the front of my room. Terrified, I leapt up from my bed and ran downstairs. The scratches continued, loud enough that I could hear them from my room. At 10:00 however, they stopped. I didn’t sleep in my room that night. I stayed on the couch. The next morning, I went upstairs to my room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That night, at 9:30, however, the scratches started again. They lasted until 10:00 once again, before subsiding as they had the previous night. This went on for about a week. Each night, the scratching was a little bit louder, moving closer and closer towards me, shifting from the wall by my door to my bed. It was 9:30 on the night they would have reached my bed. But no scratches came. I was relieved. I began to slip into sleep, exhausted from the past week. But it didn’t last. At 2:00 A.M, I awoke to a sound. It came from the wall, right next to my bed. It was whispering. In a ragged voice, I could make out 3 words. “Let me out.” The creature repeated this phrase over and over for 25 minutes before stopping suddenly. I didn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night.
This continued, much like the scratching had, for a week. It got louder and louder each night. I started sleeping with a knife under my pillow. My sleep schedule was destroyed. I could barely function at my job. Life was miserable, and that thing in the attic began to appear in the corners of my vision. As soon as I turned to look, it was gone. I was beginning to think I was going insane. I never tried to tell a coworker or my family. I knew they wouldn’t believe me. On the 7th night after the whispering began, it stopped. I slept much better than I had any previous night for 2 weeks. However, something disturbed it.
At 4:00 A.M, I awoke for some inexplicable reason. I looked around my room, and my heart stopped. Peeking in at me from the door was that same tall humanoid I had seen days ago. I thought I was having sleep paralysis, so I tried to move my leg. I could. I wasn’t paralyzed. Terror filled me, my veins feeling ice cold, my breathing uneven. I couldn’t do anything. That creature was blocking my only escape. I was stuck. It approached my bed, and whispered, in that same, ragged voice;
”Let me out.”
I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed the knife, and lunged at it. I stabbed furiously, once, twice, three times, four. I finally stopped and shoved the creature against the wall. It looked at me. For the first time, I could see its dark skin, black eyes, and mouth full of razor sharp teeth. I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed my phone, wallet, and car keys, and I ran downstairs and out the door, making for my garage. I started my car and backed out. As I angled the car down the driveway, I saw the creature, clutching its chest, standing there in the middle of the road. I was shocked. I floored the accelerator, and, at full speed, rammed into it. I didn’t stop drove over it. At 80 mph, I turned down the street. My tires screeched. I didn’t stop driving until I reached a motel. I checked in and went into the room on the second floor, at the very end of the hotel. I lay there, awake, for the entire night.
I’ve been here for the past few days, barely sleeping. I started typing this yesterday. But something happened last night. On the wall behind my bed, I heard a scratching sound. My eyes shot open, and just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. My heart pounded in my chest. That was when I heard that same, ragged voice that had tormented me for a week. It whispered that same, horrible sentence.
”Let me out.”