I’m a 15 year old boy, and I’ve had night terrors my entire life. Every waking moment of mine is like paradise for me, because no matter what happens at day, it’s always worse at night. The most common one of these hells that I see at night is something so benign, so inconspicuous that if you weren’t like me, if you weren’t prone to these terrors every night, you wouldn’t have noticed the movement of the walls. At first the room is fine, and you have a hope that nothing will come out from every nook and cranny of your cramped, claustrophobic room. And your prayers are answered, except one tiny, miniscule detail. Your room. It’s getting smaller. Every night that I have one of these paradises in a hellhole of nightmares, that exception is always the case.
I woke up from one of these dreams, a cold sweat glimmering across my forehead. As I groggily awaken from my slumber a thought dashes like a lightning bolt across my mind. Party. I quickly get ready to dress because today is one of those occasions that you just have to. It’s my brother’s engagement party, and come on, who doesn’t want to go to one of the biggest parties that’s all about your favourite brother. Jake is an awesome guy, and in a family of mostly girls, he was my lifeline and I was his. Every day as a young child, it wasn’t my needless amount of sisters consoling me, it was Jake, telling me that they were just nightmares and it was going to be okay.
Knock Knock Knock. Our old, mouldy door began to creak as the door opened and someone entered. Its not Jake, I’m sure of it. Neither is it my parents. Is it my sisters? So many thoughts raced through my head until my door slowly creaked open. A doctor. Why is one here? What do they want? Who called them? They all raced through my mind, trying to be the first question asked, and as I began to speak, words stumbled out of my mouth like the decaying teeth of a homeless man.
“Who what are you here you…” I muttered.
“Who I am is on a need-to-know basis, and I am here to tell you this. You my young friend, are most definitely a schizophrenic, and I am here to help you, on the request of your mother, a childhood friend of mine” He replied calmly, a hideous grin beginning to form.
“No no no, this can’t be true, this has to be some kind of sick joke. Who called you, I need to get that heartless bastard.” I wailed in agony, my hands covering my ears as I rocked back and forth in a pile of clothes all around me. I wished that the clothes were like a wall, that covered me from this heart-wrenching news.
“Boy, you have much to learn, come with me now, and we can try fix you up before you miss Mr Jakes engagement after all.”
At that moment I realised what he meant by fix me up. My arms, legs, wrists and even fingers all had gashes on them, as if I had been brutally assaulted. When did these happen I asked myself, but subconsciously I already knew the answer. It was me. I secretly thought that I was being haunted by something, and there was no way that my brain could conjure up these satanic hellholes. It was implausible, but really, I truly wanted to believe him, that I wasn’t being haunted, and there were people like me who had nigh-
“You know your the only patient that has had these problems, and you seem fine during the day so even if you are schizophrenic, you are also one of a kind.” He said slowly, crushing all my hopes and popping my theoretical bubble. I wanted to crawl into a ditch and never come out. All I have ever wanted my entire life was to have a normal life, and for God to please get rid of these god-forsaken night terrors and let me sleep peacefully.
“Get the hell out of my room, NOW” I wailed, and he hurriedly got up and left, leaving behind wet wipes and band-aids. He muttered something underneath his breath, but I didn’t care, all I saw was red. I screamed, cried, wailed until I couldn’t anymore. Luckily, I had calmed down enough at the end to finish changing and clean myself, and my room up. At the end though, I realised my room had gotten a bit smaller, not by much but I did notice, and it pissed me off to no end. I ran down the stairs to see an empty house, confusing me. However I knew the place the party was at and I ran as if I was escaping from Death itself.
The party had already begun and no one noticed me enter, except the man of honour, Jake. We laughed, we talked, I for one dabbled in some underaged drinking masked as diet coke, and we danced. This was the greatest time I ever had at this moment in time, as it distracted me from the truth that I had been told. As I walked out of the party, and the moon was reaching it’s peak, my brain began to block out the things I had been told only hours before. As I reached my home, I placed my suit on a hanger and went to shower. I recalled everything we had talked about in the party, and I blocked out anything before it. Soon I stepped out of the steamy shower and changed into the my pyjamas, bracing myself for what was to come. Until I heard something move. A low, grinding noise that might have gone unnoticed in such a loud family. And then they began to move. Before it was when I was asleep, until I realised something I forgot to mention earlier. I always felt drowsy after these dreams. Thoughts raced through my mind until I found the one. true answer. I was never sleeping in those dreams. The walls were moving. And at an exponentially faster rate then before. I leapt out of my bed and ran towards the door. But it was….. Missing? I banged on the walls, wailing for help but none arrived. Here I am now, stuck in what honestly can be called a rock and a hard place, after all, humour tends to lighten the mood. This is the last thing I can do before I probably die through compression, suffocate, or pass out. Please If anyone reading this knows Jake Markwell, please tell him to come to Jacob’s room on 1̵̡͖̥͕̮̳̣̐3̵̼̺͇͓͔̹̥̯̼̲̼̗̩̤͔̿͊̄́̎̌̈́̅̕͘ ̷̨̡͙͚̹̜̝͔̖̈́̃͊͐̂̃͛͒͜͠͝B̴̗̭̼̩̤̒͂̐̈̍̈́̊̂̀̈͑̽̚r̴̡͇̰͎̺̤͉͔̈̐̒͊͌̒͑̏̚̕̚ę̷͈̙̖̠͍̥͓̳̃͂̈͝ḯ̶̬̾̐́̿̋̉̊͊g̷̮͓̩̹̪̅̐͊́͒͐̂͐̾̓͘̚h̸̨̢͕̥̰̖̼̪̘̼̺̘͠ͅt̶̢̝̭̣͈̻̘̊̐͌͠ǫ̸̧̰̜̼̭͛̋̃̒͌̚͝ņ̶͎̱̺̤̟̻̘̀̾̄͊͐̏̚ ̴̡̫̼̣̜̲̩̲̺̳̟͔̯̘͗́͗̕A̵̧͗̀̐̇̾̋̆̄v̴̢̦̻̊͗͌̎̾͑͋͂ĕ̷̢̨̛̗͒́̐͛̉̈́̔́̌̈́͘n̷̨͉̙̯͔͔̪̋̉̂̂û̶̥̻̯̠̹̪̞̰̟̇͊͑̎͆̋̉̑ễ̸̢̱͖̜̥̣̰̫͇̝̇̒̽͑́͛̊͆͋́̌̕͜ and please. For the love of God. Help me.