As a child I used to go to my grandma’s house very often. It was a kind of family tradition I guess. I would spend every weekend with my grandma as she was relatively close to my house. She only lived about an hour away. Whenever I would visit I would always notice my grandma’s closet being locked. When I asked about it she would usually change the subject or tell me “It’s better that way”.
I was always curious about what sat behind that closet. My grandma would always tell me that it was important I never approach the closet. This didn’t set well for me. Perhaps it’s better we tell children what they want to hear so a story like mine is never repeated. One day, when I was 14 I had enough of this nonsense. That night my grandma slept in another room so I was able to look for the key to the closet. I looked everywhere but could not find it.
I realized that my grandma weirdly wore the key on her neck. “Great…” I irritatedly mumbled. I approached my grandma as she was sleeping and was able to open her necklace and take the key. I quietly opened the door of the closet but was greeted with… nothing. “What?” I said to myself. “All this time for nothing?”. I must admit I wasn’t very angry as I thought there would be something grotesque or violent.
As I was about to retreat I noticed a small door at the back of the closet. Even as a 14 year old I was pretty tall; about 5’10. This meant that if I wanted to enter the door I would have to crawl. I got onto my hands and knees and opened the door. This one didn’t have a lock. As I entered the door I noticed something, it was very dark. “Why isn’t there a light switch?” I chuckled to myself. Then as I stepped I noticed the ground was very mushy and water began to seep into my socks.
“What the?” I said loudly. The room began to slightly illuminate as I noticed where I was. A swamp. I don’t know how I ended up here but apparently this was what my grandma was hiding. “A swamp? What is this some sort of game?” I questioned. As I began to venture into the swamp it began to illuminate more. I noticed the swamp was infinite and my grandma could not have possibly hidden this in the walls of her house. “Was this some kind of portal?” I questioned loudly.
I noticed that in between the trees of the swamp was a man, just grinning. His teeth were shining white and his eyes… His eyes were unworldly. They were glowing white and his pupils were a dark red. A cold chill made its way up my spine. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be in here. I attempted to retreat but the man began to approach me. I turned around to run but he was right there and I bumped into him. I fell and hurt my head pretty badly. “Wha-what do you want, please don’t hurt me!” I pleaded. He looked at me and with a groggy yet deep voice said, “Why did you come here, has nobody warned you of me?” I was scared and just told him nobody did. He looked down at me and rushed to bite my arm however he fell. I saw my grandma approaching with a shotgun. At that moment she looked insanely cool coming to save me. When we went inside, my grandma asked me what I was doing and scolded me for it.
I asked her who that person in the swamp was. She began to chuckle and her laughs got louder and louder. She smiled and began to morph into that… thing. Her eyes got wider and wider as she said, “Has nobody warned you of me?”