2 Hours Of TRUE Creepy Neighbor Horror Stories (Compilation)

hello dear listeners Welcome To Dark horror Diaries podcast in the fall of 2016 I moved into a home I got for a very reasonable price I was newly single so I wanted a place to myself it had three bedrooms a big bathroom a spacious kitchen and a nice living room with a bay window the basement was one big space with a laundry unit this was more than enough for me the block was mostly abandoned houses with only five other families occupying the other properties I had just one neighbor right beside my home I wasn't a

social bug at the time so I never bothered to meet the neighbors it seemed that my neighbor was also single and female slightly older than me she was Hispanic or at least seemed to be on the third day she greeted me from her yard as I was taking out my trash she said her name was grizelda and that she was housesitting for her sister who was in Guerrero Mexico with her two nieces for the next few months she didn't say much after that over the next week I constantly caught her watching me as I did

my normal house routines and yard work she would look from her Windows as I cooked or cleaned I usually just ignored it and closed my shades I'm not one to worry much so it didn't bother me at first when I would come and leave for work she would always be on her porch in her wooden chair I started to wonder if she even had a job she never left her house not even for groceries or to take out her garbage she even wore the same clothes every day her house lights were never on the only

light that would be on was in the basement and that was only at night no crime was committed so I couldn't report this so I just kept to myself around the second month I became aware that she was speaking what I believe was ladin on her porch as she watched me come and go for work strange things began to happen things in the house went mysteriously missing small random things like my comb photos and even an old kitchen knife I would come home and find a window slightly open a light would be on that I

knew I had turned off the basement door which I always kept locked would be unlocked even my garbage cans looked like someone had been going through them this began to concern me one one night I woke up to the sound of leaves rustling outside my bedroom window I saw her Crouch down looking inside my basement and the light was on I went to my porch to confront her before checking my basement she was already on her porch I told her to stay the F off my property she gave me a dirty look said something under

her breath and then spit in my direction I stormed inside and headed for my basement all the missing items were on the basement floor what the f I gathered them and put them on the kitchen counter I was very sleepy so I chose to go back to sleep since I had a long workday ahead the next night was not what I expected as I left for work at 700 a.m. I noticed she wasn't on her porch this time thank goodness she gets the point I thought to myself that night I woke up and heard this

woman she was in my house her voice was coming from the basement I grabbed my baseball bat and headed downstairs the basement door was wide open and the light was on she wasn't down there but I found three rats that were gutted their insides were scattered around the basement suddenly I heard footsteps going up the stairs to the bedroom I ran up and found her naked sitting at the foot of my bed she had blood on her hands arms chest and face she had killed those rats with her teeth she hissed at me and I

slammed the door shut locking her in I called the police and they arrived in minutes they informed me that her name was Ashley they also discovered her sister and the two nieces in the basement of their home their bodies were propped on a couch decomposing a camera on a tripod was in front of them she had been taking photos with them and had a smile in each one she had stabbed them to death the police stated that the photos went back as far as 3 months with the body is slowly decomposing in each of them

I believe I was about to be her next victim I still live here but I'm more cautious about the people around me I now know to report suspicious behavior when I see it stay safe y'all he's unassuming polite tidy but there's just something about him that makes me think he's up to no good now I've lived in the for a very long time built originally as two separate mansions that were later attached by an Annex it stands in the historic heart of Denver and has operated as everything from a hospital to a condominium complex with

such a rich history it's no surprise it has attracted all sorts of residents sure we've even had the oddballs move in and out but there's never been anyone this spooky before he moved into Loft number 6B nearly a year ago in the middle of the night lugging huge heavy looking trunks up the stairs totally alone and wearing a suit he left not long after the next night also alone he brought up three enormous circular cases then left again 2 days after that totally unannounced a moving truck rolled up in front of the building and three

men began carrying an array of furniture up to his Loft a luxurious looking couch two dressers a table chairs and oddly several safes of various sizes no bed though and for some reason that OB little detail stuck with me popping up at random moments of the day I would turn it over and over again in my mind like a cow cheo's cud and think why wouldn't he need a bed at first I just thought he was just another Oddball an eccentric someone who moved here for privacy and the fresh Mountain Air but then I started

noticing weird inconsistencies in his habits the way he left for weeks or months at a time and how he used usually came back so early in the morning the moon was still up and then there were the smells The Sounds the lights that came from his Loft and this weird foreoing feeling that rose up every time I saw him sure he's Charming but what started his Fascination soon grew to fear and I'm starting to think he's hiding something the first time I officially met him was weeks after he had moved in it was actually the

first time I saw him since he moved in because as I would later come to learn he usually was away from his Loft for long periods of time I was going out for my daily walk around the beautiful historic neighborhoods of Denver when I saw him in the courtyard sitting on the grass at top his jacket in the shade shoes off tie loosened he was writing in a black binder hello young man I called out to him walking over to where he was sitting I'm Mrs pop off I live below you you must be the

mysterious number 6B he looked up at me squinting in the sunlight then waved oh hello though I'm clearly not as young as you he stood up reaching out to shake my hand you look young I said matter of factly so your young man to me he smiled provoking me to say you look like a young F Dr juner yes I know I don't see it but thank you if only I were 50 years younger he blinked cly surprised and began mouthing something but I cut him off so where's your wife excuse me your wife your

kids no wife no kids girlfriend nope boyfriend he smiled good-naturedly and shook his head I squinted at him suspiciously why why he repeated confused then said why don't I have a significant other I nodded work he said simply work takes up all my time and what is it that you do he opened his mouth to respond but a tiny noise rang out and he picked up his phone glancing at it briefly before apologizing and excusing himself I didn't see him for a solid 6 weeks after that it began in a rather mundane way I would

hear him walking around late late at night talking to someone or himself at odd hours sometimes there was an insistent static buzzing for the entire ire day but it was faint so faint and I would often wonder if I was just hearing things or losing my mind it was nothing truly creepy just different so I began ignoring him and his peculiar Behavior chalking it up to a young man doing whatever it is young men do these days maybe he was just playing those video games or watching um well you know and then late one night

months after he had moved in I heard what sounded like screaming coming through the floorboards from above I switched off my television and in its absence the screaming was sharp clear my mind suddenly shot to all those late night crime docky dramas and the idea that maybe just maybe the man above me wasn't what he seemed snuck into my mind Sinister slow after a moment of thought I stood up and made my way upstairs wondering if I was making a huge mistake I approached his door slowly fighting the urge to turn back what's going on

in there I said knocking once twice three times suddenly the noise stopped and I heard his footsteps echoing towards me he opened the door wearing only his underclothes and I blinked once maintaining firm eye contact with his face I repeated myself and he smiled apologetically sorry Mrs P he held up an electric guitar it was shaped like a triangle trying to teach myself to play well you're not very good my my cat sound better he frowned lowering the guitar and I suddenly regretted my words you'll never get better without practicing though maybe just don't play

so late he perked up and nodded of course won't happen again he smiled wished me good night and shut the door and that was that except it wasn't and I began to wonder and worry tossing around disturbing speculations in the shadowy hours of the night shaping the Fe of my suspicion that the man above was hiding some dark and terrible secret a month or two later I was awoken in the middle of the night by a loud bang it truly sounded like a bomb had gone off I yelped startlingly my cats who jumped up and

yed scaring me even more I reached over to my bedside table and snatched up my glasses shoving them on with frustration I was angry very angry and I wanted to know what in the world the man above me could possibly be doing at this time of night that would make such a noise I stopped up the stairs with determination ready to finally confront him this wasn't the first time since the guitar incident that I had been woken by something coming from his Loft but as soon as I reached the landing I stopped short feeling my

mouth slowly start to droop as I gazed at his door there was an otherworldly light seeping out from the cracks on both sides the top and bottom the light was purple and pink and green and white and terrible I took a shaky step forward the glowing light seemed to be pulsing slowly like a heartbeat suddenly the light shot out brilliant and I swear I saw what looked like tendrils of it reaching for me I staggered back horrified before turning and running back downstairs I called the police immediately I was scared the man who lived above

me was clearly unstable and I thought he might be concocting a plan to harm innocence they showed up not long after my call and headed upstairs they were up there for a very long time so long I fell asleep in my chair when I finally awoke there was a note attached to my door along with one of the officer's cards the note said not to worry but to call them if need be so I called them and they explained to me that the man had shown them inside his Loft that nothing was out of the

ordinary that he seemed ordinary I hung up in a huff later that day I saw him in the courtyard talking on his phone under one of the trees as I walked past him he waved to me and smiled I waved back Turley and continued my walk he was still outside when I returned but was sitting on the porch now leaning back reading a book what are you reading I asked as I approached he held out the book for me to examine Lovecraft oh I find him fascinating his writing captivates me mac I snorted and said

personally I hate him I find him overly lugubrious loquacious and vague I looked around for something else to talk about and then I saw it in the parking lot nasty things those I said gesturing to it loud obnoxious dangerous I just don't understand how anyone could own such a thing let alone ride on one he looked at it then back at me and said with a slightly shaking voice that's my jaati it sounded like he was trying not to laugh and he was clearly fighting back a smile oh I said then before I knew it

I was blurting out what I had been thinking all along so did you have an eventful night you raised his eyebrows and I saw realization creep up on his face but whether he knew I had called the cops on him or not he didn't show it no he said then so suddenly I jumped a bit oh yeah some of my good friends from the force stopped by for a few we had a chat and that was that he smiled widely and I felt my heartbeat Crescendo and my breath quickened he was hiding something he had

bought off the cops why else would they have only talked with him maybe he was keeping some poor girl up there locked away in a hidden chamber bound gagged unable to reach or cry out for help I shuddered and then suddenly before I could stop it I was speaking again again why don't you have a bed I nearly yelled it at him my paranoia peing to unmanageable levels what you heard me you just have that fancy couch what are you using your bedroom for he was really trying not to smile now and it infuriated me

Mrs pop off please I'm sorry for all the nighttime disturbances clearly they're affecting you I was stupid to think they wouldn't please accept my deepest and sin serest apologies I will try my best to keep it down from now on he stood up and walked inside leaving me standing there fuming but it wasn't an answer it wasn't and I knew he knew I knew that he had successfully steered the conversation away from my questions the bastard a few weeks ago for the millionth time it seemed I heard a strange noise coming from his Loft but

I knew he wasn't home he had been gone for almost a month it didn't sound like any of the sounds I had heard before it was a persistent loud ticking noise like a clock but magnified and it was only after listening to it for nearly an hour that I noticed there was a pattern to it confused I stood up trying to get closer to the ceiling closer to the sound I reasoned with myself thinking that maybe it was just the furnace or another Appliance growing old groaning but as I sat back down and began knitting

a jumper for Mr rigs the sound bore down around me drilling into my mind until I could predict Every Beat of it I sighed in frustration and just as I was starting to set down my needles and yarn I heard it a high-pitched squeal of pain it was unmistakable I jumped and gasped then threw on my overcoat and my slippers and marched upstairs I would break in if I had to I stroe up to his door and began wiggling the handle throwing my whole weight at it I felt could budge a bit and made a

noise of exhilaration pushing harder at the door and then horrifically close to my head I Heard a Voice his voice uh what are you doing oh you're home I exclaimed jumping back truly surprised got home last night he said it sounded like he was out of breath oh I said again before remembering why I was there is everything okay I thought I heard someone my voice trailed off he was holding the door cracked and as I tried to peer inside he blocked the open sliver with his body it looked like he was holding something back

with his foot and the effort of doing so was distracting him but he was trying to hide it everything is super he said practicing guitar again sorry for as much practicing as you do you sure haven't gotten any better he laughed in a strange sort of way said he would stop immediately and asked me if there was anything else I need needed and when I said no he started to shut his door as I turned to leave I heard a loud bang his door snapping open and felt something hit my back hard knocking me forward

flinging the glasses from my face not the old lady you I heard him yell and felt something heavy being pulled off me I rolled over but without my glasses I could barely see it looked like he was wrestling with an animal the size of a large dog a very large dog Maybe Great Dane he managed to get the upper hand and threw it back into his Loft before slamming the door behind it and running over to me Mrs pop off he breathed are you okay he handed me my glasses then reached out to help me

up I took my glasses and brushed his hands away standing up with the help of the wall you got a dog you know you have to tell us things like that right we're your neighbors we have a right to know a dog he said slowly running a hand through his hair yes yes a dog I'm only watching him for a friend he won't be here for long I narrowed my eyes at him untrusting you're not going to hurt it are you what he sounded genuinely surprised no never he's a rescue I said nothing and walked

away I assume he stood there Breathing heavily in the hallway regaining his composure watching me leave because because I didn't hear him re-enter his Loft until I was safely tucked away in my nice cozy normal bed a moment later I heard that ticking noise again suddenly it stopped and I heard his door open and close then his footsteps hurrying down the stairs and out of the building the Roar of an engine rose up and I realized he was leaving again nasty things I muttered to myself turning over I haven't seen him since and now now

there's once again a noise is coming from his Loft dull and thuing starting up around the same time every night it goes for hours right until the sun is about to come up and then it dies back down sometimes there's a low booming mutter like some demonic thing is speaking I would call the cops again but I don't trust them and there's this smell this ungodly sweet smell like rotting fruit that's seeping through my ceiling making me sick but that noise that hellish noise it's driving me crazy and I want it to stop I'm tempted

to just go up there use a kitchen knife to wiggle the latch open sneak inside and see for myself what he's really hiding I mean they do say if you want something done you have to do it yourself right do You Hear What I Hear I heard it my first night in the new house someone walking down the street and snapping their fingers with both hands in the middle of the night I had forgotten to close my curtains earlier that day an older couple came over with a sarin wrapped plate of muffins and a warning

they told me that every night at 3:00 a.m. someone walks outside the house and snaps his fingers they said that I should never under any circumstances look at the man if I did I would sorely regret it when I asked them what happened if you looked at him they didn't say a word instead they just looked at each other and the husband shook his head now I was in my room and the Snapping man was on his way I was just about to get out of bed and shut the curtains when suddenly the next snap

came from right outside the bedroom window I let out a startled cry the house was a good 20 ft from the public sidewalk and separated by a garden gate and then a row of bushes somehow he had cleared that distance in less than a second I covered my face with the pillow and curled up into a ball oh whispered prayer escaped my lips and I hoped that God was stronger than whatever was outside the thing started walking back and forth going just past my house each time his snapping started out slow and rhythmic but got

faster and faster each time until it reached a feverish speed as they sped up the snaps grew louder much louder than any sound a human snap could make to the point that they rattled the window glass in its pain and drowned out every other sound I began to shake and shouted for Jesus to protect me part of me wanted desperately to jump out of bed and face whatever monster was outside but I thought back to my neighbor's visit and resisted the urge it wasn't even their warning that persuaded me it was the look on their

faces when I asked what happened to those who chose to look they both turned white as ghosts like the blood had been drained from their heads and their faces Twisted in nauseating fear at the memory of neighbors who hadn't heeded their warning it was the kind of instant animal reaction that you cannot hide even when you try so I knew that whatever happened to those who looked it had to be terrifying even so it was difficult to lie there defenseless in bed while the snaps grew so loud that I thought my eardrums might burst I

tried stuffing the corners of my pillow down my ears but it did nothing to quiet the incessant Roar then there was silence the noise stopped so suddenly that it was almost startling from outside a Gravely reptilian voice said not in a whisper but in a low and quiet tone good night footsteps went away from the window and back up the road in the direction they came it wasn't until the footsteps trailed off that I noticed the sound of someone crying after a moment I realized it was me I was crying no sobbing uncontrollably The Experience

had been absolutely terrible and frightening in a way I cannot put into words the worst part was that the louder the snaps got the more I wanted to look at who was doing them it wasn't just a morbid curiosity it was almost as if the sound was beckoning me like an audible angler fish was inviting me into its razor filled Jaws I got up without opening my eyes and shut the window curtains it took four more hours to fall asleep and even then only because the sun was starting to rise and the world felt safe

again after a while I developed C certain strategies for coping with my nightly visitor at first I tried putting earplugs in before going to bed but that didn't do anything to cover up the sound of the snapping worse still the goodbye at the end was always as clear as if I had my ear up against the wall I asked around and some people in the neighborhood let me know that you could help drown out the Noise by leaving a fan on through the night it sounded dumb at first but I was desperate enough to try

anything at that point and sure enough it worked the snapping was still loud but endurable and after a week I was sleeping through the whole thing in order to make sure I never accidentally looked out the window I tied the curtain Shut and put a box over the sill for an added layer of protection I also constructed a wall of cardboard around the corner of my bed closest to the window so that if I happen to look over there in the middle of the night and the Box had in some way fallen off and the

curtains Were Somehow open I still wouldn't see him I even put trip wire in front of the window so that if I were to try and unblock the window in my sleep I would fall over and wake up I know it's a lot of precautionary stuff but what would you do in my situation I was determined to not be like one of those dumbasses in scary movies who know there's an imminent threat and just keeps going about things as usual and when the monster gets them everyone in the audience thinks I Told You So F

that once I fine-tuned my nighttime defense strategies my life started getting back to normal I joined a book club settled into my new job and even became friends with a couple co-workers one was a goofy guy named Tyler who's stupid in a fun to be around kind of way and the other was a beautiful girl I was flirting with named Amanda everything was going great until I had the dumb idea to invite both of them over for a little party at my place we started off with board games Pizza and beer then more beer then

some pizza and finally some more beer at one point Tyler got up to use the pisser as he put it and I seized the opportunity to capitalize on the liquid courage I had in my system and make a move on Amanda I was just building up to it when Tyler shouted out what the f is this stuff in your room I froze I had gone so long without waking up at 3:00 a.m. that I had half forgotten about the thing that roed the neighborhood I looked down at my watch 255 I had let time get

away from me I got up and ran into my bedroom and Amanda followed me don't touch it get away from the window I shouted at Tyler who was peeling back the Box on the window sill he and Amanda stared at me with their mouths gaping open and I knew I had to explain myself I told them all about the thing that comes by every night at 3:00 a.m. and how it was incredibly dangerous to look at him I expected them to think I was crazy but that wasn't exactly how they reacted waa Tyler gasped so

like your neighborhood is haunted well yeah I guess technically but it's not a huge deal as long as you stay away from that window I said so like you've never even seen the guy that does this he asked me I shook my head how do you know it isn't just some random loser playing a prank trust me if you heard it you would know that it isn't anything human I told him he looked at me with a flash of excitement what time is it he asked I checked my watch again 2:58 I stuttered and then

looked at him in Terror I did not want them to witness the snapping for some reason it just felt dangerous to have them around I worried something unexpected would happen something out of my control like Amanda tripping and accidentally ripping down the Box on the window or Tyler being Tyler and trying to drunk fight the monster I mean they were too highly intoxicated young adults and we were at what shared a passing resemblance to a party I was basically playing with fire inside a fuel tank we need to get out of here let's go back

into the living room come on I blurted and tried to H the two out of my room but Tyler wouldn't budge no way man now that we're here I want to hear this thing I'm staying I could tell he meant it and I didn't know what I could do to convince him to leave before I could even think of something else to say I heard it the snaps were starting from down the street he's coming I said mostly to myself Tyler and Amanda fell silent and strained to listen for the sound of his arrival I

don't hear Amanda started to say but she was cut off by the sudden sound of snapping that came from right outside the window I groaned he was here Tyler who was facing the window fell backwards onto the floor holy he giggled it's real I didn't like the look I saw on Tyler's face he was eyeing the window up and down like it was a roller coaster he was about to ride a plunge into Adventure that he was ready to take come over here Tyler it's not safe by the window I said but my words were

lost on him Tyler get over here Amanda yelled the snapping started to get louder and Tyler's Visage changed from excited to afraid however that glimmer of Adventure still Shone in his eye why can't we look at him again Tyler shouted over the growing noise he started to move hesitantly towards the rattling window I tried to shout back an answer but the snapping was already deafening and it drowned out any sound of my voice where is that fan I looked around desperately for the fan that could quiet the all consuming noise I could have sworn I

left it in its usual place Amanda covered her ears and crouched down to her knees I could tell by her face that she was crying for a second I bent down to comfort her and when I looked up I just barely caught Tyler's mouth moving I'm not the best lip reader but I could tell he said something like I think I'm going to open the window as he reached to pull the Box off the window sill I sprang up from the floor L across the room towards him and shouted with all my might for him

to stop but it was too late just as I was about to reach him Tyler undid the curtains and he laid eyes on the terrible thing outside I shielded my own eyes with my elbow just in time but that didn't stop me from hearing Tyler screams because as soon as Tyler opened the curtains the snapping stopped the thing outside the window let out a deep animal moan of pleasure and then all we could hear was a mortifying fying blood curdling whale it came from Tyler and it sounded like a mix between a terrible human shriek

and the squeal of a pig being slaughtered I felt bad for him but at the same time I didn't know what I could do to help without putting myself in danger thankfully the screaming soon subsided and after a few seconds of Silence I decided to open my eyes Tyler was sitting in the corner slumped over like a drunk his mouth was turned up in a slight smile and drool poured out of the corner Tyler I began to talk to him he looked over when I said his name and I saw that his eyeballs were all

white they didn't pupils or irises not even any veins they were just pure white like two CU balls stuck in his skull he smiled wider Tyler are you all right I asked I'm fine he said dry as he stood up I looked at the Watcher and he has helped me truly see he took a step toward us I think you two should look I promise you won't regret it he took another step forward and reached a hand out in our Direction just take a quick peek I won't tell anyone at that moment a dull thud

came from the window Tyler went on talking and staggering towards us I put a protective arm out in front of Amanda in a feeble attempt at shielding her from whatever terribleness had entered the body of our friend you should take a look it's not so bad it's not like what they've told you there was another thud against the window it sounded like something was pounding on the glass I promise I wouldn't lie to friends Tyler said thud do I look like I'm hurt I wanted to answer that he did look hurt but I knew it

wouldn't do much there was something very wrong with him looking out the window had changed him Tyler what is that thing doing I asked him tentatively as I took a caution step backward thud who Tyler asked me that thing outside oh he's banging his head on the glass he says that once someone looks at him he's allowed to come in as he said those words there was another thud and the glass made a cracking noise I turned around to look at Amanda and said the last words I would ever speak to her get out now

she took off running and I followed close after behind us I heard Tyler call out this time in his normal voice as if the real Tyler had fought his way out of the prison that was his mind wait take me with you I can't see I paused and almost turned back but that was when the window shattered and I knew that going back for him meant certain Doom for us both it was hard to leave my friend behind like that but I told myself there was nothing I could do it would have been like one

drowning person trying to save another so I took off by the time I got through through the front door Amanda was already out of sight her car wasn't in the driveway so I assumed she made it to safety my car was in the garage and the keys were up in my room so I ran away on foot new screams and the sounds of tearing flesh echoed out into the night as I crossed the lawn and scampered down the sidewalk there was so much adrenaline in my system that running was not difficult even though I was

severely out of shape I ran until my frantic legs carried me to a public place a fast food restaurant that I had never noticed before thank God it was open I burst inside and collapsed onto the sticky tile floor where a worker had just mopped he looked slightly annoyed but not in the least bit shocked I guess the graveyard staff at a fast food place see a lot of crazy as soon as I regained my breath I pulled out my phone and called 911 I told the operator that someone had broken in and attacked my

friend friend I hoped there was still a chance for Tyler but in my gut I knew that it was over for him the operator asked where I lived and when I gave her the address her tone of voice completely changed did he look out the window she asked I guess Emergency Services was already aware of the thing that wandered the neighborhood yeah he did I sniffled well I'm sorry sir but there's nothing we can do for your friend we will try to recuperate most of your belonging ings in the morning but you cannot go back

to that house do you have somewhere else you can stay she asked I was speechless there was nothing they could do what was that thing that went snapping outside my window every night and how was it so terrifying that even 911 wouldn't mess with it eventually I lied to her and said I could stay at a relative's house but truthfully I had nowhere to go my only two friends in the area were Tyler and Amanda one of whom was literally in the belly of the Beast and the other wasn't answering my calls I bought a

cheeseburger and a soda and spent the rest of the night lying in a booth at that fast food place now I live in a new city in a new neighborhood I have a good job and am even making a few friends at work things are going great but I'm starting to get a little worried my Nextdoor neighbors just called and said that they want to come over to discuss some Community guidelines they said it has something to do with locking your doors every time there's a full moon I swear I can't take this stuff anymore

why can't I just find a decent place to live used to be a family of four the dad made sexual comments to my mom got arrested numerous times for destroying public property hooligan the last time I heard about him he was in the newspaper in an article about soccer violence about about how he was a changed man and ended up getting arrested again the mom yelled at her dogs didn't walk them I even have a picture of her backyard full of dog poo claimed she had a stalker who set her door on fire there's evidence

she did it herself for attention yelled at Kids for playing too loud in the public Street blamed her ex-husband they split up when I was around six for turning her daughters against her even though it was undeniable they just hated her guts and became a major alcoholic mixing booze with pills and other stuff 2 weeks ago the police finally broke her door open there were bottles everywhere trash piling up in the corners the dog was severely overweight and she could barely stand on her feet they basically forced her into the ambulance she died about 3

days later in a hospital bed apparently she had severe internal damage from a fall on her head that she had completely ignored to take care of a bit sad really so a couple weeks ago our elderly neighbor died she lived alone and has always been very nice to us she was in her '90s we are a younger family so it was always nice to know she was next door especially since we both worked during the day she would keep an eye on the street whenever I was in my backyard I would look over and always

see her lights on and could hear her TV she used to have the volume up kind of loud it just got to be one of those things that you always expected the past few evenings either taking out trash or watering plants I look over to a dark house now no TV and no lights on since she is my only neighbor on that side it's sad and lonely now last week we were doing chores mostly so we could have the weekend chore free I was up a little later than usually 9:00 p.m. yeah I know we

are party animals so I had gathered up some trash and was going to take it out to the side of the house where our bins are the same side as my neighbor as I am putting the trash in the bin I hear hey it was her voice I froze and looked up to the dark empty house nothing and no one is there now one thing you have to understand is that when she was in her backyard she would say hey how you doing or just give me a hay that she was there anyway I opened

my gate to see if there was someone out front the street was empty and the a sound came from her backyard so I looked around for a bit and got chills up my back so I went inside I hope she is still checking up on us from above we had a nextdoor neighbor whose son was a Vietnam vet and lived with him he went on two tours came back with really bad PTSD and was never the same the first week we moved in and the window treatments weren't put up yet my visiting sister-in-law got out

of the shower to see him looking at her from over in his room I would be out in the yard and he would come up to me saying be ready because we're going out on a raid that night he could be unsettling to be around and would scare my wife and kids sometimes he had terrible dreams reliving those War experiences over and over and we could hear him scream at M during rainstorms we just felt compassion for him and his family his dad and mom and brothers were the nicest people it was so incredibly sad

what his service to his country did to him I moved to an apartment in an old building and since the first night I heard my upstairs neighbors walking around the house during the night since I have insomnia I'd stay awake during many nights and would hear them walking it normally started around 3:00 a.m. so I be began to notice a pattern they would walk from 3:00 a.m. till 6:00 a.m. and during winter when the nights were longer sometimes I'd hear them dragging some furniture by the sound I thought it was a chair or a small

table from 7: to 9:00 a.m. I heard them a few times during the evening my friends heard them too and some even asked me if it didn't bother me to have loud neighbors but I was okay with it I lived in that apartment for 3 years and I'd hear them almost every day I met one of my up stairs neighbor once when she came to my apartment to ask me if my hot water was working she was an old lady and very nice so I'd say hi to her whenever I met her in the elevator

or around the building when I was moving out I decided to say goodbye to that lady so I went upstairs for the first time I noticed that the apartment above mine had a sign saying that it was closed due to a police investigation and the door was locked I got worried about the lady so I rang the door of the apartment across the hall and for my surprise the lady answered the door she invited me to drink a tea with her I accepted and we started chatting and got to the subject of that apartment when

I asked her about it she said that it was a terrible story that the guy that lived there killed his wife and baby and tried to kill himself 5 years ago and the apartment had been locked ever since I asked her if the police was still coming to the apartment to investigate and she said no that it had been closed for at least 4 years I tried to come up with a lot of explanations about the noises and my curiosity got the best of me so I decided to fly my drone outside their window next

time I heard something and for my surprise the apartment was empty but I could still hear the steps I can't explain the noises but I'm sure there was something there and I'm happy that I moved out of that building what I worked night shift and was obviously awake at 4:00 a.m. on my days off my front blinds I would close but not the back blinds my neighbor behind me a creeper said you must work night shift I see you walking around inside I walked around naked nearly all the time dude was staring at my junk

over a fence through a single window which was his sink kitchen window at 4:00 a.m. and also I'm a dude as well and at least to my knowledge he is not gay like what you have to try to see me out that particular window because of its position we installed a higher privacy fence we currently have a neighbor who often screams over the fence that we are trolls he has called CPS on my mom alleging that she beat me over the head with a laptop in the front yard and then dragged me down the street

by my hair at the time of him calling CPS I had shaved my head about a month prior he has broken down our fence with a crowbar while trying to attacked my stepdad he has told people that my parents are abusive they are not he has called the police on us multiple times every weekend he has choked his daughter and has cameras recording our backyard thankfully our other Nextdoor neighbors are amazing I used to live in a flat that was part of a large old house converted into four flats my downstairs neighbor was a drugie

who had trouble paying his debts during the years I lived there I was repeatedly woken up in the middle of the night by people ringing my bell instead of his one pair of guys wouldn't believe I wasn't my neighbor until I showed them my driver's license they then threatened me with a knife when I told them I didn't know where he was his windows were repeatedly smashed by people he owed money to once they smashed the glass in the front door let themselves in and tried to kick down his front door only leaving when they

couldn't get it open one day the police arrived first thing in the morning smashed his door down and arrested him he was back after a couple of blissfully quiet weeks I eventually sold the flat to someone who was planning to rent it out last I heard the downstairs neighbor was back in prison after punching the new tenant in the face when he was taking out the bins I don't miss that guy I have always found my neighbors to be quite weird the ones on the left was a middle-aged couple their names were Warren and Sandra

they were actually pretty nice but always kept to themselves the only times they actually talked to me was the time I moved in the one on the right was a man named Isaac he was the weirdest one of all Isaac would always come over to my house every week either to borrow something or just to talk to me Isaac would leave his house every morning doing God knows what I get out of the house for work at the same time as him which means I have to face him every morning Isaac would say stuff like

hey friend and what a nice day it is huh he was nice yet annoying one day Isaac acted very weird I was watching a movie on Netflix when I heard a knock on my door I looked through the peephole on my door it was Isaac I opened the door hey Jared he said less confident than usual I yes I asked could I borrow some of your knives I promise I promise I'll give them back I was confused why the hell would this guy want knives from me don't you have knives at your house Isaac simply

replied with I don't have any I was feeling skeptical about this but I wanted to be nice to him so I gave him one big mistake the next day I saw Isaac returning from his daily walk carrying meat I didn't think anything of it at first but when he entered his house I could see through the window that he was cutting the meat into pieces he wasn't even using it to cook just cutting it into medium siiz pieces this was uncanny even for Isaac the next few days Isaac didn't leave his house at all I

was getting worried what was he doing in there I knew he was still alive since I could see him looking out the window when I drove by his house leaving for work he smiled at me his teeth were crooked and yellow I cringed and honestly felt like throwing up then Isaac started putting strange packages on my doorstep he would write notes on the box saying stuff like I hope you like the present love your neighbor I music The Box would contain stuff like Forks wood strips of shredded paper Etc then I just stopped opening the

boxes and put them all in a pile in my garage Isaac stopped sending the packages shortly and that was the end of it one night I was putting the packages in the garbage when I noticed one of them had a big red stain at the bottom of it it smelled horrible the note on the box said dear Jared I hope you like the present it's a surprise love your pal Isaac I was hesitant on opening it but curiosity got the better of me when I opened it there were Styrofoam peanuts inside I took them all

out and found a dead rabbit at the bottom of the box I was disgusted and horrified at the same time the sick mother F had the audacity of sending me a dead animal I walked over to his house and started knocking on the door all the lights were on in the house except for the second floor Isaac I started to yell Isaac open the door I was causing so much noise that Warren came out of his house to investigate what the hell are you doing Warren said in a hush tone this sick F sent me

a package with a dead animal in it I replied why would he do that I looked at him like he was insane because he's a psycho I started to repeatedly Ram into door until I finally broke the door open me and Warren went inside where are you you bastard I yelled throughout the house the inside of Isaac's house looked like a tornado just went through the place there were holes punched into the walls glass all over the floor chairs flipped over You Name It We went upstairs there was only one light on on the second

floor which I assumed was Isaac's room when I opened the door the light in the room was red like a dark room it smelled as bad as the Dead rabbit in the Box oh god what the hell is that stench I said there was meat hanging by straing on the ceiling the same meat that Isaac was cutting up a few days ago there were pieces of newspaper taped to the wall and windows then I saw the outline of a body covered by a blanket on the bed I took off the blanket only to reveal the

source of the smell Isaac's dead body I is that Warren stuttered I vomited on the floor from the smell he must have been dead for days because Isaac's body was already rotting the sheets of his bed had dry blood on it he was holding the knife that he borrowed from me in his hand he had slit his throat with it since there was a big gash on his neck duby we got to call the police Warren tells me still stuttering I called the police just like Warren said 10 minutes later the police and ambulance show

up and take Isaac's body out of the house on a gurnie Sandra and many other people came out of their houses to see what was going on the police assumed me of being the suspect they took me in for questioning and I told them everything I was let go and the police ruled the case as an act of unal living himself I've been taking therapy ever since and I have moved to a different town to anyone reading this be cautious around your neighbors because you never know if they are dangerous I live inside one of

those Picture Perfect gated neighborhoods a place where life is always safe and sound because nobody can come in and disturb the peace that is so naturally dear to the residents Hearts not with all the security in place cameras on each Corner watching every step neighbors that are extra attentive and then we have this cold and ugly concrete building at the entrance where the security people work it's probably the only hideous piece of architecture in here and has one of the guards standing right at the gate and greeting everyone who passes by with a friendly wave

and smile that is if they truly belong here of course the loud and busy town isn't far away but if you stood behind the gate you wouldn't be able to tell as we are half surrounded by Deep Forest my new neighborhood named Sanctuary Hills despite not sitting on a hill is the essence of Suburbia two level homes often in hunter green or eggshell white embellish the wide streets with long driveways the homes are big enough for Generations but usually only inhabited by a married couple with one child and a dog when a family is very

extraordinary they might have a cat instead but that's the tip of craziness the people here might Express the people that live here are the kind that cut the grass on their lawns on the same day each week every building here has a spacious pool many shaped just like kidneys but most are hardly used except for when there is a pool party of course and there are many usually in combination with a barbecue in the short time I lived here I must have been invited to three already but I didn't make it to one they usually

start very early in the day when I still work while I never imagined this to be my cup of tea I am still astonished by the way I enjoy these surroundings that are so perfect it should be uncanny but somehow it's it's not somehow you do always feel safe it really is a nice neighborhood even if I don't entirely fit the demographic I only came here very recently after my grandmother started getting more unwell she's been living on her own since grandpa passed and as I work remote it seemed perfectly reasonable for me to come

and live with her she doesn't need anyone to take care of her physically just company that is around and ready if her head starts to spin besides grandma is as sweet as grandmothers get so being here for her is more than simple for me and I get to live in a beautiful home in a wonderful place the only negative side to all this is the lack of people my age most residents are either rather old and have been living here for centuries or they're middle-aged with children seldom plural and in many cases singular to repeat

myself neither really fits my demographic but for now this is totally fine especially considering social interactions are currently limited either way it's one of the reasons or possibly the main one why I didn't mind when I was told about the curfew I've heard of many places in towns that believe a curfew could be beneficial to our current situation and well here inside Sanctuary Hills there aren't many places I'd go anyway especially not at night the curfew begins right after dinner time which currently is 8:00 p.m. just after Sunset it was one one of the first

things that grandma told me when I arrived and something she still repeats regularly make sure to be back inside before curfew people really do not appreciate it if you don't there a sucker for rules she said with a smile that didn't match the sentiment in her voice sure that's fine it's not forever right I laughed of course not the sun moves with the days soon you'll have more time what as I said physically grandma was feeling fine mentally however her mind was not as sharp as it used to be can you go to the store

hun what time is it now she asked now with a much calmer expression it was only 2:00 p.m. when I made my way to the store and less than half an hour later I was standing in the queue waiting for my turn the store is rather a small shop but has everything we need if we wanted to splurge I suppose we could go to the markets in town but grandma likes the products here and is very used to them Grandpa used to enjoy them as well and honestly I like them too the produce is fresh

and while the brands are unfamiliar everything tastes nice so I was standing in line when I saw the only person so far that truly grabbed my attention in a very different way than the other people here if I notice the people in sanctuary Hills it usually is because they seem so peculiar with their looks and their tastes with hair too high and makeup too bright as if they recently escaped out of a book by Dr puse the person that I saw standing just in front of the grocery store however was a young man around my

age dressed in a denim jacket black pants and a Kink's shirt he was holding a cigarette but not even taking a drag instead he seemed focused on something in the air or possibly on the lamp post I could have just walked out and talked to him but I used to live in a big city where you usually don't talk to Neighbors at all and somehow I felt too shy so I found an excuse by buying a pack of cigarettes at the counter despite not having smoked in years and asked the stranger for a lighter as

I walked outside with my paper bag filled with groceries I suppose I really was a bit desperate for friends in this lonely place you're new here aren't you he asked after lighting up my cigarette I suppressed the urge to cough and answered yet I'm staying with my grandma for a while he inspected me a second too long and then said Abigail Allen that's her how do you know the neighborhood wasn't big and if he lived here for a while it wouldn't surprise me if he knew most people but guessing simply from my appearance alone was

a bit too fast he grinned I'm not a stalker I promise I know all the people that live here and hear about any new Commings right away well that's not strange at all he laughed I have a good reason I swear I'm in charge of the security systems here and usually install the cameras for the people's homes as well he pointed towards the thing he earlier was looking at it was a security camera hanging on top of the lamp post you know it's kind of ironic I usually feel far more unsafe when there is too

much security like there has to be a reason they're so careful right I said and already started regretting my words but the guy smiled again to be honest I don't see the purpose either but I get paid so I won't complain so let's hope the people here stay paranoid I laughed we chatted a bit longer longer than I initially imagined we would but I assumed the stranger his name was Jack as I found out didn't have much interaction with peers and Sanctuary Hills either he did know people in town however and invited me to go

for a beer by the river with them just after dinner and the curfew I raised an eyebrow Jack gave me a funny look as if I was a bit clueless how old are you now he was raising an eyebrow I rolled my eyes funny I'm 25 but you know what curfew I mean they blast it through the speakers every evening Jack chuckled all right I see and you live with your grandma too who probably doesn't go out at night either way but trust me you can I think it's more so the kids stay inside nobody

is going to arrest you for leaving the house after a Charlie so far I never really had a reason to go outside but thinking about it Sanctuary Hills had such a small population and going to a different place for one evening seemed perfectly reasonable depending on how long I would stay here finding some friends would be nice besides Jack worked for the security system or whatever if it was that forbidden he would know all right I'm in I decided cool so shall we meet at the gate just after 8 grandma and I had dinner but

she was rather tired and went to bed early I hadn't told her about my plans to go out but I figured I'd leave her a note and I'd take my phone with me so she could reach me if she needed to I noticed that I was a bit late when I suddenly heard the announcements from the street I'd heard them in the past days too of course but somehow they seemed even louder now attention attention residents of sanctuary Hills Please be aware that the curfew begins in only 5 minutes find your way home swiftly and

have a pleasant Sanctuary evening inside your homes the announcement started and ended with a jingle I must say I felt a bit nervous going outside after hearing the announcement I'd been a lot more confident when I was talking to Jack suddenly I also felt guilty for wanting to leave without Grandma knowing I sighed and made the choice not to go out however I didn't have Jack's number and simply not showing up would really be rude so I decided I would quickly run down to the gate tell him to leave without me and come back home

a few minutes outside past curfew really shouldn't be an issue after all well that's the point when I learned oh how seriously the curfew really is taken by the people of sanctuary Hills I learned the hard way when I opened the door to my home only a few minutes before 8 as I opened the wooden door I was greeted by two bright faces grinning so intensely it almost appeared as if they were in pain a man and a woman that I hadn't seen before she had red hair with much volume and was wearing round pink

glasses her lips were bright red and her flowery dress seemed not casual at all he completed her look with a button-down shirt perfectly ironed brown pants and shiny loafers they looked strangely old-fashioned even more than the other people here well hello there what a sweet darling you are don't you agree Harold the woman said and the makeup on her face started cracking from her non-stopping smile oh pleasantly darling truly my dear I laughed politely but mainly nervously good evening are you looking for my grandma I asked oh no dear we're not Abigail is a sweetheart

and often by bed before the time she doesn't worry us one bit the woman spoke worry why would we hope you did not intend to leave the house that would be an awful mistake haven't you looked at the time must have slipped your mind well now now swiftly go back in and we will forgive and forget they both laughed and now all of a sudden they were sounding nervous I'm sorry have we met I asked and my eyes moved to the clock above our door I never thought about it before but it was a strange

place to hang a clock the didn't answer my question the man now had his hand in the door frame too close for my taste I'm only planning to bring a message to a friend I'll be right back home I said feeling weird that I had to make excuses for doing something so normal no reasonable friend would meet you at a time like that my dear now will you listen or not they were still smiling but their voices were raised so high I was afraid they would wake Grandma right I'm sorry where do you live I

asked they turned their heads in a half circle and pointed towards the Scarlet Red House on the other side of the street I had been wondering who lived in a house so noticeable their heads moved back so quickly that their necks had no chance to follow for a second I thought they might break my feet moved back faster than I could think my gut started screaming to shut the door those creatures that called themselves neighbors were far too uncanny something was utterly wrong with them it made my blood almost freeze how did you I muttered

and then swallowed I promise I won't go outside liar the woman shouted at that point I was more than worried these people were scaring me and the slowly Setting Sun was only adding to the gloomy atmosphere I shut the door without another thought my hand started shaking and I didn't understand why I didn't understand how I was suddenly so scared by such a situation that should be ordinary from an outsider's perspective I wanted to go and talk to the only person that I'd met and somehow trusted but I couldn't possibly leave grandma should I call

the police I wondered but changed my mind as those weirdos hadn't actually done anything I stood in front of the closed door but I could still hear them they didn't leave I heard them breathing louder and louder by the second I had to go wake Grandma was my my second thought but it was interrupted a shiver went through my body when I felt a sharp pain in my left arm what are you doing I turned my head and my eyes met the ones of Abigail my grandmother stared at me with pupils so big I thought

her eyes were all black her nails were digging into my skin when she saw my scared expression she let go I'm sorry honey I told you not to go out after dark they don't like it they don't like it one bit I thought my grandmother's mind was a bit confused but after seeing those neighbors she appeared like the sharp one come look she waved me to the window my stomach made a turn when I saw Harold and his strange wife standing on our lawn waving there appeared to be other people behind them too but I

couldn't look at them for long grandmother waved back and that seemed to make them happy but not happy enough to leave no they stayed they stayed for hours despite the curfew that they were now breaking themselves or maybe it didn't count because they were standing on a lawn that's when Grandma pulled me away from the window and closed the blinds they shielded us from views outside but not from the noise the noise of ear splitting screams painful and sharp I couldn't exactly tell if they were near or simply so loud that you heard them through

the entire neighborhood my first thought was that it had to be jacked somewhere outside but I couldn't say for sure what had I gotten myself into all I knew was that there was no way I could go outside I was stuck in here at least in safety for now you woke them up now they'll stay for a bit Grandma interrupted my thoughts as she gently stroked my hair but it's all good love just stay inside with me until morning yes part two now I know that my reaction might have been just as odd or at

least nearly as strange as the one of the neighbors I oblig to the curfew and stayed inside despite knowing that something was not right but then again what else was I supposed to do they stood there all night even when it started raining and hailing I couldn't help but wonder if they were somehow helping me keeping me away from whatever caused the torture outside however one look at their stiff faces that had Smiles plastered on them assured me that they couldn't possibly have good neighborly duties in mind and wondering whether it was only them Harold

and her who had an issue or two proved wrong as well when it slowly became a crowd of people out there on our lawn Grandma acted like it was the most normal thing and I was sure at least one of us was going insane or possibly both of us went a bit Looney in our own ways inside this home and this neighborhood that we weren't leaving Sanctuary Hills had its hands wrapped around us tightly and we stayed well Grandma did because she had been living here for ages and saw no reason to leave now I

will elaborate on her far too apathetic reaction to the insane neighbors later I must have been even crazier for not leaving either but I believed to have good reasons one I didn't have a car and my only form of transportation was my feet and walking or even running from those weirdos did not seem like a great plan second I couldn't possibly leave my grandmother and as previously mentioned she certainly was not going I did try to call for for help as one should in a terrifying situation as such it seemed logical to me and under

normal circumstances it sure would have been the first one I tried to reach was my mother my mother who is the personification of concern and who I normally would choose last to share my fears with simply because she is so terribly anxious and no she didn't try to talk sense into me or prove to me that everything was fine and well no she acted awfully worse our call went just the same way as it did with anyone else I tried to reach Mom I don't know what to do I think we might be in danger

grandma is not oh darling say hi to your grandmother for me I haven't called her in ages I am an awful daughter aren't I mom no you need to listen something is terribly wrong are you making sure she is eating well I know how she Ador sweets but what is going on I shrieked mom I can't get a hold of the police I don't know what to do right oh honey I almost forgot make sure your grandpa takes his medicine after those words I hung up my mother couldn't have possibly forgotten that her own father

died more than a year ago my hands were shaking no my entire body was trembling at first I believed that only the people in sanctuary Hills were going insane or have been insane all the time without me consciously noticing but now it was spreading believing that maybe just maybe it was only my family I called others too all sorts of numbers I had in my phone friends old colleagues and even an ex every conversation went like me talking about one thing and them responding to questions I never asked for the rest of the night I

locked myself and Grandma inside her room she went to sleep and I went crazy until morning came after numbing down from the shock just enough my mind started calculating and racing through every logical explanation as well as The Logical ones including their prospective outcomes like a machine my head went through the algorithms no result was satisfactory however everything was nice and normal and fine that's what grandma assured me was happening I still wasn't sure what to do next our lawn was empty but I did see people walking around outside as they do each day a

postman walking around filling the peculiar mailboxes gardeners watering plants and children playing hopscotch they all appeared so awfully regular that I almost decided to open the door and talk to someone but somehow I couldn't bring myself to turn the doorknob I was too anxious the curfew wouldn't start for another many hours but I didn't dare to leave the house it proved safe last night at least more hours passed and I eventually fell asleep from all the exhaustion and from staying staying up all night it must have been late in the afternoon when I woke up

again when there was a knock on the door later in the evening my heart skipped a beat I started cold sweating only thinking about those neighbors standing outside again they had left some time in the early morning I saw when I quickly peaked through the curtains I tiptoed towards the door and looked through the Spy it was Jack I stood behind the door suddenly too scared to even move I wasn't sure if I could trust The Stranger no I felt like I couldn't trust him one bit because if he was as normal as he appeared

yesterday then he wouldn't be here because if he was outside during curfew then he wasn't safe out there and couldn't stand here normal and fine I was genuinely sure that those screams came from him now I was wondering if he was the one causing him Mrs Alan Charlie hello I heard him say through the door and then he knocked three times but I still didn't move I prayed that he would leave so I could just plan my next steps it felt ludicrous being this anxious when the streets seemed normal just as it did the past

days that I was here but it wasn't after last night nothing felt normal anymore even if the appearance tried to make me believe it was I slowly took a step back fearing that he might hear me breathe but that was a big mistake because before I could help it Grandma had appeared and opened the door it all happened so quickly I didn't even realize she was standing here I thought she was in bed good afternoon dear she politely said good afternoon he responded and his eyes quickly shifted to me are you okay he carefully asked

I stayed silent I didn't know that you were acquainted how wonderful that you're making some friends Charlie oh come on in dear let me make some tea Grandma opened the door wide and then walked towards the kitchen and even had the audacity to wink at me I couldn't believe her did she purposely forget the nightmare we went through I was ready to just slam the door shut but Jack had already made his way inside it's strange how all the houses look exactly the same on the inside he laughed and when his eyes met mine again

he suddenly looked a bit more concerned are you ill I was wondering why you didn't show up imagined you changed your mind or something I breathed in deeply I couldn't the curfew I said making sure to closely watch how he'd respond he raised an eyebrow so you decided to be a law-abiding citizen after all I clenched my fist I surely didn't feel like playing this game after the night I had why are you here I hissed and he seemed a bit taken back by my sudden anger o well I was a bit worried when you

didn't show up yesterday but he paused for a moment I didn't want to appear too stalkery either we don't really know each other after all so so I'm here to check on your grandmother's cameras outside and casually trying to find out if you stood me up on purpose he nervously laughed somehow In This Moment he really did seem genuine I wanted to believe that this was all normal but how on Earth could he be so oblivious to the situation didn't you hear the screaming last night I asked he looked confused screaming yeah and if you

were outside did nobody try to stop you because they certainly made sure I would stay inside I raised my voice again they the neighbors the ones from the Scarlet Red House and all their psychotic friends oh he laughed I see you met Trudy and Harold I suppose they are a tad eccentric eccentric they didn't leave all night now he was raising an eyebrow again and that reaction was really getting on my nerves Charlie is everything okay he said in a worried tone she had a fever last night my grandmother who appeared behind us with a

try spoke she mumbled all sorts of nonsense all night nightmares I suppose no it happened they were out there they now both grandma and Jack had that worried look on their faces I'm sure something happened but maybe your mind played some tricks on you Jack said why don't you just show her whatever the camera on my lawn filmed the night before possibly that will calm the poor child down cameras it was the first helpful thing my grandmother said looking at the security cameras must have been the most terrifying experience so far not because of what

we saw but because of what we didn't a couple appeared in the frame Harold and Trudy they were dressed just as I remembered from what I could make out on the screen however Trudy was holding something in her hand a basket of some sort I didn't remember her carrying anything yesterday but then again I was slightly distracted by her face which seemed to be cracking up from The View I could exactly see myself when the door opened I'm trying to emphasize that it was my face that I saw until that point it all made sense

and I felt a shiver only thinking about what would happen next except it didn't Trudy handed me the basket I smiled we chatted some more as it seemed and then they turned around and left soon they were out of the picture and clearly not on our lawn with other neighbors Gathering no there was nobody even when we fast forward the tape I sat there in shock it's not possible I whispered well darling you simply cannot and often should not trust your mind it's trickery Jack laughed at what she said but collected himself quickly I'm Sorry

Charlie I'm sure it felt very Vivid that in happen with fever dreams but it's not possible I muttered and then with more confidence I exclaimed the basket she never gave me a freaking basket oh honey grandma said as she pointed towards the stool next to the bathroom where of course sat a wooden basket filled with biscuits and a bottle of wine they really are awfully attentive neighbors aren't they Jack gave me a sympathetic smile until this point I thought something was wrong with him now he must have been sure I was the lunatic Grandma had

just gone to the kitchen as we all forgot that it was dinner time I for one had forgotten all other meals as well and so she jumped up quickly to scramble something up for me that would hopefully unscramble my mind if you like we can watch some other tapes too if that would ease your mind I mean I'm technically not allowed to but you seem really worried Jack said to me I really didn't trust what I saw on the tape basket or not I was sure that Trudy had doctored it in one way or the

other my mind was hazy and slow at that point I couldn't think for myself anymore all I wanted was a bit of truth I suppose that's why I didn't consciously notice the announcement it almost sounded like some sort of background noise that my mind was blocking out attention attention residents of sanctuary Hills Please be aware that the curfew begins in only 5 minutes find your way home swiftly and have a pleasant Sanctuary evening inside your homes but even tired as I was it doesn't make sense to me how my legs started moving and following this

boy to the threshold of the door and I swear there was a sparkle in his eye when he took my hand and guided me through it only the sudden movement and the feeling of pain brought me back to the moment Grandma had grabbed my arm in a sudden and seldom Moment of clarity and pulled me back inside just in time I didn't believe her weak arms were capable of but it was so hard I thought my arm might dislocate you will not have my granddaughter killed just so she stays out there with you forever and

ever she is here to visit and will leave when the time is right and she will abide by the rules just as I have for the past years do you hear me grandma was shouting louder than ever before Jack seemingly unimpressed just grinned and turned around we'll see about that Abigail we both know she won't be able to cross that threshold with that he slammed the door shut but he didn't leave he stayed right outside I knew that soon Trudy and Harold and the others would join but I didn't expect to see their faces glued

to our window when I opened the curtain I jumped back ignoring the group of neighbors that had gathered two groups the ones that looked old-fashioned and were smiling just like Trudy and Herold and the ones that appeared bloodthirsty just like Jack grandma what the hell I shouted she looked genuinely shocked by my sudden Outburst she wasn't used to me getting loud with her Charlie she mumbled I clenched my fists I was so incredibly angry although suddenly it made sense that my grandmother never came to visit us she always had an excuse like back when Grandpa

was alive that he was feeling too sick or that she had too much on her mind to travel after a while Sanctuary Hills traps you in why did you not warn me why did you not tell me to stay away I collected myself enough to lower my voice but it surprised me how evil I still sounded grandma looked to the ground she was mumbling something I couldn't understand I told you at first not to come but you insisted and then the thought was nested into my mind I couldn't decline strangely this was the first thing

she said that actually made sense to me as I corrupted by their doings as well they have a way to play with your mind only a bit not too much not enough to change you entirely only so much that you won't doubt you can control it a bit at least I can I stop when their manipulative worms dig in too deep however Grandma's mind is not as strong anymore not only due to her age being here and living here it gradually changes your interpretation of the surroundings the longer you stay the the more you interact

with the people the more you become a part of sanctuary Hills I've come here before to visit and I left without a scratch though I did always leave before dark grandfather used to insist that the roads get too dangerous at night they never let me stay past dinner and now it made sense why I've been corrupted by Jack and Harold and Trudy in the streets by The Peculiar food we buy and consume by swimming in the pool sanctuary Hills is protecting me but not for my own benefit it creates its perfect residence bit by bit

if you don't oblig to the rules it simply will swallow you as that is the only solution Jack was helping not me but the neighborhood maybe you can leave but I never will you see my love I don't even want to Sanctuary Hills has all I need I could never go it would rip my heart out my grandmother said after a long silence I didn't understand what exactly she meant by that but then I looked outside despite not wanting to see the faces of those neighbors ever again and I saw someone new waving at me

someone was standing there waving and smiling and while I should have been even more terrified by that figure than by anyone else so far I somehow felt safe I somehow felt like I belonged just a tiny bit more he was dressed very well his hair was combed and thick and his smile felt truly genuine May maybe because he hadn't been a part of them for long and that's when I understood why Grandma felt so safe despite all that was happening here and why she felt comfortable in sanctuary Hills a tear rolled down my face when

I saw the man standing close to The Uncanny neighbors because he was not like them and I whispered more to myself than to my grandmother who smiled just as warm as he did part three Sanctuary Hills had taken over my mind as it does with anyone that stays too long to only be a guest we all are swallowed by the need for the neighborhood to be perfect and right there is not one person not a community or a committee deciding on the rules no they are part of the grounds and the air and the water

in this particular place I haven't quite understood why and when this all started but I do know that anyone that lives inside the gates does whatever they can to feed it to make sure that everything here stays the way it has been some do by choice for others the choice is made I suppose for the people here Sanctuary Hills is not a place it's a religion they all believe in it but they have different interpretations about how to do right by their belief naturally they have different approaches to feed the sanctuary there are the ones

that religiously make sure that the number one rule of the curfew is being obeyed though that is not the only item they take care of there are more Customs that to this point I hadn't met but soon would and then there are the ones that are trapped that know of the rules that possibly broke them and now would not be able to go either way and so they trick anyone new that seems to be an easy target I don't believe their intentions are inherently evil no they are simply bored and boredom can despite its connotation

be a very dangerous emotion Herold and Trudy were rule sticklers Jack was bored of course in this scenario we have the added factor of sanctuary Hills scrp Ling Minds sometimes a little and often a lot and therefore it is difficult to say what and who is Right without having a neutral or even believable Source although I did find one person who as I'd mentioned before should have been scaring me because they were dead however I suppose at this point I had realized that more residents inside these Gates were long gone but their Spirits were still

going strong which takes me back to when I saw him out there on our lawn my grandpa who used to write me letters and put candies inside the envelope and who would encourage me to do what I needed with my life whenever my parents gave me another hard time and who I felt so incredibly guilty about for not visiting more especially when I heard the news that he was now gone maybe the guilt is the reason that brought me here maybe that's why I didn't think during that particular moment either why I didn't use my

manipulated mind no I mean my conscious one of course was that that my own mind making a blank or was it Sanctuary Hills I actually believe it was the first well I did something stupid I can't deny that it was just after 9 or 10 maybe the exact time doesn't matter but it definitely was dark out and that's what should have stopped me the sun had disappeared just before the creature appeared on our lawn and I opened the door Charlie his voice sounded different or maybe I didn't remember well because the last time I heard

him it was only over the phone I thought he looked odd well of course he looked odd he was dead after all but that's not what he looked like he was different because of his face the clothes were the same well familiar at least a checkered shirt and brown pants and colorful dispensers as you don't see them on people often anymore he waved and another tear rolled down my face my vision was focused only on him and I forgot anyone else around all the terrifying creatures that I couldn't call human anymore were gathered out there

while trying to lure me out or force me to stay inside listen to your heart that's what they say my heart was telling me to run to my grandpa and ask him to make everything okay I took a step one step and I swear it was Tiny but technically I was outside when I wasn't supposed to Grandpa smiled and I saw Jack move closer and he seemed kind too that's what should have stopped me me but they didn't someone else did it was Trudy she had come far too close again I hadn't noticed because I

was distracted by the look of my deceased grandfather on the lawn but now she was so close to my face that I could feel a cold breath coming from her mouth or maybe from the air her eyes were opened wide and while she didn't stop smiling her face appeared Furious Furious enough to crack even more and almost Splinter into a thousand pieces you were an a lot of trouble young lady and you better change that sooner than later she whispered in a high-pitch voice and then she pushed me with unbelievable strength the door slammed shut

Trudy was gone but Harold glued his face back to our window when I fell back and the door was closed I suddenly felt a sharp pain not from my elbows which I fell on they hurt a bit but not as much as my ankle when I pulled up my pants just enough to see what was hurting I saw the bloody imprint of a hand I hadn't felt a thing when I was out there go away I cried and shouted towards Harold as I slammed my fist against the window and his distorted face I didn't want

to see him I wanted to see my grandfather listen to your heart they say however it doesn't really make sense because your emotions are not in your heart they're in your brain as well it's all just a trick I suppose in those tiny moments in which I had a clear thought they weren't many as my surroundings did their best to scramble them I felt punches in my gut the ones that told me not now I felt Grandma's breath in my neck and I knew she was thinking of going out there herself even after seeing my

ankle maybe she whispered they are all out there after all how dangerous can it be I understood her logic it seemed perfectly understandable because it wasn't intrusive the intrusive thought was the one telling us to stay inside we simply weren't quite sure which one to listen to as neither seemed to be our own one voice came from the inside it was the sanctuary telling us to stick to what we ought to but then there were the outside voices mocking our fear and telling us to come to play he wouldn't do that to us though would

he no certainly not he was a kind man with a warm heart that now has turned cold he would protect us cold or not Grandma said I suppose deep inside she knew the truth she knew but she didn't mind a little lie as long as she could still see him from time to time it's what made Sanctuary Hills her place even if it was fake even if that man out there wasn't Grandpa and not his ghost either the man out there in fact wasn't a man like the basket and the pictures from the cameras he

wasn't right he wasn't there they wanted to lure us out to our demise all right Grandma what do we do oh honey there is only one answer to this question at this particular time of night we keep our doors shut and go to bed tiny twitches and micro Expressions showed me that she was still inside that shell the sanctuary hadn't consumed her entirely in the morning I spent another hour or two making phone calls but hearing the voices of my loved ones saying only nonsense and wrong things tore me apart even more the only only

thing they listened to and responded to normally was the question of whether they should come visit and I always said no not until I knew what fate they might meet inside the gates if the neighbors found out I could already picture Jack licking hips on the prospect of fresh blood and corruptible Minds all right hun I'm off to the market do you need anything grandma called out from the hallway for a split second I wondered if everything was normal and I was the weird one she said it so casually as if the past nights and

days didn't happen I jumped out of bed and ran towards the door where grandma was putting on her coat you are what I shrieked sweetie are you all right do you want me to pick up some medicine or possibly some fresh ginger and lemon that always makes me feel just great you're going outside why yes it's the middle of the day silly goose why wouldn't and by the pale look on your skin again I would suggest you get some of those rays of sun on it yourself my gaze shifted towards the window and I saw

the lawn all green and pretty the Sun was shining it was a beautiful day perfect weather for the pool Grandma smiled and then she left before I could stop her everything was normal it always was normal when it was day not entirely normal as it is in other places but normal enough for Sanctuary Hills the postman was filling peculiar mailboxes children were playing hopscotch garbage was being collected I decided to get dressed and go to the market as well one because I didn't like the thought of Grandma alone and two because on my way I

would also check the gate with the security guard out front to see what an escape might look like and if I'd even need one in the middle of the day before the curfew begins maybe I could somehow go and get help or make a plan to free Grandma before my mind is taking over by the neighborhood grandma was long gone so I had to get dressed quickly and hurry to meet her there before she went someplace else she didn't even ask if I wanted to come along on my way out the door I found a

card I'd received a few ones like this before but usually had just pinned them to the fridge to forget about them it was another invitation dearest neighbors Abigail and Charlotte what a pleasant weekend for a lovely midday barbecue in our greenest Garden yes you are thinking right we would like to invite you to another party tomorrow at 2: p.m. sharp we know it's very last minute but we do like to be spontaneous make sure to be on time because as you know time is scarce you may bring your swimsuit but that's up to you besides

bringing good fun a dish of your choice would be swell see you tomorrow certainly not possibly Trisha Tony and Tina I stuffed the card in my pocket and made my way to the market the letter distracted me enough so that I left the doorstep without hesitation I had been afraid of the thought before but now I was outside and it seemed all right I ran all the way to the market and on my way I could swear I saw Jack sitting on a porch winking at me grinning but I ignored him and ran even faster

until I made it to the marketplace I'd never seen the market before it was like a farmer's market with fresh produce being sold as well as little whimsical products from further away it looked really nice and inviting but that was just from the outside as soon as I stepped inside the marketplace everything appeared just a little wrong as it does in sanctuary Hills and the longer I stayed the more the little wrong turned into horribly frightening I recognized a few faces from around the neighborhood but nobody who I'd ever talked to I've never exactly been

the kind of person to talk to neighbors much and after this experience I don't think I ever will be I kept my eyes open for Grandma but couldn't spot her anywhere so I decided to stroll through the narrow passages from far away it appeared as if there were a dozen stalls tops now that I had actually walked inside the first passage it changed entirely everything did there were many people Goods stalls and games almost like a beautiful oriental market with lots of colors and products but it couldn't in any way be possible I had just

entered a labyrinth with fragrances and images too sharp to be real in all its wrongness however it was perfectly right a perfect Market would suit a perfect neighborhood and if the space wasn't big enough then that fact would simply be changed perfectly reasonable for the sanctuary logic I walked towards a stall with the most delicious scent that I had ever smelled in my life it reminded me of days in the kitchen with my mother when we would bake and cook all days before Christmas only as I got closer I realized what it was that smelled

so Dangerously Delicious it was coming from a booth where a man sold jars filled with something I couldn't recognize from far away I only followed my nose and not my eyes but I should have focused on the ladder I truly should have but I didn't because my mind was on the sanctuary autopilot again standing in front of the booth I didn't look at the man but only at his products I had to know what was inside these jars cinnamon I whispered it was the smell of cinnamon except even sweeter and more intense delicious isn't it

the sweet smell of death I looked up towards the man who was dressed in a suit which didn't fit the market one bit excuse me I asked the smell we collect our items from a very special place you see he winked a special place a different place have you left Sanctuary Hills and if you did can you tell me how I spoke without taking a breath he didn't answer that question instead he said open a jar and your eyes will see what's inside doll I hesitated for a second but then opened the jar even though

it was made out of glass I didn't see what was inside from the outside but when the lid opened I dropped the jar right to the floor it was filled with eyes human eyes stuffed inside to the top you dropped it how silly of you I what I muttered it's okay you can pay me back he said with his eyes wide open come back tonight and you can pay he reached for my arm but I pulled away just in time and tried running away I stumbled into too many people some apologized as if it was

their fault and others whispered as they saw me but I couldn't look at them I had to get out I just didn't know which way to go I swallowed and kept going until I finally saw her grandma I cried and hugged her from behind she stood in front of a stall selling jewelry Charlie oh honey how distressed you look are you all right My Sweet Child oh she does look awfully distressed but so very pretty is she your daughter the girl behind the table asked she was young possibly my age but her clothes looked more

like the ones of a housewife from the 1950s her caramel hair was curled up perfectly and her cheeks and lips were Rose Red Grandma giggled oh Darla you make me blush no this is my granddaughter I've wanted to introduce you either way she is so lonely here being young and new new a new voice said a male voice he had appeared from the side I hadn't noticed him before he had the same color hair as Darla but his clothes were far more normal grandma please let's go home I whispered I wasn't ready for meeting new

crazy people Daniel don't be rude and introduce yourself first and also I tell you all the time use entire sentences now she was looking at Grandma and shook her head I tell him all the time she turned her head towards me and held out her hand i'm Darla and this is my twin brother Daniel I didn't shake her hand are you going to ask me to come outside after curfew I asked never Darla called out seemingly shocked good neighbors obey the curfew you she said in unison with my grandma I took a step back I'm

sorry love I should take Charlie home she hasn't been feeling too well these past few days you see will we see you tomorrow Darla asked with big eyes I always hope for friends my age at the Garden parties you see she smiled and her eye twitched a little yes please come you must her brother who had been silent so far added he didn't smile and he didn't twitch but put much emphasis on the last word he seemed the most normal but so had Jack I didn't trust the neighbors one bit I couldn't care less about

some barbecue I wanted to take Grandma home and hide inside before the speakers started blasting the curfew call the whole day had passed breakfast the market meeting the twins dinner my mission this morning was to get to the gate to the entrance or preferably the exit it was there in the back of my mind the whole time and still I didn't move close to the gate even once as if I had forgotten but how could I forget the most logical thing to do there is no way I would have just forgotten about that the sanctuary

didn't want me to take action it doesn't want me to leave and so it makes me forget With a Little Help From The Neighbors when I was about 8 and my brother was seven we had an a neighbor who was an older man living by himself he never talked to anyone and only came out of his house once every two weeks on Friday at dawn to take out his trash and get his mail in a homemade Hazmat helmet as he called it made out of what looked like tin foil small bungee cords duct tape and

a piece of clear plastic for him to see the first time my dad saw him in that helmet he told us to never ever talk to that man one day my brother and I were out in our front yard kicking a ball around and it was accidentally kicked into the neighbor man's Garden which was literally just dirt and an overgrown Bush This grown ass man came out with a pistol pointed at our heads and screamed at us for ruining his flowers my dad called the cops and came out with his even bigger gun neighbor man

was arrested and shortly after his house was sold and he was moved to a mental institution by his elderly parents that was apparently not the first time he had threatened kids with a gun I live on the corner of a cue saac with a house 45° to my house I have the front bedroom which looks onto the street with a big window my desk where I would sit to do homework or game is under the window I noticed that our neighbor in the house 45° from us would stand at his window and stare through my

my window at me at my desk I've lived in this house since I was 10 and he started pretty much straight away I told my parents that he was making me uncomfortable but for some reason they didn't do anything it would be a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I sat with the curtains closed so that he wouldn't stare at me he was also extremely possessive of his spot on the pavement outside our houses and if we or our guests parked there he would harass us he eventually put a camera in his window to watch his spot

and every day when I walked home from school the camera would have captured me so I started sticking my middle finger up at it finally he angled the camera into my window at which point aged around 17 my parents finally believed that he was creepy and finally we had a reason to call the police he carried on being creepy but thankfully he moved out while I was at Uni for as far back as I can remember my family has always lived in and around inbrook this peaceful little suburb outside of Richmond has a lot of

history and charm with a population of less than 10,000 this is a place where you are only a degree or two of Separation away from anyone else in this town that old adage Rings true here everyone knows everyone my husband are two adopted children and myself live Liv in a two-story colonial red brick white trim having a well-manicured and maintained yard near Cox Road one of the two main roads that went through the small Slice of Heaven while it is rare for any homes to come up for sale the family across the street from us

moved due to work relocation and a higher salary in this housing market and the desirable location that this is of single family homes far enough away from the crazy City but close enough to be connected once the marshes put their home up for sale it sold in less than a week in no time a large moving truck pulled up and began filling the empty house making it a home for the new owner my husband Sam was working on site at his office today and I happened to be taking the week off from my stressful consulting

job being the friendly across the street neighbor I baked up a dozen double chocolate cookies to take over to introduce myself as I approached the house I could see four individ uals wearing Nightfall Transit shirts a company I'd not heard of before I approached one of them he was tall had dark red hair looking like he could use a little bit of sunlight interesting company name you work for the Mover stops and acknowledges my presence absolutely it is a small family-owned business named for the fact that day or night we are here to perform some

individuals need to move at the drop of a dime could be at 8:00 in the morning or 11: at night he smiles it feels unnatural the teeth look a bit too white the smile a little too wide here are a couple of business cards my name is Amon Alucard Crowley owner of Nightfall if you ever require effective fast and easy Moving Solutions reach out to us anytime day or night while the other three movers continued moving furniture and boxes from the back of the truck Ammon locked eyes with me reaching out a slender long hand

hand his eyes rippled looking to be a deep Crimson that couldn't be right as that's not a natural color what an odd color for contacts I thought to myself as I reached out with my free hand and grasped his hand it feels cold to the touch not too strange as it is a bit chilly out for a late winter afternoon after letting go I take the business cards and pocket them feeling a bit uneasy I quickly divert attention to the plate of cookies are the new owners here already I wanted to take a moment to

introduce myself and bring a welcome gift Ammon shakes his head unfortunately not Mr Mortimer Ashcroft has not arrived yet though he did provide explicit permission and instruction to deliver and set up his belongings whether he was here or not Ammon turns and starts making his way to the back of the truck so that he can get back to work I am sure that Mr Ashcroft would not be bothered if he you were to leave your gift on his kitchen counter yeah okay that sounds good I think I will do just that thank you I excused

myself from the moving crew and walked up the few steps to the front door I step inside and a certain Indescribable heaviness sets on my shoulders the air felt thick dark even considering the windows were wide open without any curtains set up yet I can see the kitchen from the front door thanks to the open floor plan and take a few steps across the living room a feeling of being watched stops me in my tracks there is no one inside here Amon even telling me that the owner is not here yet I look around a

dark unlit hallway to one side an open staircase on the other a shift in movement in the corner of my I catches my attention and I look up to the upstairs Landing nothing is there must have just been a shift in the light from a cloud crossing the Sun or something I shiver with a bit of paranoia and quickly walk into the kitchen placing the plate of cookies down on the dark granite countertop on the kitchen island seeing a small pad of paper and a pen on the ornate mahogany dinner table about 10 ft away

I wrote a quick note with my name and phone number on it welcoming the Ashcraft family to the neighborhood I have Hazard placed the piece of paper on top of the sarin wrap covered baked Delights and started to beine towards the front door to make my exit two of the movers Carri in an impressively large framed painting making me pause to allow them in and pass me the artwork was impressive to say the least it looked to be quite old with deep dark Hues of blue on the edges with a portrait of a very charismatic

male figure I am no history buff but based on the styling of the subject he looked to be a middle-aged man from the one 600s must be a family heirloom passed down through the generations I thought to myself one once the pathway was clear and the team of movers were busy at work hanging this huge painting I stepped out the front door and quickly made my way across the street back into the safety of my own home dark gray clouds began rolling in so I made myself a hot cup of black tea and got lost

in some relaxation time getting distracted in my novel I forgot entirely about the feeling of being watched and the strange Ambience that was inside of the Ashcraft home across the street Ed in my comfortable armchair by the stone fireplace the kids got home from school first our daughters Beth and Naomi came into the family room where I was lost in my book giving me a kiss on the cheek and excitedly filling me in on their school playground gossip by the time I was done hearing all of the drama about Jill's bloody nose and Mary being

expelled from the circle because she also has a crush on will that Jasmine already likes my husband Sam pulled into the driveway saved by the husband since it was Friday Sam and I decided to order a pizza from one of our family's favorite Italian restaurants Mama cus we had it delivered through door Dash and we all settled down in front of the television to decide on a movie to watch together that is friendly for an 11 and 9-year-old we settled on that newer Disney Pixar flick Elemental shortly after the opening credits displayed on the tube

and the movie got started I was a alerted that are unhealthy but delicious pizza had arrived by the chime of the doorbell I volunteered to retrieve the dinner for our movie tossing the throw blanket covering my legs to the side and high tailed it to the front door I opened the door and retrieved the box from the delivery driver thanking them and began closing the door before I could latch the door closed a flash of dull red caught my attention I looked past the Dasher making their way back to their car and noticed the the

moving truck was gone and now a midnight black Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked in the driveway and an odd deep red glow was spilling out of the front windows I stared for a minute seeing if my eyes would adjust to see inside trying to understand what was happening I decided it was best to mind my own business closing the door and taking dinner into the family room to watch the movie after the movie ended and the kids retired to their rooms for the night Sam and I got to have some some quality time to ourselves he

filled me in about a big project that his boss assigned him a new potential client that would be bringing in big dollars to the firm his boss has alluded that if Sam is successful in wrangling this client that it would lead to a promotion and raise he finished getting changed into his pajamas how was your day Theo have you seen our new neighbors yet I shook my head my smile melted into a more stoic look no I haven't I baked a tray of cookies and took it over there hoping to meet them but they weren't

there yet the Mover said that the last name is Ashcroft I left the plate of cookies and a note welcoming them to the neighborhood it looks like they have since arrived when the pizza arrived there was a car parked in the driveway and looked like some lights inside the house maybe we can catch them tomorrow hopefully they are nice maybe they have some kids Naomi and Beth's age so that they can have some new friends as if they need some more Sam grinned wide his sarcastic nature always peeking through exactly what we need Sam more

kids coming in and out of our house emptying our pantry and making messes I started to chuckle a bit getting under the comforter and making myself cozy we got settled into bed and I turned the lights off before closing my eyes I noticed that the soft red glow I noticed coming out from the windows across the the street was bleeding into our bedroom I stretched my legs out laid on my side and closed my eyes falling into a deep sleep I opened my eyes suddenly and sat up with a feeling of dread and panic a

flash of lightning followed by a Rumble of Thunder quickly illuminated the bedroom I noticed Sam was not in bed just me with my senses heightened I sat and listened trying to allow time for my eyes to adjust to the dark a chilling Breeze drafts AC cross my back followed by what sounds like muffled crying Sam I call out are you all right the bedroom door Creeks open a dull red glow pulsing from the hallway I slipped my feet in my slippers and wrapped my fleece robe around myself to counteract the freezing air that has invaded

our home I hear the quiet sobbing turn into borderline wailing I walk to the doorway and peek my head out looking both left and right down the hallway corridors Sam where are you what's wrong to me it looks as though the hallway stretches out with the dim Crimson illumination only being bright enough for me to see about 20 30 ft ahead of me then pitch Darkness while this should have stood out as odd to me seeing as the hallways in our house are not that long I was more determined to find Sam and help him

out I hear the sobbing again it sounds as though it is coming from the right side so I start softly walking to the right to find him this direction is where the kids rooms are why would he be in either Beth Or Naomi's room as I make my way down the passageway the sanguin colored lighting throbs in and out finally after what feels like a solid 10 minutes of walking I can see the doors to both Beth and Naomi's Chambers their rooms are positioned at the end of the hallway Naomi's on the left and Beth's

on the right with a third wall with a picture window to look out into the sidey yard perched underneath the console table that sits in front of and underneath the window I can see a very pale gangly person curled up in fetal position their chest heaving in and out like they are hyperventilating I can't make out who it is it doesn't look like anyone in our family I approach the figure kneeling down and reaching out to touch them on the shoulder before my fingertips connect with their body the creature whips itself around and positions itself

on its knees getting right in my face and screams and ear sh shattering scream this creature is as white as a ghost no eyes and as its face elongates to scream the skin breaks apart from where a mouth should be tearing holes that open up into a pitch black void in its Alabaster skin I Stumble backwards in Surprise catching myself and standing up I turn around to flee as I get turned around I am now in our older daughter Naomi's bedroom only the bed and bedside table illuminated Naomi is laying in the the bed looking

perfect like a porcelain doll and Sam is on his knees at her bedside he is bent over head laying on the bed next to her balling Sam what is happening in between racking sobs he responds with a very scratchy sounding voice you did this you brought this into our house into our family Sam grabs a handful of the blanket covering Naomi squeezing it in anguish I don't know what you're talking about what did I do what did I bring before I could finish asking Sam bolted rigid straight he sat there still and Silent for about

5 seconds before bending straight back the sound of Bones popping making my stomach crawl you did this you did this you did this you did this Sam kept shrieking over and over again his eyes rolled into the back of his head the only thing that I could see was the whites of his eyes blood began streaming out of his nose ears and mouth I reached up and clasped my hands over my ears turning around to exit the room I found myself now standing in front of a fireplace with a dramatic high-backed velvet chair in the

blink of an eye the P inside ignited to life the radiant warmth felt nice casting Shadows from the chair and myself across the floor I took a step closer to the fire trying to peek around the back of the chair to see who if anyone was sitting in it I was startled by a deep smooth voice what is the one thing in this world that you want the most I don't know what you mean I responded whatever you want most can be yours you know what you need to do the mysterious voice stated I walked

forward and looked over the side of the chair met by the shrieking blood oozing face of Sam mere inches from my own you did this I awoke terrified drenched in a cold sweat heart pounding it was still dark out I grabbed my phone and looked at it to see the time 3:13 a.m. I talked myself down realizing it was just a nightmare I laid myself back down trying to get some more sleep which ended up being a big failure after another few hours I resigned myself to being tired through the day getting out of bed

and making coffee for Sam and myself he and the kids stumbled into the kitchen over the next hour and a half they were bright and rested myself being quiet and res oberved still admittedly shaken from The Nightmare the kid stomached a small breakfast then disappeared into the family room to play keeping themselves occupied for a while Sam asks me Theo what's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost taking the opportunity I explained my nightmare to him Sam wrapped an arm around me giving me a side hug and made the effort to comfort me he

gets me distracted from thinking about it suggesting we get dressed and go across the street to meet our new neighbors I get out of my night clothes and changed into some casual jeans and a hoodie together we slip out the front door walk down our driveway and start crossing the street before we reach the other side a man opens the door and comes outside waving and greeting us good morning gentlemen I am Mort Ashcroft I stopped dead in my tracks as his voice matches the one I heard in my nightmare before Sam popped around the

side of the chair screaming into my face he meets us at the end of his driveway extending out a hand Sam reaches out and takes it I can't help but stare in a surreal disbelief I takeen the details of mort stature tall he had to have stood at 6'6 salt and pepper hair very strong facial bone structure he was as pale as paper with piercing emerald eyes time dilated I can see Sam's mouth moving very slowly no sound coming from his Direction as their clasped hands move at a snail's pace up and down I hear

Mort's voice in my own head what is the one thing in the world that you want the most I am immediately snapped out of my Fugue State as their hands detach and I hear Sam introduce me and this is my husband Theo we the dubis I pull myself together and act as normal as possible reaching out my hand and exchange greetings with Mort yes I am Theo and we have two girls Beth and Naomi who are who are wasting their Saturday on television do you have any kids Mr ver Ashcraft I inquire keeping the conversation

momentum going regrettably not it is just myself maybe one day though I hope to be around for a while longer only time will tell would you both please come in for a moment I have a picture of mimosa ready to enjoy and your devilishly wonderful cookies you left yesterday more gestures to his front door a perfectly L smile adorns his charismatic face Sam accepts the invitation for the both of us and begins walking up the driveway to Mr ashcraft's door I am Left Behind still not sure I know what is reality anymore am I still

dreaming I don't think so I pinch myself and come to the conclusion that I am very much awake I must be letting my imagination run wild so to be polite I follow Sam and Mort into the home Mort Ashcraft is is an entirely Charming individual throwing out jokes at the appropriate times while being a splendid host with Refreshments we drink through a picture of mimosas and finish the cookies before we are interrupted by a shrill scream coming from our home the girls I immediately get up and look out the front window Beth is out front

screaming her head off pointing inside of the house Sam and I bolt out of Mort's home and get to her in a Flash she is to the point of hyperventilating relaying to us that her and Naomi saw a snake in the house okay yeah that is alarming but I thought so much worse could have happened we thank Mr Frieza Ashcraft for being so hospitable and excuse ourselves to take care of the home he heads back to his own house waving courteously as he enters his own house and closes the front door Sam and I go

into our own home find catch and remove the snake out into the yard strange enough that it is out in the middle of the cold season but weirder things have happened the rest of the day went fairly routine for a Saturday Naomi got into a fight with Beth because Beth had taken Naomi's hairbrush Sam made a succulent roast which I had to tease him and say it was dry the kids went to their rooms to talk to and text their friends about the wo of weekend homework nighttime came and Slumber took over the neighborhood I

am awakened to a familiar sounding voice you can have your deepest desire for a small cost my eyes popped open I immediately recognized that I was not in our bed I was laying on the floor in the living room in front of the couch I sit up looking for the source of the voice that awakened me it sounded too real my rattled brain taking a moment to realize that I am not in bed where I fell asleep I heard the sound of glass breaking making me stand up quickly I notied in my rigid position the

symbol that I was laying on a flash of lightning illuminates the living room I am quickly made aware that this symbol is everywhere on the walls all over the floor on the furniture even it looks and smells like it was drawn in Blood of some sort as the light dies out from the lightning five candles erupt into flame positioned around the symbol I happen to be standing in the middle of I hear Beth's shriek and ear shattering scream in dad mode I bolt out of the living room and push my way into Beth's room I

am met with with an office space dramatic blood red curtains frame a large picture window with an oversized oak desk in front of it Mort Ashcroft sat in a chair on the other side of the desk from me motioning for me to take a seat in the vacant seat where is Beth more Chuckles worry not she is safe and sound asleep like a little babe she is merely having a bad dream that was why she screamed out why are you here in her room I choke out tears starting to fill my eyes Mort stares into

my soul his poker face unnerving he blinks his eyes changing from a bright Violet into a matching blood red to the curtains you did this you have a desire I have an answer it is a simple quid proquo nothing more nothing less what did I do I lose my control screaming out I want to jump over the desk and start shaking Mort I start shaking and decide to slump down into the chair right next to me a condescending yet Wicked looking smile crosses his face well that's the $100,000 question isn't it you were a good

neighbor you were you got my attention which is fortunate for you unfortunate for someone else Mr Ashcroft reaches his hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out of black remote control he presses a button and the floor opens howls and screams fill the room making me sick to my stomach a wave of heat hits me in the face as I realize that I am looking into a pit to Hell Flames lick up into the air from the pit I am able to make out tortured faces in the Flames I can even start hearing individual please

for help you're dying Mister dubo you know it but haven't told anyone in your family yet you're afraid that this is where you will end up which I do say the chances are looking mighty good so many SK skeletons in your closet he snaps his fingers the hole in the ground closes up with the sound of an earthquake I know what you want already you just need to ask for it I feel a hand on my shoulder turning my head I am shaken to see Beth standing there her eyes are missing mouth sewn shut and

her chest a hollow cavity with the ribs cracked open and spread out boils and blisters cover her skin and half of her hair is singed off I wake up in reality I am standing in Naomi's room right at the side of her bed my nose started to bleed I could feel the warm moisture dribbling down my face and soaking the front of my pajamas I Collapse and everything blacks out I wake up again in a hospital bed Sam half asleep in a chair beside me I groan as I try to move I definitely must have

bruised something as my body is sore Sam realizes that I am alert so he stands up and comes over to the bed and gives me a big hug what were you doing in Naomi's room at 3: in the morning Theo you woke us all up you scared us all I told him I must have started sleepwalking but I came to in her room and then immediately collapsed I apologized profusely not wanting to scare him or my family that's why I haven't told any of them about the terminal diagnosis of my pancreatic cancer the doctor came

in while we were embracing each other after asking me several questions of my symptoms and what led up to me being here at St Mary's after I explained to her my story she ordered a CT scan of my brain just to make sure there was nothing off and a panel of blood work a few hours later she came back in and sat down announcing she had some news the cat was out of the bag now as she announced that the cancer has spread to my brain Sam learned that the cancer was terminal and that I

was looking at only a year maybe two left to live both of us were beside ourselves in tears we discussed addressing this with our kids and how we were going to proceed the rest of our lives together shortly thereafter I got discharged and sent home by this point it was already getting late again so we picked up some fast food to take home to the kids for dinner as neither of us had the energy to prepare anything for them today after that bombshell the kids ate and went up to bed Sam had his emotions get

the best of him and he started screaming at me wondering how I knew and didn't trust him enough to tell him were you just waiting to drop dead for me to find out he asked well no I just didn't know when would be the right time or even how I began answering he cut me off going hysterical when you found out would be the right time the screaming went on for what felt like forever we decided that I would sleep on the couch tonight just to give us some healthy space to process feeling even though

he was hurt he still told me he loved me before locking himself in our bedroom I could hear him sobbing from our room after a couple of hours of laying there stuck in my own thoughts I fell asleep my eyes opened and I was inside Mort ashcroft's living room the sun was out birds were chirping everything felt phenomenal I saw a serving tray with two mimosas on it so I walked over and grabbed one I found a seat on a very comfortable leather sofa I take a sip of my mimosa and I hear are you

ready to ask for what you desire the most I look around and don't see Mort that was very much his voice but he was nowhere to be seen up here the voice chimes in again I look up and notice the Regal painting I saw when the movers were unloading the truck my eyes widened with fear as the painting was what was talking to me this will be your last chance to ask after my third attempt I don't bother anymore it said the colors on the canvas swirling in a hypnotic fashion it was captivating but intimidating

I don't know I mean yes I do know but I don't I managed to stammer out would it be easier if you said it to me instead of myself a voice to my left filled my ears I looked over and saw Mort sitting right next to me while still feeling the watchful glare of the painting either way you are talking to me that painting is just just a little something I had commissioned by a certain Leonardo D vinai I may be old but I am still proud of how I age so well Ashcraft Chuckles wait

are you my mind couldn't think of the word I was actually thinking instead what came out was an angel he looks side to side as if looking if anyone were here with us listening then smiles and responds something like that what do you want I start crying crying knowing my time is limited I don't want to die I want to live I have cancer and they are only giving me Mort raises his hand stopping me from going into a rambling tyde you want to beat cancer you want to live well I can give that to

you for a small cost nothing is free Mr dubba wh what does it see see cost I managed to get out wiping the tears from my eyes feeling a little bit of hope don't worry Mister dub you have paid for your desire while we have been here talking you paid in your sleep isn't that wonderful he grins reaching out his hand to shake mine I reluctantly reach out and take his hand a moment of hesitation taking me over in the last second all I needed to do to pay for it was sleep absolutely Mr dubo

now when you wake up you will be cancer free congratulations and welcome to the rest of your life he stood up and walked to his doorway he opened the door and motioned for me to exit now if you will excuse me I don't mean to be rude but I happen to have another engagement to take care of this day I gather myself get up and walk out of the house I am surrounded by bright warm sunlight it feels amazing on my skin I hear the door close behind me I turn around it has been a

week since I woke up in our room I was standing by the side of the bed Sam lay dead under my hands I had strangled him to death blood was running out of his eyes from the pressure I put on his throat I screamed the most blood curdling scream I could muster I was covered in blood with no recollection of what happened I saw the clock the time was 3:30 a.m. I ran out of our room and saw that the girl's bedroom doors were open I found Beth folded up in her closet her eyes cut

out and chest sliced open an empty cavity gaping at me with her heart and lungs making a trail of blood and gore from her bed to the closet Naomi was in her bed her throat slit laying in a pool of her own blood I grabbed the keys to my vehicle and got out of there with just my wallet and a pair of clothes I needed to get my story out before they caught me I need people to know the truth I am not a killer it was not me it was something controlling my body while

I slept it has been 5 days since I left our home I am in deep mourning and have not decided if I should end my own life or take prison time the story has been all over the news reports of police looking for me I called in a tip to the local police that I am hiding out in this seedy little Motel outside of Philadelphia I can see the lights coming down the road and hear the sirens please be careful of new neighbors sometimes they are not quite as they seem the weirdest neighbor I had

was the one next door when I was a little kid I was absolutely terrified of this woman she lived two houses down from ours but also owned the empty lot the size of another house in between our house and hers she was known for having a lot of cats playing loud music late into the night and getting very drunk sometimes blacking out which meant the music would keep playing all night she hated everyone despite making more than enough noise herself she couldn't stand it when we made any and if we pissed her off she'd do

things like turn our power off at the panel board out front since we had Windows facing her side Garden she would sometimes spray water into our house Through the Windows the creepiest neighbor was the guy across the back Lane at that same house he used to stare down at our back Garden from his second floor balcony I think he also once falsely reported us for a building code violation but I don't remember that very well dick this is probably the only medium I can get across to people on just a few hours ago I was

a normal 20-some my only problem was that I was perplexed replaying the previous night in my head dusting the dirt of fiction in search of reality now I'm sitting in a half lit basement computer lab on a college campus with the door barricaded shut I figure this can buy me enough time to reach out to somebody anybody there have to be others I don't think any of them saw me come down here but I know they'll find me they're drawn to me there's only one explanation that makes any sense to me right now I guess

the problem started last night although I didn't know it I had a long night out at the bars and got home in the early hours of the morning I stumbled into my house and went directly to my room my roommate was spending the night at some chick's house so I had the room to myself I don't even remember falling asleep I only remember my waking up I looked at the clock which read 333 a.m. my head was pounding and my vision was blurry but the strong wind was making a lot of noise so I decided

to shut the window the window was directly next to my bed so I sat up and shut it quickly then laid back down a few moments passed and then the wind started up again there was only one window in our room so I sat up and looked around the room the noise seemed to be coming from the corner opposite where my bed was the corner in question was occupied by my roommate's bed so I figured he had slipped in while I slumbered and was breathing heavily in his sleep I put on my glasses to venture

across the room and see if he was all right but something made me freeze in place with my glasses on I could see a dark figure in the corner it wasn't laying on the bed it was standing straight up on top of it as my vision adjusted to the room the figure got clearer and clearer until it was obvious that I wasn't just seeing things what the f are you doing the figure stopped breathing so heavily and took a step towards the edge of the bed yo Steve what the f bro no answer the figure

steps off the bed and stands still I turn on the light to reveal something that sends a chill down my spine it was my neighbor he's man in his 40s that says hello whenever I see him but nothing passed that now standing in my room this is horrifying enough but the expression on his face is what really got me it wasn't human and looked painful his head was angled down to the floor his eyes were wide and piercing his mouth was open as wide as he could and it seemed as if he wasn't happy with

it and was trying to open it wider I wasn't able to connect his expression with any human emotion I've ever experienced his glare was dark and empty he wasn't making a sound I only saw his face for a split second before I woke up it was now around 11:00 a.m. and my roommate was fast asleep in his bed I shot up in a panic and asked him if he saw our neighbor in the room he declined seeing anyone and I went about my day assuming it was a dream I returned from class with a note

on my door the note read I don't know what you were doing in here last night but next time I'm away for the night don't put your muddy shoes on my bed you piece of my mind raced could my dream have been a reality I panicked and knocked on my neighbor's door to confront him no one answered the whole situation freaked me out so I went to my parents' house for the night so I could actually get some decent sleep I told my mom about my dream upon arriving since it was out of character for

me to come home on week nights her face immediately went white she asked if I was sure that it was a dream and I admitted that I wasn't sure she then went into her room and came out with a cross she flipped the cross over and asked me what a stain on the back of it looked like I didn't know she explained that it was blood and went on to explain a dark past I had not known about apparently when I was in the womb my mother had become possessed and a successful exorcism was performed

it was no normal exorcism though the procedure performed not only extracted the demon possessing her but set up a barrier making her immune to possessions the priest cut her hand after the exorcism and dripped her blood onto a cross he said that even though she was immune to being possessed they might still try to enter her body the cross with pure blood on it would keep her hidden from the demon as long as she kept it on her at all times I asked her why my neighbor was in my room making that horrible face the

demons aren't able to just enter our bodies like in the movies they need a host body first I learned this the one time I forgot my cross a man approached me and just stood there silently with the exact same face you described it was the demon trying to leave his body and enter mine the demons are frustrated that I'm immune and will try to break the barri anytime I forget my cross I need it on me at all times but I don't know why they all of a sudden went for you you should be safe

here tonight though get some rest and we'll drive out to the church tomorrow and see what we can do about this with that being said I hugged her and went to my room to sleep I awoke again to the sound of the wind I was conscious but had not opened up my eyes yet the dreaded sound of the wind was extremely strong and was blowing on on my face I feared I would wake up to my neighbor breathing on my face so I was scared to open my eyes so I instead reached my hand out

in front of my face I slowly raised it until I could feel the wind hitting my hand alternating sides first it would hit on the left then the right I could feel my body go numb my hand Advanced a little more and I felt hair human hair in my hand I opened my eyes to four strangers standing over me bent over their faces were no more than 6 in from mine I had never seen any of them before and the expression on their faces was the same that was on my neighbors the night before how

could this be happening I swung my arms and legs wildly knocking one of them down and running out of my room and into my mother's when I entered her room she was nowhere to be found the strangers walked briskly into the room behind me and tried getting close to my face I broke past them and ran out of the house and across the street I took refuge in a 24-hour Deli across the street breathless and frantic I approached the cashier and asked to use his phone the clerk stared and said nothing he looked like he

was in some sort of pain when suddenly his jaw dropped I turned around to see if the strangers followed me in and they hadn't when I spun back around the cashier's mouth was gaping and his head was angled down his eyes wide I took his phone and immediately called 911 when waiting for the squad car I hid in an ally when the car arrived at the deli I ran up to them screaming for them to help me the cops had their backs to me as I approached them they both immediately stopped they turned around real

slowly too slowly the way their bodies moved seemed alien as if they weren't used to walking on their own two feet when I caught a glance of their face I immediately bolted down the street their Jaws were wider than any of the others I had seen they pursued me but I eventually lost them every time I thought I was in a safe spot they seemed to show up jaws and eyes wide empty glares through the darkness coming towards me I realized that when I was on the phone with the operator everything was fine but it

seemed like when someone came in contact with me they were turning and trying enter my body it seemed as if the Gates of Hell had opened and the devil was out for my soul I kept moving swiftly through the night avoiding contact with anyone I didn't even let people who were driving see me I went to the one place where no one would be this time of night the poorly lit computer lab in the basement of my Community College it's a 24-hour resource but no one uses it because of the poor lighting so here I

sit reaching out to the world through the internet with the door barricaded with desks and chairs I figure if you guys aren't with me in the flesh we might be able to actually communicate and figure out how to stop this I passed a security guard on the way in and his jaw dropped but I don't think he saw me come down here I feel as though I am immune to possession as well since I was in the womb during the exorcism but I don't know why they're coming after me now or how to hide my

biggest fear right now besides my own safety is the safety of my mother I have no idea where she could be if anyone could help me please do I'm begging you I don't know how long I can last here the security guard is now glaring at me through the small glass window on the door it's my only exit my two gay dads used to live in a house in New Jersey and there was another house behind ours I was very familiar with the people there because there was an old woman and her husband who were

German the old woman's parents were Romani Holocaust Survivors I'm Jewish and I used to go over there often to knit with her learn a bit of German and play with her dogs very sweet her youngest son did a couple of Tours in Iraq and when he came home he started doing hard drugs that was when the problems began he started yelling homophobic slurs at my biological dad and threatening to kill our dogs my dad went to the police about it but the cops didn't care because my dads were the only gay couple in our small

homophobic Town one day the sun had some kind of breakdown and tried to break into our home with a knife my dad had me barricade myself in his bedroom with our dogs while he called 911 and tried to keep the Intruder out apparently the guy got very close to breaking in which terrified me and he had cut himself or something so there was blood everywhere he got into a standoff with the cops where he kept asking them to shoot him then got taken to a hospital and released after a couple of weeks again there was

no arrest the cops didn't care about us I used to sleep with a knife in my bedside drawer my dad's eventually moved and I ended up moving back to the West Coast to live with my mother and sister it was the 1970s and my sons were aged 9 and seven I was a single mother and worked two jobs we lived in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town we had just moved in and didn't know our neighbors very well the main reason I picked this house was for the large backyard and my sons started

spending all of their free time out there I often only saw my sons for a moment in the morning and at night to tuck them in they looked out for each other a lot one day I came home a bit late and my sons were still up reading comics which wasn't unusual what was unusual was how excited they were they had a story to tell me they told me about their new friends two boys about their age that lived next door I was pretty upset they knew not to talk to strangers my sons told me

they wanted to come inside the house but my older son wouldn't let them I told them they weren't allowed outside until I had met their new friends and put them to bed the weekend came and as far as I know my sons hadn't gone out back we went to the neighbor's house and introduced ourselves they didn't have any kids though I assumed that my boys had mixed up what direction their friends came from and went to our opposite neighbors house they had kids but they were girls a bit younger than my sons maybe they live

further down the street I thought I figured this was as good a time as any to meet the neighbors and we worked our way down the street there were some old people young couples and two families with about eight children each even though we had met about five boys my son's age they hadn't met before they hit it off though and my son stayed for the rest of the day and played in their backyard I started my way back down the street to get dinner started when I got back home I felt like something was

off I wasn't used to being home alone my sons were always home I started dinner but still felt weird a little scared something caught my eye out in the darkening yard my sons were out in the backyard on the swings but I still felt worried I went out there to tell them they weren't allowed outside even though I had lifted the grounding earlier that day then I realized they weren't my sons the two boys got off the swings and faced me and I immediately noticed something awful Their Eyes Were pure black they seemed to have

no soul no Humanity I stood on the back patio paralyzed just staring into their eyes the boys were about 100 ft from me and started walking towards me not a muscle in me would move I couldn't break eye contact with them Excuse Me Miss can we use your phone the older one asked me I screamed no and managed to run in the house the boys were at the back door knocking slowly and rhythmically I was terrified then I saw my sons walking up the side of the house towards the boys with black eyes I ran

to the window on the side of the house and told my sons to run they laughed and continued around the corner my younger Sons saw the two boys and greeted them the boys with black eyes turned and said tell her to let us in my son yelled for me to open the door I was just sobbing and didn't know what to do my son seemed completely unfazed by the boys with black eyes I screamed for the boys with black eyes to leave us alone just as I did this there was a knock at the front

door I rushed to the entryway foolishly leaving my sons alone I opened the door and there was a police office officer he was with the parents of the family whose house my sons had played at earlier the wife was crying and the police officer told me that my sons had gone missing I told him there were Intruders in the backyard I quickly led the police officer to the back door but the two monsters and my sons were nowhere to be seen the glass in the door broke from how hard I slammed it open I ran

out into the yard sobbing then I heard my younger son's voice he screamed for me from the back of the yard I saw him for a moment by the fence there was a hole in the fence and one of the boys with black eyes pulled my son through it the police officer shouted for them to stop as he rushed to the fence it was too late my boys were gone that was the last time I ever saw my sons this story was told to me by a neighbor she wouldn't say if it happened to her

or not she would be about the right age for it though she lived alone and had no kids I told the story from a firstperson perspective so I could write it better so this happened to me last night it was kind of the climax of a lot of strange is things going on in my house things that normally don't happen here I've been living in my current house for 18 years although I'm moving soon and I've always been a bit sensitive to how a house feels for instance used to go to my neighbors who's also

my aunt house often but never felt quite right there the air was always thick and there was this imminent feeling that I was being watched not to mention the numerous rooms that can hide zombies but that's just me I learned recently that at least one person has died there the same goes for another neighbor of mine whose sister died in her sleep one night while my neighbor was in her front room they had different sleep schedules she didn't realize she was dead and until the next morning I always feel odd in those houses for some

reason like someone is always right behind me or is watching me from one of the rooms so here's where it comes into play I've always felt at home where I live Never Scared just always happy and safe a few years ago my mother began hearing things in the Attic scurrying sounds like a rat or a raccoon would make like soft running we'd set traps check the attic wait a few weeks nothing the scurrying continued and my father and I just brushed it off as my mother being delusional this carried on for about 2 years until

my mom and I switched rooms I heard it once or twice but after a while it stopped still feeling safe still happy when I was 15 I was home alone early in the morning when I was awakened by a thump a single loud thump that seemed to originate in my hallway I acted asleep trying to play it off as nothing seeing as I was alone but the thumps got louder increasing in frequency like someone was running up and down the hallway and whatever it was it was angry after several minutes the thud stopped and I

forced myself back to sleep this was the first time I experienced that unnerving feeling in my own house which leads us to the last few weeks the feelings come back I'm constantly checking my rooms because I feel that something's there I hear creeks and dishes fall in like there's someone rumaging through my kitchen when I'm alone in my living room last night I tried to go to bed after reading a few mild orn sleep S I was a little bit scared but nothing major I turned off my lights and my television as usual with a

shred of light from the street light outside cast it in the silence made my ears ring and immediately I felt like I was being watched my closet doors are non-existent and therefore always open but the darkness within them seemed darker than usual I closed my eyes and that's when The Whispers began it sounded like a group of people whispering quietly in some incomprehensible language kind of like tongues I looked around the dark room again but saw nothing except the darker than dark closet noticing the whispering had stopped when I laid back down it began again

and a shadow darted in my peripheral vision I scrunched my eyes closed but something was keeping me awake despite my best effort effs it's weird but I feel the darkness of my closet smiling at me out the corner of my eye I saw a four-f foot human-shaped Shadow at the corner of my bed but when I turned to look at it face on it scurried through my dresser like it was nothing now I'm not a religious person but I said my prayers after that and the feeling that I usually got faded away for the most

part but I think whatever was in my attic found its way out the situation itself is simple enough my neighbor his name's Jim who's been living in the apartment next to me for the past 3 years just moved out a week ago I'd say that we were friendly but not necessarily close not to the point where I knew a lot about what was going on in his life anyways he's invited me over a few times we always exchanged greetings when passing each other in the hallways and he generally seemed like a nice guy but with

the context out of the way this is what happened to me I got back home from work one day at about 5:00 p.m. and decided to get wasted on the couch before passing out and that's exactly what I did however I was woken up at around 11:00 p.m. to Extremely Loud Music at first I thought that my alarm went off or something but then I'd realized that I didn't even set one groggy I looked around my living room trying to figure out where the hell the noise was coming from that's when I recognized that it

was bleeding in from the walls to my former neighbor's place obviously I was confused I mean I saw him leave he packed up we said our goodbyes and I haven't seen him since and to my knowledge there hasn't been a new tenant yet did he return if so for what to throw a party he never even seemed like the kind of guy that would do that the only other feasible explanation was that a new guys already moved in it wasn't that impossible to believe I've been working long hours recently so maybe I just never noticed

I tried going back to sleep but the music laughing and talking was so loud there was no way in hell that I could I tried just waiting it out I put on a movie plugged my headphones in and hoped they'd be finished when the film was done I have to admit I was rather infuriated when the film ended and the music was still as loud as ever it was 1:00 a.m. at that point look I'm all for people having fun but this was ridiculous the music was unnecessarily loud and the people were pretty much hollering

at this point to the extent where it was making my head throb I walked out into the hallway and made my way to the door to the right of my neighbor I was thinking that if they were also pissed enough I'd feel less guilty about calling the landlord on them I must have rung their doorbell for 5 minutes but nobody came out it was at that point where I decided to deal with the problem headon I moved over to my neighbor's door and started pounding after a few minutes of this the music stopped in fact

it was nearly dead silent I say nearly because I could still make out faint Whispers coming from the other side almost as these idiots were trying to make it seem like nobody was in there but nobody ever opened up what the hell is going on I thought to myself I yelled at them to keep it down and return back to my own place feeling relieved that the obnoxious noise had finally ceased I slumped into my couch and fell asleep instantly but the piece barely lasted what must have been about 5 minutes later the music returned

now even louder than before however this time I realized something rather odd I couldn't hear the voices anymore I thought about it had I ever heard a voice or had it just been music this whole time but there was no way I definitely had they had been being insanely loud before after all I got up and put my ear up to the wall all that I could hear was the deafening music there was nobody talking nobody laughing no glasses clinking nothing that wasn't even the strangest part though the music itself was weird I could tell

that it was pop rap the same kind of stuff that gets played on the radio a lot but there was something terrible off about it after a few focused minutes I finally figured it out the music must have been playing backwards not only that but it was also slightly distorted as if the rapper's voice had been made deeper at this point I was starting to feel a bit unsettled I finally decided to call my landlord my phone had run out of battery while I was sleeping so I plugged into my computer and waited for it

to charge up as soon as it did I was met with a bom bombardment of missed calls and texts from my landlord this was roughly what his latest text read look if you're still in your apartment then you need to get out of there right now I had Mary knock on your door at around 7:30 but nobody answered I guess that means you aren't home if that's the case then good don't come back until I've figured everything out I can't believe Jim never told you why he left so suddenly received 750 3 p.m. I checked

the time now 135 a.m. if that was the last text that he'd sent me then that meant this messed up situation wasn't yet resolved my heart dropped and I furiously replied to him asking what the hell was going on I texted Jim as well right after I did that I grabbed a jacket and headed towards my door however I didn't leave instantly my gut was telling me to check the peephole first so that's what I did Jim was standing right outside my door staring at me with a deathly blank expression he also wasn't moving at

all the music had gotten even louder at this point I slowly stepped backwards from the door and sank back into my couch whatever the hell that was standing outside my door I wasn't willing to deal with it I still tried to rationalize this maybe he was on drugs but then what was my landlord talking about he still hadn't responded yet and what was with the creepy ass music coming from next door I decided to head out onto my balcony for some fresh air as I tried to calm myself I looked down at the dizzying drop

below there was no way out of here the music was still loud as hell out here surely the cops must have been coming soon feeling somewhat relieved at this thought I turned to look over at the balcony next to me I really wish that I hadn't Jim or whatever the hell that thing is was standing right there still staring at me with that dead look on his face for a second I was stunned I snapped out of it once he started moving towards me the last thing that I saw before I was back in my

apartment was him literally climbing over the rails the distance between us must have been around 10 ft though there was no way he could make it right that question was answered when I saw him staring through the glass of my own balcony at me I quickly closed the blinds and barricaded it with a dresser from my bedroom that was a good move because I heard the glass start shattering only a few moments later my head was spinning I checked my phone again hoping to see a reply from my landlord but it wasn't there at some

point the music stopped completely I held my breath waiting for something I stood there for what felt like hours before the silence was finally broken there were police sirens in the distance getting louder I heard faint shouting from below as the sirens stopped right outside the apartment complex thank God I thought now all I had to do was wait or at least I wish that all I had to do was wait I heard something else coming from the walls connecting the room next to me only a few moments later it almost sounded like a transmission

from a number station with loud static in the background however the voice speaking sure as hell wasn't human it was deep to the point where it was pretty much just a croak it was saying things in a language that I'd never heard before but also one eye that I think wasn't meant to hear every time the voice said something my brain would start pulsating and my eyes would water I couldn't deal with it I ran towards the door and looked out the peephole again this time I couldn't see anything as in literally nothing it was

just black as if the hallway lights had been turned off or something that probably would have convinced me to stay in my apartment if it wasn't for the fact that I heard my dresser crashing down behind me I heard a couple of footsteps coming towards me before I burst out and shut the door behind me I was in pure Darkness now however not in the sense that my surroundings were devoid of light it was more as if my eyes were closed even though I knew that they were open I fished my phone out of my

pocket and turned on the flashlight however that didn't help the light did nothing to penetrate the sheer void without knowing what else to do I just started running this is where things get fuzzy I remember running into something at one point and falling hard I started scrambling backwards but at that point my brain had pretty much been Fried by the Obscure language booming through the air I felt something bony grip my leg before the hallway exit door was kicked open and the officers rushed in the light illuminated had been grabbing me and I guessed the

very sight of it caused me to pass out I really can't remember what it looked like though in fact it physically hurts when I try and recreate it in my head I woke up in a hospital bed an indeterminate amount of time later I was suffering from two gunshots wounds one to the shoulder and the other to the thigh I also had third degree burns around my ankle I asked the nurse what had happened to me she just smiled and explained calmly that I had been robbed and beaten in my apartment I mean I figured

that I'd get that kind of answer it obviously though they're telling me that I can't go back to my place that they'll figure everything out and relocate me to a new residence when I ask them why they all just dodged the question they've given me my phone back but my landlord and Jim are not in my contacts anymore I've checked the news nobody's reported on it nobody seems to want to tell me anything but in all honesty I don't think I really want to know I'm babysitting two dalmati dogs for a neighbor who is a

cop from what I was told regular guy early' 40s wife in the same business and no kids I did this for about a year for the entire sixth grade year I would get off the bus run over to their house and feed and run the dogs one day after after school I get over there and bring the dogs outside and feed them the usual routine while I was inside doing that I remember I was standing inside of the front door I saw a silhouette of somebody in front of it coming in so I assume it

was one of them coming home early or something but something feels wrong the door slowly opens and that's where this horrifying account begins about 6 ft tall bald wearing latex looking gloves and boots and a zip-up hoodie he enters the house and before I can see his face puts a mask on it consisted of a ski mask and a little face pasted over it just enough to cover the eye and mouth holes the dogs start barking and bolt straight at him as dogs usually do with new company but he leads them downstairs where I can't

see the last I heard of the dogs were their tags jingling and empty barks before I heard a Yelp growl Yelp the second I heard his footsteps the fear ran over me like a bat to the face I looked around and saw a closet to hide in since he's blocking one of the two ways out and I'm far too scared and confused to consider going 3 4T right by him to get to the garage I left the door cracked about a half a foot because I was afraid if he saw it open when he came

in he would inspect it I hid behind some coats and other mess and sat horrified of what would happen if he saw me he quickly comes into view and walks towards the fireplace and his footsteps come to a halt I can hear him what seems like shifting of clothing then clicking and clanging of metals hitting then he walks into view and nonchalantly sits on the couch and just stares out in front of him no movement completely upright position like Stone 15 20 minutes pass and I'm still horrified to even breathe laying in a dark closet

staring at this guy waiting for him to make a move and then it happens we both hear the garage door open he gets up and walks straight into the closet and shuts the door somehow he didn't hear me as I was buried under all the random not less than a foot away from the backs of his shoes my neighbor walks in calls for the dogs and throws something on the floor I hear glass hitting the table and pouring then him walking towards the fireplace I hear my neighbor softly say what the hell is that that's

when the masked man in front of me pulled pulls out of something from his pocket and presses it a quick hiss and a boom follow the beeping of the key fob after that I hear glass drop and my neighbor Scream the scream that get ingrained into you for the rest of your life the one that gives them body chills and goosebumps every time their subconscious decides to recollect that memory the booming shriek of my neighbor gave me the feeling of time stopping for me but eventually dissipates into a curdling shriek and a loud thump the

man opens the door and walks right out of the house 5 minutes later I'm laying in the closet still waiting for the man to come back I'm so past fear all I feel is numb aside from the sick irk in my throat and stomach from the smell of what I'm sure is my neighbor I knew I had to get out so I slowly creep out of the pile of without making a sound I scan the area in hopes The Mask man want come back into sight but nothing until I see my neighbor's body I lose

it running and screaming out of the house right into the CUA sack that's all I can remember I'm 23 years old now living as far away from there as I can but it will never be far enough I've lived in a small apartment complex for close to 10 years now it's a small one-bedroom Affair that being built in the late '70s is extremely old-fashioned in its taker but the rent has always been decent the landlord has always been accommodating when I have a problem and for the most part the neighbors have been quiet and haven't

caused a fuss aside from the occasional homeless person dumpster diving for cans in the middle of the night or a television played slightly too loud from downstairs it's always been rather easy for me to fall asleep until my new neighbor moved in a few weeks ago at first I didn't think anything negative would come with her she was a friendly if rather reclusive woman who appeared to be in her mid to late 30s from what I picked up from our limited conversations when meeting at the mailboxes or gathering laundry she was a recovering addict who'd

successfully made a clean break from the life and had moved her to try and start over as someone who has lost a few friends to addictions I felt sympathetic and always was polite and friendly when we saw each other and for the first few weeks of her living here all was well and then the banging began I'd woken up at about 2:00 in the morning to have to use the bathroom and was washing my hands when I heard it or I should say that I first felt it more than heard it the vibration that came

through the floor was enough to give me pause what the hell drawing my hands quickly I pulled open the bathroom door and stepped out into the living room a moment later it came again but this time I heard it someone was at one of my neighbor's doors and they weren't just knocking they were practically pounding on it I groaned softly at my first thought oh great not the cops again we just had them over a few weeks ago due to an altercation that a rather belligerent homeless woman had had with my nextdoor neighbor as they'd

stood outside having a cigarette but then the banging came again and I realized something whoever was doing the banging wasn't saying a word no yelling or orders typical of either police or simply an argument between a couple or something the realization made me feel a little bit wary and I eyed the closed blinds that covered the window that opened onto the second floor walkway for a moment I debated on sliding a finger through them parting them enough to peek outside but as I toyed with the notion suddenly the banging stopped the world outside went silent

save for The Barking of a dog somewhere a few blocks away I stood there for another second listening to see if I could hear the sounds of footsteps but it remained quiet after a few seconds I Shrugged my shoulders and turned back to my bedroom whatever I'll figure it out in the morning I thought as I closed my bedroom door and climbed back into bed the next day as I grabbed my mail I saw my new neighbor whose name i' had Learned was Aaron enter the laundry room that also doubled as our mail room we

each said good morning to each other and after exchanging pleasantries I decided to ask her about the banging oh no you heard that she asked me an apoplectic look etching itself onto her face I nodded after a second silence she answered her voice filled with an apologetic tone I am so sorry that was one of my friends he'd swung by to drop off my laptop I left it at his place when I was in the middle of moving at 2 in the morning I mentally wondered but chose not to say it aloud after all I

didn't want to appear to be instead I just smiled at her well just in the future let your friends know that things are supposed to be quiet here after 10: I just don't want to see you get in trouble she nodded immediately giving a smile of her own of course thank you for giving me the heads up she said locking her mailbox and heading for the door thinking that was the end of it I left the mail room got into my car and went to work the day passed by normally and after stopping by the

grocery store to buy a frozen pizza I returned home and gorged myself on it while watching a marathon of classic horror movies I shut the TV off around 11:00 dumped my dishes into the sink to do tomorrow and after brushing my teeth slipped into bed it took about half an hour of getting comfortable but eventually I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep Bang Bang Bang the sound ripped me out of the pleasant dream I'd been having and my eyes snapped open I glanced at my alarm clock the red letters read 2:15 a.m. as I

lay there wondering whether the sound had come from my dreams or not it came again three rhythmic bangs then a few seconds of Silence before three more my mind still only half awake slowly began turning then it suddenly clicked I let out a grun oh youve got to be freaking kidding me I threw off the covers and slid out of bed two nights in a row I'd already had my doubts about Aaron's story of a friend returning something this was piling it on more I opened my bedroom door and stepped out into the living room

the walkway lights glowed softly through the closed blinds and I moved over to them for another 30 seconds I stood there in the dark listening to the person pounding on the door then exactly as before the banging stopped silence fell and this time after a few seconds of contemplation I pulled down one of the blinds and peered outside I had a perfect view across the way to Aaron's front door the walkway lights revealing nobody I angled the blinds up farther looking down at the parking lot and the stretch of road visible not a soul was

visible anywhere out there how the hell did they get down to the ground and out of sight so quickly the last knock came less than 15 seconds ago for a moment I thought about unlocking knocking the door and sticking my head out but pushed the thought away as a yawn escaped my lips I'd speak to Aaron tomorrow if I saw her for now I needed to get some more sleep so I wouldn't go to work tired I didn't see her the next day or when I got home that night as I unlocked my front door

I heard the door behind me open turning I found myself staring at the tired eyes of David my next door neighbor have you been hearing someone banging away on someone's door the last two nights he asked grumpily I nodded he let out a sigh well hopefully it doesn't happen again because it's getting on my nerves he said before slamming his door shut most of my neighbors will complain when something gets on their nerves but for whatever reason whether it's that they don't want to be seen as a squeak or are just too beat down from

everyday life don't ever call management or confront the person causing problems this was just another textbook case of that as I pushed my door open I shot a final look across at Aaron's door I'd given a moment's thought to Knocking on her door but decided against it and headed inside I didn't know the woman at all and I didn't know who was coming in the middle of the night either and given the fact of her old life it could be someone less than scrupulous banging away the last thing I wanted to do was get involved

with something that could end badly for me I forced myself to forget it as I cooked dinner and played video games before hitting the hay I prayed that I wouldn't be woken up again but I was this time I flung the covers off of me and went straight to my front door irritation bubbling up inside grabbing my jacket off the hook and sliding into my flip-flops I unlocked the front door and reached for the handle but something stopped me I couldn't explain what it was but it was the oddest sensation I've ever felt it was

as if something were incessantly telling me not to open the door and it was enough to make me hesitate for a few seconds just like the last two nights the banging suddenly stopped forcing the warning away I grasped the handle and turned it yanking the door open the chilly fall might washed over me as I blinked rapidly against the blinding porch light stepping outside I turned and looked around the corner expecting to see whoever had been wailing on the door to be making a break for the stairs to my shock I saw nobody that's freaking

impossible the knocking stopped less than 5 seconds ago somebody wouldn't have been able to get downstairs and out of sight so quickly feeling thoroughly confused I pulled the door shut behind me and stepped out onto the walkway glancing around I still saw no one I turned to look at Aaron's apartment the blinds were drawn and I saw no light emanating from behind them I scoffed the woman can sleep through that racket as I I stood there a feeling suddenly fell over me a shiver shot up my spine causing me to gasp aloud as the feeling

of being watched from behind overtook me and whoever was doing the staring was definitely not friendly I realized with another shiver that i' left my back open to the stairs behind me the perfect place for someone to sneak up on you my heart began to thunder in my chest and my breathing came in short gasps as a wave of instinctive fear surged through me tightening every muscle in my body I snapped my fist closed and spun around ready to Sock someone in the face there was nobody behind me the stairway was empty and dark but

I'd been sure that someone had been there trying to stay as quiet as possible to keep from waking up my neighbors I descended the stairs triggering the motion sensor light on them to flash on and bathe the area in harsh white light reaching the bottom I looked first to the left then the right the Empty Street stretched away in both directions the dark shapes of parked cars lit by the occasional yellowish orange glow of the streetlights nothing moved in the night I heard a dog bark a few blocks away again along with the sound of

the generator from the boat building Factory down by the river I stared for a few more moments then turned around and headed back upstairs shaking my head come on Owen what are you doing man I mumbled quietly to myself as I reached my front door this is beyond stupid you could have gotten hurt and besides it's none of your business whether it's an old druggy friend of hers or anything just stay out of it just take a melatonin or sleep aid and stay out of it stepping inside and locking the door behind me I vowed

to not get up again for the banging after all it can't last too much longer right the thought didn't exactly reassure me but I allowed my vow to help me relax as I slipped back into to bed as I lay there my mind thought back to the sensation I'd had while standing on the top of the walkway it wasn't one I'd ever experienced before and I didn't like it the feeling of fear returned briefly sending a small shiver down my spine but I forced it away and after an unusually long stint of tossing and turning

I fell asleep the next day I went to WR Aid and bought a bottle of melatonin along with a bottle of more traditional sleeping pills I i' never bought anything to help stay asleep before never having trouble with sleep first time for everything I thought as the cashier rang me up after work I returned home and watched a movie before deciding to try and head to bed earlier than usual I chewed one of the Melatonin gummies before brushing my teeth and hoped against hope that the banging wouldn't come again or that the gummy would help

me slip into a deep enough sleep that it wouldn't wake me up at least I said a silent prayer prayer as I got into bed that I would sleep through it my prayers were not answered I was woken up yet again at just after two by the banging the irritation that filled me wanted to get up and confront the person before they stopped knocking and disappeared but remembering My Vow I forced myself to stay in bed after a few minutes the banging stopped and soon enough I fell back asleep it was not the last night

it happened either for a week I tried taking the Melatonin gum hoping that they hadn't worked duee to not getting into my system enough but they did exactly jack I began to go to work more and more tired my reflection in the mirror also began to show dark circles under my eyes from the lack of long restful sleep a few of my co-workers asked me if everything was all right and I made up a story about an account stressing me out my neighbors kept grumbling about the noise but as always they did nothing Aaron stopped

speaking to anyone else in the complex as well instead she'd dash for her car or apartment whenever anyone spotted her as if she didn't want to discuss what was going on finally as the week ended I decided to start taking the sleep aid for the first week they actually seemed to do the trick I would fall asleep quickly and stay asleep I began to feel better both physically and mentally and my Pace at work began to return to normal I was able to put the situation out of my mind and I even recommended the sleep

aids to a few of my neighbors who ran out to buy them things finally began to settle down and I felt sure that with a viable solution found that nothing could mess up the welcome change in Pace in hindsight I hate how overconfident I became how sure I was it would last it didn't I was woken up at the exact same time this time feeling groggy from the sleeping pill I lay there in the dark hearing the banging and couldn't help but let out a half strangled cry as reality was jammed back into my face

f i hissed through gritted teeth I hoped it had just been a onetime stumble but it wasn't whether my body had built up a tolerance to the pills or whatever I began to wake up to the banging on the same nightly basis as before again I began to feel like crap and my work and social life started to suffer as a result too friends and even my boss became became concerned about me I was called into his office one day after asking what was going on I ended up telling him about the situation he grunted

in response thinking well Travers if it's getting that bad and nobody is doing anything about it why don't you move out he finally asked why don't you find somewhere else there are plenty of apartment buildings in town I sighed explaining to him that while there were openings around town all of them were over one $200 a month my apartment complex was the last one in town where rent was under $1,000 and it was the only one I could afford he sighed as well and looked at me I'm sorry that you seem to be stuck in

a bit of a pickle Travers but I have to be honest your performance has dropped considerably from what it normally is below even our lowest standards you've been a loyal employee for years but if it keeps up we may have to re-evaluate your employment with us I felt my jaw drop open disbelief flooding every fiber of my being are you serious I managed out he nodded a stern look on his face I sympathize with your unfortunate scenario Travers but the unfortunate truth is we have to look at the grand scheme of things this company needs

to always function at its expected pace and vigor and if people can't keep up for whatever reason then he trailed off I wanted to say more but was dumbstruck I'd worked here for 8 years almost the entire time I'd lived in town never before had the prospect of being fired ever hit me not able to say anything else I simply nodded and left the office I spent the rest of the day keeping to myself feeling as though my world were steering straight into the side of a cliff and unable to steer away as I slunk

up the stairs to my apartment I cast a look at Aaron's apartment as usual all the blind lines were drawn and there was no sign of life at all a sharp feeling tore through me and I was surprised to find it was bitterness and anger an emotion I wasn't used to at Aaron for not calling the cops or doing anything to stop the banging at my neighbors for being too apathetic to step in themselves and most of all at myself I slammed the front door behind me harder than I usually did and chose to order

a pizza and bread sticks from Domino's as I had the next few days off I decided to get wasted so I grabbed two large bottles of Margarita from the fridge and after my food arrived began Downing them as I binge watched a marathon of the mummy movies the alcohol made me feel a tiny bit better and at 12:30 in the morning I stumbled into my room and fell on the bed instantly falling asleep bang bang bang I blinked groggy as the waking World swam into view around me the world almost immediately began spinning showing that

the alcohol hadn't left my system yet and my temples throbbed slightly I rolled over wiping drool off my chin as I attempted to fall back asleep Bang Bang Bang the pounding came again hard enough that I could feel the vibrations running up the feet of the bed into the mattress I rolled onto my back and stared at the spinning ceiling trying to fight back the urge to vomit as the pounding in my head began to sink up with the incessant sound a new feeling began began to wash over me anger and not just anger but

an almost full-blown rage this man is going to cost me my job he may end up costing me my apartment along with my sanity all because that woman won't answer the door the thoughts swam around and around in my head and for the first time in my life I began to see red it finally boiled over as I stumbled to my feet moving to the closet I grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and stro to the front door far back in my mind I knew that confronting someone who could turn violent while drunk was not a

smart idea but I'd had enough I jammed my feet into my flip-flops as another round of banging came I decided to quickly look through the blinds to see if they were still there slipping two fingers through them I pulled them down enough to clearly see across the way the porch light that led up the doorways of Aaron and her next door neighbor had burned out but even with the darkness that now shrouded the alve I could see the shape of someone standing directly in front of her door someone who was almost as tall as the

door itself as I watched they reached up and slammed their fist onto the door three times bang bang bang oh F this man I growled then moved to the front door the drunken rage now full fueling me I unlocked the door and yanked it open almost Falling on My Ass by how hard I pulled storming out onto the walkway I turned and saw the figure still there you're not disappearing from me this time head I tooken a deep breath then let out a yell my words slurring slightly hey the figure had been in the middle

of raising its arm to hit the door again when I'd spoken and it froze as though they hadn't planned on being caught I took another step forward I've had enough of you pounding on that door for almost a month I'm losing sleep and you're pissing off everybody in this complex holding the baseball bat in one hand I extended it out and wrapped it hard against the wooden railing before finishing my tyde if you don't beat it right now and don't come back I will personally beat the freaking out of you now F off Breathing heavily

I stood there waiting for the person to respond but they just stayed there their arm raised to hit the door again my rage began to boil over again when the sound of something wrapping softly against the glass came I kept my eyes trained on the still figure for another moment before looking away to find the source of it my gaze fell upon Aaron's living room window which no longer had the blinds closed they had been yanked all the way open and Aaron now stood directly behind the glass for a moment my anger kept me from

properly seeing what she was doing and I was about to flip her the bird when my vision focused Aaron was frantically waving at me she crossed her arms over and over while shaking her head the universal sign for don't do that I was about to dismiss her thinking she was trying to get me to butt out when the expression on her face became clear and in that instant all my rage died away her face was white as a sheet and her eyes were as wide as a humans could go the horror clearly etched on it

she looks like someone who X my blood turned to ice she looks like someone who's about to watch someone get murdered oh the realization wasn't the only one I had Aaron's eyes were no longer the only ones on me the figure had turned away from her door to glare at me as well and my heart almost stopped as I saw two red eyes staring out at me I let out a giant gasp and dropped the bat as the same fear I'd felt that night a few weeks ago flooded back into me this time with a

Vengeance through my shock and horror a thought wormed its way forward that's that's not a person that's not human oh F me I breathed out my voice choking off it hadn't been loud enough for anyone that far away to hear them and somehow the thing chuckled at them the choral was low and deep and the only way I can describe it was demonic another flash of movement came from Aaron's window and my eye flickered over to her she was frantically waving for me to go back inside that's when the walkway lights went out out oh

propelled by The Surge of fear I instantly bolted for my Open Door a new wave passed through me as I saw a blur of movement separating itself from the shroud of Blackness one which moved faster than any human could letting out a strangled cry I grabbed the door and began to slam it shut but something crashed into it from the other side before I could I would have flown backwards over my couch if I hadn't had a vice likee grip on the handle frantically I pushed against the door with all my strength the door closed

a bit and I felt a momentary sense of relief until something snaked its way around the side of the door between the crack that opened to the outside world it was a claw a gray hand tipped at the end with black razor sharp nails ones that dug into the metal like it was butter the sight sent a surge of adrenaline through me and I let out another strangled scream slamming all my weight into the door door I felt the impact as it banged hard against the claw the only thing keeping it open the creature on

the other side didn't let out a sound but the claw quickly pulled away I didn't waste another second I slammed the door all the way shut forcing the deadbolt into position along with the doorknob lock silence immediately fell over the complex and I stood there leaning against the door for support as I fought to draw in breath bang bang bang the pounding came from directly on the other side of the door powerful enough that it rattled on its hinges letting out a shout I stumbled away from the door crashing into the back of the couch

and crashing to the floor the three bangs came again with the same ferocity as the first I began to cry pulling my knees up against my chest as I curled into a ball on the floor I thought for sure that it would smash against the door hard enough to break it down but it kept banging for what seemed like eternity I lay on the floor Frozen in Terror and unable to do anything but cry as my mind seemed to fracture slightly the image of those red eyes staring at me repeating endlessly in my mind and

then it stopped the pounding stopped directly in the middle of one of the three sets and was replaced by silence a silence that now held far more dread than I ever thought it could have still I lay there unable to move I didn't move at all even as hours seemed to pass I'm not sure whether my mind became overwhelmed by the fear or the alcohol still weened in my system but somehow I passed out when I awoke the sun glowed brightly against the blinds and I heard birds singing outside uncurling myself I slowly got to

my feet and approached the window reaching out with shaking fingers I gripped the handle and forced myself to twist it the light was almost blinding as the blinds open and I blinked a few times to a adjust when I did though I saw that everything outside looked normal it was as if the entire horrific night had been nothing but a drunken Nightmare and for a moment I almost convinced myself it was until I looked at the door and saw the Deep marks in the metal they reminded me that it had been very real I was

suddenly overcome with an almost desperate desire to get out of the apartment to get as far away as I could and so I raced to my room grabbing a shirt and pants and jamming myself into them I grabbed my car keys off the hook and yanked open the door allowing more sunlight to stream inside there was a sealed envelope lying on the entrance mat it simply had my name written on the front and nothing else I swallowed hard then looked around everything still looked normal I looked over at Aaron's apartment the blinds were closed tightly

again and the door firmly shut taking a shaky breath I picked up the envelope vope then shut the door behind me and half walked half ran down the steps to my car after locking the doors I finally opened the envelope inside was a single sheet of white paper which someone had written on in a shaky scraw it's been almost a month since I read that letter in the parking lot almost a month since I read the words that have haunted every waking moment I drove off hoping that they were wrong I drove to the next

County choosing to stay in a rundown Mot hotel for the night and I prayed that the letter was wrong or a lie I desperately prayed and begged but when the pounding began at exactly 2: a.m. the same three wraps for almost 10 minutes I knew the words Aaron had written were true Owen I'm so so sorry for this I didn't want anyone else to be caught up in it I moved here because people told me the neighbors don't deal with other people's drama and I thought that meant it would be safe that people around me

would be safe you see a few months ago I broke up with my ex who had enabled my drug addiction it was the only way I could break the addiction cycle but I didn't know she was into the occult I got a call from her telling me that she'd cursed me summoning a demon especially for me to torment me in Revenge for leaving her she laughed and wished me to suffer thoroughly before I died a painful death I thought she was full of at first that she was threatening me into coming back to to her

until the knocking began the same three pounding knocks every night at 2 in the morning for 10 or 20 minutes loud enough that it sounded like the door would bust in but never doing so and when I looked out the people and saw it staring at me staring with those red eyes those Wicked teeth smiling and those cruel claws flashing on its hands I knew I knew she'd told the truth the reason I moved to your complex is that through some searching of a cult books was that I discovered the demon she' cursed on me

will for the rest of your life knock on your door it can't enter a person's home by force but it can drive you insane with its knocking and it takes great pleasure in the suffering it inflicts through that its ultimate goal is to break the person down enough that they end up willingly opening the door to it while it's on the other side and then it takes you you'll never be seen again and you'll be tortured for eternity the worst part is there is a single way to break the curse on you the only way

is by having someone else someone innocent see the demon as it knocks on your door then the curse is passed along to that person and lifted from you you basically have to sacrifice someone else in order to free yourself it's something I was never able to do I couldn't willingly have someone suffer such a horrifying fate even to save myself I would have gone on forever dealing with it or eventually just open the door and let it take me but that choice is now gone you saw it it locked on to you and now the

curse has been passed to you it will follow you wherever you go no matter how far it will get behind any door and it will knock it will break you down I'm now free but at a cost I never wanted to make I'm sorry I won't be around much longer I can't stand to see it happen to you please forgive me I went back to my apartment the next day there was no point in running not when it would follow me Aaron moved out the day after I came back I watched her pack her things

into a U-Haul watched her get in and with a last sorrowful look up at my window drive away I couldn't bring myself to walk outside and say anything to her every night since it's pounded on my door every day I feel more and more tired more warm down I feel like I'm slowly going insane I barely managed to make it to work and yesterday it finally happened my boss called me into his office and fired me I only have a few months left of savings before I can't pay rent anymore I don't know what'll happen

when that day comes that's not the worst part though Aaron's letter still reverberates around inside my head the words about how to pass the curse along I wouldn't wish this fade upon my worst enemy I'd never want to hurt someone else but I'm not as strong as Aaron I don't want to be tortured forever and I don't know how much longer I can take this how much longer until I break how much longer until I lure someone else into seeing it to tell the main story I have to go back a few years when I

was 5 years old I had a crazy neighbor let's Callin Dave he used to be friends with my grandpa when they were younger so that can give a sense of how old he was I remember that he was always a nice guy nothing creepy ever happened such as him being a pedo or anything but I recall him having a change of attitude when I was about 6 years old my dad began to build a dog kennel a small one that could four dogs he had laid the concrete and was about to finish when Dave came

over yelling about how my dad had built over by 10 ft this was impossible since we had a fence running on the real border that didn't stop Dave from hiring a landscaper in the end he didn't get his way and he moved I didn't see him for 2 years fast fored to when I was eight my grandparents lived next door and it was Veterans Day I was out of school and had gone to see a movie with my grandma that day I'll always remember which movie it was the Polar Express that at night my mother

and I went to a sheets down the road for food we had to get food for my grandma because my grandpa was out of town we pulled into her driveway and my mother went inside to give her the food I was in the car for 2 minutes when my mom ran out crying and calling 911 I asked her what was wrong and she wouldn't tell me she kept yelling for my dad who was supposed to be outside in his Workshop there was no reply but my dog came running over we ran next door to our

house and I went to the back door to yell for my dad I pulled back because I heard nothing my mom looked out the door and her face instantly turned white she grabbed me and we ran across the street to our neighbors while running we heard gunshots we sat and waited for the police and ambulances when they arrived my mom went and talked with them she came back and told me the truth our neighbor had come back looking for my grandpa he shot my grandma through her bedroom window then ran next door he then waited

behind a tall bush in our backyard and shot my father through the head I don't really want to put this on here just for the upvotes I just wanted people to know the only other people that know besides my family are my closest friends update know my grandma and dad did not survive the gunshots we heard was a shootout between a neighbor down the road who was an officer and Dave the neighbor was driving from his house when he saw Dave walking on the road with a gun the neighbor was with his grandson he was

killed when he distracted Dave so his grandson could get back to the house and call 911 the neighbor's son-in-law lived closer and he went down there and shot Dave in throat and spine the grandson is now one of my best friends and no we have not moved this area is now a whole lot safer since that son-in-law became a sheriff thanks for listening if you like our work do subscribe because your support helps us keep this channel alive