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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/sleep-taken on 2024-09-22 03:45:34+00:00.

My friend told me to try and post here to see if I could get any help. My mom and dad got divorced a few months ago and once she got full custody, my mom moved my sister and I into this old house halfway across the country. And I don’t use the word “old” lightly. I feel like if I breathe too hard the house moves with that air. Every board creaking and groaning under the strain of the roof on top. 

For the first month, I was mad. Mad at every single change going on around me. I wanted to go back home where my friends were, where my life was. I didn’t eat for days, didn’t talk for weeks in protest. Maybe if someone saw how hard this was for me, I could change something. Make my mom take me back. But I gave up on that idea after my little sister broke down and begged me to stop. 

I tried to make some friends at school, I really did. But I was just the weird girl in a small town that enrolled in the middle of the year. The only one brave enough to talk to me was this short, scrawny girl who only dressed in all black. Bella soon became the only thing keeping me from going insane here. Although I’m not sure she’s enough anymore. 

Things finally started feeling normal that second month, school on weekdays and hanging out with bella on the weekends. I even thought about looking for a part time job, just to have some spending money. When I came home from my first job interview, that’s when I first heard it. That’s when the whispers started. 

I walked through the door and thought I heard my mom call my name. It was quiet enough that I had to strain to hear it so I assumed she was calling from her bedroom just to make sure it was me walking in the door. I called out a response and sat in the living room to study for an upcoming test. She walked in the front door 30 minutes later with bags of groceries. She went shopping right after work and I was home alone. That freaked me out a bit at first but I wrote it off from being tired. I wasn’t sleeping well from trying to catch up on lesson plans at school so it was easy to let it go. I got more worried when I started hearing more sounds outside my bedroom door, But it was always explainable, I would be about to go to sleep or I would hear my name or some shuffling outside my door when I had headphones on. 

I looked it up and it turns out those things happen to a lot of people. I chalked it up to being paranoid in a new house with new surroundings and it was putting some of my senses in overdrive. Everytime I heard a noise it freaked me out more and then I would hear more phantom shuffling and knocking. I just got used to ignoring it I guess, I hoped that as I got used to the house, my nerves would settle and I would just have a funny story to tell Bella about how I thought my house was haunted for a few weeks while it was settling. 

The shadows were harder to explain. The first time I saw it, I was doing homework in the living room. In the corner of my vision, I saw something peeking out of the kitchen doorway. As soon as I snapped my head towards the figure, it wasn’t there anymore. I laughed. I thought it was funny how some stupid math assignment was making me so stressed that my brain was creating weird shadow men to try and distract itself from it. It wasn’t so funny anymore when I turned back to my laptop and saw it walk past the doorway. I didn’t even think, I got up and  ran outside to call my mom. She left work and raced home with the police right behind her. They searched the whole house, but nothing was found. For days after that I did my best to try and convince my mom I didn’t lie. She’s convinced that I just want to leave and this is my next option. And the problem is that I could see myself coming up with this idea when we first moved so I don’t know how to get her to believe me. I mean, I barely believe me. But I’m not making this up. Either there was someone in this house or I’m going insane. I honestly don’t know which one I want to be true. 

My sister got a kick out of this. She made a game of sneaking under my bed and whispering my name when I walked in. making tapping sounds with her hands. Once she even grabbed my ankle when I got off of the bed and I swear if my mom didn’t pull us apart, I might’ve killed her. It was a big joke for the family that I was losing it, that crazy Ally was so upset about moving that she was inventing ghosts and shadow men. 

For the next week, I saw the shadow in the edges of my vision. Usually peeking out of a doorway like it was checking on what I was doing. I’m pretty sure I even saw it standing at the bottom of the stairs once. But everytime I try to look right at it, It’s like it was never there to begin with. I can’t talk to my mom about it, then it turns into a fight because she’s positive I’m trying to run us out of this house. I feel so alone, disconnected from reality. But all of this is almost explainable. Yeah, it’s concerning but I could justify all of this if you give me enough time. I can’t say that for what happened two nights ago. That’s the reason I’m coming on here, I can’t explain this away. 

I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee. I turned over and saw a shadow shoot away from against my doorway. I know it sounds weird but that’s become a normal thing for me so I just ignored it. I went to the bathroom and did my business and trudged my way back to bed. I made sure the hallway light was on, a habit I’ve been doing for a while because I don’t want to be in complete darkness with everything my mind has been doing to me. As soon as I got back into bed and faced the wall, I heard it. The whispers got closer, I could hear the sounds of the wood creaking as if something was crawling towards where I was laying. I’ve never heard the sounds of my name being called this clearly before, like something was whispering right in my ear. If I focused, it was like I could feel someone’s breath against my cheek. I was frozen, facing the wall, afraid to open my eyes and see what was calling for me. It felt like forever until the sounds stopped. It was even longer before I got the courage to turn around.

I saw it. At first it blended into the pile of blankets on the side of the bed but when My eyes adjusted to the light, I saw the outline more clearly. It was against my bed, peeking up just enough that I could see its eyes. Staring right at me, not even blinking. It was my sister’s eyes. That’s when I felt anger. This was different from hiding under my bed when I got home from school. This was a new level that was just plain awful to do. I went to rip the blankets off and get up to yell at her. But then I got a closer look. They were my sisters eyes but that was it, the face surrounding them looked like black ink. Almost like this thing was molding its face as I was looking at it. Swirling features around a silhouette that looked vaguely human. The lights came on and it disappeared, just like that. It wasn’t until my mom came in that I realized I was screaming. I told her I had a nightmare. I didn’t have enough energy for another fight. 

The next day I told Bella what happened, she recommended I post here for help. I don’t know what to do or where to go. I know I wasn’t dreaming and I don’t feel crazy. If I was crazy then I would see this thing everywhere. But it’s only at this house. I can still hear it whispering now. I’ve been sleeping with the lights on every night and I haven’t seen it since but it’s still calling for me from the shadows. It’s getting better at sounding like my mom or my sister. I almost can’t tell the difference now.