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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/GN0515_ on 2024-10-19 22:54:17+00:00.

The sound of police sirens wailed loudly inside the room, but he didn’t move. To be honest, I’m not even sure he blinked. He just sat there as he had the entire room in his chair, surrounded by stacks of books, each collecting a thin layer of dust that had made its home on them.

“So, is there anything else I need to know?” I asked curiously, staring at the man sitting in the chair. His eyes were droopy, almost as if he were asleep, his chair was wiry and uncombed, pointed in the air, and his almost white beard had little specks of drool. It was as if he were in a different world as I stood there in his little red and black checkered robe.

“No, he just sort of sits here all day watching police procedure shows,” Bailey responded, parting her bangs with her hand. Her green eyes darted back over to him, as he still sat there staring through the TV. I could tell she was ready to get out of her green scrubs and pass over responsibilities to me. “Let me show you where to sleep.”

“He sure does have a lot of books,” I added as we walked out the room, entering a hallway with dark blue walls, dark-colored floors leading to a row of open doors. Each room was similar to the one the man was in, organized chaos, books on shelves, stacked on tables, the floors, and any other object that was available.

“Yeah, he was some sort of scholar, I think an archaeologist or something like that,” Bailey replied, as we entered a room that had lime green walls, a queen-size bed nicely made with dark gray sheets and a slightly darker comforter, a relatively modern metal and wood nightstand sitting next to it.  A small lamp resting on top of it “This is you.”

“Should I try to pick up and straighten up the place?”

Bailey laughed, “No, we’re nurses, not maids. His son can pay for a cleaning service to deal with it.”

“Gotcha,” I said, as I laid my backpack on the bed and retrieved my phone charger, plugging it into the wall. “So, you said you already fed him his dinner, right?”

Bailey nodded, “Yep, all you have to do is put him to bed, and to be honest, sometimes if he falls asleep in the chair, I just leave him. He seems to just like being there with his shows.”

“What does he usually do for breakfast?”

“I usually just cut up fruit with some yogurt.”

“Seems easy enough.”

“Yea, I would just relax, catch up on reading or sleep,” Bailey said, pulling out her phone and looking at the time. “So do you think you need anything else?”

“I don’t think so,” I answered, as Bailey headed back to the hallway. Her nose pointed to her phone as she texted furiously, and we walked towards the front door, passing the room with the man. Guns were firing on the television.

“It’s an easy gig,” Bailey remarked, as she pulled out a set of keys. They jingled her hand as she seemed restless to leave. “So, I will be back in a couple of days to take back over, but call me if you need anything.”

She hastily exited the front door, as I turned back walking to the room with the old man. The television was still blaring, I looked over to see his eyes were no longer drooped down, but were now fully closed. It looked like my night was going to be easier than I thought.

I waited for a few moments, before a dull snore came from the man. I debated whether to turn the television off, but decided to not bother before heading to my room quietly shuffling to my room so as to not disturb him. The bed was actually more comfortable than I expected, as I began to scroll TikTok to relax.

– 

It groaned as my eyes began to open. I watched the door crack slightly. The room was now dark; I must have dozed off while on my phone. My eyes were blurry, but the sound continued as the door opened further. “Hello?” I asked quietly, debating whether it was an old house settling or someone, like Bailey, checking in on me.

A light scraping noise came from somewhere I couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was unsettling enough for me to reach to turn on the light. I sat up in bed to see something was out of place, but there was no one in the room with me, nor anything that could be making the scratching noise.

I got out of bed and stuck my head out into the hallway. It was dark except for the glow of the TV screen from the man earlier. I could hear a faint sound like people talking, as if he were deep asleep with the show still on. I closed the door and settled back into bed, turning off the light, and beginning to drift off again, when the door slowly opened once more. The creaking sound became louder as I heard the doorknob hit the wall.

There he stood. The old man.

His eyes were no longer closed or droopy, but open wide like a startled animal. He hunched over and slowly walked into the room with me, his hair still standing and his robe dragging on the floor. He looked around the room, his mouth agape, studying it from the floor to the walls and even the ceiling. I almost said something before I noticed something.

He slowly crept around the room before turning his sights on me. He held something tightly gripped in his hand, which made every hair on my body stand up and tingle. I could only get a brief glimpse, but it was enough to scare the hell out of me.

A knife in his hand.

I don’t know why I pretended to still be asleep, but he inched closer to me, his eyes and mouth still wide open, as if he were walking like a zombie in the bedroom. He stopped at the foot of the bed, watching me as I pretended to sleep. I felt I was done for, but he just let out a strange chuckle before turning around and slowly shuffling out of the room.

I laid there, my mind racing, as I searched my bed for my phone, quickly grabbing it and hand while getting out of the bed. I quietly walked to the door, sticking my head out once again, this time I was greeted with creaks and croaks from wooden floors along with the sound of television.

He was walking around.

But I couldn’t see him; he was in one of the other rooms. Where though? I just knew I had to get out of the house as quickly as possible. I walked as lightly as I could. The sound of him walking was intentionally heavy and menacing, wherever he was in the house. A few steps in, a loud sound came from underneath my feet. The hardwood floor had betrayed me with a light creak, but it might as well have been a scream.

“You don’t have to hide!” a raspy, aged voice yelled as the footsteps picked up the pace, shuffling and dragging from somewhere nearby. I panicked as I pushed open another door in the hall and slipped in. “We can end this really quickly!”

The room was dark and musty. I could see the outline of a bed among more stacks of books. There were even books resting on the bed; it looked as if no one had used this room in years. “I’m going to find you!” the voice shouted menacingly.

The footsteps were coming closer. I had to hide as I looked around the room. Each piece of furniture, whether drawer, table, or even chair, had stacks of books upon it. I dashed towards the bed itself and crawled underneath, right before the door swung violently open.

“Are you in here?”

I held my breath, trying to hold back the urge to scream from the top of my lungs as I could hear him walk in. Each step he took my heart felt like it would leap from my chest as he carefully walked around.

“We are going to end this,” the voice screeched. “I’ve been waiting for so long for the right moment to do this.” 

He paused for a moment, staying stationary. I may have only been able to see his feet, but I knew he was looking. Not even a twitch came from me as I waited patiently, hoping he would give up in this room. After a few moments, he shuffled out of the room.

I peeked out to see the door still open, but the old man was nowhere to be found. I was just going to have to run for it. As I slid from underneath the bed and darted towards the hallway, I looked around to hear the old man yelling somewhere in the house, “I know you are still here.”

I just ran towards the door, the television becoming louder as I came near the room where I had thought he had peacefully gone to sleep. As I got closer, I could see the light pour out into the hallway from the television, casting a shadow on the floor. He was in that room.

I don’t know why I stopped to take a glimpse, especially being so close to freedom. But I did and saw a figure standing in the dark right in front of the television, as if he were watching his show again.

“I’m leaving and calling the police!” I yelled out, catching its attention. A strange hissing noise came from the direction as the figure began to contort, its head twisting around to reveal that it wasn’t the old man; it was something else entirely.

It started to move quickly, each inch it got closer sounding as if its bones were snapping. As it wobbled its way towards me, I noticed that its skin was a dark hue of green, and its mouth was covered in crooked and sharp teeth. But something was missing. It had no eyes, not even eye sockets.

I started to move towards the front door again, but it moved faster than I could imagine. I felt wet limbs with a putrid smell grab onto me, tossing me down as if I were nothing more than a doll.

“Get off me!” I screamed from the top of my lungs as the creature pinned me down and bit into the air with a frenzy. I kicked and squirmed, trying to free myself from it as its mouth started to move closer to my face. I closed my eyes.

Then I felt something wet hit my face.

“I’ve been waiting for you to show again!” the raspy …

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