- yesterday
What if your screen wasn’t showing a reflection… but something watching from the other side?
Three stories. Three screens. Three watchers.
In The Faceless One, a boy sees something impossible in his Nintendo Switch reflection—something with no face and no mouth, but a smile he can feel.
In The Reflection in the Screen, a closet shadow watches from the corner of a sister’s room… and then from every dark screen, inching closer.
And in The Man in the Brown Suit, a teenage sleepover reveals a towering man with a smile too wide, a suit too clean, and a silence that deafens.
Each story unravels the line between perception and presence—where shadows don't just move… they remember.
#nightfallcrypt #scarystories #horrorstories #paranormalencounters #reflections #creepypasta #closetdemon #foundfootagefeel #creaturesinshadows #unspeakablewatchers
Three stories. Three screens. Three watchers.
In The Faceless One, a boy sees something impossible in his Nintendo Switch reflection—something with no face and no mouth, but a smile he can feel.
In The Reflection in the Screen, a closet shadow watches from the corner of a sister’s room… and then from every dark screen, inching closer.
And in The Man in the Brown Suit, a teenage sleepover reveals a towering man with a smile too wide, a suit too clean, and a silence that deafens.
Each story unravels the line between perception and presence—where shadows don't just move… they remember.
#nightfallcrypt #scarystories #horrorstories #paranormalencounters #reflections #creepypasta #closetdemon #foundfootagefeel #creaturesinshadows #unspeakablewatchers
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00They never knock, they never speak, they just watch and wait for you to notice them back.
00:07The first story revolves around a kid who wanted to play video games on his sister's bed.
00:14Instead, he encountered something that was hidden in plain sight,
00:19something that doesn't require mirrors, only screens.
00:24Once it smiles at you, it will never forget you.
00:29It started the summer before 8th grade.
00:32I'd been playing Animal Crossing on my switch for hours, lying flat on my stomach on my sister's bed.
00:40Her bed sits closer to the closet, one of those cheap, sliding door types with warped brass handles
00:48and a constant draught leaking from the crack between the doors.
00:52I wasn't paying attention to time, but the sky outside had gone from a bright orange to a dull grey
01:00and the room had settled into that in-between light, where everything feels like it's waiting for night to arrive.
01:08My switch battery was almost depleted and the room had started to cool down.
01:16Not the kind of cold you feel when someone leaves a window open.
01:19This was different.
01:21It felt like something was seeping into my skin, as if the chill was emanating from inside the house.
01:30I flipped off the switch and laid it flat on the bed in front of me.
01:35I wasn't tired enough to sleep and not alert enough to grab a book, so I just stared at the screen.
01:43That's when I saw it.
01:44At first, it didn't look like anything at all, just a vague dark patch in the reflection.
01:52The screen showed a warped image of the room behind me, a shadowy mirror, and the closet.
02:00But the closet didn't look quite right.
02:04Something leaned out from the crack between the doors.
02:08I blinked and squinted.
02:10The shape was wrong.
02:11It looked like someone was craning their head just far enough to peek out.
02:17I could make out a long face.
02:20Or maybe not a face at all.
02:22More like the stretched hint of one.
02:25It didn't have eyes.
02:27But I felt like it was watching me.
02:30It didn't have a mouth.
02:32But I could feel it smiling.
02:35I spun around fast, heart racing.
02:38Expecting what?
02:40I don't know.
02:41But the closet was closed and just closed.
02:45My chest was tight.
02:47My hands were cold.
02:49I looked back at the switch.
02:51It was still there.
02:53Same angle.
02:55Same crooked figure.
02:57Still watching.
02:58I dropped the console onto the bed like it had burned me and scrambled off.
03:03I stood in the middle of the room for a long time.
03:07I stood in the middle of the room for a long time.
03:07I stood in the middle of the room for a long time.
03:07Watching the closet.
03:09Expecting it to creak open.
03:11For something to slither out.
03:13Or for the door to jiggle just once.
03:16But nothing happened.
03:18When I finally dared to pick up the switch again.
03:21It had died.
03:22It had died.
03:23Screen black.
03:25No reflection anymore.
03:28After that, I didn't use her bed again for a while.
03:32I played on mine keeping the closet behind me and blocked it with a laundry basket or a backpack.
03:38I didn't tell my sister.
03:41She was younger than I.
03:43And even if I had told her, what would I have said?
03:47Did I see a shadow person in our closet through my switch?
03:51She'd laugh.
03:52Or worse, she'd believe me.
03:56Weeks passed.
03:58I started to wonder if I'd imagined it.
04:01I wanted to believe it was nothing.
04:04Then it came back.
04:05One night, I was playing Minecraft.
04:09It was late.
04:10Later than I was supposed to be up.
04:13The house was silent except for the faint hum of the AC and the occasional creak of settling wood.
04:20I had headphones in.
04:22Mining lazily in a cave.
04:25And then the screen flickered.
04:27Not a glitch.
04:28Not lag.
04:30Just a flicker.
04:32Like static had passed across it for a second.
04:36The screen darkened for a moment.
04:39Just long enough for it to act like a mirror.
04:43There it was again.
04:45Exact figure.
04:47Same place in the reflection.
04:49But this time, it was standing a little straighter.
04:53Its shoulders looked sharper.
04:54And I could see its hands.
04:58Long, almost jointless fingers that pressed lightly against the inside of the closet door.
05:04Like it was testing the barrier between us.
05:08I didn't look back this time.
05:10I just closed the switch and shoved it under my pillow.
05:14I didn't sleep well.
05:17After that, I stopped playing in our room altogether.
05:21I only used my switch in the living room or when I was at a friend's house.
05:27But even then, every time the screen went black, dimmed, or showed a reflection, I checked the background.
05:36Always looking for that shape.
05:39Because sometimes, it wasn't just in the closet.
05:43Once, at my cousin's house, I powered off the switch and caught a glimpse of their bedroom closet in the reflection.
05:53And there it was, just for a second.
05:57Another time, I saw it on the dark TV screen in our living room.
06:02No closet behind me.
06:04Just an empty room.
06:05But in the reflection, something was standing behind the couch.
06:11It followed me.
06:13Or not followed.
06:15Maybe it was always there.
06:17Watching and just waiting for me to notice again.
06:21I tried to trick it.
06:23I started checking other reflections.
06:25Bathroom mirrors.
06:26Kitchen tiles.
06:27Even the back of spoons.
06:29But nothing.
06:31It never showed up in mirrors.
06:33Only on screens.
06:34Powered off, or blacked out.
06:37Only screens.
06:39I once asked my sister if she had ever seen anything weird in the closet.
06:45She shrugged and said,
06:47Just your messy clothes.
06:49So I let it go.
06:52But I never forgot.
06:53I never stopped looking.
06:55This year, something changed.
06:58I hadn't touched my switch in months.
07:01But I found it in a drawer while cleaning.
07:03It still had some charge.
07:05I sat down on my bed.
07:08My heart pounding.
07:09And turned it on.
07:11I played for a while.
07:13Nothing strange.
07:15Then I turned it off.
07:17And it was there.
07:19Closer than before.
07:20It had stepped halfway out of the closet.
07:23Its head was tilted.
07:26Its arms hung too long at its sides.
07:29The reflection was crystal clear.
07:31Like the screen had been polished just for this.
07:35I didn't dare turn around.
07:38I could hear the closet creak.
07:40Not open.
07:41Creak.
07:42I blinked.
07:44The figure didn't move.
07:46Just stared.
07:46That night, I dreamed I was sitting in our room with every screen turned off.
07:54My phone.
07:55My switch.
07:56My sister's iPad.
07:58And each one showed something different.
08:01Not just the figure.
08:03But others.
08:04Dozens of them.
08:06Lining the walls.
08:08Hanging from the ceiling.
08:10And crawling from under the bed.
08:12All smiling.
08:13I woke up drenched in sweat.
08:18The room was quiet.
08:19Too quiet.
08:21When I re-checked the switch the next day, the battery had drained completely.
08:27But the screen still reflected the room somehow.
08:31I leaned in.
08:32And there it was.
08:34Not in the closet this time.
08:37It was standing directly behind me.
08:39And for the first time, I felt breath on my neck.
08:45I haven't looked into a screen since.
08:48And I think...
08:49I think that's precisely what it wants.
08:52That should have been the end.
08:54But it wasn't.
08:55Because of the boy's story.
08:57It reappeared.
08:59Re-told.
09:00Slightly changed.
09:02Different narrator.
09:04Same presence.
09:05A warped reflection stretching from house to house.
09:09Screen to screen.
09:11Like it had found a new voice to speak through.
09:14It started the summer before 8th grade.
09:18I'd been playing Animal Crossing on my switch for hours.
09:22Lying flat on my stomach on my sister's bed.
09:25Her bed sits closer to the closet.
09:29One of those cheap sliding door types with warped brass handles and a constant draft leaking from the crack between the doors.
09:38I wasn't paying attention to time.
09:41But the sky outside had gone from a bright orange to a dull grey.
09:46And the room had settled into that in-between light where everything feels like it's waiting for night to arrive.
09:54My switch battery was almost depleted.
09:58And the room had started to cool down.
10:02Not the kind of cold you feel when someone leaves a window open.
10:07This was different.
10:09It felt like something was seeping into my skin.
10:12As if the chill was emanating from inside the house.
10:16I flipped off the switch and laid it flat on the bed in front of me.
10:21I wasn't tired enough to sleep and not alert enough to grab a book.
10:27So I just stared at the screen.
10:29That's when I saw it.
10:31At first, it didn't look like anything at all.
10:35Just a vague dark patch in the reflection.
10:38The screen showed a warped image of the room behind me.
10:42A shadowy mirror.
10:44And the closet.
10:45But the closet didn't look quite right.
10:49Something leaned out from the crack between the doors.
10:53I blinked and squinted.
10:55The shape was wrong.
10:57It looked like someone was craning their head just far enough to peek out.
11:02I could make out a long face.
11:05Or maybe not a face at all.
11:07More like the stretched hint of one.
11:09It didn't have eyes.
11:12But I felt like it was watching me.
11:15It didn't have a mouth.
11:16But I could feel it smiling.
11:19I spun around fast.
11:21Heart racing.
11:23Expecting.
11:24What?
11:25I don't know.
11:27But the closet was closed.
11:29My chest was tight.
11:31My hands were cold.
11:33I looked back at the switch.
11:35It was still there.
11:37Same angle.
11:37Same crooked figure.
11:40Still watching.
11:42I dropped the console onto the bed like it had burned me and scrambled off.
11:47I stood in the middle of the room for a long time.
11:51Watching the closet.
11:53Expecting it to creak open.
11:55For something to slither out.
11:57Or for the door to jiggle just once.
12:00But nothing happened.
12:02When I finally dared to pick up the switch again.
12:05It had died.
12:08Screen black.
12:09No reflection anymore.
12:12After that.
12:13I didn't use her bed again for a while.
12:16I played on mine.
12:17Keeping the closet behind me.
12:19And blocked it with a laundry basket.
12:22Or a backpack.
12:23I didn't tell my sister.
12:25She was younger than I.
12:27And even if I had told her.
12:29What would I have said?
12:30Did I see a shadowed person in our closet through my switch?
12:35She'd laugh.
12:37Or worse.
12:38She'd believe me.
12:40Weeks passed.
12:42I started to wonder if I'd imagined it.
12:45I wanted to believe it was nothing.
12:48Then it came back.
12:50One night.
12:51I was playing Minecraft.
12:53It was late.
12:55Later than I was supposed to be up.
12:56The house was silent except for the faint hum of the AC and the occasional creak of settling wood.
13:04I had headphones in.
13:06Mining lazily in a cave.
13:09And then the screen flickered.
13:11Not a glitch.
13:12Not lag.
13:13Just a flicker.
13:16Like static had passed across it for a second.
13:19The screen darkened for a moment.
13:21Just long enough for it to act like a mirror.
13:26There it was again.
13:28Exact vigor.
13:30Same place in the reflection.
13:32But this time it was standing a little straighter.
13:36Its shoulders looked sharper.
13:38And I could see its hands.
13:41Long, almost jointless fingers.
13:44That pressed lightly against the inside of the closet door.
13:48Like it was testing the barrier between us.
13:51I didn't look back this time.
13:54I just closed the switch and shoved it under my pillow.
13:58I didn't sleep well.
14:00After that, I stopped playing in our room altogether.
14:04I only used my switch in the living room.
14:07Or when I was at a friend's house.
14:10But even then, every time the screen went black, dimmed, or showed a reflection,
14:16I'd check the background, always looking for that shape.
14:22Because sometimes, it wasn't just in the closet.
14:26Once, at my cousin's house, I powered off the switch and caught a glimpse of their bedroom closet in the reflection.
14:34And there it was, just for a second.
14:38Another time, I saw it on the dark TV screen in our living room.
14:44No closet behind me.
14:46Just the empty room.
14:48But in the reflection, something was standing behind the couch.
14:52It followed me.
14:55Or not followed.
14:57Maybe it was always there.
14:59Watching and just waiting for me to notice again.
15:03I tried to trick it.
15:04I started checking other reflections.
15:07Bathroom mirrors, kitchen tiles, even the back of spoons.
15:11But nothing.
15:13It never showed up in mirrors.
15:15Only on screens.
15:17Powered off or blacked out.
15:19Only screens.
15:21I once asked my sister if she had ever seen anything weird in the closet.
15:28She shrugged and said,
15:30Just your messy clothes.
15:32So I let it go.
15:34But I never forgot.
15:36I never stopped looking.
15:38This year, something changed.
15:41I hadn't touched my switch in months.
15:44But I found it in a drawer while cleaning.
15:46It still had some charge.
15:49I sat down on my bed.
15:51My heart pounding.
15:52And turned it on.
15:54I played for a while.
15:56Nothing strange.
15:59Then I turned it off.
16:01And it was there.
16:02Closer than before.
16:04It had stepped halfway out of the closet.
16:08Its head was tilted.
16:09Its arms hung too long at its sides.
16:13The reflection was crystal clear.
16:15Like the screen had been polished just for this.
16:18I didn't dare turn around.
16:20I could hear the closet creak.
16:23Not open.
16:25Creak.
16:25I blinked.
16:27The figure didn't move.
16:29Just stared.
16:31That night, I dreamed I was sitting in our room with all the screens turned off.
16:36My phone.
16:37My phone.
16:38My switch.
16:39My sister's iPad.
16:41Each device displayed something different.
16:45It wasn't just a single figure.
16:46There were others.
16:47There were others.
16:49Dozens of them.
16:50Lining the walls.
16:51Hanging from the ceiling.
16:53And crawling out from under the bed.
16:56They were all smiling.
16:58I woke up drenched in sweat.
17:01The room was eerily quiet.
17:04The next day, when I rechecked the switch, the battery had drained completely.
17:10Yet the screen continued to reflect the room somehow.
17:13I leaned in.
17:16And there it was.
17:17Not in the closet this time.
17:20It was standing right behind me.
17:23For the first time, I felt a gentle breath on my neck.
17:28I haven't looked at a screen since.
17:30And you know what?
17:32I believe that's precisely what it wants.
17:35That should have been the end.
17:37But it wasn't.
17:38Because of the boy's story.
17:41It reappeared.
17:42Retold.
17:44Slightly changed.
17:46Different narrator.
17:47Same presence.
17:49A warped reflection stretching from house to house.
17:52Screen to screen.
17:54Like it had found a new voice to speak through.
17:57I've lived in this house since I was six.
18:00It's the kind of place where the wind sounds older than the trees.
18:05The floors complain under your steps like they remember things they'd rather forget.
18:10And every room carries the scent of soil, mildew, and something else.
18:17Something metallic.
18:19Like the tang of a memory trying to surface.
18:22The house was built in 1848, long before the town had a name.
18:29But there are no records.
18:31No deed.
18:32No blueprints.
18:34No history.
18:35Just an address and a story everyone refuses to tell.
18:39Even the county clerk looked uneasy when my father attempted to retrieve documents in the 90s.
18:47She said the file was missing.
18:49Said it had always been missing.
18:51We live four acres from the barn.
18:55It's a crooked, sagging skeleton of a structure with rusted nails sticking out like broken teeth,
19:02and hayloft beams that bow like they're tired of holding secrets.
19:06The field between is flat, open, and silent.
19:12There are no lights, no paths.
19:14Just wild grass that sighs when the wind pushes through it.
19:19Sometimes at night, it moves even when there is no breeze.
19:23In 2010, my mother's friend, Diane, came over one evening around six.
19:31My dad, who was also Diane's husband's colleague, was on his way home with her husband.
19:38They all worked together and ran a small contracting business out of our basement office.
19:45Diane figured she'd wait out front, have a coffee and a cigarette.
19:49It was late spring, still light out.
19:53Birds were quiet, she told me later.
19:56Everything was still.
19:58I wasn't home, but my mom told me Diane called her before she even pulled into the driveway.
20:05Told her something wasn't right.
20:08My mom told her to wait, said she'd be there in ten minutes.
20:13Diane parked anyway, rolled down the window, and lit a cigarette.
20:17She never even got out of the car.
20:21She said she looked up toward the barn and saw a man walking.
20:25At first, she didn't register what was wrong.
20:29He was dressed in all black.
20:31Black boots, black pants, a long black trench coat that touched his ankles.
20:37It looked thick, too warm for that time of year.
20:41But it was the way he moved that froze her.
20:45He wasn't walking toward the barn.
20:47He was walking parallel to it, as if patrolling the front, slowly, like someone pacing a line invisible to everyone but him.
20:58His movements were deliberate, as if he were performing something.
21:03A ritual she wasn't meant to see.
21:04She looked back at her phone.
21:08Then something clicked.
21:10She hadn't seen her face.
21:12She looked up again.
21:14He was still there.
21:16Same steady gait.
21:18Same black coat.
21:19But where her face should have been, there was only pale flesh.
21:23Smooth, featureless.
21:25Like modeling clay smoothed over by an unseen hand.
21:29No mouth.
21:30No eyes.
21:31No shape.
21:32She watched him for maybe ten seconds.
21:36Then he was gone.
21:38Not behind something.
21:40Not fading into the horizon.
21:43Just gone.
21:45She dropped her coffee, left her cigarettes, and didn't even lock her car.
21:51She drove straight home and refused to return for months.
21:54She wouldn't answer my mom's calls for weeks.
21:58When she finally did, she burst into tears.
22:02When she did come back, she wouldn't look at the barn.
22:06I thought she might have imagined it.
22:09But Diane wasn't the type.
22:11She grew up rough and tough.
22:14Fought cancer twice.
22:15And carried a switchblade in her purse.
22:18I'd seen her stand nose to nose with drunk guys twice her size.
22:23But she never talked about what she saw that night without her voice tightening and her hands twitching like they needed something to hold.
22:31She told my mom later that she felt like she'd been marked.
22:36As if she knew she had seen it.
22:39Like it was waiting.
22:41I forgot about it.
22:44Mostly.
22:44But last month, I was out in the field, near the barn.
22:49The dog had chased something out past the grass line.
22:52And I went looking.
22:54Dusk was bleeding into night.
22:56And I didn't want her getting lost.
22:58That's when I saw the shape.
23:01I froze.
23:03It was too far to see clearly.
23:05Maybe twenty yards out.
23:07But I saw a figure standing dead still beside the left corner of the barn.
23:11No light.
23:13No sound.
23:14Just a vertical blot of darker dark against the wall.
23:18Its outline didn't shift like shadows do.
23:21It held itself.
23:23Like it knew I was watching.
23:26My first thought was trespasser.
23:29My second thought was Diane.
23:32I called out.
23:34The figure didn't move.
23:36I walked forward.
23:38Slowly.
23:39Careful.
23:40The grass brushed my jeans.
23:42And my boots crunched against the dry earth.
23:45I could feel my pulse in my throat.
23:48Every step forward made the air colder.
23:50The dog whimpered and stayed behind.
23:54The figure stepped sideways.
23:56I stopped.
23:58It didn't feel like fear at first.
24:01It felt like pressure.
24:02Like the air had thickened.
24:05Like I was walking into a room where something terrible had just happened.
24:09The hair on my arms lifted.
24:12And my breath turned shallow.
24:14It was like standing in the moment right before a scream.
24:19A palpable sense of impending dread.
24:23I turned on my flashlight.
24:25Nothing.
24:26The beam caught the barn wall.
24:29Empty.
24:30But the next day.
24:32Near where I'd seen it.
24:33I found something half buried in the dirt.
24:36A black button.
24:38Large.
24:39Like the kind on an old overcoat.
24:41It was too clean.
24:43Too new.
24:44The stitching thread still clung to the eyelets.
24:48Adding to the mystery of its origin.
24:51I brought it inside.
24:53Left it on the kitchen counter.
24:56That night.
24:57I woke up to the sound of footsteps.
25:00Not inside.
25:02Outside.
25:03Under my window.
25:04Slow.
25:05Measured.
25:06Like someone pacing.
25:07The floorboards beneath me seemed to breathe with every step I heard outside.
25:13Groaning softly like they remembered him.
25:17I didn't look.
25:18I don't know why.
25:20Maybe some part of me remembered what Diane had said.
25:24Perhaps some part of me knew if I looked.
25:27He'd still be walking and still wearing black.
25:30Still faceless.
25:31And maybe he'd stop.
25:34A chilling fear gripping me.
25:37The next morning.
25:39The button was gone.
25:41I searched the entire house.
25:43But it was nowhere to be found.
25:45I asked my mom.
25:46If she had moved it.
25:48But she just stared at me.
25:50Pale.
25:51And wide-eyed.
25:52As if she'd seen a ghost.
25:54I asked my mom.
25:56If she had moved it.
25:57She stared at me.
25:59Pale.
25:59Her hands trembling.
26:02I didn't touch it.
26:03She said.
26:05Her voice barely above a whisper.
26:08I swear.
26:09I didn't touch it.
26:11I threw that thing out in 2010.
26:14She said.
26:16After Diane found it on the windshield of her car.
26:20She swore it was the same one.
26:23And when I described where I found it.
26:26Her face fell.
26:27That's where he was walking.
26:29She whispered.
26:31Exactly where she said.
26:34There are things on this land that don't want to be remembered.
26:38And others that don't want to be forgotten.
26:41Maybe this one is both.
26:43Last night.
26:45I left a light on facing the barn.
26:48Just a small one.
26:50Rigged to a motion sensor.
26:51I didn't sleep.
26:53Just watched.
26:55At 2.37am.
26:57It flicked on.
27:00Nothing was there.
27:02But the grass.
27:03It looked like it had been walked through.
27:06One long, deliberate path.
27:09Starting from the barn.
27:11And stopping just 10 feet from the house.
27:1510 feet.
27:16Closer than it had ever been before.
27:20Two stories.
27:21Two screens.
27:23Two shadows were watching from inside the closets.
27:26But what happens when the thing doesn't just peek.
27:29But steps out.
27:30The following story takes us into a different kind of presence.
27:35Not flickering.
27:37Not fading.
27:38But standing.
27:40Smiling.
27:41Waiting for an invitation.
27:44I used to think my friend was exaggerating when he talked about the devil.
27:49He'd say things like,
27:50He visits me sometimes.
27:52Or he waits by my closet.
27:55We were teenagers.
27:56And he was always deeply into things like demonology, horror movies, faith, and fear.
28:03And that whole cosmic war between good and evil.
28:07I liked listening to him.
28:09Sure.
28:10But I didn't believe him.
28:12Not like that.
28:13Not until the night I saw it too.
28:17It was a weekend.
28:18I'd stayed over at my friend's place dozens of times.
28:22His house was old.
28:24Pre-war.
28:24With paper-thin walls.
28:27And a draft that always seemed to come from the vents.
28:30Whether the heat was on or not.
28:33Something about it felt unclean.
28:35Not dirty.
28:37But used.
28:39Like every room.
28:40There was something remembered.
28:42His bedroom was the worst.
28:44The walls had old water stains that looked almost like faces if you stared at them long enough.
28:50And I had.
28:51He always said his room was the worst of it.
28:54It sticks to me.
28:56He told me once.
28:57Half asleep.
28:59It doesn't want you.
29:00Not yet.
29:01It wants me.
29:01That night.
29:03He passed out fast.
29:05Like he always did.
29:07Mumbling a prayer under his breath.
29:10I couldn't sleep.
29:12As the night wore on.
29:13A sense of unease began to settle over me.
29:17The hum of the ceiling fan.
29:19The peculiar way the shadows danced on the walls.
29:22It all seemed to conspire to keep me awake.
29:25Anxiety gripped me.
29:28My heart racing for no discernible reason.
29:31I rolled over to face the far wall.
29:36And that's when I saw it.
29:39A man.
29:41No noise.
29:42No movement.
29:43Just standing.
29:45He was tall.
29:46Too tall.
29:47His head scraped just under the molding where the wall met the ceiling.
29:52His arms held out.
29:53Just a little.
29:54Like he was waiting to embrace someone.
29:57Or catch them if they ran.
29:59His suit was brown.
30:01Clean.
30:01Tailored.
30:03His hat matched.
30:04Wide brimmed and shadowing most of his face.
30:08Except for his smile.
30:10That smile glowed.
30:12Not bright like a light.
30:14But distinct.
30:15Wide.
30:16Thick.
30:17Wrong.
30:18Like it had too many muscles.
30:20Too many teeth.
30:21His eyes didn't gleam.
30:22Didn't blink.
30:23Just stared at me like I was the thing on display.
30:26I blinked.
30:28Once.
30:29Twice.
30:30Five times.
30:32Still there.
30:33Still smiling.
30:35Still waiting.
30:37The silence was oppressive.
30:39As if the room itself was holding its breath.
30:42Even the old fan above seemed to hesitate.
30:45Its slow, clicking noise faltering.
30:48I wasn't paralyzed.
30:50But I couldn't bring myself to move.
30:53The moment felt stretched too thin.
30:55Like a plastic sheet about to snap.
30:59I ducked under the covers.
31:01Blanket over my head.
31:03Heart pounding so hard I thought it might wake my friend.
31:07I waited for something.
31:09Anything to happen.
31:11A voice.
31:12A hand on my shoulder.
31:14A breath against my ear.
31:16But nothing came.
31:18Just that dreadful, awful sense that something was still watching.
31:23I must have passed out.
31:24Because when I woke up, it was morning.
31:28Sunlight was cutting through the slats of the blinds.
31:31My friend was already up.
31:34Brushing his teeth in the bathroom.
31:36He was humming.
31:38And I felt like I hadn't slept at all.
31:43I sat on the edge of the bed.
31:45Gathering the nerve to say it.
31:48Hey.
31:49I think I saw that guy you talked about.
31:52He poked his head out.
31:54What guy?
31:55I grinned sheepishly.
31:58The devil or whatever.
32:00I don't know.
32:01Some guy in a brown suit.
32:03Tall.
32:04Big smile.
32:06Just standing by your closet.
32:09He went still.
32:11Completely still.
32:13No toothbrush.
32:14No grin.
32:16No more humming.
32:18Then he looked me dead in the eye and said,
32:21flat as a plate.
32:22That was the devil, baby.
32:25His voice was devoid of its usual warmth.
32:28Replaced by a chilling certainty that sent shivers down my spine.
32:33I laughed.
32:34But not all the way.
32:36The sound was hollow.
32:38Forced.
32:39As if I was trying to convince myself that it was all a joke.
32:44But deep down.
32:45I knew it wasn't.
32:47He didn't.
32:49When I looked at the closet.
32:50I noticed the door was slightly ajar.
32:54How could that be?
32:56The closet door was always closed.
32:59Always.
33:01Later that night.
33:03I went home.
33:04But I couldn't stop replaying it.
33:07That image.
33:08That smile.
33:09I hadn't seen him move and hadn't heard him speak.
33:12But somehow.
33:13He was louder than anything I'd ever heard.
33:17A presence that had volume without sound.
33:19The next night.
33:22I couldn't sleep.
33:23Not at home.
33:25Not even with my light on.
33:28I left the closet door cracked.
33:30Hoping that if anything were there.
33:32It'd just go away if it knew I wasn't pretending.
33:35It was around 3.12am.
33:40When I felt it.
33:41A sudden drop in temperature.
33:44A shift in the air.
33:46You know that feeling when someone opens a freezer door behind you.
33:50It was like that.
33:51Only colder.
33:53Wetter.
33:53The shadows in my room seemed to twist and contort.
33:58Taking on a life of their own.
34:01I couldn't see him.
34:02Not really.
34:04But I could feel him.
34:06And then.
34:08Just as my eyelid started to give way.
34:11I saw something in the reflection of my TV screen.
34:15Just a sliver of that smile.
34:18Nobody.
34:19No suit.
34:21Just a curve of teeth behind me.
34:24I shut my eyes.
34:26Hard.
34:28Morning came.
34:30And I convinced myself it was sleep paralysis.
34:33Until I went to school the next day and saw my friend.
34:37He looked exhausted.
34:40Dark circles under his eyes.
34:43Before I could even speak, he said.
34:45You saw him again, didn't you?
34:49I didn't ask how he knew.
34:51Because now I believe.
34:53And I think that's exactly what he wanted.
34:56I tried not to mention it afterward.
34:59I figured if I ignored it.
35:02If I chalked it up to a bad dream.
35:04It would go away.
35:06But silence didn't make it vanish.
35:09It made it worse.
35:11One week later.
35:12My friend invited me back.
35:15I hesitated.
35:16Lied and said I had a cold.
35:19The truth was.
35:20I couldn't stop thinking about that moment in his room.
35:24When I blinked.
35:25And that thing just stayed there.
35:28The longer I thought about it.
35:30The more I realized.
35:32I hadn't just seen something strange.
35:35I'd seen something intentional.
35:36That smile wasn't for him.
35:40It was for me.
35:42It was like it knew I didn't believe.
35:46Like it had waited for that exact moment.
35:49When doubt outweighed faith.
35:52To make itself known.
35:55I stopped sleeping with the closet closed.
35:58I stopped turning my back on dark corners.
36:00And worst of all.
36:03I started hearing things in other people's houses.
36:07At a group sleepover.
36:09We all passed out in the basement.
36:12Eight of us scattered on couches and blankets.
36:15Around two a.m.
36:17I woke up shivering with cold.
36:20The kind of cold that hurts my teeth.
36:24The room was still.
36:25But I heard something upstairs.
36:28Two heavy footsteps.
36:31Then nothing.
36:32I tried to shake it off.
36:34But when I rolled over.
36:36I saw the reflection of the patio door in the black screen of the television.
36:40Something was standing just outside.
36:43Not moving.
36:44And not knocking.
36:45Just.
36:46Watching.
36:48Same posture.
36:49Same stillness.
36:51Same damn hat.
36:54I sat up.
36:55Heart hammering.
36:57When I looked at the actual door.
36:59It was empty.
37:01But the reflection still showed him.
37:04I turned off the TV.
37:06I didn't sleep the rest of the night.
37:09Eventually.
37:10I stopped going out.
37:12I didn't tell anyone what was happening.
37:15What could I say?
37:17I think the devil is following me.
37:20That'd get me locked up.
37:22Or at the very least.
37:23Laughed out of every room I entered.
37:26But I knew.
37:27I could feel him getting closer.
37:30Not physically.
37:32But.
37:33Personally.
37:34Like he was learning me.
37:36And memorizing my mind.
37:37I'd catch glimpses in passing mirrors.
37:41Feel movement in rooms where nothing moved.
37:45I stopped being able to tell when I was truly alone.
37:47The worst night was when I dreamed of him.
37:52Not standing.
37:54Not smiling.
37:55Sitting.
37:57Right at the end of my bed.
37:59Bent forward.
38:00Elbows on his knees.
38:01Face inches from mine.
38:03His hat had fallen to the floor.
38:05His eyes were black pits now.
38:08Still and glassy.
38:10Like dead water.
38:12He didn't say anything.
38:13But I knew.
38:15He didn't have to ask.
38:17I would say yes.
38:18Eventually.
38:19The dream ended with his hand almost touching mine.
38:25Almost.
38:26I woke up screaming.
38:29My mom came in thinking I was having a night terror.
38:33I played along.
38:34What else could I do?
38:37The last time I saw him.
38:39Saw him.
38:40Was at my friend's house.
38:42Months later.
38:43I finally agreed to go back.
38:45I needed to face it.
38:47I told myself I imagined it all.
38:50That if I stared into the dark and demanded it to show itself it wouldn't.
38:55I stayed the night.
38:56I waited.
38:58And right around 3.08am I sat up and said aloud.
39:04If you're real.
39:05Then show me.
39:07I regretted it the second the words left my mouth.
39:12There was no movement.
39:14Just a change in the room.
39:15The air shifted.
39:18Became heavier.
39:20The walls groaned.
39:22And from the corner.
39:24From the dark space between the dresser and the closet door.
39:28He stepped out.
39:30Same suit.
39:32Same smile.
39:34Same silence.
39:35But this time.
39:37He didn't look at me like before.
39:40He looked through me.
39:42Like he'd already seen everything there was to know.
39:46I don't remember what happened after that.
39:49Not really.
39:51Just flashes.
39:53I felt the feeling of something brushing past my leg.
39:57The sound of my friend murmuring in his sleep.
40:01Words I didn't recognize.
40:03The sensation of my mouth moving.
40:05The sensation of my mouth moving.
40:07But no words coming out.
40:09I woke up to daylight.
40:11Alone.
40:13My friend was already gone.
40:15Said he didn't remember anything weird.
40:18But when I looked in the mirror.
40:21There was a smudge on my forehead.
40:23Like ash.
40:25Like soot.
40:25I wiped it away.
40:29But I still don't know if it was ever really gone.
40:33Three stories.
40:34One truth.
40:36They only need you to look.
40:38A flicker.
40:39A smile.
40:40A sliver of motion.
40:42Where none should be.
40:44Maybe they're the same thing.
40:46Maybe not.
40:47But what if it's not about what they are?
40:51What if it's about why they come?
40:54Not to scare you.
40:56But to find out if you believe.
40:59And once you do.
41:01You'll see them everywhere.
41:03Even now.
41:04Even in this screen.
Recommended
0:59
|
Up next
1:02
0:57
1:01:36
5:16
5:24
7:00
1:00
1:31
6:22
4:12
8:29
2:42
5:25
0:10
0:10
0:10
0:10
0:10
0:10