He Cried

The house I grew up in was built brand new when we moved in. I was five. I don't remember a whole lot from my younger years but at thirteen that all changed. It's easier to remember your past when it's blotted with ghostly activity, it's set apart.

My mom and I were very close when I was younger and she confided in me a lot. When she was upset she would come to me and talk. I never felt that she ever held anything back from me. I was never scared of much as a child and I think that is why my mom was so open about the supernatural experiences that started happening to her. When she told me of the occurrences it brought up faded memories, things I think my mind was trying to block out, keep from me. Things that would happen and I would shrug off. The room that I was in being empty but feeling crowded. The little hairs on the back of my neck standing up and the shiver down my spine at random moments throughout the day. The most prominent, the feeling of being watched.

I started babysitting when I was about thirteen, mostly for my two younger brothers. My parents owned an internet business and were out a lot at night. As I got older I started babysitting for a lot of members of my church. One afternoon I babysat for some people I didn't really know well and weren't from my church. Their kids were sweet and the parents didn't stay out very late. I arrived to my empty house at about 10:30pm. I had forgotten my younger brothers had went to a friend's house to stay the night. My mom was working a late shift and my dad was at a business meeting. I stepped into the house to the familiar crowded sensation. The lamp in the living room was the only light on in our three bedroom house. The door to the hall was opened and sat like a big hungry mouth, gaping at me. That hallway was in my nightmares, it set chills upon one when walked down, coming away from the very back bedroom which was my parents.

The light from the lamp was eerie so I flipped the big light on in the living room and took a deep breath, preparing to enter the hallway. I flipped on the hall light gingerly and closed all the doors to the rooms, peering into each one expectantly. I knew they were somewhere waiting, waiting for me in that house. My mom and I had named the Two Others who lived with us, Fred and Sam. Fred felt to me to be a man in his late 20's from the fifties. His garb, a black suit and some kind of hat. Sam was quiet and sad, he made you sick when he entered a room, almost like a horrid smell wafting through. He was young. At least five. And seemed to be wearing something blue. I could sense Them. Sense what They were made of, reach out and feel the fabric that They seemed to wear in the afterlife. They were real. And They made sure I knew it.

As I finished closing the doors in the hall way I left the bathroom door open and cut the light on and entered. I closed and locked the door behind me and finally inhaled. I was safe. I kept thinking to myself, chanting, "I will not see Them tonight. I will not see Them tonight." I tried positive thinking and hoped They'd hear and sense my terror and take mercy on me. I was tired and just wanted sleep tonight. No fear. I missed the days before thirteen when there was no fear, when I wasn't afraid to come home.

I said a quick prayer and looked into the mirror at my reflection, I smiled at myself because I started feeling somewhat silly. The flush was still on my cheeks when Sam spoke to me. He said one word, One word that spun me out of control. One word that seemed to reach within my body and thump my heart sending it to its maximum speed. I watched my face fall in the mirror and my reflection become blurred, after I realized all in a split second, what he said and where he was. "Yes." was his reply to my internal chant. "Yes." I would see him tonight, not just see but now hear him. He sounded from right outside the door of the bathroom.

I couldn't move. I could not force my head to turn to the door. I stared at nothing, I couldn't see my reflection in the mirror anymore, blurred by tears. They started to stream down my cheeks as I lost all logical thought, all control over my emotions. I could not explain THEM! As I cried I held nothing back, I wailed. My cry caught in my throat as Sam started crying too. I blinked away my tears and stared at my shocked expression in the mirror, mouth hanging open. A child's cry, a whimper at first them becoming a cry!

He moved away from the door towards the living room and I could do nothing but stare. My thoughts were stale and unattainable, undecipherable. Then he stopped so suddenly it made me jump and everything in my mind clicked on! I had to leave, I had to get out! This sadness was consuming me, and they thoughts of seeing Sam's face made me want to get out of the house, even if I had to crawl my way out of the very walls, scraping everything aside with my own hands, my delicate fingers and nails! My main thought was 'grab something to defend yourself with!' I grabbed the first thing closest to me as I prepared to bolt from the tiny bathroom, maybe right into Sam's crying face. I jerked the door open and sprinted to the living room.

The consuming sadness disappeared the moment I was out of the bathroom. He was nowhere to be seen and the crowded feeling, I noticed, had dissipated. I looked around the living room quickly and spotted the phone. I had to talk to mom, I had to have some sort of logic, conversation, something normal. I called her and told her what had happened and she had me repeat myself because I found I was still crying. She told me everything was alright, that They would not hurt me and she'd be home in five minutes. I hung up and looked warily around the living room, hugging my knees to my chest on the couch and waited for that moment my mom would enter the room and give me some peace of mind.