Paranoia

[Lose 881]

I thought I was past the chaos. The divorce had gone through, I had settled in to my new house, and I was getting back to normal -- time to start again, right? Nope, you now had school to completely undo everything. The stress, the homework, the burnouts, they only got worse. It turns out getting only three to four hours of sleep per night isn't exactly good for your health, and it really showed in how I acted. Everything was conspiring against me. That's when it started getting MUCH worse.

 

It all happened very quickly, starting only about two weeks ago, on a calm Monday night. I was up quite late that night, studying for an important test -- it was one in the morning when I finished. Like a zombie in every aspect, I trudged over to my bed and crashed, ready to fall asleep at a moments notice. However, right as I was drifting to sleep, I heard footsteps outside my window. I know it was one A.M., and I could have been imagining it, but it just seemed so real, I had to believe there actually was somebody at our front door. After some thought, I decided it was nothing and went back to bed. I woke up the following morning, and when I went outside, I saw footsteps in the mud off the path. Someone was definitely here last night.

 

But someone being outside my front door last night means nothing whatsoever. I didn't know the backstory (if there was one). They could've been there for a multitude of reasons. I kept on reminding myself there was no reason for me to be freaking out over some silly footprints in some wet dirt, and I went on with my school. Nothing really happened until I came home, and I saw there were more footprints in the mud now than there were when I left that morning. I had no evidence, but I was sure there weren't that many. I checked the perimeter of my house and then went inside. And saw... nothing different. There was nothing changed, taken, moved, or anything. It was just like whoever was outside my front door was stomping in my mud and then running away. I entertained myself with the image of a fully-grown man stomping in some mud when I realized something. There were no footprints leading away from the mud. 

 

I wondered how someone would stomp in the mud and somehow get away without leaving muddy footprints, when I realized they probably just took off their shoes. Feeling silly, I went back inside and ate dinner, preparing myself for another long night of studying. I didn't have as much to study, as I didn't have school on Wednesday, but it was still a decent amount to study. As I got up to grab my history textbook, I cause a glimpse of a leg through the blinds of my window. Pretending not to see, I went back to my seating area and managed to slowly turn myself around until I was facing the window. It was definitely exactly what I thought it was -- someone stomping around in the muddy flowerbed. Reminding myself that they probably meant no harm, I went to bed.

 

When I woke up, I had realized something. Whoever I saw last night, I never saw them move. They were completely stationary. To rid myself of the bothersome memories, I cleared away the footprints on the flowerbed and I went back inside, as I had no school to keep me distracted. After taking a nap, I decided to take a walk to clear my head after what happened last night. But when I walked outside, they were back. The footprints were back. 

 

I quickly decided that maybe I don't want to go outside, and I went straight back into the house and sat on the couch, throwing myself at a book, trying to distract myself from what I just saw.

If they come again tonight, I'll call the police. I thought. And I meant it when I said that. I was going to call the police on them. So I waited until the night came, and I prepared myself.

 

I didn't take my eyes off the window for about three hours, until I got a message on my phone. I went to check the message, and when I looked back to the window, the man was there. Perfectly still, perfectly menacing. I quickly called the police and tried to explain whats going on. After some conversing, they finally agreed to get there. I closed my eyes and sighed with relief -- I thought it would stop now. But when I open my eyes yet again, the man was gone. No footprints, nothing on the bed, nothing at all. It was like he was never there.

 

The police, understandably, had some questions to ask. I answered them truthfully, but I could tell they didn't exactly believe me. And I didn't blame them. If I were them, I wouldn't trust me either. But eventually the police said they would do regular check-ins on my house throughout the night, and that calmed me down. At school that day, all I could think about was the man in the flowerbed. How did he get there? How did he get away? Where did they go? Who is he? All of these questions flew around my head at a million miles per hour, and eventually I couldn't take it. I needed a break.

 

I decided to take a nice vacation to the mountains, where my family owned a house by a lake. It was a beautiful house, with minimal design, yet a welcoming feel, with its main feature being a huge window that takes up a whole wall, facing the lake. The lake was also breathtaking. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and shadowy forests, the lake in the middle of the valley was frozen over most of the year. With a thick layer of fog over the surface, and the clear blue skies, the scenery looked like a Windows desktop background. I was glad to be here.

 

I settled in to the house -- I was planning to be here for 5 days. Enough time to clear my head, and also catch up on schoolwork. Night quickly came upon the busy day, and I was preparing the bed sheets when a loud thunk echoed throughout the empty house. I half expected it, to be honest, with all of the crap that had happened up to this point. But nonetheless I was surprised, and I slowly crept out to the living room, where the huge window was. And right outside the window, in the snow, was a man staring right at me. I froze for a moment, not sure what to do, then my senses came to me -- call the police.

 

I dialed 911 quicker than I have in my life, and I told them the man is back, before realizing that it was a different area -- a different police station. While explaining the backstory leading up to this moment, I heard another bang on the other side of the house. I turned around to go check it out, but looked back to make sure I didn't catch the man running away -- I was still on the phone with the police. I quickly peeked my head around the corner, and when I saw nothing, I turned back around.

 

The man had disappeared. I hung up the police, and ran outside to where he was. I was determined to find him, even if that meant following his footprints in the freezing cold in shorts and a t-shirt. But when I got to where he was standing, there were no footprints. There was nothing that could prove anybody was ever near the house. I came back inside, convinced I was imagining things, and went to my bed. Then I heard a voice.

 

"You weren't imagining things," The voice said -- it had to be the man's voice, "I was really there. You did see me. But it's too late now."

 

I suddenly realized what had been happening. I hadn't been imagining a man at all, no. I was never imagining anything. But the man was never really outside. It was a reflection in the window, a mirror of what was actually happening. That meant it could only be one thing.

 

He was already inside the house.

 

~Lose

 

_{(Sorry for the long break, and apologies if this isn't my best work -- I took an unplanned two-month long hiatus. School and other stuff has really been burning me out, but I think I'll have time to start writing things consistently again. I'll aim for at least once a month. Again, I don't expect this to be my best work by far -- this was my first attempt at horror, and my first time writing in 2 months. But that's enough rambling -- happy Halloween, and see you around!)}

[Tidebreaker 1,669]

Approved.

It's good to see an old face come back from the shadows, isn't it? Oddly enough, that actually applies to me as well.

As for Paranoia. I'm 100% sure that this is not your first attempt at horror, because if it is, you somehow managed to master it from the very first time, and that's incredible. I feel that a buildup to these kinds of stories is absolutely necessary, and you nailed it by not having it span out for too long. Your way of making tension rise was also absolutely phenomenal.

And do I even need to say anything about that heart-asphyxiating ending? Wow, just wow. Yet again I'm reminded why you're one of the best writers the AWS has ever seen.

Edits: None needed. None at all.

[Lose 881]

3 hours ago, Tidebreaker said:

Approved.

It's good to see an old face come back from the shadows, isn't it? Oddly enough, that actually applies to me as well.

As for Paranoia. I'm 100% sure that this is not your first attempt at horror, because if it is, you somehow managed to master it from the very first time, and that's incredible. I feel that a buildup to these kinds of stories is absolutely necessary, and you nailed it by not having it span out for too long. Your way of making tension rise was also absolutely phenomenal.

And do I even need to say anything about that heart-asphyxiating ending? Wow, just wow. Yet again I'm reminded why you're one of the best writers the AWS has ever seen.

Edits: None needed. None at all.

Thank you for the kind words! And yeah, this was my first serious attempt at horror; I might've done some "horror" stories in the past but nothing like Paranoia.

[Tokamak 1,021]

Nice story and nice build up.

Question: He went through a divorce, move to a new house and still go to school and have homework? Is it his parents divorce or his? Is he teacher or a student?

Edited November 9, 2020 by Tokamak

[Lose 881]

Just now, Tokamak said:

Nice story and nice build up.

Question: He went through a divorce, move to a new house and still go to school and have homework? Is it his parents dicroce or his? He teacher or a student?

His parents divorced and they had to move due to financial difficulties, but stayed at the same school. He is a student.

[dupuy 318]

Now that was a good story! Great sentence structure, vocabulary, and a masterful use of suspense. Bravo!

One question, though: if the man was inside the house the entire time, then how were there footprints in the mud outside?

Edited November 9, 2020 by dupuy

[Lose 881]

4 hours ago, dupuy said:

Now that was a good story! Great sentence structure, vocabulary, and a masterful use of suspense. Bravo!

One question, though: if the man was inside the house the entire time, then how were there footprints in the mud outside?

The world may never know -- maybe there is more than one person  

[Venerable 2,967]

The title clearly shows that the author is paranoid and that one mustn't believe such noobish stories. 

Cool story, Lose!

I sense personal experience... maybe because the footprints were mine...

[Mursal 58]

I must say, this story is completely engaging. It kept my eyes glued to the very end.

What I loved most was you almost rarely put "The" in front a sentence because, of course, it's a boring way to proceed with. And also, that man; oh I love that man. How strange and queer he is! The horror and constant feeling of paranoia the student experiences was just horrifying. 

I look forward to reading more from you.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Up and awake out of fear at 1am whilst reading in the AWS to prevent any sort of short circuit...

Man, is this relatable! 

[Sabrytoun_Superman 677]

This is well written, you are a great community of writers, keep up the good work (write in french next time pls). Honestly, this is very well, keep going and never give up !

[Lose 881]

On 11/11/2020 at 4:44 AM, Sabrytoun_Superman said:

This is well written, you are a great community of writers, keep up the good work (write in french next time pls). Honestly, this is very well, keep going and never give up !

Thank you! And sadly, I don't know French... but maybe we could arrange a translation process of sorts? 

[Venerable 2,967]

Reread this after a year... fantastic! D'you plan to write more horror stories, Lose?

[Incorp 2,084]

10 hours ago, Venerable said:

Reread this after a year... fantastic! D'you plan to write more horror stories, Lose?

Thanks for bumping this story, was hoping to find it a while back, but failed. 
scared me a LOT this one. Brilliant plot

[Lose 881]

On 2/18/2022 at 11:51 AM, Venerable said:

Reread this after a year... fantastic! D'you plan to write more horror stories, Lose?

I do plan to write another at some point in my life. But I'm not sure when. Who knows? Maybe it'll be tomorrow (i wish)