Although there are many people who have encountered difficulties sleeping, I had every reason to state why my case stood out from the rest of them. I was one of the unfortunate ones who were unable to get a good night’s sleep, but it wasn’t until I actually looked for the source of it, that I finally found out why.
I was an ordinary teenage boy who never liked big crowds and chose to have just a handful of friends. Everything about my life and I was completely average; nothing big ever happened but for some reason I didn’t seem to mind it at all. That was why I was devastated when I finally noticed the thing lurking in the corner of my bedroom.
My sleeping problems were becoming a major bother to me, so I went to tell my parents about it. Like any other ones, they urged me to see the doctor as soon as possible before things became worse. I did as I was told, and the doctor gave me some pills that I had to take every night. But it did nothing. Feeling frustrated, I told the same thing to my most trusted friends, although knowing they wouldn’t be able to help anyway.
They all teased me and said I was probably just thinking of a girl I liked, but as far as I knew, that was completely false. However, Seth, a quiet boy at first glance but actually a fan of anything to do with horror and the supernatural, whispered something rather disturbing to me.
“It is said that most of the time, if you can’t sleep, it’s because there is someone staring at you.”
My only response to that was to stare at him with my mouth dangling open and sweat running down my forehead. Well, at least until he slapped me on the back and shouted, "You just got fooled!”
But despite it just being a joke, I couldn’t get his words out of my mind. I wasn’t a believer of ghosts and magic -in fact, I never had been- but checking to see if what he said was true or not wouldn’t do much harm, right? If it was false, then I could just blame myself for being stupid. But if it did turn out to be true… Then I guess there’s not much I can do about it.
Later that night, I consumed a coffee candy to keep myself as awake as possible to check and see if there was someone or something keeping me from sleeping. It was already half past 11 when I climbed into bed, and although I was quite worried and fearful of what might happen, there was no denying the tiny spark of excitement deep inside me. I started reading one of my favorite books while in bed to keep my attention and mind focused, but soon afterwards, my eyes drooped down and I began to feel drowsy.
Knowing I was falling asleep, I sluggishly brought a hand up to my arm and pinched myself, hard. My skin screamed from the sudden pain, and my mind instantly jolted awake. Satisfied, I resumed reading again, but for half an hour, nothing extraordinary or out of place occurred. Disappointed and even drowsier than before, I closed the book and switched off the bed-side lamp. Yawning, I was about to close my eyes when I caught sight of something moving in the corner of my eye, in the darkest area of the room. It had the structure of a human, wearing what seemed to be a black, hooded cloak and having a messy tangle of hair. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell that it wouldn’t be pleasant to do so. Shivering under my blankets, I forced myself to shut my eyes and for some reason, had the best sleep I ever had in months.
The next day, I went to tell my friends about what happened last night. Of course, they didn’t believe me at all, but that was to be expected. My parents, I didn’t bother telling, because I knew that they would only get mad at me for having such a wide imagination. So with that in mind, I decided to just keep it to myself from then on.
That night, I saw the dark figure once again. And it could’ve just been my imagination, but it no longer seemed to be in the corner of the room. It looked like as if it had taken a step closer towards me.
The same thing repeated for almost a week, with the figure getting closer and closer each night that passed, but after closing my eyes, I would always have an easy time sleeping. Perhaps having it here wasn’t so bad after all.
Until the night when it was so close that it literally loomed over me like the face of death. I could now clearly see that its eyes were bulging out and its teeth were like those of a shark’s. Blood was dripping from its eyes and it was definitely a horrible sight to see. I closed my eyes, but the image of it remained in my head, refusing to be forgotten. So I had what must’ve been the worst sleep I ever had.
The dark figure never appeared in my room again, so I figured that time was the last time I’d ever see it. I became a happier person though, I could sleep better and that made me less crabby and depressed.
One day, Seth came up to me and told me that he was having problems sleeping. He joked about how someone was probably staring at him, most likely some hot girl. But I knew better.
