Scary Stories, Rituals, and Urban Legends

Strange footprints have been appearing around my apartment at night.

It started three nights ago when I woke up with the disconcerting sense that something was watching me. I turned on the lights and looked around my room carefully but nothing looked out of the ordinary. I live alone on the ground floor of a tiny apartment, and I'd always feared that someone could easily sneak through an unlocked door or window. I walked around my apartment and double checked that everything was bolted tight.

I left my apartment the next morning through the back door and walked right past my bedroom window. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and went back to take a closer look. And I saw them there.

Two footprints.

They stood out distinctly in the unkempt garden at the base of my bedroom window. There were no other footprints in the garden leading up to them. Just two. Standing directly in front of my window. I couldn't understand how somebody could even get to the window without leaving other footprints but then I realized something even stranger. They were barefoot. It just seems odd to be walking around at night barefoot. They were large. At least a size 12. But human. Or at least... I think they were human.

I walked through the garden and approached the window. I keep the blinds down pretty much at all times and am unable to see out of it. But I noticed that if someone were to stand right in front of the window from the outside, there are tiny cracks and nooks that you're able to peep through and see inside.

I was weirded out. Big time. But I had to go to work. Maybe those footprints had been there for months? From last summer? I tried not to let it get to me.

When I returned home that afternoon I did a quick rake of the garden, removing the footprints. It was raining again, as usual, so they had almost washed away anyway.

I have to admit, I had trouble falling asleep that night. I was spooked. But I must have eventually dozed off because I remember waking up frantically in the middle of the night. Once again, I felt something was watching me. I looked over at the window. I approached. I grabbed the cord of the blinds, waiting to pull them up.

Was there something on the other side again? Barefoot? Standing in the garden? Peering in through the blinds?

I know it sounds easy. That I should have just pulled the cord and looked outside. But imagine being completely alone in the middle of the night. Imagine mustering the courage to slowly pull up those blinds and stare directly into the face of what might be out there.

I couldn't do it.

Instead, I held my phone in bed, staring at the window. If I heard even a *hint of something trying to open it, I was calling 911. I stayed like that the rest of the night.

It wasn't until the sun came up that I felt confident enough to leave my room. I opened the door...

and saw that things had become worse.

Much worse.

The same two footprints now stood outside of my bedroom door. Just two. There were no other footprints anywhere. Not in the garden. Not in the front hallway. Just two. Right in front of my bedroom door.

I was no longer just weirded out. I was scared. Really really scared. But what could I do? Call the police and report footprints? What would that accomplish? They wouldn't be able to track the person down like that. I doubt they'd keep a patrol car out at night, keeping an eye on me.

And was it really a person that they'd be looking for? How could a person magically walk through a garden leaving only two footprints at my window? How could a person inexplicably leave just two footprints in front of my bedroom door?

I decided once again not to do anything about it. As long as I keep my phone handy with the door and window locked at night, I can just call the police at the first hint of an intrusion.

But sleeping was once again a problem that night. I knew the moment I lay down that I wouldn't be getting any sleep. I kept looking at the window, wondering if something was staring in through the blinds. I don't know when it happened... but I must have eventually fallen asleep. Because I had a dream. A horrible dream. Something was standing at the foot of my bed, looking down at me. It was human... I think. I couldn't see it clearly in the dark, but I could tell with a certainty that it was hideously deformed. And it appeared to be leaning in closer....

I woke up screaming. It was 4:30 am and still dark. I was more than relieved to see that nothing was standing at the foot of my bed. But I turned on my little bedside lamp and then peered down over the edge.

I knew what I was going to see.

The footprints were there. Right at the edge of the bed. Right where that monstrosity was standing in my dream.

I left my apartment. I had to. I grabbed my keys in a panic and ran out of there. I didn't return till the early afternoon.

The footprints were still standing at the edge of my bed.

I thought of something at that point. Something that could possibly make sense of all of this. I couldn't tell if I was being rational or insane... but I took my socks off and held my feet over the footprints.

And...

they were not a match. Not even close.

I couldn't tell if I was relieved or disappointed. Would I rather be a sleepwalker gone mad or a sane person stalked by... who knows what?

I was at a loss for what to do next. I wanted to get a hotel... but that's not exactly a long-term solution. Should I move out of the apartment because of these footprints? Would they just follow me?

No. I decided I'd have to face them. At least one more night.

And I think this is a story worth sharing. It's 1 am and I'm sitting in my bedroom typing this out. Maybe other people have dealt with something like this before. Maybe I could

The footprints have appeared right in front of me. Theyre RIGhT IN FRONT O ME.

And I can feel its breath on myy face

i can feel its breath

A/N

The grammar mistakes are on purpose that is how the author wrote it.

XOXO Jade