No Sleep Was Given

The Spare Room

I've been reading creepy stories on NoSleep for three years, but I never thought I'd end up being in one. The last few months have been the strangest and most frightening of my life. Most of my friends think I've gone a bit mad, or I'm making it up. So where else was I supposed to vent but on this subreddit?

It seems ridiculous typing this, but I'm sure my new flat is haunted, and believe me when I say: I wish it was all in my mind. It's not the most spacious of flats, I didn't buy it because I loved it, but it was all I could afford in an area close to work. The building isn't all that old, maybe twenty years or so, and the flat itself, which is three stories up, is quite modern inside, with wooden flooring and white walls. There are two bedrooms, one of which has been the focal point for everything that's occurred.

When I moved in I threw everything I couldn't find a place for into the second bedroom; I've never been the most organised and I do tend to hoard things if I'm honest. The spare room was filled with rolled up posters, tools, DVDs, boxes of clothes and even some old bedroom furniture I still had left over from my last place. There wasn't much room to move around in there, so you can imagine my surprise when I heard something unthinkable coming from inside.

It all started about two weeks after I moved in. I was cooking dinner in the kitchen one evening and I had zoned out while stirring some pasta, listening to a podcast as I often do to get through the boredom of cooking. That was when I heard it.

The boiling water faded into the background as I realised that the sound of bubbles forming and bursting had been joined by a very distinct noise. I could hear the sound of footsteps walking slowly down the hall towards where I was. My nerves began to rattle; someone had broken into my flat and was making their way to where I stood. I grabbed a kitchen knife - for those who think this is extreme I've been burgled once before - and slowly made my way into the living room and then towards the hall. Just as I reached the hall doorway, the footsteps sped up to running pace, followed by a door slamming violently.

The hall was dark at first, as it has no windows, and as I entered it I felt like a child terrified of his own shadow, quickly reaching for the light. The front door lay at the end of the hallway, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I thought about running to it and leaving the flat and any unseen intruder behind.

My imagination started to run riot and as my mind played with images of an attacker lurking behind one of the other three doors present, I nervously smiled to myself. I began to suspect that the footsteps had come from somewhere else, perhaps the flat above me. Still, I couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that I was not alone.

First, I peeked nervously into the hall cupboard. Nothing there but bedsheets and towels. Then I checked my bedroom - the only crime being committed in there the mess of the place.

Finally, I stood in front of the door to the second bedroom; the spare room. Swinging it open I let out a sigh of relief that the room was still filled with junk, but otherwise empty. At the time I put it down to my imagination, but now I know that it was the earliest indicator that something was wrong, that something was in the flat with me.

I'd say about a week or so passed before anything happened again, and by then I'd put the footsteps out of my mind. It was a Sunday afternoon. I'd had a bad cold that week and work had been difficult to get through, so I just stayed in the flat over the weekend hoping I'd feel better by the morning.

I was sitting on the living room couch binge watching a TV show. The light was streaming through the windows, and my mind was as far away as possible from anything frightening or supernatural. Suddenly, and with no warning, someone walked into the living room behind me and marched straight through into the kitchen. I was startled, and when I turned around I only caught the last moments of the kitchen door being slammed shut with a bang.