The Night Watchman

It was two o’clock in the morning and Ashley Bowman was still awake. Josh, her husband of six months, lay beside her, his chest moving up and down with the slow steady breath of slumber. Seeing him made her smile. She knew it wasn’t a dream.

The thing keeping her wide awake was excitement. This was their first night in their very first house. Ashley could hardly believe it. All her life, she had dreamed of marrying a wonderful man and living in a beautiful house on a quiet street. Now it seemed to be coming true.

Even though she was exhausted from hauling boxes all day, Ashley knew that sleep just wasn’t going to happen. Luckily, it was Friday and she didn’t have to work the next day. She decided to take this opportunity to get some more unpacking done.

She crept down to the living room where many boxes stood piled up against the wall. The light from the street lamps came flooding in through the huge windows. “Curtains,” Ashley said, out loud. She would look for those first. It didn’t take her long to spot the box labeled “curtains” and she quickly went over to the window an began to hang them. She had gotten one curtain up before she noticed him….

Across the street, standing perfectly still, was a shadowed figure. She couldn’t see any of his features, but something about him filled Ashley with dread. She then realized that he must be able to see her staring back. Suddenly frightened, she jumped behind the curtain. Who is that man, she wondered. It took her a few minutes to work up the courage to look again. When she did, no one was there.

Downhill From There

It wasn’t until almost two weeks later that Ashley noticed the man — she decided it was a man — again, this time standing just outside the fence surrounding their backyard, looking back at her through the kitchen window. She didn’t know how long he had been there, and the thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Without further hesitation she closed the curtains and moved away from the window. Suddenly feeling chilled, she ran upstairs to throw on a sweater, and consider whether or not to bring the matter up with Josh. She knew he’d make nothing out of it, and it would make her feel stupid. Rather than deal with that, she thought she’d just wait it out. Maybe he’s just a creepy neighbor, she would tell herself. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

That is, until the next night. Josh had said he’d be home late that night, and Ashley was relieved to hear the sound of the garage door opening. Having thought about the shadowy man for most of the day, she had been nervous ever since it started getting dark. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had been there, looking at her through the windows, each night without her knowing.

She ran to the front door to meet Josh. After confirming it was him, she swung the door open and embraced him as soon as he entered. He seemed a little bit surprised, and came back with, “Hey, how was your day?”

It was at that moment that she saw the figure again, over Josh’s shoulder. He was standing across the street, watching them through the open door. She noticed something else then, as well — the man seemed to be standing in close proximity to a street lamp, yet it appeared as if he were shrouded in shadow. She couldn’t make out anything but his silhouette.

“Hunny?” Josh inquired in response to her silence.

She leaned back to address him. “Josh, look at that man staring at us.” But when they both turned to look back out the door, there was nobody there. “Sorry. I’ve been a little on edge today. I must be seeing things.” She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

She figured it was just in her head, and she had made it out to be more than it really was. She assured herself that at the worst it was just some lonely old pervert. He couldn’t possibly know who she was. She didn’t know anyone here.

Josh always knew how to make her problems feel so small. “It’s getting late anyway,” he started. “Why don’t we both just get some sleep? I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.” She smiled and nodded, and at that Josh made his way upstairs with Ashley right behind him, arms around his waist. She felt safe again at that moment, and was looking forward to a good night’s rest.

Unplanned Trip

The next week went by without any problems. Ashley got to know their neighbors better and was starting to feel safe again, even though she had not dared to mention the events to anyone — not even Josh. She told herself everyday that it was just stress. She told herself everyday it was because of the changes in her life. And she had her beloved husband’s embrace to comfort her at night.

After a few days, Josh came home at night with bad news: the company assigned him in a sudden business trip, starting tomorrow and lasting for three days. He asked Ashley to come with him, but she knew that their budget was tight.

“Hunny… I don’t think I can go.” Ashley looked down. A cold feeling spread through her spine as she said those words. She didn’t want to be alone.

Scared, but resolved

Ashley knew it was important for Josh to go on his unexpected business trip. She was so scared of what might happen while he was away. She knew that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. There was a strange and unknown man watching her and she didn’t know what to do about.

Later that evening her husband Josh headed to the airport for his trip. There nothing for Ashley to do except clean a few dinner dishes and get settled down for bed. Since their move into their new house, she and her husband had been working non stop to make their home look decent. After her shower, she went into their bedroom to read a bit. While she was reading, Ashley dozed off to sleep. The feeling of being hovered over, starled her awake. Before her eyes could fully get adjusted to the light in her room; she felt a pair of hands reach for neck and she tried to scream.

The scream never made it fully out of her mouth. Instead, Ashley ended up sounding like an injured animal. Those pair of hands around her neck belonged to the shadowed man who had been watching her for the past few weeks.

Upon closer view, Ashley wanted to scream and get away from him even more. This thing standing over her wasn’t a man after all, though it did have the body structure of such. The being was looking down at her with the reddest eyes she had ever seen. It now began to loosen it’s grip of her neck and started caressing her hair. In a deep and husky voice, it said

“Asssshley, please forgive me.”

Ashley was shocked that it knew her name or could speak for that matter. He stepped a few steps from her bed and reached out his hands to her. She didn’t think, she just acted by jumping out of the bed and dashing to her room door.

She made it into the hallway and was headed towards her living room, when she heard the thing cry out and shout,

“Honey, it’s me!!”

That made her pause in mid dash. She skidded to a halt and turned around. Ashley then whimpered,

“I don’t understand, I don’t understand.”

The thing closed the space between the two of them and hung its head.

Story by FleursDuMal, bmcclure (Ben McClure), rekviem (Marcelo Jenisch), RadiantZee (Zondria Mackey) · March 2008–July 2009 · Originally published on novlet.com