Trapped in the closet

Before y’all cast judgment on me, I have to make something clear. I’m not crazy, okay? So when I try to explain why I was in my boyfriend’s closet, I need you to understand. I’m not making any of this up.

I took a deep breath, looking Deputy Caputo in the eyes. I hoped that he would understand where I was coming from, but the odds were stacked against me. Every word he said was pointed. His body language was guarded and stiff.

The cold precinct air made it hard to think, and the smell of sewage that covered me from head to toe wasn’t helping either. The deputy’s eyes bore into me. I tried to think, but I was exhausted. They’d been grilling me for hours.

“Quite frankly, it’s not up to us whether we believe you or not.” He shrugged. “Now you’ve stated that you don’t want to speak to a lawyer?” Deputy Caputo said.

I shook my head no. I knew either way anything I said would sound insane.

“Alright then, tell us again how you know John,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“It was about… eight months ago when I met John. I was fresh out of a relationship where I’d been cheated on for over two years. I was heartbroken and depressed. I remember I felt so dead inside.”

I felt myself getting lost in the memory of that late spring day.

It was beautiful outside. People were chatting with friends or loved ones, all enjoying the sun. I hated them all. Everything was way too happy. What I hated most was spotting my ex and the scary ass scarecrow looking bitch he left me for walking down the street hand in hand.

I could tell he had given her a late night Ruben special. They had definitely been fighting. It was blatantly obvious in the way he pulled her along. He talked to the air, trying to feign the appearance of normalcy. While she looked a fucking mess, with her dark baggy eyes and semi-obvious weight gain. She walked slightly behind him. I’d done that walk many times before.

A small part of me couldn’t help but wonder what they fought about. Pain weaved its way through my chest seeing them walking together. Somehow I’d managed to make eye contact with him, then her, then back at my book. His face turned pale. He dragged his little lap dog away.

I won’t lie, a part of me felt proud too. Proud for not throwing the table at them both. That feeling lasted all of two seconds before a tidal wave of sadness crashed over me. Before I knew it, I was hiding behind the menu.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

The last words you want to hear when you’re crying in public.

I quickly wiped my face, stuttering through what I had to say. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll have a-a—”

I felt my lip quivering, trying to take a steady breath.

He stood above me. A small look of pity played on his face.

“I’ll get a cappuccino.” I looked at him and gave him a small smile.

He nodded and walked off. And that’s how we met.

“So how do we end up with you running out of his house earlier today?” the deputy asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. The fluorescent lights buzzed above me, slightly flickering.

“We’ve already been through this.” I took a deep breath. “John has this habit of falling asleep on the phone late at night instead of just hanging up.” I shrugged. “That’s been our routine since we started dating.”

“Did something change? Did you guys get into an argument or something where you then decided to break into his home?” asked the deputy.

“No, not at all actually. A few nights ago it had been a

little different. He called me a little later than usual.”

“What time?” he asked.

“Sorry?” I said, surprised that he had even bothered to ask.

“You said he called you later than he usually would. What time did he call you?” he pushed.

“Umm, I’d have to check my phone to know for sure. I believe around 12–12:30.”

Deputy Caputo wrote something down in his notes. The buzzing of the lights hummed in the background.

“Okay, so he called you and then what?” he asked, waiting for me to continue.

I drank the now room-temperature water they had given me.

“I answered. I hadn’t heard anyone on the other line. I’d asked if he could hear me a few times, but nothing. I was just about to hang up when I heard something moving and whispering or maybe it was giggling? It didn’t sound like him shuffling in his sleep or the grumbles he does. It sounded like someone walked around his room and climbed on the bed with him. I could hear the footsteps and the shuffling of the mattress like somebody was getting in it.”

I went to put my hand on my face to relieve the oncoming headache. The cold metal of the handcuffs dug into my hand, stopping me from reaching it up all the way. I couldn’t help but sigh and readjust myself in my seat.

“Then it spoke. Her voice sounded like a mask, uncomfortable and unfitting. It was a sickly gravel layered under false sincerity. I remember it made me uncomfortable. It sounded so familiar, but I just couldn’t place it.”

“You’re-so-so-silly.”

“I-I-I really appreciate you looking out for me.”

“Don’t! put it in th-ere.”

I tried to mimic the voice as I had heard it that night.

The deputy looked at me, brows furrowed, slightly shifting in his seat, uncomfortable. But I could tell he didn’t believe me. There’s no way he or anyone ever would. He listened on. I felt nervous.

“I could hear his little snores in the back. I won’t lie. I felt this pinch in my stomach like, this fucker got a bitch in his house and didn’t realize he called me.”

I heard his groggy voice on the other side before I could respond, but the voice beat me to it.

“No-No-thing my love. Everything is fine.”

“After a few moments, I heard the sound of shuffling like someone got up and left. It was followed by the sound of something dropping a wet shirt on the ground over and over again. Then the call dropped.”

“So you did all of this because of another woman?” he asked his eyebrows raised

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I truly wouldn’t call that a woman.”

He rolled his eyes.

I continued.

“I called him back a few times. I was pissed. What can I say? Like how many times can someone get cheated on before it’s too many? The phone went straight to voicemail. I was going to leave work early and give him a piece of my mind, but I decided that wouldn’t fix anything. So I’d just wait to cuss him out tomorrow.”

“So at like 6:30 in the morning, I got in my shitty car and drove over to his house. The words ‘my love’ kept playing in my head. I didn’t understand why at the time, but I couldn’t shake this odd feeling of déjà vu.”

When I pulled up, I tried calling John again. Nothing.

So I decided to make my way into his building, walking up six flights of stairs to get to his floor. The higher I got up, this… nasty, and I mean nasty smell just got stronger and stronger.

When I finally made it to the sixth floor, I was gagging and covering my mouth with my shirt. I found myself basically walking up a waterfall of brown, shitty sewage water. It looked like one of the pipes on his floor had burst. Debris covered the ground as a beam of sunlight shone through the hole. I tried my best to avoid it without getting wet.

I knocked on his door a few times. When he didn’t answer, I let myself in.

I glanced at the confused officer, taking a deep breath and realizing that from here on out everything I say is going to sound insane.

“I called out for him, you know? I was like, ‘John? John? Are you here?’”

I was fuming, and I felt the heat rising to my chest.

I stopped in my tracks, realizing the place was ransacked.

I walked through the apartment. It only got worse. The fridge was toppled over. The door to his bedroom was ripped off the hinges. It was lying in the living room next to the couch. The couch was flipped on its side. Glass covered the floor from what used to be a coffee table. Even the TV was smashed.

“I couldn’t find him anywhere. I didn’t know what to do. I decided to leave, to call 911,” I said, gesturing over at the deputy. “But I barely made my way to the door when something crashed through the ceiling above. Dust and debris covered everything. I could barely see. Chunks fell from the ceiling, hitting me in the head. The dust was so thick it made my eyes water.”

That’s when I heard a thud, like when something wet and heavy hits the ground.

When I opened my eyes, a hunched figure stood surveying the room. It shook as it looked around, almost jittery, like it was trying to contain itself.

I caught a quick glimpse and immediately tried to back away. Its face wasn’t human. It wasn’t monster-like either. It was something in between, I guess. When I try to think about it, I still don’t understand what I was looking at.

I hid behind the couch when I saw it start to turn in my direction.

I will never forget that face.

Its eyes were squint and deep set. They looked at everything all at once, almost like they weren’t being held by sockets. I don’t remember ever seeing it blink. Its nose was sharp and turned so high that it was more nostril than nose. Its skin seemed shiny and plastic, accompanied by a large U-turned mouth full of crooked and broken teeth.

“Joh-n John, are yo-u here?”

It waited for a moment and then repeated:

“J-ohn Jo-hn, are you here?”

It kept repeating it over and over again. The voice rang through my ears as it dragged its long nails on the wooden floor. The slapping of its feet echoed through the apartment.

I quickly crawled my way out of the living room and into his room, looking for somewhere to hide since it now stood in the hallway blocking the exit. I heard its wet steps continue to echo around the house. Debris from the ceiling kept falling as if it were counting down to my death.

I crawled my way to his room slowly and quietly, making my way to the closet.

“Jo-hn John, are y-ou here?”

It sounded clearer this time. It sounded like me.

No. No, it was me.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand how, but it was my voice.

I watched through the cracks of the closet as it stepped into the room, its head scraping the ceiling. It shook as it took deep uneven breaths. It angrily picked up his dresser and smashed it at the wall.

The room was now lit up by the outside sun.

Seconds later there was a loud crash and the sounds of car alarms blaring outside. The sound made the thing shriek. I struggled not to close my ears, fearing that any movement would let the thing know exactly where I was.

I watched as it made its way to the dresser-sized hole in the wall. It stuck itself to it like it was covered in glue. Its arms and legs seemed to mold together, making a wet syrupy sound. I could see its fingers and toes gripping onto the walls. Its face was glued to its back, eyes rolling in its head as it slithered outside.

I sat there for a while, scared that it would come back the second I moved. I thought someone must’ve heard the commotion and was coming to check out what was going on. I heard nothing aside from the car alarms that were blaring. I was scared that no help would come and anxious that I was just sitting prey.

Everything in me told me to stay inside the closet, but I quietly made my way out.

I carefully watched every step I took, trying to be as quiet as possible. Every sound, every creak, made the hairs on my neck stand.

I was almost to the door when I heard the sound of wet slapping feet behind me.

I knew I shouldn’t have turned around. I should’ve just run out. But my brain would not allow me to move unless I was 100% sure I wasn’t in danger.

I turned around.

There was nothing there.

I was about to make my way out when I realized something was in the doorway to the kitchen. A set of rolling eyes pointed in my direction.

My heart dropped as I began taking small steps toward the door.

Even though the lower half of its face was covered, I could still see the tips of its lips peeking through in an excited smile. The thing began breathing heavily, as if excited that I had noticed it. Its long arms stretched out from the kitchen into the hallway. It began to make its way toward me, its hands dragging on the ground.

I ran through the hallway, booking it out the door to the stairs. I barely cared that I ran right under the sewage water that was raining down.

I made my way down the stairs as fast as I could, tripping over myself and almost falling a few times.

But the wet patter of its feet was now accompanied by the sound of hands slapping on the ground. It hit the floor hard and echoed off the staircase.

I was too scared to turn around and see how far it really was.

I could feel it breathing on the nape of my neck.

I quickly made my way to the ground floor and ran down the hallway to the main exit.

Its excited breathing became loud grunts as it chased after me.

I could see the front door and burst through it.

A crowd of people had gathered near the building. All their heads immediately turned my way, including that of my boyfriend. I’ll never forget how confused he looked seeing me there covered in sewage.

That’s when Deputy Caputo came over to talk to me, asking what had happened. I was erratic and emotional, and I couldn’t calm down. So he escorted me to his car.

I know I cried a lot.

I was just too scared to understand what happened

I still don’t.

I’ll never forget seeing that giant vibrating figure staring at me as we drove off.

So before you cast judgment on me, you have to understand:

I am not crazy.