The Noise-Noise
I'm new to NoSleep, and as I've been reading all these stories, I've been trying to think of strange incidents from my own life. I didn't have much luck at first but I suddenly remembered one, albeit vaguely.
I went to my brother, who was sitting in his room, drawing. "Brian,... Do you remember the Noise-Noise?" He instantly looked up at me, the colour drained from his face. "What... What about it?" He asked softly. I paused at his reaction, then continued, "I remember the name but I don't remember what it was. Can you tell me?" Brian sat there for a moment in hesitant contemplation then sighed and nodded.
He rested his sketchpad and pencil in his lap and gripped the sides of the chair. "The Noise-Noise was something that I came up with. Or, at least, I... I thought I came up with it. It was some sort of... malevolent creature that could mimic any and all sounds and could vanish into thin air."
I felt like I had been punched in the stomach and suddenly I felt weak. The memory flooded back into my mind. Brian evidently noticed and he resumed his drawing, albeit shakily. I nodded limply and retreated back to my room and collapsed into the chair at my desk.
I had somehow forgotten. How...? No matter. I need to share this with you.
It was a pleasant autumn night, five or six years ago. Me, my brother and my friends Jack and Jean were outside Jean's house, talking. We decided to play the Noise-Noise game. When Brian first came up with the Noise-Noise, it unsettled us all, but eventually it became more or less a joke.
Here's how the game worked. All but one of us would stand on Jean's front porch. The one who didn't would be the Noise-Noise. They would patrol the sides and front of Jean's house. Those of us on the porch would have to get off the porch, go around either side of the house, and enter the backyard without being caught by the Noise-Noise. My brother was designated to be the first Noise-Noise of the night.
As an aside, we rarely saw Jean much after this particular night. Maybe once or twice every couple months. He didn't share much, but I do know from his mother that he began to sleep less and he was doing badly in school. He moved away two years ago but I didn't understand why until now.
Me, Jack and Jean stood on the porch as Brian stood in the yard, attempting to unnerve us. After a couple minutes he went around to the left side of the house. Jean, ever the epitome of the 'reckless boy', immediately dashed around the right side. Me and Jack stayed there for a couple more minutes but eventually halted our indecision by deciding to climb over the porch railing on the right side and make our way cautiously down the driveway to the backyard gate.
As we went past the rose bushes there, suffering a few scratches, we heard footsteps from behind us. Jack swiftly dropped to the ground and rolled underneath one of the cars. I dropped and mimicked his movement. We looked to the side and saw Brian's feet passing us lazily. After several minutes of circling the cars, he walked back to the front of the house. Jack and me waited several moments and came out from under the car. He began to walk towards the gate quietly.
I took a step to follow him but suddenly heard whispering from behind me. It was Jean. I motioned for Jack to get to the backyard and he gladly acquiesced. I looked around, not seeing anything. I whispered, "Jean, where are you?" Several moments of silence passed until I heard, "I'm in Lenny and Clara's driveway. Come over. We can just hop over the fence from their backyard into mine." Lenny and Clara were Jean's elderly neighbours.
I walked slowly through the grass next to the dividing fence and stepped around into Lenny and Clara's driveway. I heard Jean's footsteps ahead of me. Crouching down somewhat, I went forward and walked the short path between their garage and house leading into the backyard.
It was dark in the yard, the only illumination a dim light by the backdoor and a lamp by a clump of bushes in the middle of it. I looked around, not seeing Jean. I jogged forward towards the lamp slowly, looking around whilst whispering his name. After reaching it, I stood in the periphery of the lamplight, facing Jean's backyard, glancing around. I whispered one more time. I then froze as I felt freezing breath tickle my neck.
"Yes?" I heard unmistakably in Jean's voice. But I somehow knew it wasn't Jean. I felt a clawed hand rest upon my shoulder and I felt as though I had fallen into an icy cold river. I slowly turned my head to the side and looked behind me. Nothing at first.. but then the side of a face appeared, more of it appearing as it moved into my vision. I couldn't make out anything except vague facial features. The mouth opened and out of it sprang Jean's voice.
"Yes?" It said again, this time long and stretched out, tinged with mocking amusement. This spurred me into action. I ran forward and despite the suddenness of my movements I could sense it right behind me.
I scrambled up on top of the fence and jumped into Jean's backyard. Jean was standing near his backdoor, leaning against the wall. As I landed in the yard, he looked up towards me and instantly he became ashen. I'll never forget the look of utter horror that was plastered on his face. As I rounded the shed that was adjacent to the fence, I saw more of the house. Brian was standing there as well, not looking at me but at Jean. He looked over at me stampeding towards him and knew that we needed to go. As I raced across the deck, Jean slid open the sliding door and went into his house. Before he did so, I saw tears sliding down his face.
Brian grabbed me and propelled me towards the gate. We slammed it open and ran to the street. Jack was there, probably looking for me, and it took all my effort to squeeze out the words, "Go home!" He didn't question it, he just ran.
Brian and I dashed across the street, our feet pounding the pavement. One of my shoes fell off but I kept running regardless. We darted up the steps to our door and I opened the screen door and turned the knob of the inside door frantically. I pushed it open and all but collapsed into the house. Brian jumped in after me and slammed the door shut quickly and then turned the lock.
We heard the screen door ease shut and we breathed sighs of relief but after several moments we heard the distinctive creaking of the screen door being opened. I scrambled to my feet and dashed up two flights of steps madly. Once my brother and I reached the third floor landing, I turned to him and asked in a hushed tone, “Did you see it?” He nodded faintly. I opened my mouth to ask another question but he shook his head defiantly and went into his room.
I went into mine and slumped into my bed. I fell asleep almost immediately. I awoke the next morning to find the shoe that had fallen off in the frenzied escape of the previous night sitting on the ledge outside my third-floor window.
Posted Aug 28, 2016, 9:37 PM UTC · edited