Darkness Follows

My name is Blakely Lynn. I’m 32 years old. I live in southern California. When I was 17 years old, I used to live out in the country in northern Tennessee. The only house that was even remotely close to us was our neighbors house. I would occasionally babysit their three kids. This was also back in 2003 when cell phones really didn’t exist and everyone still used their home phones. What I am about to tell you is something so scary, that I am already shaking and have goosebumps just thinking about it. I have never been in a situation that has literally scared me to its core. Due to this situation, I have nightmares every night. I am afraid to fall asleep, let alone, close my eyes. This is my story.

I was upstairs doing my homework when my mom called me from downstairs and asked if I could babysit my neighbors kids. Knowing I could make a little extra money, I happily accepted. Their house was about 3 minutes away from ours. It was a cute two story farmhouse. An old one I should say. I believe it was built in the late 1800’s. One of the only places in the house that tended to creep me out was the attic. I had only been up there once. My neighbor opened the door just to show me what it looked like. It was old with a lot of antiques. From creepy dolls, to old dresses, to even a huge chest that was filled with old newspapers from the early 1900’s. Anytime I babysat, I would usually tend to stay away from that area. The children were not allowed in the attic. It even had a “Do Not Enter” sign on the door. I could see why as to how many breakables there were in there. Probably just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I couldn’t have been anymore wrong.

My mother dropped me off and I knocked on the door. Karen, which was the children's’ mom opened the door and welcomed me in. When I walked in the doorway, all three kids were standing in the kitchen. There was Foster who was 11, Landon who was 9, and Brooklyn who was 7. I have to admit, these kids were usually very well behaved especially for their age groups. I usually liked babysitting for them. Karen told me she would be out for about 5 hours. Her and her husband owned their own company and had to attend business meetings different days of the week. I told her it was no problem and to drive safe. I watched her get into her vehicle and drive off. I gave her a friendly wave and shut the door. By the time I turned around, Foster and Landon were already gone. I figured they went upstairs to play video games so I wasn’t too concerned about them. Brooklyn came over and gave me a hug and asked if we could play with dolls. I smiled and said ok.

About 45 minutes had passed and I was still playing dolls with Brooklyn in the living room. We had a movie on and a little bowl of popcorn by our sides. I thought I would go check on the boys due to not hearing any sounds upstairs. As I got up to their room, I heard them whispering. I had no idea what they were doing and decided to peek in. My mouth dropped to the floor and my heart sank as I saw what they were playing with. I immediately got so frightened that I barged in the room and grabbed the board as soon as I could. “What are you doing?!” I yelled. “Do you even know what this thing is and what harm it can do?!” “We were just playing with it”. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal”. “It’s just a silly old game.” Foster said. I looked at him in disbelief. “Where did you find it?” I demanded. “We found it in the attic.” It was covered up by a blanket in the corner by the window.” Landon said. “You guys weren’t even supposed to be in the attic!” I shouted. “I don’t see what the big deal is Blakely.” “It is just a stupid board game.” Foster said. I held the board up to them. “Look at me.” I said. “Nothing good will ever come from this board, do you understand me?!” “This board is for the dead” It may look like an innocent childrens game, but it’s not.” “It’s evil and it opens doors to places you never knew existed.” “I hope you didn’t open one.” Foster and Landon stared at me with frightened expressions. I couldn’t even believe they went into the attic knowing they weren’t supposed to go in there. With the board in my hand, I took it outside and stood by the trash can with it. I stared at the board looking at it and wondering just what they asked it. I myself had never played with one, but I did know that they could open doors to things you don’t want to see. I put the board in the trashcan and went back inside.

As I walked in the house, all three kids were in the living room watching a movie. I turned around and went to go get a drink from the kitchen. As I approached the room, I came to a complete stop. The hairs on my arms stood up. There on the counter was the board I had just threw away in the trash can. I grabbed the board and went into the living room where the children were watching a movie. I went straight up to Foster and Landon. “Why would you go outside to the trash and get this back out?! I demanded. The boys looked at me like they had no idea what I was even remotely talking about. “We have been sitting here the entire time.” “We never went outside.” Foster said. “So the board just somehow magically turned up on the kitchen counter?!” I yelled. “We didn’t do anything, I swear!” yelled Landon. I looked at them. Their faces looked like they were actually frightened. It was at this time I knew that they were not the ones that put the board on the counter. I went back outside and threw the board back in the trash. Little did I know that this was just the beginning.

After I put the board in the trash, I started to head back to the house. It was a lot darker out and very foggy. As I was walking up to the house, out of nowhere, I started to get a strange, uneasiness feeling. I started to feel like I was being watched by something out in the woods. I told myself it was only my imagination and hurried up to the house. I started to notice I wasn’t the only one walking. I kept hearing what sounded like footsteps behind me. At this point, I was starting to get terrified. I ran as fast as I could to the house. I ran inside and locked the door. Standing there trying to catch my breath, I looked out the window. Just as I thought, nothing. I let out a sigh in relief and went to sit down by the kids.

After the movie was over, I told the kids they needed to get ready for bed. They did as they were told and I went upstairs to tuck them in. I tucked the boys in first. “I just wanted to tell you guys that I didn’t mean to yell at you or frighten you.” “Those boards just scare me is all and I really hope you don’t mess with another one ever again.” I said. The boys looked at me and shook their heads. “We won’t ever play with another one again Blakely.” “We promise.” said Foster. I smiled and told them to go to sleep. I turned off their light and headed towards Brooklyn’s room. As I approached her room, she was sitting on her bed already waiting for me to come and tuck her in. She layed down and I gave her a kiss goodnight. I headed for the door and turned off her light.

It had been about an hour after I tucked the kids in. I was sitting in the living room watching a movie when I heard what sounded like footsteps from upstairs. I figured one of the kids was up using the bathroom and went back to watching the movie. As I was watching the movie, the footsteps seemed to have gotten louder. It almost seemed like someone was walking with boots on. I decided to go check to see which one was making that much noise. I started to get a little frightened when I looked at all of the children sound asleep in their beds. “What was that?” I asked myself. I walked around upstairs making sure that all of the windows and everything was locked. I had been sitting downstairs the entire time and the only door to the house was the one in the front room. As I was walking down the hallway, I noticed the door to the attic was half way opened. Figuring the kids didn’t shut it all the way, I closed it and headed back downstairs to the living room.

Walking down the stairs, I heard the phone ringing. “That must be Karen.” I thought. I went to answer it. “Hello?” I said. Nothing. “Hello? I said for the second time thinking that maybe it was just bad reception. Still nothing. I hung up the phone. I looked at the clock. Karen wouldn’t be home for another 2 hours. I made my way back to the living room. As I sat down, the phone rang again. I got up and went to go answer it. “Hello? I said. Nothing. “Ok, who is this? I demanded. I heard what sounded like heavy slow breathing on the other line. I started to get scared. “Who is this?” I yelled. There was a voice on the other line. Very slowly it said “I’m outside.” and then gave an eerie laugh and hung up. Shaking I hung up the phone. I was so scared at this time, but knew I needed to look outside. I walked up to the window and swallowed. I nervously pulled the curtain back and looked outside. There was nothing. I put my hand on my heart and realized someone was playing a prank on me. “Calm down Blakely.” “You’re fine.” I said. As soon as I said this, the phone rang again. I walked up and answered the phone. “Ok jerks, you got me. That’s enough.” I said. The voice this time very slowly said “I’m upstairs.” It gave another eerie laugh and hung up. I dropped the phone from my ear and was breathing heavily this time. My mouth was open and the hair on my arms rose up. I was frozen. I looked at the phone and hung up.

I ran upstairs to the kids room’s. “Foster, Landon get up! Now!” I shouted. The boys looked at me still half asleep not knowing what I was screaming at them for. “What is it Blakely? Foster said. “Just get up now, lets go!” I shouted. The boys got up and we ran to Brooklyn’s room. Brooklyn was still sound asleep. “Brooklyn, Brooklyn wake up, now!” Brooklyn looked at me with tired eyes and fell back to sleep. I looked at her and grabbed her. We ran down stairs into the living room. “What is going on Blakely!” Landon shouted. “Be quiet!” I yelled. “I will tell you in a minute!” I went to go call the police. I dialed 911. “911, what is your emergency?” “Yes, my name is Blakely Lynn and someone or something is in my neighbours house.” “I am currently babysitting for them and I received three strange phone calls.” “The one told me that they were outside and then not even 2 minutes later, I get another saying they were upstairs.” “Please, we need help!” I gave them the address and they told me someone would be out there shortly. I hung up and tried to call Karen. I couldn’t get a hold of her. I immediately called my parents. “Hello? My mom said. “Mom! Please come and get us! Look, I am trying not to freak out and make you scared, but there is someone or something in the house! “Please come and get us!” I yelled. Without hesitation, my mom hung up the phone. I went into the living room where the kids were. “Blakely, do you want to explain to us what is going on now?” Foster yelled. When he said this to me, we heard footsteps coming from upstairs again. Brooklyn screamed. I grabbed the kids and looked at them. “Look at me, we have to get out of here, ok?” I said. “I promise to tell you what is going on, but we have to get out of this house.” I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. The only thing I carried with me for protection was pepper spray. I didn’t have a gun nor did I really know how to shoot one. I had no idea where we were going to go. All I knew is we were not safe in the house. I ran back in the living room and told the kids to get behind me as I opened up the door. We ran outside in the dark.

It was around 10pm and we didn’t have any flashlights. The only light that was outside were two security lights. There was one in the front and one in the back. I told the kids to follow me as we headed to the driveway. I could hear what sounded like cop cars. I was so relieved when I heard them. “Blakely!”, Foster screamed “What is that?” I looked at Foster and looked at the house. Up in the upstairs window was a figure looking at us. It appeared to look like a man dressed in all black with a black top hat. His eyes were a yellowish color and his teeth were sharp looking. I just looked at it while it looked back at us. Grinning that eerie smile. I had no idea who or what it was. All I know is I was scared out of my mind. I kept thinking this, this is the thing that I was on the phone with. Then it hit me. The Ouiji board the boys were playing with. “Oh my god.” I said while I put my hand over my mouth.

My parents pulled up in the driveway. My mom ran out while my dad got his shotgun out from the back. “What is going on Blakely?”, my mom shouted to me. I pointed slowly to the window. My mom looked at the window. “Oh my god.” She said and immediately took the kids and shoved them into the car while my dad was staring at it with his gun in his hands. Two cop cars pulled in and an officer got out. As I looked at him, he was also staring at the window. The figure slowly moved away from the window. The other officers got their guns and ran inside. We waited for them outside while they looked all around the house. My eyes got big as I saw what came out of the house with them. They actually had the figure in handcuffs. It was a man after all. I watched the man walk with them. He stared at me and was smiling the same eerie smile the entire time. He slowly said in a slow creepy voice, “I was coming for you Blakely.” Tears formed in my eyes as I slowly opened my mouth and let out a scream. The police put him in the car and drove off. As they drove off, he turned around and gave me one last eerie smile. I turned around and ran to my mom.

To this day, I still have no idea who the man was or how he got in to the house. I have heard stories that he used to stalk me and knew I would babysit for them. I have also heard stories that he managed to sneak in the house and stay in their attic while I would babysit for them. I stopped babysitting for them after that. I just couldn’t bring myself to go in that house anymore. They ended up moving a few years after that as well. The man somehow managed to escape from the prison he was at. He has never been found. I moved far away from that place. I hope I will never run into him again.