Fun Fact: As a kid, I lived in a house with a piece of insulation that was sticking out from a gap in the wall, and I always thought it looked like Freddy Krueger. My adult mind, went back to this memory and decided to write this story.
Shout out to the insulation!
TW: Themes of abuse
There was a house at the end of Bracken Ridge Lane that had always seemed different. There was nothing wrong with it; it was just an old, creaky place with lots of character but stood vacant for a good five years. The house had three floors and had an Edwardian style to it. When the Vanderbilt family moved in, they welcomed the strange vibes. They’ve been looking for a unique house for a long time to start fresh and begin a new chapter in their lives. But the house had other plans.
Lily Vanderbilt, a mischievous seven-year-old with a wild imagination, was the first to notice the man in the walls. It all happened on a dreary, grey afternoon. The weather was perfect for one to spend the day inside unpacking and decorating a new place. Lily’s mother was busy sorting out the boxes in the kitchen when she asked, “Lily, can you take this box to the basement? Don’t worry, it’s very light.”
“K, Mom,” Lily said, eager to help out. She grabbed the box and went to open the door to the basement. She peered down into the dark that seemed to go on forever. Her feeling of eagerness disappeared and was replaced with a sense of dread.
Wanting to feel brave, she took in a deep breath, found the light switch and flicked it on. She descended slowly, each creak of the steps echoing into the dark. With the light casting her shadow down the stairs, Lily’s mind went into overdrive, and she started imagining the ghosts that were hiding. Her hands started shaking, and her steps slowed the further down she went. When she reached the bottom, something caught her eye–a face half-hidden behind a gap in the wall.
Lily froze. She knew for sure this wasn’t part of her imagination. The light was bright enough to illuminate part of his face. It was gaunt and pale, with hollow eyes that stared right into her soul. His lips curled into an unsettling smile, and Lily’s breath caught in her throat. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She couldn’t move. The fear overwhelmed her. Suddenly, the man put out one of his arms and reached through the gap. He whispered, “Come and play.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the spell was broken. Lily screamed, dropped the box she was holding and bolted up the stairs. Blinded with fear, she didn’t notice her mom, who, upon hearing the box dropped, had run downstairs and crashed into her.
“What’s wrong, Lily? Are you ok?!” her mom asked worryingly.
“There’s a scary man down there!!!!” Lily exclaimed.
Her mom rushed down the rest of the stairs and turned on all the lights, expecting to find this terrifying intruder. But there was nothing. Just a piece of insulation poking through the gap. “But he was there! Look!! I know what I saw!” Lily yelled. Her mom tried to comfort her, but she continued to cry. When she calmed down again, she looked over to the wall and saw that it was, indeed, just a piece of insulation.
The next night, Lily’s curiosity got the best of her. She had to find out for herself if what she saw was real. She grabbed her most trusted teddy bear and headed back to the basement. She flicked the stairs light on and descended down the steps, gripping her teddy tightly. When she reached the bottom, she saw him again. This time, she was able to take a better look at him and took in all his features.
He was peering out from the gap. His gaunt face had a sad look; again, he reached towards her, half of his body still hidden behind the wall, fingers curling, and his face broke into a terrifying toothy grin. The skin around his mouth was pulled back to expose all his teeth. He had medium-length hair that was scraggly and unkempt. “Come and play,” he said. Lily hugged her teddy so tightly at this point that she thought if it were alive, it would suffocate. She let out a yelp and ran all the way up to her room. Her parents came running in to see what had happened. She told her that she saw the man again, but they didn’t believe her this time. They said she’s always had a wild imagination and was probably just afraid of the dark.
Since that night, Lily swore never to go into the basement again. Days turned into months, and Lily had almost forgotten about the man when her mom asked her to go downstairs to grab potatoes for dinner. Lily turned white when she heard this. “But Mom, I don’t want to go down there. Please don’t make me go.”
“It’ll be fine, honey. Just grab your bear, but there’s nothing to be afraid of,” her mom said. “You need to get over your fear of the dark.”
“It’s not the dark I’m afraid of…”
“Enough, go!” Lily could tell her mom was getting annoyed.
Not wanting to make her mom mad, She went upstairs to grab her teddy. This time, she grabbed a toy sword as well. When she got to the basement door, she whispered to herself, “You can do this! He’s not real, he’s not real…” As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw him there again, waiting. “Stay back! I have a sword this time!” He just smiled his toothy grin. “I’m just getting some potatoes for my mom.” He stared at her silently, smiling.
As she slowly stepped towards where the potatoes were stored, he lurched out from the gap; before she could react, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the walls. Her screams echoed through the house. It was so bloodcurdling that Mrs. Vanderbilt dropped everything and ran downstairs.
When she got to the bottom, all she saw was Lily’s teddy bear and toy sword lying by the gap in the wall. “Lily! Where did you go?”
Silence.
Mrs. Vanderbilt went to grab her husband; all evening, they searched everywhere, but there was not a sign of Lily. They called the cops to help search, and missing posters were put out, but no one could find her. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and there was no sign of her. Although beyond devastated, Mrs. Vanderbilt couldn’t shake the feeling that her daughter was still in the house. She could feel Lily’s presence somehow.
They learned later that the house used to belong to a family called the Mansons. They had a little boy named Dominic, who was trapped in a life where no one wanted him. He was neglected by his mother, abandoned by his father, and severely abused by his mother’s many boyfriends as a child. When Dominic grew up, he still never left his house. He suffered from a brain disorder, from all the abuse he went through as a child had left him helpless.
One day, he reached behind the wall to fix something, not knowing there were live wires behind the wall; he grabbed one and got electrocuted. The shock was too much for his frail body. When his mother found his twisted body, it was too late. Unable to move on because he never understood the concept of death, Dominic haunted the walls of his own home, forever looking for a friend.
Now, he wasn’t alone anymore. He had Lily. If you pressed your ears to the walls, you could hear Lily crying and, just beyond that, the sound of Dominic’s low, cold laughter.
Well said
The man actually looks like The Babadook. ( Austrailian film from 2014. Fucking creepy and really good)