it was December 31st New Year's Eve my friend Alex hired me to watch his dog Bailey for the weekend while he was out of town for the New Year I'm 35 he's 27 so I don't have that same urge to go out and party for New Year's Eve like he does so I was more okay with making some money and taking it easy for the night New Year's Eve was on a Saturday he left for the city early in the day when I got there he'd be back Sunday night he left me with very basic instructions to just feed him and walk him twice a day and keep him off the furniture Bailey is a very small husky mix I'm not sure what else she is but she's about a third the size of a regular husky and she's very quiet and well behaved hence why Alex was okay with me watching her instead of a dog sitter I brought a backpack which contained my laptop charger toiletries and and a change of clothes for Sunday Alex and I don't go way back we met through mutual friends and had started going out occasionally on the weekends ever since I would be sleeping in the spare bedroom of his house on the futon throughout the day I just did stuff on my laptop and played some of Alex's video games later in the night I invited my girl over with Alex's permission his response was you better not in my bed a way of jokingly saying yes she can come over she said she'd be getting out of work after 12 but then she'd come straight over Alex's house is about half an hour from us so my girl Trisha wouldn't be getting there until late I had to kill the time alone with Bailey watching movies until then we were in the living room and Bailey was by my feet it was probably 900 p. m. when the doorbell rang I went to answer the door and it was a girl at the door she looked about 30 she had a hoodie on and was holding a jacket she introduced herself as Alex's girlfriend and said she left something here that she needed to grab I offered to grab it if she wanted and she said no it's okay she knew where it was in his room I said okay that's fine and let her inside she went straight upstairs to Alex's room and slightly closed the door behind her without latching it I right away texted Alex I didn't know you had a girlfriend she was in there for quite some time until she came back out still holding her jacket she came back down the stairs and thanked me and was going straight for the door I tried to stop her for a quick conversation saying how long have you guys been dating and she said too long then laughed as if making a joke I laughed too and then she said have a good night I was a bit surprised by the interaction but what I gathered from it was they had probably just recently broken up now I started to worry that maybe I shouldn't have let her in since Alex hadn't answered my text yet I called him a few times before he picked up he was out with his friends in a loud setting so he could hardly hear me until he went outside to talk I told him his girlfriend just came by to grab something and he was completely bewildered at what I was saying who are you talking about he said I responded she said she was your girlfriend I didn't get a name he said in a yell you know I don't have a girlfriend what did she look like I started to feel really stupid just about now I described the girl and he said he had no idea who this could have been I then proceeded to explain to him that she went upstairs to his room for a few minutes then came back down this was when he started Ed freaking out he told me to go up to his room now and check if she stole anything of course I didn't know what was in his room beforehand so he had me check for specific things which all appeared to still be there he tried hard to figure out who it could have been and said he'd call me back after he made some calls and sent me some pictures of different girls understandably this was putting a damper on his night I could tell he'd already been drinking so I felt awfully stupid for letting some random girl into the house he started sending me screenshots of different girls in Instagram accounts none of them resembling the girl who came in when I said no to all of them he went silent for an hour then he texted me randomly I think I know who it was make sure she doesn't come back I didn't ask any further questions I responded okay my bad and left it at that clearly Alex was going through some serious girl drama or so I thought I watched the ball drop alone not that I really care about the new year or the ball drop at all later that night Trisha finally made it over and so we hung out in the living room together I told her what happened and she was shocked but then a freakish coincidence happened Bailey lifted her head and looked at the front door and then there was a knocking at the door whoever it was didn't ring the bell there was no shot I was opening it I called Alex a bunch of times but he didn't pick up he was wasted and didn't even feel his phone vibrating sha and I stayed quiet and event eventually whoever it was went away I was honestly unnerved now surely it was in connection to whoever that girl was earlier maybe it was even her again either way I didn't want to get involved any further in what was going on after this we decided to migrate to the spare bedroom where we'd stay for the night on the futon we had a movie on as we laid down and I held her we fell asleep in this position and woke up at some unknown hour in the night which I later found out was less than an hour after we fell asleep I woke to Bailey's howling she was in the room with us Trisha woke up after me Bailey was at the bedroom door with her tail wagging howling I whispered Bailey shush she looked at me and then came over but she stayed staring at the door now growling making unhappy whimpering sounds then there were footsteps outside on the wood floors we heard what had to be at least two pairs of footsteps tiptoeing to the door and then the door knob twisted by force of habit we had the door locked thankfully and a girl's voice said Alex I looked at Trisha and signaled for her to stay quiet that girl was not alone another light tap at the door and then the girl's voice said who's in there this is Alex's house I made the decision to say in a loud voice almost a yell the cops have been on their way for a few minutes now just so you know the girl said who are you I didn't bite I whispered to Trisha to actually call the police and she did the entire time she whispered into the phone I said loud and clear I dare you to do something because the time you do it the cops will be running through the front door I heard a whisper on the other side of the door then multiple pairs of footsteps walking away from the door we stayed in the room waiting for the cops to get there since the front door was left wide open by those people the cops came right in the house was clear by this point I gave my entire recount of the story and then called Alex multiple times until he finally picked up still sounding pretty drunk One Cop talked with him on the phone for a few minutes while I sat with Trisha speaking with another cop after all this was said and done the accepted assumption was that there was a key in Alex's room taken by that girl from hours before this was a pretty messy situation since Alex couldn't just come all the way home this late he practically begged me to stay the rest of the night I had Trisha go home I stayed because I felt responsible for letting that girl in in the first place I stayed locked in that room the rest of the night with Bailey I literally wedged a chair against the front door some half-ass attempt at keeping them out if they decided to return by morning though it seemed that they didn't return Alex came back earlier that day than originally planned I'm not going to air out any more private information to the internet than I already have just in case anyone who knows him can figure out this story is about him but he did tell me who he thought the girl was and the story behind it proves that men have to be careful too with the women they choose to interact with that that girl and whoever was with her's intention of breaking in wasn't to steal anything evidently which is the scariest part he changed his locks asep I can't even imagine staying in that house if I were him after this however it's been a year and as far as I know nothing has happened unless he's keeping more to the story he told me a secret after returning from night to celebrate the arrival of the New Year my husband and I returned to our apartment complex to turn in for the night we both had a couple of drinks but neither of us were intoxicated as much as we enjoy partying with friends when it comes down to it we are really just home bodies we lived in the corner of pen House Suite of our complex although this was never confirmed it was suspected the owners wanted to convert this apartment complex into condos the rent certainly was not cheap and access was limited to this floor upon entering the building there is a walk up two secure doors and every now and then there would be a doorman to greet you as you entered or exited there were also multiple security cameras placed throughout and around the building it was an especially cold evening and when we returned there was no doorman present it was late at least 2: a.
m. the foyer was empty and one of the lights flickered softly my husband and I entered the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor the elevator ride was smooth and as we ascended I could feel my myself becoming more relaxed excited to finally be home and able to rest my feet were killing me from wearing heels all night in the bitter cold the Bell chimed signaling we had reached our floor the door slid open and we turned the corner to the left like I said our suite was the corner suite at the end of the hall however something caught our eye a woman or what at least looked like a woman was Meandering through the hallway her hair was dark and Scattered it looked to be matted and covered her face she wore a black lace dress that was torn and looked to be in bad shape thinking back I don't even think she had any Footwear on we assumed she was intoxicated and was having difficulty finding her Suite although on closer inspection she didn't look familiar we knew all of our neighbors as like I said access was limited on this floor I looked at my husband who stood still as well I could see he was contemplating the same thoughts I asked him should we ask if she needs help he looked at me and said just wait maybe she's just drunk and having a hard time finding her sweet the woman just continued to slowly slide herself along the walls of the hallway stopping at each door and peering through the exterior pee holes admittedly this was creepy but it just added to the theory that she was a drunk woman looking for her friends she was humming or what I believe was humming the sound was something between a growl and a hum we stood there in utter disbelief and awe however there was a veil of tension and uneasiness that lingered the strange woman stumbled through the hallway hunched over until she pulled herself up to peer through the peephole she eventually got to a suite of an elderly lady whom I have a strong connection with we'll just call her Tilly Tilly was the sort of woman whose family had neglected her and rarely visited she would bring my husband and I baked goods from time to time I would bring her leftovers and assist her with groceries and medication frequently Tilly's smoke alarm would constantly go off I would have to rush over and pull out the smoldering toast from her toaster and fan her smoke alarm until it stopped beeping at times a nuisance but it would always turn into tea time nevertheless I cared about Tilly so when I saw this strange woman peer into her peephole I reacted I blurred it out excuse me are you all right I could feel myself lose confidence as I asked the strange woman seemed to shudder for a moment and hunched over to the floor she looked like she was about to puke or was frightened by my voice my husband and I stepped closer but the woman then let out a series of soft and menacing laughs just barely audible I have to admit in this moment I was thoroughly creeped out and reached for my cell phone it was uncomfortable because we couldn't get to our suite without having to walk right past this deranged woman my husband said hey did you hear us do you need help her laugh began to grow into what was a steady cackle the strange woman then stood up as she stood up her cackle became a mixture between a cackle and a boisterous growl she then stumbled forward and continued walking down the hall there was a staircase just outside of our suite I assumed she was making her way to the stairs just too embarrassed to walk past us to the elevator maybe she was just a drunk woman and this was nothing more than an uncomfortable standoff with a sad and intoxicated woman I mean if she was really that drunk the stairs probably weren't a good idea we were on the seventh floor nevertheless I just didn't feel like it was worth the risk to engage with this woman I just wanted to enter my suite and dive into bed it was late and my feet still hurt as we took a few steps forward the woman stopped almost with laser Precision she stood up completely straight looked right at her door and then began to pound on our door screaming bloody murder I could feel myself becoming swallowed with fear I reached for my cell phone and began to dial 911 the woman kept pounding on her door and screaming to be honest I'm surprised none of our neighbors came out to see what was happening part of me thinks they were too afraid themselves and were probably peering out of their peees afraid of what our neighbors would think my husband said hey what are you doing stop that and just like that the strange woman stopped fell to the ground and began crawling quickly towards us she looked up for a brief second all I could see were her dark eyes her mouth seemed to be stained black and she was growling again but this time it was as if there was something in her throat that she was choking on Frozen with fear my husband and I just watched until she flashed us a menacing hiss the kind you would hear in a movie but never imagined in real life terrified I whipped off my shoes and my husband and I ran towards the staircase on the other side of the building we didn't want to risk waiting for the elevator and have her catching up we went down two flights of stairs and stopped to listen if she was making her way down the stairs but it was almost impossible to hear as my heart was pounding so hard I thought to myself what the hell was going on we waited there for 10 minutes or so until eventually we had the courage to head up the stairs and back to our suite the woman was gone and so we entered our suite I was just relieved to finally be safe in my home my husband sent a text to our landlord and he replied that we would hear from him in the morning I was so unbelievably exhausted but found it incredibly difficult to sleep the sound of that woman's growling and cackling rang in my ears I hardly slept the next day when my husband went to speak to the landlord he asked him to check the security cameras although nothing turned up the landlord said the cameras glitch due to the frigid temperatures last night to this day I still don't know what to think that woman most certainly had problems the question is was she dangerous we moved about a year later but every New Year's Eve I still think about that night it was New Year's Eve of 2020 and all of us were ready for this horrible year to be over my friend Logan was throwing a house party I arrived early to help set things up I secured a spot to sleep in his parents room meaning I could drive to the party and drink without having to worry about driving home his parents obviously weren't home for the night most of our close friends in our friend group came plus a bunch of Logan's friends who I didn't know the party was fun at midnight everyone screamed Happy New Year and sheers their drinks after that people slowly started circulating out and the party started to quiet down as people went to either other parties bars or home the later the night got the more it became just the closer friends staying behind until it just turned into a chill drinking session in the living room this went on late into the night it was likely 3:00 a. m.
