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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Constant_Pace5407 on 2024-09-28 04:54:03+00:00.
We had an uncle, Cooper, and would occasionally visit his family, though they usually came to our place. There was always something unsettling about them. They gave off a chilling vibe I could never quite explain. Aunt Anna, in particular, always told strange stories—stories I could never tell if they were meant as jokes or rooted in some disturbing truth. There was something fundamentally off about her and my older cousin, Alyssa. The younger brother, Sam, seemed fine—maybe he was too young to be tainted by whatever was wrong with the rest of the family. Uncle Cooper always seemed distant, like he was moving through life in a daze.
One day, they shared another eerie tale—this time about a little boy gasping for breath while his parents stood by, smiling. It gave me goosebumps. There was always something in their stories, a sense of truth, that made them even more terrifying.
Days passed, and I had almost forgotten about it when, out of the blue, we received an invitation to dinner at their place. It was a large gathering with 4-5 other families. Out of courtesy, my parents accepted. So, on a Friday night, my parents, my older brother Paul, and I went over. Uncle Peter and Aunt Nina, two of the kindest people I knew, were also there.
As we entered, they gave each of us a necklace with a large stone attached to it. We assumed it was a simple gesture of hospitality, nothing out of the ordinary in the city. Everything seemed normal at first. The adults mingled, drinks were poured, and people chatted. I didn’t know many of the guests, but it felt like just another social event.
Uncle Cooper had a large lawn outside, and as the evening went on, more and more people, including my parents and Paul, moved outside to smoke. It was winter, and a thick fog had settled, making it hard to see anything out there. The necklace I was wearing began to feel heavy, so I handed it to Aunt Nina for safekeeping and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.
That’s when I saw something through the kitchen window. Someone was gasping for breath outside while Alyssa watched with a sinister smile on her face. It was as if she was somehow controlling him. Fear gripped me. I tried to run back inside, but Alyssa saw me and gave me the creepiest smile.
Panicking, I rushed into the living room, hoping to find someone—anyone. But the room was nearly empty. The only person left was Uncle Peter, who was clearly a bit tipsy. I told him what I had seen, but he didn’t take me seriously—probably assuming I was just being paranoid like a typical teenager. We went outside to check, but the moment I stepped out, I couldn't breathe. It was like something was suffocating me. We rushed back inside, and suddenly I could breathe again. Uncle Peter still thought I was overreacting.
I asked him where Aunt Nina was because, deep down, I had a gut feeling that I needed that necklace to go outside.
Uncle Peter called Aunt Nina on her cell, who said she had left the necklace on the table in the living room. But something was off—Nina would never have just stayed outside if she thought I was scared. Uncle Peter started to sense it too. We frantically searched for the necklace when Aunt Anna, Uncle Cooper, and Alyssa walked in, their faces twisted into sinister smiles. Aunt Anna touched Uncle Peter lightly, and his entire demeanor shifted. His eyes went blank, and suddenly he wasn’t in control anymore. He grabbed a knife and started walking toward me.
Terrified, I backed away as Uncle Peter advanced, all while Aunt Anna, Uncle Cooper, and Alyssa watched in silence. In a fake, eerie voice, Peter asked Cooper, "What are you doing, Peter? Are you okay, Nicole?" But I knew something was horribly wrong. I managed to dodge Peter’s attack and ran, frantically searching for the necklace. When I finally found it, I grabbed it and dashed outside.
What I saw outside was chaos—six bodies lay scattered across the lawn. It looked like some twisted version of the Hunger Games. Desperate, I searched for my parents and brother, but they were nowhere to be found. I fled into a nearby deserted street, calling for my mom, dad, and Paul.
Eventually, I heard my mom’s voice calling for me. When we found each other, she hugged me tightly. She had a wound on her head but seemed otherwise fine. I asked where Dad and Paul were, and she said they had gone looking for me while she hid in one of the empty houses. We rushed back into the house, but doing so seemed to reveal our location to whoever was hunting us.
I asked my mom what was happening, but she simply told me to be quiet and warned me not to trust anyone—not even Dad or Paul—and to never, under any circumstances, let Cooper’s family touch me.
Just then, we heard the door creak open. It was Sam, crying softly and asking if we were there. He seemed scared and confused, saying his parents were acting strange. My mom, despite my pleas, couldn’t resist her motherly instinct. She asked me to stay hidden and bolt if anything goes wrong. Alyssa was waiting outside and just as my mom revealed herself, Alyssa entered the house. Horrified, I slipped out the fire exit, leaving my mom behind and feeling helpless and alone.
I found Paul not long after—or rather, he found me. He came out of nowhere and attacked me, choking me. Desperate, I grabbed at everything around me, including his necklace, which snapped off. As soon as it did, Paul stopped choking me and seemed like himself again. But he started suffocating like I had before. I quickly put the necklace back on him, and he returned to normal. That’s when we realized that the necklaces were somehow protecting us, breaking whatever spell was controlling them.
We needed to find our parents and escape. Fortunately, Mom found us, but Dad was still missing. After another near-deadly encounter, Mom decided we had to leave immediately. We ran for the car, but when we reached it, Alyssa, Peter, Anna, and even little Sam were already waiting for us.
We barely made it to the car. As mom turned on the ignition, Aunt Anna called out to Paul, and just from glancing back at her, he changed. He started attacking Mom, smashing her head against the steering wheel. It had all been a trap—Paul had never truly been free from their control.
In a panic, I grabbed the pepper spray my mom had given me and sprayed it into Paul’s eyes. We managed to shove him out of the car and sped off, leaving the horror behind us. But no investigation was ever done. No one believed our story. We moved far away, but even now, at 18, I’m still haunted by what happened that night. The scars may have healed, but the memories never will.