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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Andy3103 on 2024-10-14 16:48:12+00:00.
First of all, I’d like to say that I’ve never really been a believer in the supernatural. Sure, I enjoy spooky stories, especially around this time of year, and I’ve definitely gone down a few rabbit holes exploring weird phenomena, but I wouldn’t really call myself a true believer.
I’ve asked for advice on this topic before, not here but on other forums, but nothing has ever worked. So, I figured that there’s no harm in following some people’s advice and sharing my story here, even though I’m not really sure what to expect from this.
Back in January, my university shared a job opportunity from a school in Northern Ireland, looking for a recent graduate to join them as a Spanish teacher in the fall. At the time, I was in my final year of English Studies at a university in Spain and wasn’t really sure about what I wanted to do after graduation. So, I applied, not really expecting much to come out of it. To my surprise, less than two months later, I got a call for an interview, and soon after, I was officially offered the position.
That led to a restless summer as I prepared for the life I was about to start. I had some reservations, but my parents had even more. The town where I would be teaching was so small and remote that it didn’t even show up on Google Street View, and the nearest hospital was almost an hour's drive away. It was one of those aging towns with very few children, and as such, the school didn’t just serve the local kids; it hosted children from nearby towns as well, with a total of about ten to fifteen students per grade, up to the sixth grade. The local convenience store was stocked only once a week, so I was warned not to expect too much variety, and on top of all of that, it was extremely cold.
Despite all of this, I still felt drawn to go. The town was isolated, sure, but the photos I found online were breathtaking, and the small number of students would allow me to focus more on each of them. The limited options when it came to sustenance sounded harsh, but having a car was sure to help the situation at least a little bit. The salary was generous, too, as remote teaching jobs in such areas were hard to fill, and the offer of free housing didn’t hurt either.
Knowing how isolated the town was, I decided to bring my car and take my time driving through Spain, France, and Ireland. What should’ve been a two-day journey turned into a week-long road trip. I took the scenic route, stopping at hotels and doing a little sightseeing along the way.
I arrived at my new house late at night, after countless wrong turns and much cursing at Google Maps, hours after I was supposed to arrive. I thought I might have to spend the night in my car, but I was relieved to see a light still on inside the house.
I knocked on the door and waited. After a couple of minutes with no response, I knocked again, and again after another couple of minutes. That’s when I heard a voice behind me.
"Hello."
I gasped and quickly whipped around, my heart pounding. The voice belonged to a man. He was tall, but not intimidatingly so, with neatly combed dark brown hair that looked oddly perfect in the midst of the howling wind. He looked at me like I was some kind of intruder.
“Can I help you?” he asked, his tone laced with annoyance.
Still trying to calm down, I replied, “Hi. No, that’s okay, thank you. I’m just waiting for someone to open the door.”
He gave me a look that made me feel like the stupidest person on earth. “There’s no one in there,” he said, matter-of-factly. “And nobody here takes well to intruders, so…” He stepped forward, grabbed my arm, and began pulling me toward my car.
“Wait! Wait!” I yanked my arm free and crossed them over my chest. “I’m not an intruder, thank you very much. I’m Sandra, the new Spanish teacher, and I’ll be living here for the foreseeable future.”
A smirk crept onto his face, amusement flickering in his eyes before he burst out laughing. He tried to contain it when he noticed how annoyed I was becoming. “I... I’m sorry, give me a second... okay. You? The new teacher? You look twelve.”
I shot him a glare. “Not that I need to explain myself to you, but I’m twenty-two, and this is none of your business.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Still a baby in my eyes,” he said, with an irritating grin. “Slightly older than twelve, sure, but a baby.”
I rolled my eyes, growing more annoyed by the second, especially since he didn’t look much older than me. “And how old are you, you wise elder? Twenty-three?” I said, sarcasm dripping from my words.
His smirk returned, but this time, something darker flickered across his face. It sent a shiver down my spine. “Slightly older than that,” he said, his tone unsettling. His words did something to me, made my throat tighten as I suddenly realized how alone I was with this stranger on a deserted street. I shook it off, refusing to let him get to me.
“Well, I’d say nice to meet you, and that I hope to see you around, but I’d rather eat glass than do that,” I said, trying to regain my composure. “So, if you’ll excuse me...” I began walking past him toward the house.
“There’s no one in there,” he repeated, his tone suddenly more serious, sending another chill down my spine. I remember thinking I should’ve worn a thicker jacket. “Everyone leaves a light on when they’re out, so they don’t come home to something they didn’t invite in. Everyone knows that.”
I rolled my eyes again, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling growing in my gut. “If everyone knows that, doesn’t it seem a little counterintuitive? Thieves will just target houses with lights on. Besides, it’s not like someone’s going to stumble upon this place by accident and rob a house. I could barely find my way here, and I wanted to come.”
“I wasn’t talking about people...” His voice trailed off ominously. “Anyway, Carmen waited for you for hours, but she had to go home eventually. You’ll have to make do until morning. I’d invite you to my house—you know, the neighborly thing to do—but since you’d rather... what was it? Eat glass?” His smirk widened. “I wouldn’t want to put you in that predicament. So, enjoy your night in the car. And turn on a light—cars are always free reign.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the bark of a dog startled me. When I turned back to him, he was gone—vanished like he’d never been there at all.
I sat in the car, huddled under my jacket, laying down in the back seat and contorting my legs so I could find a comfortable position, trying to stay warm as the wind howled around me. The man’s words kept reappearing from time to time in my mind as I was trying to calm my racing thoughts enough to get at least a little bit of sleep. I kept trying to tell myself that his words were just small town nonsense, and that absurd superstitions weren’t worth risking running out of battery on my car, but I couldn’t shake the creeping sense of dread that threatened to drown me. Damn you, whoever you are. And here I thought sleeping with a nightlight was behind me. I remember thinking. The barking dog had finally stopped, but now an unnerving silence settled over the street, broken only by the occasional gust of wind rattling the windows. I flipped on the interior light, hoping it would make me feel less alone, but instead, it just cast strange shadows inside the car, making everything feel more claustrophobic.
Out of nowhere, I heard the distinct sound of hooves. At first, I thought it was my imagination, a desperate attempt on the part of my brain to try to lull me to sleep through the exhaustion, but the rhythmic clatter grew louder, unmistakable against the cobblestones. Squinting through the fogged-up windshield, I saw it: a massive black horse standing at the edge of the road. Its eyes glowed in an unnatural amber, and its black hair shimmered in the darkness, as if absorbing the shadows around it. There was something wrong about it—something too still, too perfect, like a statue. I tried to convince myself that that’s what it was, but my heart started to race as the horse took slow, deliberate steps toward the car. I wanted to move, to drive away, but I was paralyzed, locked in its gaze.
The horse circled the car, its breath coming out in thick, white clouds, fogging the windows even more. Its eyes never left mine, and with each step, the air in the car seemed to grow colder. I could feel it watching me, something far more intelligent and malicious than any animal I’d ever seen before. Suddenly, it stopped right next to my window, towering over the car, and lowered its head.
Just as I thought it might smash through the glass, a loud crack echoed through the night, and the horse flinched violently, eyes wide with fear. Its ears pinned back as it reared up, letting out a bone-chilling neigh that pierced through the wind. It bolted into the darkness, hooves pounding the ground, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
My breath caught in my throat as I scanned the empty street, searching for the source of the noise. That’s when I saw it—just beyond the trees, a dark shape moving through the shadows, too large to be human, too quick to be anything natural.
I spent the rest of the night hugging my knees to my chest, flinching at every sound, every rustle of wind. My mind raced with possibilities, but no explanation seemed to make sense. All I could do was sit there, waiting for dawn to break.
When morning finally came, so did Carmen, the woman in whose ...
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