nosleep

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/NotJustSomeNumbers on 2024-11-17 00:15:37+00:00.

When I was fourteen, I was kicked out of my house by my parents. I don’t feel like explaining what led up to the fight that ended our relationship. I jumped around between different friend's places until I ran out of friends.   

I knew unless I contacted my family, I would end up on the street at some point. Still being stubborn, I refused. When my last friend said I couldn’t stay the night, I was alone with nowhere to go and only a few bucks in my pocket. The other issue was it got unseasonably cold. Before night fell, I could already see my breath. By some luck, I found a rundown building I could break into and stay out of the wind.  

I ran through any ideas of what to do in my head. If I could stand being outside for a night, I can go to school tomorrow. I didn’t really do work in class, but at least I could stay warm and take scraps of people's lunches no one wanted. It was how I normally got food during the day. The gas station offered free hot water. If I could scrape together enough change, an instant noodle bowl for dinner would warm me up. Without anything else to do, I curled up on the ground using my backpack as a pillow to sleep.  

That strategy of using the school for heat and bits of food worked for a few days. I could use the showers there, and a friend let me come over to his place to wash my few pieces of clothing. His parents were strict about who came over so I was out of the house before they got home and that meant staying over wasn’t an option. At least he was nice enough to endure his parent's wrath if we got caught so I would have some clean underwear.  Overall, the kids at my school were pretty nice. Or maybe that was just the ones I hung around with. We all had terrible home lives in some way so we all banded together to help out if we could. None of us could do anything about our home life, but we could make sure our friends were fed.  

They begged me to just go back home. I refused thinking I was doing alright. They were my support system and the old broken-down building wasn’t that bad until I could find something better. My friends kept bringing up valid points of other people on the street seeing me as an easy target. I could be robbed, murdered, or sold into trafficking and no one would be able to help. Being on the street as a kid was dangerous in too many ways to count. And yet, I still didn’t go back home.  

The problem came when the temperature dropped below freezing. Another friend gave me a jacket that was too small for him. Some gave me extra pairs of socks. And another found some old mittens he wasn’t using. And yet, it wasn’t enough. As I found my way to the old building to get settled in for the night I wondered if I would be able to make it. The sun hadn’t set yet, and I was shivering, I wore all the clothing I owned. I placed the small jacket on the ground because I heard it was warmer to sleep on something. A terrible win blew outside as I curled up in my layers of clothing wondering what to do.   

There were some places I could hang out. The issue was other people knew about those places. I’ve come across some pretty threatening people in the same situation as myself. I almost felt bad about being uncomfortable around those people because they had issues they couldn't control. But I also knew if I tried hanging out inside the warmer places with the other homeless population, I would have issues with them.  

There was also a chance that someone actually cared about a kid being on the street and called the cops. As I shivered, I stayed where I was thinking freezing would be better than getting stabbed for my shoes. Or be forced to go back home. I could see every puff of breath. My nose hurt from how cold it was and my fingers and toes refused to warm up.  

I thought about why I was sleeping on the cold ground and my chest tightened. I was angry at my parents for creating a home in which I felt so unwelcome. It was as if dying from hypothermia was better than being with them. I tried being a good kid but gave up when nothing I did mattered to them. If they punished me for nothing I might as well do whatever I wanted and this is where I ended up.  

My body hurt from shaking and yet I couldn’t stop. Even if I wanted to call the cops on myself just to be somewhere warm, I was too weak to get up from only an hour on the hard ground. I suppose it wasn’t just that hour. It was a week of sleeping outside, and not getting regular meals. Before then, I wasn’t aware of how painful the cold could be.   

My chest hurt from shaking, my lungs hurt from the cold air, and my toes felt as if they were going to fall off. I wanted nothing more than a hot meal and a warm bed. Tears started to form, but I forced them down, knowing the wetness on my face would just make me feel colder.   

Just as I was nodding off convinced, I wouldn’t wake up again, I heard something echo through the dark cold building, A tapping sound, I searched my brain to figure out where I heard the sound before. It kept getting closer. It was so dark I couldn’t see what was causing the sound and I was too weak to even sit up. I felt scared to death and yet my eyes refused to open as the sound got closer. And closer. Suddenly, I felt a puff of hot wind on my face. Something in my brain clicked as I realized the sounds I heard getting closer were similar to dog claws tapping on a hard surface. I wanted to open my eyes to see what kind of beats were in front of me, but my body simply shut down.   

I passed out completely defenseless. I woke up a short while later feeling as if I couldn’t breathe. Something was crushing down in me. An odd smell came as my eyes fluttered open but I couldn’t see anything through the darkness. And for some reason, I was warm, almost hot.  

I struggled to get my arm free that was pinned under my body. When it moved, I felt something rough. A fur-like texture surrounded me. Then, I realized some animal was sitting on me, or curled around my small form. I didn’t know about any wild animals that would be this big. Panic started to rise. If it was a bear, or a big cat that escaped from the zoo, or a private collector I was toast. Once it woke up, I would be mauled when it realized I was a tasty treat. But why did it curl itself around me in the first place? Was it also cold and just using me for body heat?  

I was still weak and tired. The pressure behind my eyes was a sign of an illness. I soon drifted back asleep while listening to the rhythmic breathing of the creature hold me hostage.  

When I woke up again, the cold overtook my body again. My face was flushed and my throat was sore. I couldn’t sit up without getting so lightheaded I needed to sit back down. Harsh coughs wracked my chest. That was a problem. Aside from being sick and still in the harsh weather, it was dangerous being loud while alone. I’d been silent the entire time I stayed in the building. This time I hoped a security guard found me. At least then I might get some treatment before getting shipped back home.  

I couldn’t move that day. Fever chills shook my body down to the bones. I had some water but couldn’t even keep that down if I could only move and find a payphone to call for help. And yet, I was too ill to do anything. As I lay on the floor drifting in and out of sleep for the day, I noticed something in the cement that hadn’t been there before. Deep grooves in the floor in front of where I was. Almost like massive claw marks.  

As the sun fell with the temperature, I heard the tapping sound again. I was too scared to keep my eyes open even though I was awake. Pretending to be asleep, the creature from the night before roughly curled around my sick body. I could only tell it was huge and had dark long fur. No animal I knew of would fit the description. Maybe I was hallucinating because of my fever. It was scary as hell, but at least I was warm.  

Again, by the time I woke up the mystery creature was gone leaving more claw marks. I was feeling well enough to move and got packed as fast as my body would move in the dawn light. That was when I was finally discovered. A pair of men dressed in layers of rags came through the same broken door I’d found. They hadn’t made a move just yet. They watched trying to decide what to do based on my actions.   

They either just wanted my spot, or wanted something of me I couldn’t give up. I looked around trying to find another way to escape. I figured this building was meant to be an office that was never finished. I was on the second floor. Each window was broken or not installed. Jumping might not kill me. The only way down the stairs was to pass the two poorly hidden men. I got ready to make a break for the window as they rushed out first.   

I only got a few steps when I felt someone grab my backpack to bring me to the ground. I screamed trying to get their hands off as they pulled at my clothing trying to get anything they could. A knife glittered in the dim sunlight and yet I still fought trying to get free. Both of them reeked. A mixture of the smell and still being ill made me gag between screams. Neither weren’t well-fed, but could easily overpower a kid still in high school. I was going to die, or worse. I should have if it wasn’t for what kept me warm the past two nights.  

Out of nowhere the man who was holding the knife suddenly didn’t have his head. Blood sprouted from the wound causing me and my attacker to stop to sta...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1gt0ywj/i_encountered_something_while_sleeping_in_an/