Paranormal investigation is all about finding the truth of the afterlife. As humans, there is little we understand about the reality beyond death. Where do we go? Is there a place our minds cannot perceive? What becomes of “us” when we take our final breaths? The answers are endless, the possibilities are recognized as impossible.  Yet, as humans, we strive to find the closest answer we can comprehend. Some people crawl into abandoned homes in search of video evidence. Some book a night in a haunted hotel hoping to snap a blurred image on their phones. The lucky ones have only heard horror stories from family and friends. The unlucky souls don’t live to tell the tale.

Svet was one of many believers. But, he didn’t have the luxury of sharing his experiences like everyone else. No- He could only take it in. And tonight was one of many he had to endure.

As the morning was drawing near, Svet felt like he was going to cr*p his pants.

At his window, silhouettes and whispers demanded for hospitality, stirring him from his slumber with booming fists. He burrowed into his bedsheets and hid from the tiny hands protruding from the walls, fingers grasping whatever life they could find. Svet could hear them around him. Shifting, touching, waving, and reaching: Svet could hear them all from within his haven. 

For a child, nightmares were normal, but to Svet? They were not. Nightmares were part of his waking world and he had to pray every night nothing would happen to him.

"There's nothing there, there's nothing there."

Beady eyes from cursed dolls ogled the terrifying mass of hands that ascended from the ceiling. Lined in on the walls and along the floors, talismens waned in the glow of Svet’s terror. There was only so much his father's protection would last. And it only got weakened as the clock ticked, closing in on 6:02 A.M. 

His bedroom closet oh-so-slowly slide open, an ominous tone ringing in Svet’s ears. Sweat formed in the core of his fists as a pair of paws pressed against the soft surface of his wooden floors.

“Nothing is there, nothing is there, nothing is there,” Svet chanted.

Fingers tapped rhythmically against the hard surface of his screen window. Fumbling footsteps traveled from his closet to the underside of his bed. Svet felt it scratching at the hardwood frame, trying to claw through the wood. He could hear it breathing down on his blanket.

Svet willed his eyes to close, squeezing them until they stung, unwilling to meet the face of evil. 

His breath above a whisper, Svet spoke into his bedsheets and tried to forget the terrors outside. "Nothing. There's nothing."

His forehead pressed against his pillows, his fingers clenching around his blankets like a protective shield. But that didn’t stop the tiny hands from grabbing onto his ankles and running their nails along his back. That didn’t alter the reality he was in, surrounded by voices that called him to listen. Soothing him to submission- Svet had to recall why he was hiding in the first place.

“Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,” Will whimpered above the hums.

After what seemed like hours, daylight broke through the curtains.  Paper wallpaper blossomed into comfortable tones. Rays of the sun swayed on the wooden floors, splaying patterns over the bedsheets. The abandoned remains of his dirty clothes lost every inkling of dread and everything felt at peace once again.

Svet exhaled a sigh of relief, engulfed by the crack of light that broke through his curtains. His dark heard of hair greeted the empty room with a smile, his shoulders leaving the sweet embrace of his cocoon. And immediately, he was overjoyed that the night was over. The thought of another night was looming above his head, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t have to worry about that for almost half a day. And for that, he was glad. 

Yes- He could finally sleep.