"Bye Eddy!" my mother calls up to me from downstairs. I take my rightmost headphone off my ear, and I pick up the sound of the general bustle in the downstairs hallway. I can hear my Dad and my sister laughing to each other as coats are taken from the rack.

"Bye!" I call back, keeping my eyes fixed on the screen. The game goes on.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" My Mom calls up, "it could be fun! Fun family outing!"

I roll my eyes. "I'm GOOD, Mom! Bye!"

My sister calls up too. "Come on Eddy! Don't sit around in the house like a loser all day!"

"GoodBYE!" I shout down again.

"Alright, see you soon!" My Mom replies.

"Later loser!" Louise calls, though it's good-natured, really. We do get on. I can hear Mom gently chiding her, though I can't make out the words. I sure do recognise that tone, though.

Their voices fade out and the footsteps soften. The front door is drawn closed, I hear the sound of my Mom locking the door up behind her. Awesome. Some peace, at last. Don't have to worry about anyone barging in and interrupting.

I return my headphone to my ear and re-invest my full attention to the matter at hand. Securing a victory. Gotta keep my current ranking. A second loss in a row and my score will tank. Can't afford that right now.

Click click click.

I tap away at the keys.

Explosions rattle in my ears as I navigate the environment.

Fully engrossed, muscled tensed as I do my best... at last bringing the round to a close.

I clap my hands in victory and lean back, the chair squeaking as I do so. I slide off my headphones and take a moment to revel in the victory, listening to the soft patter of the rain against the window. The day is gray, and overcast. Wind sighs gently in the trees on the street outside.

I glance at the clock.

Damn, it's been almost an hour already. How time flies.

I spin around in my chair, drumming my fingers against the desk. I catch a quick reflection of myself in the screen as it loads.

Sat at my computer, just like you probably are right now. Or maybe you're on your phone. Same difference. Connected, engaged, and yet, for now, alone.

The rain patters.

And the game freezes.

The loading circle becomes stuck mid-turn. I try to shake the mouse, but that too has become frozen.

"Fuck's sake", I mutter, tapping the Esc key.

...Nothing.

Hm.

It's as I'm going for Ctrl + Alt +Delete that I hear a noise from downstairs.

Sounded like a cupboard door being shut.

Instantly I find myself suppressing a wave of panic. It's fascinating, really, how quickly one's level of alertness can change. All my senses are primed and I become hyper-aware of the sound of my breathing, of the beating of my heart.

...Maybe it was imagination? Maybe the sound was something else? ...Did it come from outside?

...But as I listen, it comes again. Another cupboard, and then, what sounds like the fridge.

It's okay, don't panic. Don't panic. Serial killers don't go looking through cupboards and fridges... do they?

I creep to my door and slowly, gently, steadily ease it open, slipping out into the corridor and tiptoeing to the bannisters of the stairs, listening out for some more clues.

...I hold my breath, and then, as I hear water start flowing into the sink, I allow myself to relax a little. Killers don't wash their hands before a murder. What would be the point?

I'm summoning the courage to call down when I hear a voice call up first. All my tensions are relaxed at once, as the voice is my sister's.

"Hi Eddy! I've got some food for you down here!"

I call back: "Oh great! Did you stop at the cookie place on your way back? PLEASE tell me you got the caramel ones!"

There is a pause.

"Come down and see!" she replies, as I hear stuff being moved about on the counter.

"Alright, gimme a sec!" I shout down, heading back into my room to force restart my computer.

I take another look at the clock.

Hmm, I think to myself. They haven't been out very long. I wonder why they came back? Maybe the rain?

I press and hold down the power button then return through my door to the top of the stairs.

"How come you guys are back so early?" I call out.

...

...There is no response.

The door to my parents' room is open. I glance through it to see the rain wash gently down the window at the room's far side.

For some reason unknown to me at this stage, unease creeps quietly into the back of my head.

"Louise", I call down, still hesitating by the bannisters. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

There is another silence. I walk the length of the hallway, passing by a little window to the street outside.

...My parent's car, it would seem, has not returned.

I continue on until I am stood at the top of the stairs, looking down them, and into the hall below.

The lights are all still switched off, and an unsettling aura seeps up the steps from the shadows beneath.

"Come on down, Eddy", comes my sister's voice from somewhere unseen. The kitchen, I think. "Come see what I have for you!"

I cannot hear the sound of cupboards, now. There is no rustling. No movement of any objects or bags or jingling of keys. My sister finishes speaking, and then there is silence. Silence, and the gentle patter of the rain.

My hands, I realise, are sweating.

What the hell is this? I think to myself. Eddie, come on man, just pull yourself together.

But something compels me to remain where I stand. Some unseen force keeps me from taking a step down onto the stairs and descending to the bottom floor.

"Louise", I try to call back, but my voice fails me. It does not project the way I intended. I clear my throat, though my mouth has dried. The sensation is an uncomfortable one.

"Eddy", comes the reply. "Eddy, come downstairs".

"When did you get back?" I manage to call down, "Where's the car?"

Silence.

"Louise?" I call down again, unsure of what else to say.

And then, a moment later, from around the corner, my sister walks slowly and deliberately into view. She stops at the bottom of the stairs, still shrouded in shadow, and she looks up to me.

We hold each other's gaze for a moment, her at the base of the steps, and I at the top.

She does not speak, and her expression shifts to a wide grin. Her teeth appear very white in the darkness.

She makes a quick motion with one of her hands. 'Follow', is the implication, and then she turns, and walks slowly back to the kitchen, out of sight.

It is not until I cannot see her that her voice comes again: "Come on, Eddy. Come and see what I have to show you".

The hairs on the back of my neck all raise in cold alarm.

I do not follow.

With my jaw clenched and blood frozen in my veins I make a hasty retreat to my room where I close the door shut, perhaps just a little too quickly. The thud of the door going into its frame reverberates around the walls.

Less than one second later, in that exact same instant, I hear the unmistakable sound of something barrelling up the stairs. Knocking carelessly into the bannisters with rapid, ascending creaks and clamouring.

I cry out loud in terror and with a surge of adrenaline I grab hold of my chest of drawers. I haul it across the floor into place, blocking the door. My potted plant falls and lands with a dull thump by my feet, soil spilling out across the carpet.

My heart hammers in my chest as I stare at the door, tensed and waiting for the handle to start rattling. Waiting for something to throw itself against the door from the opposite side.

...My sister?

...But none of those things happen.

The minutes tick by, excruciatingly slowly.

The sounds of the sudden race up the stairs ended as quickly as they began, and with the utmost caution, I tentatively press my ear against the wood. Listening, breathing deep.

...Straining to hear for any sign or clue as to what the fuck is going on.

...

"...Open the door Eddy", my sister's voice whispers from the other side.

I leap back from the door in horror, fumbling around on my desk for my phone, too afraid to look away. I grab it and tap in the passcode, my shaking fingers failing the password the first time.

...And the second.

The thing on the other side of the door does not knock. It does not try to force its way in. It only repeats itself.

"Eddy, stop screwing around. Open the door and let me in. I have something to show you".

I try to call my Mom first.

I bring the phone up to my ear, shaking.

...The line is engaged.

Fuck.

"Come on Eddy, open the door. I want to show you something".

"Louise!" I reply at last, my voice trembling. "You're freaking me the fuck out! If this is a prank just STOP, okay? Just STOP!"

"Open the door Eddy. Open up and let me in. You need to see this, please, come with me".

"Please, if it's a prank I forgive you, just stop messing with me!"

Silence.

And then...

"Just come downstairs. You need to come downstairs with me. Just follow".

Screw this. Next up, I call the police.

An overreaction, perhaps, but better safe than sorry.

The tone sounds through the phone, there's a click, then, "911, what's your emergency?"

I take a deep breath.

"Hello? 911" comes through the phone.

"There's an intruder in my house", I whisper at last, as quietly as I can.

-Though evidently my sister hears. Her voice has risen in pitch. I don't think she likes this development.

"EDDY. You need to open the door. Let me in. You need to open the door. You need to open the door. Let me in, this is really important. Really important".

Something about the way she says those final words sets my teeth on edge. It wasn't slurred, as such... Just... Ugh. I don't know. How to describe it? As if the muscles for her speech, I guess, were getting tired...

But despite my fear I do my best to ignore her, and I provide my details to the person on the line.

The rain starts hammering down against the glass, and the wind picks up too.

"Okay Sir", they say after I have told them my location, "a car will be with you shortly; please, stay on the line".

I do so, keeping as far away from my bedroom door as I can, terrified that at any moment the person with my sister's voice is going to barge through.

"EDDY!" she shouts, making me jump.

"EDDY! You need to let me in. You need to come with me".

I swear that I hear a car drive past outside, and I turn to look through the rain-washed window.

...And as I do so, my heart nearly stops in my chest.

Down there at the side of the road, standing in the rain and looking up into my window, right at me... is my family.

My Mom. My Dad. And Louise.

Just standing in a line, hands by their sides. Staring up at me. Staring up into my window.|

And they are all smiling. All grinning that same, chilling grin. Looking up at me; unblinking.

*

The police arrived about ten minutes after that, and they had a hell of a time calming me down.

I never heard my 'sister' leave from behind the doorway, though the officers didn't find anyone, even after a thorough search of the house. My 'family' outside vanished after I briefly turned away. One minute they were there, and the next, gone.

My mother (my REAL mother, God hopes) nearly had a panic attack of her own when she came home to find cop cars parked up outside. Louise had no idea what the hell I was talking about, none of them did, and she insisted she wasn't playing any kind of prank. She can be annoying at times, but still... I really can't see her doing anything like this. I can't see ANY of them doing something like this. I had to wait to see their mouths move in time to their speech before I could even begin to let my guard down, also.

It's been about a month since this 'incident'. I have a lock on my door, now, and I haven't seen or heard anything quite so terrifying since... But I still get angsty at night, and hell, who wouldn't? And I tell you what else, too. When my family are heading out and they ask if I want to go along... These days, I say yes.



LINK  https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/swinnd/theres_someone_pretending_to_be_my_sister/