Bogleech.com's 2016 Horror Write-off:
Jamie
Submitted by
Jared Ludy
I woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air. I had an awful dream. I saw the time and realized I slept through dinner. Before I got up out of bed, I heard a noise from downstairs.
A baby was crying.
Our family doesn't have a baby.
When I got up to investigate, I saw a note on my door, written in red pen.
"Please feed him well. You'll know what to feed him when you see it."
I was confused, but I figured I should follow the instructions.
I left my room and went downstairs, and lo and behold. A baby in a small plastic high chair was on the coffee table. Crying.
The high chair's tray has the name "Jamie" painted on it in small purple letters.
Next to it were two plastic containers of baby food, along with a note that said, "mix". This time in blue pen instead of red. One of them was half full, and the food was some foggy liquid. In the second, I expected to find powder, or a mix of some kind, but it was just more fluid, this time slightly brown.
I poured the brownish foggy liquid into the whitish foggy liquid and put the lid back on, shaking the container to mix them together.
Then I took off the lid again and poured the liquid into the tray on their high chair. "This must be right." I thought aloud.
The baby drank the liquid out of the tray like a trough, licking it up and slurping it.
While the baby lapped up the liquid from its tray like a starved pig, I went to the kitchen to grab myself a drink.
A note in red pen was taped to a container of traditional baby food
"DON'T TRUST BLUE " it read. It was hastily drawn and written in all capitals.
I heard the baby whine and cry from the other room, so I rushed in.
The baby was writhing and flailing miserably. Its body was quivering, and its skin grew tight and veiny, as
it's bone structure contorted beneath its skin, becoming more pronounced, and its body painfully shrunk and morphed into an alien form.
As I panicked and raced around the room, trying to think of anything to do, the shriveled fetus-like twitched and writhed. As it howled, I ran up the stairs and closed myself off in my room. I ran towards my phone to call for help.
My vision blurred into black.
I was under the covers in my bed.
I was so relieved. It was all just a dream. Some awful, terrible dream.
I went to reach for my covers
Except I didn't
I couldn't move an inch. I was paralyzed.
A bony hand grabs my ankle like a vice.
I lose my ability to breathe. My chest tightens and I struggle against suffocation.
Baby-like cries echo all around me.