I don’t even know if writing this will make me feel better, but something happened last year that I’ve never told anyone until now.

It started with my neighbor, Mrs. Adisa. She was this quiet old woman, always sitting on her porch with her cats. Everyone thought she was harmless—lonely maybe, but harmless. One night, I came home late around 2 a.m. I passed by her house and noticed her porch light flickering. Out of nowhere, I heard what sounded like crying—but not hers. It was a child’s cry.

Thing is… Mrs. Adisa lived alone. No kids.

I froze when I saw her standing at the window, holding something small wrapped in a blanket. The crying stopped instantly, like someone pressed mute. She slowly turned her head, and I swear her eyes didn’t reflect the porch light like normal eyes—they were just black.

The next day, I tried to convince myself it was exhaustion. But that night, the crying came again. Louder. This time, curiosity got the better of me. I walked to her porch and peeked through the curtain.

She was on the floor, surrounded by her cats but they weren’t cats anymore. Their bodies looked… wrong. Twisted, skin stretched over bone like they were wearing masks of themselves. And in her lap wasn’t a baby it was this shriveled thing, gray and wet, twitching like it was still learning how to be alive.

When I gasped, her head snapped up. She whispered something I couldn’t hear it but my ears started bleeding instantly. I ran. I didn’t stop until I was inside my house with every door locked.

The next morning, her house was completely empty. No furniture, no cats, no sign she had ever lived there. The porch light was gone too, like it had never existed.

I asked the landlord about her, and he said there’s never been a tenant by that name. But I saw her. I know I saw her.

Even now, some nights, I hear the crying outside my window. I don’t check anymore.

—Submitted by Paul

Every story comes with its own craziness and plot twist!!