SHE WASN'T MY DAUGHTER HORROR STORY

running down the hall rounding the corner that enters our bedroom not tonight ruby it's like she has a built-in alarm system that goes off every time i have a business trip my husband tom and i are no stranger to this drill she always stands a few feet from my side of the bed and whispers i don't feel good mommy she does not want to wake up her dad who has to see patients in the morning and is quick to debunk ruby's plans to stay home from school exhausted i go into mom mode and recite the ailment list okay ruby is it your head is it your tummy are you hot are you cold no answer i force myself to sit up now and glance at my alarm it's 3 45 am i do not turn on the light although in reality my husband could sleep through a tornado ruby you need to answer me what hurts okay ruby come with me i'll take you back to bed i put my hand out to ruby now seeing her small outline in the dark only something's not right although my room is dark the child in front of me was so much darker than the actual room she's the same height as ruby she's wearing the same red pajamas i helped ruby into at bedtime. her arms and legs look like thin spindles i can't turn away from her hollowed-out eyes she seems to be looking nowhere is this a friend ruby took home or a child who somehow wandered into our home keeping my eyes on her i try to reach for my husband i need to shake him awake but he is at the very edge of our king-sized bed and i can't reach him without moving completely from my spot and i can't bring myself to move an inch tom wake up tom please wake up someone is in our house tom wake up the child is perfectly still and now looking directly at me i lean forward to examine her more closely to my horror i realize this is no child. walking side to side on its long thin feet while grinning it kept making a cuttle sound followed by a child's soft cry that sounded exactly like ruby i'm trembling but my rational brain tells me it has to be a dream a lucid nightmare but how can i be dreaming if i'm sitting up i can read the time on my clock i see my nightstand i touch my face my eyes they are open i have no doubt i'm awake. ah what the heck are you two screaming about i'm trying to sleep in case you forgot tom immediately understood i was distraught mommy had a bad dream you know what that's like sweetie mommy's being a big cry baby i heard ruby giggling and knew she would be okay although i was horrified that i had woken my family in this disturbing way calm down michelle you're hysterical tom something was really in our bedroom i thought it was ruby but it was something terrible not human michelle it was a bad dream tom i know you can't fathom this but i'm telling you something evil was in this room physically standing here right next to our bed stand mimicking ruby i told you it was too soon to return to work the effects of the medication don't vanish overnight many patients recovering from brain surgery have terrible hallucinations think of it as your brain rewiring healing itself please tom i was not dreaming i need you to believe me please honey i understand it was a frightening realistic dream but it was just a dream yeah but michelle you're going to cancel your business trip it's obviously too stressful your work can wait all that matters is that you are healthy and happy you're ruby's mother she is our first priority you are her safe place you cannot continue to scare her with all of this ruby was so upset while you were in the hospital please let's not add to it why don't i take ruby to her grannies tomorrow so she can spend a few days with her you'll get more time to rest without having to worry about waking up for ruby during the night let's get some sleep now i know tom is right he has always been my voice of reason no malice no dishonesty it's simply his need to fix things to find solutions it's how he's wired and it is why i love him the next night when i was resting in my bed tom came in the room to tell me something honey i'll be home late tonight after dropping ruby to her grannies i'll be heading to our staff party remember i mentioned it to you last week um sorry tom i really can't remember it's okay honey please don't worry about staying up for me i'll quietly slip in the covers when i'm back you take proper rest tonight okay did you take your pills i can't remember maybe i did tom i don't think i did there you go honey you know these are very important for your fast recovery good night honey sleep tight. mommy wake up mommy mommy wake up what happened ruby mommy i don't feel so good that's when i realized this can't be ruby she's gone to her grannies it was the same horrific evil child it wasn't my daughter you aren't ruby ruby's gone to her grannies who are you mommy i'm ruby i couldn't go to grannies because i wasn't feeling well no you're lying my husband took her to her grannies mommy i'm ruby mommy i'm ruby i'm ruby mommy i'm ruby stop pretending to be my daughter you're not ruby you're not ruby oh no no oh no ruby god damn it michelle you killed our daughter mommy mommy you psycho. did you pack everything sweetheart daddy i don't feel very well my stomach hurts a bit maybe it's not a good idea to go to your grannies tonight sweetheart get some rest we'll go tomorrow or another time when you feel better ah but please don't wake up your mother she hasn't been feeling very well and needs rest i have to leave now i'm getting late good night sweetheart good night daddy