Sick To His Stomach
Joe is traumatized, frozen in his tracks. This had to be a joke, right? He watches the footage he secretly recorded from last night and his heart races. It was like he was watching his favorite horror movie - but this was no Hollywood slasher, this was real life - his life.
He had been waiting days for this moment; to finally uncover the truth about his missing food, and finally, he had proof. But it was something that left him feeling sick to his stomach. He knew he had to make a run for it; he had to get far away from this apartment. But time was running out.
A New York Dream
Joe Cummings had lived in Manhattan for two years now. An actor by day and waiter by night, it’s not exactly easy to make ends meet in the city that never sleeps. But despite the overpopulation, cost of living, and less-than-friendly folk, there was nowhere else Joe would rather live.
He had dreamed all his life about living in the Big Apple, and now he finally was! Things may not have been perfect career-wise for Joe, but the budding actor had a great apartment, a fantastic girlfriend, and awesome friends! He was living the dream. But then one day, Joe’s world turned upside down.
An Expensive City
You see, Joe was well aware that New York was an expensive city to live in. From $5 coffees to $1000 rent for a small studio apartment, Joe tried his hardest to save money however he could.
So when he started having to shop more often because the food in his fridge and pantry was gone quickly, he became worried. His routine had not changed, so he had no reason to eat more than usual. But there was someone else living with him who could know the answer.
A New Chapter In Their Lives
Joe’s girlfriend Lucy had just recently moved into Joe’s apartment. The two lovebirds were on cloud nine; this was a new chapter in their lives. But this problem with the missing food had started to gnaw at Joe. Why would his girlfriend take his food? Why didn’t she just ask?
Joe knew he had to ask Lucy about the missing food. He hoped she wouldn’t be offended but he just needed some answers. After all, he was wasting his hard-earned wages on buying more food, and not to mention he was saving up for Lucy’s engagement ring. But Joe had no idea what was coming to him.
A Noise In The Night
One night, as Joe and Lucy slept, Joe heard strange noises coming from the kitchen: a thump on the floor, a creaking door, steps. His heart started to pound. Who was in the house? In his sleep, Joe could not tell if it was real or if he was dreaming.
But the next morning, when some of the food that was there the night before was gone, he realized he had to act fast. But when the truth came to light, Joe’s entire world turned upside down.
The Morning After
The following morning Joe poured himself a glass of orange juice and confronted his girlfriend about the missing food. To his surprise, she denied everything.
Joe didn’t want to call his girlfriend a liar, but he knew that something strange was happening. Maybe she was a sleepwalker without knowing it. Heck, maybe he was! Nonetheless, the only way to know for sure was to get evidence, but what Joe would soon uncover would leave him feeling sick to his stomach.
Could It Be An Animal?
Another thought soon came to Joe. Maybe an animal entered the apartment and stole the food? But that seemed very unlikely. He always made sure to lock all doors and windows at night because his neighborhood wasn't exactly the safest in New York.
Not to mention that the food in the refrigerator was gone and he knew no creature able to open the refrigerator doors. It must have been something or someone else. Joe had had enough of speculating - it was time to act. But Joe had no idea what was coming.
Setting Up The Camera
Joe headed out of the city armed with determination and bought a security camera equipped with night vision. He set it up at the kitchen corner, near the roof, making sure the corner had an unobstructed view of the refrigerator and the pantry.
He knew he wasn’t going to tell his girlfriend so that if it was her, he could catch her in the act. He pressed record and carried on with his day. But the next morning, he removed the memory card and prepared himself to finally know the truth. But it turned out he was not ready at all.
Normal At First
The movie starts pretty normally. It's late at night and Joe and his girlfriend are getting ready to go to bed. They’re laughing and play fighting before they turn off all lights and leave the kitchen.
The following two hours, there’s no movement at all, except for lights coming in from the street. Then something starts to stir. And nothing could have prepared Joe for what he was about to see.
This Had To Be A Joke?
Joe is lost for words. This had to be a joke, right? It had to be a prank pulled by his friends. He watches the footage again. And with every glance, he feels sick.
This was not what he expected to see. How could it be possible? There was no coming back from this. No way at all.
Who Was She?
Joe’s heartbeat quickens as he watches a woman slowly pull herself out of the storage area above the kitchen entrance. This woman had to be his girlfriend Lucy, right? She must have found the camera and done this as a joke.
But then the hairs on the back of Joe’s neck stand up straight. He knew this was wrong yet he continued to watch the footage, hypnotized. But what he saw next made him run far away from his apartment.
Hundreds Of Questions
The woman, who Joe thought was his girlfriend, leaves her hiding place, crawls on a table, and stabilizes. Then she reaches out and grabs a nearby step, which she uses to jump to the ground. As Joe watched this woman, he had a feeling she had done this before.
His mind was full of questions as he tried to understand why his girlfriend would go through all this trouble. Then the woman looks up into the camera and Joe can see her face as clear as day. It’s not his girlfriend.
A Stranger
The woman in the video is none other than a complete stranger! Joe feels sick to his stomach, but he knew he had to watch more. Joe watches the woman go around his kitchen, as comfortable as if it were her own.
She opens the fridge door, snatches a bottle of orange juice, and drinks it straight out of the box. Then she climbs on the sink and urinates. Joe watches the nightmare unfold, but more horror was to be uncovered.
What Was Going On?
At one point in the video, the woman is seen nestled on Joe's couch nibbling when she hears a noise from the bedroom. Surprised, she enters Joe’s kitchen and hides. Then Joe appears and goes to the fridge for a glass of water.
A few minutes after her departure, the woman returns and resumes her snacking. What was going on? It takes hours, but Joe can not keep his eyes off the footage. Who was this woman?
Finishing The Footage
Joe watches as the morning light begins to creep into his apartment, then the woman unnervingly crawls back into the storage area. Shortly after, he sees himself entering the kitchen, dressed in his everyday clothes.
He opens the fridge and drinks the juice straight out of the box, just as the woman did a few hours ago! Joe finishes watching the footage until the end and he’s left frozen in his tracks, trying to comprehend what he just witnessed. All the while an unknown intruder could potentially be hiding a mere few feet away from him.
Someone In Their House
Joe felt a mixture of terror and relief - after all, the footage proved he was not crazy. Someone had stolen his food. But it was not his girlfriend, as he had thought from the beginning. It was something much worse.
There was a strange woman in their apartment, hidden in a storage room in the kitchen - just a few short steps from the bedroom. He had to get out of there, quickly.
Going To The Cops
Joe grabbed his computer and rushed out of his apartment. He ran to the police station, where he explained what had happened and showed them the footage. "I do not know how she got there," he proclaimed. "The only way to get in is through the window because I'm on the top floor and there's an escape route."
The cops, thankfully, understood Joe’s concerns and then escorted him home, where they were able to arrest the woman. But what they discovered only made him even more petrified.
The Truth Is Out
After questioning the woman, the police discovered that she had been hiding in Joe's apartment for at least two weeks!
Once the ordeal ended, he posted the terrifying video on YouTube, where he quickly became viral. And while many doubt the validity of Joe's story, it's not a bad idea to regularly check your storage space: you never know what might be hiding there, as Tracy from South Carolina was about to find out...
Crazier Than Fiction
It was like a horror movie coming to life. Part of her even wondered if she had a very lucid nightmare. There was no other way for her to explain what was happening.
But it was not a fiction. He was there, at home, since who knows how long without it having any clue. And when all the implications of this fact began to emerge for her, she could not help but panic.
Pillar Of The Family
Even before this incident, life had not been easy for Tracy. She was a single mother of five and lived in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Throughout her life, she struggled to make ends meet and provide for her family.
Some of her children were now grown up, but they all lived together in the family home to reduce costs. Despite their circumstances, they lived a happy family life. But then, something began to happen that threatened all that.
The Sounds Of The Floor
One day in September, Tracy started hearing strange noises coming from the attic. The first thing she thought was that there might be an intruder, but she was always very careful to lock all doors and windows.
She did it as a precaution because they lived in a poor part of the city and burglaries were quite common. She saw no sign of forced entry and thought it was all her imagination. But she soon began to wonder if anything else was happening.
Trying To Find The Source
Over the next few days, Tracy still heard random sounds coming from above. She asked her children if they were playing in the attic, but they all said no.
She believed them - the attic was dark and moldy and was not a fun place for kids. She rarely went up there herself, except when she had something to store. But as the noises continued, she proposed a different theory.
A Plausible Theory
One day, as she cleaned the house, Tracy realized that the sounds in the attic were also moving from room to room. Then, it came to mind that the strange noises could very well come from a possum or raccoon that had somehow found his way into the house.
She thought she would need to call animal control. However, it was a Saturday and they did not work on weekends. So she decided to wait until Monday. But the presence in the attic seemed to have other projects.
In The Dead Of Night
That night, around half past two in the morning, Tracy was awakened by creaks coming from the ceiling. But this time, she also heard gentle beating noises on the floor of her own room.
She looked down and in the twilight of the night, she saw a number of nails scattered on the carpet. She realized that the nails were coming out of the planks of the ceiling. Her heart stopped - it was not a possum or a raccoon.
Could It Be Paranormal?
Tracy remembers thinking "there must be poltergeist problems." She was too terrified to go to the attic to investigate.
So she threw the blanket over her head and did her best to go back to sleep. But she knew she had to do something about the entity occupying her attic. She could not continue living like this. The next morning she acted.
Getting To The Bottom Of Things
In the morning, Tracy was relieved to hear that her nephew was visiting her two grown-up sons at her home. The presence of the three young men comforted her.
She told them about the noise in the ceiling and asked them to check the attic. The men climbed as Tracy waited just outside the attic door in the hallway. None of them were prepared for what they would find.
Certainly Something There
Once in the attic, the young men realized that something was wrong. A strong nauseating odor struck them immediately and they saw garbage scattered on the ground.
The old coats and jackets that Tracy kept for storage were all in a corner of the room near the heating unit. And then they saw it - it was a body.
Caught Red-Handed
As soon as the men began to move into the attic, the body in the corner stirred. Apparently, he was sleeping there before they went up.
He looked at them and they looked at him, and they all stopped in surprise for a few seconds. Then the man got up and rushed past them and towards the stairs. Tracy saw him as he escaped and she realized that she knew this man.
Breath Of The Past
The family called the police, but the man had already left before they arrived. But it was not the worst. Tracy recognized the intruder.
More than 12 years ago, he did some housework for the family. Tracy and he had been together for a short time. But since he had a history of criminal behavior, Tracy broke up with him. The man did not take the break well and therefore fought back.
Impossible To Get Rid Of Him
The man wanted to find Tracy, but she refused. Then one day, he stole a truck. He was then caught and sent to prison. But while he was locked up, he continued to harass Tracy.
He sent her letters informing her that he had changed and begging her to pick him up. After his release, Tracy heard the rumor that he had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. But she discovered the truth in the worst possible way.
The Truth Is Revealed
The police responded to the call and searched the attic where the man had been found. It seemed like he had been living there for a few weeks.
"He had packed all the old coats and jackets in the heating unit and was sleeping in the heating unit," says Tracy. They also found a number of plastic cups where he had relieved himself, which explains the bad smell. But an even more frightening discovery was soon made.
Spying
The investigators discovered that the intruder had installed the vents on the ceiling so he could look into Tracy's room. Tracy could not contain her horror at the thought.
"I am stunned," she said in an interview. "How can you look at someone through a vent?" What was worse, they still did not know how he had entered the attic, because the only door leading to it was in the hallway between his children's bedrooms. And the threat remained.
Still on the run
Although the police know his identity, the man was able to escape the authorities and is still on the run. A few days later, Tracy thought she saw him near her house, but the police were not able to find him.
She wants justice. "I want him to be charged," she said. "It could be someone else to whom he is doing the same thing, but she might not be so lucky."