My partner and I have barely been sleeping these past few weeks. It happens late at night after we drift off into unconsciousness, a loud scream echoes from down the hallway. We awake, both of us groggily decide on whose turn it is to get up and take care of our baby. Every night our baby girl would cry her little heart out to us. Sometimes it would be a couple of times and other moments it seems like she'd never sleep again.
One night it was my turn to take care of her, I checked my phone to see that it was just before 1 AM. My eyes felt puffy, my back was aching and my head throbbed as I entered the nursery. I lifted her up from the crib, my light shushes were easily drowned out by her cries. I cradled her and lightly bounced her, my knees and shoulders began to burn after a few long minutes.
I set her down for a moment to prepare a bottle of formula for her, but she began to cry even harder. I could hear my partner from the other room asking me if things were okay. I assured them that things were just fine as I made a mess of the water and formula powder. I rushed back to the nursery and of course she wouldn't take the bottle. "You sure you're okay?" my partner called out to me again. "I fi-" I started to respond until I dropped the bottle onto my foot. I held back a groan and I composed myself,"...We're fine…just fine.."
I try to help out with the baby as much as I can, but I work as my partner takes the brunt of parental duties by staying home. I wanted them to rest as much as possible so I try my best to at the very least make sure that the baby gets back to sleep. I checked my phone to see the time…1:17 AM. At this rate I doubt anyone would get any rest, so I decided to pack her into her car seat and go on a quick drive in hopes that it would put her to sleep.
I placed the car seat into its spot behind the driver's seat and hopped into my Ford Focus. The baby's cries had shifted to light whimpers and I was sure that I made the right choice. I turned the engine on and pulled out of the driveway of our little home. I connected my phone to the Bluetooth of my car and played light nursery songs. I aimlessly drove around as the light stirring from behind me began to cease.
We live just on the outside of the city, for miles there's nothing but trees, trees and more trees. I travel around these roads everyday, but with barely any light aside from my car's headlights, the current path made me feel a bit uneasy. I looked at my car's clock and saw that it was 1:48 AM. I'd been driving for about 15 minutes or so. I hadn't heard a peep from the baby in a while so I decided it was safe to turn around and return home.
It was a long stretch of road and I had been traveling straight this whole time, so I simply slowed down to make a U-turn to go back home. I turned the steering wheel to the left and the sound of tires on pavement cracked underneath me. I thought I could make it easily but my car ended up going off the road a bit. I heard a thud followed by a loud snap, I must've hit something. I cursed under my breath.
I pressed on the brakes and shifted my car to park to see what I had hit. I got out and walked around to see that I had simply struck a few twigs. I was thankful that it was just some scraps of wood and no damage was done. I stood outside for a second, it's the beginning of summer but the night air felt cold on my skin. The road was silent aside the light beeping from my car alerting me that the door was left ajar.
I was surprised the baby didn't wake up with all of the noise, but I let that thought slip away as I got back into the car. I pulled back, embarrassed at my poor driving skills, glancing back at my rear view mirror I saw my rear lights illuminate a figure in dark red. In the reflection I swore I saw a person right behind my car. I slammed onto the breaks and yelled, "SHIT!"
My body jerked a bit causing me to lose visual at what was behind me. I turned around completely to see…nothing, just the woods and the faint red light of my car. The baby began to stir and sure enough she started to cry. I pinched the bridge of my nose and rubbed my eyes, I was sure the lack of sleep was getting to me. I continued to back up and finally completed my failed U-turn, all while shushing my daughter.
My heart was racing a bit, I was sure that I had seen something, rather someone behind me for a moment. My daughter's cries began to get louder and my ears started to ring. "Shhh…shhh. It's okay, Baby. Just fall back to sleep…please." I pleaded to her, of course this was a foolish thing to ask. I turned up the volume to the white noise I had been playing. I don't know what I was hoping for more, that the sound would actually lull her to sleep or to drown out the shrill cries.
Taking a deep breath I continued my drive, thinking that the baby would fall back asleep on the way. I kept going with the baby's cries seeming as infinite as the road ahead of me. Lack of sleep was starting to get to me, my eyelids felt like they weighed down with cinder blocks. I opened my mouth wide to let out a yawn but I heard something that caused me to choke it down.
Ssshh..shhh..shhh..
In my back seat a light shushing could be heard, it sounded high pitched like a child's. I thought at first it was simply something playing on my phone until I heard a childlike humming of Rock-a-Bye Baby alongside the white noise from my car's stereo and I could clearly hear the humming coming from behind me. I glanced in the rear view mirror but I couldn't see anything aside from the road behind me.
I thought I was hallucinating the noise, even turning off the car's stereo…but the humming of the lullaby was loud and clear. I whipped my head around to look towards the backseat, afraid to take my eyes off the road but even more afraid of what was behind me. I turned my head and locked eyes with what looked like a young boy. He looked like he was probably 5 years old with short black hair. and he stared back at me with wide milky white eyes. He was wearing what looked like tattered red pajamas and his skin was pale with gashes all over.
I was about to let out a scream until I felt something cold grab my head and forcibly twist my gaze back towards the road. I slammed my foot onto the brake, the car screeching to a halt. All I could see was the road ahead but in the corner of my vision I could see long thin fingers. A woman's voice whispered into my ear, "My baby…my baby…give me back my baby." The words sent chills down my neck and froze my spine. The fingers lifted off from my face and the child's humming stopped abruptly.
I just sat there with my foot on the break like a lead weight. It was silent for a moment until I let out a shaky breath. I couldn't comprehend what had just happened until it suddenly hit me. The car was eerily quiet, so quiet despite all that had happened. I rushed out of the car and opened the door to the back seat. My heart dropped to unfathomable depths at the sight of an empty car seat.
I pulled out the baby's car seat and frantically lifted the blanket I had placed with her. The car seat was empty and my daughter was gone. I went through every nook and cranny of my car like a crazed person, I was undoubtedly alone. I felt waves of fear and anxiety slam into my chest. I snatched my phone out of my pocket and quickly called my partner. The phone rang and rang…and rang…and rang until they finally picked up.
Their groggy voice called out, "Babe? Wha-", I cut them off and shouted into the phone. "They're gone! I don't know what happened but they're gone!" Their tired tone shifted to alertness and they asked, "What do you mean? Who are you talking about? Where's the baby?" Tears began to burst out of my eyes and I cried, "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. They took her.." My partner shouted at me, "What are you talking about?!"
Before I could say another word I heard the childlike shushing again. My partner's voice kept calling out to me but I dropped my arm to my sides and turned towards the sound of the shushing. In front of the car, illuminated by the headlights were the little boy and beside him was a woman with long brunette hair. The woman was wearing a white nightgown that was spattered with crimson, her legs were bent in an awkward stance and her brunette hair flowed down to her chest. Her head was turned down to something cradled in her arms, her hair draped over it like a curtain.
I heard the light whimpering of my baby in the woman's arms and cautiously I stepped towards them. The woman was whispering something and as I got closer I could make out what she was saying, "My baby…my baby…I finally have my baby." When I got close the boy snapped his head towards me and opened his mouth, dark blood began to pour out and tears streamed down his white eyes. The boy began to step towards me, blood splattering all over the road and onto his torn red pajamas.
He outstretched his hands towards me and I fearfully took a step back. "Please, that's my baby, she's not yours! Give her back!" I pleaded. My daughter began to cry in the woman's arms, her screams echoing all around us. I turned back towards the woman and begged for my baby back. "No..no..no..no..no..no…she's mine…" The woman hissed. She lifted her head up to face me and I let out a yelp to what I saw. Underneath the woman's hair was nothing, she had no face…all that was left was a concave bloody mess.
It was as if something had smashed her face in completely, but despite that I could hear her cries loud and clear, "My baby! My baby!" My daughter was crying in her arms and I felt helpless. I mustered up the courage to move forward but the boy latched onto my leg. His grip was tight on me and I could feel a burning cold emanating from him. I felt my body crash hard onto the pavement.
I weakly lifted my head up to see the woman looking down at me. "Please, she's not yours. That's my daughter!" I yelled out with all of my might. We stared at each other for a long moment and the woman looked back towards my baby. After a few seconds she started to walk away from me, I panicked and picked my body up to turn around…again I was left all alone. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!" I could hear my partner's voice from my cell phone.
I slowly lifted myself up and picked up my phone. I was filled with fear, confusion and regret about what had just happened. I was prepared to tell my partner that our baby was definitely gone until I heard a giggle from the back seat of my car. I rushed over to see that my daughter was safe in sound in her car seat. "I'll…I'll tell you when I get back.." I told my partner over the phone and quickly got the hell out of there.
After the long night drive I finally got home, my daughter and I back in one piece. I explained what had happened to my partner and they tried to chalk it up to lack of sleep or something. But after that night I couldn't let the memory of the events fade away. On my way to work I would go down that road, that road that I traveled up and down countless times. The memory of that infinitely dark road, the images of the bloodied boy and woman were just surreal thoughts I suppose.
I was driving to work one morning when I saw a young woman in her 20s parked at the side of the road. I slowed down a bit to see what she was doing and I saw that she was setting up some pieces of wood. Something clicked in my brain and I parked my car next to hers. "Hey…having some issues?" I called out to her. She looked up at me with sad green eyes beneath her long brown hair, "Oh, it's fine. Just some asshole knocked this down.." I looked at her feet to see that she was setting up a wooden cross on the side of the road.
"What's all this?" I asked. The woman didn't look back at me and continued setting up the wooden cross, "Just something for my Mom and brother.." She proceeded to tell me that her mom and dad had issues when she was pregnant with her. The dad had skipped out on them so when the time came and her mom's water broke she rushed herself to the hospital with her son in tow. They got into an accident and crashed onto the side of the road, miraculously the baby had survived and here she was.
The woman finished the cross and nailed a picture in the center of it. She didn't say another word as she got back into her car and drove away. I stepped towards the cross to see the smiling face of a young boy with red pajamas and his pregnant mother. They both were so excited to meet their baby girl and they wanted to be with her so badly. I sat in my car for a moment and cried, I will never forget that night drive.