Short Horror Stories.......

Name Calling and Heavy Breathing..............

I've always been scared of anything paranormal and unexplained. As far as I can remember, there hasn't been any 'activity' as such apart from this one instance in my old house. Call me a coward but the idea of there being something you can't see but it's there, watching you, really creeps me out in a way I can't really explain. Too many horror stories, I guess.

Anyways, my early life wasn't out of the ordinary. I had a pretty good upbringing, loving parents and, with me being the middle brother, there was always time for mischief between us 3. At the age of 5 - 6, my memory is a bit hazy. I can't pick any particular memories of my life at that point until I started to feel trapped in my own head. Anxiety, and, I guess you could say depression, hit me at a very young age. For the longest time, I could never work out why I felt this way. Countless sleepless nights, therapists, and counselors, but nothing. 5 years, I felt this way, and during that time, I experienced some strange, unexplained things.

I shared a room with my younger brother. He could always just fall straight to sleep as soon as he hit the pillow, something I always envied since it would take me ages. During one of my sleepless evenings, I lay there, thoughts running through my head as usual, building up and up when suddenly, through the snoring of my younger brother I heard my name. 'Jaiden.'

It was a man's voice. Not one I had ever heard before. It snapped me out my own mind. 'Hello.' I called out in reply. Nothing. I lay there listening for an answer, my heart beating fast, with that weird sweaty feeling you get if you almost drop something or nearly fall. I tried to blow it off as something that was just in my head, but I kept thinking back to the vividness of the voice and how I'd never heard it before.

I had almost forgotten about the whole thing until one night. I could feel I was getting myself into that state again, thoughts running through my head, the constant worry over nothing. 'Jaiden.' There it was again, loud as day: only this time, in a woman's voice. One I had again, never heard before. I started to get that feeling. 'Hello' I called out once more. No answer. Only the faint heavy breathing of my brother.

At this point, I was really creeped out. I thought back to the first time it happened and how this can't be in my head. I had seen enough horror films for my brain to start thinking up all these scary explanations, none I wanted to believe. More nights passed and over the course of a few more years, not much happened. I carried on with daily life and tried to feel normal and like a kid but as much as I tried, I always felt a little lost inside.

That is, until one night when I was around 9 years old. I was laying there like usual, listening to the silence of the house when same old heavy breathing of my younger brother turned into that of two people breathing. This time, I felt like I couldn't move, listening to not only my brother's breathing but someone else's. My heart pounded against my chest as I hid under my covers shaking. I concentrated on the breaths until eventually, it stopped and went back to just my brother.

I was so shook up by the whole ordeal, it didn't leave my mind for almost a week. Lets just say it took a lot longer to sleep that night. I never felt a presence in that room or house like I have heard people say they experience though and it's been almost 6 years since then. We moved to somewhere different during that time with nothing like that happening since. I can also say that as soon as we moved, I have felt so much better. I can sleep normally, I don't worry about stuff as much, and I don't feel trapped in my head like I did before. Make what you will of this story, but to this day I still can't explain why I heard what I heard or felt what I felt.