I felt my stomach tighten. My heart was racing, but I didn’t want to show fear. With one hand, I held Mihai close, while with the other, I turned on the flashlight on my phone.
The light cut through the darkness of the attic, and in that corner, something that resembled an old blanket was visible. Only blankets don’t breathe.
That dark mass moved slightly, as if it had its own rhythm. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. I approached slowly, without making a sound, but the board beneath my feet creaked.
Then, the “blanket” twitched. Mihai let out a short scream and clung to me. I swallowed hard and took a step back.
Then, something detached from that shadow. It was neither an animal nor an insect. It was a whole swarm of bats, flying in all directions, blinded by the light. The air was suddenly filled with rustling, and the heavy smell in the attic made me stagger.
I pulled the boy back toward the stairs and descended as quickly as I could. Only when we reached the bottom, with the attic door slammed behind us, did I start to breathe normally.
Mihai was crying, and I tried to calm him down, but my hands were shaking. I realized that the attic had been closed for years, and no one had gone up there since my grandfather died.
I went outside, took a deep breath, and decided to call someone for pest control. But that night, I couldn’t calm down. The image of that shadow that seemed to breathe kept coming back to me…
A few days later, a team came to check it out. They went up with their equipment, and Mihai and I waited below in silence. After a while, one of the men came down with a strange look on his face.
– You said there were bats, right? he asked.
– Yes, many… I saw them with my own eyes.
– I’m not saying there weren’t, but… there’s nothing there now. Not even traces.
I was left speechless. I went to check for myself. The attic was clean, as if no one had ever lived there. Everything smelled of old dust and dry wood, but otherwise… nothing.
However, when I wanted to go down, I noticed something: in the corner of the ceiling, a small piece of paper was stuck, like a note. I carefully peeled it off. On it, written in shaky handwriting, was a line:
“Don’t disturb them. They have been watching over you all along.”
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I put the note in my pocket without saying anything. I never mentioned it again, neither to Mihai nor to anyone else.
But sometimes, at night, when the wind blows through the roof, I swear I hear the rustling of wings up there.
And I no longer know whether to be afraid… or to be grateful.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher do not assume responsibility for the accuracy of events or for how characters are portrayed and are not liable for any misinterpretations. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed belong to the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
