Snapshots in the Dark

Insomnia and sleep deprivation were two things that plagued Morgan the most these past few years. He thought about going to see a doctor quite a few times, but decided against it and relied on over-the-counter medications. Medications that didn't do jack squat to help. When he didn't get any sleep, Morgan decided to use this time to work on things he had put off—a mini mountain of art projects, a TBR pile of manga, and house repairs. During the night, he would stay awake, and just a few hours before work, he would crash and sleep for about four and a half hours.

Morgan struggled with his arm until he finally made the decision to get out of bed and head to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. He got dressed and went to work. Walking into the hospital towards the security room, his co-worker raised his head. “Well, look who the cat dragged in,” his co-worker Phil grinned, sipping on a cup of coffee. How many had he had so far? “Well, good morning to you too, Phil.” Morgan stifled a yawn, and Phil made a face.

“Man, did you sleep at all?” his co-worker questioned. Morgan laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and took a seat.

“Enough to survive.” Phil sighed, shaking his head.

“You need to see a doctor about that,” his co-worker said, taking one last look at the security camera screens before heading to the door. Morgan waved a hand over his shoulder, dismissing Phil, who left without another word. Even if it sounded a bit dismissive, he did care about the advice people gave him, but it had become second nature to him. That it no longer bothered him or was an extreme concern.

That night when Morgan arrived home, he kicked his shoes off at the front door and made his way into his bedroom.

Getting dressed down for bed, he tossed the things from his pockets onto the dresser and pulled on a shirt and shorts, settling into bed with his phone.

Checking his social media to wind down before trying to get some sleep. Noticing it had been a while since he posted something. He went to his photos. Scrolling through until he spotted a folder labeled The Sleeper.

When did he create this?

Morgan scratched his head in confusion…what in the world is The Sleeper?

Had one of his friends do this as a prank? Curious, he taps on it to see what random mismatch of photos were in this. A bunch of spinning circles finally load to dozens of photos taken of himself when he was asleep. Morgan cursed aloud running his hands through his hair.

Could it be possible that his phone camera was hacked? Shaking his head, he presses a button on the side of his phone to close the screen. Before he tossed it onto the bedside table and turned out the lamp. Getting under the covers and decided to just worry about this tomorrow. Maybe in his free time, he should get a few security cameras and set them up.

If his friends were doing this, then he would need evidence to confront them. If it was someone else, then they were breaking into his home unnoticed. Though, wouldn't he have seen the signs or noticed if anything was out of place? Not unless they were really good at breaking in and slipping out without leaving a trace. The following day, while Morgan was out, he picked up some small home cameras and placed them throughout his house.

If there was in fact someone breaking into his home, either it be one of his friends or a stranger, Morgan would need the footage as proof that this was going on. Also, to prove that he was possibly not crazy. When he had a chance to look at some of the recordings, it would go to fuzzy grey static around 3:30 a.m. During one of those nights, Morgan awoke to a feeling of someone watching him.

As he turned over, blearily opening his eyes, he saw an inky figure above him. Face or lack of face, to be more exact, a few inches away from his. Swallowing thickly, he closed his eyes tighter and pulled the blanket up to his chin. What the hell was this thing? Where exactly did it come from?

He knew that this house wasn't haunted, but there was definitely something supernatural going on. Morgan decided to show Phil his co-worker the video clip he had saved to his phone. Who thought it was some special effects that he had added to the others? In other words, Phil believed it to be fake and his story fabricated. Even his close friends thought the same when he sent them the clip through text message.

Why didn't anyone believe him? Even now, when he checked his phone, there were new pictures. These ones were different from the others, though. There were of himself smiling towards the camera, his eyes solid black. A shiver went down his spine as he tried to recall when he had done that.

That night, Morgan decided to stay up until 3:30 AM the time that the inky shadow itself had shown up. That time, he had woken up in the middle of the night because he felt someone watching him. Sitting up in bed, he flipped through TV channels, passing the time. It wasn't too long before time drew closer, the room growing cold, and his phone camera made the capture click noise. Picking it up, he looked towards the direction it had flashed, seeing…himself.

His… no, the doppelgänger's eyes were wide and unblinking. Morgan stood ready to confront them when he became light-headed and fell to the floor.

When he woke up, he frantically began searching for his phone that he dropped when passing out. Morgan raised his head, looking at the wall in front of him to see a crudely drawn picture of himself on the wall in some type of black substance. Above it was written in blood, "I am watching," and just above him stood the inky figure looking down at him.

Phil looked at the clock seeing it was past time for Morgan to be at work. It wasn't like him to be late or not call if there was an emergency. He sent him and text and tried to call but didn't get an answer. Phil scrolled through his phone to see if he had any contacts that could go check on Morgan. When he noticed a folder on its home screen labeled The Sleeper.

Looking at what was inside the folder it only contained a single item…a glitchy photo of Morgan and a tall inky figure.