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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/coolest-cat21 on 2024-08-21 03:15:41+00:00.

This story is a hard one to explain. To this day, my brother (Ben) and I still question what exactly went down. Before I begin I must give a bit of background. Ben (21M) and I (25F) moved in with our mother and grandfather two years ago. After the passing of our step-father, we thought she could use some help in taking care of our grandfather who struggles mentally. With my education in psychology and the brute strength of Ben, we figured we could be useful when it came to my grandfather’s treatment and general house upkeep. 

The house we lived in was in the backwoods of north Louisiana. My mother, step-father, and grandfather moved into the house a few months before my step-father’s passing, and as I said we moved in with them shortly after. Along with the four of us, we had two dogs. One was a small Maltese named August and one larger built miniature schnauzer named Henry. August was my mother’s dog. He has been in my life since at least middle school. We joke that he acts like an old man and sometimes even favors an old man. Henry was my grandfather’s dog. At the time of this story, he was only three years old. Relatively young and still had that puppy dog playfulness about him. The two got along like brothers, you could tell they loved each other but Henry loved to mess with old August. 

We hadn’t ever lived outside of a gated community where each house looked the same and had an acre of fenced land in the back. When my mother was a child she practically lived in the woods with her mom and dad, and now that her dad is slowly losing his mind, she felt that a place of familiarity would help his deterioration. With our new house being located, quite literally, in the middle of the woods and the passing of our stepfather, we knew that she needed help. 

At the time, our grandfather’s decreasing mental health was revealed in moments of accidents. Misplacing items that he swears are in one place when they have obviously been in another (ex: looking for a fork in the bathroom or looking for towels in the garage) and getting appointments confused. The moment we knew that stronger surveillance was needed was when he began leaving doors open. Each door left open was shortly noticed so there wasn’t an immediate problem, however, the risks that could come with leaving the door wide open were something that we didn’t want to entertain. 

My house duty was taking care of the animals and the “night shift” for my grandfather. This included ensuring that medicines were received as well as being aware of the “goings on” in the house during the night. This was usually no problem. My mother would watch him while I was at work and then after I had a nap, I would assume position and keep watch over the late hours of the night. 

Given that we were far from the nearest city, we also kept alarm systems on the main entrance and the door leading to the back patio. This was for general security, however it also helped in managing the whereabouts of my grandfather. This alarm system was the type that kept a log of which door was opened and closed at any given time. This function didn’t seem like the type of thing that is used on a day-to-day basis. 

Our routine was simple. My mother would take care of my grandfather while me and Ben were at work. Once we returned, me and mother would nap while Ben took watch and completed his share of the household chores. After a short rest, mother and Ben would head to bed, while I assumed the role and began my share of the chores. This worked for a while, and everyone played their part. However, my grandfather’s illness seemed to worsen. I also began to notice a lack in my performance with the work I got paid to do and the work I completed at the house. 

This specific night, I was very exhausted. Work was bad and life was hitting harder than it had been before. While my usual “bedtime” was about 4 am (giving me two hours of sleep without monitoring), I fell asleep way before that. I am not sure when exactly I fell asleep, however, I know exactly when I woke up. I heard a crash and was jolted awake by the smell of dirt and a warm breeze. My eyes fell upon a knocked-over trash can and an illuminated doorway. I grabbed my phone and the time read “3:00 AM.” I rushed into my grandfather’s room to see him fast asleep. I then assess the doorway. The door was lit by the outdoor flood lights. These lights are only triggered by movement and more importantly, only stay lit for no more than five minutes after being triggered. I looked around the immediate piece of the doorway. There were no strange noises and nothing out of place. The only thing weird was the fact the door was open at all. I shut the door, double-check the lock, and return to the couch where I had just woken. 

My heart was racing incredibly fast. To this day, I can remember the sound of my heartbeat echoing through the halls of my house. What could have happened if he was hurt? He was the one to open the door. My mind raced through hypotheticals. As I increased my anxiety about what could have happened while I was asleep,  I remembered that the security app tracks when the door is open/closed. Immediately I pulled out my phone and searched through the log. The logs show in order of most recent to least recent. 

06/17 - 2:45 AM - Back (unlocked) [open]

The door had been open for fifteen minutes. I slowly calmed myself down, seeing as how everyone was safe now, and fifteen minutes wasn’t as bad as the hour I thought it had been. It was now 3:30 AM and it was now time for me to get some sleep. I calmed myself and proceeded to get some sleep. 

While I was getting ready for work that morning, I heard my mother aggressively searching for Henry. She was calling his name across every inch of the house inside and out. I remember asking what was wrong, and that is when I was informed that Henry was missing. It hit me at that moment that if he had left Mother’s room during the night, he could’ve escaped. I didn’t say anything. I felt that it wasn’t relevant information, at least not yet. The dogs had never escaped Mother's room during the night before. We searched for Henry everywhere. In the bushes, at the shed, in the front yard, and nothing. 

When I realized that the chances of finding him were decreasing, I spoke up about the door being opened. The guilt of falling asleep kept me from explaining it like that, and instead, I created a vague story that didn’t put me as a good or bad guy. Now that everyone agreed on what happened, we searched all around the woods. Nothing. We couldn’t find any piece of him. I needed to go to work, so I left the search and agreed to continue once I returned.

I think I had about two hours left in my shift when I received the relieving phone call that Henry was found. When my mother was explaining how they found him, she sounded perplexed. She explained that he just “showed up” and that he “seemed to be kind of happy.” I finished my shift and rushed home. When I exited my car, the sounds of chaos seeped through the walls. When I entered the house I was met with an angry August and a calm Henry. My mother attempted to separate the two while Ben worked on calming our grandfather. I remember her begging for my help. I rushed over and grabbed August and rushed him to my mother’s bedroom. I then helped Ben comfort our grandfather. Mother was attempting to calm herself down at the same time. 

Henry just sat there. I know, he’s a dog. He isn’t going to express stress the way a human does, but he didn’t express anything at all. He just…sat there. At the time I ignored it. My focus was mostly on the psycho dog who kept barking. Over time, August finally calmed down. We kept the two separate for the rest of the day. Henry had been outside for hours and we assumed that he had interacted with animals which caused August to become hostile. 

There are two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. The two upstairs are where Ben and my mother stay. I share the downstairs with my grandfather. The dogs usually slept with my mother but since the fiasco with August, Henry slept with Ben. 

The next day I was sure to stay awake. I had energy drinks and gum to help. Everyone went to bed around 10 pm. It was just me and my grandfather watching some TV, until about 11 pm when I sent him to bed. Finally, it was time to watch TV, snack, and attempt to stay awake.

It had only been a couple of hours after sending my grandfather to bed when I heard a crunching noise outside. The noise was faint, so I continued watching TV. A few minutes later, I heard another substantial crunching noise along with a yelp. I knew it wasn’t a huge deal, but I decided to investigate anyway. 

I headed towards the back door to see if I noticed anything in the flood lights which were on. As I peeked out the window, there was blood a few feet from the door. I tossed it up to being from an animal injury that I had no business in doctoring. As I closed the blinds, I noticed movement. When I glanced to see what it was, my blood ran cold. It was Henry just…sitting there. 

I knew for a fact he went to bed with Ben. However, there was a chance that Ben could have opened his door and allowed Henry to explore. But how did he get outside? I knew for sure my grandfather hadn’t opened it, and my mother and Ben would’ve spoken to me if they had come downstairs for any reason. I pulled my phone out to check the security system. However, when the app opened, the only alert was from...

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