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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/IamGhosty on 2025-07-11 17:40:25+00:00.

My brother and my sister-in-law bought their first house recently. It's a nice little bungalow that they paid way too much for, but they're happy. Or at least, I think they're happy. I haven't seen or spoken to them together in a long time. When they first started dating, I saw them together quite frequently, then they got engaged and I saw them together less. I did see them together on their wedding day, I guess, but it was only at the altar. They spent the rest of the day separate. It's usually my brother showing up alone to gatherings and parties. My sister-in-law always has something going on that prevents her from showing up. We all just assume she doesn't like us and it's kind of made us all dislike her, too. My brother's frequent comments about her do not help. He doesn't seem to like anything about her, but somehow they stay together. I haven't really seen my sister-in-law since the holidays when she made a brief appearance at the family Christmas party and left ten minutes in without so much as a wave goodbye.

This is why I found it strange when I was invited to their house a few weeks ago to help my brother clear a tree that had fallen in their yard during a recent storm. I accepted and showed up bright and early with my chainsaw. My brother greeted me in the front yard and we barely spoke as we chopped up the tree and hauled it to the street. I couldn't help but notice there were an awful lot of vines growing up the side of the house. I mentioned it to my brother during one of our breaks, but he brushed it off. He said the Virginia Creeper is just bad this year, he'd take care of it later. I shrugged and got back to work.

After we finished the tree, I asked if there was anything else he needed help with. He said no and thanked me. We didn't speak for a week or so after that, but that was normal these days. I heard from my uncle that he had gone up there to help him paint his shed a few days after I had been there and he mentioned the vines as well. He said the house was starting to look abandoned and that they really needed to take care of it before it became an issue. I told him I'd try to talk to him about it when I had the chance.

I waited a few days and then tried to call him. It went to voicemail. I left him a quick message letting him know that I was just calling to talk with him about something and to call me back. I waited several hours and called again, going straight to voicemail. What a prick. Everyone in the family is expected to make time for him but he can never do the same for us. Whatever, I'd just try him again the next morning.

I tried for the next three days to get him to answer the phone. Leaving voicemails, texting, emailing, I was starting to get worried about him. I asked around and no one had heard from him in a week. Concerned that something might have happened to him, I decided to drive over to their house and check it out. He'd probably chew me out for invading their privacy but I didn't care at this point, something didn't feel right.

When I pulled into their driveway, I saw both of their cars out front. I got out and started towards the house when I noticed the vines again. They really had gotten out of control, I'd never seen Virginia Creeper this bad before. I walked up to their cars and peered in the windows to make sure they were empty. I put my hand on the roof of my brothers car and jerked it back when I touched something slimy. Wet vines were covering the top of the car. They had wound their way up from the tires to the doors and were now trying to weave their way in through the windows. Some had been successful and were slowly creeping down the crack of the door. How fast were these vines growing? I had just been there two weeks before and they weren't this bad. I shook my head and continued up the walkway to the front door. I knocked quietly and waited. Several minutes went by with no response, so I knocked louder. When I still didn't hear anything, I went around to look in the front windows, but the curtains were closed tight and I couldn't see inside. I tried the door handle and thankfully found it unlocked.

I slowly leaned on the handle and found it difficult to push, like something thick was under the door. It took a lot of effort but I finally managed to press it all the way in and saw what had been marring the way. The vines had infiltrated the inside of the house. If possible, they were worse inside than they were outside. Thin green tendrils were hanging from every corner and thick tangled cords covered the carpet. The entire room, floor to ceiling was draped in green, leafy vines. They almost looked like they were pulsating and growing in front of my eyes, stretching to cover any bare space in the room. It would have been beautiful had it not been so terrifying.

I tried to look for a source of the weeds that I could follow, but it was difficult to discern anything inside the sea of green. I picked up a particularly thick stem from the center of the room and followed it up the stairs. Each step was slick with vines and the leaves were covered in a sticky sap that stuck to my shoes. I had to crawl up slowly, trying to maintain my grasp. I finally reached the top and saw a faint light coming from my brother's bedroom. I tugged lightly on the vine in my hand and saw that it led to his doorway.

I crawled on my hands and knees towards the door. The number of vines increasing as I got closer, they sagged out of the corners of the doorway and spread down the hallway in all directions. The upper floor was just as green as the living room had been. I could hear faint sounds coming from the bedroom, it sounded like laughter. I finally made it to the edge of the doorway and peered around the corner slowly. I looked inside and quickly snapped my head back into the hallway to keep from screaming.

My sister-in-law was laying in bed, my brother kneeling on the floor beside her. But she wasn't...normal. Her skin was a sickly yellow-green and her hair had turned into a thick moss that coated her scalp. Her arms and legs were long, thick versions of the vines that had taken over the house. Their bed had become a mound of vines that seemed to sprout from her body and fuse her in place. Little gnats and other flying bugs filled the room like a haze, sticking to their clothes and faces. In the midst of this horrific scene, my sister-in-law was laughing melodically, like she was her normal self and not some hideous plant creature. My brother smiled weakly beside her, not making eye contact. Thin stems were creeping around his neck and shoulders, winding their way around him in a restrictive loop.

I wasn't sure what to do. I tried to back out of the hallway, but as soon as I touched the top of the staircase, my foot got hooked on one of the thicker vines. I slipped and stamped my foot down causing a squeal of pain to fly out of the bedroom. I popped my head up to see my brother gaping at me.

"What are you doing here?!?" He shouted at me, "GET OUT!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the vine I had stepped on came to life. It lifted itself heavily and snaked around my ankle. I turned and tried to crawl down the stairs, but the vine was too strong. I grabbed a picture frame that was peaking through the vines on the wall and stabbed a corner into the one that was tightening its grip on my leg. It let go as another scream erupted from the bedroom, this time it sounded angry. I raced down the stairs and ran out the door, not daring to look back until I was in my car and backing down the long driveway. The vines on the outside of the house seemed to be squirming and stretching towards me as I turned onto the street and sped home.

I didn't hear from my brother for several days. I was sure he wasn't allowed to speak to me now that I saw what his wife had become. I heard snippets about them in passing from family members, but nothing out of the ordinary. They kept to themselves and everyone seemed to respect that. I seemed to be the only one that knew why they were being so secretive. I knew I had to rescue my brother, but how?

I was sitting in my living room trying to come up with a plan when a letter was pushed through the mail slot in my door. The envelope was nondescript but the return address was his. Confused, I quickly opened it up and pulled out a small, light green card. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the picture on the front. It was my brother and his wife, smiling happily, holding an ultrasound photo.