An Unexpected Return

When I was 13, my parents went to another city for the night, leaving me home alone. That evening, I spent some time surfing the internet, and when it got to three in the morning, I decided to go to bed. I turned off the computer, put on my pajamas, made the bed, lay down, and relaxed, hugging my teddy bear. My eyelids were growing heavy, and I was drifting off to sleep, but then I heard a loud knock on the door. Someone was banging their fist on it with terrible force. I wondered why they were knocking if the doorbell was working. I became wary and went to the hallway. I looked through the peephole—the stairwell was lit, and Mom and Dad were standing by the door.

"That's weird, they had their keys with them," I thought to myself, but of course, I immediately opened the door.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?"  "What happened?" I asked, confused.

They silently pushed me aside, entered the apartment, and sat down on the couch next to the computer. I sat down with them.

"Mommy, what happened?"

They looked me over from head to toe and looked somehow unnatural... not like usual.

"We decided we wouldn't leave you alone," Dad said.

"There was no need to come back in the middle of the night; you know I'm already independent," I said, a little offended, and sat back at the computer. I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. But even sitting next to the monitor, I could feel my parents' eyes on me. They kept staring at my back.

"When are you going to bed?" Mom asked.

"I'll finish my paper now..." I lied.

"Go to bed!" Dad shouted sharply.

 "Okay then," I gave in, and as I was leaving, I said, just to be mean,

"You two are kind of weird. You should take your clothes off..."

I went into my room and lay down on the bed, putting my phone under my pillow. I didn't close the door because it got really stuffy in my room on summer nights with the door closed. My parents remained sitting on the couch, staring wildly at me (from the living room couch, with the door open, you could clearly see my bed).

"Aren't you going to bed?" I asked, surprised.

"We'll go now, just to be with you for a little while, Dashenka. You know we love you," Mom replied.

"Well, Mom, how about a goodnight kiss?" I asked with a smile, getting into the role of everyone's favorite little girl.  "Oh, right, of course..."

She got up from the couch, came over to me, leaned over, and kissed me on the cheek. Her lips were very cold, and my cheek began to burn terribly afterwards.

They just stood there, looking at me. I quickly returned to my broken slumber and didn't pay them much attention, despite their strange looks. Suddenly, my phone vibrated under my pillow. Looking at the number calling, I was stunned. It was my mother!

When I looked at my parents, I noticed smiles on their lips that struck me as sly.

"Yes..." I said almost in a whisper into the phone.

"Darling, we'll be staying another day," someone said from the other end. "I hope you can handle it alone?"

"Who is this?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"  It's me, Mom.

— What do you mean, Mom?

I stared at my "parents" and couldn't understand anything. They continued to smile silently. A terrible fear overcame me, and I hung up the phone. Somehow, I remembered that my grandmother had told me to recite the Lord's Prayer when encountering evil spirits. I closed my eyes and began to recite it. And when I finished the prayer and opened my eyes again, there was no one on the couch. Only the upholstery, which had been sagging under someone's body just a second ago, was slowly straightening in two places.