I hate nightlights. Ever since it happened, I've never used a nightlight.
I was about 8 or 9 when it happened. You see, when I used a nightlight, I liked to have colored bulbs. The ones that decorated my room in all sorts of wonder and mystery; from blue to orange to purple to yellow. It was quite a sight when I would get into my bed and just look around at my room, illuminated in the appropriate color.
Then there were the black-lights.
Not like those UV black-lights that make everything in white glow, but literal black lights. The bulbs, instead of being colored in a hot pink or dark blue, were coated with a dead black tint. Whenever I would have to get one (if the store was out of all the other colors), I would quietly grab it and quickly walk out of the store with my mom after buying it. I hated this color, as it made me feel insanely uncomfortable when it turned on.
It's really hard to describe what it looked like. Say you're in a pitch black room. You turn the black light on. The room lights up, but everything has a sort of shade of black over it. That's what the black lights did when I turned them on. Although these lights made me feel really uneasy, I never actually felt I was in physical danger from them.
That was until we bought a different set.
One day, we were out of bulbs for my nightlight, so we ran to the store to pick up a pack. Unfortunately for me, they were completely out of the brand we normally buy, so we had to resort to picking up a cheap off-brand. The store barely had any of those, as they were cheaper to get and sold like wildfire. Except for the black ones. At that time I didn't know why, but later I found out why nobody wanted these cheap knockoffs of the other black-lights.
These black-lights were made of a cheap plastic coating the light, instead of glass like a regular bulb. When I went to bed that night, I plugged my nightlight into the socket, flipped it on, and went to bed.
I must have drifted off to sleep for a couple hours, but I woke up to the sound of something tearing. Have you ever heard thin plastic tearing? That's what it was. Something was coming out of my nightlight! I quickly shut my eyes on reflex. Back when I had been afraid of everything, I would shut my eyes tight, as if that would keep the "monsters" away.
I heard a sound like something bloating up, then footsteps. They stopped, and I assume that this thing, was sitting there, watching me for a minute. Then I heard more footsteps, and I felt my covers being lifted up. This thing was getting into my bed! I didn't dare open my eyes in fear that whatever was crawling into bed with me was more than horrifying. Then I felt the creature shimmy over to me, and snuggle up.
It felt slimy and wet, as if it had just came out of an egg. Even as this thing rolled about, apparently trying to get comfortable, I still didn't even open my eyes the tiniest bit. I was already scared enough, and was afraid that yelling for my parents would cause this thing to take me somewhere horrible.
So I lay terrified next to this thing for the majority of the night. Somehow I briefly drifted off to sleep, right as the first rays of sunlight were coming up.
I woke with a start, and looked around. The creature was nowhere to be found, and the only evidence that the night's events weren't a dream, was my nightlight. The bulb was split in half, much like an egg. For a while I simply sat and wondered about how such a large entity could fit into such a confined space. I was a smart kid for my age, having skipped the second grade, and having all A's all the way through middle school.
So I sat, and I thought. I finally decided that this creature, when it broke out of the bulb, reacted with the air in the room, expanding it to full size. It must have also produced a strange sound; most likely the bloating sound I heard.
The following night, I expected that this creature would yet again come out of the next light bulb, and the same process would happen as the night before. So once again, I plugged another bulb into my nightlight, and prepared for the creature.
I think I managed to stay awake for a couple hours, but finally succumbed and drifted off to sleep. However, I must have only been asleep for a minute, as I woke up to the same sound I had heard the night before. Plastic tearing, a strange bloating sound, and more footsteps.
I kept my eyes glued shut, and once again, this creature crept into my bed with me. Then I heard more footsteps, and another one joined him! Where had the one from last night come from? I heard them both begin to snore as they laid on either side of me. They had to be some sort of humanoid. I dared to take a peek.
What I saw was beyond horrifying. At least, for my 8 year old mind, it was. All I managed to see was the face, which had similar human characteristics, but the similarities ended there. For eyes, him...it, had just black holes, that were impossible to see into. It had the tiniest stump for a nose, and a mouth was non-existent on the humanoid face. It had a sort of grayish-green tint to it, much like the skin of a zombie, but less decayed. I must have jolted or held my breath, as the one I was looking at quit snoring, while the one on the other side of me kept sleeping.
It turned its head toward me.
This time, I screamed my brains out. My parents came running into the room. The monsters had nowhere to go, as my room did not have a window yet installed, and my mom and dad were blocking the exit. My mom screamed at the sight of what was sitting in my bed with me, and my dad had his shotgun at the ready.
I quickly attempted to scramble out of bed, but one of the figures grabbed my arm and held me tight. My dad quickly ran over and attempted to bash the one who didn't have me in the head, but it bit him in the arm. Apparently it was fairly hard too, as he cried out in pain. Luckily he managed to knock the creature out, and then attempted to help me get away from the other one.
I was scared, crying, and screaming. My dad tried everything in his power to get the humanoid off me, but had to resort to more extreme measures. He lifted his shotgun. The shot was the loudest thing I have ever heard, even to this day. The creature fell limp, releasing his grip on me and showering me in a grey liquid. I ran over to my dad and mom and held them tightly, scared out of my mind.
Even though mere seconds had passed since my dad shot the thing, both of them were nowhere to be found.
Later the following morning, after everyone had time to gather their wits, I told my parents the entire story. About them coming out of the nightlights and sleeping in my bed. My dad quickly went to his workshop with the bulbs, and I followed.
He then proceeded to cut one of the lights open, and what he found was a tiny figure. Suddenly, it started to expand, falling out of my dad's hand. When he grew to full size, my dad was at the ready, with a crowbar in hand.
He gave the humanoid a good hit in the ribs, and it slumped into a seat. "What are you!" my dad yelled into its face.
It gave an eerie reply through what might have passed as its mouth. "We...are...humans...we *cough* were test subjects...for a corporation. We...we were a test. But something went wrong. They forgot to put the gene that made us killing machines. Otherwise, your son would have been dead days ago."
The humanoid then slumped even lower down, and went limp. Dad gave this supposed "human" a proper burial, and held me close.