I haven't slept in about 45 days...

No, I did not suddenly fall prey to insomnia. In fact, my family always jokes about how I would probably sleep through an airstrike as well. And I never denied the fact, until 45 days ago...

My family has lived in an old, Victorian-style house for as long as I can remember, or for as long as our family album has the photos to show - My son is about to be born in this house, I was born in this house, so was my father, and so was my grandfather. My great grandpa Phil had built this house. And it had been in the family ever since. We are pretty close-knit with each other, so my parents, my brother and his family, and my wife and I live in the same house. Everyone gets along well with each other, we have a decent, semi-famous family-owned food and beverages business in the city, and there aren't any clashes regarding the property or the will - everyone was given what they had wished for, so no issues there.

All-in-all, a pretty ordinary life that I have lead so far. I say "so far" because I haven't gone through anything like this in my life ever.

It all started 45 days ago. I had sent my wife off to her folks a few weeks prior to that to get her mind off of the pregnancy blues. Perhaps a little change in the scenery would do her good. I missed my little bird, but her mental health was more important to me than wanting a selfish hug at the end of a long day at work. That night, as per ritual, I talked to her over Facetime for about an hour, she seemed pretty jolly and even cracked jokes like the way she used to when we were in our dating phase. Seeing her like that made me happy and content. Then we said "Good night" to each other and went to sleep.

I am one of those people who cannot sleep without a thin blanket to cover myself with. I even cover my face when I am sleeping. Thank God for that peculiar habit.

I woke up to an unusual sound at 2 AM - I know this because the grandfather clock in the corridor of my floor chimed so. It sounded like a gargle mixed with roar. I don't know, I can't really put it into words, so please make do with that description. I wondered if it was my tummy, luring me to get up and get it a late night snack. I had faced embarrassing situations in school and university, where my tummy would rumble in the quietest of moments, causing heads to turn in my direction. So something like that happening now wouldn't be new. But not wanting to get out of bed, I turned to face the other side. That's when I heard it again. This time, I was sure it wasn't my tummy. The sound was more guttural, more...malicious.

The sheet that I use to cover myself while sleeping is a very regular pure white translucent piece of cloth. So thankfully, I didn't need to remove the cover from my face to figure out what made the sound. I opened my eyes, and even in the pitch darkness of the room, I could sense a presence in the room. Not just in the room, but rather, mere inches away from me. Whoever, or whatever it was, was well within reach to kill me, if it wanted to. As my eyes got adjusted to the darkness of the room through my cover, I could see a faint, eerie glow emanating from the... entity? It was like an outline, though, not strong enough to light anything up, so the room remained dark as it was.

I could feel sweat trickling from my forehead. I wanted to scream, but I wondered if it'd be a wise choice. Not that I could scream anyway, my voice was stuck in my throat. That night, I didn't sleep a wink. The next day, I thought of talking to my wife about it, but I decided otherwise. I didn't want to bother her. So I told everything to my brother. He was concerned, yes, but only because he thought I was a victim of a terrible nightmare.

But it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't sleep paralysis or a night terror either. Why would it be? I didn't have anything traumatic in my life to trigger anything of the sorts. Also because the presence was back again the next night. And it has been back every night since then.

I don't know when it comes, but I feel its presence every night at 2 AM. I have managed to make out some of its features from inside the safety of my sheet - well, not some, just its abnormally big red glowing eyes. It doesn't do anything, it just stands inches away from me, towering over my cowering body, its glowing glare piercing through my sheet. I am a grown-ass man, I have about 50 odd people working under me, I am weeks away from welcoming my baby. But every single night, I am scared shitless. I know it knows that I am aware of its presence. But I don't open my eyes, I don't throw away my sheet, even though I am wide awake. I can't sleep either. Because I am scared. Scared that the minute I move or the minute I fall asleep, it's going to pounce on my useless mass of a body. Scared that my baby will grow up fatherless.

I haven't talked to my wife lately, I don't want her to see me. I look close to a zombie, my parents are worried, my brother keeps trying to crack jokes to make me feel better, my nieces try to get me to play with them, but nothing helps. Because I know what awaits me at night. Every time I close my eyes, I picture those glowing red eyes staring into my eyes. Just the thought of it sends chills down my spine.

I don't know for how long I can maintain whatever little sanity I have left in me. If there's anyone who has had a similar experience with this entity, then please let me know. I want to sleep. I want to be able to talk to my wife. I want to hold my son. Please help me.

UPDATE...

I came back home last evening to my wife sitting on the couch, talking to my mom. She was playfully complaining about how I had forgotten her and was probably reliving my days as a bachelor, she had every right to complain. But her complains soon changed into concern when she saw me standing halfway across the living room. She pestered me to tell her what's wrong, I made shit up about work being a bit hectic. I was happy to see my lovely wife, but fear soon crept in as I realized what might happen once we retire for the night. I asked her, almost annoyed, as to why she came back, and she said she missed me because I hadn't talked to her for over two weeks. The slight rise in my tone had triggered her pregnancy emotions, I could see tears pooling in her eyes. I hugged her, and to my zombified self, that hug felt like heaven.

Throughout evening, I did a mental countdown, I was scared to let my wife into my room. I even suggested her to take the guestroom so that she could have the whole bed to herself (weak excuse, I know), but she wanted to sleep in my "safe" arms. Safe, yeah right! At bedtime, my wife snuggled up next to me, and drifted off to sleep like a baby. Having her next to me was both a relief and a trigger to my impending fear. I closed my eyes, trying to catch some sleep, if possible. Like clockwork, I woke up to the gargle-roar of the entity. But this time, there was something else as well. I heard my wife whimpering. That was enough for me to come out of my castle of cowardice. I threw off my sheet to see what was wrong. My wife was still like a log, but she was hyperventilating. Between vehement sobs, she managed to mouth some words - "Babe, you see it too, right? Tell me it's a dream" My immediate reaction was very selfish - I was kind of relieved that the ordeal that I was going through was not a prolonged nightmare after all, my wife could see the entity as well. Then reality hit me like a truck - my wife could see the entity as well. Both of us were freaking out. I tried to think straight between my wife's sobs and the entity's silent roars.

That's when I saw the entity for the first time. I don't know what I was expecting, but this thing, it was close to 7 feet, with those glowing red eyes I had always seen from inside my cover, and gangly arms. But this time, it wasn't standing next to me, it had shifted its position and was towering over my wife instead. It had its slender arms placed on my wife's very pregnant belly. It was caressing her belly as if it was a pet or something. Its glowing eyes were still directed at me, though. It kept staring for me for what felt like hours, but might as well have been mere seconds. It seemed as though I was in a trance, but that was broken by my wife's blood-curdling screams.

I looked at her, her face was twisted in an expression of pure pain and horror, and then I saw it. The entity's hands were no longer caressing her belly. They were now inside it, as if it wasn't human skin, flesh, and bones, rather water that they had penetrated. My wife looked at me, her eyes begging me to help, but I did nothing. I kept staring to and from her belly and the entity, hoping for help myself.

And then, it yanked my baby out. My beautiful baby boy was now in the arms of this creature, and I could do nothing. I could do nothing except stare at horror while my wife lay in a pool of blood, crying the most dreadful cries I have ever heard. By the time my family came up to my room, it was too late. The entity was gone, and so was our baby. All that was left was a grisly scar on my wife's belly, and bloody footprints from our bed to one of the walls.