Original subtitles

[eerie music]

It would make a perfect nursery for the baby.

STACY: It got to the point where Jason would only

sleep in the closet.

There didn't seem to be anything unsafe about it.

Sanctify this home.

JEN: As he started the blessing, everything

seemed a little different.

Not in a good way.

WOMAN: (WHISPERING) It's going to be such a beautiful baby.

[screaming]

You're OK.

You're OK.

All right.

[screaming]

[panting]

This was the house I was looking for.

[eerie music]

JEN: So my husband Joel and I had just gotten

into town for his new job.

We were staying in a hotel until we found a place.

And it was starting to get really expensive.

Joel's new job took him out of town a lot.

So it was pretty much up to me to find us a place to rent.

I was three months pregnant, so I

wanted to find a place that was inexpensive

but also one that had an extra room so I could turn it

into a nursery.

Oh, hi.

How are you?

JEN (VOICEOVER): I looked at nine places that day.

But this real estate broker promised me

on the phone this was the house I was looking for.

The house was beautiful, more space than we needed even.

And I just kept thinking, how can this real estate broker

actually think that this was in my price range?

Then I see an extra room.

And it would make a perfect nursery for the baby.

And I'm imagining where the crib would go

and where the changing station would be.

And then something catches my eye.

The room is completely empty, but there's

something on the top shelf of this closet.

And I'm thinking, no way that's what I think it is.

So I reach up and I grab it.

It's a tiny little girl's baby shoe.

And I'm thinking, this house is meant for us.

This is like an omen.

But I still didn't know how we were going to afford the place.

I am afraid this is probably going

to be out of our price range.

Well, this is what the owner is asking for.

That is quite a low price for the area.

JEN (VOICEOVER): The rent was cheap--

I mean, really cheap.

But the landlord insisted on a year lease

and wanted a huge security deposit,

because the last couple broke their lease

and moved out with no notice.

And it was the strangest thing.

I mean, she was pregnant.

You would just have to sign here, here, and here.

JEN (VOICEOVER): I really should have checked with Joel,

but I was just afraid that I was going to lose

the house to someone else.

Congratulations!

[eerie music]

JOEL (VOICEOVER): The house really was perfect--

three bedrooms, a pool.

Finally we were going to be able to stay in one place

and raise a family.

And of course we had Jen's lucky shoe watching over us.

[eerie music]

JEN (VOICEOVER): I loved that pool.

I would swim almost every night for about an hour.

One night, after I'd finished swimming,

I was wasting time gathering leaves.

And I saw something at the bottom of the deep end.

And I'm staring at it.

And I'm thinking, that can't be what I think it is.

How is that possible?

So I scoop it up with a net.

It's another baby shoe, identical to the one that I had

found in the nursery.

Maybe it's the same one.

I don't even know.

But how could that be?

Because that one is hanging in my car.

It was the same shoe.

Joel?

I just found this in the pool.

And then I went out to the car and I looked in the car,

and the baby shoe wasn't in the car.

OK.

So I'm trying to figure out how our baby shoe got

in the pool.

JOEL (VOICEOVER): I've never seen her so worked up

about nothing.

I mean, it's an old shoe.

Did you put it in there?

No, I didn't put a shoe in a pool.

JEN (VOICEOVER): The words are coming out of my mouth.

And I know that I sound crazy.

And I think I was just too scared to tell Joel

because I felt silly.

So I just ended up sounding crazy.

That's weird because it just appeared there.

[eerie music]

JEN (VOICEOVER): I was raised Catholic,

but Joel's an atheist.

So I didn't really want him to know I was going

to have the house blessed.

He would have hated that idea.

Hi.

Welcome.

JEN (VOICEOVER): So I arranged for the house blessing

when I knew Joel would be working.

I'm Father Timothy.

Thank you.

I gotta admit, it felt a little strange

to have a priest in my house after all these years.

Dear Heavenly Father, God Almighty--

JEN (VOICEOVER): As soon as he started the blessing,

everything seemed a little different.

Not in a good way.

The air just got more dense.

Sanctify this home.

JEN (VOICEOVER): He just stopped, and then he

just rushed inside the bathroom without any explanation.

But I could still hear him from outside.

[retching]

Father, are you OK?

JEN (VOICEOVER): It was like he didn't even see me.

I called the church later that day to find out what happened.

They hung up on me.

[eerie music]

[kettle whistling]

Joel was out of town a lot.

I loved that house, but it was so big.

Every time Joel left, I would kind of feel vulnerable.

As I bent down to pick up the spoon,

I noticed all these tiny little puddles.

And they were leading all the way

from the pool to the kitchen and then upstairs.

They looked like little footprints.

I was terrified, but part of me had to know where they led.

So I followed them.

My heart was pounding.

I knew I should go back downstairs and call the police,

but I just--

I kept going.

[tense music]

I managed to convince myself that it was just

my imagination.

But now I know better.

Later that night, I was trying to sleep.

I thought Joel was home early.

WOMAN: (WHISPERING) It's going to be such a beautiful baby.

I couldn't sleep for four days.

Jen, I'm home.

Joel, we can't stay here.

We can't stay here.

We have to go.

Now.

Tonight.

We can't stay here.

She was hysterical.

And I was sure it was all in her head.

We can't move out because you're having bad dreams.

No, they're not dreams, Joel.

I know what a dream is, and they're not dreams.

JEN (VOICEOVER): The truth is, I couldn't be sure

what I was experiencing.

A part of me thought, maybe I am sleep deprived or depressed.

I blamed the house.

But really I had no idea.

I don't want to live here.

JOEL (VOICEOVER): I hated seeing Jen so upset,

and I didn't know what to do.

So I made a promise that I knew at the time I wasn't going

to be able to keep.

I will stay off the road, OK?

I'll stay here until you feel comfortable.

That's the best I can do.

[eerie music]

[knocking]

Jen, honey, can you get that?

A few days later there was a knock at the door.

[non-english speech]

Excuse me?

[non-english speech]

It was some crazy priest just talking nonsense.

[non-english speech]

I don't understand what you're saying.

[non-english speech]

JEN (VOICEOVER): Oh, god.

It's the same priest that ran out

of the house a couple of weeks ago.

Only this time there's something wrong with his eyes.

I needed to talk to him, but I didn't want anybody

to know that he'd been here to bless the house.

Do you guys need something?

[non-english speech]

Look, you're starting to freak my wife out, all right?

Time to go.

[non-english speech]

OK.

Wait, wait.

What's he saying?

I'm so sorry.

He hasn't been well.

He insisted I bring him here.

No, what is he saying?

It's Latin.

He's saying, she wants the baby.

[non-english speech]

Yeah, of course she wants the baby.

All right.

Have a great day.

JEN (VOICEOVER): I knew exactly what he was talking about.

But to this day, I haven't even told Joel.

[eerie music]

JOEL (VOICEOVER): Everything calmed down for a while.

I was staying home with Jen.

And I was going a little stir crazy, so I did a lot of work

on the nursery.

And I bought these cool baby monitors

where you can listen to the baby from up to, like, a mile away.

Can you take this to the baby's room?

We'll see how it looks from there.

Babe, it's on, where are you?

Hello.

There you are.

Can you see me?

Yeah.

All right, it works great.

JOEL (VOICEOVER): Later that night, I

was working on my laptop.

I noticed that she had left the baby monitor on.

Hey, Jen, staring at that crib's

not going to make the baby get here any faster.

JOEL (VOICEOVER): When she didn't answer,

I got this weird feeling.

Jen?

Honey, why are you yelling?

You were just in the nursery, right?

No, I was in the garage.

Why?

Nothing.

JOEL (VOICEOVER): I never told her about it.

I guess at the time I had convinced myself

that it was my imagination.

But now I think that I was afraid to scare Jen even more

and make things harder.

[eerie music]

JEN (VOICEOVER): Joel was working late again,

so I thought a good swim would help me sleep.

[screaming]

That was not my imagination.

I wanted to get the hell out of that house.

And then I thought, what if that has nothing to do with it?

What if it's me?

Maybe this thing is stalking me.

I needed to know more about the house.

I needed to know who died there.

I did some research, and I found the chain of title

to the house.

Turned out in the last 16 years, no one

had lived there for more than two years at a time.

I thought that was weird.

Then I searched the address for the house

to see what happened 16 years ago.

And I found a news report.

Just hours ago, police arrived to a grisly scene

outside this suburban home.

I immediately recognized our house.

A young mother allegedly drowned her two-year-old

daughter and herself in their backyard swimming pool.

Neighbors say that the resident of the 22-year-old woman--

I needed to get out of that house.

I started packing a bag.

Joel was going to be home any minute,

and I needed to be ready when he got there.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

Joel, where are you?

OK, well, I need you to get home.

JEN (VOICEOVER): Joel said that he was going to be late.

No, no, no.

You said you would be here.

I was going to have to stay in that house one more night.

Just get here as soon as you can.

JEN (VOICEOVER): I should have stayed in a hotel that night.

I really wish I had.

[music building]

[gagging]

[screaming]

I had to pack up the entire house by myself.

JEN (VOICEOVER): I will never set foot in that house again.

Never.

[eerie music]

It had been a really hard year for us.

All right, come on out.

STACY: My son's father was no longer in the picture.

Hey.

Can you help me unpack?

STACY: Jason took it really hard.

My divorce was messy, and we were almost completely broke.

But just as things were about to hit bottom,

I got a job offer to teach at a private school

with free faculty housing.

It was the perfect chance for us to start over--

new school for Jason, new friends.

There's my little nephew.

STACY: And we got to live close to my sister, Diana.

Give me a hug.

DIANA (VOICEOVER): Jason hadn't seen me in almost a year,

and he really didn't know me.

But I thought I'd try and make a game out of finding

his new bedroom.

What's down here?

DIANA (VOICEOVER): We were exploring the house,

going from room to room.

Oh, that's a nice bathroom.

DIANA (VOICEOVER): And then all of a sudden,

he just walks off and heads for this door

at the end of the hall.

What you got there?

[doll talking]

It was this creepy old talking doll.

But he just became fixated on the thing.

Let's go see your room.

Is this your room?

Ooh.

This is awesome.

Look at this big boy bed.

STACY (VOICEOVER): I was trying not to show it,

but I was really overwhelmed with everything going on.

It's really good.

I got a good feeling about it, you know?

I know.

Thank you for helping me move.

STACY (VOICEOVER): The divorce, the move, the new house.

You should really let me paint a mural on this wall for Jason.

All right.

Personalize it a little bit.

Yeah.

STACY (VOICEOVER): I guess there were some things I should have

noticed, but I just didn't.

We gotta make this house, though, like, yours.

We could put the toy chest over there.

That's what I was thinking, yeah.

Maybe even--

DIANA: That would look really cute there.

STACY: We could put a bookcase in here for him.

DIANA: I could do something really cool.

STACY: It's got those things to hang things on, also.

DIANA: Yeah, I could paint that.

I could do that.

I could get the paint.

That's fine.

[whispering getting louder]

STACY: Jason.

Jason.

[eerie music]

STACY (VOICEOVER): I finally got around

to unpacking Jason's clothes.

So I needed to get into his closet.

But the door wouldn't budge.

Hey, Diana?

I thought that between the two of us

we'd be able to get it open.

One, two, three.

Same time.

Go.

No, I don't think so.

Huh.

Is there a latch somewhere?

STACY (VOICEOVER): We thought maybe it was painted shut

or even nailed shut somehow.

We had no idea.

I can put--

I'll get it.

You don't know what you're looking--

Yes, I do.

STACY (VOICEOVER): We were arguing about which tool

we needed for the job.

This will work, right?

Yes, it's--

How did that--

Hold on, hold on.

Let me just--

Jason, how did you get the closet open?

I have no idea how he got in there.

Jason?

Jason?

STACY (VOICEOVER): I was looking all over the house for Jason.

Jason, babe, where are you?

Jason?

I was sure I was hearing voices.

They seemed like they were coming from the closet,

but I'm positive I heard two voices.

Two different voices.

[muttering]

Hey, what are you doing in there?

Are you playing with a friend?

STACY (VOICEOVER): I'm a school teacher.

I know kids have imaginary friends.

It's completely normal.

But this was different.

My son was different.

We eventually settled into the house,

but I never felt comfortable there.

It was like-- like I was being watched or like I wasn't alone.

One night I was cleaning up after dinner.

Jason was in his room coloring.

He'd been doing that a lot lately.

I was just glad he had something he liked to do.

[tense music]

Jason?

What are you doing?

What are these?

It's time to go to bed, OK?

STACY (VOICEOVER): He had drawn, like,

a dozen of these terrible, disturbing pictures.

But they were just pieces of pictures--

part of a face, a severed hand, or a foot in chains.

They didn't look like anything he'd done in school.

They almost looked like they'd been done by somebody else.

DIANA (VOICEOVER): I came to babysit Jason one Saturday,

and I was so excited.

But then as soon as I got there, he grabbed that stupid doll

and hid in the closet.

I guess my feelings were hurt a little bit.

But the dolls constant talking was totally

getting on my nerves.

I mean, it was driving me crazy.

I just wanted to shut it up.

I didn't think it would be a big deal.

I'd just remove the batteries.

[doll talking]

There were no batteries.

[doll talking]

I told Stacy what happened with that creepy doll,

and she said I was overreacting.

She said it must have batteries hidden somewhere else.

STACY (VOICEOVER): I love my sister,

but she's always had a wild imagination.

It got to the point where Jason would only sleep in the closet.

There didn't seem to be anything unsafe about it.

But one morning, about a week after we moved in,

I was doing chores around the house.

And I just-- I got this cold feeling in my stomach.

Jason, are you OK?

Jason, are you OK?

Jason.

Jason, let me know, are you all right?

Jason!

Oh, my god.

How did this happen?

Is that blood?

Come here.

Come here, sweetheart.

OK, baby.

Come here.

Come here.

OK.

Sit back for mommy.

Sit down, sweetie.

OK.

OK.

Are you OK?

Are you OK?

All right.

I checked his whole body.

There wasn't a cut anywhere.

Look at me.

You do not play in that closet anymore.

Do you hear me?

DIANA (VOICEOVER): Stacy was completely freaked out

on the phone.

She said, I never want Jason going in there again.

That closet gave me the creeps from day one.

No way was anyone ever getting in that closet again.

[eerie music]

I wasn't sleeping well in the house at all.

I just kept seeing the blood on Jason's hands

every time I closed my eyes.

CHILD: Mommy!

Mommy!

Mommy!

I'm thirsty!

Mommy, I'm thirsty.

Honey, what is it?

CHILD: Mommy!

Mommy!

I'm thirsty.

Coming.

I kept telling myself it was the stress from the move

and the new job.

But another part of me knew it was something else.

[eerie music]

DIANA (VOICEOVER): I was really worried about Stacy.

So I decided to spend a few nights at her place.

I could just feel something weird about that place.

It felt, I don't know, heavy.

I know this sounds crazy, but I was sure the doll had something

to do with all of the weird things that were going on.

There was something evil about that thing.

[doll talking]

Jason wouldn't even look at me after that.

And it was hard because I knew that it was best for everyone,

especially him.

STACY (VOICEOVER): Things finally

started to calm down for about two weeks,

and I was able to get some sleep.

It was a Saturday morning, and Jason was spending the day

with Diana.

[gasping]

STACY (VOICEOVER): I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I mean, how was this possible?

[eerie music]

DIANA (VOICEOVER): Stacy was still

looking for logical explanations for everything,

but I was sure something evil was inside that house.

So I get on my computer at home, and I

start searching through old property records, newspapers,

looking for anything that might explain what was going on.

And after about four hours of searching, I find something.

STACY (VOICEOVER): I have no idea what woke me up,

but I knew I had to check on Jason.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The closet was wide open.

Diana put, like, 10 screws in that door.

No one should have been able to get it open.

They were laying there in a perfect little pattern,

like the spokes of a wheel.

Then I noticed something dripping down the wall,

but it's dark, so it looks just like black, like ink.

[gasping]

STACY (VOICEOVER): Two perfect handprints,

like a child's, but way too high for Jason to reach on his own.

Then I noticed something behind the old wallpaper,

where it looked like it had been peeled back from the wall.

DIANA (VOICEOVER): This was the most terrifying story I've ever

heard.

A mother chained her seven-year-old foster son

inside a closet for months.

And by the time the police found him, he was dead.

STACY (VOICEOVER): The more I tore off the wall,

the more I could see what looked like drawings.

And then it hit me.

I'd seen these drawings before.

How is this possible?

How could my son know this?

How could he see this?

I wanted to grab Jason and run from the house,

but I couldn't stop myself.

I had to know if the pieces fit.

And they fit perfectly.

OK.

Come on, baby.

Come on, baby.

We gotta get out of here.

Come here, sweetheart.

OK.

Mommy, where are you going?

STACY (VOICEOVER): It was Jason calling me.

So I think, who am I holding in my arms?

I can feel this child in my arms, but he's so cold.

I'm terrified, but I forced myself

to look in the mirror and--

Swirling smoke where a face should be.

And I just let go.

I grabbed Jason, and I run out the door.

We moved into my sister's one bedroom apartment,

and we all slept in the same bed for a month.

DIANA (VOICEOVER): Jason was fine.

For him, it was like he found a new friend.

But Stacy was different after that night.

I know my sister, and she saw something that terrified her.

I never believed in this stuff.

It's still hard to admit that I do.

But I know what I saw.

And I couldn't stop thinking of that little boy still trapped

in the closet.

What if that were Jason?

What would I want someone to do for my son?

DIANA (VOICEOVER): About a Stacy ran out of there,

she asked me to go back inside with her.

She said she wanted to cleanse the house

and hopefully help the little boy move on.

So I agreed.

STACY (VOICEOVER): I still think about it a lot.

I guess I'll never really know if we released him

from that closet.

I just hope that he's finally at peace.

[eerie music]