Waking up with a jolt, the mother hurriedly unlocked her phone and pulled up the live camera feed. At first glance, the bedroom appeared completely tranquil, bathed in the soft glow of the nightlight. Her daughter lay asleep beneath her favorite floral blanket, her chest rising and falling in a slow, peaceful rhythm. But as the mother stared intensely at the screen, she witnessed something that made her blood run cold. Slowly and almost imperceptibly, the heavy mattress shifted. It dipped downward on one side, paused, and then settled back into place. Moments later, the mattress warped again, this time bowing upward as if an unseen, physical pressure from directly underneath was pushing against the heavy fabric.
Her heart hammering violently against her ribs, the mother threw off her covers and rushed down the dimly lit hallway, her eyes glued to the shifting live feed on her phone. She quietly turned the brass doorknob and slipped into her daughter’s room, holding her breath to avoid waking her. To her frustration, the moment she stepped inside, the physical environment appeared completely still and normal. The mattress lay perfectly flat, and her daughter remained fast asleep. Yet, the heavy atmosphere in the room felt entirely wrong, and the mother knew she could not ignore what she had just witnessed on the video feed.