My wife has been peeking at me from around corners and behind furniture. It's gone from weird to terrifying

We’ve been married three years now. My wife is a great woman, I love her more than anything in the world. We get on really well, and as I’ve already said, she is life everything a man could want. But lately, she has been acting very strange.<br><br>It all started about six months ago, when I would catch glimpses of her peeking from around corners as I walked down the hall. I would call out to her, but she’d never answer. Eventually I had to go find her, and when I did, she acted as if everything was normal. I asked her about it, and she just said she couldn’t hear me. I thought she was joking, but maybe she wasn’t. I don’t know. <br><br>This happened a couple more times until I started getting really fed up. One time, she was hiding behind the sofa and I couldn’t see her. She jumped out and scared me, and I screamed. Not a manly thing to do, let me know, but I screamed. <br><br>I shouted at her, asking her why she keeps doing it. She just said she was trying to get my attention. This was extremely strange, because the way she said it. She sounded so serious, as if she really thought it was normal. I tried explaining that it was scaring me, but she offered no explanation as to why she kept doing it. <br><br>Fast forward a couple of weeks, and she was starting to do it more often. I’d be watching TV, and see her peeking over the back of the sofa, in the same way you would when you were a kid playing hide and seek. I wanted to scream, shout, tell her to fuck off. But I knew that wasn’t an option. We had a discussion, and I asked if she could please stop. She looked at me like I was crazy, and argued that she wasn’t doing anything. <br><br>I started to get a little scared. Like I said, she is the love of my life, and to see her acting so strange was terrifying, in ways I can’t explain. <br><br>Then, it got worse. At night, when I was trying to get some sleep. I could feel her looking at me. I would turn around and catch her peeking from behind the dresser. It felt like she was watching me. Every move I made, when she thought I wasn’t paying attention. <br><br>One night she had woken me up in the middle of the night, sitting on my chest. Just looking at me. It was one of the scariest things that has happened to me. She still offered no explanation, she just said it was stupid, and that I should go back to sleep. <br><br>That night, I slept in the spare room. She didn’t even try and stop me, she just let me go. I don’t know why, but it hurt me a little, even though it was my decision to move. <br><br>It had been an ongoing issue for several months now, and I was getting extremely paranoid. Then, I received some brave advice from a colleague. <br><br>They told me, in a joking manner, to try and scare her back. To wait for her, and scare her when she came out. He said it would be hilarious, and although he was right, I planned on doing it anyway. <br><br>I waited in the spare room until I heard her move. She walked past my door, and into the main bedroom. It was 2am, and she was walking around. I waited, and then she passed my door again, this time into the living room. <br><br>I stepped out, and watched her walk into the kitchen. <br><br>She was peeking around the corner again, and I could see a sliver of her face trying to look into the living room. I crept forward, trying to stay silent, and planning to jump out and scare her. <br><br>I got to the living room door, and could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I was so excited, I mean, who doesn’t love a good scare? <br><br>I jumped out, screaming, and I could see her face shoot out from around the corner, startled. <br><br>But something was wrong. She didn’t look happy, she looked terrified. Not just that, it wasn’t my wife. <br><br>I mean it was her, but it looked like her when she was younger. When we first met. I hadn’t seen her look this young for years, and the expression on her face was one of absolute fear. <br><br>She looked at me, and I could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran into the kitchen, and slammed the door. <br><br>I don’t know why, but I didn’t follow. I was in shock, and my body had locked up. I think I may have even screamed, I don’t know, I can’t remember. <br><br>But as I stood there, I heard her muffled sobs coming from the kitchen. I couldn’t bare it, and I ran over to the door. I opened it, and knelt down on the floor. <br><br>She was sitting on the floor, crying into her hands. I hugged her, and held her Henschel me, and after a few minutes, she stopped crying. <br><br>I pulled her away from me so I could look at her face, and she was back to normal. Tears streaming down her cheeks, but the expression in her eyes. <br><br>I asked her what she was doing, and why she was scaring me, and she just told me she was trying to get my attention. <br><br>I asked her if she could stop, and she said yes. <br><br>I asked her why she looked so young, and she told me it was because she was. <br><br>I was confused, because obviously she wasn’t. I asked her what she meant, and she explained. <br><br>She told me that when she was a little girl, her dad used to play a game with her mum called “trying to get attention”. Her dad was always busy, and her mum started playing a game with him, where she would hide behind objects, and try and catch his attention. <br><br>She said that whenever he was looking, she would pop out and scare him, and that he loved it. He said it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for him, and that he felt so special that she wanted to spend so much time with him. <br><br>She told me that she wanted to play that game with me, because she loved me so much, and she thought it would be a great way to bring her and I closer together. <br><br>I told her it wasn’t working, and that it was actually doing the opposite. She said she would stop, and that she was sorry. <br><br>I told her that I forgave her, and we hugged. <br><br>That night, I slept with her, and she didn’t try and scare me. <br><br>But one more thing sticks with me before I end this. <br><br>I asked her why she looked so young, and she told me it was because when she was a kid, she used to play this game with her dad. That when she was young, she used to think it was the most fun she could have. <br><br>I asked her if we could stop playing, and she said yes. <br><br>I asked her why she looked so young, and she told me it was because she was. <br><br>I asked her what she meant, and she just laughed. <br><br>So here I am now, on our sofa, writing this out. I’m alone in the house, because she’s gone out to shop, and I have a little time on my hands. <br><br>I don’t know how to finish this, so I’m just going to end it here. <br><br>I do love my wife, and even though this has been terrifying, I would go through it again if it meant we could be together. <br><br>So, that’s it.