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

I was in the kitchen making my wife, Sarah, and I some dinner when I felt that unmistakable sensation that someone was watching me. <br><br>I scanned the kitchen. Nothing. *Turn around.* There, just behind the kitchen island, as if it was peeking at me, stood Sarah. She popped down the moment she saw me look at her, but not before she gave me a big, toothy grin and giggled. <br><br>She does shit like that all the time. <br><br>Sarah likes to play games. She grew up in a family with six siblings and so games like, "you can't have the last cookie, but you can have the first cookie that's made after this one." And, "let's pretend we haven't eaten dinner... for the past three days," were the norm. <br><br>She's always fucking around like that so it wasn't totally out of character for her to want to play a prank on me. But it was a bit odd. She's usually more of a "jump scare" kind of girl and this was more… something else. <br><br>I shrugged. I would let her have her fun. I'm happy to give my wife whatever she wants. <br><br>I went back to chopping the carrots and then felt the sensation again. This time when I looked, she was peeking at me from behind the refrigerator. <br><br>I tried to play along. I didn't want to ruin her fun. I turned my attention back to the food and the first chance I got, casually turned to face the island again. Sarah popped down. But then I did the same thing with the refrigerator. She popped down again. <br><br>I had let her have her fun and now it was my turn. I began to playfully scan the kitchen, intentionally looking for her. She popped down from a few different places in a row. After the fifth time, I turned to her and asked, "are you done?" <br><br>She said, "yes!" and ran off towards our bedroom. <br><br>I thought that was that. But it wasn't. <br><br>A day or two later, she was doing it again. This time in the bedroom. This time I decided to try a different tactic. Instead of just letting her have fun, I decided to give her a little scare of my own. I could see her little eyes peeking out from under the bed. Slowly, I reached down to grab her. And then, in one swift motion, I jumped down and yelled, "Ahh!" <br><br>There was nothing there. <br><br>"Sarah?" <br><br>"Yeeeeeep?" She sounded scared. <br><br>"Where are you?"<br><br>"I'm in the bathroom!" <br><br>I walked to the bathroom. "What the hell is going on?"<br><br>"Nothing!" She was full on crying now. <br><br>"No, really, what's going on? Is this still a joke?"<br><br>She opened up the door and stood in the doorway with tears in her eyes, "I don't know! I was hiding under the bed! I saw you grab at me and I got really scared so I ran in here!"<br><br>That didn't make sense. I had reached into empty space. There was definitely someone under the bed but it wasn't Sarah. I searched the room. There was no one else there. <br><br>Before I could think about it any longer, Sarah grabbed my arm and pulled me to the bathroom. She shut and locked the door and hugged me. She was still crying. I held her and tried to reassure her that it was just a trick of the mind. That we had been spooked by the same thing and then we had spooked each other. <br><br>She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, "do you think there's a ghost in the house?"<br><br>I said, "no," but the truth was, I wasn't so sure. <br><br>The rest of the night, as we were doing the dishes and getting ready for bed, I couldn't help but think that I was being watched. I constantly found myself checking the corners of the rooms and the mirrors for some sign that there was someone else in the house with us. But there never was. <br><br>As I was brushing my teeth, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eyes. A tall, thin figure. When I turned there was no one there but then I saw Sarah peeking out at me from behind the shower curtain. <br><br>I jumped back. <br><br>"What the fuck Sarah! You're really scaring me!" <br><br>She popped down and I heard her muffled voice, "sorry!" <br><br>I left the bathroom without brushing my teeth and got into bed. A minute or two later, Sarah came out of the bathroom, got into bed, and fell asleep. <br><br>I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking that there was someone else in the house. I tossed and turned. I thought I saw things crawling around on the ceiling. I was convinced that there was someone in the room with us. <br><br>I shook Sarah awake, "Sarah, what's going on with all of this peeking?"<br><br>"Huh?" She was half asleep. <br><br>"All this fucking bullshit that's been going on. Is it a prank? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"<br><br>She shook her head, "no. I don't know what you mean."<br><br>I let out a frustrated sigh, "stop fucking with me. You're really starting to scare me."<br><br>"Okay," she said. She rolled over and fell back to sleep. <br><br>I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night, constantly reminding myself that I was an adult and that I had nothing to be afraid of. It didn't matter. I was scared. <br><br>The next night, I woke up to Sarah standing over me and staring at me. The moon was full so there was enough light in the room to make out her face. She was grinning. <br><br>"What the fuck Sarah! Stop scaring me!" I said. <br><br>She didn't move. I reached out to touch her but before I could, she popped down out of view. <br><br>I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Was this all just a dream? Could I have been dreaming the entire time?<br><br>I heard a giggle. It sounded like Sarah's laugh. I looked down, at the floor. There she was, peeking up at me. I screamed... or at least I tried to. Nothing came out but a muffled moan. <br><br>She dodged back out of view. I reached down and felt around. She wasn't there. I got out of bed and turned on the light. She wasn't in the room. <br><br>I ran to the kitchen as best I could. Sarah was standing there, asleep on her feet. <br><br>"Sarah!" I shook her. "Sarah, wake up!" <br><br>She jumped and looked around, "what… what is it?"<br><br>"Are you fucking with me?" I was incapable of controlling myself at this point. "Is this some kind of joke? Are you trying to drive me fucking crazy?"<br><br>"What?" She was confused. She was also scared. I had overreacted. I felt a tinge of guilt. <br><br>"Are you playing a joke on me," I repeated, this time more calmly. <br><br>"No!" <br><br>"Stop," I said. "It's not funny. It's going to stop, right?"<br><br>"Okay," She said. <br><br>"Good." I turned and went back to bed. I got under the covers and closed my eyes but before I could even think about going to sleep, I felt that sensation again. I turned and there she was, peeking over the edge of the bed. <br><br>I screamed for real this time. <br><br>When I stopped screaming, I realized that I was alone in the room and that I was shaking. I calmed myself down. I told myself, over and over again, that it wasn't real. <br><br>I closed my eyes. I was going to go to sleep no matter what. I had to put an end to whatever this was. No more silly games. It was time to grow up. <br><br>As soon as I closed my eyes, I felt the sensation again. I tried. But I couldn't not look. When I turned, there she was. At the foot of the bed, peeking at me from behind it. <br><br>"Sarah, stop it," I said. "You're scaring me."<br><br>She dodged down out of view. "Sarah!" I got out of bed and searched the room. She was nowhere. "Sarah!" I searched every room in the house. No Sarah. I went back to bed. When I did, there she was. At the foot of the bed, peeking at me over the edge of the comforter. <br><br>This time, when she saw me look, she didn't dodge out of view. This time she smiled. Then, in one swift motion, she stood up and rushed the bed. <br><br>I don't know what happened after that because I was in shock. The next morning, I woke up alone in the bed. I searched the house again. Sarah wasn't there. But she was peeking at me from around every corner and from behind every piece of furniture. <br><br>I called the police. They came to my house and searched it but they didn't find anyone. They took me in for questioning and they searched my car but they didn't find any trace of Sarah. <br><br>It's been two weeks since she's disappeared. I'm staying in a hotel. The police are keeping an eye on me. They think I may have killed her. I may have. I don't know what happened that night. <br><br>But I know one thing. Wherever I am, whoever or whatever has Sarah has been peeking at me from around the corners and from behind the furniture.