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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/SapphireLion15 on 2026-05-26 01:50:37+00:00.

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It seemed like easy money.

WANTED: Weekend House Sitter. Three Days, Two Nights. Will Pay for Food. $500 a day. Call Agatha.

I should've been more suspicious, but at the time I was fresh out of college, up to my ears in debt, and barely managing to pay rent every month. I'd been looking for steady work (basically anything that would let me get groceries without filing for bankruptcy) when I saw the ad stapled to a tree on one of the city streets.

I'd housesat for friends and relatives before, and the flyer didn't mention anything about pet sitting, babysitting, or anything like that. Plus, the pay would cover next month's rent, and if I did a good job I might be able to make the gig a regular thing. I called the number, thinking there was no harm in at least making sure the offer was legit.

Agatha turned out to be an older woman who answered on the second ring. She understood that the ad seemed too good to be true, and told me that she could prove the offer was valid, giving me an address to look up and her full name to Google.

I put her on speaker and did so. As it turned out, Agatha had been a pretty big deal ten years before: she'd been a fashion critic who was well-known for her refined tastes and almost supernaturally good predictions about what would be "in" every season. Upon retiring, she'd turned into something of a hermit and almost never leaving her house (though the fact that delivery people regularly showed up at her front door proved she was still alive). And she was loaded: born into a high-class family, she had more money in the bank than some small countries had in their treasuries.

"While this would be specifically for the weekend," Agatha continued after my Google search, "I have a series of trips coming up that I simply cannot put off. If this weekend goes well, I may hire you back for a following weekend for double the current rate."

My jaw dropped. I could be making three grand in a weekend? At the time, I thought she was either extremely generous or didn't know the value of a dollar. Looking back, I probably should have seen that as a red flag. But I was desperate, so naturally I accepted the job.

I was to arrive on Friday morning, specifically at ten o'clock sharp. Once I'd stepped through the front door, I wasn't allowed to leave the house again until Sunday afternoon (when Agatha would return). Thus, I was expected to bring everything I would possibly need for my three-day stay.

Odd as I thought that was, I was NOT about to tick off the lady who could single-handedly end a few of my money troubles.

Agatha's house was an absolutely gorgeous mansion; it practically screamed old money. It was three stories tall, painted a pristine white, a balcony overlooked the front lawn, the lawn and flower beds were immaculately cared for, a golden statue made up of numerous brass instruments stood proud at the center of the garden... All in all, I was starting to think this gig would be worth it.

But I had to pause when I saw the dolls.

Standing on poles, guarding either side of the porch, were two gigantic dolls. They looked like they were made of some kind of sackcloth, as their skin reminded me of burlap. Both of them were about six feet tall, though the poles they were attached to made them seem at least a foot taller. They didn't have mouths, but there were two massive black circles embroidered onto their faces to act like eyes. They had stringy black yarn to act as their hair, though how said yarn hair hadn't rotted away due to exposure to the elements was anyone's guess. They were made up to resemble a man and a woman. The male doll's yarn hair was made up to look like a mop top haircut, and he was dressed in a black Victorian-style suit. The female doll was wearing a mauve ballet-style dress with black leggings, and her yarn hair was tied up into a sloppy bun. Both had a very Burton-esque feel to them.

As... surprised as I was to see the dolls (especially because of how out of place they were), I shrugged and played it off as a weird interest Agatha had. After all, she'd hardly be the first rich person to have an eccentric hobby.

Agatha all but pulled me inside when I knocked on the door. She was a sharply dressed woman in at least her late sixties. I noticed that a suitcase was sitting behind her. She looked satisfied to see that I'd arrived on time and had a suitcase and duffel with me.

"Got everything you'll need?" She asked in lieu of a greeting.

"Everything I'll need," I reassured her.

"Good, very good. Now... Oh, my taxi's here!"

I looked out the still open front door to see a taxi pull up right beside my beat-up Prius.

"I'll pay you what you're owed as soon as I get back," she told me as she picked up her suitcase. "I don't have time to go over everything, so I left a list of rules for you on the kitchen table. Follow it to the letter and everything will be fine. See you Sunday!"

With that she went out the door, shutting it behind her.

I blinked, wondering if that was normal behavior for someone leaving their (clearly expensive) house to a total stranger.

Setting my bags down in the foyer, I walked through the gargantuan house until I found the kitchen. As she'd promised, a list had been written down. It was written on custom stationary, and left next to a sticky note that read "PLEASE FOLLOW ALL RULES!"

I dutifully read over the list. Some of the instructions were rather self-explanatory, but others were... Just plain weird.

1. Please feed the goldfish in the library. The food is in a jar on the cabinet next to the tank. Just one pinch a day!
2. Every night at nine o'clock sharp, you must be in the living room, staring out the picture window. You must watch everything They do. Do NOT look away; They like an audience. When They bow to you, clap three times and close the curtains. Be sure to open them again in the morning.
3. Please don't smoke or vape in the house. If you must, please only smoke or vape on the balcony.
4. If you touch any books in the library, please put them back where you found them.
5. If you are injured or feel sick, sleep on the couch on the back patio. Be there by nine, and you'll feel better by morning.
6. On Saturday night, leave a paper plate of frozen crinkle cut carrot slices on the welcome mat. Be sure you do this by six o'clock at the latest. Don't worry about getting the paper plate, They never leave leftovers.
7. Ross, the gardener, comes on Saturday morning. Jeb, the special gardener, comes every Saturday evening. Do not speak to either of them, and do NOT let Jeb know I'm not home.
8. Do not make any noise while watching Them. They will excuse a sneeze or coughing fit, but anything else will make Them unhappy.
9. The streaming service is yours to use as you like. If you order any pizza or food for delivery, leave a note telling me where it was at and what it cost, and I'll cover it. Help yourself to anything in the fridge!

The rules about feeding the fish, not smoking, and picking up after myself were easy to understand and follow: fish were easy to please and I'd never been a smoker. But the other rules were... weird.

Still, like I said, they were all pretty easy to follow. And Agatha was being more than generous... I decided to just grin and bear it.

Though, I have to admit that the constant mentions of "They" left me with a knot in my stomach.

Friday was spent exploring the house and finding all of the rooms listed. The library was on the second floor, right next to my guest room (which looked like a luxury hotel suite). The back patio was a fully covered and furnished deck, with glass doors and windows keeping Mother Nature out and a connected heating and A/C unit keeping it comfortable. The living room was a surprisingly big room: you could've parked a car in there and still had room for ten people. The picture window mentioned in the list was so big it took up most of the wall, and was framed by red velvet curtains (which greatly reminded be of the curtains used in theaters).

After a dinner of ordered pizza and a Mountain Dew, I saw that it was ten til nine. Too curious to disobey, I went into the living room and looked out the picture window.

The sun had set by that point, with the porch light and various lights in the garden illuminating the front.

Then, at nine on the dot, just when I was starting to wonder what the big deal was... It happened.

The two dolls I'd seen earlier... jumped off of their posts.

There was no warning. One moment they were still and lifeless... and the next they were moving like it was the most normal thing in the world.

The male doll offered its arm to the female one, who took it delicately. They walked over onto a bare patch of grass, one right in my line of sight.

The male doll touched the statue of the orchestra I'd seen earlier. Eerie, unearthly music filled the air.

Then, as I watched... They began to dance.

It wasn't a waltz, or a salsa, or any kind of dance I'd seen before.

But it was undeniably dancing.

They stepped in time to the music, never looking away from one another. At times the male doll would dip or whirl the female doll around before they began slow-dancing once again.

My heart hammered as I struggled to rationalize what I was seeing. My eyes were frozen on the pair.

Finally, the music tapered off.

The dolls stopped their dance, and turned to face me.

They'd known I was there all along.

I was as still as a statue as th...

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