The Hole in My Neighbour's Garden

Hello to whoever hears this. I’m recording this just to prove I’m not going insane. [chanting from a distance]
Please tell me you can hear this. I’ve been living in this hell for about a week now. Here’s my account of the events that took place:
My name is [___]. I live in [___]. My neighbor, who I’ve never had a chance to talk to in all my 5 years living next door to him, started digging a hole in his garden. All I knew about him from local gossip was that he was a loner. He lost his wife and kid in an accident; all he has now is an alleged pet that never gets out of the house. People said he never let his pet outside because he was worried it might run away or get hit by a car, and he couldn’t afford losing it too. Still, I never heard a meow or a bark coming from his house during all my 5 years living next to him. Maybe it was a hamster or a rabbit?
Anyway, about a week or so ago, I noticed there was a small rabbit hole in his garden. I thought he was trying to make a playground for his pet maybe, or just working on some project on his garden. I didn’t give it much thought as I always minded my business. This man has been living next to me for 5 years and never once had he said hello to me. I doubt he even realised I'd moved here after his previous neighbors left.
But that night, around 1 or 2 in the morning, I heard a great deal of shuffling and digging from outside. I slowly and groggily got up and peeked through the curtains of my window to see my neighbor, still in his pajamas, digging through the rabbit hole more with his shovel. The hole was wider now, able to fit a big cat or a small dog.
Eventually, he stopped digging and just stood in place, as if petrified. I don’t know how, but it seemed like he noticed I was watching him, even though he had his back to me. He slowly turned to look at me and began just standing there staring for what felt like an eternity. Then, he raised his hand and waved at me with a smile.
I slowly closed the curtain and returned to my bed. In all honesty, I was very unsettled by this, but I was too exhausted from work and needed to sleep, so I didn’t give it much thought. Very quickly, I drifted back to sleep.
The next day, I woke up still thinking of last night’s “incident”. I got up from my bed and the first thing I did was open the curtains to look at the hole in my neighbor’s garden. I shook my head, but my sleepy eyes from last night weren’t imagining things; the hole was indeed bigger.
I tried as hard as I could to focus on work that day, but my mind kept drifting back to the hole. What was he trying to do with all this digging? What was wrong with him, smiling and waving at me like that? I had to stay late for work that day since I was barely productive at all.
I returned home around 11PM and was ready to hit the bed and sleep when I heard it. A faint yet unmistakable sound from a distance, a chanting of some sort. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but my mind immediately returned to the hole. I rushed to my window and slowly opened the curtains to see nothing. But I could still hear the chanting coming from over there.
I looked around, trying to locate my neighbor, but I couldn't see him anywhere. Even the lights in his house were off. I thought he was playing some silly prank on me, and I really didn’t like it. The chanting lasted for an hour later before dying out. I stayed in bed trying to fall asleep all the while.
The next morning, I was lucky enough to realize it was my day off, so I didn’t have to struggle with unproductivity like yesterday. I got up, a little relaxed, and had breakfast. Then I remembered that damned hole again and the chanting of last night. I looked out my window and realized that the hole has grown even bigger! It could now fit a fully-grown man.
I went outside to check the hole and noticed something I hadn’t before. The hole extended so far underground that I couldn’t see all the way down. It was like a tunnel entrance, maybe. I decided to knock on my neighbor’s door and ask him about what was going on. I stood there for about five minutes, but no one opened. He wasn’t home.
I turned to leave, and I as soon as I did so, I saw him standing in front of me. It was as if he was standing behind me just waiting for me to turn so I could see him. He just stared at me silently, then waved with a smile like the first night. I smiled nervously and waved back at him and left without a word, I couldn’t even remember why I was knocking on his door in the first place.
Night came and things got a little more bizarre than before. Around 10PM, I could hear the same shoveling and digging noise as the first night, but I paid it no mind. An hour later, I could hear the chanting again, followed by wails of pain of sorts. This lasted for about 2 hours, and I tried to ignore the sounds as best as I could. I didn’t dare look out the window.
After the sounds were done at around 2AM, I looked out the window. I swear I could’ve seen some sort of light coming from the hole or tunnel or whatever that madman was making in his garden. It lasted for only a second, like a fire was burning from within. I stammered back in confusion and fright before closing the curtains and heading to bed, trying to escape this nightmare.
When morning came, I decided I didn’t want to spend another day next to this madman. I packed my things and went to a hotel to stay for 2 days to relax. Throughout the 2 days, I was haunted by nightmares about the hole and my neighbor. On the first night, I dreamt I was in my bed, paralyzed, and my neighbor was standing at the foot of it just smiling and waving at me like he did before. I couldn’t move or even scream, and I could barely breathe.
On the second night, however, I was at his garden, and I could hear the chanting coming from all sides. I looked at the hole and felt drawn to it, as if it was calling out to me. I slowly approached it and saw a faint light coming from inside. The closer I came, the brighter the light got. Then, suddenly, the chanting died out, and I heard an awful shriek from the hole. I turned to run, but my neighbor was standing behind me, still wearing that sick smile. He hit me with his shovel and I fell to the ground. He then approached me and lifted up the shovel to smash it down upon my head. I woke up in a panic, trying to catch my breath.
You could say there wasn’t as much relaxation as I originally planned, but at least I was spared the weird chanting and the digging sound and that fiery light. 
I kept wondering what that light was and what caused it. What was down that tunnel he was building? I couldn’t find any answers and I hated how much I was thinking about it.
Yesterday, I returned to my house and saw that the hole was now big enough to fit a small truck. What was he digging it for? I put my things back in their place, had a nice meal, and went out for a walk. I began to wonder what had happened during the nights I wasn’t home, and whether anyone else in the neighborhood heard any of the chanting of the previous nights.
I returned home around 9PM, took a shower, and cooked myself dinner. I sat at the TV, having my meal while enjoying my favorite show. Then I felt it. Throughout the week, I had felt this strange, unexplained sense of dread that overtook me before the bizarre occurrence of each night began. It was like I saw it coming.
I could feel this dread creeping into me, but this time, it was much more terrifying and intense. I could feel it slowly building panic in me and making it hard for me to breath. Then, all the lights flickered and I felt the house shake. I could hear from outside the chanting again.
I ran up to my window and peeked through the curtains. I don’t know how to describe what I saw, but it was like a bright, fiery light coming from within the tunnel. It wasn't for just a second; it was a strong, blinding aura.
I thought this was all very scary and unsettling, but none of it could’ve prepared me for what came next. I saw my neighbor, chanting wildly and holding a cat in his hand; his pet, I presumed. He brought the cat into the light coming from the hole and held it for a minute while chanting. I heard a child’s cries coming from within the tunnel, then suddenly, a dark, huge mass came out of the hole and snatched the cat from his hand.
I closed the curtains and hid in my bed, covering myself from head to toe like a scared kid. Luckily, the light faded 2 minutes later, and my neighbor stopped his mad chanting.
Today, I woke up shaken from what I saw last night. I went to the old lady who lives next to us and asked her if I could join her for breakfast. She is a sweet old lady, probably in her late 70s, and lives alone. She welcomed me and prepared breakfast for us both.
I asked her if she heard or saw anything out of the ordinary for the past few days. I asked her about the hole in our neighbor’s garden and the night digging and chanting. She said she had no idea what I was talking about. She hadn’t heard anything during the night, and she didn’t see any holes or tunnels in his house.
I could feel my grip on reality loosen as I heard those words coming out of her mouth. I couldn’t have imagined all this, right? I know what I heard and saw. I thanked her and returned home.
I decided to do some research on the chanting I heard. I could make out some of the words that were said, so I googled them. I wish I was kidding when I say this, but this man was performing a ritual of some kind to a dark being from the underworld to bring back his dead wife and kid.
What I read about that ritual made me cry in fear like a 5-year-old. The hole...he was digging a way to the underworld to connect it with ours. What I saw him doing last night, he was offering his pet as a sacrifice. A soul for a soul. I recall hearing a child’s cry. The underworld took the cat and gave him his child again.
I was already horrified and disturbed, but then I read something that petrified me. It is said that no one can see the hole or hear the chanting except for the one doing the ritual and his sacrifices.
He’s coming for me; he wants his wife back and he’s throwing me into this dark, god-forsaken tunnel to have her back.
So here I am. I’m recording this now to have proof of what happened. I'm going to wake up tomorrow to listen to it; hopefully then, the chanting won't be heard. Hopefully, I am insane, and imagining sound and lights, because the alternative is much, much worse.
I can feel the dread coming again, but I can’t hear anymore chanting. I can feel a presence in the room here with me. I can feel someone’s breathing on my shoulder…
Category:Ritual