[Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" theme playing on music box]
[frogs croaking]
[humming along]
[crow caws]
-[continues humming] -[music intensifies]
[vehicle approaching quickly]
[music continues]
[splashes]
[water gurgling]
[music continues]
[music slows, distorts]
-[clicks] -[music stops]
[mysterious music plays]
My name is Emily,
and I'm haunted by a spirit in a music box.
[eerie music plays]
[whooshes]
I was pretty much adopted right when I was born.
My parents didn't hide it from me like other parents do sometimes.
They wanted a child and…
they got me.
[Emily chuckles]
I was kind of like a socially awkward kid.
[chuckles] Um…
I wasn't like a cheerleader or anything.
Like, I wasn't part of the popular crowd in, like, high school or middle school
or anything like that.
[high-heeled footsteps approaching]
However, my godmother, me and her always had a great relationship.
[birds chirping]
She basically spoiled me like a grandma would.
[chuckles softly]
And on my birthday,
she gave me this music box that had my name engraved.
-["Swan Lake" theme plays] -[gasping softly]
Inside of it was a locket.
[gasping softly]
[chuckles softly, sighs]
I've never received anything like it before.
I remember getting pretty overwhelmed, actually…
because of how special it was to me
that she put so much thought into it.
And…
because of just how much she cared for me and… and loved me.
[sentimental music playing]
["Swan Lake" theme plays]
[music stops]
[tense music plays]
[ominous music plays]
All of a sudden,
for a split second…
I feel this energy…
standing behind me.
I just thought to myself, like, "Put it out of your mind."
"Don't think about it."
["Swan Lake" theme plays on music box]
[music gets louder]
-[music stops] -[latch clicks]
[girl humming "Swan Lake" theme]
-[Emily gasps] -[girl continues humming]
[Emily gasping]
-[sinister note plays] -[Emily continues gasping]
-[tense music plays] -[whooshes]
I see her clear as day.
She looks like a rotting corpse.
I was frozen in terror.
And then out-- out of nowhere, she just vanished.
[sad music plays]
I thought it was just like a one-time hallucination.
Never in my wildest dreams
did I ever think it would… continue.
[shower running]
[girl humming "Swan Lake" theme]
[gasps]
[gasps, sniffles]
[breath shuddering]
-[gasps] -[dramatic music playing]
[Emily gurgling]
[music fades]
She full-on slams her hands down on my head,
and I couldn't breathe.
It terrified me down to my core.
And then I felt like I had to start telling people.
So I told my sister.
She didn't believe me. She still doesn't believe me.
I told my mom.
She…
said I was crazy.
She said that I was hallucinating.
I regretted telling her.
And then…
I remember…
I was…
sitting at the table…
with my dad.
-[eerie music playing] -[Emily gasping]
-Emily? -[continues gasping]
What's the matter?
[continues gasping]
Emily, what is the matter?
Let me go get you some water.
-[gasps loudly] -[dramatic beat]
[continues gasping]
-[somber music playing] -[continues gasping]
[tense music rises, fades]
[Emily] My dad turned around,
but she just vanished.
I just start crying…
'cause I'm so scared.
What did your dad say?
He just looked at me weird.
After all of that, like, I…
didn't really tell… people.
I didn't want people to judge me
for… what… I was going through.
I remember I went to bed one night.
[tense music playing]
[opens music box]
["Swan Lake" theme plays]
[music fades]
[clasp clicks]
[eerie music playing]
-[shrieks] -[bite squelches]
[suspenseful music playing]
I woke up from this pain on my neck.
So I rush over to the mirror to see what it is…
and…
I see a bite mark.
And I just know the little girl bit me.
Uh, at this point, like,
I was just scared out of my mind.
It really shakens me that…
that you felt so threatened by this thing.
[voice breaking] You don't deserve to be scared with…
what's going on.
[pleasant music playing]
And then…
I end up…
meeting a guy.
[grunts]
I was introduced to Ernesto…
by a mutual friend.
All of a sudden I started liking him.
And then my feelings ended up growing stronger.
And then he told me that he loved me.
And he asked me if I wanted to move in,
and I said yeah.
And I ended up moving in with him…
and his daughter, Jacqueline.
So I lived with him
for about 10 months.
And the little girl just disappeared.
Never saw her.
And… for the first time in forever…
I just remember being happy.
-[dominoes rattle] -[TV playing faintly]
[all giggling]
[Ernesto sighs]
["Swan Lake" theme plays on music box]
[dramatic beat]
[sinister music playing]
[eerie note clangs]
-[whooshing] -[ghost girl humming along to music box]
[eerie beat]
[breathing heavily]
[gasps]
-[eerie note clangs] -[retches]
[tense music rising]
[coughing]
[water running]
-[eerie note clangs] -[coughs]
[ghost girl continues humming]
[eerie note clangs]
[tense music rising]
-[dramatic beat] -Don't you ever touch this, ever!
[ghost girl continues humming]
[eerie music playing]
That's when I knew the little girl had actually come from the music box.
As soon as he held it in his hands…
he threw up.
He said it felt like he was holding rotting flesh or meat,
and he could…
smell it.
At this point, I am feeling worried
that the little girl would cause harm to my boyfriend.
And that's honestly terrifying.
Right after the event with Ernesto, um,
I actually did come clean
about the little girl and my experiences with her.
It scared him.
After that…
things actually started getting worse.
["Swan Lake" theme plays on music box]
[song fades]
[dramatic, eerie music playing]
[screams]
Jacqueline? Jacqueline?
-[music box playing] -It's okay. It's okay. It's all right.
[breathing heavily]
This is all your fault.
[Emily sobs]
Pack up that fucking thing and leave my family alone!
[sobbing]
[Emily now] She attacked Jacqueline.
And me and Ernesto broke up.
[tense music plays]
I just remember, I just started crying… basically thinking,
"Why me? Why is this happening to me?"
We were pretty serious.
-[sniffles] -We were thinking about…
getting married.
Um…
And so… it was pretty hard for me.
Now it's really getting bad…
when the little girl is attacking someone else.
So then after that…
I ended up…
taking my music box and locket to a medium
so that they can do a reading on it.
[dramatic, otherworldly music playing]
[music box playing]
-Who are you? -[music box continues]
What is your name?
[girl whispers] Emily. Emily.
Emily. Emily. Emily!
-[gasps] -[sinister note plays]
-[breath shuddering] -[melancholy music playing]
[Emily now] Her name was Emily.
I thought it was my godmother who had my name engraved
-on the lid of the music box. -[gasps]
But no.
It was from the little girl.
It was her music box.
The medium told me…
that…
she…
was murdered.
And he called her a--
a floater…
…which is like a body that washes ashore.
She told him…
She told him that…
she doesn't want to leave me…
that she wants to stay with me.
I just want all this to stop.
-[sinister note plays] -I don't want to keep feeling her.
I don't want to keep seeing her now, and…
I just don't want to feel scared.
[tense music rising]
For me, it's an urgency that I get rid of the little girl.
[birds chirping]
[breathing heavily]
[gulps]
[breathing heavily]
[music stops]
[tense string music plays]
["Swan Lake" theme plays]
[girl humming along]
-[humming stops] -[music continues]
[music continues]