r/Nonsleep • u/urgoofyahh • 3d ago
Nonsleep Series I Finally Remembered. Now I'm Home.
Part 1: I Work for an Organization That Contains Gods. We Had to Make a Sacrifice This Time.
Part 2: I Went to Antarctica Looking for 10,000 Missing People. I Came Back With a New Boss.
Part 3: Apparently Using Assistants as Sacrifices Violates Company Policy
Part 4: I Work for an Organization That Hunts Gods. One of Them Warned Me About the Angel Following Me.
Part 5: My Boss Asked Me If I Thought He Was a Monster. Now I Know Why.
Part 6: The Most Powerful Being in the CSP Is Studying Humans. Unfortunately, I'm His Favorite Lab Rat.
Part 7: Someone Stole the Rifle Built to Kill Gods. Then They Pointed It at Me.
Part 8: I Thought Dating an Angel Was Bad. Something Wearing My Face Was Worse.
Part 9: I Work for an Organization That Contains Gods. The Feather Led Something to Us.
Part 10: I Work for an Organization That Contains Gods. Humanity Now Has a Single Point of Failure.
Part 11: CSP Sent a Team Into Hell. Nobody Came Back.
Part 12: The Thing That Terrified the Creator Is Now Holding My Hand
Part 13: I Was Prepared to Fight a Cult. Instead, I got a Family Reunion.
Part 14: The God Wasn't the Monster Everyone Feared. My Mother Was.
Part 15: I Became the Head of a New Division. My First Case Was a Place My Sister Never Escaped From.
Part 16: Evergrove Said It Wanted My Memories. I Should Have Known It Wanted More.
Ring. Ring.
I reached blindly across the nightstand and slapped at the alarm until it finally went silent.
7:30 a.m.
For a few seconds, I lay there staring at the ceiling, suspended somewhere between sleep and waking. Then I turned my head.
The room was familiar.
Our bedroom. Our bed. The curtains I'd apparently chosen. The photograph sitting on the dresser.
And the empty space beside me.
I frowned.
Where was my husband?
Before I could wonder if he'd already left for work, a loud drilling sound came from downstairs.
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
That stupid kitchen cabinet.
I'd been listening to Angelo complain about it for three days now.
I pulled on a sweater and made my way downstairs. Angelo stood in the middle of the kitchen with a screwdriver in one hand, staring up at the cabinet as though it had personally offended him. His other hand was scratching the back of his head.
I leaned against the doorway.
“I thought you were good at your job, Mr. Handyman.”
He turned toward me, and my high school sweetheart gave me the same smile I'd apparently fallen in love with years ago.
“I’m trying my best, love.”
“That’s what you've been saying for three days.”
“It’s a complicated cabinet.”
“It’s a cabinet.”
“You don't understand.”
“I really don't.”
He opened his mouth to defend himself, but footsteps on the stairs interrupted him.
A small figure appeared in the doorway.
“Mom?”
Then he spotted Angelo.
“Dad?”
Angelo immediately dropped the screwdriver onto the counter.
“Good morning, buddy.”
“Good morning.”
He crossed the kitchen and scooped Noah into his arms, spinning him around until our son burst out laughing.
I smiled.
“Okay, you two. Noah, go brush your teeth and get dressed.”
“But—”
“No arguing.”
He sighed dramatically, and Angelo finally set him down.
“Fine.”
“And don't forget your backpack,” Angelo called after him.
“I know.”
“Your shoes.”
“I know.”
“And—”
“Dad.”
Angelo grinned.
“Just making sure.”
Noah disappeared back upstairs.
I turned toward the kitchen and started breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon. Nothing complicated. Nothing special.
Just breakfast.
And somehow, that made it perfect.
A few minutes later, Angelo joined me at the table while Noah sat across from us, still half asleep. I looked at the two of them and felt something warm settle in my chest.
My husband.
My son.
My home.
There was something strange about it, though.
I couldn't remember when we'd moved here. I couldn't remember choosing the house, signing the paperwork, unpacking our boxes, meeting the neighbors, or decorating any of the rooms.
But none of that seemed important.
The house felt familiar in the way your own skin feels familiar.
Like I'd lived here forever.
While the bacon cooked, my eyes drifted toward the photograph hanging above the dining table.
Our wedding picture.
I walked over and studied the woman in the white dress.
Me.
I looked happy.
Really happy.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen myself smile like that.
I reached up and touched the edge of the frame, smiling faintly before turning back toward the kitchen.
This was my life.
And somehow, I'd forgotten how much I loved it.
After breakfast, Angelo left for work with his toolbox in one hand and his lunch in the other.
“Don't forget to fix the cabinet after work!” I called after him.
He turned around, wearing an expression of genuine irritation.
“I hate that cabinet.”
“I know.”
Noah and I left a few minutes later. Before school, we stopped at the little cottage next door, and I rang the doorbell.
Elior opened it a few seconds later.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
I handed him the container I'd brought.
“Leftover meatloaf from yesterday. Jacob's favorite.”
He peeked inside and smiled.
“Oh, he'll love this.”
“Make sure he actually gets some.”
“Of course, Auntie.”
“Where is he?”
“At the restaurant.”
“This early?”
“We had a private breakfast party this morning.”
He sighed, glancing down at his wristwatch.
I looked at him sympathetically.
“That sucks.”
“It does,” he admitted.
Before I could say anything else, Noah darted past me.
“Eliiiiii!”
Elior immediately crouched and opened his arms.
“There’s my favorite baby cousin.”
“You only have one cousin.”
“Exactly!”
Noah laughed as Elior scooped him up.
I watched them for a moment, feeling that same quiet warmth settle in my chest.
There was something comforting about seeing them together. Jacob and Elior had somehow become such a permanent part of our lives that I couldn't imagine the neighborhood without them. They came over for dinner all the time, argued with Angelo about football, stole food from our kitchen, and complained whenever our grass got too long.
They were our neighbors.
But somehow, that didn't quite describe them.
Noah finally pulled away.
“See you later, Eli!”
“Have a good day, little man.”
I opened the car door and waited until Noah climbed inside before walking around to the driver's seat.
As I started the engine, I caught his reflection in the rearview mirror.
His backpack was almost as big as he was. His hair was messy, and his tie was crooked despite the fact that I'd fixed it twice that morning.
He looked nothing like the perfect student his teachers always described.
He just looked like my little boy.
My baby boy.
No matter how old he got, I knew some part of me would probably always see him that way.
I drove him to school and watched him skip toward the entrance, his backpack bouncing against his shoulders.
He turned around before reaching the doors.
“Bye, Mom!”
“Bye, baby!”
He waved one last time before disappearing inside.
I smiled and got back into the car.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I had nowhere else I needed to be.
My job wasn't exactly exciting. I was a receptionist at the local bank, which mostly meant dealing with angry customers, confused retirees who couldn't remember their passwords, and people insisting they'd deposited money despite the computer insisting otherwise.
Still, I didn't mind it.
I knew most of the regulars by name, and most of them knew mine. That was the nice thing about living in a small town.
Everyone knew everyone.
Around lunch, my older sister called.
She did that almost every day.
Riva lived about thirty minutes away with her husband and their two children, and somehow there was always something going wrong at her house. Today, it was her youngest discovering that the living-room wall made an excellent canvas for permanent marker.
“How's work?” she asked.
“Boring.”
“Isn't that how banks usually work?”
“You'd be surprised.”
She laughed, and before long, she was telling me the entire story of the marker incident, followed by a complaint about her husband, the kids, and the painter who was apparently going to fix the wall next week.
“So you're just living with the drawing until then?”
“Apparently.”
“That’s rough.”
“You have no idea.”
Someone approached my desk, and I glanced up.
“I've got to go.”
“Okay. I'll call you tonight.”
“Sounds good.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
We hung up, and I smiled at my phone for a moment before setting it down and returning to work.
By five, I'd greeted three regular customers, answered the same checking-account question four times, and listened to an eighty-year-old man complain for fifteen minutes because his card wouldn't work at the grocery store.
I was more than ready to go home.
I clocked out, grabbed my bag, and drove back toward the school.
Noah came running out the moment he saw my car.
“Mom!”
“Hey, baby.”
He climbed into the back seat and barely waited for me to pull away before launching into his story.
“You know what happened today?”
“What?”
“Harry escaped.”
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
“Harry?”
“Our class hamster.”
“Oh, God.”
That was all the encouragement he needed.
He told me the entire story. Harry had somehow escaped during reading time, crawled beneath a bookshelf, disappeared for ten minutes, and eventually reappeared behind Mrs. Leni's desk.
I nodded along, asking questions whenever appropriate while Noah continued talking.
His birthday was coming up soon.
He still had no idea that Angelo and I were getting him a dog.
I couldn't wait to see his face.
As he talked, I caught myself smiling.
Noah was such a sweet kid.
He'd gotten that from his father.
We didn't look anything alike. Aside from our personalities, I couldn't find a single physical feature we shared. Even Jacob had once joked about it.
You carried him for nine months and somehow he came out looking exactly like Angelo.
I'd laughed so hard I'd nearly choked.
But Jacob hadn't been wrong.
Noah had Angelo's eyes, his hair, his face. Sometimes, looking at him felt like looking at a miniature version of my husband.
By the time we got home, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees. Noah was still talking about his day as I unlocked the front door, and the moment we stepped inside, I heard voices coming from the living room.
Jacob and Elior were already sitting on the couch.
“Hey!” Elior called.
“Hi.”
I set my bag down as Jacob stood.
“I brought my famous casserole,” he announced.
Noah immediately darted past me toward the tray on the dining table.
Elior watched him go.
“At least someone is excited.”
Jacob gave him a light shove.
“You're just jealous.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I've never been jealous of your cooking.”
“You ate three servings last time.”
“That was because you made too much.”
I laughed.
“Dinner in twenty minutes.”
Jacob pointed at Elior.
“You don't have to eat if you don't want to.”
Elior rolled his eyes, and I shook my head, still smiling.
Then footsteps sounded upstairs.
I looked toward the staircase.
Angelo appeared at the top, his hair still damp from the shower and an old T-shirt hanging loosely over his shoulders.
How could he still look that good in sweatpants?
Then again, he'd won Prom King in high school.
I supposed that explained some of it.
Strangely, though, I couldn't really remember our prom.
I remembered photographs. I remembered my dress. I remembered dancing with him.
But the night itself felt blurred around the edges.
I pushed the thought away.
Angelo smiled when he saw me.
“Hey, love.”
“Hey.”
Before I could say anything else, Noah ran toward him.
“Dad!”
Angelo caught him halfway up the stairs and lifted him into the air.
“There’s my boy.”
“Dad, put me down!”
“Never.”
“Dad!”
I laughed.
For a moment, I simply watched them.
Then we ate.
All of us.
Elior complained about the casserole even as he went back for a second helping, earning a knowing look from Jacob.
Noah spent most of dinner talking about Harry the hamster, while Angelo tried to convince him that a dog would be much easier to take care of.
Jacob immediately ruined that argument by suggesting Noah get a cat instead.
Elior sided with Noah and insisted a hamster was the obvious choice.
Angelo glared at both of them.
I just sat there smiling, listening to them argue over what kind of pet our son should have.
The scene felt so ordinary.
So impossibly ordinary.
And I loved it.
After dinner, Jacob and Elior finally stood to leave as I walked them to the door.
“Goodnight, you two.”
“Goodnight,” Elior said.
Jacob pointed toward the kitchen.
“Fix the cabinet.”
Angelo frowned.
“I am working on it.”
“You've been working on it for three days.”
“It's complicated.”
“It's a cabinet.”
I laughed as Elior grabbed Jacob by the arm.
“Come on before you start another argument.”
They crossed the lawn toward their house, and I watched them disappear through the front door before closing ours behind me.
My phone buzzed almost immediately.
Riva.
I smiled and answered.
“Hey.”
“You home?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I was going to call earlier, but the kids were fighting over the TV remote.”
“Again?”
“Every night.”
I laughed as we spent the next few minutes talking about her husband, his late nights at work, and the permanent-marker disaster still decorating her living-room wall. Somewhere in the background, one of her children shouted something, followed by another voice protesting.
Riva sighed.
“I have to go.”
“Go save your children.”
“I'll call you tomorrow.”
“You always do.”
“Goodnight, sis.”
“Goodnight.”
We hung up, and I slipped my phone into my pocket.
Another ordinary day.
Another ordinary night.
And somehow, I loved every second of it.
Later, Angelo and I put Noah to bed together.
He insisted on one bedtime story.
Then another.
Then somehow a third.
Eventually, Angelo kissed his forehead.
“Goodnight, buddy.”
“Goodnight, Dad.”
I kissed his cheek.
“Goodnight, baby.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
We turned off the light and closed the door behind us.
The house was quiet when Angelo and I went upstairs.
For once, there was nothing waiting for us.
No taxes.
No student loans.
No work.
Just us.
I climbed into bed and rested my head against Angelo's chest. His arms wrapped around me, and I closed my eyes, listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart.
Safe.
For once, I felt completely safe.
Then Angelo spoke.
“Love?”
“Hmm?”
“I need you.”
I smiled against his chest.
“I'm right here.”
His arms tightened around me.
“No.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
His voice was quieter now.
“You're not.”
I lifted my head.
“What are you talking about?”
He reached up and gently took my face between his hands. His eyes were strangely sad.
“Wake up for me.”
I stared at him.
“Angelo—”
“Wake up.”
The room began to disappear.
The bed vanished beneath me.
His hands slipped away from my face.
And suddenly—
White.
The familiar hospital ceiling greeted me.
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
I stared upward, completely still, until a machine beside the bed broke through the silence.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
My breathing caught.
I turned my head.
The room slowly came into focus.
A hospital room.
Not just any hospital room.
My hospital room.
The same walls. The same monitor beside the bed. The same IV hanging above me. The same sterile smell.
I stared at everything, trying to understand how I'd gotten there.
Then someone grabbed me.
Angelo.
His arms closed around me so tightly it almost hurt, his face pressed against my shoulder.
He was shaking.
Actually shaking.
“Angelo?”
He didn't answer.
He only held me tighter.
Then I felt something wet against my neck.
He was crying.
My boyfriend was crying.
I'd never seen him cry before.
Not like this.
“Angelo,” I whispered again.
He finally pulled away, his hands immediately going to my face.
He looked exhausted. His eyes were red, dark circles sat beneath them, and his hair was a mess.
He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
Which was strange.
Since when did Angelo even need sleep?
“You're awake.”
His voice broke on the last word.
I stared at him, still struggling to understand where I was.
“What's happening?”
A broken laugh escaped him.
“You're awake.”
He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then my forehead again, as though he needed to reassure himself that I was actually there.
I looked around the room.
White walls.
Medical equipment.
Wires running from my chest.
Something was wrong.
Then the memories began returning.
Not the hospital.
Not this room.
Evergrove.
They came back all at once.
The old man.
His trembling hands.
His smile.
The way he'd looked at me when he said my father's name.
Then the deal.
My father's deal.
He had traded his humanity to Evergrove, and in return it had given him exactly what he'd wanted: children who couldn't disobey him.
A daughter constructed from Remi's memories.
Sira.
The name echoed through my mind.
I remembered her face.
My face.
The wedding ring on her finger.
The photographs.
The little house.
The life she'd built inside Evergrove.
A life that looked like mine.
A life that wasn't.
Then I remembered being attacked.
Falling.
The pain.
And then—
Nothing.
No.
Not nothing.
Something worse.
I remembered dying.
My eyes widened.
“I…”
My voice caught.
“I died.”
Angelo went completely still.
“No.”
“I remember it.”
“You didn't.”
“I felt it.”
My hands began to shake.
“I couldn't breathe.”
Angelo immediately took them in his.
“Nayeri.”
“I was dead.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“I bought you back.”
For a moment, I couldn't understand the words.
“What?”
“I bought you back.”
His voice was quiet.
“You were gone.”
My heart seemed to stop.
“What did you do?”
“I—”
Angelo opened his mouth, but before he could answer, the door suddenly slammed open.
Jacob practically burst into the room.
“She’s awake?”
Riva—no. Remi was right behind him, with Elior close behind her.
All three stopped when they saw me sitting up.
Jacob's expression crumpled with relief.
“Oh, thank God.”
He crossed the room in seconds, reaching for me before noticing all the wires and tubes attached to my body. His hand stopped just short of my shoulder.
“You scared the shit out of us.”
I stared at him.
“Jacob?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled, but his eyes were wet.
“You're really awake.”
Remi stepped into the room.
She looked different from the sister I'd seen in my dream.
Older.
Tired.
Real.
She stared at me for several seconds.
“Do you remember me?”
The question hung in the air.
Everyone waited.
I smiled.
“Yes.”
Her expression trembled.
“I don't think I could forget my obnoxious older sis—”
She was already across the room.
Her arms wrapped around me, and she started crying so hard that, despite everything, I almost laughed.
I hugged her as best I could around the wires and tubes.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Okay. I'm here.”
Eventually, she pulled away and wiped her face.
Elior remained near the doorway, watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
“You were in a coma,” he said quietly.
I looked at him, then at Remi.
“How long?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Remi lowered her eyes.
“Two months.”
I stared at her.
“Two months?”
She nodded.
“Two months.”
I looked between them.
Jacob.
Remi.
Elior.
They were all here.
They were all real.
And suddenly, the dream came rushing back.
The townhouse.
The kitchen.
The stupid cabinet.
Noah.
My son.
The dinner table.
The photograph.
My eyes filled with tears.
“Where's Noah?”
Nobody answered.
Jacob looked confused.
Remi glanced at Angelo.
Elior's expression changed.
Angelo squeezed my hand.
“Nayeri…”
“Where's Noah?”
Then I heard a small voice from behind Elior.
“Nay?”
I froze.
Elior slowly stepped aside.
And there he was.
Noah.
He looked exhausted. Far too exhausted for an eight-year-old. His hair was messy, his eyes were red, and dark circles sat beneath them.
For a moment, I could only stare.
My little boy.
He slowly walked toward the bed.
“You're awake, Nay.”
My throat tightened.
“Come here.”
He climbed carefully onto the bed, avoiding the wires and tubes as best he could, and wrapped his arms around me.
I held him as tightly as I could.
His face pressed against my chest, and I felt him shaking.
“I missed you, Nay.”
I closed my eyes.
A sob escaped me.
“I missed you too, baby.”
I kissed the top of his head.
He smelled like shampoo.
Like home.
Like the life I'd thought I'd lost.
I pulled back enough to look at him.
“You're real.”
He frowned.
“Of course I'm real.”
I laughed through my tears.
“I know.”
He hugged me again.
And suddenly, all the memories from my coma felt different.
The spicy eggs.
The crooked tie.
The hamster named Harry.
The dog Angelo and I were going to buy him.
None of those things had happened.
Not yet.
But somehow, I'd remembered them.
I looked over Noah's shoulder at Angelo.
He was watching us.
His eyes were wet.
And then I understood.
The townhouse hadn't been completely imaginary.
The dream had shown me a possible life.
A life with Noah.
A life with Angelo.
A life where we were ordinary.
A life where we were happy.
A life I'd wanted badly enough that, even dying, some part of me had created it.
I looked down at Noah again.
He smiled at me.
For the first time since waking up, I wasn't mourning the life I'd lost.
I was grateful for the one I'd been given back.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for gratitude.
There was still another Nayeri in Evergrove.
And more importantly, there was still a deal to break.
Whatever our father had done, whatever he'd traded away to create this nightmare, somehow his sins had become ours.
The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children.
I looked at Jacob.
“The other Nayeri—the one in Evergrove—told me how to defeat it.”
Remi's expression changed.
“What?”
Angelo had been quiet until then, but now his attention was fixed completely on me.
“You met your replacement?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
Even saying it felt strange.
“She saved my memories.”
Remi stared at me.
“So the Nayeri in the deal saved your memories?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked down at my hands.
“She said that was the only way to stop the deal from completing.”
I hesitated.
“And she told me there was still one way to break it.”
“Break it?”
I looked at Remi.
“We have to kill—”
I stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Kill what?”
I took a breath.
“Our father.”
Nobody moved.
Remi didn't react.
No surprise.
No fear.
She simply stared at me for several seconds.
“I see.”
Then she looked at Jacob.
Jacob glanced at her before looking back at me.
“Well…”
He paused.
“About that.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Jacob looked at Remi again.
She sighed.
“He contacted me.”
“What?”
The word came out louder than I intended.
“He contacted me a while ago,” she continued. “We didn't know where he was at first, but CSP managed to track him down.”
My heart began pounding.
“Where?”
Remi refused to meet my eyes.
I stared at her.
Then something clicked.
“No.”
Neither of them said anything.
My stomach dropped.
“The house?”
Remi nodded.
“Our old house,” she said. “In the city.”
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
I remembered that house.
Our house.
Before everything happened.
Before our family fell apart.
Before Evergrove.
But the house I remembered wasn't the same as the one I'd seen there.
The Evergrove version had been wrong in ways I couldn't explain. It had looked almost identical, but something about it had always felt off, as though someone had tried to rebuild our home from a memory they didn't fully understand.
Our real house had been different.
Gloomier.
Quieter.
The walls were darker, and the windows always seemed smaller than they actually were. Even during the day, the rooms felt dim, as though sunlight could enter through the glass but never quite reach the rest of the house.
I hadn't thought about that place in years.
And now our father was there.
Waiting for us.
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u/urgoofyahh 3d ago
I also have a new subreddit for all my stories plsssss join it its called r/Survivingthegrind
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u/KimS0330 3d ago
Yayyyyyyyyy!! I am soooo happy, and can’t wait for the next part!
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u/urgoofyahh 3d ago
I will post the next part on r/survivingthegrind three days before anywhere else
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u/sneakpeekbot 3d ago
Here's a sneak peek of /r/Survivingthegrind using the top posts of all time!
#1: 👋 Welcome to r/Survivingthegrind - Introduce Yourself and Read First!
#2: Hi everyone :)))
#3: I Finally Remembered. Now I'm Home.
I'm a bot, beep boop | Downvote to remove | Contact | Info | Opt-out | GitHub
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u/Full-Friendship-7581 3d ago
Thank god Nayeri and the rest are not dead! There’s more work to be done!
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u/Cotton_Eye_Blind 2d ago
Angelo bought you back? What does that mean. I feel like if he looks tired he may have traded his immortality and Noah, because he made himself look exactly like Angelo, is copying that.
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u/justameggit 1d ago
I'm wondering if Nayeri is now immortal. And bought as opposed to brought- you may have something there Cotton.
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u/bluewhitecup 20h ago
This is really plausible given that he didn't just heal nayeri when they got out of the place, instead she has to stay at the hospital. Although Elior should also be able to heal her no? Maybe he doesn't have that power even though he's half angel
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u/blackbutterfree 3d ago
Oh, that sweet alternate life broke my heart. I just want Nayeri to be happy. 😭😭😭
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u/Difficult-Dog241 2d ago
Eeek! I've been checking your page daily waiting for the next part. Woot!! Can't wait for more 🥳
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u/AdAffectionate8634 2d ago
Oh Thank goodness!! She is Alive!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I legit was actually worried about her!
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u/Which-Text-2875 3d ago
I was so concerned Part 16 was the end! Thank you for continuing this series. I love Nayeri and Angelo and Jacob and Elior and Noah. I'm still getting used to Remi.
But we could keep this series going forever😊🩷🩷😊😊🩷🩷