After a peaceful weekend, a father notices mysterious welts on his son’s arms. Thinking it’s just bed bugs, he calls in an expert to solve the problem. But when the expert takes a closer look, he turns pale with shock.
It was a quiet, peaceful evening. Little Ethan had spent the day playing with his younger sister, Lily, and they had both gone to bed exhausted but happy. Dad, Dan, kissed Ethan goodnight, not suspecting the nightmare that was about to unfold.
In the middle of the night, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the house. Dan jolted awake, his heart pounding in his chest. He rushed to Ethan’s room, only to find him scratching frantically at his arms, covered in red welts. His eyes were wide open, filled with terror, and his small body was trembling.
“Ethan, what’s wrong?” Dan cried, his voice trembling with fear. But his little boy could only whimper, unable to explain the torment he was experiencing.
Dan Carter stared at the welts on his son’s arms in dismay. As a boisterous 8-year-old, Ethan was always sporting scratches and bruises from the playground. When the welts first popped up, Dan and his wife, Rachel, thought nothing of it—just another scratch from play. However, when they started appearing at the start of the day, Dan knew something was up.
The arrival of the welts was the last thing Dan and his wife needed to deal with. Their family was already familiar with the emergency room due to their constantly unwell four-year-old daughter, Lily. She often suffered from intense fatigue and a persistent cough, among other symptoms. Despite numerous tests and referrals, the doctors couldn’t pinpoint the problem, with the suspicion of a rare infection or a respiratory issue hanging in the air. Dan and Rachel didn’t wish to deal with another medical condition. However, the scratches and welts needed to be addressed.
At first, Dan thought Ethan was simply reacting to the new laundry detergent he had picked up at the local supermarket. However, when he noticed similar marks on his own thigh, he realized that they weren’t just itches—but bite marks. Confused, Dan took to the internet to research what they might be before rushing him to the hospital.
The next morning, armed with his laptop, he decided to scour the web for answers to the weird marks on his body. A couple of hours later, he stumbled upon a website filled with young mothers who posted about their everyday problems. As he read through, Dan felt the blood leave his face. A few minutes later, he sat back with dread as he realized what the problem was: they had bed bugs.
Determined to bring back some semblance of normality—which his family desperately needed—Dan decided to tackle the pest infestation as soon as possible. He quickly researched the best exterminator in the area. He believed that once the bed bugs were taken care of, they would all be able to sleep better. A good night’s rest would put a stop to Ethan’s constant tantrums and reduce the family’s stress a little.
With the plan in place, Dan fixed a date for the weekend with the exterminator. On Saturday, a man named Rob appeared at their door, clearly in his 50s. Rob was a seasoned pest control expert who looked like he had seen it all. His presence gave Dan a sense of confidence that his pest infestation problem would finally come to an end. His calm and knowledgeable demeanor comforted Dan, assuring him that he was not alone in his struggles.
Little did he know the horrors Rob was about to uncover. The routine check that was supposed to get rid of the bed bugs soon unearthed something far more insidious than what they had expected. The discovery changed everything for the Carter family.
When Rob entered the house, Dan had to hold his excited son back to explain the situation. Rob listened patiently as Dan repeated the information he had given when making the appointment. He understood that Dan needed relief from the uncomfortable situation he had experienced the past few days. He had learned over the years that he was more than a pest control expert—he also served as a therapist who provided a knowledgeable listening ear to his clients as they relived the horrors of bites, sleepless nights, and frustration. His clients often felt the need to explain that they were not dirty individuals who attracted pests due to unhygienic lifestyles.
Rob sighed and reassured Dan that there was simply no correlation between bed bugs and a dirty room. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Whatever is in there, I promise I will find it,” Rob reassured Dan.
Hanging on to the expert’s promise, Dan stepped aside. With a thorough and practiced eye, Rob inspected the Carter’s home for the culprits. With his years of experience, he knew the best places where bed bugs loved hiding out. He checked the usual hiding spots—like the seams of the mattresses, the dark corners under the beds, and the spaces between the baseboards.
After an hour, he scratched his head, confused. He knew that the Carters were not lying about the pest infestation—he had seen the telltale signs of poor sleep on their faces and the disarray in the house. However, he couldn’t find any sign of the usual culprits.
He walked back to the kitchen, where Dan sat with his son, and said, “There is no sign of bed bugs.”
“But that’s impossible!” Dan stuttered. “We’ve been unable to sleep all week due to their constant biting. I mean, look at my son’s arm!” Dan pushed Ethan’s welt-filled arm toward Rob, his desperation clear in his voice.
Rob was stumped. He knew he had to do something for the family. Although there was no evidence of bed bugs, there was something in the house that was slowly driving the Carters crazy. He decided to expand his search areas and keep his eyes open for other possible insects that could mimic bed bugs and cause the family such distress.
As he moved from room to room, he suddenly discovered something that blew his mind. While looking into Lily’s room, he passed a fleeting glance at the vent in the corner. As he started to leave, he paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him—what he had originally dismissed as dirt in the little girl’s vent might be more than that.
He could feel his stomach clench in shock as he took a closer look at the vent. There was a scattering of tiny, dark-colored bugs clinging to the vent’s edge. What he had originally dismissed as dirt was actually much more than that. Carefully, he picked one of the bugs and reached for his magnifying glass. As he took a closer look, he felt a chill settle over him. His face turned pale as he studied the creature in his hand.
“Impossible,” he muttered.
“What is it? Did you find something?” Dan said behind him.
Rob looked over his shoulder, surprised to find Dan there while he was absorbed investigating the contents of the vent. Dan had climbed up the stairs, unable to sit still.
Rob walked over to Dan with the tiny insect in hand. “Let me look at your hand again.”
Rob took a closer look at Ethan’s itchy arm. The blood drained from his face. What he saw left him pale.
“Well? What is it? Is this it? Did you find the bed bugs?” Dan asked, excitement and relief leaking into his voice.
“This is it,” Rob answered grimly. “But they aren’t bed bugs.”
Frowning, Dan looked closer at the insect in Rob’s hand. He knew he was no insect expert, but it looked like the pictures of bed bugs he had seen on the internet.
“They are bat bugs,” Rob pronounced, his face stern as he stared at the insect.
Dan felt his eyes widen at the expert’s pronouncement. “Bat bugs? That’s impossible! Are you saying we have bats in this house?”
Rob nodded gravely. He knew how shocking this must seem for Dan. “Bat bugs are incredibly uncommon in homes. They typically feed on bats, not humans. However, they could even seek out other food sources—like humans. Their presence in the house could only mean one thing: there are bats somewhere inside.”
Dan looked horrified at the thought that bats had taken up residence in his home. He wondered how long they had been there. As he tried to wrap his mind around the idea, a thought suddenly dropped into his mind: could the bats be the reason his daughter was sick? If there were so many bat bugs in Lily’s room, could that be an indication of her recurring symptoms?
Suddenly, Dan was eager to find out. “What do we have to do?” he asked Rob, his face grim with determination.
“We’re going to look for the bats. If I were to guess, I’d say they’re in the attic. Let’s check it out,” Rob replied.
Rob and Dan slowly made their way to the attic, armed with flashlights. As they walked, Dan couldn’t help but feel like the bats had been living there even before they moved in. His family had only been living in the house for six months. They had moved all the way from their quaint town when Dan was promoted to become the regional manager of his company. The promotion was a hard one, representing many nights of overtime and burning the midnight oil.
With the tight moving window, Dan and Rachel hurriedly settled into their new lives and were slowly unpacking when Lily’s sudden sickness hit. In the flurry of activities, the attic was left forgotten and abandoned.
When Rob and Dan reached the attic, a pungent, sour smell wafted toward them. Dan held his breath in shock as he was hit with the mixture of ammonia and dampness. As they gently pulled the door open, he steeled his mind for what they would find inside.
Rob swept his flashlight across the attic. They didn’t get far before they spotted them. There they were—in the corner of the room, the small, shadowy figures hung from wooden beams. Some stood still, while others moved about restlessly.
Dan’s heart beat wildly in his chest as he realized he had no idea how long the bats had taken up residence. He counted a dozen, and it was clear they had been there for quite some time. The floor was scattered with droppings. There were small scratch marks on the beams, and the entire attic was coated with grime and bat hair.
The sight shocked Dan, who wondered how they had missed this when inspecting the house.
With a grimy look on his face, Rob said, “It looks like this colony has been here for weeks, if not longer. Bats come with their own specific pests, known as bat bugs. The bugs probably wandered off and migrated down the vents and walls to other parts of the house. What you thought were bed bugs are actually bat bugs.”
Dan breathed with horror and relief. He couldn’t help but be relieved that there was an answer to the pests that had plagued them for days on end. The horror of living with such creepy, winged creatures was evident on his face as well as he stared at the bats.
He suddenly remembered his daughter’s illness. “Can bats cause illnesses in humans?” he asked Rob.
“Well, for the most part, bats are not dangerous to humans. That said, people really shouldn’t go touching them willy-nilly. They can transmit rabies if they bite a person, and they can serve as carriers for other microorganisms and parasites that can wreak havoc on the human system,” Rob replied.
Dan’s chest tightened as Rob spoke. Could the bats have anything to do with Lily’s sudden illness? If so, it was definitely worse than he had previously thought.
He watched helplessly as Rob called for a wildlife removal team to relocate the bats. He had picked up a bat to kill them, only to have Rob stop him.
“I don’t think you should do that. Bats are considered protected species. It is illegal to kill them or even remove them without proper procedures. Apart from that, the last thing you need right now is a bat bite. Trust me on that,” Rob said, setting the bat aside.
Three hours later, Dan kept a firm hand on his boisterous son as the team meticulously removed all the bats from his attic.
With the bats gone, the Carter family rushed to the family doctor for answers. As Dan explained the recent discovery, the doctor’s eyes widened in shock. He flipped through Lily’s chart and nodded, as if everything suddenly made sense.
“We don’t see it often, so it’s not one of the things we check for regularly. Histoplasmosis is a real concern when dealing with bat droppings. It would certainly explain several of her symptoms, including coughing and fatigue. Let’s run some tests just to be sure,” the doctor said.
The test results confirmed that Lily was suffering from histoplasmosis. While the infection was mild, it was also chronic, resulting in lingering symptoms. The treatments would involve a long course of anti-fungal medication, but the doctor assured Dan and Rachel that their daughter would recover with time and care.
The Carter family heaved a huge sigh of relief at the news. Finally, they had found the root cause of the illness, and the road to recovery was clear.
The doctor also noticed the welts on the other members of the Carter family. She said, “I’d advise you to get some anti-itch cream and antihistamines for those welts. I’m sure you know better than to scratch them, but the cream will help you avoid the temptation.”
As they processed the news that the medical upheaval was finally over, Dan couldn’t help but feel guilt and fear. He had moved his family away from where they were safe to a new environment, and he couldn’t keep them protected.
A thousand questions ran through his head. How could he have missed bats living in his home? How long had they been there to cause such a chronic illness in his daughter? He couldn’t shake the nagging fear that the bats might come back.
To allay his fears, Rob agreed to investigate further with him. Together, they would find out where the bats had come from.
The first step in his investigation provided all the answers he needed. He spoke to his neighbors, explaining the bats he found in his attic and encouraging them to check their homes. One of his neighbors, the elderly Mrs. Garner, offered a surprising revelation that provided all the answers.
“Your house has always had a bat problem, dear. Back when the house was first built, the attic was left open. With all the tree-cutting and urbanization going on, it soon became the only place bats could nest in the entire neighborhood. The owner of the house would only come in for a week or two and wouldn’t notice a thing. Soon, it became a nesting spot for the bats, who returned every few years. When the house was sold, the owner spent a fortune trying to keep the bats out—to no avail. No one could keep them away for long,” Mrs. Garner revealed.
Dan was stunned. He had no idea the house had such a history with bats. He tried to remember if that tidbit was shared with him during the purchase process.
Mrs. Garner wasn’t done with the shocking revelations, however. “I remember that the couple who lived there before you had a little boy too. He was about the age of your girl and was constantly falling ill. I doubt they figured out what the problem was before they moved out. I dare say that was why they sold the house to you and left,” she added.
Dan shook with fear and rage as he processed the information. He tried to push past the anger to find a solution. If Mrs. Garner was right, the bats would simply come back in a couple of years and bring the illness with them. Animals were creatures of habit, and bats were no exception. If they had been using the house as a nest for several years, there was no doubt they would be back again.
He needed to take proactive measures to protect his family and prevent further exposure for his young daughter. He voiced his concerns to Rob, who was thinking the same thoughts.
“If you don’t do something about the bats now, you’re going to be calling me every other year to get rid of the bat bugs. Let me make some calls and see what I can come up with,” Rob said.
A couple of hours later, a professional home restoration company showed up on his doorstep. While the Carter family took up temporary residence at a local motel, Rob worked with the company to seal off every entry point in the attic. They also worked on the entire house to ensure sure there was no other access for animals and pests. They installed a bat deterrent system as well.
After weeks of tedious work, the attic was completely closed off, with vents and gaps reinforced, and the home air system filtered to prevent any stray spores from circulating. Rob also fumigated the entire house to get rid of any remaining bat bugs lurking around.
With Rob’s job finally done, Dan could breathe a huge sigh of relief. He thanked Rob profusely for his hard work in ensuring his family was free from pests and diseases.
Under their steady care, Lily’s health slowly improved, and the cough gradually disappeared. The house felt clean and safe once again.
As the sun set on a beautiful autumn evening, Dan and Rachel watched with familiar exasperation as Ethan scratched himself climbing down a tree. They were filled with gratitude and relief as they watched Lily chase after her brother, her vivacious spirit matching his energetic antics.
Watching his family, Dan made a silent vow to always protect them. The harrowing incident made him realize he would never take his home for granted again. The house that had nearly cost them everything had brought them closer together in the end.
