Written by Tara Clark
Mike sat bolt upright in bed, wondering what the sound was. He sat there a few seconds listening, but heard nothing else. “It’s probably just the pipes,” he mumbled as he laid back down. He had just moved into the old house this morning, and they always tended to have their own creaks and groans that needed getting used to. This particular house had been abandoned long ago, and was in serious disrepair. According to the realtor, it was built in the mid-1800s but didn’t have much of an owner history. It seemed that every time it was sold, it would end up right back on the market, though the realtor didn’t know why. She only said that in its current condition, it was difficult to sell. He knew it was going to take a lot of time and hard work, but it was all he could afford right now. He was just going to have to make the best of it, sounds and all.
Mike was almost asleep when the sound happened again. Mike’s eyes shot open. He KNEW he didn’t imagine it this time. He laid completely still, his heart pounding in his ears like a freight train.
“I didn’t quite catch that.”
He flew out of bed, tripping over his suitcase and hit his head on the wall. Fumbling around, he managed to find the light switch and flipped it on. There was nothing there. The hair on his arms started to rise as he slowly made his was back over to the bed.
“I didn’t quite catch that.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized it was just the Siri on his phone. He started to laugh at himself as he picked up the phone and hit the side button. Nothing happened. It was only then that he realized he had shut the phone off so he wouldn’t be disturbed.
“I didn’t quite catch that.”
His shaking hands dropped the phone, which landed onto the carpet with a soft thud. Mike stood there for a minute, confused and slightly scared, staring down at it. “Ok…calm down. There has to be a logical explanation for this,” he said to himself. He bent down and slowly picked up the phone, turning it over and over in his hands. He didn’t see anything physically wrong with it, so the only conclusion he could come up with was that it must be an internal problem. He sighed, hoping it wasn’t too expensive to fix. He’d spent every last penny he had on this dilapidated ancient house, and he didn’t have the time or resources for ridiculous things like this. Mike put the phone in the table drawer beside the bed and sat down.
“I didn’t quite catch that.”
Mike shook his head, becoming annoyed. He stood up, moved the suitcase, turned off the light and crawled back into bed. He laid there in the dark stillness, willing himself to sleep. After a few minutes, he could feel himself start to relax and drift off. He rolled over onto his back and immediately felt a puff of air across his face that smelled bad. Really bad. Like something had died. His eyes shot open, and inches above his nose was this…thing. It was a dark and smoky structure of a person, with smoldering red eyes and a tangled mess of rotting meat and bone for a face. He laid there staring at it, paralyzed, unable to breathe, feeling like his chest was going to explode. The thing leaned forward another inch, staring at Mike, a huge grin slowly spreading across its face. Mike could almost see the rotten teeth in its mouth, and the sickening smell was overpowering him. Just as Mike started to scream, it opened its mouth so wide it seemed to make everything else disappear. The most horrific ear – piercing howl Mike had ever heard emitted from its gaping hole, consuming him wholly…body and soul. “GET OOOUUUUUUTTT!!!”
“I didn’t quite catch that.”