Scary ghost stories and stuff (1)

The Factory

The Factory

by Tony Haynes

The sun was setting. Darkness was drawing in again. They stood together at the edge of their world. He slipped his right hand into her left, their fingers clasped tightly as the final rays of light kissed them.

“Please don’t be sad.”

“I’m not.”

“Let’s just enjoy our last few hours together.”

“I’m not going back.”

“Cassie, we had this conversation last year. You have to. You must.”

“Why must I?”

“Because if you don’t we both know how it ends.”

She turned to face him. “Do we though? Has anyone ever tried to stay behind? What if they’re just myths, stories passed down by The Owner to scare us into behaving like good little girls and boys. What if they’re not true? Wouldn’t you like to be with me forever?”

“I feel as if I am.” He reached up and stroked her hair back tenderly as only a lover knows how. “It’s not easy for me either you know, waiting a whole year.”

“I’m sure it’s not, but at least you’re alive. What happens when you die too?”

“That’s years away. Let’s not think about it.”

“It’ll happen one day Joseph and whose love will bring us back then?”

He shuddered fearfully for he knew that she was right. He held her in his arms and the sun went down.

#

The count was always the worst part of the day. It took an eternity. The counters had petitioned The Owner for years about letting them start it early, he was unmoving. The numbers had been increasing again lately. Whilst extra souls boosted the economy, they were an added burden to the counters. Thankfully, no fights had broken out that night between those going on shift and those coming off. There had been a minor scuffle or two but nothing serious. Another one of the section heads handed Peter a clipboard.

“All present and correct sir.”

“Excellent.” He ticked it off and added it to the completed pile. One more to go and he could call it a night. Looking down at the balance sheet, it wasn’t immediately apparent whose tally he was waiting for. Glancing back up, he found Eder shuffling nervously from foot to foot in front of him, clasping his clipboard protectively. Peter held out his hand. Eder reluctantly passed him the set of figures. Peter ran his expert eye over them. Discrepancies weren’t difficult to spot because they happened so rarely. “An error?”

“No sir.”

“That’s the third this month Eder, it really isn’t good enough.”

“Not this time, sir.”

“You’re suggesting this is genuine? Someone has stayed on down there?”

“It’s a young woman too.”

Peter sighed and shook his head. He was sorely tempted to write it off as a glitch, but he knew he better check just in case. “If you’ve miscounted again…”

“I promise you I haven’t.”

Peter tapped Eder with the clipboard. “Come on then. Show me.”

#

Midnight had long since gone and they were still in his flat. Joseph was nervously pacing up and down, talking to her through the closed bathroom door. “It’ll never work.”