Short Stories To Pass The Time

Short Story 2: The Unwanted Visitor

He hadn't expected to find it, not really, the were just rumors spread by kids in the playground! It wasn't his fault it was theirs! He stumbled and caught a glimpse of it, the thing he feared would get him.

"NO! PLEASE! LET ME ESCAPE!" He screamed into the loneliness. His only response was what could be considered a raspy laugh from the thing behind him.

At last he saw a doorway of light in the distance, he didn't know how, nor did he care, but he knew that if he got to it he would be free of this thing.

At long last he reached the bright doorway and leapt through it, such a shame he hadn't been faster, because as suddenly as he was in the air he was being slammed back down to the ground by one of it's hooks; it had gotten him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!" He woke up screaming into the darkness and heard the frantic thuds of his parents' footsteps. Sure enough they slammed open the door and tumbled into the room.

"What happened?!" He mother asked him as she embraced him "Why did you scream?!"

"I had a nightmare... Lay off, mom, I'm not a kid anymore." He grumbled in response. Although he'd never admit it, he was glad that they came running to see if he was alright.

"You scared us, son," His father said in a tired but serious tone "At least show a little appreciation for what we just did." He always had a knack for knowing exactly what he was thinking, it drove him mad

"Appreciate what, exactly?" He snapped back "That you had to get out of bed to check on your seventeen year old son? Ooh, yes, I'm so grateful." Ever since his mother had remarried he had hated his "new dad" and that's how it would remain.

"It's 4 I'm the morning, we could've stayed in bed," the older man said sternly "but here we are comforting our seventeen year old son from a nightmare" He shook his head at the absurdity of the situation "I'm going to check on your younger brother, let's see if he slept through this madness." He left the room and went into the dark hallway towards his little brother's room.

"Why'd ya marry him, ma?" He asked in a hushed tone to avoid being overheard "Ya know how many better guys you could've gotten?"

"But I don't wanted the other guys, I want him." She sat down next to him as she said this "So quit complaining and just accept it."

"But he's such an idiot, ma, dude can barely tie his own shoes without help."

"Don't say that! Stop being rude." She hit him lightly in the back of the head

"Fine, but you know it's true"

She laughed at this "Look, let's talk in the morning, ok, sweetie?"

"Ugh, fine, see ya tomorrow, ma"

She kissed his forehead and left the room. A minute or so laying down in an attempt to fall asleep he had a terrifying realisation: he wasn't alone. He was sure if it, slightly behind his breathing was a second breath, someone else's breathing.

He opened his eyes and look around the room with a cold sweat on his forehead. There, in the doorway was an impossibly large grin with too many teeth and a tiny pair of eyes that were only irises and pupils.

He stared in horror as the thing stepped into the room with an extremity he recognized instantly: the hook from his dream, it had caught up. And it wasn't clean.