The Midnight Hour & Other Scary Stories

The Itch

Liam hated spiders. There wasn't a single thing about them that was redeemable. He would go out of his way to squash them. That was because, deep down, he was utterly terrified by them.

When Liam grew up, he became an exterminator. Nothing made him happier than watching spiders die. He became well known for how thorough he was and how every house he visited never had a pest problem again.

But then, one day, Liam received a call. It was from an elderly man at the edge of town. Liam had seen his house once or twice before and had always wondered what was inside.

The owner begged for Liam to come. He said that it was urgent. His voice was very weak.

So, Liam packed up his van and made his way to the old house.

The house was very, very large; far bigger than Liam originally thought. It was crawling with pests, no doubt.

He knocked on the door.

Liam waited a few minutes, but there was no answer. Either the owner didn't hear him, or they had stepped out. Instead of waiting for a reply, Liam set to work. He did the outside first, and then worked his way inward. To his surprise, the door wasn't locked.

Liam stepped inside and called out for the owner.

Again, there was no response.

He began to worry now. Trusting or not, who leaves their home unlocked?

Should he investigate?

No. There wasn't anything to worry about, he assured himself. He just needed to keep his head down and finish the job.

While Liam set to work, however, he couldn't help but notice the inside of the house was remarkably clean, if not very old. Furthermore, there wasn't a pest in sight. It was the cleanest house he had ever visited. And not just inside.

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen any around the property either. That was very strange in his line of work. Usually, he would find one or two bugs crawling outside, at least. But none?

Something was off about this house.

Liam didn't know if should be relieved or worried.

On one hand, this would make his job easier. The only thing better than a dead bug was no bugs at all.

On the other, something had to be keeping the bugs and spiders away. Pests loved old places like this. So why hadn't he seen any yet?

He kept feeling an odd crawling sensation on his arms and legs, though he never saw anything there.

When Liam was finished with his work on the first floor, he started up the staircase to the second story. It was much hotter up here and it took him a moment to acclimate to the heat. Once or twice, he swore he heard an odd crawling noise.

Despite him searching, the second story proved just as empty as the first. There wasn't a pest in sight. Liam was about to finish when he came to a locked door at the end of the hall.

He knocked on the door, thinking that the owner might be on the other side.

No one answered.

It was the last room in the house and the only one he hadn't cleaned. Liam would have left it given that it was locked; but then, he heard a soft whimper from the other side.

"Help...me...."

Liam recognized the old man's voice and after several attempts of brute force, managed to break the lock. The door swung open on creaky hinges.