EX OMNIBUS

The Memory Of Darkness - Duvan Sánchez

I do not remember very well what day it was, but I'm sure it was last week, it was night, it was raining, it was thundering and flashing, I was in the living room, the only thing that accompanied me in my sad loneliness was a packet of fries and a classic horror movie, everything was fine until the clock marked midnight, the 12 chimes sounded when suddenly the electricity went out, the whole house was dark and that classic movie was half done, I got up from the sofa in search of some candles in the kitchen, I needed to contemplate some light in tremendous darkness; can openers, knives, containers and other things flooded the drawers of the kitchen, everything except candles or something to illuminate, I remembered then a small flashlight that was in the basement of my house, so in the middle of the darkness I decided to go there with fast and careful movements trying not to crash with an armchair, a table or a wall; I got there and searched like 15 minutes before I found it, it was inside a cardboard box with different items that I had never seen, I was checking those belongings when a roar took control of my attention, it made my hair stand on end and in an act unexpectedly I ran up the stairs with that box taken in my arms and the flashlight in my hand until I reached my room to lock myself up. I did not know exactly what could have caused that horrifying sound; while I drew the possible conclusions of what that sound could have caused, I was more terrified and the insomnia took over, so I distracted myself by reviewing what was in that mysterious box; when I opened it, several insects came out of it, including a spider the size of my thumb, the spider fell on my hand, I was scared of its enormous size and I instinctively hit it but it did not die instead of attacking me by injecting its poison I screamed because of the pain that the bite caused me.
The clock gave a bell which indicated that it was 1:00 am, at that time I looked in my room for alcohol to apply to the bite and continue checking the box while lighting my flashlight, at first I found pens, papers with various notes, a small agenda, among others; As the night progressed I began to feel a slight headache and it seemed to me that the box was larger since I found more and more objects.
I began to feel nervous, a cold sweat was pouring from my forehead at the same time that a chill ran down my back because the objects that were left in the box looked more and more dark, I found strands of hair and under these there was a small doll of very old cloth and with wear on the cloth, was a very ugly doll, had the appearance of those dolls that are used to practice witchcraft so I decided to leave it aside and not touch it anymore.
All my attention was in that box that seemed to have more things in it, until I heard steps that indicated that someone was climbing the ladder, it is worth mentioning that I live alone and the animals do not please me that's why I do not have pets;
I released the box and looked for something to defend myself and only found an ax that was inside the box, feeling safe with that weapon, I dared to leave the room, I went with my flashlight shining stealthily to the staircase and still listening to the steps but the mysterious thing was that I did not see anyone climbing the stairs, so I noticed that my weapon was not going to be useful to defend against a ghost, so I went back to lock myself in my room, I asked myself in a low voice: "What will you want from me? Why did you decide to come to torment me? "At that moment in the silence I heard a whisper that answered me:" Do not worry, you are not alone, I am going to help you ", scared and surprised, I was totally petrified by the words of that rag doll.
When the doll noticed my fear, he told me that he owed me a favor, I supposed he was grateful for his freedom from the enclosure of that box, so I calmed down and accepted his help even if it was an unusual situation and I asked him how would he help and he answered me, he would take me to a place where I would be better.
The little doll walked towards me, told me to calm down, took my hand and took me out of the room, we approached the stairs and at first I put up resistance because I did not want to approach that ghost, but I noticed that the steps were no longer heard , I felt safer and ran down the stairs next to that doll before the ghost came back, when we got to the main entrance, I noticed that my nose was bleeding and apparently the electric power had returned to my house, because the TV and the light in the room were on, that's all I remember.
The next day, I woke up in the hospital and my sister told me what actually happened that night, the electric power stopped working because of a short circuit caused by the storm, the objects that were in the box were not what they seemed , the "ax" was actually an old billboard with information from a company where I worked, the "ugly and worn rag doll" was actually a teddy bear and the "hair" were sewing threads that were out of their reel. The steps I heard on the stairs were from my sister who was coming up to help me, as neighbors who are my friends called her when they heard my scream the moment I spider spider, they will have understood that the doll never really I speak or help me, it was my sister who in the middle of my allutions caused by the spider's poison came to my house to help me. My nose was bleeding because at the last step I stumbled and before I fainted I noticed that the lights were on.
I still do not know if there was or was not a ghost in my house because until now I do not know what produced that dreadful noise.