Midnight Tales: A Collection Of Short Stories

The Message

The clocked ticked by as I tap-tapped at away in my old computer. I really need to finish this tonight or else Denise, my annoying boss, will give me hell again.

I forced my eyelids to remain open.

“Just a couple more lines.”

I've told myself the same thing over and over again. I picked up my coffee cup, grasping it like it's the last thing I'll ever hold.

Cold, and empty.

I peeked into the cup and saw it true, my cup is empty. I guess I need to make another one. I sighed to myself before pushing my old office chair backwards so I can stand before heading to the kitchen.

Drip-drip-drip

The continuous dripping of the coffee from the pot into my cup elevated my drowsiness. I almost toppled over if not because of the feeling of scalding hot coffee on my hand.

‘Mother of—!’ I yelled, jumping away from the counter. I groaned. ‘Great, now I have to clean this up.’

I stared at the wet, dark brown puddle left by the coffee on the counter and the floor.

‘I'll clean it tomorrow.’

I went back upstairs to my room, carrying my coffee. I set it down near my keyboard and prepared to type when something stopped me.

A red dot on the top corner of my Messenger app. I really hope it's not Denise. It's already past midnight. I begrudgingly tapped the icon and saw a new message request. Could it be a new client? But, it's already past midnight. I tapped the message, now curious rather than annoyed.

A very long string of messages met my eyes. There must've been about 30 or more. I scrolled up to the very first message.

‘“Hll o trhe re”,’ I read the first message. ‘“W re he re w ndee hl helo.” What on earth is this? Is someone playing a prank on me?’

I scrolled to the rest of the messages but it's all nothing but gibberish. I couldn't understand any of them.

“W nede hpl”

“Cn yu o ra d uS us”

“Dn ot levE yruo husE”

“Psle as Yu msu help us”

What? Help? Who? I continued to read slowly, the misspellings and missing letters made it hard to understand majority of the words.

“Otsied bUiding. Don't go”

“But yu o muSf hel sOON”

I put my phone down, confused and annoyed. My sleepiness went away though but now I don't know if I still want to work on the documents Denise had sent me. I huffed and leaned back on my seat. I looked at the digital clock I have rested on the side table near my bed. It's nearly 3:00 am. How long did I spend reading those nonsense messages? I stretched my limbs and yawned.

DING!

The familiar tone of my Messenger app sending off a notification alerted me. I checked it to make sure it wasn't Denise.

It wasn't. It was from the same person who sent me several message requests. I could've traced who they are if not because of the empty timeline, blank profile picture, and a single dot for a name. The account didn't look new but it did look unused. It appeared that whoever the owner of this account is either didn't care they made the account or they forgot about the account. They have shared a few posts here and there but it's all profiles from accounts that are kept private.

I groaned in frustration before reading the message. However, something didn't feel right. First of all, whoever sent the message this time sent it with perfect punctuation and spelling.

“I see you've ignored ALL of the messages that were sent. Just how heartless are you? Someone needs your help.

Well, I guess I can't really force you to do anything.

Just know this.

I will see you soon.

By the way, you should really clean that stain in your kitchen. It's not a good look.”

I shut my phone off and quickly ran to the windows, drawing all the curtains. I'm not really the kind of person that would turn the lights off and hide when something goes wrong. I'm one to investigate and search the entire house to check for intruders.

I first checked my room. I flung the bedsheets off the mattress and checked under the bed. I swung the closet door open and pushed the dresses and other clothes I can't be bothered to fold and put in my drawers. I turned on all the lights but found it empty.

I flicked the light open in the hallway. White light washed over the narrow walkway. There's barely anything in this part of my house, it's impossible for someone – even a baby – to fit in the small drawer of the tiny desk I have right in front of my bedroom door. I checked in nonetheless. Empty, only a couple of batteries and old gasoline station receipts.

I searched the entire house but found nothing of the ordinary. Even the puddle of coffee which is now dry, is still in the kitchen.

Frustrated, I went back to my room and took my phone from where I left it. Except, it's not there anymore. Instead my phone now rested on the nightstand.

I don't remember moving it there nor do I remember plugging it in.

I sat on my bed, taking my phone and opening Messenger. I didn't think twice before tapping on the stranger's profile and replied to their message. I didn't think twice before I hit send. At this point I don't think I can be bothered. Pretty sure it's just one of those prank messages or a lame attempt at scamming people.

“No, I will see YOU soon.”