creepshow (wattys2018)

Strangers

"Sorry I'm late!" Samantha Harper called as she swung open the door to the small diner, the little bell jingling over head as she did so.

"Mhm. Third time this week." Mrs. Maybell smirked behind the counter, planting her hands on her wide apron covered hips. "You know little missy, I'm starting to think you're testing my generosity."

Samantha giggled, accepting the apron from the older woman and tying it quickly around her waist. She tossed her brown pony tail over her shoulder as she adjusted the note pad and pen in her apron pocket. "Mrs. Maybell, you know I have to take my little sister to the babysitters after school this week. I promise it won't happen again."

Maybell eyed her playfully before flicking a crumb at the younger girl who squealed and swatted it away. "Okay. You and Hannah will be closing tonight. She's on kitchen duty."

"Alright. Is she here already?"

"Yep." A short, blonde girl smiled as she poked her head through the small window from the back. "Been here for about ten minutes."

"You girls have a good night and don't forget to do any dirty dishes before you leave." Maybell smiled at the girls as she pulled off her apron, tucking it underneath the counter, and heading towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

They both smiled back and waved as the owner left the building. Samantha glanced around at all six of the empty booths and sighed, walking around to the other side of the counter and taking a seat on a bar stool.

The girls chatted mindlessly for the next hour and a half before the little bell alerted them of a customer. A tall man in a beige trench coat and matching, over sized hat entered the diner in slow, dragging movements. He ignored the girls greetings and made his way to the black and red booth in the left corner away from the windows.

The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows on the floor and making the corner the man was in even darker than before. He sat hunched over, his hat preventing the girls from seeing his face.

Hannah nudged Samantha roughly towards the booth and hurried back into the kitchen. Samantha took a deep breath as a chill ran down her spine the closer she got to the strange customer. Shaming herself for being frightened of a harmless man, she forced a smile and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Hi there! What can I get you?" She frowned as she noticed he hadn't touched the menu. She waited a few seconds before clearing her throat. "What can I get you?" The man mumbled something incoherent, still not lifting his head. "What was that?"

"Water." The man croaked in a deep, raspy voice.

"O-okay. I'll just-" She motioned towards the kitchen and hurried to the window.

"Who is that? Have you ever seen him in here before?" Hannah whispered as she filled up a glass of water and passed it Samantha.

"No. Never."

"That's so weird. Everybody in town comes here. Maybe he's new?" She wondered aloud.

Samantha shrugged and made her way quickly back to the table. She finally tore her gaze from her feet to the table and stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at the now empty booth. She took a few timid steps back and jumped nearly three feet in the air as a hand grasped her shoulder.

"I'll take it to go." The man mumbled, just above a whisper.

Samantha tugged her arm away from the man and stumbled back into Hannah. "Hi. Is everything okay here?"

"H-he wants it to- to go." Samantha stuttered, stealing a glance at Hannah as she grasped a styrofoam cup off of a near by rack, pouring the cool water into it and securing it with a plastic lid.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." Hannah handed him the cup roughly and pulled Samantha towards the other side of the counter.

Once he was gone Hannah broke the silence. "Okay, that was weird. Are you okay?"

Samantha nodded wordlessly and rubbed her arm. "Yeah, I'm just kind of dizzy."

"Probably just adrenaline. Come on, sit down."
***

The next three hours passed by with only an elderly couple who came in every night at the same time to keep their minds occupied, and before either of them knew it, it was closing time.

"You're still coming to stay with me tonight, right?" Samantha asked Hannah as she tossed her bag over her shoulder.

"Of course. Let me just get the lights and we can go." She flipped the light switch on the wall by the kitchen window and pulled the door closed behind her after flipping the 'open' sign to 'closed'. She linked her arm with her friends and began to talk about the new boy at school.

They walked the two blocks to Samantha's house rather quickly, pausing only to open the gate once they had arrived. The light from a few lamps inside seeped out of the windows, illuminating the porch just enough for Samantha to find her keys.

"Are your parents here?" Hannah asked once they were inside, pulling of her shoes and tossing them to the ground near the door.

"No. They should be home tomorrow though. Let's go to my room and get started on that video editing project."

They jogged up the stairs and into Samantha's room, swinging open the door and flipping on the light switch. While Hannah got situated Samantha plugged in the string of lights over her bed and plopped down on it, crossing her legs Indian style. "Hey, can you grab my camera. It's on the book shelf." She asked, pointing at the white shelf directly in front of the bed.

"Mhm." Hannah nodded, grabbing the pink hand held camera and taking a seat near Samantha. "This is still on."

"Seriously?" Samantha frowned. "I must have forgot to turn it off last night. That probably took up so much space!"

"Well, before you delete it can we at least see what embarrassing stuff you do in your sleep."

"Fine." Samantha giggled, leaning on her friend as she started the video.

"This reminds me of Paranormal Activity." Hannah laughed as she poked Samantha in her ribs.

"Fast forward to like an hour ago and see if my mom watered my baby cactus before she left."

Hannah stared at her friend before bursting with laughter. "You're so weird! Do you even need to water a cactus?"

"I don't know, and I am not weird!" Samantha snatched the camera away from her friend, pressing the fast forward button. "I have to study it for a science project."

Once she reached the time she wanted she stopped the film and began watching. Both girls peered at the screen as Samantha's bedroom door opened ever so slowly andthe man from the diner stepped in.

Hannah gasped, clutching Samantha's arm."I-is that the same-" She trailed off as the man approached her bed just as slowly as he had moved in the diner, crawling underneath it, just out of sight. Hannah pressed the fast forward button, watching the still room until the video ended.

Samantha turned to her friend with wide eyes, her voice just above a whisper, "Did you see him leave?"