Horror

Video Camera

A few years ago, there was a young man named Bryan
who went to university. He didn't have enough money
to live in the campus accommodation, so he had to
rent an apartment on his own in the city. After he had
been he began to notice some strange things
happening. Often, when he came back from college,
the curtains in his bedroom would be drawn, when he
distinctly remembered having left them open when he
left that morning. At other times, some of his
belongings seemed to have been moved and other
possessions were nowhere to be found.
These strange occurrences started to creep Bryan out,
so the young man decided to talk to his friends,
Trisha and Alex, about the situation. They met him at
a local diner and, over coffee, he told them all about
the strange things he had noticed.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," said Bryan. "But I
just get the sneaking suspicion that someone is
breaking into my apartment during the day, while I'm
at university and..."
"And what?" interrupted Alex, "Rearranging your
curtains and moving your stuff around? Who in their
right mind would bother doing that?"
"It sounds crazy, but you might have a stalker," said
Trisha. "It's a possibility. If it's true, I think the best
thing to do is contact the police."
"What can the police do?" asked Alex. "They're not
going to spend their time keeping your apartment
under surveillance. Besides, there's no damage to any
of your things. There's no sign of a break-in. In short,
there's no evidence."
"So what options then?" pleaded Bryan, "I can't just
do nothing."
"I know how you can put your mind at ease," said
Trisha. "It's easy. Just get a video camera, set it up
in your bedroom and leave it running when you go to
college. If you really do have a stalker, you can show
the tape to the police as evidence."
"You know, that's a great idea," said Bryan.
"And if you're really just paranoid and crazy, you can
show the tape to your psychiatrist," joked Alex.
That night, Bryan borrowed Trisha's video camera and
brought it home. The very next morning, he hid it
discreetly under some folders on his desk. Before he
went to college, he pressed the record button and left
the running.
During the day, while he sat taking notes in lectures,
the young man forgot all about the video camera. It
was not until he arrived home and went into his
bedroom that he remembered his plan.
Taking the video camera out of its hiding place, he
pressed the stop button. Then he took out his mobile
phone and called his friend.
"Hey, Trisha", he said. "I just got home. I'm going to
watch the video."
"Cool," said Trisha. "Don't hang up. Tell me if you see
anything."
He pressed play and watched the recording on the
video camera's tiny screen. He saw himself leaving
for the university in the morning and closing the
bedroom door. Then, there was nothing. He pressed
fast forward and scanned through the video. The
room was empty.
"Still nothing," he said.
"I can wait," replied Trisha. "Anyway, there's nothing
worth watching on TV at the moment."
"OMG!" cried Bryan as he pressed play on the camera.
"What? What?" Trisha begged excitedly.
"The door's opening!" said Bryan. "It's a woman..."
"What's she doing?", asked Trisha.
"Just standing there... Closing the door... Walking
around..."
"OMG! SO weird! What does she look like?"
"Can't see her face... Long, black, stringy hair...
Tattered dress..."
"Do you know her?"
"No, don't recognize her at all... She's carrying a
knife... A big kitchen knife... She's going through my
trash... Now, she's picking up my clothes and sniffing
them."
"Ugh! Gross! What's wrong with her?"
"She's going over to the closet... She just got into the
closet."
"Fast Forward and see if she does anything else."
He scanned through the video for a while, but the
room was empty.
"You know what this means", said Bryan. "I have the
evidence now. I can go to the police and they'll take
me seriously."
"I know", said Trisha. "They'll have to".
"Alex is totally going to freak when he sees this."
"No doubt. He didn't believe you, but I did."
"I know. You're a good friend... OMG!"
"What? What?"
Bryan pressed play again.
"The door's opening again", said Bryan.
"Who is it?", asked Trisha.
"Oh, it's OK", said Bryan. "It's just me coming home
from college."
He watched himself on the screen, shutting off the
camera.
"Let's go to the police now," said Trisha. "I'll go with
you. We can show them the tape."
"OK. I'll meet you at the diner in fifteen minutes," said
Bryan as he grabbed the video camera.
"OK... Wait a minute", said Trisha. "You said she got
into the closet. Did she ever leave? Bryan, did she
ever get out of the closet?"
A chill ran down Bryan's spine. Behind him, he heard
the closet door creak open.
"Bryan! Get out of there!" screamed Trisha, but it was
too late. The phone went dead. When she tried to call
him again, there was no answer.
Later that evening, the police found the body of the
eighteen-year old college student lying in a pool of
blood. He had been stabbed twenty-one times. The
video camera was clutched in his cold, dead hands.
When the police examined the camera, they
discovered that the memory card was missing.
No trace of the woman was ever found.
By the way, are you wondering why this is in third
person? Well, I was someone who had been watching
all this. I am that crazed girl. By the way, your closet
is nice and warm. >:)