The Abyss

Chapter 6: The Bucket List

August 23rd

BANG! BANG! BANG! The door rattled as unseen fists pounded on the big wooden, medieval frame.

Michael stood up and began walking towards the main entrance hall.

"Wait! What the hell are you doing?" Raven called after him.

"Answering the door." He replied calmly.

"Answering the- didn't you hear anything Tempest just said?" She shouted, standing up and following him into the hallway. I followed my friend, she was right; why would anyone in their right mind want to open the door after what we just heard? The others followed behind me.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" I replied, cutting him off. The three of us reached the door and stared at it, while we argued, wondering what lied behind.

This idiot wasn't gonna get me killed. I've watched enough horror movies to know that you never open the door when someone is knocking. Only a killer would take the time to knock on the door when the doorbell works just as well.

"I can't just listen to whoever it is bang on my front door!"

"Why? Why can't you just ignore it!" Raven and I screamed.

"Because someone is at the door. If I didn't answer it I would be a bad host." He said smiling. "You don't honestly think that the thing from earlier has friends right?! I mean did you get a good look at it? Pretty ugly."

"It was horrifying, and from what that apocalypse guy just said, it sounds like there is probably more of them. But even if there isn't, why take the chance?" Raven argued.

"Oh, he's just crazy. I'll prove it!" He said, grabbing a handle of the door in each hand, and proceeding to fling the doors wide open.

There amidst the rising fog, his ghastly white face lit up by outside house lights, stood the mailman.

"Hi, Michael." He said. His voice was shaking and trembling with the rest of his body. The mailman was wearing a white shirt, a tall blue cap and beige capris. His eyes kept glancing to the sides as if he was expecting someone to approach out of the gloom.

"Hi, Harry?" Michael replied. Wow, he knew the man by name. I didn't even know what my mail delivery man looked like.

"Strange weather we're having huh?" Without waiting for an answer he rushed on. "Anyway, I have a few packages for you. Sign here." He said shoving a pen in his hand. As Michael signed his life away the others joined us in the hallway, huddling around the door watching the mailman and peering out into the world beyond.

"Gosh, you don't know how glad I am that you are my last stop for the day. I mean all day I've just felt like something... Nevermind. The point is that I am just so glad to finally be done for the day. Now I get to go home." He sounded a bit resigned. Sighing he continued rambling, "Home, where my wife no longer awaits me."

"Oh? I'm sorry Harry. What happened?" Michael asked.

"It's been a rough past couple of months. I never believed she would leave me. But she did. I am a fool and a coward for not realizing that she was committed. A few months ago we got in a fight about my job. You see with my job and her job we couldn't bring in enough money to support our children. So she wanted me to leave my job because she thought I wasn't bringing in enough cash. But even though I hated my job, I... I was too scared. I know, I know. A terrible excuse. But it's the truth."

"Why were you scared?" Michael asked.

"My boss, he's a mean bastard. We don't have a lot of people willing to deliver mail in this town so if I left there would be no one to take my place. So he told me that if I left he would kill me."