Horror stories

The monster

The first thing I noticed, once before the immense, ancient, wooden door, was that the clapper was too small for that door, but despite this, the noise that produced as soon as I moved it against the wood did not fail to impress me . It was a deep, ancestral noise. A single stroke was enough, and immediately I heard steps echoing in the atrium of the old house. The butler opened me without saying a word and, with a slight bow, made me sign to enter.

I was fascinated by the internal structure of the house. There was a huge amount of stairs, and many of them were lost in labyrinthine darkness.I delivered my soaking coat to the old man and he, still remaining silent, carefully folded it and put it in a closet next to the door. Concluding this operation with an exhausting calm, he led me along one of those endless stairs.

He walked like a ghost, I could not see his feet touch the ground. I attributed this impression solely to my weariness.

I wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Finally we arrived at a small door on the right of the corridor. The man took out a large bunch of keys and, without hesitating even for a moment, took a golden one and opened the door. I entered the room. It was an old guest room, with very high ceilings, which caused no fear. The only light came from some candles placed at the sides of the bed.

Obviously there was no light outside, but I doubt it would have entered a single ray of sunshine even in the middle of the day, since the windows were covered with heavy, dark blood-red curtains. I must have spent a lot of time contemplating the room, as if stolen by it, because as soon as I turned around to thank me, I discovered that the door was closed behind me.

The butler, disappeared. I put my little suitcase on the ground, next to a chest that had been destroyed by the weight of the years, and I sat on the bed. It was then that I saw him.

Right in front of me, across the room, I swear on what is dearest to me in the world, sat a monstrosity. I could not make out the shape because of the darkness, but it certainly had to be very big, and completely black. It was the most viscous and disgusting my eyes had ever seen. At moments, strange tentacles flickered behind his head. At least, I think they were tentacles.

The only thing that could be distinguished really well were two small red dots, which must have been the eyes. Those two points followed me wherever I looked, without ever leaving me. I remained motionless, without moving a muscle, and so did the monster. I could not imagine what I could do.

"W-Who ... w-what's-you?" I managed to stutter somehow. But all I got in response was the echo of my voice which, bouncing between the walls, took on a tone so threatening that it even frightened me. The monster remained impassive, and now I also seemed to see a third eye, placed below the other two, which kept moving.

Today, after many years, I can not quantify the time when, in the flickering darkness of that room, the monster and I stared at each other. I think it was only a few minutes, but it seemed like long years to me. I finally found the courage to stand up and, with my immense terror, the same did the monster. I began to scream out loud at the door, praying to God that the butler had left it open, but my scream was completely covered by the chilling back that issued the monster.

I finally reached the door, put my hand on the knob, and the knob, of course, turned, but it seemed almost like magic to me. Even today I am astonished not to be run down the steps leading to the central entrance hall, considering the speed with which I descended.

So I found myself in the hallway, I looked over my shoulder, and I was surprised not to see the monster a few meters away from me. I was still panting, when a butler came out from a side door and asked me, apprehensively,:

"Something wrong, Sir? May I help you? "

"The m-monster," I stammered.

"What monster is he talking about, Sir?"

"The monster! The monster! "I shouted in madness.

"And where would this monster be, Sir?" The old man asked me defiantly.

"But yes! the monster! He was there, in the room, right in front of the bed! "I said, with a rationality that surprised me.

"I'm sorry to confess that there's no monster in the guest room."

"But that's it! I saw him with these eyes! "

"There is no monster in front of the bed. There's only an old mirror, Sir ... Just an old mirror, "the butler told me, looking me straight in the eye