Mr. Giggles

Intruder

The numbers on the bedside clock read 3am. After a quick peek, I shut my eyes tightly. A shiver ran down my spine when I heard it again.

Someone was in my room, giggling.

Fear seeped from my pores, permeating the air with a sickly stench and the stifling heat had me sweating profusely, my nightshirt was completely stuck to my back.

Despite my mind being a bit foggy from my liquor escapades the night before, I was 100% sure I lived alone. The rundown apartment, what I called home, was situated at the outskirts of town, with taller apartments on each side. Due to its position, it usually got really dark and quite stuffy on most nights.

The floorboards creaked as the intruder shifted his weight. If I strained enough, I could hear him breathe.

Summoning a vast amount of courage, I opened my eyes a crack to scan the dark room. I saw that the door was firmly shut and I could vaguely make out the pile of clothes on my study desk, my bra hung from my laptop and the easels and canvases of incomplete art pieces were stacked in the far corner. As my gaze swept past the tiny living space, I could clearly make out the intruder, standing a few feet from the foot of my bed, clad in white overalls with bursts of colour in the form of polka dots on some parts and straight lines on other parts. A clown costume.

Terror held me in a vice-like grip when I saw that the pasty white face, fixated on me, was set in a wide, blood red smile. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming for help. Most of the other tenants had travelled out for the holidays. My hands trembled under the covers.

“I know you’re awake” He said in a deep voice, giggling again.

Like the cold breath of a grave, his words seemed to cut through my very soul. He took a step towards me and I saw something glare with a bit of reflection in his hands. A knife.

I knew that if I didn’t stop pretending to be asleep, he’d make sure that I stayed asleep. Forever.

Think fast, Syd!

Maybe it was the lingering alcohol in my system, maybe it’s what you’d call survival instincts but in that moment, I didn’t care that a freaking clown, wielding a knife, was standing at the foot of my bed by 3 in the morning. I just screamed at the top of my voice, switching to attack mode and practically leaped from my bed.

My screams and stance didn’t faze him in the least, he approached while swinging his knife at me. Wild with fear, I wanted him as far away from me as possible. So, I reached out to anything to use as a weapon.

My hand found the glass of water I placed on the table the night before but he dodged my sorry attempt at harming him.

Pathetic Syd! Pathetic!

My wandering hands found my glass lamp. I charged towards him and successfully smashed it on his head.

Pump! Pump! Adrenaline surged through my system. I attacked the door, bypassing the clown that lay in a crumpled heap before me.

It was almost too easy but I wasn’t complaining. I fumbled with the lock until I heard something that made me stop cold. I turned to find the clown standing with his shoulders shaking. He chuckled, silently at first, but it grew to a full blown, maniacal laughter.

I was so confused and so scared. I didn’t know where he came from, I didn’t know how he got into my apartment and I had no idea why he wanted to kill me. I was just so overwhelmed that I began to cry in the midst of the messed up situation.

He suddenly stopped, tilting his head while staring at me intently. After a full minute of creepy eye contact, he ran to my window and jumped.

I lived on the second floor so I knew it was quite a fall. I paced and looked down from the window. The clown was sprawled on the floor, blood forming a dark halo around him, his lips set in an eerie smile.

Relieved but still shaken up, I wanted out of my room as soon as possible. I picked my phone and keys from the floor left for the stairs, driven by shuddering fear. I hoped he was dead