The Coat Hanger
I usually will maintain a healthy sleeping pattern, meaning that I go to bed early, early being 8:30 to 9:00. And, I always have a nightly routine before I go to bed. I take a shower, brush and floss my teeth, and then, obviously, go to bed. I brush my teeth in my parents' bathroom, since that is where we keep all of the "dental hygiene" supplies, if you will. My mom always keeps a gray and black striped shirt on the hanger on the door, and I always joked with my brother how it looked like a person hanging on a meat hook. Ah, the good old days.
One night, I came home late after a night out with my friends. I checked my watch. 11:30. Good thing it's Friday. Strolling into the kitchen to get a snack, I saw that the news app on my phone had exploded. I checked it, and it said something about a shape-shifting killer on the loose from the police headquarters in the city. I took one look at the picture, and laughed. The Rake. They must've not gotten a picture of the thing, so they used another. Well, I'll be on the look out, I thought to myself, laughing silently again. I took some popcorn out of the cabinet, and popped it. I crept upstairs quietly, as to not wake my sleeping family. I heard a door creak down the hallway, and the shutters of the window rattle, but I just ignored it, as we live in a very old house. I heard a quiet sound, like someone was moving about, and soft, short breaths. Setting my popcorn at the top of the stairs, I walked into my parents' bedroom. The breathing seemed to come from there. I shrugged it off as someone sleeping, and walked into the bathroom without turning on any lights. I could slightly see the striped shirt, and it looked even more human this time. Oh well, didn't it always look like a person? My toothbrush had been rinsed, so I brushed my teeth swiftly, and swallowed my water instead of spitting it out. The bathroom door had been closed behind me, so I grabbed the handle and pulled.
The door, which was made of thin, painted wood, was suddenly very heavy. I managed to pull it open, thinking that someone had tried to hold it closed. But there was no one on the other side of the door. Again, the short, heavy breathing could be heard. I walked over to my parents' bed, stepping on something wet on the floor, and felt the covers, finding them completely empty. Strange, I thought. I flicked on the lights, and was met with a hideous sight.
Blood stained the walls, and a trail led from the right side of the bed, my mother's side, to the bathroom. On the wall were meat hooks, at least seven or eight, holding muscles and tissues of a human. A heart, a pair of lungs, one kidney. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop from throwing up, seeing the small and large intestines strung over a few hooks. One hook seemed to be empty, but, upon closer inspection, I saw a gold wedding ring dangling from the end of the hook, covered in blood and mucus. I followed the trail of blood to the bathroom, and swung it open, revealing the source of the body parts.
My mother hung from the coat hanger by her neck, dressed in the same striped shirt that I always saw on the hook. Her stomach had obviously been cut open, because of the amount of blood that poured from under the shirt, staining the front. Her eyes had been gauged out, and her mouth stitched into a smile, teeth covered in blood. A stained piece of paper was held in her hand, and I managed to rip it out from her death hold. I unfolded it hastily, but didn't have time to read it. I saw something move across the hall, and I stuffed the paper in my pocket. I walked into my brother's room, and saw him, sitting in the corner, hands over his eyes. I walked over to him, turning on the lights to his room.
His hands were covered in blood and mucus, his sobbing becoming louder as I reached him. I called to him, but he didn't respond. After what seemed like hours, he lifted his head up slowly. His hair covered the sides of his face, but I didn't need to see his cheeks. His eyes were gone, leaving empty, dark sockets. His mouth had been cut into a shocked expression, and a black liquid seeped from his nose.
I ran away from home that day, after what he said to me.
"That coat hanger, what was it for? For a coat, I think not."
