JM Presents: A Collection of Bone-Chilling Stories

Do Not Disrespect The Elderly

      Gregory is a 75 year old man, with a history of trauma, physically and mentally. Not many know of his story, as he typically goes insane if it is brought up, or if he mentions it to someone else. However, one night, his insanity brought out the worst of him.

     Gregory, being a single man, does not receive support from family, as they must support their own families. Meaning, he lives paycheck to paycheck from weekly services at a local grocery store. No transportation, not a large sum of income, and not a supportive system of friends or family. One night, Gregory had to travel to a close pharmacy to pick up a brand new prescription for his mental breakdowns and his extreme traumatic outbursts. Again, having no vehicle to transport himself in, he takes the any bus to transport him to the nearest streets of his destinations. He sat in the bus station's waiting area, awaiting the 9:00 bus. He constantly checked the rusty watch on his right wrist, watching the time slowly click further and further from 9. The bus finally had arrived, 15 minutes late. He entered the bus, greeting the female driver, and paying the fee of $15. He sat near the front, a few seats on the right, behind the driver. The doors slowly closed, giving a large hiss noise as they finally closed shut. The bus began it's travel down the dim, rural street. The bus bounced over the gravel, and onto the main street, about 14 blocks away from his pharmacy. He sat in silence, twiddling his thumbs and observing the sidewalk surrounded by bushes, trees, occasional bike racks, and the apartment complexes lined up and down the street. It wasn't until he looked up that he realized someone was also on the bus. In the far back. He had a hoodie on, with the top covering his eyes, only revealing his mouth. He was slumped to the side, leaned against the window, with his arms crossed. "Must be sleeping." Gregory thought to himself. 

          10 minutes had passed, and Gregory's pharmacy was only a block away. He continued to observe his surroundings, now viewing the tall company buildings, a few miles South from where he was. He looked up again. The man wasn't sitting in the same spot. In fact, he was moved up about 2 or 3 rows, and sat in the same aisle as Gregory. His hood was over his eyes, however, he wasn't leaned over. He sat straight up, almost in a proper posture. He didn't think much of it. "His destination is probably coming up. That's all." By the time his thought was done, the bus had stopped at the next bus stop, and he thanked the woman for the service, and walked off the bus. He walked slowly down the now, more lightened street, towards the large building with red LED's reading, "PHARMACY." Gregory let out a large yawn, and opened the door to the building. The door let out a slight ring, and an attendant walked up to the front counter. Gregory gave the attendant his information to receive his prescription. The attendant clarified Gregory and walked towards the back of the Pharmacy to grab his prescription. He looked down and twiddled his thumbs around again. Not but a minute later, the door gave out another ring. Gregory looked back. It was the same man from the bus.

        This time Gregory became aware of this, and was suspicious of this man, constantly following him. A few seconds later, the attendant came back with his prescription with a grin on his face. "Have a good rest of your night." he said. Gregory responded suspiciously. "Thanks. You too." He walked back out of the store, the door ringing once again. Gregory walked down the same sidewalk and his brain began to run wildly. "What is with that man?" "Why the hell is he following me?" "Is he trying to mug me?" He shook his head, and took some deep breaths. He glimpsed behind him slowly, and to his disgust, the man was exiting the store, but this time, with something in his hand. Also, not just simply walking, but sprinting full speed towards him. 

    Gregory's eyes widened, and he slowly ran. With bad hips and knees, Gregory knew he couldn't outrun the man. He slipped around the corner, slowly approaching the bus stop, frantically looking back at the man who was slowly gaining on him. He ran a little more down the side of some apartment buildings, and made a deadly decision. Knowing his life could quite possibly be in danger, Gregory made distance between him and the man, still running, and dropped to one knee. His hand slid behind his shirt, and without any hesitation, pulled out a Glock 22. He hid it behind his back in case this man was somehow friendly. Gregory waited a few more seconds to see what the man was all about. Unfortunately, this man was not friendly. Gregory could quickly identify the man was holding a large knife, and he came quicker into view. "Hey, man! Don't do what you think you're gonna do. You'll regret it!" The man completely disregarded the warning, and sprinted closer. At this point, the man was only about 20 feet from him, and gaining. Gregory pulled the Glock from behind him and pointed it towards the man. There was no fear or hesitation at this point from either man. The man was still running full speed at him. Gregory knew this would end badly. With no extra warning, Gregory's index finger snapped quickly on the trigger.

      The bullets pierced through the man like a knife goes through butter. The man's arms flailed and he dropped. Gregory's view re-focused, as the entire street rang with gunfire. Smoke exited the barrel of the pistol, and five cartridge cases laid on the ground, brown and smoking. Lights flickered on, and multiple doors had opened to view the commotion. The man laid in a pool of blood with holes covering all parts of his chest. You see, Gregory is a veteran from Vietnam who has PTSD, and mental breakdowns. His paranoia causes him to travel with a handgun at all times. Being his age, and knowing what people could truly possess, he knew something like this would eventually rise up. Gregory was escorted by police to a near by facility for the night, where the judge released him for simply using self defense. But, now, Gregory knows, that if he ever needs anything... he'll go during the day.