Three O' Clock by Cory Shamblin // Scary Story Contest Finalist

 story by Cory Shamblin, author of St. Graves: The Witness available via this link

Tick tock. 

Tick tock.

Tick Tock.

The constant sound from the alarm clock fills me with a sense of dread. Like it was counting down the seconds until I lost my mind. It was almost three o clock in the morning and that thing would soon be back. I take a deep breath and try to regain my composure. Okay Joel, you got this. This was my job after all. I just never thought being a paranormal investigator would be so intense. Most of the time it was nothing. Just some cold spots or a trick of the light. Not this time. This time was very, very real. No wonder why the rental for this place was so cheap. 

Tick tock.

Tick Tock.

I await the next note with bated breaths, but it never reaches my ears. A slew of colorful language escapes my lips. I was not ready for this. Despite it being the middle of July I can see my breath rise in a cloud of mist as any semblance of heat leaves the room. I cast my gaze to the shiny steel of the revolver on the nightstand next to my bed. Dark thoughts had been growing in my mind for days now like some insidious root system. I had on more than one occasion picked it up, feeling its weight growing heavier and heavier with each passing day. It was on the third day of these invasive thoughts that I hid the bullets. They would not help me against whatever hell I had unleashed into this world and I dared not use them on myself for fear the thing would have some claim over me. 

A single thundering knock on the door to my bedroom tears my mind back to reality. It was here. I peer down at the salt line I had constructed in front of the door, but the hope of seeing another sunrise was dwindling rapidly. Would it really hold the thing back? It had seemed as good a barrier as any a few nights ago, but my confidence was shaken. When it was just the creature’s haunting visage, I had seen in my dreams it had been easy enough to write off. The human mind could create such vivid nightmares after all. Especially when one was so acquainted with the supernatural. If only it had stayed that way. If only I hadn’t seen those burning hellfire pits it called eyes leering at me from across the hallway. Yet there they are staring back at me every time I close my eyes. I couldn’t live like this. Three more room shuddering knocks, each more demanding than the last, make every hair on my body stand on edge.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

By the third knock cool sweat had broken across my back. How did it come to this? This was all my fault. If only I hadn’t let my curiosity get the best of me. I can still remember the first night I settled into this accursed place. The family that had previously lived her had warned me of the creature that haunted their dreams. I should have taken their haggard appearance more to heart. All the clues to my own demise were written all over their sunken eyes and pallid flesh. 

The first night I had arrived sleep came easily. A few colleagues and I had spent a good deal of time getting me settled in and we were all exhausted. Once the last pair of taillights had pulled down the winding driveway and out of sight I retired to my room, eager to start in the morning. 

I had awoken for no particular reason in the middle of the night. Wondering what time, it was I clicked on the lamp and glanced down at the clock. Two fifty-nine AM. Thinking nothing of it I nestled myself back into bed and shut my eyes, only the methodical ticking of the clock breaking the silence. 

Tick Tock.

Tick Tock.

Tick-.

Had the clock malfunctioned? I wait a few seconds, but it remains silent. I sigh heavily, it would have to wait until the morning. With a puzzled look I watch my breath float past my face. When had it gotten so cold? It was Mid-July. I pull the covers tight and once again close my eyes. It’s not until the indistinguishable smell of rotten eggs reaches my nose that I know what’s happening. I stifle a few gags before turning over in my bed to face the culprit. I was not prepared for what I was about to see. 

Hunched over in the far corner of the room like a beast was a spindly silhouette facing me like some ghoulish gargoyle. I couldn’t help but jerk back in reaction to the uninvited guest in my room. Fear froze the very blood in my veins. In all my years as a paranormal investigator I had never seen an apparition appear with such clarity. Sharp jagged breaths replaced my normal ones as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. The beating in my chest growing to a fever pitch. 

“Hello,” the intruder whispers, the words slithering into my ears, “My name is Penny. What’s your name?” 

I can hardly hear the thing from the beating of my own heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. What was I supposed to do? It was all I could manage to force my eyes shut. Still I felt its gaze rake across my skin like an icy breath. For what felt like an eternity I laid there shivering, praying for the thing to leave. Then a sound reached my ears and I nervously opened my eyes. 

Tick tock.

Tick tock. 

Tick tock. 

From the safety of my covers I peered around the room. I was alone again. A sigh of relief escapes my lips. A glance at the clock shows that an hour had passed. Whatever that was I had survived it. I had a rough time sleeping for the remainder of the night. Every creaky floorboard and gust of wind caused my eyes to shoot open in panic. Still the intruder remained out of sight. 

By the time morning had returned with its sheltering light my eyes were sore with redness. Still, nothing a strong cup of coffee couldn’t fix. So, I went along with my day, setting up my equipment and emailing my colleagues about my bizarre encounter last night. Business as usual. It wasn’t until the sun had dipped behind the horizon that the fear once again begins to creep over me. With less ease than the night before I settle into bed and wait for sleep to take me. I couldn’t tell you how long it took, but once again I wake. This time the ticking of the clock had already stopped, and the air had already grown pungent. Once again, I feel the icy gaze from across the room and once again, I’m greeted by the same haunting words.

“Hello. My name is Penny. What’s your name?”

Again, my words fail me. All I can do is look on at the skeletal hunched over figure in the corner. If I were a more intelligent man, I would have left it at that. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from the previous night, or maybe it was my growing curiosity, but something compelled me to speak. 

“My name is Joel,” I say with uncertainty. With inhuman jerking movements the thing snaps it head in my direction in a way that made my skin crawl. 

“Hello, Joel,” the thing says with the voice of a little girl only not quite right, “Do you want to be friends?” 

A wave of ice washes over me. I shouldn’t have said anything. I close my eyes to try and clear my mind. I should not have said anything. With a deep sigh I open my eyes. Immediate regret courses through my limbs as the breath catches in my throat. Standing beside my bedside was some horrific mockery of human life. The creature standing before me stared from deep inside black eyeless sockets. Each lined with a hardened crest of wax that streaked down its face like tears. Its soot covered skin, pulled far too tightly against its skeletal frame. 

“What if I don’t want to be friends?” I ask meekly, trying to maintain some level of composure as the world spun around me. 

“Only friends get to ask questions Joel,” the thing cocks its head as if studying me, “So don’t you want to be friends?” 

So far, this demonic creature hadn’t done me any physical harm, but a glance down at its jagged, yellowed fingernails did little to fill me with confidence that it couldn’t. Weakly I nod in its general direction. 

“Friends don’t hurt other friends right.” The creature’s face pulls into a loose approximation of a smile, revealing rotting blackened teeth.

“Of course, not Joel,” its voice suddenly taking on a serious, less human, tone, “As long as they play by the rules.” 

A chill runs down my spine and I slink just a little further away from Penny. I shudder to think what kind of rules this thing played by. Still rules were good. Even this thing had to have some code it existed by. 

“What are those rules, Penny? I should probably know since we are friends, right?” I say trying to hide the fear in my voice. 

It seems to relish the shakiness of my voice as it licks its withered tongue across its blackened teeth. Before she can answer Penny disappears into thin air. Once again, the ticking of the clock fills the void where she once stood. 

Tick Tock.

Tick Tock.

Tick tock. 

It was that morning that the whisperers began. Subtle at first, but they grew more and more nagging. Like someone was trying to plant thoughts in my brain. Days began passing by in a blur, the only reminder than time had lapsed was the continued growth of stubble on my face and the thickening of the dark circles under my eyes. Only brief flashes of memories came to me. The details sloshed around in my head, but I couldn’t seem to focus them. It was like trying to scoop water from a pool but there were holes in my palms. I remember little bits and pieces like hiding bullets under the floorboards, but nothing stayed. Why hadn’t I tried to escape? Or had I? Nothing was adding up. Frustrated I look around the room. Some sort of salt line had been laid out in front of the door. Had I done that? I don’t remember doing that. I rub my fingers into my temples. Come on Joel, think. From all around me a sinister voice seems to probe through the air until it makes its way into my thoughts. 

“You shouldn’t have done that Joel,” it hissed with icy detachment, “You broke the rules.” 

“Shouldn’t have done what”, I cry tears streaming down my face, “I don’t know what I did wrong!” 

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

Tick tock.

Wait, that sound! A smile spreads across my face as I steal a look at the clock. It was four o clock. I was safe to leave! With all the fervor I can muster I scrambled for the door whipping it open. Freedom was here at last! I breath in a deep breath, letting it fill my lungs as I burst into the hallway. My rush of vigor doesn’t last long as the stench of sulfur fills my nostrils. No. This wasn’t right. I should be free to leave. From the shadows across the hall I see two hellish red lights slowly getting closer. I whirl back into the room, slamming the door shut. I slump against it, my sobbing the only sound to break the silence. It must have been a trick of my mind to hear the hear that fateful tick tock.

It must have still been three o clock.