Some Things Should Not Be Seen

Laura put her eye to the keyhole. The room was dimly lit with only a small lamp. She could not make anything out. She was sure this was where the wailing had come from. She heard the floorboards creaking as someone walked across the room. A shadow passed the keyhole. She pulled her eye away.

What was that? Someone was coming from upstairs. There was another wail. Blood curdling, as if someone was in acute pain. She got up and scurried back to her room three doors down. As she jumped into bed and pulled the covers up right under her chin. In the dim light sneaking in under the door, she made out two feet that stopped right outside her door.

The only other person in the house was the owner, George. He was strange in every sense of the word. Aloof, creepy, and scary were three words that came to mind.

Laura pulled the sheet up to her mouth. Her heart was beating like a bass drum, almost popping out of her chest. She wanted to close her eyes, but couldn’t. She had to be awake if he burst in through the door. Had she locked the door?

She couldn’t remember.

She heard some shuffling, and then a key turned in the door down the hall.

“Urgggghh!!!!! Urghhhhhhh!” The yell sent shivers up her spine. It stopped as the door opened and closed. George must have gone, but why?

What was in that room?

Who was in that room?

****

The next morning, Laura was making a cup of coffee in the kitchen. She stared out the window at the new day. While waiting for the kettle to boil, she felt a strange sensation, as if someone were watching her. She turned around as the kettle signalled it was boiling, and there he was.

George, standing in the doorway, was looking at her. He had something in his hands, but she couldn’t make out what it was.

“Oh my God, I didn’t hear you. Good morning,” she exclaimed.

There was no reply. George walked off down the corridor towards the door. She heard him stop at the room, unlock the door and then close it behind him.

“Urgggghh!!!!! Urghhhhhhh!” Two short wails and then silence.

She had to find out who or what was in that room. She took her coffee back to her room and sat in silence, waiting for the next wail to come.

Silence.

Then she heard running water. She sat on high alert. Several minutes passed. She heard footsteps. The doors opened and then closed. She distinctly heard the door get locked. Footsteps echoed down the hall. They stopped just outside her room. She dared not move. Her breathing felt like a thunderstorm.

She finished her coffee and set her cup on the bedside table. Then, she headed down the corridor to the bathroom, which was just past the room. For some reason, she found herself tiptoeing past the door. “This is crazy,” she said. There was no one else around.

She started to take deliberate steps. I need to know what is in that room.

She reached the door. And paused. Listening. All she could hear was what sounded like someone or something shuffling across the floor.

She bent down and put her eye to the keyhole. This time, there was more light, not much more, but enough to hopefully make out what was in there.

"A-gg---hh--, A-g---hh,” she screamed at what she saw. She should have run then and there, but her morbid curiosity planted her in the same spot. Staring in disbelief at what confronted her.

It was a gruesome shadow. A disfigured man or woman; she could not make out which. Hunched over with long, straggly hair. Skin and bone shuffling back and forth. She was mesmerised and couldn’t pull away.

She lost sight of the shadow momentarily, and she pressed her eye harder against the keyhole.

Suddenly, a bloodshot eye peered back at her, accompanied by that gruesome wail, “Urghhhhhhh!”

She fell back, scrambled to her feet, and made a dash for the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. That was it; she didn’t care who it was. She was finding a new place to live while she still could.

Till next time,

Calvin

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