MYSTERIOUS HAT

Alex was overjoyed when he had a weekend to himself home alone. His parents and siblings were travelling out of the town for an event. So he had free rein of the place as long as he checked in with the mum every 12 hours.

Saturday night, He stayed up and watched movies alone on the couch. At midnight, The front door sensor rang alerting him to a movement outside. When he walked up to the digital screens to look at who was outside at this hour, No one was there. The only thing he saw was a really odd hat lying on the ground. For a movement, He swore he saw fingers sliding underneath the hat. Maybe it was just the lights playing tricks on him.

Thoughts of the fingers faded away as he leafed through the mail he had collected earlier. And something caught his eyes. There was a hand written postcard addressed to the house’s former owner, Mr. Stephen. The owner of the old hat parlour in the town before he has passed away under mysterious circumstances. It was a thank you note that read:

Dearest Mr. Stephen,

“Your exquisite hat makes me feel like a completely different person! I fell transformed”. With utmost gratitude,

Monica

Alex figured that maybe someone stopped by to return one of his creations?in any case, It was too late to go outside, he'd deal with the hat in the morning.

THE NEXT DAY

In the morning, He was awakened by the doorbell. It was his friend, Rose. Alex, opened the door to find his friend Rose was wearing the hat. " Did you leave this outside?” Rose asked, Taking the hat off and offering it to him, "it's incredible”. It looked like a hat which would be worn by a witch, but with a noticeable red cloth. Just the hat itself gave him flat-out creep vibes." you can have it if you want it”, He said, handing it back to his friend. As she put it back on her head, A shadow fell across her face for an instant. In that instant, A shadowed face of a stranger, Looked back at him . He blinked and his friend looked normal again.

They spent the whole day by watching their favourite shows until it got dark. Rose’s stomach rumbled, She looked over to her friend Alex , Who was fast asleep. She went to the kitchen to heat up a frozen pizza. As the timer counted down on her food, The microwave began to flicker. In its dark reflection, She didn't recognise her own face, And she blinked her face continued to transform. She felt her mouth began to stretch. That hat. There was something sinister about the hat. And blink. She held her hands to her face, Her fingers were stretched. Blink. She felt her eyes begin to protrude bigger and out of their sockets. Blink. She dropped on the kitchen floor. Alex was awake by the sound. He looked at the clock in the living room. It was already past midnight. The sound made by the microwave drew him towards the kitchen." Rose?”, He called out, but nobody was there. The backdoor security monitor lit up as the motion detector went off.

Outside, he saw a figure wearing a hat in the distance. He stepped outside, semi-shutting the door behind him. Blink. And now she suddenly came closer, under the hat her face seemed to shift in the shadows. "Are you okay?” he asked, blinking again. His gaze fixated on the suddenly horrifying creature in the hat wearing his friend’s clothes. It stood frozen with his long fingers stretched out towards him.

The same finger he saw slipping underneath the hat the night before. That postcard, "I feel transformed”. Mr. Stephen’s hat was the vehicle for this dark creature and Rose had become its host. Blink. It was closer, Halfway to his face. It has no eyes on its face, Two gaping nostrils, Holes, And two rows of sharp bloody teeth. Blink. Now it's in front of his face, Waiting for him to blink again. His eyes watered as he tried to hold them open, Reaching behind for the doorknob to save himself. Horrified and trying his best not to shut his eyes, They began to burn and reflexively he. Blink. The creature dug its fingers into his eyes. Without his eyes, It was free to roam and to feed.

Neither of them were found the next day, All that reminded was the hat with the red cloth.