The Haunted Laptop

I pulled the refurbished laptop out of its box and began the process of setting it up and making it my own. It wasn’t everything I was looking for and it wasn’t the latest up to date but I knew it would offer me everything I needed to write my stories and search the internet without issue. My previous laptop had died on me so I was thrilled to finally have another one.

I grinned as I hit the power button and the screen flashed on. After setting up my account to my new laptop, I would let it charge and finish installation.

I tapped my fingers against the table as I watched the status bar inch closer and closer to completion. Now would be as good a time as any to grab a drink and maybe a snack.

When I returned back with drink and snack in hand, I caught sight of the laptop’s cord. It laid unplugged under the table. I frowned in confusion. I know for a fact that I plugged it in to charge. Had I unplugged it already and just forgotten? I stared at the cord that laid on the floor shaking my head in confusion. Very unlikely.

I shrugged it off and plugged it back in.

Moments later, I sat down in front of my laptop, installed a word processor, and began typing the first words to my horror story using my notes as a guide.

Even though I deleted sentences and paragraphs multiple times and frowned in frustration at my inability to find the right words, I still smiled. Midst the frustration, it felt so good to be writing this story on a functioning and reliable laptop.

Before I knew it, I had written nearly a whole full page.

I leaned back and shifted my mind into that of a reader rereading what I’d written so far. I was writing the very kind of horror story where a group of friends are camping and get lost in the dark woods. I know. I know. A heavily overused plot in horror but I was determined to make it into something unique.

I read a line and shook my head dissatisfied. No that didn’t sound right. I deleted it but left the unfinished sentence linger as I gathered my thoughts for a more suitable replacement.

In the middle of my thoughts, the laptop screen flashed briefly causing me to startle. I leaned forward and waited for it to happen again but nothing happened. I quickly saved my work just to be safe.

Like the mystery of how my laptop had gotten unplugged, I brushed it off. I glanced at my now empty glass. I needed to stretch my legs anyway.

Five minutes later, I returned ready to continue my story but still not quite sure how I wanted to rewrite that unfinished sentence. My eyes skimmed until they reached the line I was working on.

Once she felt safe to do so, she came out of the cover of the woods to find …

… them all dead in pools of blood.

My eyes widened in horrid confusion and I deleted the words immediately.

No! No! I know for an absolute fact I did not write that!

I took a deep breath trying to comprehend what I just read. While that line was deeply unsettling what made it even more unsettling was the fact that I didn’t write it.

I racked my brain for something a little less horrid but still suspenseful and chilling.

… she came out of the cover of the woods to find all of them lying there barely alive. She could sense the creature was still close by and she feared for her life.

I took a deep breath, satisfied. Until I thought of something better, it would do.

I left my laptop, now exhausted and ready for a longer break.

Moments later, as I was lounging on the couch, a flash of light caught my peripheral. I jerked my attention to my laptop screen as it came to life. Unlike the other strange occurrences that happened, I couldn’t ignore this one and now I was questioning the ones before.

As I approached, my eyes caught movement. I watched in disbelief as the cursor moved backwards and forward throughout my document as if it had a mind of its own. I rapidly clicked the mouse pad in a desperate attempt to get the cursor to stop. After a few more clicks, to my relief, the cursor stopped. I stared at it in suspicion. There was something weird going on with this laptop. I knew I should have gotten that other laptop instead. Maybe a refurbished laptop wasn’t the greatest idea.

I forced the odd occurrence out of my mind and sat down in front of my laptop saving and closing the horror story I was working on. I opened a new document. Time to shift out of the dark side of my mind and write something happier and more lighthearted.

I leaned back and debated between my many running thoughts. As soon as I got a solid idea in mind I leaned forward to begin writing. I had barely hovered my fingers over the keyboard when I froze in horror at the screen in front of me.

The new document closed abruptly as the document containing the horror story I was working on previously opened in its place.

I clicked madly to close out of the document. To my relief, it closed and I pulled up my new work in progress again. I hovered my fingers over the keyboard still shaking but ready to finally get some words down.

I’d barely gotten a line written when the cursor took on a life of its own again. My eyes widened in even horrid confusion as letters then words materialized on the screen. I hit the delete button but to my disbelief, the words continued to materialize.

… all dead in pools of blood.