Sitting up in a familiar state of sweat, or what I thought was sweat, I realized what woke me. Looking up, I could see tons of water droplets coming down from the ceiling. It was leaking while the rain beat at the window outside. The sound of thunder cracked loudly, and I shook my head. "Fucking great," I mumbled as I pressed my hand down into the soggy bed. Grabbing my phone from the side table, I looked at the time. It was only four in the morning, so that meant I'd only slept maybe three hours, but the dream, fuck, it made it feel like I had slept the entire day. Getting up, I changed into a hoodie and jeans before heading to complain about the leak. I noticed the water was dripping on the tv stand and carpet by the bathroom. I wasn't about to sleep on the wet floor. Somehow, again, I ended up in a room with shitty conditions. Opening the door, wet wind slapped at me. I pulled the hood over my head and slammed the door behind me as I tried dodging the rain and went throug
I was done with the Motel of Horrors. After Tina had left me to ponder my life choices, I finally turned in the room key. There was no point in asking for a refund. Even if I knew what I’d seen and what I didn’t afterward, I couldn’t prove it. The early morning was a gray, foggy mist leftover from the rain that still threatened overhead. I decided to head out to the new house to unlock the door and unload the crap in my truck. It wasn’t a big deal driving out there, the distance from town wasn’t too bad, and the main strip of road was deserted at this time. Finally, after about 15 minutes of driving, I reached the turn for the long gravel driveway. The weathered for sale sign was gone. Someone had apparently removed it. Usually, a person or family is happy with sunshine coming out of their ass when they buy a home, and I used to be that kind of someone. But not today. Between the dreams and subtle things that looked like warnings, I wondered if I’d genuinely made a mistake. Anothe
It took a little under an hour to get everything moved. The rain held, but the wind decided to make itself known as we carried the desk up the small steps. “We’ll have to bring it in the sliding glass door. I don’t think we can fit it in this one,” Abby said, setting her side down. “Yeah, looks that way. Let’s head around the back then.” Walking around the side of the house, both our steps sunk into the ground as we carried the heavy desk to the back patio door. “Shit, it’s still locked. Set it down, and I’ll unlock it,” I told her as I set my side of the heavy piece of junk down and headed back around to the front door. Coming in the front door, I could see our muddy tracks, but something caught my eye. Muddy shoeprints were going into the hallway towards the bedrooms, also. We had set everything up in the living room, and I didn’t recall either of us going back there. I followed them to the back bedroom. They were comparable to mine in size, but I couldn’t tell if they we
“Good to see ya again, Mr. Lake. I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself properly last time. Names Buck Johnson,” the large farmer said, holding out his hand. I took it reluctantly and shook it, getting a smile from him. “Nice to meet you again,” I replied politely. “So’s, I hear you ended up buying the place after all?” I nodded, glancing between him and the sheriff, “Yeah, I figured it’d work for what I was looking for.” “Good deal, and I suppose you won’t need to use that barn?” I shrugged, looking away, not sure how I wanted to respond. “Nah, he’s a writer, probably wouldn’t know the first thing about using a combine, am I right, Mr. Lake?” I looked at the man, tempted to say no because I could pay someone else to use it, but instead just smiled, replying, “I suppose you are right, sheriff. Anyway, it was nice seeing you both again. Take care now.” I gave them a quick nod and turned, trying to get back to my truck. They didn’t say anything or call after me, to which I
When I say shadows, I didn’t mean the kind that appears when the sun is bright. These were dark, deep, nothingness, more of a blur rather. I blinked several times, and when I slowly turned my head to see them, they disappeared. They were gone, completely. I went back to the bathroom and flipped on the light. Leaning forward in the mirror, I pulled back the skin around my eye, seeing if I had something sticking there. Nothing, my eyes looked the same, bloodshot, with heavy bags drooping underneath. Splashing water on my face, I looked back into the mirror, and that’s when I caught sight of the shadows standing behind me. I yelled in a panic, almost climbing on the toilet as I turned around, but nothing was there. I glanced back to the mirror, but nothing dark and looming stood there. The bathroom was empty, void of anything other than myself. I sat on the toilet for a minute, trying to gather myself back to reality, my heart thumping in my throat. It had to be all in my mi
Abby had bought me lunch from a gas station down the road after four truckloads and a half-empty storage container later. I even scored a tv tray stand like my parents used to have, which she said was another freebie for helping. We sat on the tailgate of our trucks, taking a break, and she decided to start asking questions. “So why Sunny Field, Sam?” First name basis it is, I guess. “Hmm, no particular reason, Abby. It was the first place the reality company called me about,” I responded, biting into the soggy pizza with mystery toppings. “Oh, so you could have ended up somewhere else, then? Well, Sunny Field isn’t too bad. It’s just another small town with older people. There’s not much history to it unless you can count the Witmaker’s story. But that kind of history isn’t really talked about. It’s like a dark stain on the town. Folks just ignore it.” I looked at her, and it dawned on me, “Isn’t that whose property I just brought?” She nodded a little hesitantly before
I looked at her, not taking her offer too seriously, and shook my head, “No thanks, I better get back and take care of a few things. Maybe next time.” She shrugged, “Suit yourself. Thanks again, Sam, for the help today. My brothers are always super busy, so it’s hard to lock them down to help me with things sometimes. Anyway, drive safely, and if you need anything else, let me know!” She turned away and walked back into the store’s garage before I responded. I almost changed my mind, if only because I was still dreading going back to the house alone. Reluctantly getting in my truck, I started it, pulled around the store, and headed home. I passed the park and was tempted to take a look at the tree she was referring to when telling me about the property, but I decided against it for now. I didn’t need something else to increase my insane imagination further. Thinking about my insanity, when I finally got home, I decided I’d call Dr. Pearsion after I got things unloaded. Unlocking
With the bricked doorway to my back, I heard a noise from the hallway. “Shhhllliiipp,” is what I could hear first, and then, a wet pop as something hit the floor. Then, it repeated, “Shhhllliiipp, pop,” like something wet was dragging down the hallway. Again, I could only stare as I backed up. The noise was horrifying. Suddenly blood slowly wrapped along the bottom edges of the wall coming from that direction until it pooled out, heading to the center of the living room floor. I ran for the windows and found them still nailed shut. “Fuck, can’t I get a break?” My voice was drowned by the horrible noise getting louder behind me. I didn’t dare turn around. What was I supposed to do? Get on my knees and start praying? I hesitated, feeling at a loss. Finally, I asked for whatever god was listening to end this dream. The wet sound ceased, but whatever was making it, I could hear it wheezing behind me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I slowly turned with my head down. Taking a deep br