In Four Days…

My favorite holiday of the year is approaching fast:  Halloween!!  So, to start this year’s fun off right, I have decided I am going to tell you all a horror story.  I wrote some of this about four months ago and have dabbled with the piece now and then in between my other projects.

A new genre of horror stories called “Creepypastas” came out a few years back.  Here is the actual definition and how they originated:

Creepypasta  — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Creepypastas are horror-related legends or images that have been copy-and-pasted around the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated ghost or alien stories intended to scare readers. They include gruesome tales of murder, suicide, and otherworldly occurrences. According to Time magazine, the genre had its peak audience in 2010 when it was covered by The New York Times.

In the mainstream media, creepypastas relating to the fictitious Slender Man character came to public attention after the 2014 “Slender Man stabbing“, in which a twelve-year-old girl from Waukesha, WI was stabbed by two of her friends; the perpetrators claimed they “wanted to prove the Slender Man skeptics wrong”.  After the murder attempt, some creepypasta website administrators made statements reminding readers of the “line between fiction and reality”.

Other notable creepypasta characters and stories include Jeff the Killer, Ted the Caver, and Psychosis. In October 2014, a book called Creepypasta: Spökhistorier från Internet (Creepypasta: Ghost Stories from the Internet) was published in Sweden.  In May 2015, Machinima Inc. announced plans for a live action web series curated by Clive Barker, titled Clive Barker’s Creepy Pasta.

The term originates from “copypasta“, a word used on 4chan in 2006 to describe viral copy-and-pasted text.

Anyway, after reading several creepypastas, I decided that it would be a blast to do my own.  I may eventually compile this into an e-book or perhaps a graphic novel; I haven’t decided, but mainly I am writing this for the fun and thrill of the scare!  Bwah hahahah!!

Here is “Day One” of my creepypasta saga called In Four Days:

 

 

DAY ONE…

Taken and reposted from Rosalina Rico’s Cuisine Review.  January 21st, 2016

I am sorry – I am at a loss what I can do next.  Normally as you all know, this is my restaurant blog and daily journal about my experiences within Philly’s unique diners and dives.  Today, I am using this to reach out for help and ideas.

This… for lack of a better word, this stalking started on Wednesday, January 20th..

The first night came when I was at the firm, B****** & D******, running a series of month-to-date reports.   I am one of three “seasoned” accountants and as always the other two had conveniently found reasons to be away from the office.  Due to our computer system having issues, the reports were pushed back three hours and I was on my fourth cup of coffee.

At 10:38 pm I needed three things:  the reports to be done, another cup of awful coffee and a badly-needed cigarette.

I ran down the hall and went to the ladies restroom.  It was deserted.  Yes! Lucky me!!

The fluorescence lights always flickered in this bathroom; one intern called it the Disco John.  Gave me the creeps each time, but tonight I didn’t want to take the long elevator ride to the parking lot where they had our designated smoking section.  Besides, the fans worked well and would clear out my cigarette smoke in a couple minutes.  Yes, this wasn’t my first time sneaking a drag.   

Just after my sixth or seventh long pull from the cigarette, the bathroom door squealed as the door was slowly hauled open.  In a panic I dropped it into the water below and fanned the air with my arms.  Holding my breath, I waited to see who was coming in – please not that fat ass from security.

Three heavy steps inside, then the person stopped just passed the swinging door.  Crap!  Sounds like boots!  No one from the office.

Above the fluorescence bulbs suddenly froze still and then brightened with an odd humming buzz.

The footsteps started again.

This time I heard a squelching sound.  Each step made a soft, obscene squishing burp.  The person turned the corner and began walking down the length of the stalls.  I kept waving the smoke up toward the fans.  The visitor stopped right in front of my stall and faced my door.

I sighed heavily.  “Sorry… sorry.  I know we aren’t allowed to smoke in here.  I already put it out.”

My name would probably go into some kind of Security Guard’s report.  .

“Uh… I am not done in here, but… I promise no more smoking okay?”

No response.

I coughed Ahem into my hand hoping “he” would get the hint.

No response.

“Look! I know you are just doing your job, but I don’t think you are supposed to do it in the ladies room.”

Nothing.  Silence.

I was getting pissed, frustrated and a bit frightened at this point.

I tried to see passed the slits in the door but “he” was standing in the center of the stall door.  His boots I could see were covered in a nasty grey-green muck.  A thick trail of mud followed his steps.

Who the hell was this??

“What do you want?  My name? Who are you?”

No answer.

I listened intently and I could make out just a whispery breath on the other side of the door.

“Are you purposefully trying to mess with me, asshole?”

I waited for something, anything.

Remembering my phone in my slack’s pocket, I reached down and checked to see if I had a signal.  I was lucky again.

“You better get the fuck out!  I am going to take your picture and then call 911!”  I threatened.  “You hear me, ya goddamn pervert!”

I rose up from the toilet, yanked my slacks up and held the phone up over the door.

The lights went out!  Everything covered in pitch black like a tomb.

CHRIST!

 My cell phone went dead too.  When I checked it, it slipped from my hand as I started shaking uncontrollably.

His breath echoed and seemed louder somehow in the confines of the bathroom.

“Four days… I will have you in four days.”  The voice was hollow and stony.  No emphasis or emotion.

I screamed and kicked the door hard hoping to knock him down.  At that same moment, the lights exploded on and blinded me.  I fell forward in my momentum, crashed into the wall outside the stall and fell hard to the floor.

Lying on my back in the muddy grey-green slime, I blinked my eyes repeatedly trying to get them to adjust and see the bastard.

I was alone.

 

Hope you enjoyed this — next week, I will post “Day Two”!!  I will do these installments up through Halloween, but don’t be surprised to see other blog posts now and then on writing or self-publishing!  🙂

Let me know what you think of this story so far!