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Story

Chapter #4

Part 1


Horror in the suburbs – boy, 8, trapped in basement for days, the headline reads of the article I hold in my hand. I cannot bring myself to read the rest because I know what happened. The stale air, the banging on the door but no one to answer my call, the sound of breaking backbone and the raw smell of fresh blood, it could have been hours ago rather than decades. I start crying and while my tears flood down my face I start to look around. The room is very bare, only a single bed in the corner by the window, opposite of a small table and chair and a shelf with books and comics right over it. I walk over and notice a pile of comics on the table. Without thinking I grab the comic on top of the pile.

Right past the table is a little recess with a toilet and a wash basin. I would expect a mirror as well but there is none, only the faint lines where one must have been in the past. I turn around once more and see a reinforced door. Fear floods through me and I run to the door and not to my surprise I cannot open it. 

“Only the strong will survive and thanks to me you did. I will always protect you and will always be there for you in the darkest hour and in the light.”, the voice echoed through the room with an animalistic growl. I turn around again trying to find the source of the voice but I am all alone. “Get Out”!” I shake the door but nothing happens. In my despair I start hammering my fists on the door like I did all those years ago but time I neither have Yeti nor do I know where I am. Exhausted I give up and sit down on the bed. If only I knew where I am.

Answer:

I shiver when I realise that this is indeed where I am and while I try to remember how I got there I hear a shrieking laugh. 

“I told you I will look out for you!” 

“Yeti?” 

“Who else? Or did you expect any of those humans to even care for you? Your mother? That woman left you alone for days with that psychopath and his friends. You heard him laugh, you heard him eat and drink but he never answered your call to open the door until it was too late. He deserved it! I died for you and he died for me.” 

“Yeti, why am I trapped again?” 

“Don’t worry my friend I’ll get you out. Just wait and see!” 

“I love you Yeti. You are my best friend.”

 “I know. Now sleep”

When I wake up I am no longer in the room. I hear an alarm and instinctively run. There is a door right in front of me but I do not know the code to open it. Frantically I type a few numbers.

“Remember the comics? Type in the order of the issues you had on your desk!”

“I don’t remember”

“Yes you do. Just go back to the beginning!”

Yeti is right - as always. I do know the code and start to type it into the keypad:

Part 2

The sky above me is bright, the crisp air enriched with the musty notes of slowly decaying leaves, and I actually feel better than ever before. Free from the shackles, free from the past, only the future ahead, I run humming one of my favourite songs

What does the picture want to tell you?

If the hints didn’t help you, maybe your ears know what the sock is cooking.

I stop to catch a breath. I kept on running for what must have been an hour after the voices chasing me faded away in the woods behind me. My naked feet step on a manmade ground for the first time. The pile of golden brown leaves feels so soft and comforting under my toes. I look around at what seems like the outer edge of a village. A smooth pastel pink fills the cool autumn evening sky as the sun goes down giving a nostalgic tone to the city skyline over the horizon. Only now I understand I had forgotten the colours of the sky. The irony of being back in the free world on this specific day has me smile to myself, when this riddle comes to my mind:

It all depends on how you feel

Tender as cotton or hard as steel

The time here expands and shrinks

Endless but with all the kinks

I may look real, but I am not

If you are in luck, I will be hot

When you’re not here, I am usually forgotten

But I can make it feel like you’re wrapped in cotton

Sometimes I’m good, at other times I’m bad

While with me you may feel the best you’ve ever had

Swimming across seven seas or an ocean

Flying over mountain tops with devotion

Because everything here shatters

There is nothing that matters

Deep in the darkest alleys of your soul

Here there is no failure and no goal

What is it:

Still smiling to myself I notice that the first toddlers have started running around enthusiastically with their baskets still empty. The costumes have changed so much since the last time I had gone out on All Hallows Eve. 

A group of children with lanterns and baskets in their hands walk past me. One of them turns to me and screams at the top of her squeaky childish voice “TRICK OR TREAT!?”. I look at her and her homemade costume puts an awkward smile on my face.

“What creature are you?”

“I am a dead bunny!” she answers.

“But you look too alive for a dead bunny…”

“I am a zombie bunny! I cannot die anymore!” she replies, showing me her teeth “, and what are you?”

I look down at my dirty white gown-like uniform.

“I am the ghost of an old lady. I come back once a year on this day to look for my long gone bunny friend. I am so glad we met tonight.”

Solution Word:

The End ?!?! …

Does anything ever end, anywhere? …

Categories
Story

Chapter #3

Part 1

The succession of reality snippets and the dream world are exhausting my mind. I am walking in the neighbourhood and the buildings begin shifting forms and I start elevating only to understand that I am already awake with my eyes looking at the blank canva of the ceiling. Without noticing I have already stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash my sweaty face and help me make some sense out of this turbulent flow of time and space. With the cool water dripping from my eyes I look straight into the mirror where my tired eyes should be looking back at me in shock. The only reflection I see is the clear figure of the old lady. But this time she is different. For the first time I feel no anxiety, no terror. An unexpected excitement starts flooding my mind. For the first time this old figure looks very familiar. It doesn’t make any rational sense but I start realising that it’s me. It has always been me. The reflection of her memories sharply cross my own mind. An older self, a  long forgotten life starts passing by in front of my eyes. And she whispers: “Jacob and Wilhelm trapped you down there”.

Who could it be:

Trapped between four dark humid walls, I am staring at a rotten locked door. I feel young but very tired, as if a part of my soul is missing. I don’t know how I got here but at the same time it feels very familiar. And not on positive note. While sitting on a cold floor with my back against the moist brick wall which gives me the chills, a feeling of impending doom starts arising. A warm feeling is tingling my right palm. I look down on the hard concrete floor and without any surprise, as if I already knew, I gaze upon the lifeless white furry mass.  A puddle of blood starts covering my fingers. A wave of sadness and regret hits my chest. I remember clearly, his name was Yeti. Suddenly a  subtle voice is televised behind the closed cellar door: “It was the boogeyman…”.

That reminds me of:

Part 2

I had found him roaming around in our backyard. He was still tiny and dirty and completely lost and scared. I remember taking him in a shoe box which became his house under my bed  for a couple of months. I always thought he was more of a friend to me than a pet. A small town doesn’t give a lot of options to a young boy and I also never was especially social. So when he entered my life he gave a new perspective to my dull rural life. His soft white fur, his big feet and the fact that I was obsessed with imaginary creatures and folklore legends was the reason why I named him Yeti. I remember Ivan Sanderson’s book being my favourite read back then…

which could it be:

He was always a good excuse to disappear and hide in my room to avoid the constant  fights in the living room. It was loud and sometimes scary. When the fights started getting violent I had my furry friend to calm me down. Every time the bangs and screams started I was hoping for the day they would both vanish from my life forever. Until one day one of them did.

I found my mother lying unconscious on the kitchen floor. She was surrounded by glass shards so I sat down and waited for her to wake up from a distance. I was sitting there for hours with Yeti in my arms. I remember being stressed but calm. I didn’t really care for both of them, I just needed some peace of mind.

It was already dark when my mother woke up. She hugged me with tears running down her cheeks reassuring me that he is never coming back again. And so it was. I remember the next year being the most peaceful time of my life. But again, it only lasted a year. And then the real nightmare began.

At first he was very kind and funny. He was bringing me gifts and telling me jokes, even the grown up ones, the ones no child knew at that age. All this changed overnight when he moved in our house. He was telling me I should stay and have fun in the playroom, down in the basement. Mom had been working a lot and she wasn’t around and I didn’t really want to complain because they were happy with each other. Playroom time was getting longer every time. Until one day mom would drive to grandma, because she hadn’t been feeling well. It was around Halloween. I went to my “playroom” because he had some friends visiting. I was sitting there for hours together with Yeti until I fell asleep. And woke up again. And went back to sleep. Hours became days and months in my mind. I was feeling too tired and hungry and thirsty to even cry. I was exhausted and scared. Until one weird thought started echoing in my head. It was cruel but it made sense. I had read what the Yeti does to survive. And it was the only logical solution…

The first two words of the sentence:
Solution Word:

Categories
Story

Chapter #2

Part 1

I haven’t had any dreams for the last couple days. Although I would like to get a lead on all the unanswered questions regarding the weird old lady, I am somehow relieved that I have managed to get a proper sleep.

The sun is shining so I decide to ride by bike to the office. But before that I need to pick up some props for the onboarding packages. I could get them delivered but the new starters need them fast and who can rely on postal services these days? As I arrive at the given address I put on my face mask but approaching the house I can only see an empty abandoned window front. You have to be kidding me … There is a note hanging on the window though. I try to get closer to find some info, carefully trying not to step over the yellow line painted on the pavement warning me to not get too close and in all fairness it looks like it could collapse any minute, when suddenly I notice movement in the window. WOW! What was that?? I look behind my shoulder but the street is empty. I swear I saw the reflection of that creepy old lady but with a face mask on. Was it me? Am I getting that paranoid?? Putting the mask on after cycling fast must have made me dizzy apparently. My heart is racing but I am telling myself to breath and gather myself. Ok, concentrate and read the note!

The note reads: 

“Through the people’s park you will find me at the end of the fairytale”

Where is this place?

Anyway, I decide to ride quickly to their new location since it is not too far from where I am right now. It is a nice sunny morning so riding around is the best I can do for my troubled mind. I remember there is a shop right at the other end of a beautiful park. I’m sure that it is what it might refer to.  While I am riding through the park, the sun is turning the brown leaves of the trees into a glowing golden mass. From afar I see the shop’s sign. It didn’t take me more than 5 minutes to get here which is great as I am on a schedule and had not planned for a detour. I lock the bike, take off my helmet and the moment I step forward to enter I come across the weirdest thing I would see for the day: on a yellow line painted on the pavement sits a dog with a bloody snout holding something in its mouth. I have a good look at the dog only to find out with horror that the bloody thing in between its teeth is a furry rabbit foot! Anxiety reigns me, my legs and arms feel numb. How does this make any sense?? Is this another sign that I am going crazy?? “He killed the poor thing during his morning walk” a woman standing at the front door informs me, “I turned around for 2 minutes and he came back like this. As you probably  understand I can’t let him in the shop like this.” Before heading on my eyes fall on the dog’s shiny collar. I immediately feel as if this reminds me of something.

What could this mean?

Part 2

Day “one too many” of feeling like not really myself anymore. It all started with those dreams but my day to day life is increasingly affected by them and I wonder how long I can take this before it gets too much. Just a few good nights and I’m sure I’ll be back on track but today is not one of those days. I fell asleep thinking of it and even in my dreams it kept creeping up everywhere.  This damn number is stuck in my head and I can not make any sense of it. I have gone through photos, papers, memory drives … if this really reminds me of a date, it seems like this day never happened for me. Weirdly enough, two words swirl in my mind:

Keywords:

Well, I am already in the office now as I came in a bit earlier to have enough time for some proper breakfast. I must be quite a sight stand over the kitchen sink staring blankly into it. Happy to have found a distraction from the number in my head I keep looking at a bloody knife that is laying in the sink. Just staring at it, noticing all the shades of red and silver gives me some weird feeling of relief and I can not bring myself to look away. A blood-stained knife meditation … there must be a first for everything. 

After what feels like forever, I come out of my trance and realize it’s just beetroot juice. In the future I should not have my brain run with the first thought maybe. However, after my blissful moments of nothingness I am getting angry about the fact that someone could not be asked to put the minimum effort in to leave the kitchen in a slightly more orderly state.  No they just left it there without caring who’ll clean up after them and I can’t help feeling frustrated. As I grab the knife I notice it has an engraved serial number at the top towards the blunt edge. Behind the red liquid it reads:

0142405469

This is creepy as I just yesterday noted down this number. My memory is failing me though what it was for.

Answer:

If that doesn’t do the trick nothing will.

Solution Words:

Categories
Story

Chapter #1

Part 1

Deep in the night I woke up startled by a strange noise. Where was I? Who am I? Do I recognise this place? What is over there in the shadows? Still sleepy and confused I found it hard to differentiate between dreams and reality. “Hello”, I said into the darkness. No answer. “Is anyone there?” After sitting for a few minutes in silence I decided to switch on the lights and go to the kitchen to get some water. Tired as I was, I made a mental note to take a glass of water through the next evening, and went back to bed after I placed the glass of water on the bedside table.

Once asleep I had a weird dream. There used to live a lady maybe in her early 50s in what seemed to be my house. She had at least four bunnies (maybe even more) that roamed the house freely. One day the bunnies equipped with teeth the strength only dreams can imagine, chewed through the water pipes and the lady stopped having running water. She had plenty of food but weirdly seemed to not have any liquids in the house, and for reasons only my dreamstate mind might know was not able to leave the house to get water or anything else to drink. After some time, which could be a day or an hour or even a month, you know how time is relative in dreams, she killed the first rabbit, started drinking its blood and drained it dry in an attempt to stay alive. Naturally it did not take long  before there were no more rabbits left and eventually the old lady died from dehydration. The alarm woke me before I got the answer as to why she never left the house to get water or call a plumber but I felt even more thirsty than the night before. However, when I wanted to take the glass of water from my bedside table it was gone.

So this is how my day started. I guess it’s just one of those days where no matter what I do I will never really feel in my right state of mind almost as if I am part of the world while I’m not at the same time … almost as if I dream my life rather than living it. You probably know that feeling, don’t you? Well I’m at work now and have to set up quite a few meeting rooms as we have a lot going on today. There will be the Induction Day, interviews with Exec Level candidates and the kitchens are a mess on both floors.  The room layout is still confusing to me so my colleague gave me room number which will help me to get from one room to the next fastest.

183863
294965
335471

To go from one room to another proceed to a room with at least one digit in common with the room you are currently in. And would you believe it? He told me he found something in the fifth room he believes to be mine since I have been the last one in there.

 However, which one is the 5th room?

Answer:

Wow, I made it all in time and wow look what I found, one of my comics I thought I had lost. I do love that series. It’s rather dark and twisted. I am a big fan of darker writing in general, I have to admit. You know what, to guess the comic let’s see how well you know your Horror:

Answer:

Part 2

There it was again, that noise. I’d love to describe it but I doubt I have the words for it. It’s somewhere between water dripping and flowing but at the same time it leaves a dry taste in my mouth. Since when do sounds taste like anything? I know if I go to the kitchen I’ll see her again, the old lady, and though I pinch my arm to see whether I am dreaming, the pain feels all too real. I close my eyes but I just cannot fall back asleep. Maybe reading will help. Finding it in the office the other day I re-started reading the whole Preacher series again.

Somehow Jesse being possessed by a spirit that is both pure good and pure evil really speaks to me. Still my thoughts keep returning to the kitchen and the old lady in there, waiting for me, not leaving before I pay her a visit. I get up and reluctantly make my way through the corridor. I have lived here for years but probably down to the state of my mind it seems so much longer than before. As I walk I notice a picture to my left. I don’t remember hanging it up but it’s clearly there. With arrows pointing in all main directions it seems to refer to something but I don’t understand what exactly.

Still wondering about the picture and it’s sudden appearance I turn towards the kitchen at the end of the corridor but the door is gone. Confused I turn around and back but apart from the open bedroom door and the picture on the wall the hallway is empty. And while my head is spinning trying to make sense of this I hear the noise again. Just once, then the corridor falls silent again. I think it came from the wall. I don’t know what good it will do but I start hitting the wall where the kitchen door would have been as if my punches would somehow make it reappear.  It doesn’t take long and I grow tired of hitting the wall so I turn to the bedroom and notice the picture has shifted. Maybe if I figure out what the picture wants to tell me I can get to the kitchen again

Looking at the picture up close I notice it’s not a picture at all but more like a lock. The lock has arrows in four directions and a mechanism in the middle you can move. I think I have seen one of those locks before. It’s a lock that only moves up, down, left, and right. I suppose there should be a pattern somewhere but all I can find is this sentence written underneath:

By the Aparctias I saw thee, 

Apeliotes, Apeliotes why are you three?

I know you never wanted Notos

Answer:

I shake my head and before I completely give up I hear a creaking sound to my right and when I turn my weary head towards the sound see the kitchen door opening. At this stage all I want to do is grab some water and a painkiller for the headache that slowly but steadily takes hold of the left hand side of my head.. When I get to the kitchen I involuntarily let out a small scream as I see the old lady sitting at the table. I completely forgot about her. She turns towards me and opens her mouth but rather than her voice I start to hear this song. I know this one I heard it before …

But where? It was a film I believe and I remember an explosion.

Answer:
Solution Words: