Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-37041992-20181004223948/@comment-37041992-20181008165221

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

Jesse

My parents went away for a week to celebrate their anniversary. It was the first time they left me (their admittedly irresponsible son) alone with the house for a relatively long period of time. On the first night, I was dozing in front of the TV when the power went out. No big deal, sleep was about to consume me anyway.

I was just lying there on the couch, trying to fall asleep, when I thought I heard a noise. A faint creak. It sounded like it came from upstairs, but it was so faint that I wasn't even sure I really heard it. However, when I heard another one a few seconds later, I was sure it was real.

Footsteps. They were coming down the stairs. I thought I was dreaming, but just to be safe I got off the couch and crouched down behind the reclining chair. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could start to see the figure.

His appearance made me jump. He was male, but his hair was long like a woman. Black hair, like mine. Skinny. Skin was white like mine, but very pale. The clothes were a black shirt, black pants and black shoes. An unsettling ensemble for an intruder. Especially that unnervingly pale skin.

The infiltrator walked over to the mirror next to the staircase. He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed something from his pocket. My heart skipped when I saw him pull out a knife. Holding it in his left hand, he stuck out his right arm and did something horrifying.

He began to shave the skin off of his arm, making it skinnier and skinnier. Eventually, he did the other arm. As I watched this horror, I felt sicker than I'd ever been before and just willed with all my might for him to leave. If this was a nightmare, it was easily the worst nightmare I'd ever had.

He smiled crazily in the mirror and pulled up his shirt to start sculpting his torso. Flaps of skin fell to the floor. I felt light-headed, but I felt like I couldn't look away for my own safety.

He carved every part of his body. His legs, his cheeks, even his neck. The whole time, I didn't see a single drop of blood.

After what seemed like ages, he put the knife back into his pocket. The whole time, I was praying like crazy for him to get out. He got on one knee and began to pick up the flaps of skin that he had got off his body. He wadded it up into a ball.

My level of dismay went from a hundred to a million as I watched him quickly shoved the ball of skin into his mouth. I heard a horrible chewing noise and my mind just couldn't take it anymore. My eyelids went limp and I felt my head smack against the hardwood floor with a loud thump.

I remember waking up in the middle of the room. My head ached, my throat was dry, and my stomach was filled with pain. When I remembered my whole experience, I screamed and tried to sit up, only to have my stomach hurt even more. I caught a glimpse of it. My torso was cut, bloody, GNAWED. As my mental state dangled from a thread, I tried to crawl to my phone to call for help, sobbing uncontrollably.

Something on the floor caught my eye. When I got closer, I saw that it was a piece of my own skin. A message was crudely written on it in my blood.

"Delicious. I'll definitely eat here again.

 - Jesse"