Observers

[arjunk]

Όνομα Συγγραφέα: Άρης Π
Είδος: Τρόμος
Βία; Όχι
Σεξ; Όχι
Αριθμός Λέξεων: 1642
Αυτοτελής; Ναι
Σχόλια: Γραμμένο σε 'διαγωνισμό' με φίλο να γράψουμε κάτι με το ίδιο θέμα: "Απομωνομένος σε νησί, κάποιος ξυπνάει από τον θόρυβο που κάνει κάτι καθώς κλείνει τη πόρτα του δωματίου του". Εμπνευσμένο απ' τα περίεργα φώτα και τις ανθρωπόμορφες σκιές της Αντιπάρου (καθότι ο φίλος είναι ξένος, το κείμενο είναι στα αγγλικά)

 

  Jay was just standing there, hand on the door handle, not really knowing what to do. The door was almost closed, enough so that you couldn't see behind the slight crack.

  All right, he thought. I've got two options here. One: I close the damn thing and I lock it, go back to sleep. I probably can't do that. Do I have a book somewhere in here? I bet I do. I also bet I can't read for my life right now.

  Option number two: I swing the door open and confront whatever it is I just saw.

  "Why is this happening to me?" is the only answer he could come up with.

  At a time like this, he admitted he hated being alone on this remote little island. It's what he wished for, all those long work hours, and, honestly? If someone told him he'd see what he just saw, he'd be thrilled. Anything, he'd say, that brings some excitement into this routine-laden life. Boredom makes us stupid, he mused.

  It is this boredom that led Jason Burges, head of the sales department of General Nautical Supplies, Inc., to spend so much of his high-salary earnings stocking up and getting on a little sailboat, to traverse all that open sea towards Morrison Isle and live there throughout his vacation days. It was his childhood summer destination, taken with his adventurous parents frequently during those years. They had even built a small house there, just the essentials - two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room; a great open space out in the front, with nice, big, green plants scattered all over the place, along with all sorts of chairs and tables at key leisure points. 'Heavenly' is the word he most often used to describe it.

  There had been long fights with the wife, but Jay stood stubbornly firm: he needed this. He needed to be alone. He needed to spend all his pent up energy on his painting, reading, listening to music at full blast whenever he goddamn pleased. Or he would simply pack up and leave, no destination in mind.

  Anne Burges was a reasonable woman. She knew her husband's childish convictions were better not left unattended. So she had reluctantly agreed to take their son along with herself at their grandparents' summerhouse, spend their time there - let her husband get it out of his system. She never stopped worrying, though.

  "You're gonna hurt yourself out there, Jay. And no one's going to be around when that happens. There's no phone reception. What will you do then? What will I do?"

  You just don't get it, he'd retort. How foolish he was.

  "OK" he said under his breath. "OK." Jay quickly swung the door open. Behind it stood the empty living room. He let out a sigh of relief, but quickly deduced one simple fact: if it isn’t here, it's somewhere else. Oh God. Where could it be?

  He scanned the place. To his horror, he heard the kitchen window open. He forced himself to run there before he could think. Upon arriving at his destination, he immediately regretted this decision.

 

  Halfway out of the window, frozen still, stood the creature. It must have been about two meters tall, slender, with pale grey skin. It was fairly humanoid, with the horrifying exception of its head: big, elongated, featureless and smooth, apart from two most unsettling intricacies - one was its two big, black, shiny eyes, looking straight at him. The other was an abnormally large mouth, open in what could be considered a wide smile, showing a multitude of needle-like teeth. It opened it once briefly, to reveal a long, forked tongue, much in the way snakes do. It made no sound whatsoever.

  Jay's hair stood on end. He felt the blood rush to his head. This must be a very vivid dream, he asserted. But why is it so real? I must have some pretty fucked up issues, deep down.

  This train of thought almost calmed him down. He mustered up his strength. He shouted:

  "What the fuck were you doing in my --"

  The thing swiftly rushed towards him. It stood inches from his face for a brief second, before he fell awkwardly to the floor. Its face never left his. It stood now on all fours over him, surveying his terrified expression. Thankfully, its mouth was now closed. It was unnaturally small now, compared to that big grin. It smelled like something burnt.

  This is how I die, Jay thought in a panic. Maybe this is how everyone dies and we just don't know it. Who could've guessed?

  No, the thing probably won't harm him. If it wanted to, why not do it while he was asleep? It was in the room with him. God, it watched me sleep, he thought. And if it hadn't bumped its leg on that door on its way out, I never would've known.

  He tried looking away, but the thing followed closely. He closed his eyes, but couldn't stand that. He opened them again.

  The thing was gone.

  He stood up to look at the window. Closed.

  Oh okay. Okay. I'm just going mad, he thought. That's good. I've always wanted to try it.

  He heard some rustling outside and some objects being thrown around violently. He winced. He went to the front door and opened it.

  Jason saw the creature running unnaturally fast and jumping over his fence. It had knocked a few plants and chairs over. He made a staggering realization: he frequently found those same exact chairs fallen down in the morning.

  This wasn't the first time this has happened. It was merely the first time he had woken up.

  A chill ran down his spine. What now? How do I deal with this? I can lock myself in. But what if it can get inside regardless? I won't be able to run out.

  All right, think logically. It opened the window to get out; the thing can't walk through walls. But it closed it from outside. That's impossible. So which is it?

  His head hurt. He thought about his office, how he hated seeing the same desk every day, having to sit there doing mostly nothing for so long. It seemed strangely comforting now, to think of such mundane discomforts. We never appreciate the fact, he pondered, that we've grown out of our survival stage. This isn't something anyone should go through.

  He considered, briefly, about setting the chairs straight. Fuck that, he wasn't about to take another step outside. He quickly turned around to march back inside, where he froze, for the second time tonight, in fear.

 

  Two creatures, similar to the first, were standing inside his house, looking at him quietly. They weren't grinning. Why aren't they grinning? He thought. Are they unhappy? Do they want something from me?

  As if to answer his question, one of the creatures slammed the door shut. They continued to watch him, through the door's small window.

  "You motherfuckers." he exclaimed. "You goddamn fucking motherfuckers!" He was yelling now. This made him feel a little better. What didn't make him feel better was the stoic disregard of his unnerving guests.

  "FUCK YOU!"

  Jay turned around. Screw this. I'm out. I'm not paying any more attention to my surroundings; I'll just see more of them.

  He started to sprint towards his motorbike, looking at his feet the entire time.

  He reached it and got on it. He turned the ignition; thankfully his solitude meant that the keys were always there. The bike growled. He pumped the gas and was on his way.

  Upon reaching the dock he unsaddled and quickly got on his sailboat. It was merely a half-hour trip to the opposing island's nearest village. He started setting the ropes to get ready.

  They're gonna get me, he kept thinking. They're inside the cabin right now. They're everywhere. It's just them and me in this world now. They're playing me, toying with me.

  Jay had the sudden urge to raise his head and see the much bigger island across the sea. A multitude of lights flickered on it, signs of human civilization. He felt calm, all of a sudden. I can do it, he thought, I'm getting out of here. I'm so close. I can feel it.

  No one is going to believe me.

  He untied the ropes holding him to the dock. He started the little engines and was on his way.

  He went to the steering wheel and briefly checked the instruments around it. Setting course for normalcy, he thought. Never. Again.

  Only now did he dare to look behind him.

  He let out a scream.

  A bunch of the creatures were gathered at the dock. It must've been at least a dozen. They were all staring at him. They were all smiling. God, why did they have to be smiling?

  The poor man couldn't avert his eyes. He felt they'd somehow get him if he did. He kept a straight course, but never looked away.

  That's how he never noticed the big metal object, rising from the sea in front of him.

  The sailboat crashed into a stop. Jay turned around just in time to see the things surrounding him, reaching for him.

  Then, came darkness.

 

  Jason woke up on his bed. Damn, his legs had bruises. Why does this happen sometimes? Must be the way I sleep, he thought.

  The sun was shining throughout the house. It was a very breezy place. Ah, this is the life, Jay thought. He went to the kitchen and started brewing some coffee.

  He decided he would take it outside on such a fine day. He got out and found some chairs scattered around. He set them straight.

  It could get pretty windy, some nights.