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RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 9 Is Up! A New Threat Enters The House!
Sorry for the delay!
Sorry for the delay!
Chapter 10- Trapped
You know, it is strange how time can move so fast when one is experiencing enjoyment yet moves so slow when one is having a terrible time. The last part of that statement holds true for tonight. When I had first left the attic, I believed the time to be around twenty-five minutes past one in the morning. After the events of the exorcism, I had to conclude that it was now only thirty-five minutes past one. We still had two hours to go in this house and yet I felt as though I had been there for an eternity.
That night, I was lost in a perpetual darkness for I felt that the evil would never leave. And indeed it never truly did until I was able to stop it. How did I? Well, I can tell you this: that night when the five of us summoned the Midnight Man, I could not stop him, I could only endure him. But the next time we met, I had the strength to fight back.
But that is rather here nor there. You, the reader, must be concerned more about how Froats and I would escape the clutches of the demon and the Midnight Man.
I turned to Froats. “Well, there's only one thing to do. Follow my lead.”
He nodded. The Midnight Man began approaching while the possessed Paul laughed in the background. I could not believe what I was about to do; it was the riskiest thing I had ever thought, but it was our only way out of this situation.
I took a deep breath and then charged the Midnight Man head on, holding my candle out in front of me with both hands. I did not know if Froats was following nor did I care. I just needed to worry about surviving this!
The closer I became to the Midnight Man, the colder my body became. I felt the goosebumps begin forming on my arms and legs even though all of my limbs were covered with clothing. And, I descended into darkness, but I had not lost consciousness. I was inside the Midnight Man, or at least I think I was. It was hard to tell.
The darkness lasted for a few seconds. I finally broke free and kept running, almost tripping on the stairs, but even that did nothing to phase me. I paused on the landing, and noticed that my candle had gone out. I quickly struck a match and lit the candle once again.
Looking back down into the foyer, I could see the Midnight Man staring at me and Paul looking at him, wondering what had just happened. A split second later Froats came barreling up the stairs. I struck a match for him also and lit his candle while he was catching his breath. My eyes grew wide as I realized what had just happened. We had trapped ourselves like how an inexperienced chess player traps their king in the corner. There was no way back downstairs without running into them.
Froats realized this at the same time I did. He had turned to me and was now staring at me with wide, fear-filled eyes. This was the end, we were not going to be able to survive. But I was not planning on going down without a fight. “Follow me,” I said to Froats.
I then took off, running up the remaining stairs and onto the second story. I heard footsteps following us and I assumed that it had to be Paul since the Midnight Man could move without detection. I ran into the bedroom where I had been earlier and slammed the door shut once Froats was inside the room with me. Next I ran into the closet and also shut that door. I began searching for the part in the wall that would allow me to enter the secret passageway.
“Where is it?!” I yelled, frustrated.
“What are you looking for?” asked Froats.
“When I was up here before, I found a way to move this wall and escape to a secret part of the house. That's where I found the crucifix. This is our only chance.”
“Do you even know how to reopen this?!”
“I think if a certain section of the wall has pressure applied, it opens. Here!”
The wall rose and we ducked inside. The bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall, causing the entire house to shake. “How the hell does it close, Shaker?!” screamed Froats.
“I don't know!”
The closet door slammed open. Paul stood there, laughing. “You really thought you could escape?”
The wall began to return to normal. Froats and I watched as Paul stood there, unable to stop us from getting away from him. The wall connected with the floor. We could not see Paul, be we still could hear him.
“You may have gotten away this time, but next time you will not be so lucky. I'll be waiting at the top of the stairs to block any escape route you can think of. Ha!” the possessed Paul laughed.
Froats and I stood there in the darkness. The only light came from the flame of the candles. It cast our shadows against the walls of the passage and caused them to dance to some unheard rhythm. Back and forth, back and forth the shapes swayed. Froats sat down and leaned against the wall. I followed suit.
For several minutes, we just sat there, not speaking nor moving, just listening for the sound of footsteps which would warn of Paul's approach, hoping that we could find a way survive, and waiting to see what the demon's next move would be. I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. Then Froats broke the silence. “What time is it?” he asked.
I looked up from the phone. “It's two.”
He nodded and then stood up. “Well, I guess we can just wait out the rest of the night here then.”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “We can't. They know where we're at now and, not only that, but we also have to save Paul.”
Froats wiped his brow. “Yeah, I hate it when you're right, Shaker. But what are we gonna do?!”
“Okay, I have an idea, it's pretty risky and probably won't go completely as planned, but I think it might be our best bet.”
“Alright, let's hear it.”
“Well, we first need to check and see if there is a second crucifix in the attic. You need to be protected.”
“But you don't even know if it does protect you or not. I saw how that exorcism went.”
I frowned. “It's worth a shot. Besides, once we free Paul, with any luck, the demon will be forced to wander the house, not harming either of us, and will leave with the Midnight Man.”
There was a pause. “Um, Nick? What about Paul?”
“Froats, don't focus on the negative-”
“He's not gonna make it, is he?” he interrupted.
“After what happened to Popson, I highly doubt it.”
Froats sighed. “Well first we need to see if there even is a second crucifix.”
He stood up and began making his way down the passageway, even though he had no idea where he was walking. I ran ahead so that I could show him the trapdoor that he would need to climb up and where to not stand so that he would not fall through the rotten wooden floor.
“Alright Froats, just climb up there. I'll pass you your candle so that you can see. Now, only go for the crucifix if it's in sight. If not, just climb back down and we'll go from there. The floor's too unstable.”
“Sounds good, Shaker,” he replied as he began to climb up the ladder.
He disappeared into the attic. I then started up the ladder to hand him the candle. I was able to pass it along with no problems and the hand that had reached down to take it disappeared once again into the rotting attic.
There came the noise of Froats situating himself up above me and then nothing more. Silence. Darkness. Except for the candle that I held. I pulled it close and began to think about Paige Jogan. Would I ever get to see her again? Was I going to make it through the night?
I could imagine her perfectly. The brown curly hair, the laugh, the pretty face, and her kindness. It was as if she were right in front of me at that very moment.
Then Froats' voice interrupted my thoughts. “Um, Nick? We have a problem.”
“No second crucifix?”
“Nope. What's our Plan B?”
“Well first come down. Then we can talk.”
There was the sound of him situating himself above me and then he lowered his candle which I took from his hand and sat on the floor. Then I made sure that he was able to climb down the ladder safely. “Well what are we gonna do now?” asked Froats.
I stood there silently, not knowing what to say. “I don't know,” I said slowly.
Froats opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as the sound of the wall rising echoed throughout the passageway. Both of our eyes grew wide with fear. Either the Midnight Man or the Possessed Paul had figured out how to enter the passage. How were we going to get out of this?
The room seemed as though it were spinning. I almost started crying simply from the idea that we were done and that I would not see Paige again. Then, I looked down at the floor and noticed what appeared to be another trapdoor underneath Froats' feet.
“Josh, move!” I shouted.
As he stepped aside I began pushing away the layers of dirt, dust, and cobwebs in order to find the latch. When I found it I smiled, this one was not rusted shut! I opened it and saw that there was a staircase. Where it led to neither of us knew, be there was not the time to question it. The figure of Paul appeared in the distance.
“There you two are,” he said in a raspy voice. “Now come, let's not make this anymore painful than it needs to be.”
He ran at us at a speed that was not humanly possible. He moved so fast that the dust lying on the ground was lifted up and threatened to suffocate Froats and me. Then right as things looked hopeless Froats said, “You know, Paul never was the strongest.”
He then curled his right hand into a fist and punched Paul with all of his might in the jaw. Both of them cried out in pain. Paul's jaw was obviously broken and Froats' probably broke a good deal of the bones in his hand.
The next thing that happened still confuses me to this day. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crucifix. I placed it right on Paul's heart. The demon that was possessing him let out a howl and Paul's body began to glow.
“Froats, run!”
I sprinted down the trapdoor with him following me. The house began shaking and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light followed by another scream. Then there was silence.
“Josh, you okay?”
“I don't think so, Nick. I really screwed up my hand,” he replied.
Darkness surrounded us. I was unsure where these stairs would lead but we had to take them. The Midnight Man could have also entered the passageway. It was far to risky to turn back at this point.
“We left our candles in the passageway,” whispered Froats.
“Alright, let's go get them.”
We made our way back up the stairs and to our surprise, where Paul's body had been lying after Froats punched him, there was now, instead of a body, scattered ash. The crucifix, which had turned his body to ash, lay in the center of it all. Froats had not only killed the demon but also Paul in the process.
“Don't focus on it, Josh. Just grab your candle.”
Then, the Midnight Man appeared out of the darkness in the direction of the closet entrance to the passageway. Both of our candles, which were sitting on the ground, went out. “Find them!” I yelled jamming my hands into my pockets, trying to find the matches.
If we did not relight our candles, we were toast.
That night, I was lost in a perpetual darkness for I felt that the evil would never leave. And indeed it never truly did until I was able to stop it. How did I? Well, I can tell you this: that night when the five of us summoned the Midnight Man, I could not stop him, I could only endure him. But the next time we met, I had the strength to fight back.
But that is rather here nor there. You, the reader, must be concerned more about how Froats and I would escape the clutches of the demon and the Midnight Man.
* * *
I turned to Froats. “Well, there's only one thing to do. Follow my lead.”
He nodded. The Midnight Man began approaching while the possessed Paul laughed in the background. I could not believe what I was about to do; it was the riskiest thing I had ever thought, but it was our only way out of this situation.
I took a deep breath and then charged the Midnight Man head on, holding my candle out in front of me with both hands. I did not know if Froats was following nor did I care. I just needed to worry about surviving this!
The closer I became to the Midnight Man, the colder my body became. I felt the goosebumps begin forming on my arms and legs even though all of my limbs were covered with clothing. And, I descended into darkness, but I had not lost consciousness. I was inside the Midnight Man, or at least I think I was. It was hard to tell.
The darkness lasted for a few seconds. I finally broke free and kept running, almost tripping on the stairs, but even that did nothing to phase me. I paused on the landing, and noticed that my candle had gone out. I quickly struck a match and lit the candle once again.
Looking back down into the foyer, I could see the Midnight Man staring at me and Paul looking at him, wondering what had just happened. A split second later Froats came barreling up the stairs. I struck a match for him also and lit his candle while he was catching his breath. My eyes grew wide as I realized what had just happened. We had trapped ourselves like how an inexperienced chess player traps their king in the corner. There was no way back downstairs without running into them.
Froats realized this at the same time I did. He had turned to me and was now staring at me with wide, fear-filled eyes. This was the end, we were not going to be able to survive. But I was not planning on going down without a fight. “Follow me,” I said to Froats.
I then took off, running up the remaining stairs and onto the second story. I heard footsteps following us and I assumed that it had to be Paul since the Midnight Man could move without detection. I ran into the bedroom where I had been earlier and slammed the door shut once Froats was inside the room with me. Next I ran into the closet and also shut that door. I began searching for the part in the wall that would allow me to enter the secret passageway.
“Where is it?!” I yelled, frustrated.
“What are you looking for?” asked Froats.
“When I was up here before, I found a way to move this wall and escape to a secret part of the house. That's where I found the crucifix. This is our only chance.”
“Do you even know how to reopen this?!”
“I think if a certain section of the wall has pressure applied, it opens. Here!”
The wall rose and we ducked inside. The bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall, causing the entire house to shake. “How the hell does it close, Shaker?!” screamed Froats.
“I don't know!”
The closet door slammed open. Paul stood there, laughing. “You really thought you could escape?”
The wall began to return to normal. Froats and I watched as Paul stood there, unable to stop us from getting away from him. The wall connected with the floor. We could not see Paul, be we still could hear him.
“You may have gotten away this time, but next time you will not be so lucky. I'll be waiting at the top of the stairs to block any escape route you can think of. Ha!” the possessed Paul laughed.
Froats and I stood there in the darkness. The only light came from the flame of the candles. It cast our shadows against the walls of the passage and caused them to dance to some unheard rhythm. Back and forth, back and forth the shapes swayed. Froats sat down and leaned against the wall. I followed suit.
For several minutes, we just sat there, not speaking nor moving, just listening for the sound of footsteps which would warn of Paul's approach, hoping that we could find a way survive, and waiting to see what the demon's next move would be. I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. Then Froats broke the silence. “What time is it?” he asked.
I looked up from the phone. “It's two.”
He nodded and then stood up. “Well, I guess we can just wait out the rest of the night here then.”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “We can't. They know where we're at now and, not only that, but we also have to save Paul.”
Froats wiped his brow. “Yeah, I hate it when you're right, Shaker. But what are we gonna do?!”
“Okay, I have an idea, it's pretty risky and probably won't go completely as planned, but I think it might be our best bet.”
“Alright, let's hear it.”
“Well, we first need to check and see if there is a second crucifix in the attic. You need to be protected.”
“But you don't even know if it does protect you or not. I saw how that exorcism went.”
I frowned. “It's worth a shot. Besides, once we free Paul, with any luck, the demon will be forced to wander the house, not harming either of us, and will leave with the Midnight Man.”
There was a pause. “Um, Nick? What about Paul?”
“Froats, don't focus on the negative-”
“He's not gonna make it, is he?” he interrupted.
“After what happened to Popson, I highly doubt it.”
Froats sighed. “Well first we need to see if there even is a second crucifix.”
He stood up and began making his way down the passageway, even though he had no idea where he was walking. I ran ahead so that I could show him the trapdoor that he would need to climb up and where to not stand so that he would not fall through the rotten wooden floor.
“Alright Froats, just climb up there. I'll pass you your candle so that you can see. Now, only go for the crucifix if it's in sight. If not, just climb back down and we'll go from there. The floor's too unstable.”
“Sounds good, Shaker,” he replied as he began to climb up the ladder.
He disappeared into the attic. I then started up the ladder to hand him the candle. I was able to pass it along with no problems and the hand that had reached down to take it disappeared once again into the rotting attic.
There came the noise of Froats situating himself up above me and then nothing more. Silence. Darkness. Except for the candle that I held. I pulled it close and began to think about Paige Jogan. Would I ever get to see her again? Was I going to make it through the night?
I could imagine her perfectly. The brown curly hair, the laugh, the pretty face, and her kindness. It was as if she were right in front of me at that very moment.
Then Froats' voice interrupted my thoughts. “Um, Nick? We have a problem.”
“No second crucifix?”
“Nope. What's our Plan B?”
“Well first come down. Then we can talk.”
There was the sound of him situating himself above me and then he lowered his candle which I took from his hand and sat on the floor. Then I made sure that he was able to climb down the ladder safely. “Well what are we gonna do now?” asked Froats.
I stood there silently, not knowing what to say. “I don't know,” I said slowly.
Froats opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as the sound of the wall rising echoed throughout the passageway. Both of our eyes grew wide with fear. Either the Midnight Man or the Possessed Paul had figured out how to enter the passage. How were we going to get out of this?
The room seemed as though it were spinning. I almost started crying simply from the idea that we were done and that I would not see Paige again. Then, I looked down at the floor and noticed what appeared to be another trapdoor underneath Froats' feet.
“Josh, move!” I shouted.
As he stepped aside I began pushing away the layers of dirt, dust, and cobwebs in order to find the latch. When I found it I smiled, this one was not rusted shut! I opened it and saw that there was a staircase. Where it led to neither of us knew, be there was not the time to question it. The figure of Paul appeared in the distance.
“There you two are,” he said in a raspy voice. “Now come, let's not make this anymore painful than it needs to be.”
He ran at us at a speed that was not humanly possible. He moved so fast that the dust lying on the ground was lifted up and threatened to suffocate Froats and me. Then right as things looked hopeless Froats said, “You know, Paul never was the strongest.”
He then curled his right hand into a fist and punched Paul with all of his might in the jaw. Both of them cried out in pain. Paul's jaw was obviously broken and Froats' probably broke a good deal of the bones in his hand.
The next thing that happened still confuses me to this day. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crucifix. I placed it right on Paul's heart. The demon that was possessing him let out a howl and Paul's body began to glow.
“Froats, run!”
I sprinted down the trapdoor with him following me. The house began shaking and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light followed by another scream. Then there was silence.
“Josh, you okay?”
“I don't think so, Nick. I really screwed up my hand,” he replied.
Darkness surrounded us. I was unsure where these stairs would lead but we had to take them. The Midnight Man could have also entered the passageway. It was far to risky to turn back at this point.
“We left our candles in the passageway,” whispered Froats.
“Alright, let's go get them.”
We made our way back up the stairs and to our surprise, where Paul's body had been lying after Froats punched him, there was now, instead of a body, scattered ash. The crucifix, which had turned his body to ash, lay in the center of it all. Froats had not only killed the demon but also Paul in the process.
“Don't focus on it, Josh. Just grab your candle.”
Then, the Midnight Man appeared out of the darkness in the direction of the closet entrance to the passageway. Both of our candles, which were sitting on the ground, went out. “Find them!” I yelled jamming my hands into my pockets, trying to find the matches.
If we did not relight our candles, we were toast.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 10 Is Finally Done! Can Nick and Froats Survive?!
Well the night's getting closer and closer to being over, can the Midnight Man be stopped?!
Well the night's getting closer and closer to being over, can the Midnight Man be stopped?!
Chapter 11- Sacrifice
I ripped my phone free from my pocket and opened it so that we could have some light to see where our candles were at. I did not even take the time to look at the time. “Froats, get the matches ready. Once you've lit yours hand the match to me!” I yelled.
We both sprinted to the spot where out candles were at. He struck his match and lit his and then I grabbed it from his hands. I burned myself but I did not care; my candle had to be lit! I touched the lit match to the wick of the candle right as I had counted to nine seconds in my head. We had done it!
“Run!” I screamed not even caring to look behind us to see if the Midnight Man was pursuing us.
I was amazed at how fast I was moving for it being well after two in the morning, especially since I had been up since about nine yesterday morning. Keeping a firm grip on the candle I sprinted down the staircase into the darkness that awaited Froats and me at the bottom of it. I did not even care that each step was made of metal that was almost completely rusted and could have easily crumbled under my weight.
After a few seconds Froats asked, “Do you think he's following us, Nick?”
“Don't think like that!”
“Well shouldn't we at least check?!”
“Froats, there's no time. We need to find out where these stairs go!”
“And what if it turns out to be a dead end?!”
“Well that's the risk we're gonna have to be willing to take in order to survive, now isn't it?”
He was silent. The only noise was the clang of our shoes hitting the rusted metal and the sound of our heavy breathing. With each step closer to the bottom, my fear grew. What if Josh was right and we were about to be cornered, again?!
No, there was not time to think like that and I had to appear strong for Josh so that I could get both of us through this. I could not let there be another death tonight; there were too many young lives lost this evening already. First Gopp, then Luke, Popson, and then finally Paul. How was any of this going to be explained? All I knew was that there had to be a way to stop the Midnight Man. The issue was that I had no idea how.
I knew that the crucifix had successfully destroyed the demon, but could it do the same to the Midnight Man? I needed to get back to that passageway where the crucifix still lay among a pile of ash. If I could retrieve it, then I could attempt to put a stop to this evil. But time was not on my side. I had about an hour left with him in the house and getting the crucifix and tracking him down within that time would be no easy task. Then there was also the issue of the layout of the house. The Midnight Man could simply wait in the passageway for the rest of his time here, thinking that I would return. Well, this was not going to be easy but I needed to take that chance.
I shook myself out of my thoughts and realized that we were on the last couple steps. We stopped when there was the feeling of firm, cement ground underneath our feet. It appeared as though we were in the basement of the house. Dust was caked onto the floor and the walls. Spiders danced on the webs they had built over our heads. The remains of what had once been a bar were directly in front of us.
“Nick, we need to get back to our stuff in the foyer. I'm so thirsty.”
I nodded, not wishing to add something like dehydration to our list of problems. “But how do we get out of the basement?” I asked.
Froats shrugged. “Well, the entrance would probably be either in the center of the room or the in one of the corners.”
“Alright, I'll take the right side and you take the left.”
He nodded in agreement and we split up to search the basement. After only a moment I heard Froats yell that he had found it. Thank goodness! That saved me the trouble of dodging cobwebs to check my section. Seeing his candlelight I began walking towards him.
That was when I noticed that the Midnight Man had in fact followed us down the stairs. His dark figure stood on the stairs, leaning on the railing, staring directly at me as if he were seeing into my soul. Then the figure turned and began making its way back up the stairs.
When I reached Froats he looked perplexed. “Why would he have followed us and given up his position?”
“I think he wanted to see where the stairs led. Also, he knew that we had no idea where we were going so it wasn't as if we were going to get back upstairs quickly,” I replied.
“Why would we want to get back upstairs?” he asked.
“I'll explain once we have our water.”
We started up the stairs when the thought struck me that he knew what I was planning to do. Or rather he knew that the crucifix was the only way we could stop him. So that was why he went up the stairs again. But did he know that was our game plan? That was the million dollar question.
When we reached the top of the stairs the door leading out of the basement was closed. Froats reached out and tried to open it. The knob refused to budge. He cursed. “It's locked! Now what?!”
“Well, you used to play football. And this door is really old, so, I guess you need to break it down,” I said.
“Then go back down to the bottom of the steps. God this would be easier if I were on a flat surface.”
Not wanting to further anger him I did as I was told. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs I called up at him “Alright, go ahead!”
I head footsteps moving down the stairs, and then quicker footsteps going back up them. There was a loud bang followed by some swearing. Once again he walked down the stairs and ran up them. This time there was another sound after the initial bang. The sound of the door clattering to the floor on the first story of the house.
“You did it!” I yelled.
“Get up here Nick, let's go!” he shouted back.
I sprinted up the stairs, not even caring that the Midnight Man had probably heard everything that we had just said. As long as I thought he did not know my plan, I could not care less what heard us say. I emerged from the basement and entered the hallway that was in the back of the house. Froats moved out of the way so that I good walk over the fallen door and then we began walking toward the kitchen.
We made our way through the kitchen, both of us making a conscious effort not to gaze upon the bloodied, fallen body of Popson. If we made it through the night, we were going to have a lot explaining to do. But that would be for another time because right now the bulk of my remaining energy was going into figuring out a way to get past the Midnight Man and to the crucifix.
We reached the foyer and stopped to get bottles of water out of a backpack that either belonged to Paul or Popson. Both Luke and I had the same backpack and Froats could not find his under the mess of the pillows and sleeping bags that we had brought to sleep in after the Midnight Man left the house. Now there were only going to be two sleeping bags filled. Little did I know at the time that only one would be by the time he was gone.
We then sat down and said nothing. After a minute or so had gone by of us just sipping from the Dasani bottles, Froats finally spoke up. “Well Shaker, how are we gonna do this?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I don't know if this would work or not, but I think I have a way to stop him.”
“You mean for the night?”
“No, forever. But it's tricky and I'm gonna need you to be willing to help.”
His candle began to sputter as if it were about to go out making it difficult to see his face. But through the intermittent light I could see him frown. He was clearly deciding if it was worth it or not. He looked at the floor for several seconds and then back at me. The flame stopped sputtering and he began to speak.
“I mean should we put our lives on the line just for someone later down the road who's dumb enough to summon him?”
“Well, Josh, we were and who's to say someone else won't be? Look at what he's done to our friends! Do you really want this to happen to someone else?!”
He shook his head. “No, I don't.” He sighed. “Okay, what's the plan, Shaker?”
“We need to get that crucifix back. I think that when he leaves the house I can perhaps follow him and stop him when he's at his weakest. Just before he descends back into Hell!”
“But how do you know this'll work?”
I sighed and smiled. “I don't. But it makes sense. It would have to take a lot of energy to create a portal like that so maybe, if I thrust it on him right as he generates it, it'll work!”
Froats ran his hand through his hair causing it to stick up, and then ran it the opposite direction to make it lay back down. “Well, I guess we really don't have another option.”
“No, we really don't. And I think it'd work because he's guarding it. Didn't you notice in the basement that he came down the stairs but instead of following or attacking us he went back up to the passageway?”
“Yeah! That's a good point. So maybe it will work!”
“It has to. I mean do we really have another option here?”
He shook his head again. “No.”
“Alright then it's settled. We'll get the crucifix back.”
“And I'll create a diversion to draw him away from it, right?”
“Yeah, you just go back into the basement and up the stairs into the passageway and cause him to follow you. Then I'll slip in and grab it.”
“Hey Nick, why won't this work like the way it did on the demon?”
“Because the Midnight Man's a much more powerful entity than whatever possessed Popson and Paul. Besides I don't want to take the chance of it failing while we still have to be in this house with him for another hour.”
“Speaking of that what time is it?”
I pulled out my cell phone. “It's almost twenty of three. We're runnin' low on time so we gotta make this fast.”
“Alright. I'll text you when I begin going up the stairs,” said Froats who had picked up his candle begun the trek back to the kitchen.
“Sounds good.”
He disappeared around the corner and then there was silence. I leaned against the front door waiting for Froats to text me. Thoughts began racing through my mind. Could this work? It seemed almost too good to be true. But I was willing to try anything, easy or difficult, in order to prevent the Midnight Man from coming back.
Seconds had turned into minutes. I could no longer hear Froats' footsteps. In fact I really could not hear much of anything besides me swallowing sip after sip of water and my own breathing. I grabbed my candle and stood up so that I could see out of the window in the center of the door. The moon was still hidden behind a blanket of dark clouds, but it became visible every so often in the turbulent sky. New clouds appeared just as the old ones drifted over the horizon. I could only imagine how strong the wind would have to be for that to happen.
Shadows moved about in the open space in front of the house where our cars were parked. I could make out the pool of fresh blood from Gopp when he had been killed only two hours before. It seemed more like two days ago to be honest as the time had been moving so slowly for me that night.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I knew what the text would said but I took it out anyway just to be safe. The events of this evening were evidence enough that things can take an unexpected turn for the worse. But this time everything seemed to be going according to the plan that Froats and I had discussed. I texted Froats back telling him that I was on my way to the passageway.
I was exhausted, there was no hiding it. My legs moved like they had bricks of cement attached to them, attempting to hold me back from what I had to do. I pushed through it, knowing that if I got the crucifix there was a pack of Life Savers waiting for me in my backpack. The thought seemed to empower me and I continued walking, but at a much quicker pace in order to make up for the initial slowness.
I cleared the stairs and was now ready to enter the room. Once I walked through the door frame I knew that the Midnight Man was still in the passageway. There was an intense chill that filled the room and caused goosebumps to once again form on my arms which were shielded by my jacket. The closet door was still open as was the the entrance to the passageway.
Holding my candle against my chest I began to travel through the dark, dusty, damp hallway. The closer I became to the place where Froats and I had confronted the demon, the colder the air grew. I could see my breath in front of me as if I were taking large puffs on a cigarette. All was quiet but now all was calm. The passageway seemed to scream at me the warning that I should turn back now. But I refused to listen and continued walking. Then, all hell broke loose.
“There you are!” I heard Froats yell.
I broke into a sprint, dashing at such a speed that the dust lying on the ground was picked up and spread throughout the air making it difficult to breath. I persevered, lifting my legs of stone one after the other, running at a speed I never knew was possible for me, especially when it was almost three in the morning.
Through the candlelight I saw the Midnight Man's shadowy figure making its way down the passageway at a nonhuman speed. He was obviously pursuing Froats. There it was! The crucifix laying in the middle of the pile of ashes that was once both the demon and Paul. I stopped, not pausing for a break to catch my breath, grabbed the metallic cross, and sprinted back down the passageway. That's when I heard it.
“NO!” Froats screamed.
This was followed by a series of bangs and finally a deafening silence. He had fallen down the stairs and from the sounds of it, I could not believe for a moment that he survived.
We both sprinted to the spot where out candles were at. He struck his match and lit his and then I grabbed it from his hands. I burned myself but I did not care; my candle had to be lit! I touched the lit match to the wick of the candle right as I had counted to nine seconds in my head. We had done it!
“Run!” I screamed not even caring to look behind us to see if the Midnight Man was pursuing us.
I was amazed at how fast I was moving for it being well after two in the morning, especially since I had been up since about nine yesterday morning. Keeping a firm grip on the candle I sprinted down the staircase into the darkness that awaited Froats and me at the bottom of it. I did not even care that each step was made of metal that was almost completely rusted and could have easily crumbled under my weight.
After a few seconds Froats asked, “Do you think he's following us, Nick?”
“Don't think like that!”
“Well shouldn't we at least check?!”
“Froats, there's no time. We need to find out where these stairs go!”
“And what if it turns out to be a dead end?!”
“Well that's the risk we're gonna have to be willing to take in order to survive, now isn't it?”
He was silent. The only noise was the clang of our shoes hitting the rusted metal and the sound of our heavy breathing. With each step closer to the bottom, my fear grew. What if Josh was right and we were about to be cornered, again?!
No, there was not time to think like that and I had to appear strong for Josh so that I could get both of us through this. I could not let there be another death tonight; there were too many young lives lost this evening already. First Gopp, then Luke, Popson, and then finally Paul. How was any of this going to be explained? All I knew was that there had to be a way to stop the Midnight Man. The issue was that I had no idea how.
I knew that the crucifix had successfully destroyed the demon, but could it do the same to the Midnight Man? I needed to get back to that passageway where the crucifix still lay among a pile of ash. If I could retrieve it, then I could attempt to put a stop to this evil. But time was not on my side. I had about an hour left with him in the house and getting the crucifix and tracking him down within that time would be no easy task. Then there was also the issue of the layout of the house. The Midnight Man could simply wait in the passageway for the rest of his time here, thinking that I would return. Well, this was not going to be easy but I needed to take that chance.
I shook myself out of my thoughts and realized that we were on the last couple steps. We stopped when there was the feeling of firm, cement ground underneath our feet. It appeared as though we were in the basement of the house. Dust was caked onto the floor and the walls. Spiders danced on the webs they had built over our heads. The remains of what had once been a bar were directly in front of us.
“Nick, we need to get back to our stuff in the foyer. I'm so thirsty.”
I nodded, not wishing to add something like dehydration to our list of problems. “But how do we get out of the basement?” I asked.
Froats shrugged. “Well, the entrance would probably be either in the center of the room or the in one of the corners.”
“Alright, I'll take the right side and you take the left.”
He nodded in agreement and we split up to search the basement. After only a moment I heard Froats yell that he had found it. Thank goodness! That saved me the trouble of dodging cobwebs to check my section. Seeing his candlelight I began walking towards him.
That was when I noticed that the Midnight Man had in fact followed us down the stairs. His dark figure stood on the stairs, leaning on the railing, staring directly at me as if he were seeing into my soul. Then the figure turned and began making its way back up the stairs.
When I reached Froats he looked perplexed. “Why would he have followed us and given up his position?”
“I think he wanted to see where the stairs led. Also, he knew that we had no idea where we were going so it wasn't as if we were going to get back upstairs quickly,” I replied.
“Why would we want to get back upstairs?” he asked.
“I'll explain once we have our water.”
We started up the stairs when the thought struck me that he knew what I was planning to do. Or rather he knew that the crucifix was the only way we could stop him. So that was why he went up the stairs again. But did he know that was our game plan? That was the million dollar question.
When we reached the top of the stairs the door leading out of the basement was closed. Froats reached out and tried to open it. The knob refused to budge. He cursed. “It's locked! Now what?!”
“Well, you used to play football. And this door is really old, so, I guess you need to break it down,” I said.
“Then go back down to the bottom of the steps. God this would be easier if I were on a flat surface.”
Not wanting to further anger him I did as I was told. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs I called up at him “Alright, go ahead!”
I head footsteps moving down the stairs, and then quicker footsteps going back up them. There was a loud bang followed by some swearing. Once again he walked down the stairs and ran up them. This time there was another sound after the initial bang. The sound of the door clattering to the floor on the first story of the house.
“You did it!” I yelled.
“Get up here Nick, let's go!” he shouted back.
I sprinted up the stairs, not even caring that the Midnight Man had probably heard everything that we had just said. As long as I thought he did not know my plan, I could not care less what heard us say. I emerged from the basement and entered the hallway that was in the back of the house. Froats moved out of the way so that I good walk over the fallen door and then we began walking toward the kitchen.
We made our way through the kitchen, both of us making a conscious effort not to gaze upon the bloodied, fallen body of Popson. If we made it through the night, we were going to have a lot explaining to do. But that would be for another time because right now the bulk of my remaining energy was going into figuring out a way to get past the Midnight Man and to the crucifix.
We reached the foyer and stopped to get bottles of water out of a backpack that either belonged to Paul or Popson. Both Luke and I had the same backpack and Froats could not find his under the mess of the pillows and sleeping bags that we had brought to sleep in after the Midnight Man left the house. Now there were only going to be two sleeping bags filled. Little did I know at the time that only one would be by the time he was gone.
We then sat down and said nothing. After a minute or so had gone by of us just sipping from the Dasani bottles, Froats finally spoke up. “Well Shaker, how are we gonna do this?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I don't know if this would work or not, but I think I have a way to stop him.”
“You mean for the night?”
“No, forever. But it's tricky and I'm gonna need you to be willing to help.”
His candle began to sputter as if it were about to go out making it difficult to see his face. But through the intermittent light I could see him frown. He was clearly deciding if it was worth it or not. He looked at the floor for several seconds and then back at me. The flame stopped sputtering and he began to speak.
“I mean should we put our lives on the line just for someone later down the road who's dumb enough to summon him?”
“Well, Josh, we were and who's to say someone else won't be? Look at what he's done to our friends! Do you really want this to happen to someone else?!”
He shook his head. “No, I don't.” He sighed. “Okay, what's the plan, Shaker?”
“We need to get that crucifix back. I think that when he leaves the house I can perhaps follow him and stop him when he's at his weakest. Just before he descends back into Hell!”
“But how do you know this'll work?”
I sighed and smiled. “I don't. But it makes sense. It would have to take a lot of energy to create a portal like that so maybe, if I thrust it on him right as he generates it, it'll work!”
Froats ran his hand through his hair causing it to stick up, and then ran it the opposite direction to make it lay back down. “Well, I guess we really don't have another option.”
“No, we really don't. And I think it'd work because he's guarding it. Didn't you notice in the basement that he came down the stairs but instead of following or attacking us he went back up to the passageway?”
“Yeah! That's a good point. So maybe it will work!”
“It has to. I mean do we really have another option here?”
He shook his head again. “No.”
“Alright then it's settled. We'll get the crucifix back.”
“And I'll create a diversion to draw him away from it, right?”
“Yeah, you just go back into the basement and up the stairs into the passageway and cause him to follow you. Then I'll slip in and grab it.”
“Hey Nick, why won't this work like the way it did on the demon?”
“Because the Midnight Man's a much more powerful entity than whatever possessed Popson and Paul. Besides I don't want to take the chance of it failing while we still have to be in this house with him for another hour.”
“Speaking of that what time is it?”
I pulled out my cell phone. “It's almost twenty of three. We're runnin' low on time so we gotta make this fast.”
“Alright. I'll text you when I begin going up the stairs,” said Froats who had picked up his candle begun the trek back to the kitchen.
“Sounds good.”
He disappeared around the corner and then there was silence. I leaned against the front door waiting for Froats to text me. Thoughts began racing through my mind. Could this work? It seemed almost too good to be true. But I was willing to try anything, easy or difficult, in order to prevent the Midnight Man from coming back.
Seconds had turned into minutes. I could no longer hear Froats' footsteps. In fact I really could not hear much of anything besides me swallowing sip after sip of water and my own breathing. I grabbed my candle and stood up so that I could see out of the window in the center of the door. The moon was still hidden behind a blanket of dark clouds, but it became visible every so often in the turbulent sky. New clouds appeared just as the old ones drifted over the horizon. I could only imagine how strong the wind would have to be for that to happen.
Shadows moved about in the open space in front of the house where our cars were parked. I could make out the pool of fresh blood from Gopp when he had been killed only two hours before. It seemed more like two days ago to be honest as the time had been moving so slowly for me that night.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I knew what the text would said but I took it out anyway just to be safe. The events of this evening were evidence enough that things can take an unexpected turn for the worse. But this time everything seemed to be going according to the plan that Froats and I had discussed. I texted Froats back telling him that I was on my way to the passageway.
I was exhausted, there was no hiding it. My legs moved like they had bricks of cement attached to them, attempting to hold me back from what I had to do. I pushed through it, knowing that if I got the crucifix there was a pack of Life Savers waiting for me in my backpack. The thought seemed to empower me and I continued walking, but at a much quicker pace in order to make up for the initial slowness.
I cleared the stairs and was now ready to enter the room. Once I walked through the door frame I knew that the Midnight Man was still in the passageway. There was an intense chill that filled the room and caused goosebumps to once again form on my arms which were shielded by my jacket. The closet door was still open as was the the entrance to the passageway.
Holding my candle against my chest I began to travel through the dark, dusty, damp hallway. The closer I became to the place where Froats and I had confronted the demon, the colder the air grew. I could see my breath in front of me as if I were taking large puffs on a cigarette. All was quiet but now all was calm. The passageway seemed to scream at me the warning that I should turn back now. But I refused to listen and continued walking. Then, all hell broke loose.
“There you are!” I heard Froats yell.
I broke into a sprint, dashing at such a speed that the dust lying on the ground was picked up and spread throughout the air making it difficult to breath. I persevered, lifting my legs of stone one after the other, running at a speed I never knew was possible for me, especially when it was almost three in the morning.
Through the candlelight I saw the Midnight Man's shadowy figure making its way down the passageway at a nonhuman speed. He was obviously pursuing Froats. There it was! The crucifix laying in the middle of the pile of ashes that was once both the demon and Paul. I stopped, not pausing for a break to catch my breath, grabbed the metallic cross, and sprinted back down the passageway. That's when I heard it.
“NO!” Froats screamed.
This was followed by a series of bangs and finally a deafening silence. He had fallen down the stairs and from the sounds of it, I could not believe for a moment that he survived.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 11 Is Finished! The End of the Night Draws Near!
Finished so quickly for Paige Jogan, the real life one, not the one in the story
Finished so quickly for Paige Jogan, the real life one, not the one in the story
Chapter 12- The Final Hour
That was it. Just like that I was the only living human being left inside the house, and I have hated myself for it. I have continually blamed myself for not being able to protect my friends, no matter what anyone tells me, I will always believe that it was my own fault that they died. Nothing can remove that feeling. The thought that I caused their deaths by allowing them to summon the Midnight Man shall be with me until the day I die. It shall now disappear, no matter how many years go by. It will always be there, haunting me, tormenting me, regardless of the fact that I believe that I have avenged their deaths.
At that point in the night, I made it my mission to make sure that not one of them, especially Froats who sacrificed himself so that the Midnight Man could be stopped, had died in vain. It was time to stop the terror, to end the evil, to put a stop to his sinister activities. I had the crucifix, I had the means to do it. But the question still remained: would it work?
It was at that moment, after Froats' death, that I convinced myself that it had to work. Otherwise how could I live with myself knowing that someone had just died for nothing but a useless, metallic cross?! I did not know the answer then and I certainly do not now. However, what I do know is that there comes a point where one just has to believe hard enough and it will be done. For example, when I was scared out of my mind when I asked Paige to hang out with me that Friday night, but yet I believed hard enough that she would say yes, and she did. So maybe, in a sense, by believing something it really does come true. For you skeptics out there I will give another example. After being with Paige that night, I actually considered her to be too good for me, too good to even hang out with me, because let's face it, she really is, and then look what happened the next morning! I find it strange too, but there is something strange about how all of this comes to pass.
Well, at this point in the evening, it was time to put that faulty logic to the test. Not dwelling on Froats' demise I continued to sprint down the passageway, going as fast as I could so that I could make it back to the bedroom before the Midnight Man realized what had happened. But there was nothing at the end of the hallway but a brick wall. It had resealed itself and I was now trapped with the Midnight Man!
Thoughts began racing through my mind. How could I get out of this?! I briefly considered blowing out my candle and then surrounding myself with a circle of salt. But then I realized that it would not work unless he had blown it out. Also I needed to remain in the game so that I could safely pursue him out of the house without being plagued by hallucinations.
There was a way out, there had to be. These secret entrances always work in reverse, right?! I started feeling every brick on the wall but they all felt the same! Then I began to push on them, praying that one of them would cause the wall to rise.
A coolness began to form behind me. The passageway grew colder with every passing second and I knew that the Midnight Man had come back from the staircase. He would soon find the pile of ashes with the crucifix missing and know that I had taken it. Then, off in the distance, he would spot my candlelight and come for me. Frantically, I searched the wall for the brick. It now had to be several degrees below zero. Goosebumps covered my arms and my legs. My knuckles began to hurt in the cold.
I turned around quickly to see how much time I had left. In the distance I could see something moving in the darkness. “C'mon!” I shouted.
And then, a brick pushed inward when I touched it. The wall began to rise, but at the speed it was going there was no way I was going to make it out of the passageway until the Midnight Man was upon me. Once there was sufficient space, I slid the candle underneath. Next, I jammed the crucifix into my back pocket and then laid down on my stomach and used my arms to propel myself forward. I was not going quickly but it was fast enough. I made it under the wall and into the closet. Not even looking back, I jumped up, grabbed my candle, and took of out of the room.
As I ran, I had a feeling that he was following me, running at the speed at which he had taken off after Froats. Well, that was it, I was doomed if he were. And since I was believing it, it probably would come true.
Once I made it downstairs I finally turned to look behind me. Nothing was there, thank goodness. I paused to catch my breath, too afraid to sit in case he would decide to pop out from behind somewhere. Then the thought crossed my mind. Why was he not following me? Was it because the crucifix really could do nothing against him? No, that couldn't be right, why else would he have been guarding it! Unless he was trying to lure Froats and me to our doom. But that could not be right though, it had worked on the other demon!
I shook myself out of it. I was not going to start second guessing myself. That is the first thing they tell you in school is to never do that, and I usually do not which has brought me a great deal of success in life so far. I was not ready to ruin a good thing!
I sat down, carefully setting my candle down, and began to rummage through one of the backpacks desperately searching for some water. Fear of the Midnight Man and the running that I had just done had made me very thirsty. I found one after several seconds of searching and downed half of it without realizing until I sat the half empty bottle at my feet.
I took my phone out again to check the time. The battery was about half drained from my almost obsessive time checking, but you have to understand, I wanted to get this night over with so badly! That is probably one of the reasons it seemed to last forever; my constant desire to check how much time I had left until 3:33 A.M. Down in the lower right hand corner, underneath the date, the time read 2:57 A.M. I had only thirty-six minutes to survive.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I could make it, I knew I could! I just kept thinking what I was fighting for, why I had to stay alive. There was still no coldness in the room. It was as if the Midnight Man were avoiding me. Could it be because I had the crucifix? Maybe, but I would not know the answer to that question for another several minutes. Well, if he was not planning on coming to me, I was just going to sit here and pass the time.
I leaned against the door and finished my bottle of water. Then another thought struck me. Should I go and see if Froats was really dead? I honestly did not want to. My eyes had seen enough death tonight to last a lifetime, but even so I could not help but wonder if he were still alive, suffering, crying out for help and receiving no reply.
I grabbed my candle and stood up, checking my back pocket to make sure that the crucifix was still there. There was no question in my mind, I had to go and see if he were really dead or if he could be cared for, regardless of the fact that he was probably gone. I needed to do this to ease my own conscious or else I would feel even more guilt than what I already felt.
I walked slowly through the kitchen, not wanting to make much noise as I did not wish for the Midnight Man to be alerted of my location. Same as the last time I came through this area, I turned my head in another direction so that I would not have to gaze upon the hollow shell that had once contained my friend Popson.
The door that had concealed the basement was still lying on the dusty floor. I stopped just short of starting to walk down the staircase to make sure that air was not emanating coldness or evil. I could feel neither, so I decided to proceed with the utmost caution in case I needed to turn and run if the Midnight Man became near.
One leg reached out and found a firm portion of the wooden stair to stand on. It was as if I was testing the water on a trip to the beach to see how cold it was. Once I had determined that everything was safe, I took another step, and then another. Each time my foot landed on a new stair, it made a noise that, under any other circumstances would have been quiet, sounding like a rifle going off directly behind me. I hoped that the Midnight Man could not hear me, but then again, if my hunch was right, he should be trying to avoid me so that I do not follow him out of the house and destroy him.
Finally, after several seconds and many reverberating footsteps, I reached the basement floor. It was just as dark and musty as before and there was not a coldness here like when the Midnight Man had been on the staircase, seeing what Froats and I were up to, several minutes ago. The light from my candle would not reach every nook and cranny of the room, which was probably a good thing since I wished not to see what vermin or spiders were lurking in the darkness. I'll admit, I do have a fear of spiders, but only large ones that look like they could somehow lead to my death. I have nothing against the little ones that will occasionally slip into my house through some open door or window, but the large ones freak me out, whether dead or alive. And do not even get me started if they are in my room, then I find whatever I can to beat them senseless before washing the remains down the toilet so that I do not have to gaze upon the huge, creepy body.
And that was when I saw him, or rather the body as he did not appear to be breathing anymore. The way Froats had fallen, he had not rolled the entire way down the stairs and landed at the part where the basement meets the steps. No, he had had quite a fall from the top. The only possible way he had fallen, or at least that I could think of, was that he had started to fall but then had gone underneath the railing and fallen to his death. You see, the railing on those stairs had nothing to prevent someone from falling under them like so many have wooden rods to stop this. While there were rods, they were few and far-between probably because the staircase was constructed from a metal that was most likely very expensive. By doing this, safety had been compromised but money, certainly large amounts, had been saved.
I walked over to what had once been my friend in order to check for a heartbeat, just to make sure. As I assumed, there was nothing. I stood there for a moment, not speaking nor moving. Then I knelt down beside him and began to say a silent prayer.
Now, do not begin to think that I am the most religious person you will find. I am actually quite far from it, but that does not mean that I will not occasionally turn to faith for strength to carry on, and believe me, if it were ever the time to need strength, this was certainly it.
After I was finished, I stood up and began the trek back to the kitchen where I figured that I would wait until the time rolled around when the Midnight Man would leave the house. Once upstairs, I decided to head to the back master bedroom of the house as the idea of being in the same room as a corpse, while it was Popson, frightened more that the spiders in the basement. The hallway that I walked down almost seemed peaceful. The Midnight Man could not have been in this part of the house recently.
I reached the bedroom and sat down on the wooden floor, which was surprisingly stable, and took out my phone to check the time. It was just past three, I had only a half of an hour to go! The end was in sight and I knew that I could make it to the end of the night.
This was the first time that I had a chance to take in this area of the house. Before I rushed through it, looking for anyone to be with as to avoid facing him alone. This part seemed newer and cleaner, as if it had been added to the house some time after the rest of it had been built. The walls and floors were not nearly as dirty, and the windows, while cracked, were not divided up into huge sections by the cracks that had been put there over the years.
There was not much in this room, simply a rusty iron bed frame and a mirror. I briefly thought about the Bloody Mary Game and wondered if it would work or not, but then remembering that the Midnight Man Game had actually worked, I figured it was safe to say that that one would also work.
It was at that moment that I realized just how tired I was. The small amount of heat coming from the candle was beginning to make me drowsy and I could feel myself slipping into the realm of dreams. Quickly, I drew my phone out of my pocket and set an alarm for 3:23 A.M. so that its vibration in my pocket would wake me with enough time to fully wake up and get into position to bring about the Midnight Man's demise.
At this point, I did not care what terrible dreams I would have with the Midnight Man in the house. I figured that the crucifix in my back pocket would keep the majority of them away from me, and I was so exhausted that any kind of rest seemed fine to me.
My eyes closed, and no sooner had they, I found myself in my high school. I was in an auditorium with my entire class, and the principle was presenting something about the upcoming semester, which was strange seeing as we had only just finished the first quarter. This was the first clue that I picked up on signaling that I was in fact in a dream. I shook myself, trying to wake myself up to avoid whatever horrors lay in wait, but had no success.
In front of me sat Paige Jogan with a boy beside her that I had never seen before. I turned to my side and saw Froats, watching the presentation. I leaned over and whispered, “Josh, who's that guy with Paige?”
“He's a new student, a pretty horrible guy if you ask me, but for whatever none of the girls can see it,” he replied.
“I take it that Paige can't see it either?”
He nodded. “Sorry man.”
I went back to facing forward and saw her giggling about something he had said. I turned back to Froats. “Well isn't there some way to stop it?”
“Hey man, if you wanna try that's your choice, but most girls, and probably Paige, wouldn't be very happy if someone said the guy they liked was complete garbage.”
“Yeah, you're probably right,” I sighed.
“She know you like her?”
“Yep, so if I said anything she'd probably think I was trying to date her instead or something.”
Froats nodded again and repeated, “Sorry man.”
I faced forward, and then Froats said, “I just got on Facebook, they're official.”
I did not even turn to acknowledge him. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I thought about how I had waited too long to try and show her how much I cared, that I had lost my chance. Then I saw him take her by the hand. I started yelling, “NOOOOO!”
Then I woke up to the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket. I was drenched in sweat and breathing hard. I looked around the room and took a much needed deep breath. Everything was fine, it was all just a terrible dream brought about by the Midnight Man. My candle was still lit, although there was little hard wax left. The wick was basically swimming in a pool of liquid wax. I rose, stretched, and grabbed the candle.
It was time to defeat the Midnight Man once and for all. I began walking across the floorboards, not even wincing if one squeaked for I was confident that the crucifix was protecting me and that I was about to remove a little bit of evil from the world.
If only I knew just how wrong I was.
At that point in the night, I made it my mission to make sure that not one of them, especially Froats who sacrificed himself so that the Midnight Man could be stopped, had died in vain. It was time to stop the terror, to end the evil, to put a stop to his sinister activities. I had the crucifix, I had the means to do it. But the question still remained: would it work?
It was at that moment, after Froats' death, that I convinced myself that it had to work. Otherwise how could I live with myself knowing that someone had just died for nothing but a useless, metallic cross?! I did not know the answer then and I certainly do not now. However, what I do know is that there comes a point where one just has to believe hard enough and it will be done. For example, when I was scared out of my mind when I asked Paige to hang out with me that Friday night, but yet I believed hard enough that she would say yes, and she did. So maybe, in a sense, by believing something it really does come true. For you skeptics out there I will give another example. After being with Paige that night, I actually considered her to be too good for me, too good to even hang out with me, because let's face it, she really is, and then look what happened the next morning! I find it strange too, but there is something strange about how all of this comes to pass.
Well, at this point in the evening, it was time to put that faulty logic to the test. Not dwelling on Froats' demise I continued to sprint down the passageway, going as fast as I could so that I could make it back to the bedroom before the Midnight Man realized what had happened. But there was nothing at the end of the hallway but a brick wall. It had resealed itself and I was now trapped with the Midnight Man!
Thoughts began racing through my mind. How could I get out of this?! I briefly considered blowing out my candle and then surrounding myself with a circle of salt. But then I realized that it would not work unless he had blown it out. Also I needed to remain in the game so that I could safely pursue him out of the house without being plagued by hallucinations.
There was a way out, there had to be. These secret entrances always work in reverse, right?! I started feeling every brick on the wall but they all felt the same! Then I began to push on them, praying that one of them would cause the wall to rise.
A coolness began to form behind me. The passageway grew colder with every passing second and I knew that the Midnight Man had come back from the staircase. He would soon find the pile of ashes with the crucifix missing and know that I had taken it. Then, off in the distance, he would spot my candlelight and come for me. Frantically, I searched the wall for the brick. It now had to be several degrees below zero. Goosebumps covered my arms and my legs. My knuckles began to hurt in the cold.
I turned around quickly to see how much time I had left. In the distance I could see something moving in the darkness. “C'mon!” I shouted.
And then, a brick pushed inward when I touched it. The wall began to rise, but at the speed it was going there was no way I was going to make it out of the passageway until the Midnight Man was upon me. Once there was sufficient space, I slid the candle underneath. Next, I jammed the crucifix into my back pocket and then laid down on my stomach and used my arms to propel myself forward. I was not going quickly but it was fast enough. I made it under the wall and into the closet. Not even looking back, I jumped up, grabbed my candle, and took of out of the room.
As I ran, I had a feeling that he was following me, running at the speed at which he had taken off after Froats. Well, that was it, I was doomed if he were. And since I was believing it, it probably would come true.
Once I made it downstairs I finally turned to look behind me. Nothing was there, thank goodness. I paused to catch my breath, too afraid to sit in case he would decide to pop out from behind somewhere. Then the thought crossed my mind. Why was he not following me? Was it because the crucifix really could do nothing against him? No, that couldn't be right, why else would he have been guarding it! Unless he was trying to lure Froats and me to our doom. But that could not be right though, it had worked on the other demon!
I shook myself out of it. I was not going to start second guessing myself. That is the first thing they tell you in school is to never do that, and I usually do not which has brought me a great deal of success in life so far. I was not ready to ruin a good thing!
I sat down, carefully setting my candle down, and began to rummage through one of the backpacks desperately searching for some water. Fear of the Midnight Man and the running that I had just done had made me very thirsty. I found one after several seconds of searching and downed half of it without realizing until I sat the half empty bottle at my feet.
I took my phone out again to check the time. The battery was about half drained from my almost obsessive time checking, but you have to understand, I wanted to get this night over with so badly! That is probably one of the reasons it seemed to last forever; my constant desire to check how much time I had left until 3:33 A.M. Down in the lower right hand corner, underneath the date, the time read 2:57 A.M. I had only thirty-six minutes to survive.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I could make it, I knew I could! I just kept thinking what I was fighting for, why I had to stay alive. There was still no coldness in the room. It was as if the Midnight Man were avoiding me. Could it be because I had the crucifix? Maybe, but I would not know the answer to that question for another several minutes. Well, if he was not planning on coming to me, I was just going to sit here and pass the time.
I leaned against the door and finished my bottle of water. Then another thought struck me. Should I go and see if Froats was really dead? I honestly did not want to. My eyes had seen enough death tonight to last a lifetime, but even so I could not help but wonder if he were still alive, suffering, crying out for help and receiving no reply.
I grabbed my candle and stood up, checking my back pocket to make sure that the crucifix was still there. There was no question in my mind, I had to go and see if he were really dead or if he could be cared for, regardless of the fact that he was probably gone. I needed to do this to ease my own conscious or else I would feel even more guilt than what I already felt.
I walked slowly through the kitchen, not wanting to make much noise as I did not wish for the Midnight Man to be alerted of my location. Same as the last time I came through this area, I turned my head in another direction so that I would not have to gaze upon the hollow shell that had once contained my friend Popson.
The door that had concealed the basement was still lying on the dusty floor. I stopped just short of starting to walk down the staircase to make sure that air was not emanating coldness or evil. I could feel neither, so I decided to proceed with the utmost caution in case I needed to turn and run if the Midnight Man became near.
One leg reached out and found a firm portion of the wooden stair to stand on. It was as if I was testing the water on a trip to the beach to see how cold it was. Once I had determined that everything was safe, I took another step, and then another. Each time my foot landed on a new stair, it made a noise that, under any other circumstances would have been quiet, sounding like a rifle going off directly behind me. I hoped that the Midnight Man could not hear me, but then again, if my hunch was right, he should be trying to avoid me so that I do not follow him out of the house and destroy him.
Finally, after several seconds and many reverberating footsteps, I reached the basement floor. It was just as dark and musty as before and there was not a coldness here like when the Midnight Man had been on the staircase, seeing what Froats and I were up to, several minutes ago. The light from my candle would not reach every nook and cranny of the room, which was probably a good thing since I wished not to see what vermin or spiders were lurking in the darkness. I'll admit, I do have a fear of spiders, but only large ones that look like they could somehow lead to my death. I have nothing against the little ones that will occasionally slip into my house through some open door or window, but the large ones freak me out, whether dead or alive. And do not even get me started if they are in my room, then I find whatever I can to beat them senseless before washing the remains down the toilet so that I do not have to gaze upon the huge, creepy body.
And that was when I saw him, or rather the body as he did not appear to be breathing anymore. The way Froats had fallen, he had not rolled the entire way down the stairs and landed at the part where the basement meets the steps. No, he had had quite a fall from the top. The only possible way he had fallen, or at least that I could think of, was that he had started to fall but then had gone underneath the railing and fallen to his death. You see, the railing on those stairs had nothing to prevent someone from falling under them like so many have wooden rods to stop this. While there were rods, they were few and far-between probably because the staircase was constructed from a metal that was most likely very expensive. By doing this, safety had been compromised but money, certainly large amounts, had been saved.
I walked over to what had once been my friend in order to check for a heartbeat, just to make sure. As I assumed, there was nothing. I stood there for a moment, not speaking nor moving. Then I knelt down beside him and began to say a silent prayer.
Now, do not begin to think that I am the most religious person you will find. I am actually quite far from it, but that does not mean that I will not occasionally turn to faith for strength to carry on, and believe me, if it were ever the time to need strength, this was certainly it.
After I was finished, I stood up and began the trek back to the kitchen where I figured that I would wait until the time rolled around when the Midnight Man would leave the house. Once upstairs, I decided to head to the back master bedroom of the house as the idea of being in the same room as a corpse, while it was Popson, frightened more that the spiders in the basement. The hallway that I walked down almost seemed peaceful. The Midnight Man could not have been in this part of the house recently.
I reached the bedroom and sat down on the wooden floor, which was surprisingly stable, and took out my phone to check the time. It was just past three, I had only a half of an hour to go! The end was in sight and I knew that I could make it to the end of the night.
This was the first time that I had a chance to take in this area of the house. Before I rushed through it, looking for anyone to be with as to avoid facing him alone. This part seemed newer and cleaner, as if it had been added to the house some time after the rest of it had been built. The walls and floors were not nearly as dirty, and the windows, while cracked, were not divided up into huge sections by the cracks that had been put there over the years.
There was not much in this room, simply a rusty iron bed frame and a mirror. I briefly thought about the Bloody Mary Game and wondered if it would work or not, but then remembering that the Midnight Man Game had actually worked, I figured it was safe to say that that one would also work.
It was at that moment that I realized just how tired I was. The small amount of heat coming from the candle was beginning to make me drowsy and I could feel myself slipping into the realm of dreams. Quickly, I drew my phone out of my pocket and set an alarm for 3:23 A.M. so that its vibration in my pocket would wake me with enough time to fully wake up and get into position to bring about the Midnight Man's demise.
At this point, I did not care what terrible dreams I would have with the Midnight Man in the house. I figured that the crucifix in my back pocket would keep the majority of them away from me, and I was so exhausted that any kind of rest seemed fine to me.
My eyes closed, and no sooner had they, I found myself in my high school. I was in an auditorium with my entire class, and the principle was presenting something about the upcoming semester, which was strange seeing as we had only just finished the first quarter. This was the first clue that I picked up on signaling that I was in fact in a dream. I shook myself, trying to wake myself up to avoid whatever horrors lay in wait, but had no success.
In front of me sat Paige Jogan with a boy beside her that I had never seen before. I turned to my side and saw Froats, watching the presentation. I leaned over and whispered, “Josh, who's that guy with Paige?”
“He's a new student, a pretty horrible guy if you ask me, but for whatever none of the girls can see it,” he replied.
“I take it that Paige can't see it either?”
He nodded. “Sorry man.”
I went back to facing forward and saw her giggling about something he had said. I turned back to Froats. “Well isn't there some way to stop it?”
“Hey man, if you wanna try that's your choice, but most girls, and probably Paige, wouldn't be very happy if someone said the guy they liked was complete garbage.”
“Yeah, you're probably right,” I sighed.
“She know you like her?”
“Yep, so if I said anything she'd probably think I was trying to date her instead or something.”
Froats nodded again and repeated, “Sorry man.”
I faced forward, and then Froats said, “I just got on Facebook, they're official.”
I did not even turn to acknowledge him. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I thought about how I had waited too long to try and show her how much I cared, that I had lost my chance. Then I saw him take her by the hand. I started yelling, “NOOOOO!”
Then I woke up to the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket. I was drenched in sweat and breathing hard. I looked around the room and took a much needed deep breath. Everything was fine, it was all just a terrible dream brought about by the Midnight Man. My candle was still lit, although there was little hard wax left. The wick was basically swimming in a pool of liquid wax. I rose, stretched, and grabbed the candle.
It was time to defeat the Midnight Man once and for all. I began walking across the floorboards, not even wincing if one squeaked for I was confident that the crucifix was protecting me and that I was about to remove a little bit of evil from the world.
If only I knew just how wrong I was.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 12 Is UP! The Final Hour is at Hand! Chapter Revised!
Haha thanks! And there is no love triangle, this guy in the dream (which I actually had that dream last night and decided to add it) does not even exist as far as I know. I had no idea who it was
Haha thanks! And there is no love triangle, this guy in the dream (which I actually had that dream last night and decided to add it) does not even exist as far as I know. I had no idea who it was
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 12 Is UP! The Final Hour is at Hand! Chapter Revised!
Totally just named a chapter after a Journey album.
Chapter 13- Departure
Totally just named a chapter after a Journey album.
Chapter 13- Departure
You know, I have always been one to “jump the gun,” or get very excited over something that is never as great as I think it will be. For example, when some new piece of news is revealed about Pokemon, I can so excited and cannot wait for it to be released in the United States, since Japan usually gets everything far before us Americans do. Now, the point that I am trying to make is that this was how I was acting in regards to stopping the Midnight Man. I was practically shaking I was so happy that I had found a way to stop him. Never once did I stop and think of what the consequences could end up being nor what I would do afterward as I was sure that no one would believe me if I actually told them what happened. How was I going to cover up a house full with dead bodies?
But, caught up in the moment, I did not even pay attention to that thought. I pushed it into the farthest corners of my mind and just assumed that everything would turn out perfectly. I was wrong beyond my wildest dreams.
Anyways, once I had walked back into the kitchen, I hid behind the center counter top in the kitchen. I was ready to follow him out the door and strike him down before he had reached his portal back to the hell from whence he came. All I needed to do now was not fall asleep, which was a feat easier said than done. I was still very drowsy from short sleep in which I had had that awful dream.
I began to wonder, why did I have that dream in the first place? Had I thought about making the same mistake that other guys had made with Paige? Had I considered giving her up, not realizing the great girl that I was losing nor how much I would miss her when she was gone? Because dreams are supposed to be the thoughts that one hides in the back of his or her mind. I could not imagine ever wanting to give her up, especially if we would eventually become official boyfriend and girlfriend.
And the more I thought about it, the more the dream hurt as I had essentially lost her to a terrible guy and had no means to recover her. Maybe I had wondered if by not involving her in the ordeal of the Midnight Man I was creating a distance between us, but that was crazy! There was no way I wanted to expose someone as sweet as her to something so terrible. Maybe I could at least tell her more about it once all was said and done as I had been extremely brief when I had told her about it the night before at the mall.
I knew then that I needed to tell her exactly how I felt, regardless if she knew it or not, which she probably did seeing as I kissed her on the cheek. Still though, words can be more powerful than actions so perhaps it would not be such a terrible idea after all. I mean, I really liked her and cared about her and just think that she should know. And Paige, if you are actually reading this book, which I pray that you are, I hope that you maybe still feel the same way. But this will be for a later time. Right now I needed to be concentrating on how to stop the Midnight Man.
Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my phone to check what the time was. It was a good thing that I did it right then as I had apparently been lost in thought for some time, the phone read 3:32 A.M. I jumped up and began working my way towards the foyer, but making sure to remain in the shadows. I had left my candle behind the counter so that he would not see the light from it.
The foyer was in sight! In it remained the sleeping bags, pillows, and backpacks which were filled with anything and everything we thought we might need tonight. It was amazing to think that just hours before everyone had still been alive, but now only I remained. Perhaps they were the lucky ones because by dying early, they missed all of the terror that tonight had brought. I had been a part of it for the entire time and I was ready for it to end.
I began to feel a coldness emanating from the foyer and I saw the Midnight Man step off of the stairs and begin to make his way towards the door. It was at that moment that I noticed that he did not walk but glided when he moved. He made it across the room far faster that I could have possibly imagined. He was trying to escape the house before I could stop him, yes that had to be it!
I sprinted after him, ready to bring this all to an end. Now let me just say that you, the reader, should realize that if I had been able to stop him, then this would be the very last page of the book. However, as you probably figured out rather quickly, this is not the last page and that therefore means that something went terribly wrong.
To this day, I do not know whether or not the Midnight Man knew that I was pursuing him. He never once stopped to turn around and check to see if I was there, which should have probably clued me into the fact that my plan was flawed. But, being the stubborn teenager I was, I kept chasing him. He flew open the door letting in a wind that howled and echoed throughout the house, causing the sleeping bags and pillows to fly across the room.
Surprisingly, I was able to dodge all of them and keep up with him. He stepped out of the house and onto the porch and began descending the stairs. I paused when I reached the doorway in order to remove the crucifix from my back pocket to use to ward off any demons that would try and harm me.
Creeping towards the Midnight Man from the shadows of the trees and bushes that surrounded the house were demonic entities of all kinds. Some were horned, others had wings that were slanted downwards, others with pronged tails and hoofs for feet. The most frightening of them all were the ones who looked like ordinary humans, but with blood red eyes. Their features were so convincing that they could have blended into any crowd on any street in any town. So the question was, were they walking among us without us even realizing? That is a question for another time.
Standing perfectly still, out of a combination of awe and fear, I watched one of the human ones remove from his pants pocket what appeared to be a piece of chalk. The demons and the Midnight Man stopped moving and waited as the demon began to draw a pentagram on the ground in front of the house. Then, five horned demons moved forward and each placed a candle at each point of the pentagram. Once they had again taken their place among the ranks of the forces of darkness, another set of five, this time with wings, came and lit the candles.
The Midnight Man moved forward and sat in the center of the pentagram. Above him, the sky turned dark with clouds that began to swirl. The wind howled, lightening cracked, and thunder boomed. The demons took their place along the lines of the pentagram and sat down. They began to chant in what appeared to be Latin, but I am not sure as I could not completely make it out.
It was then that I broke free from the stillness that had been holding my body captive. I raised the crucifix and ran forward, focusing on striking down the Midnight Man with it. Beneath him, the ground began to crack open and the fires of hell spilled out, scorching the earth on which he sat. I was not fazed as the faces of those who had died tonight by his hand filled my mind.
When I reached the pentagram, the demon seated where I was running tried to move out of the way, but I brought the crucifix down upon his head, causing him to fall to the ground and turn to ash from the very hellfire he was made of. Not even wavering, I continued my charge at the Midnight Man, but alas, it was too late. I brought the crucifix down upon him just as the fire coming out of the crack in the earth consumed him. I turned and ran back to the house, not wishing to be taken down into the bowels of the Earth with the rest of the demons.
Once I had reached the porch, I turned around only to see the final demon going back to where he had come from. The fire disappeared and the earth closed and there was silence. It was then that I realized that all of our cars were gone. Upon further inspection I found that the demons had disassembled them and thrown the parts over the cliff that overlooked the town. Clearly, it was to cover their tracks since teens had been killed here tonight.
There were no remains of Gopp or Luke anywhere. The blood and shredded clothing had all vanished as well as the limbs that had been ripped from their bodies. The house had been cleared of bodies also, which was strange, but yet very possible that whatever they had been chanting while sitting in the pentagram removed them.
I did not wish to remain in the house as only God knew what demonic powers had touched it and what affect it would have on it. I began walking down the hill and back towards the town. On the way down, I stopped to text Paige Jogan, asking if she could drive over and pick me up, and then potentially hide me.
After a few minutes, I received a text. I'm on my way.
I was amazed at how fast she had responded. Had she sense the urgency in the text? I certainly hoped so as I was afraid and in need of a place to hide. How was I going to explain to the police how five kids who I was good friends with just disappeared? Certainly not by telling them that the Midnight Man did it!
Ten minutes passed of me just walking down the hill. This road seemed to be much shorter when I was driving on it, but then again, most do seem like that. I can remember a summer day several years ago when I wanted to walk down the street to a garage sale, thinking that it was not that far away because when my parents drove, we passed by the house in about thirty seconds. The house was actually about a half a mile away, and in the scorching heat of a summer's day, it took about a half hour to reach it.
After what seemed like an eternity, I saw the lights from a car heading in my direction. It reached me, and I was overjoyed to see that the driver was none other than Paige. I opened the door and climbed into the car. It appeared as though she had rushed over. She was in light purple pajama pants and had a sweatshirt on. Her brown, curly hair was slightly standing up on one side of her head. But after my night, she looked like an angel.
Not even thinking, before she could utter a word, I leaned in and kissed her. “Paige, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
She blushed and replied, “I didn't notice. Alright, how do I get out of here?”
“Just drive up the hill and turn around up there.”
She put the car into drive and floored it up the steep hill. “So, what happened to you car and everybody else?” she inquired.
I felt myself beginning to tear up. “Well, my cars in pieces at the bottom of the hill in those woods there. I can thank the demons for that. And-”
“Wait, what?!” she interrupted. “Demons?”
“It's been one long night, believe me.”
“I kinda wanna hear this.”
“How long is it gonna take to get to wherever you're gonna hide me?”
“Probably ten or fifteen minutes.”
“Then we have time. I'll give you the quick version.”
As she drove, I explained the events of the night to her, not even looking at her face as I could only imagine the look of surprise as I was telling her all of this. When I was finished, I looked around for a tissue box to wipe away the hot, salty tears that had streamed down my face as I recalled how each of my friends died that night. I found one in the backseat of the car.
There was silence, and then Paige broke it. “So they're really all dead?”
I nodded. “Each and everyone of them. And it's completely my fault too.”
“Don't say that!”
“No,” I said feeling the volume of my voice beginning to rise, probably because of the crying. “I let them summon that evil son of a-”
“Don't swear, Nick!”
“I'm sorry Paige! I forget sometimes. I let them summon that monster and could not protect them. It's my fault and I will be judged for it the day I die.”
“Don't think like that. I know you would never do anything like that on purpose. It's not like you to wanna harm others. I've known you for quite a few years now and you're nothing but a guy who means well.”
“Thanks, but I need to stop the Midnight Man once and for all to be set free from the guilt.”
She stopped the car at a stop sign and looked at me. “Wait, you're gonna summon him again?!”
“Yeah, you know I really am. I need to! I want to stop this evil from claiming any more lives that it already has.”
She made a left turn and pulled into the driveway of a dark house. “You're a brave guy, Nick,” she finally said.
I smiled. “No, I just become that way when something like this happens. I'm not brave, I'm a complete coward. If I were that, I would have been able to stand up to all of them and stop this before it happened!”
“You stopped Gopp, didn't you?”
“But he still died!”
“But you had the guts to stand up to him!” she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Don't sell yourself short, you're a lot more than you think, and I see it in you.”
I smiled. “You really know how to make me feel better, you know that?”
She laughed and turned off the car. “I do now.”
She got out and led me to the front door of the house. “This is the Brown's house. I'm supposed to be housesitting until next weekend because they're out of town for their daughter's wedding and a vacation after that. There's just a cat, but he's friendly.”
She took me by the hand and led me inside. After she had given me a tour of the house, she looked at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen. “Oh! I need to be getting back to my house, it's just across the street from this one.”
I walked her to the door. “Well, night.”
“Night Nick! And you just call or text me if you need anything, just not until after noon tomorrow, I have church.”
“Wow, completely forgot it was Sunday. I guess I won't be going to church, I'm gonna be bad.”
She laughed. “No, but don't think of it like that. I'm sure there's a Bible here or something, just make your own church service.”
I smiled. “Maybe I will.”
I kissed her goodnight and then looked into her lovely brown eyes. “You know, you have really beautiful eyes.” She blushed for the second time that evening. “Before you go Paige, I want you to know that I really like you. I'm sure you already knew that, but I thought you'd like to hear it.”
“Yeah, I did like that.”
“Hey, how did you know that I liked you when you grabbed my hand at the mall the other night?”
“I didn't. For once in my life I took a guess about that and it proved to be right.”
I shook my head, smiling. “You made a very lucky guess, and in the process made me the luckiest guy on the planet.”
We hugged. I felt so safe in her embrace. We then kissed her again and she drove her car across the street to her house. I went to the linen closet, found a blanket, turned off all the light, except for the hall one that Paige told me to leave on, and laid down on the couch in the living room. I was out in a matter of seconds.
But, caught up in the moment, I did not even pay attention to that thought. I pushed it into the farthest corners of my mind and just assumed that everything would turn out perfectly. I was wrong beyond my wildest dreams.
Anyways, once I had walked back into the kitchen, I hid behind the center counter top in the kitchen. I was ready to follow him out the door and strike him down before he had reached his portal back to the hell from whence he came. All I needed to do now was not fall asleep, which was a feat easier said than done. I was still very drowsy from short sleep in which I had had that awful dream.
I began to wonder, why did I have that dream in the first place? Had I thought about making the same mistake that other guys had made with Paige? Had I considered giving her up, not realizing the great girl that I was losing nor how much I would miss her when she was gone? Because dreams are supposed to be the thoughts that one hides in the back of his or her mind. I could not imagine ever wanting to give her up, especially if we would eventually become official boyfriend and girlfriend.
And the more I thought about it, the more the dream hurt as I had essentially lost her to a terrible guy and had no means to recover her. Maybe I had wondered if by not involving her in the ordeal of the Midnight Man I was creating a distance between us, but that was crazy! There was no way I wanted to expose someone as sweet as her to something so terrible. Maybe I could at least tell her more about it once all was said and done as I had been extremely brief when I had told her about it the night before at the mall.
I knew then that I needed to tell her exactly how I felt, regardless if she knew it or not, which she probably did seeing as I kissed her on the cheek. Still though, words can be more powerful than actions so perhaps it would not be such a terrible idea after all. I mean, I really liked her and cared about her and just think that she should know. And Paige, if you are actually reading this book, which I pray that you are, I hope that you maybe still feel the same way. But this will be for a later time. Right now I needed to be concentrating on how to stop the Midnight Man.
Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my phone to check what the time was. It was a good thing that I did it right then as I had apparently been lost in thought for some time, the phone read 3:32 A.M. I jumped up and began working my way towards the foyer, but making sure to remain in the shadows. I had left my candle behind the counter so that he would not see the light from it.
The foyer was in sight! In it remained the sleeping bags, pillows, and backpacks which were filled with anything and everything we thought we might need tonight. It was amazing to think that just hours before everyone had still been alive, but now only I remained. Perhaps they were the lucky ones because by dying early, they missed all of the terror that tonight had brought. I had been a part of it for the entire time and I was ready for it to end.
I began to feel a coldness emanating from the foyer and I saw the Midnight Man step off of the stairs and begin to make his way towards the door. It was at that moment that I noticed that he did not walk but glided when he moved. He made it across the room far faster that I could have possibly imagined. He was trying to escape the house before I could stop him, yes that had to be it!
I sprinted after him, ready to bring this all to an end. Now let me just say that you, the reader, should realize that if I had been able to stop him, then this would be the very last page of the book. However, as you probably figured out rather quickly, this is not the last page and that therefore means that something went terribly wrong.
To this day, I do not know whether or not the Midnight Man knew that I was pursuing him. He never once stopped to turn around and check to see if I was there, which should have probably clued me into the fact that my plan was flawed. But, being the stubborn teenager I was, I kept chasing him. He flew open the door letting in a wind that howled and echoed throughout the house, causing the sleeping bags and pillows to fly across the room.
Surprisingly, I was able to dodge all of them and keep up with him. He stepped out of the house and onto the porch and began descending the stairs. I paused when I reached the doorway in order to remove the crucifix from my back pocket to use to ward off any demons that would try and harm me.
Creeping towards the Midnight Man from the shadows of the trees and bushes that surrounded the house were demonic entities of all kinds. Some were horned, others had wings that were slanted downwards, others with pronged tails and hoofs for feet. The most frightening of them all were the ones who looked like ordinary humans, but with blood red eyes. Their features were so convincing that they could have blended into any crowd on any street in any town. So the question was, were they walking among us without us even realizing? That is a question for another time.
Standing perfectly still, out of a combination of awe and fear, I watched one of the human ones remove from his pants pocket what appeared to be a piece of chalk. The demons and the Midnight Man stopped moving and waited as the demon began to draw a pentagram on the ground in front of the house. Then, five horned demons moved forward and each placed a candle at each point of the pentagram. Once they had again taken their place among the ranks of the forces of darkness, another set of five, this time with wings, came and lit the candles.
The Midnight Man moved forward and sat in the center of the pentagram. Above him, the sky turned dark with clouds that began to swirl. The wind howled, lightening cracked, and thunder boomed. The demons took their place along the lines of the pentagram and sat down. They began to chant in what appeared to be Latin, but I am not sure as I could not completely make it out.
It was then that I broke free from the stillness that had been holding my body captive. I raised the crucifix and ran forward, focusing on striking down the Midnight Man with it. Beneath him, the ground began to crack open and the fires of hell spilled out, scorching the earth on which he sat. I was not fazed as the faces of those who had died tonight by his hand filled my mind.
When I reached the pentagram, the demon seated where I was running tried to move out of the way, but I brought the crucifix down upon his head, causing him to fall to the ground and turn to ash from the very hellfire he was made of. Not even wavering, I continued my charge at the Midnight Man, but alas, it was too late. I brought the crucifix down upon him just as the fire coming out of the crack in the earth consumed him. I turned and ran back to the house, not wishing to be taken down into the bowels of the Earth with the rest of the demons.
Once I had reached the porch, I turned around only to see the final demon going back to where he had come from. The fire disappeared and the earth closed and there was silence. It was then that I realized that all of our cars were gone. Upon further inspection I found that the demons had disassembled them and thrown the parts over the cliff that overlooked the town. Clearly, it was to cover their tracks since teens had been killed here tonight.
There were no remains of Gopp or Luke anywhere. The blood and shredded clothing had all vanished as well as the limbs that had been ripped from their bodies. The house had been cleared of bodies also, which was strange, but yet very possible that whatever they had been chanting while sitting in the pentagram removed them.
I did not wish to remain in the house as only God knew what demonic powers had touched it and what affect it would have on it. I began walking down the hill and back towards the town. On the way down, I stopped to text Paige Jogan, asking if she could drive over and pick me up, and then potentially hide me.
After a few minutes, I received a text. I'm on my way.
I was amazed at how fast she had responded. Had she sense the urgency in the text? I certainly hoped so as I was afraid and in need of a place to hide. How was I going to explain to the police how five kids who I was good friends with just disappeared? Certainly not by telling them that the Midnight Man did it!
Ten minutes passed of me just walking down the hill. This road seemed to be much shorter when I was driving on it, but then again, most do seem like that. I can remember a summer day several years ago when I wanted to walk down the street to a garage sale, thinking that it was not that far away because when my parents drove, we passed by the house in about thirty seconds. The house was actually about a half a mile away, and in the scorching heat of a summer's day, it took about a half hour to reach it.
After what seemed like an eternity, I saw the lights from a car heading in my direction. It reached me, and I was overjoyed to see that the driver was none other than Paige. I opened the door and climbed into the car. It appeared as though she had rushed over. She was in light purple pajama pants and had a sweatshirt on. Her brown, curly hair was slightly standing up on one side of her head. But after my night, she looked like an angel.
Not even thinking, before she could utter a word, I leaned in and kissed her. “Paige, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
She blushed and replied, “I didn't notice. Alright, how do I get out of here?”
“Just drive up the hill and turn around up there.”
She put the car into drive and floored it up the steep hill. “So, what happened to you car and everybody else?” she inquired.
I felt myself beginning to tear up. “Well, my cars in pieces at the bottom of the hill in those woods there. I can thank the demons for that. And-”
“Wait, what?!” she interrupted. “Demons?”
“It's been one long night, believe me.”
“I kinda wanna hear this.”
“How long is it gonna take to get to wherever you're gonna hide me?”
“Probably ten or fifteen minutes.”
“Then we have time. I'll give you the quick version.”
As she drove, I explained the events of the night to her, not even looking at her face as I could only imagine the look of surprise as I was telling her all of this. When I was finished, I looked around for a tissue box to wipe away the hot, salty tears that had streamed down my face as I recalled how each of my friends died that night. I found one in the backseat of the car.
There was silence, and then Paige broke it. “So they're really all dead?”
I nodded. “Each and everyone of them. And it's completely my fault too.”
“Don't say that!”
“No,” I said feeling the volume of my voice beginning to rise, probably because of the crying. “I let them summon that evil son of a-”
“Don't swear, Nick!”
“I'm sorry Paige! I forget sometimes. I let them summon that monster and could not protect them. It's my fault and I will be judged for it the day I die.”
“Don't think like that. I know you would never do anything like that on purpose. It's not like you to wanna harm others. I've known you for quite a few years now and you're nothing but a guy who means well.”
“Thanks, but I need to stop the Midnight Man once and for all to be set free from the guilt.”
She stopped the car at a stop sign and looked at me. “Wait, you're gonna summon him again?!”
“Yeah, you know I really am. I need to! I want to stop this evil from claiming any more lives that it already has.”
She made a left turn and pulled into the driveway of a dark house. “You're a brave guy, Nick,” she finally said.
I smiled. “No, I just become that way when something like this happens. I'm not brave, I'm a complete coward. If I were that, I would have been able to stand up to all of them and stop this before it happened!”
“You stopped Gopp, didn't you?”
“But he still died!”
“But you had the guts to stand up to him!” she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Don't sell yourself short, you're a lot more than you think, and I see it in you.”
I smiled. “You really know how to make me feel better, you know that?”
She laughed and turned off the car. “I do now.”
She got out and led me to the front door of the house. “This is the Brown's house. I'm supposed to be housesitting until next weekend because they're out of town for their daughter's wedding and a vacation after that. There's just a cat, but he's friendly.”
She took me by the hand and led me inside. After she had given me a tour of the house, she looked at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen. “Oh! I need to be getting back to my house, it's just across the street from this one.”
I walked her to the door. “Well, night.”
“Night Nick! And you just call or text me if you need anything, just not until after noon tomorrow, I have church.”
“Wow, completely forgot it was Sunday. I guess I won't be going to church, I'm gonna be bad.”
She laughed. “No, but don't think of it like that. I'm sure there's a Bible here or something, just make your own church service.”
I smiled. “Maybe I will.”
I kissed her goodnight and then looked into her lovely brown eyes. “You know, you have really beautiful eyes.” She blushed for the second time that evening. “Before you go Paige, I want you to know that I really like you. I'm sure you already knew that, but I thought you'd like to hear it.”
“Yeah, I did like that.”
“Hey, how did you know that I liked you when you grabbed my hand at the mall the other night?”
“I didn't. For once in my life I took a guess about that and it proved to be right.”
I shook my head, smiling. “You made a very lucky guess, and in the process made me the luckiest guy on the planet.”
We hugged. I felt so safe in her embrace. We then kissed her again and she drove her car across the street to her house. I went to the linen closet, found a blanket, turned off all the light, except for the hall one that Paige told me to leave on, and laid down on the couch in the living room. I was out in a matter of seconds.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 13 is Done! The Midnight Man Leaves the House!
Not even close, the Midnight Man hasn't been stopped yet so there's still a bit to go
Not only that but I'm going to post an edited version of the story to clean up some grammatical things, expound upon events, describe more, and change names since all the people in the story exist and wouldn't be too happy about how I'm writing about some of them...
Not even close, the Midnight Man hasn't been stopped yet so there's still a bit to go
Not only that but I'm going to post an edited version of the story to clean up some grammatical things, expound upon events, describe more, and change names since all the people in the story exist and wouldn't be too happy about how I'm writing about some of them...
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 13 is Done! The Midnight Man Leaves the House!
Chapter 14- The Plan
I have never welcomed sleep like I did early that Sunday morning. It was something that I had had to avoid during the entire time the Midnight Man was present, although I did succumb to it for a small period of time, but it was really not restful due to that nightmare. However, it was not a nightmare under normal definitions in the sense that no one close to be was harmed nor was it frightening. It was more surprising than anything, which was not the kind of thing I associated with the Midnight Man, but I suppose it could have been worse. And, now that I think about it, I technically did lose someone in that dream, not physically of course, but emotionally. I had lost the girl I wanted to be with, and it had stung more than any other dream I could imagine.
When I fell asleep that night, I assumed that I was far too exhausted to dream about anything. But I forgot that one should never assume because dream I did and they were some of the worst dreams I had ever had. It was not like the one I had earlier about Paige, no it was more like the ones I had before I summoned the Midnight Man. But I was not alone like the dream I had just a few hours prior to the summoning. No, I was with Paige in this dream.
We were walking down the passageway of the house, heading towards the stairs that led into the basement, lit candles warm in our hands. “Nick,” she whispered, “Are we gonna be alright?”
“Yeah, we should be,” I replied, slipping my hand into hers. “We have the crucifix, remember?”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “He'll protect us.”
“He had better.”
I let go of her hand and reached toward my back pocket as to have the crucifix ready in case the Midnight Man appeared. My eyes grew wide and I stopped walking.
Paige said it before I could even open my mouth. “It's gone, isn't it?”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, it's not here. It must have slipped out of my pocket when we were coming up the stairs. Yeah, that's what had to of happened!”
“Can we get back there?” she asked.
Even though I could barely make out the features of her face due to the candlelight, I could see the fear beginning to fill her eyes. “Of course we can, c'mon.”
Again I grabbed her hand and we began to walk. With each step she moved slightly closer to me perhaps thinking that I could do something to protect her if he were to suddenly appear. I did not have the heart to tell her that I was defenseless without the crucifix. I just quicken my pace, and hers sped up in response.
It was at that moment that a coldness shot up my spine and went to every part of my body. First my candle went out, then Paige's. She screamed and I pulled her close, wishing that I could do something, anything, to shield her. My vision blurred and I blacked out.
I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was at. My surroundings were not familiar to me, nor was the blanket that was covering me up. I felt something rub against my hand, and then a rough tongue licking my hand. Wait, where did a cat come from?
I sat up and my memory was restored. The house was the home of some neighbors of Paige who were gone for the week and it was to be my location for hiding out until I could next confront the Midnight Man. And the cat belongs to the owners of the house, she was watching it.
Looking around the room I realized that this was the first time I actually had a chance to take note of my surroundings. Last night I had been far too exhausted and focused on Paige to pay any attention. The living room was a medium size with a big screen television attached to the back wall. Underneath it was a fireplace that appeared to have not been used in quite some time. The couch I was lying on was angled in such a way that I could both view the TV and look out the window. But the blinds had been drawn and little light shown through them. Above the window was a circular clock that read almost a quarter past noon. I had been asleep for some time!
I threw the blanket off and stood up. It was then I realized that I was wearing the same clothing as yesterday and had not showered since then either. I walked into what appeared to be the dining room and found a note on the table.
Nick,
Came over and fed Ruffles, the cat, before I went to church. Will be back sometime after 12:30, but well I'm gone there's food in the pantry, and some stuff in the bathroom I think you might want. I would have woken you to tell you this, but you looked like you were enjoying the sleep, and you probably needed it. I'll be over later in the day.
Paige
Stuff in the bathroom? What was she talking about, and where even was the bathroom?! I turned right and began walking down a hallway. I was bound to find it eventually since there was no second story on the house. I found it much quicker than I had anticipated.
Inside, on the toilet and sink-top counter, there were various necessities that she assumed that I would need for the day. There was a t-shirt (not striped), pants, socks, a pack of new boxers (I do not even want to know where she got those), a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, wash cloth, shampoo, a bar of soap, deodorant, floss, mouth rinse, and a fresh towel. It was like I was staying at a hotel!
I walked over to the bathtub and turned the faucet on to allow for the water to warm. I then slipped out of my clothing, grabbed the things I would need for a nice long shower, stepped inside the tub, and shut the shower curtain making sure that it was on the correct side so that no water would drip out. Next, I pulled the thing underneath the faucet so that the shower would start.
Now, I am not usually one for long drawn out showers, but this may have been the very best shower I have ever taken. Perhaps it was because I had been through so much the past day and this was the first chance I had to relax. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed the warm water flowing from the shower head, being lathered in soap from the bar Paige had provided, and washing my hair. I even found myself singing some Journey. Faithfully was first, followed by a slightly off tune rendition of Open Arms, then, one of my personal favorites, Wheel In The Sky. And let me make this very clear, when I sing in the shower, I go all out making instrument noises, crowd noises, everything to make it sound like a Journey concert is going on in my shower.
After about what I guessed to be about twenty-five minutes, I decided that I should probably get out. I turned the faucet off and pulled back the shower curtain slightly as to not let in a lot of the colder air. Once the black towel was securely in my grasp, I retreated the arm back into the shower. I wiped off each wall of the shower to prevent water stains and then dried myself.
Once I had slipped into the clothes and thoroughly cleaned my teeth by brushing, flossing, and mouth rinse, I emerged from the bathroom with my dirty clothing only to find Paige sitting at the table waiting for me. She was wearing a light brown sweater that was open at the front exposing a pure white shirt. Her hair was in better shape than it had been the night before.
I smiled when I saw her. “How long have you been here?”
Her face turned red with embarrassment. “Long enough to here your singing. It's a little off key, but I'm sure I can fix it.”
I laughed. “Yeah, a few years not taking choir can do that. So what's with the school books?”
“Oh, I usually don't come over here until later in the day so I made up the excuse that it was too loud at my house to get any work done.”
“So you lied.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn't call it that, my house is pretty noisy right now. My brother's watching TV and my parents are cleaning.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “But are you going to do any work?”
“No,” she replied, laughing. “So, you want me to make us some lunch?”
“Nah, you've done more than enough for me. What are you feelin'?” I asked.
“Um, I don't know, what are you having?”
“I was gonna make myself a peanut butter sandwich.”
“Alright, that sounds good, just put jelly on mine,” she said.
I smiled and went into the kitchen. “Hey Paige, where's everything?”
She giggled and walked into the kitchen, telling me where all the items I would need were located. “You sure you don't want me to make them?” she asked as she watched me struggling to remember where what was at.
“No, I'm good, you just go wait at the table.”
She went back to the table and I could hear here flipping through the books she had brought over. “So, Paige, where did you get all that stuff in the bathroom?”
“Oh, well the clothes were my dads-”
“Hopefully not the boxers!” I interrupted.
“No, I went out and bought those at Wal-Mart. The rest of the stuff I just found around my house and brought over. None of it was used, except for the clothes.”
“Oh, alright. How much do I owe ya for the boxers?”
I put the finished sandwiches on plates and brought them into the dining room. “Nothing, its fine!” she responded.
I retreated back into the kitchen to grab some glasses for water. “Are you sure? I really don't mind.” I said while holding each glass under the reverse osmosis faucet.
“No, just consider it my first gift to you, hopefully of many.”
I smiled and handed her a glass of water and then sat down beside her. “Thanks, Paige.”
We ate in silence, not really knowing what to say as we had exhausted all of the basic conversational discussion. The only thing left to talk about was what occurred last night and I sensed that she really did not want to bring it up. Even though I was sitting at the side of the table, I could see out the rather large window that was centered on the dining room wall.
Behind the house, there was a rather large tree with golden brown leaves swaying in the autumn breeze. It had a calming effect on me, to see that somewhere in the world, tranquility still existed and had not been contaminated by chaos. A squirrel ran down the trunk of the tree and began to search the grass for any acorns or other food that could be stocked up and eaten before the winter set in.
A crow shot down from the sky, causing the squirrel to scamper away in fright and take refuge under a nearby bush where it could be out of the crow's view. The bird landed on a tree branch and began looking around, attempting to find out what had happened to the creature. After about thirty seconds, it gave up and took off again, probably to try and find something else to entertain itself with.
Finally, Paige broke the silence. “So, about last night.”
I sighed. “I knew this would come up eventually.”
She frowned. “If you don't wanna talk about it, I won't force you to.”
“No, you have every right to hear about it. Well, I think you know essentially what happened, I told you that while you were driving me over hear.”
“Yeah I do. I'm just wondering what are you gonna do since everything thinks you've disappeared and if you do reappear, people will think you killed them all.”
I blinked a few times, thinking about what my response would be. I took a deep breath. “Well, there's no easy answer as to what I should do. I need to stick with my original plan of summoning him again, it's all I can do!”
“Do you still have the crucifix?”
I jumped up and ran to where my pants I had worn yesterday were at. Inside the back pocket was the crucifix. Pulling it out, I said, “Yeah, I do! Although I do need a candle.” I checked the other pockets of my pants. “I still have salt and matches though.”
I walked back to the table holding those objects. “Wait, what happened to the candle you used last night?” she inquired.
I shook my head. “I don't remember, I probably just left it at the house or something, who knows.”
“Well, they can trace finger prints!”
“So that means I'll have to summon him again, tonight.”
“No Nick! You can't! This house is safe, I know it, just please wait until tomorrow, for my sake.”
I sighed. “Alright, I'll summon him again tomorrow. I'll just have to keep everything shut up tight so no one sees me in this house.”
“Yeah. Oh and Nick, I'm gonna be with you tomorrow night, you know that, right?”
“Paige, no! I-”
“What, you're gonna go through it by yourself? I'm not gonna let you do that. Either you let me be with you, or if the police question me, I'll them where you're at!”
“No, you wouldn't!”
“Oh yes I would! Nick, please, don't go through this alone.”
I stared at her. There was no changing her mind. Tomorrow night she was going to be with me in this house, summoning the Midnight Man. I just hoped she was brave enough to confront the evil she seemed so willing to face!
When I fell asleep that night, I assumed that I was far too exhausted to dream about anything. But I forgot that one should never assume because dream I did and they were some of the worst dreams I had ever had. It was not like the one I had earlier about Paige, no it was more like the ones I had before I summoned the Midnight Man. But I was not alone like the dream I had just a few hours prior to the summoning. No, I was with Paige in this dream.
* * *
We were walking down the passageway of the house, heading towards the stairs that led into the basement, lit candles warm in our hands. “Nick,” she whispered, “Are we gonna be alright?”
“Yeah, we should be,” I replied, slipping my hand into hers. “We have the crucifix, remember?”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “He'll protect us.”
“He had better.”
I let go of her hand and reached toward my back pocket as to have the crucifix ready in case the Midnight Man appeared. My eyes grew wide and I stopped walking.
Paige said it before I could even open my mouth. “It's gone, isn't it?”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, it's not here. It must have slipped out of my pocket when we were coming up the stairs. Yeah, that's what had to of happened!”
“Can we get back there?” she asked.
Even though I could barely make out the features of her face due to the candlelight, I could see the fear beginning to fill her eyes. “Of course we can, c'mon.”
Again I grabbed her hand and we began to walk. With each step she moved slightly closer to me perhaps thinking that I could do something to protect her if he were to suddenly appear. I did not have the heart to tell her that I was defenseless without the crucifix. I just quicken my pace, and hers sped up in response.
It was at that moment that a coldness shot up my spine and went to every part of my body. First my candle went out, then Paige's. She screamed and I pulled her close, wishing that I could do something, anything, to shield her. My vision blurred and I blacked out.
* * *
I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was at. My surroundings were not familiar to me, nor was the blanket that was covering me up. I felt something rub against my hand, and then a rough tongue licking my hand. Wait, where did a cat come from?
I sat up and my memory was restored. The house was the home of some neighbors of Paige who were gone for the week and it was to be my location for hiding out until I could next confront the Midnight Man. And the cat belongs to the owners of the house, she was watching it.
Looking around the room I realized that this was the first time I actually had a chance to take note of my surroundings. Last night I had been far too exhausted and focused on Paige to pay any attention. The living room was a medium size with a big screen television attached to the back wall. Underneath it was a fireplace that appeared to have not been used in quite some time. The couch I was lying on was angled in such a way that I could both view the TV and look out the window. But the blinds had been drawn and little light shown through them. Above the window was a circular clock that read almost a quarter past noon. I had been asleep for some time!
I threw the blanket off and stood up. It was then I realized that I was wearing the same clothing as yesterday and had not showered since then either. I walked into what appeared to be the dining room and found a note on the table.
Nick,
Came over and fed Ruffles, the cat, before I went to church. Will be back sometime after 12:30, but well I'm gone there's food in the pantry, and some stuff in the bathroom I think you might want. I would have woken you to tell you this, but you looked like you were enjoying the sleep, and you probably needed it. I'll be over later in the day.
Paige
Stuff in the bathroom? What was she talking about, and where even was the bathroom?! I turned right and began walking down a hallway. I was bound to find it eventually since there was no second story on the house. I found it much quicker than I had anticipated.
Inside, on the toilet and sink-top counter, there were various necessities that she assumed that I would need for the day. There was a t-shirt (not striped), pants, socks, a pack of new boxers (I do not even want to know where she got those), a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, wash cloth, shampoo, a bar of soap, deodorant, floss, mouth rinse, and a fresh towel. It was like I was staying at a hotel!
I walked over to the bathtub and turned the faucet on to allow for the water to warm. I then slipped out of my clothing, grabbed the things I would need for a nice long shower, stepped inside the tub, and shut the shower curtain making sure that it was on the correct side so that no water would drip out. Next, I pulled the thing underneath the faucet so that the shower would start.
Now, I am not usually one for long drawn out showers, but this may have been the very best shower I have ever taken. Perhaps it was because I had been through so much the past day and this was the first chance I had to relax. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed the warm water flowing from the shower head, being lathered in soap from the bar Paige had provided, and washing my hair. I even found myself singing some Journey. Faithfully was first, followed by a slightly off tune rendition of Open Arms, then, one of my personal favorites, Wheel In The Sky. And let me make this very clear, when I sing in the shower, I go all out making instrument noises, crowd noises, everything to make it sound like a Journey concert is going on in my shower.
After about what I guessed to be about twenty-five minutes, I decided that I should probably get out. I turned the faucet off and pulled back the shower curtain slightly as to not let in a lot of the colder air. Once the black towel was securely in my grasp, I retreated the arm back into the shower. I wiped off each wall of the shower to prevent water stains and then dried myself.
Once I had slipped into the clothes and thoroughly cleaned my teeth by brushing, flossing, and mouth rinse, I emerged from the bathroom with my dirty clothing only to find Paige sitting at the table waiting for me. She was wearing a light brown sweater that was open at the front exposing a pure white shirt. Her hair was in better shape than it had been the night before.
I smiled when I saw her. “How long have you been here?”
Her face turned red with embarrassment. “Long enough to here your singing. It's a little off key, but I'm sure I can fix it.”
I laughed. “Yeah, a few years not taking choir can do that. So what's with the school books?”
“Oh, I usually don't come over here until later in the day so I made up the excuse that it was too loud at my house to get any work done.”
“So you lied.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn't call it that, my house is pretty noisy right now. My brother's watching TV and my parents are cleaning.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “But are you going to do any work?”
“No,” she replied, laughing. “So, you want me to make us some lunch?”
“Nah, you've done more than enough for me. What are you feelin'?” I asked.
“Um, I don't know, what are you having?”
“I was gonna make myself a peanut butter sandwich.”
“Alright, that sounds good, just put jelly on mine,” she said.
I smiled and went into the kitchen. “Hey Paige, where's everything?”
She giggled and walked into the kitchen, telling me where all the items I would need were located. “You sure you don't want me to make them?” she asked as she watched me struggling to remember where what was at.
“No, I'm good, you just go wait at the table.”
She went back to the table and I could hear here flipping through the books she had brought over. “So, Paige, where did you get all that stuff in the bathroom?”
“Oh, well the clothes were my dads-”
“Hopefully not the boxers!” I interrupted.
“No, I went out and bought those at Wal-Mart. The rest of the stuff I just found around my house and brought over. None of it was used, except for the clothes.”
“Oh, alright. How much do I owe ya for the boxers?”
I put the finished sandwiches on plates and brought them into the dining room. “Nothing, its fine!” she responded.
I retreated back into the kitchen to grab some glasses for water. “Are you sure? I really don't mind.” I said while holding each glass under the reverse osmosis faucet.
“No, just consider it my first gift to you, hopefully of many.”
I smiled and handed her a glass of water and then sat down beside her. “Thanks, Paige.”
We ate in silence, not really knowing what to say as we had exhausted all of the basic conversational discussion. The only thing left to talk about was what occurred last night and I sensed that she really did not want to bring it up. Even though I was sitting at the side of the table, I could see out the rather large window that was centered on the dining room wall.
Behind the house, there was a rather large tree with golden brown leaves swaying in the autumn breeze. It had a calming effect on me, to see that somewhere in the world, tranquility still existed and had not been contaminated by chaos. A squirrel ran down the trunk of the tree and began to search the grass for any acorns or other food that could be stocked up and eaten before the winter set in.
A crow shot down from the sky, causing the squirrel to scamper away in fright and take refuge under a nearby bush where it could be out of the crow's view. The bird landed on a tree branch and began looking around, attempting to find out what had happened to the creature. After about thirty seconds, it gave up and took off again, probably to try and find something else to entertain itself with.
Finally, Paige broke the silence. “So, about last night.”
I sighed. “I knew this would come up eventually.”
She frowned. “If you don't wanna talk about it, I won't force you to.”
“No, you have every right to hear about it. Well, I think you know essentially what happened, I told you that while you were driving me over hear.”
“Yeah I do. I'm just wondering what are you gonna do since everything thinks you've disappeared and if you do reappear, people will think you killed them all.”
I blinked a few times, thinking about what my response would be. I took a deep breath. “Well, there's no easy answer as to what I should do. I need to stick with my original plan of summoning him again, it's all I can do!”
“Do you still have the crucifix?”
I jumped up and ran to where my pants I had worn yesterday were at. Inside the back pocket was the crucifix. Pulling it out, I said, “Yeah, I do! Although I do need a candle.” I checked the other pockets of my pants. “I still have salt and matches though.”
I walked back to the table holding those objects. “Wait, what happened to the candle you used last night?” she inquired.
I shook my head. “I don't remember, I probably just left it at the house or something, who knows.”
“Well, they can trace finger prints!”
“So that means I'll have to summon him again, tonight.”
“No Nick! You can't! This house is safe, I know it, just please wait until tomorrow, for my sake.”
I sighed. “Alright, I'll summon him again tomorrow. I'll just have to keep everything shut up tight so no one sees me in this house.”
“Yeah. Oh and Nick, I'm gonna be with you tomorrow night, you know that, right?”
“Paige, no! I-”
“What, you're gonna go through it by yourself? I'm not gonna let you do that. Either you let me be with you, or if the police question me, I'll them where you're at!”
“No, you wouldn't!”
“Oh yes I would! Nick, please, don't go through this alone.”
I stared at her. There was no changing her mind. Tomorrow night she was going to be with me in this house, summoning the Midnight Man. I just hoped she was brave enough to confront the evil she seemed so willing to face!
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 14 is Up! The Plan to Stop Him is Devised!
Wrote this bad boy in only two days. That's what happens when there's nothing on TV and no one to text
Wrote this bad boy in only two days. That's what happens when there's nothing on TV and no one to text
Chapter 15- The Last Afternoon
Again there was silence in the house. Neither I, nor Paige, moved, we just sat at the table taking periodic bites of our sandwiches and sips of water, looking out the window, watching the world go by, just enjoying being together. After a few minutes, we were both done, but I did not rise to take the plates into the kitchen and she did not either. I reached over and took her hand.
“Nick, I'm sorry for that, you know I wouldn't tell the police anything,” she started, but I cut her off.
“I know, and I also know that there's no stopping you from being with me tomorrow night when I summon him again,” I replied.
She looked into my eyes. “You know I have to be there, for my sake at least. I don't even wanna go through another night thinking about what could be happening to you, especially now that I know for sure that he's real.”
I nodded. After a moment of nothing being said, I inquired, “Can I ask you something, Paige?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Alright, well what exactly do you see in me?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if you haven't noticed over the years that we've spoken, I'm kinda, well, different. There's really no other word for it.”
She wrinkled her forehead this time. “But that's what makes you you, Nick! I mean I have my stuff too, like running and singing.”
“I know, but those are normal.”
“So are you saying they're boring?”
“Not at all! What I'm saying is that you are not like me at all. You don't play Pokemon on the weekends, don't rock out to a band from the 1980's every morning, don't always wear the same kinds of shirts, need I go on?”
“First, opposites are supposed to attract, and second, so what? People shouldn't judge you just because you like to do different things. I like that you're proud of all that, even your political views, which I may not agree with, but respect because you're willing to accept mine and stand up for them.”
“Seriously?” I asked, laughing.
“I am!” she replied.
“You do realize that you could do better than me though, even if this does last.”
“You're sweet, friendly, and you don't judge me, why wouldn't I wanna be with you? And what do you mean with 'if this does last?'”
I sighed. “Well thank you, but you, a beautiful, intelligent, kind, and athletic girl could do so much better than unattractive me. Whatever though, I appreciate it. And the reason I said that is that I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow night, but even if I do make it, I'll have to disappear.”
“Why?!”
“If people find me, they're gonna think that I did things to make all of them vanish, that-”
“Are you saying they'll think you killed them?” she interrupted.
“Yeah I am. I don't think we can be truly be together, or at least not here and not for a long time. When I'm gone, don't dwell, find someone else who can make you happy, happier than I ever could.”
Nick, I'll follow you, I'll-”
“NO!” I shouted, surprised that I had raised my voice.
She dropped my hand, grabbed her books, and began walking towards the door. “Fine, so this is pointless then!” she yelled.
I could tell she was crying. “Paige, wait.”
She turned around just as the first tear slid down her cheek. “I don't know why I'm so upset,” she said, throwing the books down to wipe it away. “We haven't even been with each other for very long, but I guess it's because I'm losing a good friend.”
I stood up and pulled her close. “Don't follow me, you have to stay here, you're not thinking clearly.”
She broke free and began moving towards the door once again. “So you led me on, knowing that we couldn't be together then? I feel so stupid!”
“No, it's not like that, do you think I knew that when we were at the mall Friday night?”
“I guess not, but I'm gonna go, I need to think.”
I took a deep breath. “Alright, but at least let me keep your history book here for something to read.”
“Fine,” she replied. “And Nick, don't prolong it, please, get it over with tonight. I won't come, I don't want to anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it'd just be too much.”
“Alright,” I said. “Can you at least bring me a candle and other stuff to use?”
“Write it down.”
I found a pad of paper and a pen on the coffee table in the living room and quickly scribbled down what I would need. When I handed them to her, I said, “Just keep it in mind, I don't want things to end like this.”
She blinked. “No, I don't either.”
“Because, I really wish you could stay with me awhile.”
“Journey quote?”
I laughed. “Yeah.”
She smiled. “It's a good one.” She sighed. “I'll be here around seven to feed the cat, and then I'll sneak over at about eleven for the summoning.”
“Alright, I'll see you then, and Paige, I'd make it last if I could.”
She tossed her books aside and slipped her hands into mine. “I know you would. You know, I actually don't think I need to be home for another hour or two, wanna see if they have a good movie lying around somewhere?”
“Sounds good.”
As we looked for a movie, this was the first time that it hit me that this was truly the last time we could be together and enjoy ourselves. When she came over to feed the cat there would not be enough time and tonight I was going to be consumed with stopping the Midnight Man. This was it, the final afternoon with her, the final time I could be myself and not worry about being recognized, the final time I could act like a teenager and not an adult. And it was all going to go by faster than the blink of an eye.
Paige's voice broke my thoughts. “Hey Nick, how about this one?” she asked holding up a DVD case that was either a chick flick or a romantic comedy, I really could not tell.
“Is that the one you wanna watch?”
“Well, will you like it?” she answered with another question.
I smiled. “I'll like whatever you choose.”
She nodded and then walked over to the TV to turn the DVD player on and get the movie set up. I sat down on the couch to face the screen and said nothing. Once she had pressed the play button on the menu, she came over and sat down beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“You know I'm gonna miss you,” I said. “Not only am I losing the chance to date an amazing person, but also a great friend.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “I'll miss you too.”
That was the last sentence spoken during the movie. I watched it, but I could not tell you anything about it, I was too caught up in the memories which had begun to come in and out of my mind. The first time I had actually spoken to her, which was in 8th grade, what had been said, how I had made her laugh with some sarcastic comment. I needed to stop, this was going to make me cry and I could already feel my eyes welling up with tears which threatened to slide down my cheeks. I blinked several times and the salty substance receded, hopefully never to return, or at least not while she was around. It would only make her more upset.
I shifted my gaze towards her. She was intently watching the movie and I could guess that it must have been one of her favorites. It was at that moment that I realized that I had not put my arm around her yet, for whatever reason. I did and she shifted, moving closer towards me.
I allowed my eyes to drift to the window in the living room and watched the small trees in the front yard, their tiny branches with hardly any leaves remaining on them blowing in the breeze. It was then that I began to second guess my decision. Was it really worth giving up my life to stop the Midnight Man? Yes, it was because what life did I really have now? All I could do if I did not summon him would be to continue to hide out at this house for the coming week and then slip away during the night. Regardless of what I did, I could not be with Paige, nor could I ever go back to having a normal life. I might as well do something good for the world and rid it of a little bit of evil.
The hour and a half movie flew by, and before I knew it, Paige was putting the DVD back in its case and getting ready to go back across the street to her house.
“Bye Nick, like I said, I'll be back in a few hours,” she said.
“I can't wait.”
She smiled and replied, “Just text me if you need something, anything.”
I shook my head. “No, you've done enough for me and I already can't repay that, don't add to my debt.”
Laughing, she said, “I know you would if you could, and that's what matter.”
“Bye Paige.”
I helped her put her coat on. Then we hugged and I kissed her goodbye. After that I reached down and picked up her books which she had thrown to the ground earlier. I stepped back as she opened the front door, waiting until she shut it to move out of the shadows. I watched as she walked back across the street and did not turn away until she had stepped back into her house.
That would be our last kiss, it was time to begin to distance myself from her so that the farewell would not be anymore painful than it needed to be. I planned to only hug her goodbye when she came to feed the cat later in the evening. It had to be done. I did not like and she certainly did not either, but it was just going to have to be that way.
I walked back into the dining room and grabbed the plates and the glasses. Upon entering the kitchen I placed them into the sink and turned the water on. After it got to the temperature I wanted, I looked around for the dish soap and found it on the counter by the hand soap. I added some to the water, and then turned it off once it got to the appropriate water level. I took a paper towel, wiped my hands off, and began to clean up the counter where I had made the sandwiches.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Paige. Oh, I forgot to wash the dishes...
I texted back: Nah, it's fine I got it, it'll just be me paying you back for all the help.
Okay. I'll be over at six to feed the cat, I have Bible study tonight.
Wanting to begin to distance myself, I only wrote Kk.
As soon as I started to do the dishes, she texted me again. Is everything alright??
I did not respond, I only thought. I was unsure how to reply or even if I wanted to reply. This was just all so confusing and I needed to figure it out fast. I finished the dishes and sat down on the couch. I flipped the TV on but did not pay much attention to whatever show was on. I zoned out and soon fell asleep, still lost in thought.
“Nick, I'm sorry for that, you know I wouldn't tell the police anything,” she started, but I cut her off.
“I know, and I also know that there's no stopping you from being with me tomorrow night when I summon him again,” I replied.
She looked into my eyes. “You know I have to be there, for my sake at least. I don't even wanna go through another night thinking about what could be happening to you, especially now that I know for sure that he's real.”
I nodded. After a moment of nothing being said, I inquired, “Can I ask you something, Paige?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Alright, well what exactly do you see in me?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if you haven't noticed over the years that we've spoken, I'm kinda, well, different. There's really no other word for it.”
She wrinkled her forehead this time. “But that's what makes you you, Nick! I mean I have my stuff too, like running and singing.”
“I know, but those are normal.”
“So are you saying they're boring?”
“Not at all! What I'm saying is that you are not like me at all. You don't play Pokemon on the weekends, don't rock out to a band from the 1980's every morning, don't always wear the same kinds of shirts, need I go on?”
“First, opposites are supposed to attract, and second, so what? People shouldn't judge you just because you like to do different things. I like that you're proud of all that, even your political views, which I may not agree with, but respect because you're willing to accept mine and stand up for them.”
“Seriously?” I asked, laughing.
“I am!” she replied.
“You do realize that you could do better than me though, even if this does last.”
“You're sweet, friendly, and you don't judge me, why wouldn't I wanna be with you? And what do you mean with 'if this does last?'”
I sighed. “Well thank you, but you, a beautiful, intelligent, kind, and athletic girl could do so much better than unattractive me. Whatever though, I appreciate it. And the reason I said that is that I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow night, but even if I do make it, I'll have to disappear.”
“Why?!”
“If people find me, they're gonna think that I did things to make all of them vanish, that-”
“Are you saying they'll think you killed them?” she interrupted.
“Yeah I am. I don't think we can be truly be together, or at least not here and not for a long time. When I'm gone, don't dwell, find someone else who can make you happy, happier than I ever could.”
Nick, I'll follow you, I'll-”
“NO!” I shouted, surprised that I had raised my voice.
She dropped my hand, grabbed her books, and began walking towards the door. “Fine, so this is pointless then!” she yelled.
I could tell she was crying. “Paige, wait.”
She turned around just as the first tear slid down her cheek. “I don't know why I'm so upset,” she said, throwing the books down to wipe it away. “We haven't even been with each other for very long, but I guess it's because I'm losing a good friend.”
I stood up and pulled her close. “Don't follow me, you have to stay here, you're not thinking clearly.”
She broke free and began moving towards the door once again. “So you led me on, knowing that we couldn't be together then? I feel so stupid!”
“No, it's not like that, do you think I knew that when we were at the mall Friday night?”
“I guess not, but I'm gonna go, I need to think.”
I took a deep breath. “Alright, but at least let me keep your history book here for something to read.”
“Fine,” she replied. “And Nick, don't prolong it, please, get it over with tonight. I won't come, I don't want to anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it'd just be too much.”
“Alright,” I said. “Can you at least bring me a candle and other stuff to use?”
“Write it down.”
I found a pad of paper and a pen on the coffee table in the living room and quickly scribbled down what I would need. When I handed them to her, I said, “Just keep it in mind, I don't want things to end like this.”
She blinked. “No, I don't either.”
“Because, I really wish you could stay with me awhile.”
“Journey quote?”
I laughed. “Yeah.”
She smiled. “It's a good one.” She sighed. “I'll be here around seven to feed the cat, and then I'll sneak over at about eleven for the summoning.”
“Alright, I'll see you then, and Paige, I'd make it last if I could.”
She tossed her books aside and slipped her hands into mine. “I know you would. You know, I actually don't think I need to be home for another hour or two, wanna see if they have a good movie lying around somewhere?”
“Sounds good.”
As we looked for a movie, this was the first time that it hit me that this was truly the last time we could be together and enjoy ourselves. When she came over to feed the cat there would not be enough time and tonight I was going to be consumed with stopping the Midnight Man. This was it, the final afternoon with her, the final time I could be myself and not worry about being recognized, the final time I could act like a teenager and not an adult. And it was all going to go by faster than the blink of an eye.
Paige's voice broke my thoughts. “Hey Nick, how about this one?” she asked holding up a DVD case that was either a chick flick or a romantic comedy, I really could not tell.
“Is that the one you wanna watch?”
“Well, will you like it?” she answered with another question.
I smiled. “I'll like whatever you choose.”
She nodded and then walked over to the TV to turn the DVD player on and get the movie set up. I sat down on the couch to face the screen and said nothing. Once she had pressed the play button on the menu, she came over and sat down beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“You know I'm gonna miss you,” I said. “Not only am I losing the chance to date an amazing person, but also a great friend.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “I'll miss you too.”
That was the last sentence spoken during the movie. I watched it, but I could not tell you anything about it, I was too caught up in the memories which had begun to come in and out of my mind. The first time I had actually spoken to her, which was in 8th grade, what had been said, how I had made her laugh with some sarcastic comment. I needed to stop, this was going to make me cry and I could already feel my eyes welling up with tears which threatened to slide down my cheeks. I blinked several times and the salty substance receded, hopefully never to return, or at least not while she was around. It would only make her more upset.
I shifted my gaze towards her. She was intently watching the movie and I could guess that it must have been one of her favorites. It was at that moment that I realized that I had not put my arm around her yet, for whatever reason. I did and she shifted, moving closer towards me.
I allowed my eyes to drift to the window in the living room and watched the small trees in the front yard, their tiny branches with hardly any leaves remaining on them blowing in the breeze. It was then that I began to second guess my decision. Was it really worth giving up my life to stop the Midnight Man? Yes, it was because what life did I really have now? All I could do if I did not summon him would be to continue to hide out at this house for the coming week and then slip away during the night. Regardless of what I did, I could not be with Paige, nor could I ever go back to having a normal life. I might as well do something good for the world and rid it of a little bit of evil.
The hour and a half movie flew by, and before I knew it, Paige was putting the DVD back in its case and getting ready to go back across the street to her house.
“Bye Nick, like I said, I'll be back in a few hours,” she said.
“I can't wait.”
She smiled and replied, “Just text me if you need something, anything.”
I shook my head. “No, you've done enough for me and I already can't repay that, don't add to my debt.”
Laughing, she said, “I know you would if you could, and that's what matter.”
“Bye Paige.”
I helped her put her coat on. Then we hugged and I kissed her goodbye. After that I reached down and picked up her books which she had thrown to the ground earlier. I stepped back as she opened the front door, waiting until she shut it to move out of the shadows. I watched as she walked back across the street and did not turn away until she had stepped back into her house.
That would be our last kiss, it was time to begin to distance myself from her so that the farewell would not be anymore painful than it needed to be. I planned to only hug her goodbye when she came to feed the cat later in the evening. It had to be done. I did not like and she certainly did not either, but it was just going to have to be that way.
I walked back into the dining room and grabbed the plates and the glasses. Upon entering the kitchen I placed them into the sink and turned the water on. After it got to the temperature I wanted, I looked around for the dish soap and found it on the counter by the hand soap. I added some to the water, and then turned it off once it got to the appropriate water level. I took a paper towel, wiped my hands off, and began to clean up the counter where I had made the sandwiches.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Paige. Oh, I forgot to wash the dishes...
I texted back: Nah, it's fine I got it, it'll just be me paying you back for all the help.
Okay. I'll be over at six to feed the cat, I have Bible study tonight.
Wanting to begin to distance myself, I only wrote Kk.
As soon as I started to do the dishes, she texted me again. Is everything alright??
I did not respond, I only thought. I was unsure how to reply or even if I wanted to reply. This was just all so confusing and I needed to figure it out fast. I finished the dishes and sat down on the couch. I flipped the TV on but did not pay much attention to whatever show was on. I zoned out and soon fell asleep, still lost in thought.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 15 is Up! Enjoy the Last Afternoon Before The Final Summoning!
Me being sentimental, perhaps a tad overboard XD
Me being sentimental, perhaps a tad overboard XD
Chapter 16- Memories Surround Me
I have known Paige Jogan since 8th grade, and I have always been in at least one of her classes and we were always good friends. This year was actually the first time we did not have a class together, and the only way we remained in contact up until this point was through football games and texting each other. I really enjoyed talking to her, so it was only natural that I was eventually going to begin to fall for her at some point, I just never figured that she would actually like me back.
There are so many things about her that I will miss about her. She is sweet, kind, caring, intelligent, athletic, and always willing to help me with a problem, which is honestly how we got to talking so much in the first place. She was my go to when Paige and Gopp had begun liking each other and there was no one to really talk to about it. I felt like I could trust her, and I was correct, but I was surprised by how understanding she was. It was just so perfect. Oh, and did I mention the icing on the cake was that she was extremely attractive? She large, brown eyes and dark brown curly hair and always dressed very cutely.
I know what you are probably thinking. What did she see in me?! Well that is exactly what I have wondered for the many months after all of this happened, and even still as I write this book. All I can do is take her word that I actually am sweet and easy to talk to. I never thought those traits would really get me many places or be noticed, especially in high school.
And Paige, if you are somewhere, reading this book, I hope you are well and thinking of me. I would also like to say that this was the hardest portion of the book to write as I had to relive so many memories of you that caused me to become so upset as I realized I not only was losing a relationship with such a great girl, but also a fantastic friend who I had known for so long. I miss you, and will someday attempt to find you, but until that day, do not dwell on the past, a lesson I learned while writing this chapter. Only look to the past for knowledge of how to act in the present or the future.
Anyways, the title of this chapter originates not from a Journey song, but from a Steve Perry song. I know they do go hand in hand, but Perry has had nothing to do with Journey since 1998. That song came from his second solo album and is entitled “Missing You,” because I really am missing you Paige. Life goes by slowly without someone to talk to, someone who understands you. Not only for that reason but also because at this point, when I dozed off, all of my dreams were basically memories of us from 8th grade all the way to our junior year. And no, I did not have to look any of that Journey information up, it was all from memory. Maybe I should not have watched their “Behind The Music” that eighth time...
As stated above, my dreams began when I first met her in the 8th grade. We were in the same choir class as well as science, and we sat by each other for one quarter in science. It was always enjoyable to talk to her, laugh about the strange girl that sat beside her in choir, and make sarcastic comments about other students. A prime target of this was a white kid who went by JT because he had gotten cornrows, something not seen at our school district, especially on a Caucasian. This gave rise to the inside joke that would persist for years; “he's so black he's white.”
Well from there I found myself in my freshman high school history class on the first day of school, talking to her, recalling the events of our summers. She was also in my lunch during that school year, but it was not until later in the year I found myself first feeling something for her. Long story short, it did not go anywhere because she liked someone else who would eventually be a jerk to her and flat out stop speaking to her.
Moving on to our sophomore year, she was in my English class, but I was dating someone else, and I would continue to be until the middle of February that school year. Paige sat beside me in that class for the first quarter of the year, and eventually behind me for the rest of the year. I always found the chance to make sarcastic remarks just to see her smile and find enjoyment in what I was saying. In particular, there was this math competition at our school that I, along with several others, had been forced into competing. Well, in that class there was a boy who was a part of it, and actually had success with it, taking first. He had always flirted with her, but what was entertaining in this memory was that he was showing her the medal he won for the math thing. Oh how I made fun of that!
The dream next shifted to the present, our junior year. Somehow, as if by fate, we would always end up talking to each other about random things at the football games. It was at one game that I flat out told her that I would like to dance with her at the homecoming dance, but that never happened. I only saw her a few times, and she always managed to vanish before a slow song. But from what I had seen of her, I can tell you she was incredible looking. Her curly hair was straightened and she was wearing an indigo dress that looked amazing on her. That dance was a nightmare though for so many reasons other than not being able to dance with her. It was the night that I truly became the third wheel when it came to Gopp and his Paige's relationship.
That October night was an interesting one. It was very cold, yet I believe I had the window down the entire time I drove both to and from the school since I was overheated from the dress shirt that I had worn. I had rocked out to Journey both coming and going, first to get “pumped” for the night, and then to try and forget about it. When I got home, I lied to my parents about how I had had a great time, jumped in the shower, and then lay in bed with a box of Cheezits, playing Euchre on my iPod.
Lastly, in the dream, I found myself at the mall just last Friday night. It was amazing to think just how different things were now as only two days had gone by. I relived every portion of that short, first date. Then there was a bang as if a door was slamming in the background. I frantically looked around the food court, Paige giving me a look of “what are you doing?” Then everything vanished and there was a flash of bright light.
I opened my eyes and found that I had fallen asleep sitting up. It was completely dark except for the light coming from the TV. I stood up and looked around, wondering where the slamming noise had originated. Standing over by the welcome mat was Paige who looked a little bit worried.
“Wow, is it time to feed the cat already?” I asked.
“Yeah, sorry I woke you. How long were out out?”
I shook my head. “Um, pretty much since you left.”
She walked into the living room and looked over at the TV. “You're watching the news? I never watch it, too depressing.”
“I know what you mean. Hey, they're talking about right to work states!”
The news anchor was reporting that the Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives were beginning to push a bill through to make Michigan a right to work state. I shook my head. “I can't believe that Michigan, of all states, is pushing that, especially with the auto industry in Detroit!”
“Wait, what do you mean right to work?” Paige asked, looking confused.
I sighed. “Well, let me attempt to give you an unbiased explanation. Right to work means that one doesn't have to pay a fee to be in a union.”
“Well that's good! People shouldn't be forced to join them anyways.”
“They aren't, there are laws in place that prevent anyone from being forced into one. But by losing the dues, the unions will lose a great deal of their collective bargaining powers, meaning that they can't try to receive better wages, benefits like healthcare and retirement, or safer equipment to improve working conditions.”
“Unions have too much power though, so this is a good thing!”
I sighed. “Paige, unions have a lot of power to protect the safety of the worker and to prevent the workplace from going back to the safety conditions of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Meaning it would be bad. In right to work states, people make less and have an increased chance of getting injured or even killed at work. Does that sound fair to you?”
“No, it doesn't. Sometimes I just don't know what to believe.”
“Sorry, I shouldn't have tried to influence you, so much for an unbiased explanation,” I said.
“It's fine, I know your beliefs. Let's just agree to disagree and be done.”
I shook my head. “Hey, don't you have a cat to feed?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, thanks!”
Paige went into the kitchen and quickly refilled the food and water dish for the cat. When she emerged, she said “Well I gotta get to Bible study, bye Nick.”
“Bye Paige,” I replied, standing up to walk her to the door.
We embraced, and she went in to kiss me. Deciding it was better not to crush her heart right before she was going to be around several others, I let it happen. So much for me trying to distance myself.
“I'll pick up the stuff we'll need tonight on my way home,” she said as she shut the front door.
I flipped off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore about the stupidity that was right to work. Sometimes I wondered if certain politicians (I will not name parties) even cared about the American, and this was one of those moments. They were purposely trying to hurt the American worker so that big business could increase profits.
Well, it was only after six in the evening. What was I going to do to occupy myself for the next five hours until I needed to begin to get ready for the summoning?
My stomach growled, answering that question. I went to the kitchen and made myself another peanut butter sandwich so that way, if I did not make it tonight, my last meal would have contained my favorite food, peanut butter. After I was done with that, I began wandering around the house. I stumbled into a room that appeared to be some sort of office. There was a computer on a desk against the far wall and a pad of paper beside it.
Upon opening the top drawer, I found an assortment of pens and pencils. I sighed, knowing I needed to write my goodbye letter to Paige so that I would not have to face her before I disappeared forever. I uncapped a blue pen, and began writing.
After about an hour, I had written what I considered to be sufficient. It had only taken four rewrites to say exactly what I wanted to. It read:
My Dearest Paige,
As you already know from this past afternoon, tonight will most likely be the last time we can be together. I will be going into hiding after vanquishing the Midnight Man, or perhaps I shall be going into my grave instead, time will only tell. Anyways, if I do survive, I ask, once again, that you do not follow me as only God knows what I will face in the days and months to come. I do not wish to put you through that. All I hope is that you do not defend me, say that I did nothing wrong as someone might make the connection that you know more than you are letting on. I would prefer it if you were not interrogated as to what happened to the likes of Ethan Parr, Luke Fannin, Paul Wright, Brenden Popson, and Joshua Froats. No matter how many times you tell anyone exactly what I have told you, they will not believe you. Therefore, I request that you refuse to answer any questions pertaining to the case and allow the families to have the hope that they may someday be found as the crazy events of that night will not soothe them. While they may not be at rest and will constantly be thinking of them, they must not know what evil has killed them. Now you may be wondering how I can be such a terrible person and say not to set the families' minds at ease, but do not fret for I shall be in need of money before long and will write down the events of the night in a book, labeled as fiction, for much needed income.
Now, I truly do like you, a lot more than I am able to place into words. And I feel that this is mutual. I want you to know that wherever I am, I will be thinking of you. Now that being said, I have another request for you to fulfill. I want for you to find someone else who can make you happy. A beautiful young woman like yourself deserves it and does not deserve someone who has left her behind like I will soon be doing.
Do not attempt to contact me unless I contact you first. Once I leave this house, if I survive my battle with the Midnight Man, I shall throw my cell phone away, several miles from here. You will be questioned since we have kept in contact via text for the past couple days. Simply tell them that we went out, and that is all. If they push, regarding the text I sent you asking to be picked up early Sunday morning, tell them that you picked me up, but I was stark raving mad, a maniac, and you threw me out of your car. That should appease them and they will hopefully leave you alone.
I wish you say thank you for this weekend. It has been the first time in a quite a long time that someone cared about me to the extent that you did. Thank you for making me feel happy and relaxed in what may prove to be my last few hours. Thank you for your understanding and compassion and care. I appreciate each and every one of the things you have done for me and wish that I could find some way to repay them. I am eternally in your debt.
I finally want to tell you how sorry I am that I have to leave, that I have to end what we had. Not only am I losing a fantastic girl, but also a great friendship that I have had since our 8th grade year. I cherish all of the memories I have with you. In fact, earlier this Sunday, I dreamed about all of them during the hours I was alone after we watched that movie to when you came back to feed the cat. It honestly brings tears to my eyes knowing that I have lost you.
At this point in writing the final draft, I paused. I was unsure about how to sign the letter. I took a deep breath, and then finished it.
With Love, Nicholas
And I was done. No looking back, not going back. Whatever happened tonight I would accept, and I hoped that she too would be able to. I am not sure which would hurt more for her in the long run; if I died or if I survived and went into hiding. Either way, I would watch over her and make sure that nothing bad happened to her. That the demons of hell, angry with what I had done to the Midnight Man, would rise up and attack her if they could not get to me.
I folded the piece of paper and searched the drawers of the desk for an envelope. I eventually found a white, business one. I folded it up and sealed it, writing on the front where the address would go: For Paige, open immediately after I am gone.
She would listen to that, I knew it. I walked back to the living room, checking to make sure the crucifix was still on the dining room table, and sat it on the coffee table. Then I turned on the TV and began what would be the longest wait of my life.
There are so many things about her that I will miss about her. She is sweet, kind, caring, intelligent, athletic, and always willing to help me with a problem, which is honestly how we got to talking so much in the first place. She was my go to when Paige and Gopp had begun liking each other and there was no one to really talk to about it. I felt like I could trust her, and I was correct, but I was surprised by how understanding she was. It was just so perfect. Oh, and did I mention the icing on the cake was that she was extremely attractive? She large, brown eyes and dark brown curly hair and always dressed very cutely.
I know what you are probably thinking. What did she see in me?! Well that is exactly what I have wondered for the many months after all of this happened, and even still as I write this book. All I can do is take her word that I actually am sweet and easy to talk to. I never thought those traits would really get me many places or be noticed, especially in high school.
And Paige, if you are somewhere, reading this book, I hope you are well and thinking of me. I would also like to say that this was the hardest portion of the book to write as I had to relive so many memories of you that caused me to become so upset as I realized I not only was losing a relationship with such a great girl, but also a fantastic friend who I had known for so long. I miss you, and will someday attempt to find you, but until that day, do not dwell on the past, a lesson I learned while writing this chapter. Only look to the past for knowledge of how to act in the present or the future.
Anyways, the title of this chapter originates not from a Journey song, but from a Steve Perry song. I know they do go hand in hand, but Perry has had nothing to do with Journey since 1998. That song came from his second solo album and is entitled “Missing You,” because I really am missing you Paige. Life goes by slowly without someone to talk to, someone who understands you. Not only for that reason but also because at this point, when I dozed off, all of my dreams were basically memories of us from 8th grade all the way to our junior year. And no, I did not have to look any of that Journey information up, it was all from memory. Maybe I should not have watched their “Behind The Music” that eighth time...
* * *
As stated above, my dreams began when I first met her in the 8th grade. We were in the same choir class as well as science, and we sat by each other for one quarter in science. It was always enjoyable to talk to her, laugh about the strange girl that sat beside her in choir, and make sarcastic comments about other students. A prime target of this was a white kid who went by JT because he had gotten cornrows, something not seen at our school district, especially on a Caucasian. This gave rise to the inside joke that would persist for years; “he's so black he's white.”
Well from there I found myself in my freshman high school history class on the first day of school, talking to her, recalling the events of our summers. She was also in my lunch during that school year, but it was not until later in the year I found myself first feeling something for her. Long story short, it did not go anywhere because she liked someone else who would eventually be a jerk to her and flat out stop speaking to her.
Moving on to our sophomore year, she was in my English class, but I was dating someone else, and I would continue to be until the middle of February that school year. Paige sat beside me in that class for the first quarter of the year, and eventually behind me for the rest of the year. I always found the chance to make sarcastic remarks just to see her smile and find enjoyment in what I was saying. In particular, there was this math competition at our school that I, along with several others, had been forced into competing. Well, in that class there was a boy who was a part of it, and actually had success with it, taking first. He had always flirted with her, but what was entertaining in this memory was that he was showing her the medal he won for the math thing. Oh how I made fun of that!
The dream next shifted to the present, our junior year. Somehow, as if by fate, we would always end up talking to each other about random things at the football games. It was at one game that I flat out told her that I would like to dance with her at the homecoming dance, but that never happened. I only saw her a few times, and she always managed to vanish before a slow song. But from what I had seen of her, I can tell you she was incredible looking. Her curly hair was straightened and she was wearing an indigo dress that looked amazing on her. That dance was a nightmare though for so many reasons other than not being able to dance with her. It was the night that I truly became the third wheel when it came to Gopp and his Paige's relationship.
That October night was an interesting one. It was very cold, yet I believe I had the window down the entire time I drove both to and from the school since I was overheated from the dress shirt that I had worn. I had rocked out to Journey both coming and going, first to get “pumped” for the night, and then to try and forget about it. When I got home, I lied to my parents about how I had had a great time, jumped in the shower, and then lay in bed with a box of Cheezits, playing Euchre on my iPod.
Lastly, in the dream, I found myself at the mall just last Friday night. It was amazing to think just how different things were now as only two days had gone by. I relived every portion of that short, first date. Then there was a bang as if a door was slamming in the background. I frantically looked around the food court, Paige giving me a look of “what are you doing?” Then everything vanished and there was a flash of bright light.
* * *
I opened my eyes and found that I had fallen asleep sitting up. It was completely dark except for the light coming from the TV. I stood up and looked around, wondering where the slamming noise had originated. Standing over by the welcome mat was Paige who looked a little bit worried.
“Wow, is it time to feed the cat already?” I asked.
“Yeah, sorry I woke you. How long were out out?”
I shook my head. “Um, pretty much since you left.”
She walked into the living room and looked over at the TV. “You're watching the news? I never watch it, too depressing.”
“I know what you mean. Hey, they're talking about right to work states!”
The news anchor was reporting that the Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives were beginning to push a bill through to make Michigan a right to work state. I shook my head. “I can't believe that Michigan, of all states, is pushing that, especially with the auto industry in Detroit!”
“Wait, what do you mean right to work?” Paige asked, looking confused.
I sighed. “Well, let me attempt to give you an unbiased explanation. Right to work means that one doesn't have to pay a fee to be in a union.”
“Well that's good! People shouldn't be forced to join them anyways.”
“They aren't, there are laws in place that prevent anyone from being forced into one. But by losing the dues, the unions will lose a great deal of their collective bargaining powers, meaning that they can't try to receive better wages, benefits like healthcare and retirement, or safer equipment to improve working conditions.”
“Unions have too much power though, so this is a good thing!”
I sighed. “Paige, unions have a lot of power to protect the safety of the worker and to prevent the workplace from going back to the safety conditions of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Meaning it would be bad. In right to work states, people make less and have an increased chance of getting injured or even killed at work. Does that sound fair to you?”
“No, it doesn't. Sometimes I just don't know what to believe.”
“Sorry, I shouldn't have tried to influence you, so much for an unbiased explanation,” I said.
“It's fine, I know your beliefs. Let's just agree to disagree and be done.”
I shook my head. “Hey, don't you have a cat to feed?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, thanks!”
Paige went into the kitchen and quickly refilled the food and water dish for the cat. When she emerged, she said “Well I gotta get to Bible study, bye Nick.”
“Bye Paige,” I replied, standing up to walk her to the door.
We embraced, and she went in to kiss me. Deciding it was better not to crush her heart right before she was going to be around several others, I let it happen. So much for me trying to distance myself.
“I'll pick up the stuff we'll need tonight on my way home,” she said as she shut the front door.
I flipped off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore about the stupidity that was right to work. Sometimes I wondered if certain politicians (I will not name parties) even cared about the American, and this was one of those moments. They were purposely trying to hurt the American worker so that big business could increase profits.
Well, it was only after six in the evening. What was I going to do to occupy myself for the next five hours until I needed to begin to get ready for the summoning?
My stomach growled, answering that question. I went to the kitchen and made myself another peanut butter sandwich so that way, if I did not make it tonight, my last meal would have contained my favorite food, peanut butter. After I was done with that, I began wandering around the house. I stumbled into a room that appeared to be some sort of office. There was a computer on a desk against the far wall and a pad of paper beside it.
Upon opening the top drawer, I found an assortment of pens and pencils. I sighed, knowing I needed to write my goodbye letter to Paige so that I would not have to face her before I disappeared forever. I uncapped a blue pen, and began writing.
After about an hour, I had written what I considered to be sufficient. It had only taken four rewrites to say exactly what I wanted to. It read:
My Dearest Paige,
As you already know from this past afternoon, tonight will most likely be the last time we can be together. I will be going into hiding after vanquishing the Midnight Man, or perhaps I shall be going into my grave instead, time will only tell. Anyways, if I do survive, I ask, once again, that you do not follow me as only God knows what I will face in the days and months to come. I do not wish to put you through that. All I hope is that you do not defend me, say that I did nothing wrong as someone might make the connection that you know more than you are letting on. I would prefer it if you were not interrogated as to what happened to the likes of Ethan Parr, Luke Fannin, Paul Wright, Brenden Popson, and Joshua Froats. No matter how many times you tell anyone exactly what I have told you, they will not believe you. Therefore, I request that you refuse to answer any questions pertaining to the case and allow the families to have the hope that they may someday be found as the crazy events of that night will not soothe them. While they may not be at rest and will constantly be thinking of them, they must not know what evil has killed them. Now you may be wondering how I can be such a terrible person and say not to set the families' minds at ease, but do not fret for I shall be in need of money before long and will write down the events of the night in a book, labeled as fiction, for much needed income.
Now, I truly do like you, a lot more than I am able to place into words. And I feel that this is mutual. I want you to know that wherever I am, I will be thinking of you. Now that being said, I have another request for you to fulfill. I want for you to find someone else who can make you happy. A beautiful young woman like yourself deserves it and does not deserve someone who has left her behind like I will soon be doing.
Do not attempt to contact me unless I contact you first. Once I leave this house, if I survive my battle with the Midnight Man, I shall throw my cell phone away, several miles from here. You will be questioned since we have kept in contact via text for the past couple days. Simply tell them that we went out, and that is all. If they push, regarding the text I sent you asking to be picked up early Sunday morning, tell them that you picked me up, but I was stark raving mad, a maniac, and you threw me out of your car. That should appease them and they will hopefully leave you alone.
I wish you say thank you for this weekend. It has been the first time in a quite a long time that someone cared about me to the extent that you did. Thank you for making me feel happy and relaxed in what may prove to be my last few hours. Thank you for your understanding and compassion and care. I appreciate each and every one of the things you have done for me and wish that I could find some way to repay them. I am eternally in your debt.
I finally want to tell you how sorry I am that I have to leave, that I have to end what we had. Not only am I losing a fantastic girl, but also a great friendship that I have had since our 8th grade year. I cherish all of the memories I have with you. In fact, earlier this Sunday, I dreamed about all of them during the hours I was alone after we watched that movie to when you came back to feed the cat. It honestly brings tears to my eyes knowing that I have lost you.
At this point in writing the final draft, I paused. I was unsure about how to sign the letter. I took a deep breath, and then finished it.
With Love, Nicholas
And I was done. No looking back, not going back. Whatever happened tonight I would accept, and I hoped that she too would be able to. I am not sure which would hurt more for her in the long run; if I died or if I survived and went into hiding. Either way, I would watch over her and make sure that nothing bad happened to her. That the demons of hell, angry with what I had done to the Midnight Man, would rise up and attack her if they could not get to me.
I folded the piece of paper and searched the drawers of the desk for an envelope. I eventually found a white, business one. I folded it up and sealed it, writing on the front where the address would go: For Paige, open immediately after I am gone.
She would listen to that, I knew it. I walked back to the living room, checking to make sure the crucifix was still on the dining room table, and sat it on the coffee table. Then I turned on the TV and began what would be the longest wait of my life.
RE: The Midnight Man: Chapter 16 UP! Some Background Information Included!
Hey, another chapter title that's an Journey album
Hey, another chapter title that's an Journey album
Chapter 17- Escape
I laid down on the couch, watching the news, not expecting to see anything of importance on the screen, but I was wrong. The newscaster was talking about some kids going missing overnight along with all of their cars and belongings. No way this could be us, I thought. This was national television, Lester Holt could not be talking about this.
“While it has not yet been forty-eight hours since they went missing, parents have called the local police asking them to be on the lookout for them. After patrolling the entire time, they arrived at an old house atop a hill overlooking the town, a popular place for Halloween night sleepovers to see who can last night. They found nothing, except for a candle that appeared to be used excessively. On that candle were the fingerprints of one of the teens, Nicholas Baker. The other teens in the area missing are as follows-”
I was not even listening at this point. I just saw the faces of my dead friends flash across the screen, and no one would ever know what happened to them, except for me and the Paiges. Speaking of Paige, not Jogan but Gopp's former girlfriend, and I say former since he is dead, I wondered how she was doing. I took out my phone and sent her a text.
Paige, you probably don't wanna talk to me right now, but please listen. Idk if you saw the nat news on nbc, but it talked about what happened last night. They're all dead except for me.
I sat there for the next several minutes to clear my mind. I hated having to tell her that her boyfriend, the man she loved, and that I actually detested, was dead. My phone vibrated, she was calling me, even worse! I took a deep breath and opened my phone.
Before I could even say hello Paige started, “Nick, you're not telling me-”
Not wanting to prolong this anymore I cut her off. “Gopp's dead, he was the first one to go.”
“NO!”
“I'm so sorry, but it's his own damn fault. The idiot came up to the house after I warned him not to and tried to get you to stop him.”
“SHUT UP!” she screamed. “How can you even talk like that?!”
“You know I'm a very honest person, and I'm not gonna sugarcoat this, not for your sake. You need to know what happened.”
“Can we not do this over the phone?”
“Alright. Park a block away and walk so that no one suspects anything.”
I gave her the address and hung up. Well now this evening was going to become even longer. It was going to take a good ten to twenty minutes for her to get over to this house, and then God knows where it would go from there. I was going to have to describe her the gruesome deaths of five people, no five kids. This was going to be horrible!
I turned the TV off and began pacing around the house, just walking laps around the hallway led to the bathroom and bedrooms and then back to the living room. Around and around I walked, not stopping. I was surprised there was not a slight indent in the floor from this pacing since I followed the same path about forty times in the minutes leading up to when Paige arrived.
The doorbell rang and I sprinted through the dining and living rooms to answer it, trying to get her inside as quickly as possible so that no one realized what was going on. I unlocked the door, pulled her inside, and shut it quickly, making sure to lock it once again.
“Did anyone see you?!” I asked, scared that my cover had potentially been blown.
She had been crying, I had not noticed it when I had first let her inside. Her rosy cheeks were stained with tears and mascara, her eyes were red and still clearly full of liquid. Reconsidering what I had just said, I added, “First sit down.”
I led her over the couch and sat down beside her. She laid her head on my shoulder, and once again let the tears flow. After a minute or so of this, I got up and went to get her a box of tissues.
“Nick, it's fine,” she called after me.
I returned without any and let her to continue to cry into my shoulder. There was nothing that needed to be said, there was just an understanding that they were all gone, and how they had died did not matter. I doubted that she really wanted to hear about it anyways. The way that the demons had launched themselves at Gopp and ripped his limbs from his body. No, she did not need to hear that nor picture it in her mind. The house was silent as was the neighborhood, but I could not help but think that something was off. It was an unexplainable feeling; something was wrong, horribly, terribly wrong.
“Paige, did anyone see you walk up to this house?”
She pulled away from my now tear soaked shoulder. “There was a man out walking his dog who gave me a funny look.”
“Oh god,” I said quietly.
My phone vibrated. Paige Jogan had texted me. Someone saw someone go to the house I'm watching. They called the police and they came to get the keys to enter and are going to check the home. Get out, NOW!
“Paige, we gotta run! You're in now state to drive, give me the keys!” I shouted, jumping up to begin to collect my few belongings that were scattered throughout the home, making sure that I grabbed the letter as well.
“But you've never driven my car before!” she protested.
I emerged from the bathroom carrying the pile of things that Paige Jogan had gotten for me earlier in the day. “There's no time to argue, help me carry this stuff, we're gonna have to run!”
We went out the front door, not even caring at this point. I had pulled the hood of my jacket up in hopes that no one would recognize me. I have never ran so fast in my life. We reached her car, parked a street away, in about thirty seconds. She tossed me the keys and I started the car. I floored it onto a nearby side street to escape the view of the police, should they pass by.
Right as I had turned, as I looked in the rear view mirror, I could see a police car drive by. I took a deep breath, relieved that we had just missed them. The side street came out near a Burger King, and I made a right onto Route 18. I just drove, not knowing where I would end up, nor was I caring. All I needed to do was avoid detection and buy some time before it would be safe to find another hiding spot. The house in Paige's neighborhood was completely out, but perhaps the house on the hill could still be used as there would be no police there tonight since all the evidence had already been collected. It seemed like a decent plan.
I drove by a baby blue billboard stating “Homosexuality is a sin... Find forgiveness in Christ.” Good to know that people's offerings at that church were going towards hate instead of something to help the community. I realize that according to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin, but that was written in a time where in order to keep the population sustainable men had to be with women. What I never have understood is how someone, who believes in the teaching of Jesus Christ that say we should treat each other well and that he loves each and everyone of us, can be so unaccepting of a group of people. Now, I am a Christian like those who put up the billboard, but I do not believe that the church should spread such hate.
Paige broke my angry thoughts. “So, what happened?” she asked.
I came to a stop at a traffic light. “Last night?”
She nodded in reply. “Yeah, how did they die?”
I sighed. “The Midnight Man and other demons killed them, each in a different way. When Gopp got out of his car, since he was not in the house, he was in the presence of enraged, spiteful demons who, well, ripped him apart.”
I paused to let it all sink in. She sat there, saying nothing, staring out the window up at the sky as if she could see Gopp watching down on her. “Do I need to tell you anything else?” I inquired.
She shook her head, unsure what to say. Then, she opened her mouth. “So, he was murdered, never saying any last words, never having the chance to say 'goodbye' to anyone, even me.”
“I'm sure he would have if he had had the chance. At least you. Not me though, he went to the grave hating me.”
By this point, there were no more tears flowing from Paige's eyes. Instead they were replaced with a look of sadness and longing to be with him again, even though it could never be. During this period of silence, the sky clouded and rain began to fall, adding to her despair.
“Paige,” I started.
“Nick, I wanna die.”
“Now c'mon-”
“No,” she interrupted. “What's left for me?”
“A hell of a lot! You have your family, friends.”
“But my family might be split apart. Since we're losing our house, we'll have to move, but I don't wanna leave the school district. I'm gonna find someone to stay with and live there.”
This was the first time she had mentioned that. I had known she was going to lose her house, but I did not know when nor what would happen after it happened.
I sighed. “You have me, well, at least for tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I'm gonna summon the Midnight Man again and this time put a stop to him. Now, even if this does not claim my life, which I honestly think that it might, but even if it doesn't, I'm gonna go into hiding. I can't show my face again, you saw the news! If I reappear, they'll think I killed them all!”
“But you didn't!” she shouted.
“But who will believe me? Certainly not the police, or even a lawyer. I'll be charged, or get off with an insanity plea, but what kinda life would I have, locked away in some nut house?”
She sighed. “None.”
“Exactly,” I replied.
I continued to drive. Then, I had a thought. “Paige, do you have any objection to letting me use your house?”
“Why?”
“Well, the house we were just in, which I was gonna use, is out, and I can maybe use the house on the hill, but that has too many bad memories associated with it. I can't go home, my parents think I've disappeared. So, what do you say?”
“My mom's staying at my grandma's since she's sick, and my brother might try and throw a fuss, but will he be safe?”
“Paige, as long as a person's name isn't written on a slip of paper and placed in front of the front door, they're safe. Which, speaking of doors, if yours wooden?”
I paused and waited for her to answer. She just nodded her head.
“Then it's settled, if you're okay with it?”
She sighed and nodded again. I reached into my pocket and handed her my phone. “Then text Paige and tell her where we're going,” I said. “Which, where are we going?”
She texted Paige as I pulled into a parking lot and turned around, then directed me toward her house. I had no idea where she lived, and when she took me along several back roads I had never been on before, I grew nervous in the dark and the rain.
Eventually, after about twenty minutes, she told me to turn right onto a driveway that whose entrance was almost completely hidden behind the once golden, but now light brown, leaves of a few maple trees. The driveway was gravel, and it caused my to bounce up and down in the car seat. It was strange, I had been great friends with Paige for just about two years now, but never once had I been at her home.
It was then that I realized that she had not spoken to me, other than to tell me where to turn, during the entire car trip. Once we came to a stop in front of the garage, I asked, “Do I need to pull in?”
She shook her head, and we got out. She went in front of me in order to unlock the front door, and we went inside. As she directed me to sit on a couch, I said, “Are you angry at me?”
“No, just upset about other things. You really did try to stop him from going, and if you tried to help him you would have died as well, ruining the small chance of any of the others making it. I'd rather have someone alive who didn't help than a fool who screwed all his friends.”
I nodded slowly, and then sat down on the couch. I took out my phone and looked at the time. It was about eight, only four hours to go and I would get my revenge.
“While it has not yet been forty-eight hours since they went missing, parents have called the local police asking them to be on the lookout for them. After patrolling the entire time, they arrived at an old house atop a hill overlooking the town, a popular place for Halloween night sleepovers to see who can last night. They found nothing, except for a candle that appeared to be used excessively. On that candle were the fingerprints of one of the teens, Nicholas Baker. The other teens in the area missing are as follows-”
I was not even listening at this point. I just saw the faces of my dead friends flash across the screen, and no one would ever know what happened to them, except for me and the Paiges. Speaking of Paige, not Jogan but Gopp's former girlfriend, and I say former since he is dead, I wondered how she was doing. I took out my phone and sent her a text.
Paige, you probably don't wanna talk to me right now, but please listen. Idk if you saw the nat news on nbc, but it talked about what happened last night. They're all dead except for me.
I sat there for the next several minutes to clear my mind. I hated having to tell her that her boyfriend, the man she loved, and that I actually detested, was dead. My phone vibrated, she was calling me, even worse! I took a deep breath and opened my phone.
Before I could even say hello Paige started, “Nick, you're not telling me-”
Not wanting to prolong this anymore I cut her off. “Gopp's dead, he was the first one to go.”
“NO!”
“I'm so sorry, but it's his own damn fault. The idiot came up to the house after I warned him not to and tried to get you to stop him.”
“SHUT UP!” she screamed. “How can you even talk like that?!”
“You know I'm a very honest person, and I'm not gonna sugarcoat this, not for your sake. You need to know what happened.”
“Can we not do this over the phone?”
“Alright. Park a block away and walk so that no one suspects anything.”
I gave her the address and hung up. Well now this evening was going to become even longer. It was going to take a good ten to twenty minutes for her to get over to this house, and then God knows where it would go from there. I was going to have to describe her the gruesome deaths of five people, no five kids. This was going to be horrible!
I turned the TV off and began pacing around the house, just walking laps around the hallway led to the bathroom and bedrooms and then back to the living room. Around and around I walked, not stopping. I was surprised there was not a slight indent in the floor from this pacing since I followed the same path about forty times in the minutes leading up to when Paige arrived.
The doorbell rang and I sprinted through the dining and living rooms to answer it, trying to get her inside as quickly as possible so that no one realized what was going on. I unlocked the door, pulled her inside, and shut it quickly, making sure to lock it once again.
“Did anyone see you?!” I asked, scared that my cover had potentially been blown.
She had been crying, I had not noticed it when I had first let her inside. Her rosy cheeks were stained with tears and mascara, her eyes were red and still clearly full of liquid. Reconsidering what I had just said, I added, “First sit down.”
I led her over the couch and sat down beside her. She laid her head on my shoulder, and once again let the tears flow. After a minute or so of this, I got up and went to get her a box of tissues.
“Nick, it's fine,” she called after me.
I returned without any and let her to continue to cry into my shoulder. There was nothing that needed to be said, there was just an understanding that they were all gone, and how they had died did not matter. I doubted that she really wanted to hear about it anyways. The way that the demons had launched themselves at Gopp and ripped his limbs from his body. No, she did not need to hear that nor picture it in her mind. The house was silent as was the neighborhood, but I could not help but think that something was off. It was an unexplainable feeling; something was wrong, horribly, terribly wrong.
“Paige, did anyone see you walk up to this house?”
She pulled away from my now tear soaked shoulder. “There was a man out walking his dog who gave me a funny look.”
“Oh god,” I said quietly.
My phone vibrated. Paige Jogan had texted me. Someone saw someone go to the house I'm watching. They called the police and they came to get the keys to enter and are going to check the home. Get out, NOW!
“Paige, we gotta run! You're in now state to drive, give me the keys!” I shouted, jumping up to begin to collect my few belongings that were scattered throughout the home, making sure that I grabbed the letter as well.
“But you've never driven my car before!” she protested.
I emerged from the bathroom carrying the pile of things that Paige Jogan had gotten for me earlier in the day. “There's no time to argue, help me carry this stuff, we're gonna have to run!”
We went out the front door, not even caring at this point. I had pulled the hood of my jacket up in hopes that no one would recognize me. I have never ran so fast in my life. We reached her car, parked a street away, in about thirty seconds. She tossed me the keys and I started the car. I floored it onto a nearby side street to escape the view of the police, should they pass by.
Right as I had turned, as I looked in the rear view mirror, I could see a police car drive by. I took a deep breath, relieved that we had just missed them. The side street came out near a Burger King, and I made a right onto Route 18. I just drove, not knowing where I would end up, nor was I caring. All I needed to do was avoid detection and buy some time before it would be safe to find another hiding spot. The house in Paige's neighborhood was completely out, but perhaps the house on the hill could still be used as there would be no police there tonight since all the evidence had already been collected. It seemed like a decent plan.
I drove by a baby blue billboard stating “Homosexuality is a sin... Find forgiveness in Christ.” Good to know that people's offerings at that church were going towards hate instead of something to help the community. I realize that according to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin, but that was written in a time where in order to keep the population sustainable men had to be with women. What I never have understood is how someone, who believes in the teaching of Jesus Christ that say we should treat each other well and that he loves each and everyone of us, can be so unaccepting of a group of people. Now, I am a Christian like those who put up the billboard, but I do not believe that the church should spread such hate.
Paige broke my angry thoughts. “So, what happened?” she asked.
I came to a stop at a traffic light. “Last night?”
She nodded in reply. “Yeah, how did they die?”
I sighed. “The Midnight Man and other demons killed them, each in a different way. When Gopp got out of his car, since he was not in the house, he was in the presence of enraged, spiteful demons who, well, ripped him apart.”
I paused to let it all sink in. She sat there, saying nothing, staring out the window up at the sky as if she could see Gopp watching down on her. “Do I need to tell you anything else?” I inquired.
She shook her head, unsure what to say. Then, she opened her mouth. “So, he was murdered, never saying any last words, never having the chance to say 'goodbye' to anyone, even me.”
“I'm sure he would have if he had had the chance. At least you. Not me though, he went to the grave hating me.”
By this point, there were no more tears flowing from Paige's eyes. Instead they were replaced with a look of sadness and longing to be with him again, even though it could never be. During this period of silence, the sky clouded and rain began to fall, adding to her despair.
“Paige,” I started.
“Nick, I wanna die.”
“Now c'mon-”
“No,” she interrupted. “What's left for me?”
“A hell of a lot! You have your family, friends.”
“But my family might be split apart. Since we're losing our house, we'll have to move, but I don't wanna leave the school district. I'm gonna find someone to stay with and live there.”
This was the first time she had mentioned that. I had known she was going to lose her house, but I did not know when nor what would happen after it happened.
I sighed. “You have me, well, at least for tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I'm gonna summon the Midnight Man again and this time put a stop to him. Now, even if this does not claim my life, which I honestly think that it might, but even if it doesn't, I'm gonna go into hiding. I can't show my face again, you saw the news! If I reappear, they'll think I killed them all!”
“But you didn't!” she shouted.
“But who will believe me? Certainly not the police, or even a lawyer. I'll be charged, or get off with an insanity plea, but what kinda life would I have, locked away in some nut house?”
She sighed. “None.”
“Exactly,” I replied.
I continued to drive. Then, I had a thought. “Paige, do you have any objection to letting me use your house?”
“Why?”
“Well, the house we were just in, which I was gonna use, is out, and I can maybe use the house on the hill, but that has too many bad memories associated with it. I can't go home, my parents think I've disappeared. So, what do you say?”
“My mom's staying at my grandma's since she's sick, and my brother might try and throw a fuss, but will he be safe?”
“Paige, as long as a person's name isn't written on a slip of paper and placed in front of the front door, they're safe. Which, speaking of doors, if yours wooden?”
I paused and waited for her to answer. She just nodded her head.
“Then it's settled, if you're okay with it?”
She sighed and nodded again. I reached into my pocket and handed her my phone. “Then text Paige and tell her where we're going,” I said. “Which, where are we going?”
She texted Paige as I pulled into a parking lot and turned around, then directed me toward her house. I had no idea where she lived, and when she took me along several back roads I had never been on before, I grew nervous in the dark and the rain.
Eventually, after about twenty minutes, she told me to turn right onto a driveway that whose entrance was almost completely hidden behind the once golden, but now light brown, leaves of a few maple trees. The driveway was gravel, and it caused my to bounce up and down in the car seat. It was strange, I had been great friends with Paige for just about two years now, but never once had I been at her home.
It was then that I realized that she had not spoken to me, other than to tell me where to turn, during the entire car trip. Once we came to a stop in front of the garage, I asked, “Do I need to pull in?”
She shook her head, and we got out. She went in front of me in order to unlock the front door, and we went inside. As she directed me to sit on a couch, I said, “Are you angry at me?”
“No, just upset about other things. You really did try to stop him from going, and if you tried to help him you would have died as well, ruining the small chance of any of the others making it. I'd rather have someone alive who didn't help than a fool who screwed all his friends.”
I nodded slowly, and then sat down on the couch. I took out my phone and looked at the time. It was about eight, only four hours to go and I would get my revenge.