Itsy Bitsy Spider

Suspense Stories | Mar 26, 2014 | 6 min read
32 Votes, average: 3 out of 5
Suspense Stories

Itsy Bitsy Spider

My name is Ken and I currently live in Boston with a group of 5 people, including myself, my girlfriend and my best friend. We live in the nice part of Boston, where bad things rarely happen and if they do, its because somebody was drunk. Our apartment is large, with a nice open white living room, furnished with dark brown couches, a 52 inch television and a rug that would be fit for a doctors office. It has a small kitchen complete with dishwasher and a collage of under dressed men, half for the women of the house and half so we have some to aspire to. The apartment turns into a long hall way that leads to some of the bedrooms and the bathroom, complete with posters of sports stars and alcohol. I would say its very typical of post graduate kids trying to make their way into the working world. The one nice thing that I appreciate about our apartment is that we have a buzzer with an intercom system that lets us hear what is happening down in the lobby and even talk to the person down below. Normally I would be thankful for this convenience however there was recently an evening where I wish I didn't have it.

BUZZZZZZZ

It was 3:13am on a Tuesday Morning. I had 3 more hours of solid sleeping left to do and was dreaming about dunking over Kobe Bryant. The bedroom was warm and comforting, complete with my guitars, drum set and my girlfriend's high heel shoes. The TV was on, some infomercial lightly lulling in the background as my girlfriend and I were fast asleep.

BUUUUZZZZZZZZZZ

I woke up and looked around the room, scanning for the noise that I had heard distantly as my REM cycle was catching up to itself. I checked my surroundings, aware of where my 6 inch Swiss Army knife was located and even closer, my Louisville Slugger. My girlfriend, Jess, tossed and turned as I creaked out of bed to see what was going on. On most occasions, I grab my bat in case of a break in and for some reason, I did not do it this time. I pulled the door open and peered out into the dark hallway into our cozy living room.

Silence.

I walked out of the room, leaving the door open for light so I didn't bother the other people sleeping in the house.

I looked out into the somber apartment and didn't see a thing. It was quiet except for I heard the humming of the minifridges and the scurry of our apartment pets, the mice. Part of me felt that I had just made the noise up while I was sleeping. I started to stumble back into my room where the warm, safe blankets were calling my name.

BUUUUUZZZZZZZ

I whipped my head around to the intercom and stared at it for a second. Who the hell was ringing my buzzer at this time of day? I heard stirring come from my room and a distant voice ask, "What's going on, is Dylan coming home drunk or something?" I called back for her to go to sleep and that I would see who it was. She obliged and I heard her body sink back into the bed accompanied by the symphony of squeaks that came with our terrible Ikea bed.

I turned around and approached the small white box that sat on the wall and pushed the "listen" button. The crackle of the intercom was faint and all I heard was a small rustling of pant legs, as is somebody was pacing the floor. This didn't sound like the pacing of a calm individual waiting for their friends to open the door, it was more violent, almost rhythmic.

1, 2, 3, 4

They paced for a soild 30 seconds as I listened in, wondering who the hell was down in my lobby. Suddenly the pacing stopped and moved closer to the box. You could tell they were close to the intercom because I heard their heavy, distressed breathing coming through the microphone.

"Let me in."

I let go of the button in hopes that what I had heard was not real. He sounded older, kind of heavyset with a thick Boston accent. You could hear the 30 years of smoking come through in his words, gruff and angry, almost like the growl of a rabid dog. It was at this point that I felt somebody behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I turned around.

Jess was standing there with her mouth open wide and my wooden baseball bat in the other. I looked at her, with fear in my eyes and said," go wake up Dylan."

Dylan is a bigger guy but not in the fat sense. Hes very tall with broad everything. If I were ever in a fight, he would be the first guy I would want helping me out. Dylan stumbled out of his room, wearing only his boxers, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion. "Whats wrong? Jess said theres a drunk guy trying to get into the building?" I nodded adding "He sounds much older than anyone who lives in this building and he knew I was listening. He said, "Let me in"."

Dylan's never been the kind of guy to worry about anything and always gives people the benefit of the doubt. He responded "He's probably drunk and doesn't know where he is. Lets talk to him and see where he lives." I hesitantly agreed but before we could act upon it

BBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I looked at Jess and Dylan and held my bat tight, feeling now that I might have to use it. I urged Dylan to just listen down there first and see what he was doing. He agreed and pressed down the "Listen" button. At first it was quiet. Only his breathing was auditory but then he did something that made us all on edge. He started to whistle. The song was familiar and something you might sing to a small child. I didn't recognize it at first but then realized he was whistling "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Dylan let go of the listen button and looked over at me. "Maybe we should call the cops"

I got out my iphone and dialed 911. They quickly picked up and asked what the emergency was. I told them there was a man in my apartment building that didn't belong there and he seemed threatening. "Someone will be right over" I hung up the phone.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

We all looked over at the box and wondered if we should listen in on the crazy man downstairs. Jess walked over and pressed the "Listen" button. Silence, just like the other times however there was one difference. I couldn't hear the breathing. Suddenly, we heard the slam of the lobby door downstairs and slow footsteps began to creep up the stairs. We were on the top floor and were only one of two people to live on it. I held my baseball bat close and pressed my ear to the door to listen for him.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider crawled up the water sprout

My heart started to beat faster as he approached up the stairs.

Down came the rain and WASHED the spider out

He was getting closer and closer. It would only be a matter of time before the shuffling footsteps made it to my front door.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

I looked back to see Jess and Dylan pacing nervously, almost praying that he wouldn't stop at our door. Outside the window, the flash of red and blue poured into the room.

knock knock

"Who is it??" I asked

BUUUUUUUUZZZZZZ

"Let me in"

I could now hear the police march up the stairs.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"LET ME IN"

"POLICE OPEN UP!"

I opened the door quickly to see two police men standing in front of me.

I was relieved and immediately set my bat down.

I discussed with them exactly what happened from the moment I woke up. They searched the apartment to make sure nobody was there and continued out into the hallway. Nobody was found. They told us that they would do a couple of laps around and be on the lookout for an older drunken man near the area. We thanked them politely and they exited the apartment. We sat around for a few minutes and talked about what had happened, still perplexed by the fact that he was not in the building and that we all had to go out that door to go to work in the morning. We agreed to all leave together and try to get some sleep.

I laid back down next to Jess as she dozed off and began to snore. I stared up at the ceiling trying to fall asleep, calming down into deep breaths. My eyes gained weight as they began to flutter asleep. As I was about to ascend into dream world, I heard the slightest sound come from the hallway in my apartment. It was light but loud enough to be heard. It was almost soothing.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider crawled up the spout again

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