JJ

Thriller Stories | Jan 31, 2013 | 8 min read
24 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
8 a.m., Monday….
"Wakey wakey sleepy head. Get out of your pj's and into you big boy pants. Time to work work work!" The alarm went on like that until I sat up, staring at the walls of my bedroom blankly.
Most people had to shower, eat breakfast and rush off to work in an almost rehearsed manner. They would get there and sit at a desk, typing away behind a computer while trying to perfectly eye that one ‘always hot secretary', day in and day out. However, as for freelance artists like me, all we had to do was make sure we looked and smelt great enough to advertise our work to buyers. I worked for an art collector who had discovered me by accident and insisted that I see him for a job opportunity. Since then, his healthy pay check got me out of my parents' house and into an almost deluxe apartment, big enough to fit 15 people at once. Also, since I was on an art scholarship in a nearby university, I didn't have to pay any fees, so I really did enjoy my life at this point. The only problem I had was some complex stress related medical condition that forced me to take two pills every single day to avoid a downward spiral into depression and ‘living nightmares', which were almost realistic but horrifying dreams that never seemed to end. Thankfully, I was almost completely cured, provided I took the pills before I slept.
I sat in bed and woke my ‘friend' Pokey, a white teddy bear with two beady eyes, a black nose and a ‘larger-than-life' smile with his red tongue sticking out. He was my closest friend, the only person I ever opened up to and confided in. As much as he was inanimate, I gave him a sympathetic but firm, conditionally loving character, and I loved him for that. He clearly didn't want to wake up, so I left him and showered, ate cereals and went to my employer, bidding him farewell.
I had to walk through two neighborhoods to get to him, one being a wealthy one known as ‘Up There' by the locals, and the other being a rather poor one with dilapidated apartment blocks, dark alleys and putrid smells here and there, known as ‘The Downs'. I t brought forth a breed of criminals who weren't after money or any material item; rather they sought to gain respect and honor amongst themselves and the residents. They were extremely dangerous and fiercely protected their neighborhood from ‘foreign interference', hence its backward nature, devoid of any form of improvement. Fortunately, they had never seen me or bothered me before, for now.

After a long working session and disagreements about my way of painting, I was glad to be on my way home. Normally I'd take a taxi that avoided the Downs and circled Up There straight to my place, nut there seemed to be a shortage of them tonight. I hated it, I really did, but I had to go through the Downs if I was to get home any time soon. Mustering all form of courage I had, I walked through the yellow-lit streets, passing kids playing, old men and women musing on benches and a wide variety of shops that rang with noise from customers, shopkeepers and friends meeting there. It was a friendly enough aura for me to comfortably walk there. I walked into a shop and bought a Pepsi from a rather mean looking guy who couldn't take his eyes off me. Not wanting to cause a scene, I ran out, back into the warmth of peoples' company…or what was left of it. Almost instantly, the playing kids, loud talking people had gone, leaving me standing in a desolate street, the sound of wind and crickets complimenting the lonely fearful feeling overwhelming me. I walked on, fright clearly getting the best of me, pushing me to biting my fingernails and looking from left to right to see if I was being followed. I looked behind to check for the same, but all I saw was the mean shopkeeper, looking directly at me, hands behind his back and strolling in my direction. I turned and started running, ignoring the weight of my bag, desperate to get out of here. Suddenly, two men showed up in front of me, sly smiles covering their faces, happy that they got another victim. I tried to get past them but they caught me before I could get five steps away. I was dragged into an alley, amidst my screams for help. No one could come to my rescue in their own turf.
"Please don't hurt me," I begged, tears welling up in my eyes, "take my money. Have it all." I took out my wallet, but they slapped it away, hysterically laughing.
"Ah, you rich people, always assuming money is the answer to your problems," one of them said mockingly, the other watching in enjoyment. I saw the shopkeeper guy join them, and they all literally looked down upon me, eagerly waiting for any form of movement. I tried getting up, but a blow on my left cheek sent me back down.
"What's your name?" the shopkeeper asked.
"JJ, sir."
"Do I look like I understand what that means? In full, stupid," he lashed at me, slapping me to ensure I got the message.
"Jerome Junior," I answered through bloody lips.
"Well, Jerome, I didn't like the way you looked at me. So disgusted by how I look, as if you're any better. How would you like it if I did the same thing?"
"I'm sorry sir, please forgive me," I pleaded, even if every word he said was a lie. I looked up at him, only to see a collection of fists landing on me. I was beaten senselessly as he watched, powerless and frail to these thugs. Every blow sent me closer to unconsciousness, and before I gave in, I saw him rummage through my bag, destroying my stuff…

I was in dire pain. I looked up to see monstrous creatures attacking me, ripping away at my flesh, baying for my blood. I gathered enough strength to get up and run past them, out of their lair, and into a wasteland, with blood dripping from the lifeless trees, yellow illumination everywhere showing dried up grass, corpses lying everywhere and vultures feasting on them. I wanted to scream, but the bellowing of the creatures reminded me to run, albeit searing pain in my body.
I tried to get as far away as possible, to no avail. They caught up to me, their grotesque icky faces wanting to have a piece of me. Their claws were bared, ready for the kill.
"I have to kill the monsters," I whispered to myself. I knelt down in surrender, as they circled me, analyzing their prey. Then they came at me…
I woke up violently, sweating and panting, holding Pokey firmly in my hands. I was relieved to discover that it was all a dream, as real as it seemed.
"Let's go back to bed," I told my friend after checking the time and confirming them as ungodly hours. Before I slept, I threw the Pepsi bottle into the trash…

8 a.m., Tuesday….
"Wakey wakey sleepy head. Get out of your pj's and into you big boy pants. Time to work work work!"
I sat up, my bed sheets drenched in sweat. That was one hell of a nightmare…the pills! That's why. I quickly took them with water and paused a bit, wondering why I would imagine monsters and a wasteland area. Ah good, Pokey was awake, so I put on some TV for him. Before I got to Disney Channel, the news caught my attention.
"Last night, three people at the Downs were violently murdered and their bodies dismembered and decapitated, their heads being found in a paper bag written Mons…."
"This is too R-Rated for you pal. Watch cartoons," I told Pokey and left it on Disney as I went to shower. However, I couldn't help thinking about that news. Who would kill people so gruesomely and cut their heads off? Why them? What did they do wrong? I asked myself so many of these questions, trying to answer them but failing, my mind unable to rid itself of that topic. I wasn't required at work today, so I decided to clean this dump of an apartment.
An hour later, I was done with the whole apartment. I congratulated myself and decided to nap with my best friend in celebration, after which we would go out for pizza.

I woke up to a white place, no ending to its parallel walls save for a door far ahead. I walked on and on, and on getting through it, I found myself if a dark place. There was no beginning or end to the darkness all around me. I wanted to scream in fear of the dark, but a yellow place showed up all of a sudden, beckoning me to go to it. Then I heard roaring and screaming. All my instincts told me to stay away, but something was telling me to go to it to help someone.
Indeed. A lady, glowing white with a beautiful face and figure, dressed in a robe, was fleeing from hideous two-legged monsters with extended sharp claws, green eyes and covered in yucky slime. They were approaching the lady very fast, as she was slow.
"I have to kill the monsters," I whispered to myself. So I followed them across the yellow wasteland and into their lair, where they were about to feast on her.
"Help me!!!" she screamed in terror, alerting them of my presence. The sight of them trapped me in paralyzing fear, as they came slowly, like the predators they were, baring their teeth in what looked like smiles. Then, one jumped at me….
I woke up screaming, covered in sweat and shaking in fright. I was confused, relieved and scared all at once as to how real the dream was. I was still on my couch, Pokey was on the floor, and it was dark.
"I must have overslept," I told myself, confirming it when I saw the time as 8:30 p.m. . . As soon as I sat up, a sharp pain rose in my back, making me groan in pain. I felt it, and was shocked. It was deep and was covered in a lot of blood. Stab wound.
"How did this happen?" I asked myself, trying to clean up the wound. I switched on the light, and let out a shrill scream of horror of disgust at what I saw. There were blood stains all over the walls, and on the floor was a pool of crimson blood. Before I could recollect myself, someone knocked on the door.
"Just a minute," I said as I tried cleaning myself up and opened the door. It was a beautiful lady, wearing all white with a beautiful face and figure. She looked at me, and paused for some minutes, just staring at me. She seemed scared, happy and confused all at once, just like I was. I could tell she wanted to say something, but what she appeared to see must be choking them in her throat. She started backing away.
"Is there a problem," I asked. She shook her head and went back to her own apartment across the hall, whispering ‘Thank You' as she shut her door. Why is she thanking me? Not dwelling on that, I switched on the TV for my friend, who was clearly distraught at what he saw.
I wanted to clean up, but shock prevented me from cohesively thinking and acting rationally. I went to wash my hands, and checked to see if my face was still intact, listening to the news anchor talking abou…about a…Oh God…choked scream, heart rapidly beating, unbound gripping fear was all I felt. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't believe what I saw and heard….
"Just an hour ago, five gangsters were brutally murdered and their bodies ripped apart beyond recognition. The men were supposedly chasing a young woman, hoping to rob her clean, when an unknown person came in and ‘saved' her, at the expense of their own lives. All the lady had to say about her savior was that he had black and red eyes and kept saying that he ‘had to kill the monsters'…
On the mirror, staring at me was myself, with black eyeballs and red iris, covered in blood, smiling, and saying, "I had to kill them…"

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