Original Halloween Story
Just a very short, Halloween inspired story. Enjoy, I love feedback so good or bad let me know below!
“Jeff”
Blackness!... It could have been moments, or hours, Jeff thought to himself as he awoke. He found himself in a very dimly lit room. Square, each wall 5 maybe 6 feet, and an exceedingly high ceiling with some light source. The floor was cold and unforgiving. No windows, and no way he could see in or out of the room.
He could barely make out the outline of his hands as he strained in the black to see. What hit him more was an invading silence that seemed to have life of its own which entered his ears and killed off all sound. Nothing could be heard, absolutely nothing.
He got up and walked around, feeling the walls, the floor, all smooth to the touch and cold, so very cold. He was not able to tell what the walls and floor were made of. Just that it was that cold and felt strongly made. Where, when, why he pondered. Then sudden brightness, beyond any he had ever experienced.
He then found himself in front of a computer screen. Wait, he thought, as he saw he was in a cubical. Wait, this is work, he found himself confused. As he looked around, he regained his senses and let the idea slip as a fast nap. He figured he has been working much too hard. Then over his email he got a schedule request from his boss. He wanted to meet with him in 20 mins. His body reacted from the news and felt heavy as he sunk down. He continued working a bit harder now as that 20 mins lasted what seemed like 20 years.
The time came, and he went to his manager’s office. He was asked in, as his manager asked him to take a seat on the sofa. Oh no, I am getting fired, he thought. His manager came to be seated across from in a chair. “So, Jeff, we have been reviewing your work, and I must say we like what we see. I want you to know we value our employees here and, well, with the holidays close by, I wanted to let you know we are bumping your pay up 5% and will be training you for a new position first of the year.”
“Umm, sorry I am a bit surprised.: Jeff replied. “I mean this is wonderful news of course and I am happy my work has gotten such attention. What position would this be?”
“It would be a team leader; we want to work on moving you up the ladder and this would be your first big step.” Jeff was sure the shock of all this was visible, but he held his composure as best he could.
“Well that is great news, and I would be happy to accept that, thank you.” His manager said, “very good, I will be sending you some details tomorrow on the next steps. Welcome to the team.” The manager stood up and motioned toward the door. Jeff got up, said thank you for the opportunity and left the office.
As he sat at his desk, he started to let himself be happy. This would be a great thing for him and his family, and a 5% pay bump would not hurt. More importantly it opened a path for him to more. He would have good news for a change when he got home. As the day went on, he felt it drag like a watched pot.
Finally, the day was over, and he could go home. He would have been able to call, but this was some news he wanted to give in person. He was so excited to see her reaction and played it over in his head as he drove home. Once he arrived, he came to the door and opened it. As he moved into the hall he caught the faint smell of some type of cake being cooked. It smelled wonderful. The house was not large, and they had only been there a year, it was their first house. He put his things on a table by the door and walked toward the kitchen.
When he arrived in his kitchen, shock shook his being to its core. He saw his wife bent over on the floor with half her body inside the oven. She lay in the bottom flesh having been burnt off the bone. In the rack above was the slowly cooking set of cup cakes. Her entire head and shoulders were gone. He frantically felt for his phone, finding nothing he looked around. He saw his wife's, on the counter and reached to pick it up and as he did a note was attached. "You did this to me" in his wife's handwriting is what it said. He knew as he read the words she was right, he melted to the floor, phone in hand. Then, brightness.
Jeff, awoke confused to find himself next to his wife in their bed upstairs. It must have all been just a dream as he flashed awake. His wife yelled at him from the bathroom, "Get Up!, You will be late for work". He then got up and ran to the shower, hopped out and got dry and dressed as fast as possible. He hugged and kissed his wife as he left the house. On his drive to work he listened to an oldies station, as he drove a bit faster than normal. He arrived barley in time, parked and headed in.
He made his way to his cubical to find it occupied. "What are you doing here?" he said. "This is my area Mr. Rojo, remember you assigned me this one last week." Taken aback Jeff said "Yes, ok, sorry forgot that." As he walked back toward the offices he saw his name on the door of one. He walked in. As he looked around it and his stuff in it. It was set up just as he would have liked. “What the hell is going on?”, he thought to himself. As he went to his computer and turned it on, he found that the date was some three years later. He started to look at his files and calendar, anything to help him find out what was going on. He found work, meetings he had had; other items that showed he had in fact been at this new position almost a year. He was a regional manager now. He sat back in his desk chair and wondered how this happened. Just as it was sinking in, he was called into the main conference room for a meeting.
When he arrived in the room, he found several people he did not know and the company President, HR Director, and CFO. “Sit down Jeff", said the President. As he sat down, he heard him say "we have caught you". As some of the others in the room tried to get the President to stop, he told Jeff that they found he stole over a million in funds from the company. “These people are from the District Attorney’s Office, and we are going to bury you so you will never work again. I, we trusted you and this is how you treated us.”
Jeff saw the President place folder after folder of documents on the table. “What I want to know is why?” Jeff had no answer, but he knew somehow, he had done what they claimed. Then in a blur he was helped up and told something about not saying anything. He was taken out of the room down to a car and placed inside. He had been arrested and was bring driven by officers to be processed. As he rode, he was in shock, embarrassed, and why he did not feel guilt he was angry. Yes, anger was the most forward emotion, at being caught. Smash! grinding noises, screaming, blood, a flash of immense pain. Blackness!... as Jeff awoke, he was in a dimly lit room, without sound. He as asking, where am I, what is this, how!. No answers ever came, and the not knowing was hell.