A short scary story: Rented
I am participating in the Writing Contest: Scare Your Readers (Seriously). If you feel like diving in the Halloween spirit, keep reading.
She hanged the last painting in the box full of joy. She officially had a new home. Things had become unbearable at her parents’ house and as much as she insisted in the fact that her mother should be confined in a mental institution, nobody offered any support. Despite how painful it was to her, she decided to take a step forward towards independence, although it barely took 250 feet. Even her small hole was better than living in that kind of hell. The arrangement of the furniture had been carefully planned in order not to waste an inch of space and enjoy the well-desserved comfort at the same time.
She welcomed her first night alone with a glass of wine. Resting on an armchair next to the window and watching the silent streets of the town, she tasted each sip as if it was a liquor of the Gods. The wine always made her sleepy so later at night, she considered the celebration finished and went to her bedroom. She slept placidly, the way she hadn’t done in years.
The first sunbeams caressed her face to encourage her to get up. She walked down the narrow corridor to the small open-plan kitchen as she stretched out. She poured a glass of juice and when she was about to sit down on the armchair, she noticed it. The furniture had been moved around. She tried to convinced herself the wine was probably to blame for not remembering the way she had actually arranged her own house, and so she forgot about it and went on with her day.
Not even that small incident could overshadow the satisfaction of her first day as an independent woman. After work, she arrived home exhausted and went straight to be. Deep somnolence shrouded her. The following day she got up again full of energy and ready to face a new day. A cup of coffee awaited her in the kitchen but then it happened again. Every single piece of furniture had been moved around. There was no way to keep telling herself a lie to avoid fear. She wasn’t sure about what to think. No logical explanation could calm her curiosity.
She decided to face the situation and spend the night sleeping on her armchair, now magically placed next to the TV. But the night went on normally and she opened her eyes uneasy. “Please, everything must be the way I left it. Everything must be the way I left it”, she repeated in hear head. She exhaled with relief when she saw the armchair was still next to the TV, the coffee table in the middle of the room, the bookshelves, the lamp, the pictures, everything was the way she had left it. With that sense of relief, she went to work.
After long hours at the office, she introduced the key in the hole, just like she had done the previous nights, but for some reason she wasn’t able to open the apartment’s door. It felt as if there was something blocking the way on the other side. She pushed hard and finally entered. The same armchair where she had enjoyed the glass of wine that first night was behind the door, the pictures piled up on top of the TV, the table upside down in front of the window. Everything had been moved around again. She stood up still by the door in an attempt to understand what was happening when a noise coming from the bathroom brought her back.
She rushed over, thinking about the times she had screamed at the character in a horror film not to do that in the middle of the night. Water came out of the empty shower in a thick stream. There was no time to take all the information in. The sound of wooden legs being dragged along the living room floor interrupted her. A shiver ran down her spine. She took a deep breath and, with a shaking hand, turned the doorknob that gave access to the room. She pushed it open carefully and her breathing sped up as she heard the rest of the furniture moving.
“Mom?” she asked petrified under the doorframe.
If you liked this post, you can subscribe to my blog to receive my monthly newsletter (and you’ll also be supporting this horror writer trying to scare people). Whatever you decide, thank you for reading my blog!
You May Also Like
