Egotober 2023 Fanfics

Day 8: Frame

You had seen Dawko carry the item into the house earlier and had asked him about it, but he had brushed it off.

'It's a prized possession of mine' He had said with a playful smirk. But, as you had helped him carry a sofa into the living room, your curiosity had grown.

Dawko had contacted your moving company a while back in regard to moving house. A 'change of scenery' had been his reason, not that you cared-you were just there to do a job. And Dawko had been very happy to let you and your co-workers carry various furniture and items into the new house. But, the one exception he had made, to the point of yelling, was an item that had a purple cloth over it. If you were to guess, it was either a full-length mirror or a very large photo frame. But that just raised more questions amongst the moving team: if that's all it was then why was the client being so protective over it?

As the sofa was carefully placed onto the living room floor, you thought of a plan: the colleagues would distract him while you went to take a peek. You then felt a pang of guilt: what if it was nothing? Then not only had the trust of a client been broken, but workplace rules would be broken too. And yet...surely a small peek wouldn't hurt? Especially after Dawko's behaviour, you couldn't help but be curious.

'Ok, we're gonna take a break; been moving things since morning you know?' you say as casually as possible and, to your relief, Dawko nodded.

'Yeah, that's a good idea. I could make a pot of tea?' Dawko asked then smiles, 'I'll need to figure out the kitchen at some point anyway' he joked.

'That'll be nice. Let me know if you need some help' you say but was jumping for joy on the inside; this was going perfectly so far!

Dawko waved an arm as he left to go into the kitchen. You watched him leave before walking out into the front driveway and waved down the rest of the moving team, letting them know they could go on a break, which they happily accepted.

Following the small team back into the house, a wave of nerves washed through you; was this breaking workplace rules? You weren't sure now as the co-workers went into the kitchen. You watched them go in before looking to the stairs. Looking back into the kitchen, everyone was distracted with either looking round or chatting...perfect.

Walking up the stairs, the nerves started to increase but you ignored them. You knew that Dawko had taken the item upstairs and had assumed it would be in his bedroom. But, to your confusion and dismay, it wasn't. What then ensued was a quick but panicked search for the possession before, finally, coming to the last room at the end of the hallway...and that's when it appeared.

This particular room hadn't been seen to yet and was completely empty aside from the rectangular item leaning against the wall, directly opposite the door. The cloth was still over it and you frowned while approaching it; why was it in here? They hadn't got to this room yet so maybe Dawko wanted it out of the way until things were properly placed?

Once you got to the item, you crouched down and gently held the edges, hoping that that will give away what it was. What was felt was definitely a frame, that was clear...and there was something else. You could've sworn there was a whisper coming from this thing. The anticipation was too much, and the scared whispering just added to the confusion. You threw the cloth off it. And immediately regretted it.

It was a full-length mirror with a plain pale purple frame around it. It was simple yet beautiful. But what was in the reflection was the horrifying part.

While the room was reflected in the mirror, Dawko was also standing there, dressed in a plain white t-shirt and black jeans. There was grey duct tape over his mouth and his wrists were tied up with ropes. He looked like he had been crying, his eyes filled with terror and sadness as he stared at you.

'What the-' you muttered in disbelief, feeling your face pale, before looking behind you.

There was no one there. A muffled yell forced you to look back at the helpless man.

'How do I get you out? Who did this to you?!' You said sternly. But, of course, the victim didn't respond; he couldn't. He could, however, react and you grew confused as his eyes widened in horror, looking past you.

'What are you doing?'

Your face paled as Dawko's voice appeared behind you. But...he sounded strange; the British accent was weakened and sounded crazy, and strange sounds were emitting off his voice as he spoke. You turned round and yelled; blood was dripping from the man's eyes, and the eyes themselves were now glowing purple!

'I...er...' you spluttered, but the man chuckled coldly.

'I don't need to play pretend anymore, so you should stop as well' he then folded his arms. While his face looked amused, his eyes were glaring, 'I told you not to go near my prized possession'.

'How do we get him out?' was all you could think to ask, and, to your surprise, the man cackled. It was a horrible sound that didn't suit him.

'Get him out?! We don't! He is going to stay there while I live out his life' the man responded with then sighed sadly, 'and now I've told you too much' he said in a mockingly sad tone.

You frowned, while your heart was doing somersaults. What was worse was that the last comment had caused the restrained Dawko to start screaming underneath the tape.

You gulped and asked possibly the stupidest question that could be asked in this situation.

'Are you going to kill me?'

The man's purple eyes brightened horribly, making you realize you should've kept your mouth shut. He then cackled and his body suddenly burst into purple glitches before quickly reassembling themselves.

'Yes!' he said excitedly then giggled. As quickly as it happened, he quickly composed himself and looked at you sternly, 'But don't worry, the others aren't dead. I did have to wipe their memory though' he said calmly before waving his arm around. As he did, a large kitchen knife formed in his hand, and you unintentionally let out a scared whimper; this man was blocking the doorway and there wasn't another way out of this room. The man didn't notice this as he continued speaking.

'You, on the other hand' he said then shrugged and smiled coldly, 'you know too much now' he said and started giggling as he walked in, shutting the door behind him.

All the time he had been talking, you had been trying to think of a way to escape. But you didn't know what this...thing was capable of, and all exits were now blocked off. All you could do was whimper and back up against the wall, staring at this imposter terrified.

The purple eyed man, on the other hand, was clearly enjoying this. The giggling only got louder the closer he got to you. As all options were swiftly cut off, you could only stare helplessly at him as he spoke again, 'you're not going to be so lucky'.