BLACK EYE

Thump

      A friend of mine had invited me up to his house near the Yosemite Mountains in California.  He had a nice cabin style home he shared with his wife and kids.  I've known both him and his wife since grade school.  So, every once in awhile, my girlfriend and I would spend a few days out there.  We'd light a small fire and have a few beers and reminisce about the past.  When our ladies had decided to go to bed, the conversation would switch entirely to the paranormal.  That was an exchange of things we've read and, of course, the experiences that we had.

     Kent was a custodian at a nearby school which had been built some time ago and sat somewhat isolated from the town.  Bumps in the night and strange sounds were nothing new to him.  I was surprised to know that he had one that really stood out.  He knew I loved the paranormal like a kid chasing an ice-cream truck down the road.  

     ¨Still working on your story telling, Abacus?¨  He had asked.

     ¨Yeah, all in my head swirling around like a tornado.¨  I had said.  ¨If only there was a place that would let you share 'em for free.¨

     ¨Maybe one day.¨  He had assured me.  ¨The internet is coming up with new things everyday.¨

     ¨Yup.¨

     ¨Any new stories yet?¨

     ¨I told you the one where that guy I used to worked with ran into that faceless woman?¨

      ¨Yeah, twice.¨

      ¨What about that guy who I think seen the devil?¨

     ¨Yup and I don't want to here that one again as long as I live.  I got one for you from cleaning up the school maintenance shop late night.¨

     ¨You have to tell me.¨

______________________________________________________

     It was always creepy in that place and I think the people who worked there were bad.  I never really talked to any of them, because I worked nights, but something was just wrong about them.  Maybe the shop crew was angry because the union managed only to get a twenty-five cent raise while increases dues.  They would always leave their food they didn't finish on the table, plug-up the restrooms, and draw body parts on the walls in the beginning.  Later, it got a bit stranger.

     Maintenance would leave these weird, distorted Indian dream catchers and upside down crosses they imprinted on some of the windows in a finger smudge.  Trash would be deliberately laid just outside of the cans and they would piss on the walls.  It was like their evil had gotten turned up a notch.  I complained to my supervisor, but he only pretended to give a shit. Sometimes I would catch a shadow moving out of the corner of my eye, but never directly.  Soon I heard footsteps on the roof like something very heavy was pacing around.  They were not very loud, but each ¨thump¨ left what sounded like a huge impression.  The roof would cringe and creak under the strain of each step.  I mentioned this to my supervisor again, but told him that my concerned was that homeless people may be occupying the top.  He suggested that it is because the roof is metal.  I had pointed out that it was wood with metal beams and graveled asphalt layered over.  He just stared at me blankly for a few seconds and went home.

     So I just turned up my headphones when I was in the shop and all was well until I had decided to get daring.  I strongly believe that there is a good reason why you don't challenge the unknown.  They consider it an invitation and it really seems that this is all that's holding them back like a set of rules laid out for them.  Much like we have to obey the laws of gravity they have to abide by more cosmic regulation.  I guess the Creator really did take care of all the details like some damn matrix or something.  Ah well, who knows?

     One night, I had decided to mock it just to see if it really was my imagination.  The steady pacing had been carrying on and I pounded a nearby metal table mimicking its steps.  Then I had pounding the table like a drum, because deep down I was beginning to think it wasn't real. A loud thump stopped me dead in my tracks.  This was followed by a series of thumps that sounded like it was preparing to jump off the roof!

     ¨Thump, thump, thump, thump¨ and then nothing for a few seconds.  The heavy footsteps had taken it off the edge of the roof directly above the shop's thick, steel door.  Something smashed into that door like it was hit by a rhino.  Just for an instant, my mind had entertained thoughts that some kind of evil looking Sasquatch would have come flying in.  The door shook and rattled, but held.  For some reason I laughed instead of crapping my pants.  Outside there is a latter to the thirty foot tall roof, but it begins about fifteen feet up.  Basically, you would need a latter to get to this latter that was also locked.  

     The next night I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was ready to run.  When I entered the shop, the pacing had began immediately as if it had been waiting for me.  It was slow and steady and stopped abruptly.  A loud humming sound came over the building like the sound of a UFO you would hear in the movies.  (Since I've never actually seen one, this is the only reference I have.) That sound had gotten very loud and I had wondered if anyone else in the neighborhood could have heard this, but it was the middle of the night.  Besides, it seems like no one is ever around when this kind of stuff happens.

     The sound had gotten very loud and then faded away.  Once it was gone it had taken the footsteps along with it.  That was the last I have ever heard the steps, but I promise you, I always clean that shop in record time.