Hunger

As a doctor, I’m bound by doctor-patient privilege to not disclose the specifics of what I’m about to tell you. But as a human being, I feel compelled to share. This is, without a doubt, the most horrific story I've ever had the displeasure of being a part of.

It was 2009, and my schedule that day was light. I was just finishing up my lunch when I got a call from a friend and colleague who had his own practice in the same building as me. Sometimes we would send work each other’s way when we knew the other could use it. I was a bit elated at the prospect of him calling me because I had just been going over my books and stressing a bit.

“Are you busy right now? I’d like to send someone up to you,” he said.

Open For Business

The door chimes as a punk-looking teenager takes a peek inside. He's got a stripe of green in his hair, a skateboard under his arm and the words, "MAGNUM OPIATE" splashed across his shirt. I suspect it's the name of some shitty band.

"Are you open?"

"Yeah, but don't try anything."

Behind him, a burning man stumbles down the sidewalk, waving his arms frantically. Nobody stops to help put him out. Normally, I would, but considering the riots and chaos going on today, I can't really take the chance and leave the store unattended, even for a moment. I already had to pull the metal blinds down when a pair of girls in school uniforms threw a concrete block through one of the windows. I'd spent the next hour cleaning up glass.

"Pack of Newports?" says the punk.

"I'm going to need to see some ID."

"Seriously? Come on, man, give me a break."

The Devil Lives on Old Mill Road

I'll never forget the summer of 1986. My father's company sent him overseas to supervise the set up of their new office in Madrid. It had always just been my father and me, but the company would only pay for his accommodations, so it was decided that I would spend the summer with my grandparents in Missouri.

Grandpa Roy was a retired pastor. He had a giant, gray beard and unkempt hair and always reminded me of Dan Haggerty as Grizzly Adams. It seemed like he always had on a red and black tartan work shirt and a scowl. Grandma Babs told me once that he only smiled on Sunday, but I must have never been around when that happened.

Grandma Babs had been a school teacher. She had an anecdote regarding her years teaching for everything that ever came up. Sometimes, she'd tell me stories about the kids she taught that I'd really not want to hear; personal aspects of their lives that I could have gone without ever knowing. She was a thin woman, but had a kindly face that counteracted Grandpa Roy's permanent frown.

Olivia

I received a troubling letter in the mail the other day. It was from my friend, Olivia. The thing is, I'm flying out in just a few days to attend her funeral. The reasons for her death are kind of complicated, made more so by the contents of her letter. I thought I understood why she chose to take her life, but after reading her last letter to me, I just don't know anymore.

You might be wondering why Olivia would write to me. What relationship did we have? We were best friends back in high school and that's really about it. Call it cowardice on my part that I never "officially" told her how I felt. Maybe deep down she knew, but didn't want to lose what we had. I was fine with that. We remained best friends even when college moved us hundreds of miles apart. Even when she met "the love of her life" --a guy named Greg-- she wrote me every week, and I wrote back. We both graduated, she and Greg got an apartment out east, I briefly moved back in with my folks while searching for a job, but through it all, every week I got a letter from Olivia, and a day later I'd mail one back.

Last month, Olivia called me. I knew before even picking up the phone that something was wrong. She would never have called me unless she was in serious trouble or distress and needed someone special to talk to. She was barely understandable through the sobbing and the bursts of crying.

An Unexpected Guest

Originally posted on /r/nosleep.

A year ago, I went to visit an old friend of mine from college named Chris. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Susan and their son Todd. The plan was for us to hang out for a few days, so they had promised to prepare a guest room for me.

When I arrived, Chris took me aside.

“I know we promised you the guest room,” he said quietly, “but something’s come up. Susan’s Uncle John just got divorced and she offered him a place to stay until he can find an apartment. He won’t be in our way, but I had to let him have the guest room.”

“No problem,” I said, “where am I sleeping then?”
“It’s going to sound creepy, but I’ve set you up in the attic. There’s a small room up there which we’re planning to turn into a play room for when Todd’s older. It’s got a futon that turns into a bed. You just have to watch your step coming down the stairs at night if you do that.”

I shrugged. “That sounds fine with me.”

The Room With Too Many Shadows

It was my friend Tommy's 11th birthday and my first sleepover. My mom dropped me off at his house in the afternoon. It looked modest from the front, but when Tommy led me inside, I discovered that it was actually fairly big, with at least five large rooms on the first floor alone.

"My mom set us up in the basement." He said, leading the way to a small door just off the kitchen pantry.

I envisioned a dingy cellar like the one my family had. Ours was a single, tiny room that looked like miners were still in the process of digging it out. Nobody spent the night in our basement unless they had eight legs and six eyes and shot webbing out of their ass.

Tommy's basement was like a whole other house. There was a small room with a couch at the bottom of the stairs, but in the far wall was a swinging door leading into a kitchen almost as big as the one we had just left. In the basement kitchen there was another door leading out to the back yard, and a long hallway that extended deep under the house.

"Jesus," was all I could muster.

"The basement was set up as an apartment to rent out by the people who lived here before us." Tommy explained. He pointed down the dim hallway. "The first door on the left is the bathroom. Second door is a closet. We'll be sleeping in the bedroom on the right."

"What's the door at the end?" I asked.