'A Horror Story' by Ayla Di Biasio

When I moved into my house at 22100, Claredon Street, the estate agent said this: “As an estate agent in the state of California, I am legally required to disclose,” he let out a small chuckle, “That this estate is supposedly haunted.”

I still bought the house; it was perfect: big enough to feel roomy without being isolating, while being small enough for one person without feeling cramped...I didn’t believe in ghosts anyway. Once I moved in, I was eager to redecorate the master bedroom first. That meant peeling off the awful, floral wallpaper. As I peeled the wallpaper, I discovered doodles scattered on the walls underneath. There were women with black pupils and demons and short phrases littered around in an untidy black scrawl. I looked closer and saw that those messages were quite unusual; “Why can’t they see me?”; “She’s so pretty that I collected her hair!”;“I buried them deep”. My stomach was filled with a sickening, anxious feeling but I assured myself it was just a prank left by a previous owner.

Later that night, I ordered a pizza because the oven wasn’t working yet. After about twenty minutes a ghastly pale woman, about 30, with a bored gaze came to my door, pizza box in hand. I paid her, she took the money and walked away, stumbling down the path out of my front-lawn. She seemed really loopy and out-of-it; she could have been drunk. I watched her make it to the end of my driveway before closing my door slowly. In my kitchen, I opened the box. What I saw was horrifying. There was a dead rat; oozing with blood, with a worm-like tail awkwardly curled up and deep red eyes wandering into mine, staring at me eerily. I slammed the box shut in fear and disgust, running into the bathroom. Shaking, I vomited into the bathtub. I felt all my anxiety and stress surface at once and release itself. I stood up, leaning over on the edges of the tub, feeling light-headed and dizzy. I got up and slowly walked to my sink to begin cleaning my face.

I looked into the big mirror above my sink. In the reflection behind me I saw the vague shape of a scrawny human like figure beneath the towels hanging on my door. Then I saw a grey, bony twig-like arm reach out from underneath and pull the towel to the side, poking out its head. I let out a guttural scream as our eyes met in the reflection of the mirror. His pupils and iris were jet black just like his greasy, shoulder-length hair. His smile was ear-to-ear as he showed off his sharp yellow teeth. I I tightly closed my eyes and repeated to myself it wasn’t real and it was all in my head. When I opened them it was gone. My towel was in a pile on the floor but behind me my mirror was shattered into a million pieces. I went back to the dining room and grabbed the pizza box with the bloody rat corpse. I wanted to get out of the house. I didn’t know where to go so I ended up at the pizza shop I ordered from, earlier. I threw the box on the counter and the guy working there looked at me with a confused expression.

“You got my order wrong.” I said loudly and wiped my eyes- I didn’t realise I’d been crying.

“Aye alright no need to cry, what was the pro-“he answered as he opened the box. When he saw what was inside he let out a shriek, “Is this a stupid prank I swear-“

“It’s not a prank,” I interrupted, “it was what was delivered to my house.”

He let out a small sigh, “Come to the back.” He led me behind the counter to a small room at the back where he disposed of the rat. Then he pointed at a notice board with pictures of the staff and their names. “Who delivered it?”

I looked across the pictures briefly then I spotted her. Heather was her name. I looked at him, “Heather.”

“That’s impossible. This is a prank and its not funny. Get ou-“

“It’s not a prank! It was her and I know it!”

“It can’t be her!”

“Why not?”

He paused for a moment, “She’s dead.”
...
-THE END-