9-28-11 Amanda Vasas Horror story It was around 6:40 in the ...

9-28-11Amanda VasasHorror storyIt was around 6:40 in the morning when Steven first noticed the closet was open. He woke upand noticed old, pale, wrinkled fingers wrapped around the side of his closet door. He used to think hewas dreaming. So he would close his eyes and make his eyelids wrinkle until it hurt. He would openthem to find the closet door just closing, the old wrinkled hand pulling back into the closet. Stevenwould hop out of his bed in his little feety pajamas, trying to jump as far away from the bottom of it aspossible, and creep toward the closet. He would slowly grasp the handle and practically throw the dooropen. Of course he would just be relieved to find his old Halloween clown costume hanging in itsdepths.Now he was 14 and clear of that nightmare, or illusion, or whatever it really was. He was justhappy he didn't believe in that kind of stuff anymore. He was all grown up he would think to himself,no longer a child.~*~It was September 22 nd , Steven would be going to the Barnum & Bailey circus in two days. Heloved it there. The clowns didn't bother him anymore. He knew they were all just funny comediansdressed up in big, baggy, obnoxious costumes like the one he had in his closet from when he was just 7.I'm not a child anymore, I 'm not scared of that stuff anymore, Steven kept saying to himself over andover again. He got out of middle school and walked on home. His parents were still in work when hegot home so he stayed there alone usually. He just did his homework and wrote to pass the time.Steven walked up the small path towards his front door. Glancing at his wrist watch andnoticing it was 3:47, he fished around in his deep pockets for the house keys, and pulled them up. Heslid the key into the lock with ease and turned them in it. He pulled them out and turned the gold doorknob, he pushed the door but it didn't open. So he pushed again, and then tried the keys again. Thedoor was unlocked already, but was stuck really tight. For it to be stuck like that, someone must havesuper glued it. So Steven finally rammed into it hard enough for it to swing open. He noticedsomething quickly run from the door, a big black mass, but he didn't acknowledge it until later on.Steven stepped in quite quietly and threw the keys onto a table near the door. He closed thedoor behind him and made sure to lock it. He walked over to the couch, fell over onto it with a thud,and closed his eyes. He fell into a deep slumber right away.There he stood, a small seven year old, wearing his feety pajamas and starring up at the closetdoor. His eyes were wide, awaiting what would come out of that closet door any moment.The door opened just a couple inches. Steven could see old, pale looking fingers with hideoussharp nails gripping the side of the door just waiting to get its hands on little children Steven's age.He was too horrified to move, not knowing what would come next. The hand slowly pushed thedoor open, creaking ever so eerily. Steven stepped back keeping clear the door as long as he could.Next, he watched as a revolting looking foot protruded out of the darkness within the closet.Five horrifying toes were at the end of the long, sickening green foot, each with a yellow toe nail andboils growing on them. The sight of just the hands and feet alone was enough to make Steven feel likepuking right then and there. He couldn't imagine the horror of what this demented clown beheld uponitself.Steven awoke on the couch, it was 6:23. He didn't expect to sleep that long. He glanced over atthe door; it was wide open. His parents weren't usually home around that time, so he just figured he'dleft it open. He sat up and starred at the door for a few moments. I could have sworn I had shut it,Steven thought.

He got up off the couch and walked over to the door. He felt as though someone was watchinghis every move as he shut the door.~*~Steven threw on a Black Sabbath shirt and grabbed his backpack for school. He walked into hiskitchen where his mother sat at the table reading the morning paper.“Ready for the circus tomorrow, Steve?” his mother asked with glee.“When am I not?” Steven said, thinking of the dream he'd had yesterday afternoon.“Good, now get going to school. Don't wanna be late for homeroom.”With that Steven hugged his mother goodbye and walked into his living room. He walkedstraight towards the door and wrapped his fingers around the door knob.For a moment he reminded himself of the dream he used to have as a child: The clown’s handgripping the silver knob. He quickly opened the door and from the corner of his eye saw a figuresitting on the couch, watching him with curiosity. He glanced behind his shoulder to just make out theshape of a human being, but it didn't look like one at all, a scary image that he could look at for a fewseconds before disappearing outside his front door.~*~Steven again walked home, hoping the door wouldn't stick again. He wondered what that thingwas he saw walking into the house yesterday. And what was sitting on the couch this morning. He gotto the door again and followed the same procedure with the keys he did every day.The door wasn't as stubborn as yesterday, but when Steven walked in the house he was shockedat the sight of a dead rat on the floor, its fur matted down with dark blood. It was completely flat, mostof everything gone out of the corpse. The sight of it wasn't frightening to him but he wondered whathad killed it so morbidly. He got a bag from under the kitchen sink and put the remains in it. He thenwalked outside to throw the corpse in the depths of his trashcan. Tomorrow he had to wake up early toget to the circus so he did most of his homework for the weekend and got into bed.~*~Steven awoke at 6:50. He was so happy it was Saturday and that he would be going to one ofhis favorite places. Despite what had happened the past few days, he just ignored it. I'm not a kid, whocares. It's just my imagination again, nothing to worry about. He kept thinking that, like a paranoidbat, over and over again, the whole morning and on the way to Vermont. Just dreams.....Steven's family arrived in Burlington, Vermont around 11:00, roughly 3½ hours after they hadleft. They arrived just when it was beginning.“Ladies and gentlemen, adults and juveniles, folk of all ages are welcome to this most excitingevent!” Steven heard the announcer yell as he approached the large circus tent. He was so excited.Steven then thought of the dream he'd had, that awful, horrible dream that had kept him awakeas a child.Clowns aren't scary, I'm not scared.......But, now he was. After everything, he was finally scared. He finally cringed at the dreams andexperiences he'd had over the last few days.His parents walked in, Steven slowing behind them, thinking. He knew that the first act was theclown act.Just STOP! Steven sat down quickly, feeling a little nauseous. The clowns came parading out,dressed in long orange baggy pants and floppy, fat shoes. All the children laughed except for one.

Steven sat there, his eyes wide at what he saw.The third clown that was out there had big white gloves on. But it was what was under t hethick white material that made Steven gasp in astonishment. One of the gloves, the left one to be exact,was coming off. The glove was coming off and when Steven saw part of that bony hand, he thought hewas going to puke.Under that whole clown costume was the clown from the closet, Steven thought.The hands of this clown standing in the middle of that big tent had pale wrinkled hands, not theones of a crippled elderly man, no. These had those disgusting yellow talons, the hands of a murderousclown wanting to get his hands on a tasty little boy.And the last thing Steven heard before he passed out was, “Steven, I know you know you seeme.”He fainted.~*~Steven awoke sometime later on his couch. Both his parents were sleeping. It was 10:37.He glanced in the direction of the clock and noticed it was September 23 rd . Tomorrow, Steven’sfamily would be going to the Barnum & Bailey circus.It was all a dream.Steven got up and walked upstairs. He walked down the hallway towards his room, knowingthere wouldn't be anybody or anything there to bother him. He opened the door to his room and waspleased to see no dead rats. He happily climbed into his bed.Steven drifted off slowly.What was that? The sound of a door opening, probably just mom or dad, he thought. But itsounded much closer, as if it were in his room. Steven cowered under his blankets. He was no longer14; he was seven again, scared of his closet, scared of what was behind that big gray door. And rightbefore anybody ever saw the last of Steven, he heard a voice, so grim and unnatural, so horrifying.“I know you see me Steven.”No one knew how Steven died, there was no explaining to how all his blood was sucked out ofhim and how he was flattened head to toe by a nothingness in the night. I thought he was quite goodtasting, though. I would know; I was there that night, waiting in Steven’s closet.