The Horror Megapack_ 25 Classic and Modern Horror Stories ( PDFDrive )

“I dropped it with a yelp, as if it were red hot. I was sure I was seeing things,
going a bit mad myself. The coin lay on the rug at my feet, the message fading in
and out: WATCH…WATCH…WATCH…
“Then the phone rang one more time. I assumed it was another creditor. It’s
never too late at night when people are after you for money.
“‘Hello!’ I snarled.
“It was Joe. He sounded exhausted, his voice cracking as he spoke. I think he
had been crying.
“‘Jim,’ he said. ‘You’ve been good to me, as good as anyone. I think you ought
to know. It’s too late to do anything for me, but I ought to tell you the truth.’
“There was a long pause, as if he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“‘What is it, Joe,’ I asked him gently. ‘You can tell me.’
“‘It isn’t elves. There are no such things as Penny Elves.’
I hoped that somehow Joe had snapped out of it, had become sane again. But
he didn’t sound any saner. If anything, he sounded worse.
“‘It’s devils,’ he said. ‘Devils right out of Hell. A special subdivision of them.
They work for Mammon, the demon of avarice, and they lead people to
damnation through, well…money. I made a pact with them, Jim. I did it before I
knew who they really were. It all started as a game, picking up pennies, tying
them in to coincidences, pretending they were omens and prophecies. But then,
somehow, I discovered that they really worked. Forbidden knowledge, Jim.
That’s what it was. They told me…all sorts of things…wonderful, terrible. I
made a deal. I wanted to be good, Jim. I wanted to be the best, so I made a deal,
and I learned how to read the signs more closely than ever before. That’s where
my inspiration came from, Saint Toad, all the rest. Made in Hell. You know
what they say about me—devilishly funny.’
“‘No, Joe,’ I said. ‘This is crapola. It’s you. You’re a genius. It comes out of
your head. You didn’t get it off the back of any stupid penny.’
“‘The back, Jimbo? How did you know the message is always on the back? I
never told you that.’
“I looked down at the coin on the rug. There, on the back of it, was something
new: JOE IS DYING.
“‘Joe!’ I said. ‘Don’t do anything! Stay where you are! I’m coming out there
right now!’.
“‘I appreciate the thought, my friend, but you can’t help me. They’re coming
for me tonight. They’re coming to collect on an old debt. They told me this, on
the last penny I found.’