Urban X

Ghoulish winds carried the smell of pumpkins burning around waning candlelight. The candy bowls were nearly empty as the last of the trick-or-treaters scurried home to sugar-high nights filled with pranks and scary stories illuminated by beaming flashlights from beneath cartooned character sheets. Aimee, newly 17, waved her parents out the door as they giggled beneath their masks. She felt as if the roles were reversed on these Halloween nights. Her parents eagerly ran off to their annual Masquerade ball downtown while she was left to the mercy of the television guide. Switching off the porch light and locking the door, she grabbed the leftovers in the candy bowl and a fresh batch of popcorn, then slumped onto the couch to surf over the channels, a dull and brainless look on her face. Clumsy clicking and scratching caught her attention. Hank, just over 9 months old, slipped and slid his way across the hardwood floor. His two front paws went straight for the couch, missing once. Aimee smiled and placed him in her lap.1

“Dracula… no, no, something else this time. Perhaps The Creature From The Black Lagoon?” None of this would do, she’d seen them all a hundred times. She settled for Psycho first, then moved onto The Shining, and down a long list until about 1:30 in the am when she’d found herself drooling onto the arm of the couch while the bowl of popcorn tumbled to the floor. Aimee rubbed her eyes and sat up, she scraped the leftover bits and kernels back into the bowl and staggered to the kitchen, dumping the leftovers in the garbage and tossing the big plastic bowl into the sink. The noise shook her eyes open for a moment, she grabbed a pop from the fridge and headed back for the living room. Hank flopped off the couch and curled up on the rug underneath the coffee table, a chew toy so big he could hardly drag it served as his pillow. Just as Aimee passed the front door she stopped and crinkled her brow. The porch light was on. She took a few steps back and glided, socks against the cold wood floor, to the front door. She distinctly remembered switching it off… the door was still locked, her parents car still gone. She chalked it up to poor memory and flipped the switch off again, but this time something caught her eye. Aimee squinted her eyes and peered out the side window and straight to the mail box which was located on the opposite side of the street, directly connected to five other houses in the development. A black figure, too dark and too far to make out with any clarity. A shadow? Some decoration perhaps? She stared for a moment. 2

Suddenly an ear shattering scream rang in her ears, she nearly jumped across the room only to realize it was her mobile. She laughed at herself for a moment, it was David’s idea of a joke. His name flashed across the screen, she slid her phone open, trying to say “hello” in the calmest of fashions. She heard an eerie moan followed by muffled chuckles. “David… I know it’s you… or have you forgotten about a little thing called caller ID?” She heard fumbling and more laughter. The phone began to crackle and hiss. She looked at the screen again, another call beeped in, she switched over. “David?” nothing on the line, just static and broken bits of words and laughter. “This isn’t funny David! I thought you guys were going to be here soon?” 3

Just then a deep and devilish voice echoed through the earpiece, no static, so clear she could almost swear that whoever said it was merely inches away. “What lurks on Channel X?” it uttered.4

“…David? This isn’t funny anymore, geez you’re an ass…don’t bother coming over then…” She waited, thinking she’d get some sort of reply to that. The line clicked and went blank, she peered at the face of her mobile again. SIGNAL LOST flashed for a moment. Aimee quickly slid her phone shut and looked out the side window again… the shadow had gone missing. She reached up and slid the extra chain on her door into locking position, then switched the living room light on and grabbed the remote. Aimee curled up under her blanket and flipped through the guide again. Not soon after she fell back into sleep.5

2:13am glowed in red letters from the face of the VCR. The lights began to flicker, Aimee woke to the feeling of something sliding across her cheek. She brushed the hair from her face and read 12:00 blinking on the clock. It wasn’t the first time the power had gone off and on, not hardly a week ago there were men working on something a few streets over, but she was too tired to care. Aimee gathered her pillow and blanket, as she looked up the porch light caught her eye again. This time she was sure she’d switched it off, she let the blanket and pillow fall to the floor as she reached for the coffee table where she had set her phone. Her eyes still fixed on the porch light, she felt around for a second and quickly turned and began to scour the table for her phone. Panic flashed across her face and into her fingers, she frantically felt under the couch, her face to the floor in attempts to see past the dust bunnies. 6

Another scream, this time she felt her heart skip a beat. It was her mobile… ringing from the upstairs. She looked around for a second, Hank was gone. She slowly approached the bottom of the stairs. “…Hank?” she whispered at first…. then louder… “Hank! Come here buddy… Haank!?” She heard nothing but the scream from her phone. Aimee took a deep breath and climbed the stairs, feeling along the wall and hitting the light switch as soon as she could. The hallway was clear, the screaming continued, coming from her room. Her hand slid into the room first, again feeling the wall for the light switch. Hank’s front end was pressed to the floor as he attempted a brave growl at the buzzing, screaming phone on the floor in front of him. It was covered in drool. Aimee let out a sigh of relief and bent over to grab her phone. She wiped it on her sleeve and looked at the ID, David popped up on the screen. She dialed him back… it rang a few times, someone picked up. “David? That you?“7

“Yeah” the voice answered…deep and muffled.8

“I can’t really hear you well, something’s wrong with my mobile…can you come over? I’m… something’s got me a little shaken up…. Thought maybe you could check around the house for me… I know it sounds silly but I’d really appreciate it.“ there was just static for a moment. 9

“What lurks on Channel X?“ the voice became more clear.10

“Damnit David that’s not funny, I’m serious here… I think I saw someone outside earlier…and the light is back on when I had already turned it off…I just” she was cut off by the voice…11

“I’m already here” the call ended12

Aimee stood there for a second then heard a knock at the door. She slowly made her way down the stairs and back into the living room. She stared at the front door… she walked closer and peered out the window… no one there… “I’m going to kill David” she rolled her eyes and called her Mum. 13

“Everything okay baby!?” Her mother yelled over the music and laughter. “I can’t talk long, we’re about to start the costume contest!”14

“Yeah Mum, I just….wondered when you’d be home!” Aimee found herself shouting too, hoping her Mum would hear the slight panic still left in her voice. 15

“Oh um…. (muffled voices in the background) I…. mayb……….. row afternoon.”16

“What was that Mum…. I’m losing you…. Mum…MUM!?”17

“Okay, love you too honey…bye…” The call ended and Aimee just stood there for a moment. 18

“…Okay Hank… it’s just me and you then.” she forced out a little smirk and patted him on the head, he nosed at her palm and gave a few reassuring licks. Aimee clutched her phone tight and made her way to the couch. She quickly grabbed her pillow and blanket then ran for the stairs, before she reached the first step the light went out. Her breathing quickened, she stood still as stone. They flicked back on and before she’d mustered up the courage to move she heard a voice. Her heart dropped into her stomach, then her stomach came up into her throat…. Her skin went cold and prickly until she saw the TV, it was still on. She closed her eyes and threw back her head, breathing deep… “I think I’ve seen way too many movies…” Somehow talking out loud brought comfort. She went to the coffee table and grabbed the remote “K Hank, I think it’s time for bed.” She lifted her hand and stopped. The screen flickered a few times… in the corner it simply read ‘X’. At first she couldn’t make out the picture… the view zoomed out… it was of Aimee. She watched in horror, it was footage of her, spliced together. Scenes from the past week, her showering…in her bedroom changing, and even more frightening was her sleeping, a hand caressing from her cheek and down her neck. The fingers sliding across her chest and further down. 19

She fumbled for her phone, the screen was black…. had it gone dead? Aimee grabbed Hank and ran upstairs, locking herself in her bedroom. She flipped off the light and listened to Hank pounce around for a bit, most likely playing with a small stuffed animal on the floor. Aimee laid in bed, watching the hall light from underneath her door… waiting…expecting footsteps to cast a shadow. The sound of water dripping in her bathroom lulled her into the night, she’d drop her hand off her bed now and then, somehow Hank’s playful licks and nibbles helped keep her calm. Surely, she thought, it was David playing tricks. She’d claimed to fear nothing and David took that as a challenge. He’d easily have access to the house, could have got a key from her best friend Brittany, she caught them scheming about it a few days ago. Aimee’s eyelids grew heavy, her hand fell off the bed, a few more licks and nibbles before she fell fast asleep. 20

The sun crept through her curtains and nestled itself on her face, she jerked herself out of sleep and sat up. “…daylight” she smiled…. Somehow she felt safer… no shadows… no hiding places for David and Brittany’s idea of a joke. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her phone. It was plugged into the outlet… had she done that last night? She could hardly remember, she felt exhausted. The water drips made her acknowledge just how bad she had to go, she stumbled to the restroom, still rubbing her eyes. She pushed the door open… the color drained from her face as bile bubbled into her throat and onto the floor at such a sight. Hank’s body twitched and flinched as he hung by the tail from the shower curtain, skinned and barely alive, his blood dripped and fell to the floor. A constant drip, drip, drip… Aimee turned and staggered out of the restroom falling to the floor and reaching for her phone. Just as she’d dialed 9-1-1 she noticed her notebook open on the floor, under the edge of her bed. In what looked like still wet blood, she read it slowly, in sheer terror… “dog’s aren’t the only ones that can lick a persons hand”21