Visits from Jim

Walking the dark, rainy streets alone tonight I saw something completely out of the ordinary. It was Halloween so when I saw weird things, I assumed it was just because of what day it is. But tonight, there was a clown. Not a happy circus clown but a terrifying, sad, pale clown. He was sitting straight ahead of me on an old park bench, just staring straight ahead. Right at me. Why were the people in the park not reacting to this clown, don’t they see the danger?

I see one man, look in the direction of the clown, I thought maybe that meant that he was finally noticing him. No. The man was just pointing out cute Halloween costumes to his wife. That’s the moment I noticed the strange woman hovering around the clown. She looked as if she was somewhere between human and monster. Green/yellow skin, stringy hair, angry eyes, nothing about her looked nice or safe. But still, no one noticed them.

I realized I stopped walking, I had just been standing there, staring at the clown. Suddenly, the clown slowly began to rise from his bench. The woman followed. As they reached entrance to the park, my palms got clammy and my heart sped up. Had they noticed my staring? What was going to happen? The pair slowly approached me and I felt my breath catch. I still hadn’t moved, I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed with fear but at the same time I was filled with curiosity.

Somehow, the couple knew my name. “Hello Jamie. You need to come with us.” So I did. I was no longer in control of my actions, it was as if I was taken over. I followed them, back through the park, and we ended up in an alley. The things I see in the alley were far scarier than the clown or the woman.

In the center of the alley there was a large fire started. Old crates and boxes sat around the fire, meant to be chairs. Sitting in these chairs were seven different people. All of them were different ages, and none looked similar in any way. How did they choose us? Why did they choose us? Without thinking, I took a seat. Next to me was a young girl, probably twelve years old. She was dressed as a cat, her skin sickly white and her eyes were glowing red. I reached out to her and touched her shoulder, needing my questions to be answered. Her skin was icy cold and as I touched her she slowly turned her head, it made a creaky noise, like an old rocking chair would make. As she looked at me she whispered “Don’t touch me. Don’t speak. The quiet will keep you alive.” Her eyes went from red to solid black. As soon as she finished speaking, the clown’s partner yanked her out of her seat and threw her into the fire. No one even reacted to this. I began quietly crying but no one else seemed to notice.

            The clown stands up and announces, “My name is Jim. You are all just part of my game. Do what I say and you may live. Try to save each other and you’ll end up just like our little friend just did.” He continues to just stare at us. He makes his way around the circle, introducing all of us. He knows every detail of our lives, from the time we were born until now. That’s when I realize hes been watching us for far longer than I knew. One question I cant get rid of is, why me? What did I do to deserve this? Am I going to live?

            Jim approaches me and that’s when he bends down, inches away from my face. His cold, pale blue eyes are staring straight into mine. I can smell his breath that reeks of cigarette smoke mixed with alcohol. I notice there is blood splattered on his face and his breathing is heavy. He whispers, “This can all be over if you’d just open your eyes.” Right after he says this, his eyes go black, just like the girl that now is in the fire. Bugs start crawling out of the holes where his eyes belong. Blood is running down his face from his nose and his mouth. As he opens his mouth, nothing but a blood curdling scream escapes. He screams and screams.

            Suddenly, I feel something jerking my body. I hear a faint cry, “Jamie! Jamie! Get up!”  The screaming cuts out. I sit up in an abrupt way and look right into my mothers eyes. She’s crying and yells “Oh Jamie! It was just a bad dream! I’ve never heard you scream so loudly!”

            I hugged my mother and told her it was all okay. She leaves my room and I think all is going to okay. I rolled over to go back to sleep and right before I close my eyes, I catch a glimpse of something moving in my closet. I know I closed that door before I went to sleep, I always do. I open my eyes and that when I see him. Jim is standing in the doorway of my closet, grinning down at me.