Jim's Subway Part 6 - TRACKED

 Jim could shake the feeling that he was being tracked.
He tried talking about it to Jo, but the half living man was still trying to recover from a extremely nasty hangover so he might as well of being talking to a garbage bin.

  'I tell you Jo we are in trouble,' said Jim.

  Jim was sweating, with alcohol withdrawal but with fear.

  He had never been so scared before.

  The memory of the shadow outside was playing on his mind.

  He couldn't stop thinking about it.

  'And I got hate. mail as well,' said Jim.  'Hopefully it will stop soon and then we can get back to normal!'

  Jim shook his head he couldn't believe it.

  'I just wanted to entertain people,' he went on, 'I just wanted to make people laugh.  And now I am getting death threats!'

  Jim got another message on the computer that night.

  He was scared to read it - but he knew that he had to:

  I KNOW WHERE YOU WORK.

  Then three seconds after he had read it another message popped up.

  He did what he had to.  He clicked it open and it read:

  I WATCHED YOU WALK TO WORK LAST NIGHT.

  Jim was shaking.  

  His first course of action was to try and ignore the comments, convince him that it was nothing more than the ramblings of a very bored person sitting on the computer far away in another country.

  This way of thinking did not work for long.

  The comments continued to make chatter in his brain.

  Was someone actually watching him as he walked to work?

  The thought to something like this, some stranger spying on him, was too terrible to bear.  

  He was slowly starting to wish he had never built that darn website!

  The quest for fame and success did appear to be worth it not anymore, not when it attracted the attention of potentially crazy psychopaths!
  'It's just the internet,' Jon told him.  'My mate, who works for intel, owns a website with millions of followers and he gets sent that sort of stuff all the time, anything from dodgy links to straight up death threats.  It's just the way it goes when you put yourself out there in the view of the public!'

  "Yeah thanks for that Jon you have made me feel so much better," Jim thought.

  In fact he was hoping Jon was going to let him have the night of so he could prepare a defence strategy incase a stranger finally attacked - but his boss said no, and so Jim spent the whole night paranoid he was the centre of strange eyes.  

  He felt like he was being watched all night - and not just by his boss, but by something more sinister and more deadly.

  Jim decided he needed a drink to calm his nerves so as soon as his shift was over he sought out Jo by the subway, and grabbed himself a bottle of G-Juice.

  'I'm in trouble Jo,' he said.  'But I am not going to let it bring me down.  I won't let this destroy my dreams!  Who cares about some crazy person on the Internet!'

  The G-Juice certainly helped soothe his anxiety.  I great feeling of calm soon absorbed him.  He was very tired because he had finished a shift, and so with the help of the drink, he fell asleep, there and there, at the mouth of the train tunnel, he dropped down and lay there on the floor like a dilapidated tramp.

  Afew hours went by.  

  In that time Jim had the best dream of his life, full of flashing lights, and ribbons of colour dancing to the flow of the most remarkable music.

  And in the depths of the dream he heard a voice, and it spoke to him directly saying loud and clear:  DON'T GIVE UP!

  Gradually he awoke on the hard pavement.  He had a slight hangover but apart from that he didn't feel too bad.  

  IN fact he felt a little enlivened.  The dream had spoken to that part of him where the fire of life burns.  It had taped the organ inside his heart and now an orchestra was resounding in his body.  He felt read to go out there, grab his camera, and make new videos!

  And damn the haters!

  'This G-Juice!  It's good stuff!  I would be lost without it!' he said to Jo, as he turned away from the subway towards home.  

  That evening he received another message on his computer.

  MEET ME AT THE SUBWAY ENTRANCE 00:00 OR I WILL GET YOU

  Jim read this and was beyond scared.  

  He didn't know what to do.

  He didn't have anyone to talk to or ask for help, except Jo, who was a bad drunk, and the police, and when he talked the police they just told him to, 'Go home and keep your head down.  It will be alright.  Nothing on the internet is serious.'

  So he was totally alone in dealing with this matter.

  So it was up to him to decide whether he would go to the subway or not.

  The day was winding up, he had an hour left.

  It was decision time.

  He decided that he was going to go and meet the online stalker - or whatever he was, by the subway.

  Jim had a little bit of G-Juice left, so he drank it to still his nerves.  And then he set out.

  

  It was nighttime, and there was Jim standing before the entrance of the subway.

  He had done everything that the stalker had asked.

  There didn't seem to be anybody about, then Jim heard footsteps by the train tunnel.  He walked over to take a closer look, and he just about made out a human figure, and they were pacing back and forth in a very shifty way.

  Jim grit his teeth.

  It had to be the stalker.

  He rushed over and was about to knock the stranger to the ground with his fists and he noticed that it wa snon other than Jo!

  'You've been sending the messages?' Jim cried.  'I ought to give you a good smack for that!  I've been terrified!  What is this?  Your idea of a joke?  I thought we were friends?  Explain ourself now Jo you dumb idiot!'

  Jo was shaken.

  'I don't know about the messages,' he replied.  'It's got nothing to do with me, honest!'

  'Then why are you acting all shifty?'

  'I haven't had a drink all day and I am withdrawing badly.  I can't find any... G-Juice.'

  'Have you checked the box?'

  'I have.  Several times.  It's empty, Jim.  There is no drink inside.  This is the first time this has ever happened, and I am worried.  I need G-Juice to get me through the days.  Without G-Juice I am nothing.  I have got nothing to live for without the juice.  I can't do this Jim.  You gotta help me!'

  Then they heard what sounded like a stone being kicked at the back of the train tunnel.

  The two men looked back just in time to see a large shadowy figure move from one side of the tunnel to the other, before dissolving into the dark shadows beyond.

  It was the Tunnel Man!

  Jo and Jim were frightened and ran like fools.

  They agreed to not go back to the place not until it was morning again. 

  

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Shoes that walk on water ... So someone built this? (Rant)

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Jim's Subway Part 5 - Dumb Drunk Man gets Trolled

That night Jim had to work the shift.

  He was horribly hungover.  

  Jim was no stranger to the world of the hangover, but G-Juice hangovers were on a whole new level...

  His heart was pulsating so far it felt like it was going to burst.

  And for the first time ever his hands were shaking.

  He found it really difficult working.

  Then there were the sweats.

  He took a look at himself in the mirror, and a pale ghost with dark eyes was looking back back at him.

  "Next time I might put some G-Juice in a flask before coming to work," he said to himself.  

  He new it was illegal to drink at work but:  "The G-Juice will help me focus.  I will work better with a drink..."  And that was all the justification he needed to enable his habit.

  He undid the top buttons of his short and sat at his desk and continued to sweat like a dead pig slowly roasting on a spit.

  He had never felt more miserable in all his life.

  To think only a few seconds ago he was drink with Jo and making up all these fine plans for a video web series...

  Look at him now?

  Shaking and barely alive.

  He didn't even feel human.

  Unfortunately for Jim things were about to get worse.

  His co-worker Jon had turned up for work early, and saw the horrible state the man was in.

  He laughed because he knew what the problem was.  he had seen Jim come and go in nights passed all bleary eyed and flustered with the old evil.  But he had to admit: 'You look like hell today!'

  Jim wanted to say something sarcastic but he was too ill for that sort of business.

  He just wanted to be left alone.

  'I was wondering,' said Jim, finally finding a small amount of strength to enable him to talk, 'if I could go home early tonight.'

  'Not a chance,' Jon replied.

  'Then could you be so kind as to not talk to me for the rest of the night.  I am not good company right now.'

  'We have got a job to do.  So stop messing around.'

  'You won't be able to push me around forever,' said Jim.

  And Jon said, 'I ain't pushing no one around.'

  'You always play these damn mind games,' Jim retorted.  'I am sick of it!  But let me tell you something!  I have a plan.  And it will get me out of this infernal place, and off of this horrible shift once and for all.'

  Jon heard this and laughed.  'You talk some trash,' he said.

  'I mean it Jon,' Jim returned.  'I have got an idea.  And it will make me enough royalties to support an early retirement without the need of a damn pansion.'

  'Tell me about it.  I am interested.'

  'I am not telling you my ideas!'

  'Why not?  As far as I know you could be talking a lot of hot air.  Tel me your great idea that's going to make you the big money!'

  'Alright.  Listen to this.  I am going to start a mystery web series.  That's right.  it will go viral.  You will see.'

  Jim was surprised by Jon's reaction.  

  He was expecting the big man to laugh him off but actually Jon seemed very interested and explained that he loved computer and the internet and that he was actually really into all that kind of thing, saying it was the future of business.

Finally Job asked whether or not he had a website.

  'No yet,' Jim replied.

  'Why not?'

  'Because...  Well to be honest I don't know how to build one... not yet... but...'

  'Look here.  I have got a shortcut for you.  And it's free.  I'll introduce you to Rig the PC guy.  I met him while I worked for Intel back when I was a contractor.'

  'Right, whatever.'

  Rig got the website sorted really quickly.

  Jim had to admit he was very impressed.

  When Rig first turned up Jim rushed to the phone.  The man was huge and looked like a thug out of a 1980's gangster movie.  Jim thought he needed help from the police, and was minutes from calling when a soft voice spoke through his door, 'I am here to help!'

  Rig was actually he softest person he had met in a long time.

  Six fought tall and built like a bear, he had the personality of a teddy bear.  Jim felt that he could have bullied the big around he felt inclined to.  He met very few people in his day to day business that actually had lower self esteem than he did.  

  'I hope that this website is to your standards and to your like sir,' said Rig after the job was completed.

  'Well I will see in the next few days won't I?' Jim replied.

  'Well if it doesn't work like you want it to this is my number,' said Rig.  'I hope you will be happy with my work.  And if you decide that you are satisfied then a like on my business page would be appreciated.'

  'If I have time I will do it,' said Jim.  'Now get out!  I have work to do.'

  Jim and Jo had been working like mad with the camera.

  They already had several videos ready, and when the website was finally up and running Jim uploaded all of them.

  Tunnel Mysteries was no truly live: up and running and on the map for all the world to see!

  'Good times be these,' said Jim, rubbing his hands together.

  Later that day, with the G-Juice flowing, Jim started telling Jo about his future plans for videos.

  Jo might have actually said something, if his brain hadn't unravelled so badly before the march of the Juice.  But at that time he was a barely breathing mushy corpse of a man.

  'We are going to be famous,' said Jim.  'You will see.  Things are going to turn around for us.  Tunnel Mysteries is going to be the next big thing.  I can feel it.  We are going to make this work Jo.  And G-Juice is going to be the key.  I don't know what it is but I feel inspired whenever I drink it.  All these ideas start to grow.  These ideas grow like plants, and like trees.  Right now there is a jungle swaying to and fro inside my brain- a jungle of thoughts!  All I have to do is cut back the thicket, and root out the finest crops.  Pick the best ideas.

  'One more drink and I am done here.  I shall go home and sleep.  Rest well, Jo.  I am going to need you at your best in the morning because tomorrow we have a lot of work to do!'

  

Jim check the website before he went to bed.  There was a message waiting for him.

  He opened it.

  It was sent by anonymous and read: 

  I AM WATCHING YOU.

  Jim thought it was a joke.

  Before he went to bed he looked out of the window.

  Someone was standing by the lamplight below.

  They were standing on the opposite side of the light so the stranger was swathed in darkness.  They stood there like a statue, and to Jim it felt like they were looking up at his window.

  Jim closed the blinds and got into bed.

  'I am just being paranoid,' he said.  'No one is watching me.  I am not that interesting a person!'

  And then he remembered the website, the videos, and the email message he had just read.

  It all seemed to bleed together.

  What if someone had seen his videos and was tracking him?

  But why would anyone do that?

  Jim struggled to sleep that night, and the hangover the next day made him feel even worse.

Previous part here

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Jim's Subway Part 4 - Two Dumb Drunk Men Build A Website.

 Tunnel Man is in the shadows,

And he's watching thee...

Is he good?

is he bad?

No man knows -

For the sun does not shine in his world - 

In that tunnel where the wind whistles like the chanting of dead of souls,

Where the rats feast in the mountain of filth,

And the imagination turns to darkness.

Jim hummed this merry tune as he worked his through the old tunnel once more.

  The next day he was back at the Subway, with Jo, drinking.  

  'Yeah I like this place,' said Jim.  'I had this idea the other night.'

  The G-Juice was already buzzing around inside his brain - and the flashing lights were back in front of him and around him, and his ideas were flowing out of heart like a fiercome energy pulse propelled by the motion of an expanding star.

  'We could make movies in this place,' he was saying.  'I have got a camera.  I haven't used it in years, but I can quickly wipe the dust of it and juice it up again.  Yeah!  Movies.  Think about it Jo.  We could make a fortune!'

  'How?'

  'I was thinking about building a website on the internet.  Yeah!  Sure!  The internet is a gold mine if you know where to put your tools and dig!  We could make a fortune making videos about the Tunnel.  We could call it Shadows of the Tunnel...  No wait, that sounds rubbish.  How about: Secrets of the Tunnel!;

  'But there aren't any secrets,' Jo replied.  'It's just a dingy old train tunnel that isn't used anymore.  There is no history to the place other than it used to be used by trains.  There's never been a murder.'

  'Stop being so negative Jim!  We will just make stuff up.  We will say there was a battle fought here long ago.  We will say a coven of witches used to make spells and worship some strane god back in the day before the railway was built.  And let's not forget the Tunnel Man!  Now he is real.  You have seen him yourself.  Or did you just make that up because you were drunk?'

  'No!  The tunnel man is real alright!  I have seen him and he sent a chill down my spine!'

  'There we go!  We will make videos about the Tunnel Man!  It will be great!'

  Jim took a swig of the G-Juice.

  'That's what we will call the Website.  And we will put cameras up around the tunnel and capture the first pictures of the Tunnel Man!'

  'I don't think it will work,' said Jo.  

  Jim asked him why.

  'Well I don't think it sounds very interesting,' Jo replied.  'No one is going to want to watch videos about a haunted tunnel...'

  Jim heard his friends words and made the educated decision to ignore everything he said.

  'I think it will do well,' said Jim.  'I think we can grow and audience and make money.'

  'Art will never succeed if motivated by money,' said Jo.

  'What would you know?' said Jim.

  'Quite a lot actually,' Jo replied.  He was more drunk than Jim; had been drinking since 7am.  It was amazing that the man was still able to talk.  A testament to a resolute drunk!

  'I used to be quite rich myself,' said Jo.  'Back when I had my businesses.  I got lucky when i was young.  Inherited some money.  Bought a shop, made it work, and then another.  I was doing well.  It's so weird how the universe can turn its back on you without warning.  It's like we are dancing around puppet strings, and someone out there has total control and they can turn a switch on you whenever they feel like it, and they can make your world light and they can make it dark.  And one day that power turned the switch on me.  I bought one shop to many, overreached myself, and before I knew it I was bankrupt.  They sent the heavies round, and in one day I lost my house, the car.  The wife also walked out, taking the kids with her and the dog.  And I loved that dog.  Then the hard times started.  And that's how it has been, till I found the G-Juice.  Now my life has meaning again!'

  'I love a story with a happy ending,' said Jim.  'And the good times are about to get better!  When we start our internet business we are going to be rich!  You have get to help me Jo.  I need your help.'

  'As long as I can get drunk I'll do anything,' said Jo.

  

Jim returned the next day with his camera.

  The first day of filming seemed to go well, and Jim was certain they managed to catch a shadow moving in one of the shady corners of the tunnel.

  'I reckon this video is going to go viral,' said Jim.

  Jo might have replied, if he wasn't lying face down in the corner of the subway, intoxicated on three bottles of G-Juice.

  Jim was still sober at the time, but that was about to end.

  He pulled out his first bottle of the day.

  Time for a drink.

  Time for a celebration.

  He waved a glass to Jo.

  'Let's drink to the good times!  ANd to think it has only just begun!'

Previous part here

[This story for me is an experiment in spontaneous writing.  I am just doodling about with this one, throwing down ideas and see where it will lead me and the characters.  Scroll down to see the earlier parts of this story.  Thank you.]

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There is no such thing as time (Short film)

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Jim's Subway Part 3

'Who the hell are you?' said Jim to the shadowy figure standing in the hallway in front of him.  

  'I was going to ask the same thing,' said the shadow.  

  'I'm Jim.  I'm just walking around.  You gave me a shock!  I thought I was alone.'

  I'm Jo.  I hang out in this place.  You gave me a shock as well!'

  'So you live in this rat infested dump?'

  'I do indeed,' said Jo.  'It's not a bad place.  Keeps the rain off the head.  I like it.'

  'Why?'

  'Well I'm homeless.  Have been for five years now.'

  'Damn!  That's rough!'

  'I got used to it,' said Jo.  'Drink helps.  You can while away the time while drinking!  In fact it's not bad at all!  Don't have to work.  Don;'t have to worry about anything, no screaming kids no nagging wife.  Just me, and the world and drink.  Wonderful stuff!'

  'Well when you put it like that it doesn't sound too bad,' Jim replied.  'Yeah I can empathise with you somewhat because I like a drink to.'

  'Hey!  I found something really cool,' said Jo.  'Do you want to take a look?'

  'Why not,' Jim returned.  'I have a few hours to kill.'

  Jo told Jim to follow, and off they went, around and shady corner and down by the way of a short narrow winding stairway till the reached a basement beneath the ruin.  

  Jim would never of found the hidden cavity without Jo's help.  

  Jo knew this pale like he knew his wallet - empty through and through.

  This bag of rubble was his home.

  Jo showed Jim this rotten old wooden box.

  Jo opened the lid and there were a couple of green bottles sitting inside.

  Jo lifted up one of the bottles and screwed off the lid and showed Jim.

  Looking in there was a sickly green liquid shaking around inside the glass.

  It didn't look good!

  But darn, Jim darn had to admit, a beautiful aroma wafted from the opening - it looked bad but it smelt nice.

  So Jim asked:

  'Where did you find this stuff?'

  'O I just found it lying around,' said Jo.  'There was this box in the basement.  I found it one day while wondering about.  And I had a drink.  And then a few days latter the box was full up again - liked someone had sneaked in behind my eyes and refilled it with fresh bottles.  So I had another drink, and more bottles appeared the next day!  It's great!  I can get a drink for free!  Someone out there likes me obviously!'

  'Sounds to me like you have got it real good!'

  'These are my best days,' Jo replied.  You know I might as well have me another drink - that's the beauty of being unemployed you can drink as much as you like and don't have to worry about getting up the next day!  It's indeed a splendid arrangement.  Why not join me, Jim?  Here I will crack you a bottle open.  Take a swig of this fine stuff and it will make a new man of you!'

  Jo handed Jim a bottle.

  'What do you call it?' Jim asked.

  Jo told him Green juice, or just G Juice for short.

  'G Juice?' said Jim.  'What an imaginative name...'

  He was being sarcastic but Jo didn't get it.  

  Jo was already swigging his bottle, and blowing up more brain cells with each gulp.

  'Well I've got nothing to lose, and I don't have to start work to later so why not?  Hand us a bottle then and let's see what this G-Juice is about.'    

  So he took his first swig...

  Good gosh!

  What a moment that was for him.

  He had drank everything else, whiskey, wine, champaign, rum - you name it...

  But G-Juice... Damn!

  This new drink was something else!

  Not being a poet himself Jim struggled to find the words to describe the taste of the drink other FABULOUS!

  It was absolutely FABULOUS!

  He fell instantly in love with it.

  A feeling of pure, electrifying euphoria coursed through his whole body!  

  It was a strange emotion that filled him - something like ure happiness, but also something else - something more...

  He felt like he was connected with something, vast and pure, something he could only describe as holy.

  And with every drop he drank, the deep and more sacred that feeling grew.

  He felt like, one, important, like he finally had a purpose - the nonsense of life, the boredom, the horrible night shifts - all the arguments he had with people, it all had been a given a meaning.  He was living the struggle to life working towards that one moment:  Where he drank the G-Juice.

  And in that moment, as he drained the whole bottle, life suddenly and finally made complete and utter sense!

  He wanted another bottle.  He needed that feeling of happiness and completion to go on!

  He and Jo grabbed the contents of the box and sat outside the ruin and stared at the entrance to the train tunnel.

  And then Jo asked his new friend:

   'Ever heard of the Tunnel Man?'

  'I don't think I have,' said Jim, now thoroughly and hopelessly intoxicated with G-Juice and loving every second of it.  'You want to tell me about it?'

  'He is said to be the ghost of a giant who lurks in the train tunnel.  He's said to be over six foot tall, and many people have seen his vast shadow move between the entrance to the tunnel and the path crossing over to the subway.'

  'Have you ever seen him?'

  'I have indeed.  Twice actually.  I saw him, over there, in broad daylight, looking out over the waste.  And then he walked away.  The next time I saw him standing in the ruins.  He knew I saw him that day, and he made a quick dash for it, and vanished completely out of sight.  I went looking for him afterwards but couldn't find him anywhere.'

  'Weren't you scared.'

  'No sir.  Not me.  Because I had been drinking the old G-Juice!  Makes me as brave as a dog where the juice is flowing.'

  'I hear you and I believe you,' said Jim.  'And you say the box just refills overnight?'

  'I do indeed.  Come back tomorrow after work and you will see for yourself!  And as you go about your business keep an eye open for the Tunnel Man.  He's real, you know?  He's out there in the shadows, watching.  One day you might see him.'

  Now that was an interesting thought, said Jim to himself.  His head was currently swimming with joy - he was fully caught up in the effects of the G-Juice and now all he could see were bright little dots of light - and shimmering waves of purple foam, and translucent birds with purple wings.

  What a thing it was to be alive!

  'I will definately be back tomorrow,' said Jim.  'I think I have gotten myself a taste for G-Juice!  I think I have just discovered my new favourite liquid!  Aye indeed this is fine stuff, Jo!  I was lucky to find you.  My curiosity has paid off!  I was right to explore the tunnel.  It was my destiny to find this place!  I think good times lie ahead, Jo.  Good times indeed!'

  And then they clicked their bottles together and laugh.

Previous part here

[This story for me is an experiment in spontaneous writing.  I am just doodling about with this one, throwing down ideas and see where it will lead me and the characters.  Scroll down to see the earlier parts of this story.  Thank you.]

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Rats can high-five people (Rant)

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Jim's Subway Part 2

 

The metal railings holding the tunnel entrance could be pulled back with little effort.

  Jim slipped through and entered the gloom beyond.

  The tunnel was full of trash, and empty bottles.  The tunnel had been the haven for many dossers, the evidence for this was clear and very abundant.

  It looked a mess.

  'No train has used these rails for a long time,' Jim commented as he walked forth.

  "I am going to go to the end of the tunnel and find the hostel Greg wrote about."

  The tunnel was dark and dirty, and full of rubbish.  

  It stank as well... Very unpleasant.

  But it was the perfect place for a ghost to hide.

  And so Jim pressed on.

  He had to reveal the mystery of the tunnel!

  His footsteps echoed back and forth and all around.

  He saw a rat scuttle by - the scariest thing he had seen up until that moment.

  'Rats can attack if cornered best keep away,' he said.

  The tunnel was longer than he thought, he had to go quite a way.

  Eventually the natural light disappeared and all was darkness.  Luckily Jim had thought ahead and came ready for this: 'I imagine things are going to get dark in the old tunnel,' he said himself before he set out.  

  So he remembered to pack a torch before setting out, and it was at this moment of his adventure he switched it.

  He saw another rat scuttle off and hide under a pile of garbage.

  'What a dirty place,' he said.  'If I trip and break something I am stuck!  No one is going to find me here!  So better go careful.  I am not turning back.  I have got to find that hostel.  I just hope Greg wasn't making it all up.  I would be so angry if it all turned out to be a joke!'

  A few feet later, splashing through the mud and the garbage, and dashing by the rats, Jim was reaching the end of the tunnel.  The light of the sky was returning to him at the end of a tiny dot - eventually it opened like a cave mouth, and he was through to the other side.

  He could hear the main road to the north of him, but the highway, and the way home, was cut off by a wire fence and many yards of wild shrubbery.  If he wanted to get back to his place again his only course of action was to return back down the tunnel.

  To the left of him was a ramshackle building - it's walls were literally rotten, just a mesh of metal and sandstone.  It looked the sort of mess where you could pull out one dodgy brick and the whole structure would literally collapse.

  This had to be the hostel!

  'Well there's something I guess,' said Jim, standing there with his hands on his hips and staring at the horrid old building.  

  He felt he had to go into the place.

  It would be a wasted journey if he turned back without taking a little look around the miserable place.

  The front door would not open.  The handle had been ripped off, but if you pushed against the wood there was something blocking it from the other side.

  Probably rubble...

  'The roof has probably fallen down!' Jim said to himself.

  He had a little scout about and found a large opening, that must of been a window, and he was able to use it to gain entry of the wreck.

  But there was nothing to see on the inside - just more garbage... more rats...

  And a strange drawing on the far wall - a large spray-painting that stretched  from floor to ceiling of a green bottle with LOVE ME written on the label.

  Now what one earth could that be about?

  'There is something going on here,' he said Jim.  'I think there is some kind of message in there.  Otherwise it's just too random and out of place.'

  He loved exploring the old ruin.  

  It made him feel like what he always wanted to be - an investigator...  a detective!  

  One of those characters out of those sad dreary noir books he used to read, the sort of thing written by Swerve and Sovensky.  He was a 1920s private detective on a mission!

  ...At least in the fantasy world inside his head.

  So Jim snooped about, till he felt he had looked under every stone, and then he felt ready to head on and out, and go back home.

  And then he heard a sound...

  It was the creaking of wood and it came from the ceiling above his head.

  Something was moving up there.

  Jim had to admit he was pretty rattled by the sound.

  There was a chance that he wasn't alone on the hostel.

  So far the only living thing he had seen were rats - but what made that sound above was something larger than a rat for sure.

  Then he heard another sound.

  It was a loud moan!

  It was a human making the sound for sure.

  It couldn't of been any other animal.

  Jim started thinking - was it a ghost?

  He could only hope as much.

  Ghosts didn't frighten him.  Ghosts were just dead people.  What could dead people do?

  No.

  Dead people didn't scare him.

  But the living did.

  There was nothing more dangerous on the earth than another living man...

  A living breathing psychopath was a thousand times more terrifying to him than a shade in the dark.

  What if he was sharing is company with a loosed madman!

  It was time to get out...

  As he started to move for the exit he started to hear footsteps.

  There was someone in the building with him.

  He was certain of that now for sure.

  It was now time to put his legs into gear and make a run for it!

Previous part here

 

[I shall release the story in bits.  Thank you for reading and best wishes!]

{Scroll down for earlier parts... until I figure out how to link them altogether]

[This story for me is an experiment in spontaneous writing.  I am just doodling about with this one, throwing down ideas and see where it will lead me and the characters.  Scroll down to see the earlier parts of this story.  Thank you.]

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