Summary
It’s been one long year, and I’m proud to present Hide 2: The Midnight Man. This story takes place years after the events of the first Hide. Timmy is now a legend, and a group of young adults decide to break into the old Timmy house, looking for a good scare. They soon discover that they may be in for much more than they bargained for.
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Sound Effects provided through Storyblocks
VIDEO VERSION COMING SOON
TO READ ALONG:
Hide II – The Midnight Man
By Jeremy Jordan
It was October 2015 in Bradbury, and a group of middle school kids were looking for a good scare. As they continued on their walk through the neighborhood, a dilapidated, abandoned-looking home caught the attention of the group.
“There!” shouted one of them, stopping instantly in his tracks.
“Oh yeah, of course!” a second kid replied. “The Timmy challenge! Why didn’t I think of that? I know you’ll never do it, though, Joey. You’re a big wet pussy!”
“Why wet?” wondered Joey.
Finally, the third and final boy piped up, “What’s the Timmy challenge?”
“Are you simple, Steve? The Timmy challenge is based on the kid who did his own internet challenges. One day he was doing a creepy solo hiding ritual and disappeared. They say if you get close enough to the front window of Timmy’s old house, you can see the ghost of Timmy,” replied Joey.
“That’s pretty heavy stuff.”
“Heck yeah it is! And for some reason, David over here doesn’t think that I can pull it off.”
David shouted back playfully, “You can’t!”
“Oh yeah? Come on!” Joey responded as he motioned the group onward.
As they got closer to the house, Steve asked a question to the others, “Doesn’t someone still live here?”
Joey answered while still looking ahead, “The father died a few years back. The mom is still around, but she’ll never catch me.”
The three made their way to the curb, just outside the old house.
“Okay,” started David, “let’s see what you got.”
Joey made a small gulp and looked at his two friends one last quick second while raising his eyebrows. He took off as if someone had fired a starting gun. His two friends watched in disbelief as it looked like he was going to actually make it all the way to the front. An excited and nervous Joey began slowly extending his arm so he could touch the house and claim victory.
Before he could reach any part of it, however, the front door busted open. Out from within, emerged a disheveled, manic looking woman in her mid-60s. In her hands was a fire poker. She screamed a desperate message toward the boys, “Get the fuck out of here!”
Joey stood frozen on the lawn, while his friends stood frozen on the street, eyes as wide as they could be. It seemed like minutes until one of them finally was able to muster, “Run!”
As the three of them took off away from the house, Timmy’s mother continued to yell, “Damn you! Damn this whole ugly town!”
One year later, things had changed once again. The old house now really was abandoned. Timmy’s mother was gone. As far as everyone knew, she was still alive, just no longer a resident of Bradbury. The yard was wilder with overgrowth. There was a bit of graffiti on one of the sides of the house, and the Timmy challenge was more popular than ever.
Timmy’s disappearance had taken the internet by storm. His story was exactly the kind of tragedy that online communities loved. Many were divided on what actually happened. Some believed it was murder, while others were set on the more ghostly answers. There were reaction videos posted with people watching old Timmy challenges and reading articles. In some cases, there were entire channels made, dedicated to diving into the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of Timmy, and trying to solve them. When people looked up creepy legends, Timmy’s name was now on some of the same lists that contained the game of solo hide-and-seek which he chose all those years ago. He had finally reached legendary status.
In the same neighborhood, just a few blocks down from Timmy’s place, was the home of John. He was a lifelong Bradbury resident, as many were. He lived alone in his family’s old home and worked as a traveling salesman. Most of his dealings were in medical equipment, which he had very little passion or even knowledge about. If you were to ask him how he got involved with this path, he’d say something like, “I don’t know, man, just needed to get my old man off my back”. John was a good man, just a little bit lost. His real passion was horror. John knew Timmy’s story before it had blown up and had a name online. He was currently in his living room playing video games while in the middle of an intense conversation with his best friend Mike.
“I’m telling you, I’m so done with Detective Danger. He jumped the shark! No one wants to see some frumpy old dude running around with gray hair!” exclaimed Mike.
John retorted, “That just shows he’s got experience. He’s been through some serious shit. He’s the right man for the job! You’re ageist!”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Season 4 was the high point. After that, huge drop-off! No debate.”
John lifted his head back and let out more of his argument. “Ha! You’re fucking high!”
“Who even cares? What about the weekend? Deb is definitely in. Her mom had to back out of their weekend plans.”
John paused the game and dropped the controller into his lap.
“Oh, that’s real lovely. I’m sure she’s going to just love my suggestion.”
Mike put his controller down and leaned into his pal. “Go on.”
“Okay,” John continued, “I think it’d be a real thrill to bust into the old Timmy challenge house. Maybe we play a little game of our own?”
Mike shot back, “Allow me to ask a question that you just asked me. Are you fucking high, John? What good could possibly come from that?”
“Fun?” asked John, half-seriously.
Mike looked up in thought for a moment and responded more calmly, “I won’t lie, getting a look at that place would be pretty sick, but we’re grown adults now, with real jobs. If we get caught, how stupid is that? Plus, Deb would never go along with it.”
John picked his controller back up while still looking at Mike. He pleaded, “At least run it by her.”
Mike took John’s cue and picked up his controller, knowing that his friend had a history of trollish behavior. The game could resume at any second. He shifted a bit, continuing to sit on the idea, before speaking again, “I don’t know. I told you, it’s not like I’m so sure I wanna even go.”
“Oh, stop!” John unpaused the game. “You wanna go!”
Mike shook his head and said no more on the subject. The rest of the night consisted of a few more rounds of video games, and nearly one more for good measure, until Mike looked down at his phone and noticed the time.
“Oh shit, I should get going.”
As Mike was making his way out the door, John quickly let out, “Don’t forget to run it by her!”
The next morning, Mike would try his best to do just that. Mike’s wife, Deb, loved her morning coffee. She often sat with the coffee and just looked out the window, watching birds land on their Bradbury Bulldogs lawn flag. Mostly, she’d just think about what the day may have in store, or if they were about to run out of avocados. Mike wasn’t really sure if such a serene moment would be good for dropping such a ridiculous suggestion, but he decided to go for it.
Deb sat in her usual position at the table, gazing out at the wonders of Bradbury. Mike stood at the sink, in the opposite direction. He continued to scrub a dirty plate while he took a deep breath.
After putting the overly scrubbed plate aside, he went for it, back still turned.
“John and I discussed some potential weekend plans last night.”
Deb took a slow sip, then replied, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, and the topic of the old Timmy challenge house came up.” Mike turned around and looked at his wife, who was still looking out the window.
Deb let out a small laugh before responding, “Oh, that’s got John written all over it! Please tell me you shut it down and told him how insane he sounds!”
“Well…” Mike started.
“Well? Well, what, Mike? This was a real family involved in a real tragedy. And we are going to do what? Go exploring?”
“He wants to get a group together and play a game called The Midnight Man.”
Deb put her coffee down and now looked over at her husband with attentive eyes. “I thought we were past the part of our lives where we broke into haunted houses for fun.”
“That’s the very reason why we should! I don’t want to be some bland old adult! Besides, it could be like the time when we were first dating and went to that old haunted cemetery. The ultimate mix of spooky and sexy!”
Deb playfully rolled her eyes and looked back out the window for a bit, while smiling slightly. She did think fondly of those early dating memories. There was a great comfort found in the way Mike led them through the darkness. Even if it seemed that his confidence was waning at times. That, mixed with a general interest in spooky things, made for a wonderful mix of unforgettable, cherished memories. New cherished memories could be nice, she thought.
“I’ll think about it,” Deb said, though her mind was already filled with thoughts of the cemetery.
“I’ll take that,” replied Mike.
It took a day of work and a dinner conversation before Deb decided to tell Mike that she was in. However, she had conditions. She wanted everyone to remain as respectful as possible. The group was not to touch anything or generally get too rowdy. If anything crazy happened, she made it very clear that she’d be out. Mike agreed. He did not know who else exactly John was planning on inviting, but still felt pretty good about the terms presented. Just how crazy could it get?
The next Saturday evening, it was on. John drove along the festive suburban streets on the way to pick up his old friend Corey. He wasn’t sure how this would go down. Corey could be a bit much at times. He was often the tag-along friend who didn’t always have the greatest self-awareness. Corey was like an annoying mosquito, but he was John’s mosquito. They had known each other for a long time, and John felt a strong sense of loyalty to his pal.
John pulled into the driveway of the home that Corey was renting, and lightly pressed his horn a couple of times. After a few seconds, an excited, wide-smiling Corey appeared out the front and made his way into the car.
“Happy Halloween, mother fucker!” exclaimed Corey, while holding up his hand for a high five.
John completed the high five while responding, “What’s up, Corey? No decorations this year?”
As the conversation continued, John began to pull out and start driving.
“No, no decor this year. My landlord is being a total ass clown. I know someone who will be getting quite the trick this year.”
“What are you going to do?” John wondered.
“For legal reasons, I shouldn’t say.”
John shook his head and continued with the conversation. The last remaining costumed children that roamed the sidewalks, combined with the chill in the air, brought John back to a more magical and innocent time. Halloween used to be such a big deal. The candy, the scary movies, haunted houses; John loved it all. With each passing year, however, it seemed that things were changing. He often wondered if it was his problem or Bradbury’s. Either way, he was not about to give up hope in trying to reignite that spark.
When arranging the plans for the night, John told the group to meet and park a few blocks over from the challenge house so they wouldn’t look too suspicious. As he approached the street, he could already see a vehicle waiting.
Corey also took notice of the vehicle and asked John, “Who’s all coming tonight?”
“Mike and Deb, of course. And in that fancy car right there is Edward Stoneworth and his new fling.”
“Stoneworth?”
“Yeah, but he’s probably the most down-to-earth Stoneworth there ever was.”
John pulled his car off to the side, behind Edward’s car. Before exiting the vehicle, Corey reached into his pocket and pulled out a small baggie. He pulled out a single orange gummy candy, while motioning the bag toward John. “Weed gummy?”
“Call me a wet blanket, but I don’t really wanna be high while attempting to sneak into an abandoned house.”
“Suit yourself.”
Corey popped both his and John’s gummies into his mouth and then put the bag back into his pocket. The two then proceeded to leave the car and were immediately greeted by Edward. He stood confidently, head to toe in name-brand apparel. By his side was a blonde in her early 20s. She seemed a bit unsure of what she might be in for.
Edward stepped forward, extending his hand to John for a shake. “Gentlemen!”
John reciprocated, and Edward then made his way towards Corey. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Edward Stoneworth. You are?”
“Corey.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Corey. And guys, this is Wendy.”
Edward motioned across Wendy as if he were Vanna White revealing a letter.
Shortly after the introductions, Mike and Deb pulled up behind John’s car and joined the others. They were already very aware of Corey, had met Edward a couple of times, and unsurprisingly, did not know Wendy.
“Guys! What’s up?” John was the first of the group to notice their arrival.
Edward chimed in next, “Guys, this is Wendy.”
Wendy gave a small wave while being waved at and showcased once again.
Deb gave a small wave back toward Edward and Wendy as Mike’s attention shifted to Corey. He was fiddling around in his pocket, lost in his own world.
“Corey,” said Mike.
Corey snapped to attention. “Michael.”
He then proceeded to pull the bag of gummies out of his pocket. He palmed the baggie and motioned it toward the group. “Now that we’re all here, who wants an edible? John’s being a little bitch, but how bout’ anyone else? I know the Stoneworths know how to party!”
John stared daggers into Corey. Edward and Wendy looked on with confusion, while Mike and Deb were used to it at this point.
John took a step toward Corey. “Nobody wants any weed, ya dingus. Come on, we’ve got a creepy house to get to.”
Corey, unfazed, raised his eyebrows. “See what I mean?”
Mike changed the subject quickly. “Can we go over the plan again real quick?”
John stepped a bit closer while a defeated Corey stuffed the bag back into his pocket. The others followed John’s lead and got in closer for a huddle.
“We walk over to the house, get situated across the street to scope things out, and once things are clear, I’ll run up and look for an entrance. Once I’m inside, I’ll send a text. Simple.”
“Works for me,” said Mike.
The group started the walk towards the house. The moon shone bright as the last of the trick-or-treaters walked down the sidewalks with engorged pillowcases and pumpkin buckets. In a few minutes, Bradbury would become a ghost town. Few dared to stay outside in Bradbury after a certain time. Those who were would likely not be a bother to them.
When they arrived, the group posted up across from their objective and collectively observed.
“Well, go on, John,” began Corey, “You aren’t scared, are you?”
Without a word, John rolled his eyes and proceeded forward toward the house. The rest of the group decided to keep moving around the block so as not to look too suspicious. John continued on, constantly looking in both directions to make sure nobody was around. Although the challenges had started to slow down, the neighborhood was still pretty vigilant. The property was an overgrown mess. A stack of pallets and other various junk lined one side of the house, making that route nearly impossible to navigate. The house itself was very trashed from time and vandals. John found it hard to imagine that not that long ago, this was just a normal suburban family home. In a way, Corey was right, he thought. He was pretty damn scared, but who wouldn’t be?
John skipped right past the front door and made his way to the side that was clear of debris. He first checked the main windows. One was cracked, and they all desperately needed cleaning, but they were still all intact. Next, he made his way toward the back patio. He tugged at the sliding glass door. No luck. He scanned the property, starting to wonder if this was a stupid idea. He checked under things and in various nooks and crannies for a key, but came up with nothing. Just as he was about to head back, a small basement window caught his eye. It was partially covered by a pallet and an old tire. There was no glass, and a screen that clearly had already been pushed in by somebody before. John and the group had their in.
Meanwhile, the others continued to walk around the block. Mike and Deb led the charge while Corey walked in the center, chatting with Edward and Wendy.
“Okay guys, fuck one, marry one, kill one: cereal edition.”
Edward sighed, “Cereal mascots? We are not entertaining that.”
“Mascots? No, I’m talking cereals, bitch! Which one you wanna bang?”
“We are really not entertaining that!”
At that moment, Mike received the text from John, like a life preserver being tossed out.
Mike looked down at his phone, then up at the group. “He’s in. Let’s go.”
Back at the house, John was still making his way through the basement. The first room he found himself in was a laundry room. It was damp and had the odor of a wet dog. There were clothes piled up on the floor in a chaotic, stinky mess. The first thing John did was send off the text to Mike. He did not want to spend any more time alone in the house than he had to. After firing off the message, John proceeded carefully to the next room. It appeared to be a rec room of some sort. The corner of the room had a pool table with more clothes piled up on top of it. On one of the walls, there was an old, thick plasma screen TV with a thick layer of dust. The couch was covered as if it was getting ready to be moved out. Next to the couch was a garbage bin filled to the brim with tissues, wrappers, and cans of diet soda. On the ground, in a small pile, John noticed a collection of beer cans and cigarettes. There had definitely been others here before. There was another room off the TV side of the rec room, and a set of stairs leading up to the main part of the house. John peered into the room. It appeared to be a workshop. Through the dark, he could make out the shapes of some tools and a work table.
“Fuck this,” John muttered to himself, and briskly made his way up the stairs.
The steps led up to a kitchen. There was an island in the center with two chairs stacked up on top of it. All of the appliances were unplugged and had seen far better days. Upon scanning the floor, he could see lots of various crumbs and mouse droppings. Next to the kitchen, at the front of the house was a dining room. It had an old china cabinet and a large wooden table in the center. This would be an excellent spot for setting up the game, he thought.
John stared at and studied the table intensely, getting lost in the moment. Suddenly, some knocks at the front door. His friends had arrived; at least, he had hoped it was them.
The dining room had a main front entrance on the north wall and a garage going off of one of the side walls. Just before the main door, there was a tall aluminum storage bin tightly packed with two umbrellas, a cane, one of those grabbers for picking up trash or dog waste, and an old fire poker. John approached the front door with caution. The glass of the window was dirty, but he could still make out what looked to be the bodies of multiple figures on the front stoop. John quickly unlatched the door and waved everyone in.
“Come on! Hurry up!”
They all made their way inside and surrounded the table. John continued to wave everyone along, ensuring all were accounted for, then quickly moved away and slammed the door shut. John then joined the group around the table. He held his arms out while slowly scanning expressions.
“Well, what do you think?”
Mike studied the dining room while giving John a reply, “I thought it’d be a little more creepy than this.”
John raised a brow. “You should see the basement! Also, it’ll get much creepier once we start the game.”
Deb was also studying the room during this time. She wondered what she’d gotten herself into, and how long it’d be before someone broke her guidelines. She looked over at Wendy. She had a look of “I’m also wondering what the hell I got myself into” mixed with some general discomfort.
“Hey Wendy,” Deb stated, “Do you wanna have a look around with me while these knuckleheads set up the game?”
Wendy nodded with a slight smile.
The two of them made their way out of the dining room and entered the main hallway. Family photos and Timmy’s school photos lined the dingy walls. The first room off to the left of the hall was an office. Across from the office was the bathroom where Timmy performed the ritual with the bear. At the end of the hallway, off to the left, was Timmy’s room. Across from that was his parents’ room. They first decided to enter the office.
It was in a rather normal shape, aside from a few messy stacks of paper and an overflowing wastebasket. They scanned various areas of the room while Deb attempted to break the ice.
“So, Edward dragged you into this?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Not really my scene, though I’m not so sure this is really Edward’s scene either.”
“Stoneworths usually do have better things to do with their weekends, but Edward is a little different. He can be a little out of touch at times, but he’s normal. Pretty rare outcome with all that family money, I feel.”
“I don’t really know much about the Stoneworths, but I would agree. He’s normal. Beyond normal. He is a sweetheart.”
Deb nodded and smiled, “How’d you guys meet?”
“Well, I was selling candles at the Bradbury farmer’s market, Edward came up to introduce himself, and that was that. We really hit it off.”
“A farmer’s market? That’s wholesome as heck. Good for the both of you, and selfishly, good for me for not having to be the only lady in this group.”
Wendy agreed, “Yeah, I’m thankful for that too!”
The two of them continued scanning items in the room in silence, eventually reaching a standstill. Aside from the eeriness of being in the abandoned house, the room seemed like just a room.
Deb spoke up once more, “Not that I want to find anything creepy, but this office looks like just an office. I’m fine to move on and check out another room if you are.”
“Sounds good,” said Wendy.
Meanwhile, back in the dining room, John was reading his phone and prepping for the game. He took off his backpack, opened it, and grabbed the items for the game. There was a candle, a container of salt with small baggies for everyone to have some, matches, and a pencil and paper.
The others watched on, looking a bit puzzled. The most confused of them was Edward.
“Can you explain this again? We’re going to be playing a game?”
Without looking up from his prep, John started explaining, “More like a ritual. We’re all going to attempt to summon the Midnight Man. I’ll explain a little more when we are all back together, but basically, we’re each gonna get a candle and a bag of salt. If that candle goes out and you struggle to get it lit quickly, I’d suggest you make yourself a damn good circle of salt.”
Edward’s confused expression only slightly lifted. “You really think there could be a Midnight Man?”
John set his backpack on the ground and finally looked up at Edward. “Maybe, maybe not. Why not have a little fun and try to find out, right? I mean, what an exciting place to do it in. Timmy performed a ritual not unlike this, and we know how that turned out.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Oh, please! It’s a creepy house, and a cool environment for the activity, but Timmy did not get murdered by a spirit or a possessed stuffed animal. Personally, I don’t know what happened. He probably just ran away from home. His folks seemed nuts.”
John shook his head and attempted to rebut his pal, “You’re crazy! He had a normal life and was a big internet celebrity. He wouldn’t have just run away.”
“What? Were you his personal fucking therapist or something? How would you know what he was feeling?” Mike snapped back.
“Don’t act like weird stuff doesn’t happen in this town. Would a solo hide-and-seek challenge gone wrong be that abnormal?”
Mike had no more to say. John was right. Bradbury was weird, and he’d be lying if he were to say he’d never seen anything strange while out on a night walk. The truth was, Mike was half-right about the circumstances surrounding Timmy’s tragedy. He was not killed by a spirit or a stuffed bear. He wasn’t killed at all, nor ran from home. Timmy was trapped in the spirit realm. The house became his prison. He was forced to helplessly watch people around him worry, and the world change. Currently, he was standing by the island in the kitchen, watching and listening to John and his pals.
Corey picked up one of the candles from the table. “Well, I know one thing: if a midnight man tries to come after me, this candle is going right up his ass! Oh, and this is totally unrelated, but Mike, your wife is a babe. Seriously, congrats, man.”
Mike shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Uh, thanks?”
John immediately shot those familiar daggers at his friend Corey. “Dude, chill.”
Corey held out his arms dramatically. “What? Am I wrong?”
Back in the hallway, Deb and Wendy were making their way to the next area: Timmy’s room. Deb led the way slowly through the already open door. Once they both passed through and fully entered the room, something changed.
“You feel that?” Deb wondered
“Oh, good. So, I’m not the only one who’s totally freezing all of a sudden?” Wendy replied.
There was a dramatic temperature change, but that wasn’t all. They both didn’t want to mention the new feelings of dread because it was uncomfortable, and also just hard to describe. However, they pressed on and scanned this room in their discomfort. The place was practically untouched since the incident. Timmy’s bed was an unmade mess. His closet was still in disorder from the game. Just outside the closet, in the position, was Sir Bearington. The bear caught Deb’s attention immediately. She knew exactly what she was looking at and was in utter shock. She remained silent, not knowing how into the story Wendy was, and didn’t want to freak her out.
“I think I’m ready to go back,” said Wendy.
“Sounds good.”
The two of them exited the room and felt the atmosphere shift immediately back to normal. When they arrived at the dining room, John was in the middle of handing out candles.
“You’re just in time! I was just passing out supplies for the ritual. So, as I explained to these guys earlier, we’re each going to have a candle, a piece of paper, and a small baggie of salt. We will each write our names on the paper, prick our fingers to provide a drop of blood, and then we will invite the Midnight Man inside by knocking on the door 21 times.”
Deb jumped in quickly, “22 times.”
“Huh?”
“I, uh, I think I remember reading somewhere that it was 22.”
John grabbed his phone and did some fast research while the group sat in silence.
“Oh, what do you know, 22 it is. So, 22 times for each of us when the clock strikes midnight, and that should do it. Also, I can’t stress this enough; keep the salt handy, and keep moving! If you idle too long, he could get you. If your light goes out, you start to panic, and you can’t relight your candle, you need to grab the salt and make a circle around yourself. At 3:33, the game ends. If you have circled yourself, you’re free to leave.”
Mike and Deb already knew what they were in for; Corey was usually down for anything, while Edward and Wendy had their reservations.
Edward spoke up, “I don’t know. This all seems too crazy.”
John reached over and gently grasped Edward’s shoulder for a quick moment. “I know it’s not a yacht party or wine tasting event, but we’ll have some fun. If there’s no Midnight Man, oh well, we had a night of bonding. If there is a Midnight Man? Holy shit! How cool will that be?”
Edward looked at Wendy for a moment, then back to John with a shoulder shrug. “I think we’ve got different definitions of cool, but fine, whatever. We’re in.”
He shot Wendy one more look to reaffirm. “We are in, right, Wendy?”
Wendy processed Edward’s words and replied with a not-so-confident-sounding, “Sure.”
“Great!” exclaimed John.
At this point, it was now 11:45. It was time to make the final preparations. Each person passed the salt around to pour into their baggies. John laid out a candle for everyone, along with a book of matches. The final step before the invite was for everyone to write their name on a piece of paper, prick themselves, and apply a drop of blood to the paper.
John pulled out a small pin from the bag and addressed the others. “Some of you already know what’s coming next. As for the rest of you, well, I’ll just come right out and say it. We each need a drop of blood to apply to our name papers.”
“You conveniently left that part out,” said Edward, with a disgusted look on his face.
John brought one hand to his chin and pretended to think. “Hm. I guess I did, didn’t I? Well, you’re already here. May as well go all the way now. Sneaking into an abandoned building is way more difficult than pricking your finger.”
The group got up and surrounded the front door of the house, each with paper in hand. John was the first to take a turn. He made a quick prick, dabbed his drop of blood, and passed the pin down the line to Mike. “See? Nothing to it.”
The sequence continued smoothly until it got to the final couple, Edward and Wendy. Edward held the pin and examined it, as if it had the clues to a riddle he was trying to solve.
“Come on! Clocks ticking!” John exclaimed.
Edward took a slight breath and proceeded to prick his finger. He then handed the pin quickly over to Wendy. She was still unsure, but did not want to meet the ire of John. With a swift and tiny prick, then a dab, that was that.
Wendy set the pin down, and they placed their name cards down onto the ground. The final step was to knock on the door.
John made a fist and moved it towards the door. “Okay. Consider this your official invite, Mr. Midnight Man.”
John knocked 22 strong, deliberate knocks, followed by the rest of the members of the group. After the final knock, the ritual was complete.
The first thing that everyone was supposed to do was light a candle and be sure it did not go out.
Once this task was completed, John walked to the front of the dining room to deliver another address. “Everyone lit? Good. Remember, stay lit and keep moving.”
Edward chimed in from the back, “Is this all necessary?”
John shrugged. “Do you wanna be the one to find out what happens when the rules are broken? You wanna take that risk, hot shot?”
Timmy continued to observe from the kitchen. He had seen many people attempt the ‘Timmy Challenge’, but never anyone brave enough to actually come upstairs and investigate. He did not like it. This was his home and, despite the circumstances, he wanted to do everything in his power to continue keeping it that way.
John made his way to the kitchen, unknowingly passing mere feet from Timmy. “Since we gotta keep moving, we may as well explore a bit. Anything cool down the hall?”
“A boring office and a terrifying bedroom,” replied Deb.
“Terrifying bedroom, you say? I didn’t come all this way to not check out a creepy bedroom. Especially if I think what happened in there really happened in there.”
The group of friends continued to slowly shuffle their feet, pacing around the dining room table, then the kitchen island.
Mike chimed in, “I really don’t know about that, but sure, whatever. Lead the way.”
John moved from the kitchen to the dining room, then into the hallway. Everyone else continued to snake around in that direction as well, in a nearly single-file line. Mike was behind John, followed by Deb and Wendy. Next was Edward, cautiously trailing them. Last was Corey, who was still mostly in his own world.
“Before we walk through that doorway, I want you to take note of the temperature right now,” advised Deb.
Mike rolled his eyes. “Not you too.”
“I know it sounds strange, but when I went in there earlier with Wendy…well, let’s just say, it was weird.”
A distracted Corey changed the subject. “You guys think there’s anything valuable in there? Old comics? Maybe some Pokémon cards?”
“We aren’t taking shit!” yelled John.
“What if they’re base set holos?”
“Nothing!”
John approached the door of Timmy’s bedroom and quickly psyched himself up before proceeding. One by one, each member of the group spilled into the room and created a semi-circle. Not far behind was Timmy. His attention was piqued, and he was going to make sure his bedroom stayed just as it should be.
John noticed the temperature change instantly. A chill ran down his spine. “Holy shit! You were right, Deb.”
Mike wanted to remain rational, but he couldn’t deny it either. He had felt significantly colder. Like Deb, he also noticed the bear on the floor and knew exactly what he was looking at.
The others noticed the change, but remained quiet, just observing.
John was the next person to discover Sir Bearington. “No fucking way. Is that?”
“Is it what, John?” Edward wondered.
“The bear! That’s the fucking bear from the challenge!”
Corey’s eyes widened. He shuffled over to it’s stuffed, lifeless body. “For real?”
The rest of the group continued to shimmy around for a while; Mike joined in. “We don’t know that for sure. Could be any random toy. Someone could have planted that in here as a gag.”
“Come on!” John began, “It’s a damn bear with what definitely looks like an amateur sewing job. Just like the challenge described!”
“Definitely,” agreed Corey.
He was now holding the bear and inspecting it with the light of his candle.
“Put that down!” John yelled.
“Relax!” insisted Corey.
He ended his inspection and grabbed the bear from the back. He turned it toward the group and began to animate it, as if he were manipulating a puppet. “Oooo, I’m trapped in this spooky bear. Help me, John!”
Corey then tossed the bear in John’s general direction. Timmy stood frozen, with his mouth agape. Breaking in was one thing, but seeing his beloved toy get man-handled by this weirdo pushed him over the edge.
John’s face twisted as he shuffled closer to Corey. “Fuck off, man! This is serious. If you touch anything else, I’ll-”
“You’ll what?”
Before John could continue, he was interrupted by the sounds of banging from the hallway walls. Timmy had stormed out of the room screaming. He banged the walls in a fit of rage. He saw red.
The room froze for a moment, all nearly forgetting that they must keep moving. Wendy inched closer to Edward and looked to him with concern.
“What the hell was that?” Edward questioned.
John proposed his theory, “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was the Midnight Man.”
Mike pushed back, “Come on, man!”
“Come on, what? What do you think it is then?”
Suddenly, Wendy snapped. “Forget this! I don’t want to do this anymore!”
In an instant, she bolted out of the room, down the hallway past Timmy, and toward the front door. Timmy took notice and felt something intense come over him. He took off after Wendy and saw immediately what her intentions were. They all wanted to break in so badly, he thought. He was not about to let anybody off the hook that easily now, but also had no real plan. As she entered the dining room, Timmy threw an evil look toward the wooden front door. He swung it open, revealing a large opening to freedom, just feet from her. With another impulsive thought, he slammed it closed swiftly, before Wendy could fully react and slow down.
Instead of a daring escape, Wendy slammed face first into the door. From the force of the impact, she stumbled backwards and, in one fast motion, fell directly toward the aluminum storage behind her and onto the fire poker, gruesomely impaling herself fully from back to chest.
Timmy stood frozen in complete shock, staring at the disturbing image of Wendy’s lifeless body. Suddenly, his rage had turned into something completely different. He could not stop staring at the scene in front of him. It was just supposed to be a little scare, he thought. They didn’t belong here.
Back in Timmy’s room, Edward let out an indecipherable shout and trailed after Wendy. The others looked at one another, unsure of how to proceed. Edward tore through the hallway, making his way into the dining room. As he crossed fully into the room, it was too late. Unbeknownst to him, Timmy stood right next to Edward. Like Timmy, Edward could not move or look away. It was supposed to be a creepy night out, he thought. The only danger he could have ever imagined was possibly getting caught by the cops, certainly not this.
The remaining friends shuffled down the hallway and eventually arrived at the disturbing scene.
“What the fuck?!” shouted Mike.
Deb’s eyes widened as she started towards the side garage exit. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here!”
“What about the game?” John questioned.
Deb grabbed the handle of the door. “Fuck the game! Someone is dead! The game’s over!”
During all the new commotion, Timmy had redirected his focus to the new potential escapee. He was now staring at Deb and the other door. Deb tugged and tugged with all of her might, but it would not budge. A single tear started to roll down her face. “What the fuck?”
“I hate being right in this instance, but it seems like the game is not over. In fact, I think it’s just ramping up,” stated John solemnly.
Deb begged, “John. Enough is enough. There’s a dead fucking body over there!”
“It’s not me! This is the ritual; we’re in it. There’s no escape until 3:33, and Edward, you need to circle yourself with salt now!”
While still staring at the horrific scene, Edward grabbed his salt baggie with one hand, made a low-effort circle around himself with it, and threw the baggie to the ground.
Corey shook his head rapidly. “No, no, no! That’s bullshit. If anything, it’s probably Timmy doing all this.”
He turned and looked around various areas of the house, and at one point, made direct eye contact with Timmy.
“Let us out of here! You hear me, you fuck? You hear me?!”
Timmy could hear him, and had been paying attention the entire time. Corey’s words struck him once again, and Timmy turned from horrified, back to angry. He glared an evil stare at Corey.
Deb wiped her face and assessed the situation around her. After a brief moment, she took off down the hallway toward Timmy’s room without a word.
Mike, who had been trying to comfort Edward, took notice. He followed quickly after his distraught wife.
John took notice next. “Guys! The last thing we want to do is split up!”
Corey and John walked after them while Edward remained frozen in his circle. Timmy’s rage bubbled. He followed them all close to see what their next move may be.
Mike continued to trail Deb into the room while calling out to her. “Deb? Deb, come on, wait up!”
Deb paused and pivoted quickly to Mike. “I just need to be left alone for a bit.”
The others, including Timmy, piled into the room behind Mike.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” stated John.
Deb rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly. “What do you know?”
“More than you!” snapped John.
“Don’t be so sure.”
Mike held out his hands, trying to play mediator. “Just hold on, guys. We need a plan. There has to be another way out of here. Let’s go back through the basement.”
John shot back, “Oh, what, so we can get pushed down the stairs by this fucking guy? He obviously doesn’t want us to try and escape. We just have to survive.”
Corey’s eyes darted around the bedroom, then back to the group. “What the hell are we doing back in this dead kid’s bedroom?”
Timmy glared at Corey.
All of a sudden, from one of the shelves, an old toy microphone recorder powered on and played back a familiar recording: “Oh, and this is totally unrelated, but Mike, your wife is a babe. Seriously, congrats, man.”
The group snapped to attention and continued to listen.
“Uh, thanks.”
With that, the recording stopped as Timmy inched out of the bedroom and back into the hallway to watch the show.
Corey looked around nervously. “Ha. Um, what the hell was that?”
Deb shot back, “Yeah, what the hell was that?”
However, it wasn’t Corey that she was addressing; it was Mike.
Mike deflected, “Why not ask the weirdo who said it?”
“Because,” Deb started, “I’m asking you. You just sat there and let it happen. How about you stand up for me, Mike?”
Mike shook his head. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion. It was a stupid comment.”
Deb started heading for the bedroom door. “I don’t think I am.”
“Where are you going?”
“I just need some space. Don’t follow me! Please.”
“Wait! What about the Midnight Man?” wondered John desperately.
Without another word, Deb fully exited the room and headed down the hall.
Timmy wondered what might happen next, and who he should follow. He felt a mix of many things, and thought maybe he needed a bit of space too. He took off down the hallway, back toward the kitchen.
Mike turned his attention towards Corey. He pointed with a menacing shout, “You!”
Corey’s back straightened, and his eyes widened.
Mike continued, “This is all your fucking fault! Why the fuck do you have to be such a fucking weirdo?”
Mike inched closer while curling his free hand into a fist.
John held out his arms now and took over the role of mediator. “Whoa, whoa. Let’s just chill out here. Corey was so obviously wrong, but-”
Mike now turned his attention to John, keeping his fist clenched. “But, what?”
John took a step back, almost regretting opening his mouth. He proceeded with a quiet, nervous energy. “But Deb does have a bit of a point. Right?”
Meanwhile, back in the hallway, Timmy made his way to the dining room. He once again gazed at the scene of Edward and the body. Dark thoughts raced through his head as it began to ache. He stood in place, bent over, and clutched his head. The fine china in the china cabinet began to shake.
Edward snapped out of his trance and looked in the direction of the cabinet. He grew a curious look on his face, trying to make sense of what he was witnessing.
He shouted in the direction of the kitchen, “Is that you? Did you fucking do this?”
The cabinet now started to shake violently. Edward turned and started making slow steps around the table and toward the cabinet.
Back in Timmy’s room, John and Mike’s bickering continued.
“Oh, not you too! I think you’ve been possessed by the fucking Midnight Man!”
John bypassed Mike’s jab. “And why not just apologize? How fucking hard is that?”
Mike moved away from Corey and closer to John. He eased up a bit of his tension and began to speak in an eerily calm tone, “John, I love you like a brother, but I want to punch you in the face right now.”
John pleaded, “It’s been a long night; can we just reset? We can-”
He paused and looked down at Mike’s candle in horror.
Mike tilted his head in slight confusion. “What? What’s your problem?”
“Mike, your candle is out.”
“Oh, for God’s sake! The Midnight Man ain’t real!”
“You don’t know that! Didn’t enough weird shit happen tonight to convince you that something could be going on here?”
“No! I am convinced that I’m surrounded by a bunch of maniacs, though.”
“What about Wendy, though?”
John’s face twisted as he had reminded himself of that fact too. “Oh God, what about Wendy? And Edward?”
All of a sudden, a loud crash was heard from the other room. The three of them stopped what they were doing and rushed to the door.
“Edward!” John shouted.
He ran down the hall, followed by Corey, then Mike.
As they approached the dining room, they were met with another awful scene. Edward had been completely crushed by a large china cabinet. All they could observe of him was a thick pool of blood coming from one of the sides of the downed cabinet.
Deb was the last to arrive and observe the incident. Everyone looked in shock. Not a word was spoken for what felt like minutes.
Finally, Mike looked over at Deb with a sincerity that had not been seen all night. He spoke softly, “I’m sorry. Really, I’d do it differently if I could go back. Deb, I love you.”
Deb said nothing, but reached her hand over to Mike’s hand and held it gently.
Corey looked on. He had very much sobered up and was no longer joking. “What are we going to do now?”
John spoke, “We gotta relight Mike’s candle and pray to God that we make it to 3:33. Then, we’re getting out of here. Let’s gather any protection from around here that we possibly can.”
He frantically moved towards the kitchen, before being held up by Deb. “John, wait. It’s not the Midnight Man!”
“Are we still doing this? Come on!”
“I believe it’s still an entity, but it’s not what you think. Guys, it’s Timmy.”
“Huh?” Mike raised an eyebrow.
“Think about it. Weird stuff didn’t start happening until we invaded his private space and started making jokes. We hardly even followed the rules of the game. We often paused our movement, and Mike’s candle has been out how long now? We should all be goners according to the rules, but we aren’t because Timmy is the one pulling the strings.”
Corey started nervously pacing the dining room floor. “There’s no way! If that’s true, we are fucked. We’re fucked anyway! If we make it out of here, what about the bodies? I had my whole life ahead of me, man!”
“Corey, shut the fuck up!” yelled John.
He turned to Deb and spoke in a much calmer tone, “If that’s true, what do you think we should do?”
“Apologize,” replied Deb.
“Great idea. You start, Corey!” suggested Mike.
“Why? Because he can’t take a joke?” asked Corey.
“My God! You deserve whatever may come your way with that attitude. I’ll go first,” said John.
He cleared his throat and scanned various areas of the house, looking for any signs of Timmy so he could properly address him. He saw no signs, but did have a sense that Deb was onto something, and that Timmy was around somewhere.
“Timmy,” John began, “I’m really sorry. Since I can remember, I’ve been interested in horror stories. I got so wrapped up in the story that I never thought about how it may affect the real people involved. I don’t know what happened, and it’s not fair for me to pretend like I did. You didn’t deserve all that suffering. I know you are, or were, just a scared kid. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to have witnessed all of the events, not being able to do anything about it. That…really sucks. I’m sorry. We all are.”
The room stayed quiet for a moment before Corey finally decided to break the silence. “Okay, great. Can we go now?”
John rolled his eyes and made his way over to the garage door. He slowly reached his hand to the knob and gave it a shot. To his shock and relief, it turned. John turned back to the inside of the house. “Thank you.”
John exited fully, followed by Mike and Deb. Just before Corey was able to make it through, the door slammed shut violently in front of him. He reached over to the knob and yanked hard, but the door wouldn’t budge.
“Hey!”
He tugged harder as he could hear the muffled voices of the others coming from the other side.
“Hey! Let me the fuck out of here! What do you want?”
He continued to yank at the door and started to hyperventilate.
“You’ve gotta let me out. Please!”
After one exhausting minute, Corey stopped trying the door, backed up to it instead, and started sobbing.
“Please. I’m sorry for the jokes. I’m sorry that I grabbed your bear. I don’t want to die here.”
Corey sat for a few moments with his despair, until suddenly, the knob on the door turned. He shot up and turned toward it. After wiping his face, he addressed Timmy one last time, “Thank you.”
When Corey exited into the garage, the others were still waiting anxiously on the other side.
“Corey!” shouted John.
Corey let out a sigh and hugged John. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”
The group began to walk together out of the garage and into the street to start their walk back to the cars.
Before reaching their destinations, Mike turned to Corey. “I hope you learned something tonight.”
“I hope you learned something, douche bag!” Corey shouted.
John made a ‘simmer down’ motion with his hands. “Guys!”
Deb quickly changed the topic. “You know this isn’t over, right?”
“Oh, I know. We’re going to have to get one hell of a good lawyer. How are we going to explain all that?” Corey replied.
“No. I’m talking about Timmy. We need to save him.”
THE END
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