Paranormal Proclivity

It's Jim's first time alone in a house. Strange things start happening around the house, and he goes to check it out.

Paranormal Proclivity
by David Sanchez Williams

Jim was scared to death.  He was sweating non-stop and bleeding profusely.  Even though it was futile, Jim hid in a hole in the ground.  Though he was surrounded by trees in a forest, the zombies could still find him.  Jim just covered his wounds with dirt and laid low.  He was all alone, all of his friends dead or zombies now.  Jim did not want to end up like that.

Jim noticed a horrible stench in the area.  Before he could find the source of the smell, an arm grabbed him by the throat and lifted him out of the hole.  Jim saw that it was a zombie and screamed.  He punched the zombie in the head, trying to get free of its grip.  It had no effect.  Another zombie came up behind Jim and bit his shoulder.  Even though Jim punched the zombie, it didn't let go.  Jim began to panic, especially when he saw a mob of zombies surrounding the area.

Tears welled up in Jim's eyes as the zombies approached.  He knew he was done for.  The zombies attacked every part of his body at once.  Jim screamed as chunks of his arms and legs were bitten off.  Suddenly he was face to face with another zombie.  The zombie opened its rotting mouth and went straight for Jim's throat.

Jim sat up in bed, tears in his eyes, screaming at the top of his lungs.  He looked around the room, and touched his throat.  Jim became relieved immediately.  It was just a dream.  The door of his room opened.

"Jim, what's going on?"  It was Diora, the girlfriend of one of Jim's roommates.

Jim was too embarrassed to tell her that he had a nightmare, so he improvised.  "Oh, I saw a mouse."

Diora stifled a laugh.  "Oh okay.  Ed is taking me back home, so I'll see you later."  She waved goodbye and left the room.  Jim waved goodbye and hid under the covers of his bed.

Jim realized he had made a fool of himself to his dream girl.  He's had a major crush on Diora since the first time he saw her in class.  Of course, his friend Edward asked her out before he could.  So Jim just admires her from afar, never telling Edward or his other roommates about his crush.

"Brah, get up!  We about to leave," Morawn said.  Jim forgot about the agreement the roommates made with each other.

Morawn, Stefan, and Edward have been aching to go to a strip club for weeks.  Diora had to go home to visit a sick relative, so Edward took the opportunity immediately.  Jim isn't into paying women for attention, so he 'agreed' to stay home and wait for the cable guy to come over and set everything up.  Jim had never been completely alone in this house, so he was looking forward to the quiet solitude.

Jim walked into the the living room, where Edward, Diora, Morawn, and Stefan were waiting by the door.  "Leaving already?" Jim asked.

"Bro, we've been planning this for a while.  The sooner we get it done, the better," Morawn said.

"Yeah nancy, don't mess this up for us," Stefan said while glancing quickly over to Diora.  She didn't have any idea what they were talking about.

There was a buzzing sound.  "Oh, I've got to take this," Diora said as she quickly walked out the door.

"Bro-bro, just keep your mouth shut about this.  Diora don't need to know nothin'," Morawn said.  Jim awkwardly nodded.

"I can't believe you don't want to go.  I bet if it was Chippendales, you'd be first in line," Stefan said with disgust.

"I've told you a million times, I'm not gay," Jim said wearily.

"Brah, you doth protest too much," Morawn said mockingly to Jim.  Jim noticed Edward's inappropriate casual wear.

"What's with the sweatpants?" Jim asked.

"Freeballin' son!" Edward exclaimed.

Jim was disgusted.  The others could see his disdain.

"Come on Brohemian Rhapsody, just chill out.  We run this!" Morawn said as he strutted out the door.

"Don't forget to bribe the cable guy to get some porn channels.  Do him some 'favors' if you have to," Stefan said as he sauntered out the door.

"See ya, really wouldn't want to be ya," Edward said as he left.

And Jim was alone.

*     *     *     *     *

Since Jim was alone, the first thing he did was obvious.  He got buck naked and put on a robe.  He walked majestically into the living room, spread out his arms, and bellowed, "I am the Lizard King!"

Hours went by, and the cable guy still hadn't shown up.  There was a fierce thunderstorm, it was dark outside, and Jim was getting anxious.  He has never been alone in this house, and he was starting to get creeped out.

Suddenly there was a strange thumping coming from upstairs.  Then eerie, spare piano notes started playing.  Strange, since there wasn't a piano anywhere in the house.  Jim was afraid, but he had to see if there was someone or something upstairs.  'What if it was a ghost?', Jim thought.  He had to find out where the piano sounds were coming from.  Jim turned off his DVD of Suspiria and quickly looked up protection against ghosts on the internet.

Jim walked up the stairs, spreading salt behind him as he went.  He was wearing a clove of garlic around his neck, he had a crucifix in his left hand, and a flashlight in his right hand.  Jim was prepared.  He noticed the thumping noise was coming from Stefan's room.

Stefan was very secretive; nobody was allowed into his room.  Jim slowly walked into the dark room, shining the flashlight all around him.  The thumping was deafening now.  The sound seemed to be coming from behind Stefan's bed.  Jim looked and was shocked at what he saw.

What Jim saw was a neon green sex toy thrashing about that seemed to have been left on.  Jim got a riding crop hanging on the wall and used it to turn off the toy.  Jim then ran the heck out of there.

Next was finding the source of the piano notes playing.  Of course, it was coming from Morawn's room.  The creepy piano notes kept playing as Jim stepped into the room.  Jim was relieved, as it was just Morawn's Ipod player playing the Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack on repeat.  All Jim did was turn the Ipod player off.

Curiosity came over Jim as he looked at the door to Edward's room.  He had to see what Ed and Diora were doing before they left.  Thunder crashed as he stepped into the door.

There was nothing of note or interest in there, except for the Ouija board on the bed.  Jim became afraid all of a sudden.  Then he heard someone pounding on the front door downstairs, yelling.  Jim got so freaked out he ripped the garlic off of his neck.  As Jim ran out of the room, thunder and lightning crashed loudly.  Jim was sweating profusely now.  He left his ghost protection in the upstairs hallway as he ran downstairs.

As Jim swung open the door, lightning flashed, blinding him for a moment.  When his eyes recovered, he was facing a mirror.  Then he realized he wasn't facing a mirror, he was looking at a guy who looked just like him!

"Sorry I was late, I'm here to set up your cable.  My name is Tim," the guy said.  Jim screamed as he slammed the door in Tim's face.  He ran into the living room, scared to death.  

All of a sudden, Jim couldn't breathe.  Not only could he not catch his breath, it felt like someone had their hands wrapped around his neck.  Jim was getting desperate, he just could not breathe.  He screamed for help.

Tim the cable guy kicked the door open and saw Jim clutching and clawing at his own neck.  As Tim ran forward to help him, Jim flew straight up into the air.  Jim's choked screams grew weaker as he hung in mid-air.  As Tim was calling 911, the screams stopped.  Jim stopped struggling.

Jim was dead.