Devil In the Drainpipe

 

Devil In the Drainpipe       I looked around the room. Nothing seemed unusual, but then … I realized that I had been holding my breath, straining my ears for that strange scratching sound that began about this time every evening since I moved into my new home. I'm about to tell you is a haunting tale for sure. It's about the night I discovered a devil hiding in my safe domain. I had just moved into my new home and still not use to my surroundings. Every sound I heard seemed out of place and threatening. Strange sounds began every night about nine. Not the everyday sounds made by older homes as they settled; they were almost haunting. I was beginning to believe that my beautiful new house was haunted. Nightly as I watched my favorite television show; I could hear a scratching sound coming from somewhere in the house. “And the children, they used to sing along with the grace, from the Lord above.” I mouthed the words to the tune running through my head. I couldn’t remember the rest of the song, but knew that it was inside of me somewhere. For days these lyrics from the old song kept running through my mind reminding of my youth spent in a small farming town in West Virginia. And after the strange sounds began, I heard those lyrics almost continuously almost as a prayer echoing throughout my mind. The long ago song continued playing in my subconscious, even while I watched my favorite television program. Then suddenly the strange sounds began. “There it is again. Where is that sound coming from?” I whispered just under my breath so not to disturb the haunting presence that inhabited my home. I muted the television and listened, but the sound was somehow silenced. I waited what seemed like hours, but the sound was gone. I resumed watching my favorite show, but the storyline was lost to me, so I changed the channel, looking for something that was just beginning. In that brief moment from one channel to the next, I heard the scratching sound again. This time I turned the television off and sat there quietly, listening, but again the sound was silenced. “Perhaps the sounds are coming from my television.” I whispered, trying hard to make some sort of sense out the strange occurrence. It was a very old set, but still I wondered if my new home was haunted. Then the words to the song became louder within my mind. Was I praying for the haunting sounds to stop or that I could figure out what they were. It was then the song’s tone changed in my mind. It wasn’t my voice singing. I heard a group of children singing to the sound of a church pipe organ. A vision suddenly appeared in my mind. It was a summer’s Bible School class that I had attended at the age of ten. A vision appeared in my mind. Amanda, my best friend was standing beside me and I could see her turn and smile at me during the song. Amanda drowned several weeks after that and I wondered if it could be her haunting me, but why now. No, it couldn’t be Amanda, she would never cause me to be this frightened, but where could those haunting sounds be coming from. “There it is again. It's not the television. It's coming from the kitchen.” I was afraid to move, but curiosity got the better of me. I moved silently through the house, heading toward the scratching sounds. The kitchen was dark, but the full moon shined through the window, giving everything an ominous glow. I stood there in the kitchen holding my breath, waiting for the silence to end. “There it is. It's coming from the sink drain. My heart skipped a beat as fear griped me and held me frozen to where I stood. Finally I found the courage to approach the sink. I looked down, squinting my eyes, trying to see down inside the darkness of the drain. Suddenly a gray clawed foot worked its way up through the holes in the sink drain. The rodent was trying to find its way into my house. The devil in my drain was a large sewer rat which is worse than a ghost haunting my new home. A ghost I could pretend didn't exist, but rats; I couldn’t pretend them away. With a shaky hand I turned on the water. The gray clawed paw withdrew back into the darkness with an ominous sounding squeaking. I filled the tea kettle and turned on the burner, which burst into flame breaking the silence. I climbed onto one of the bar stools and pulled my feet up high away from the floor and waited for the kettle to whistle, but when it did; I almost fell off the stool. I slowly lifted the kettle from the burner and just as the scratching sound began again; I poured the boiling hot water down into the drainpipe. A few high-pitched squeaks later and the devil in the drainpipe was gone. I hoped that the creature was deterred from entering my home and had run away from burning water, but then I feared that it would be more determined and seek revenge. I sat there on that barstool until morning. In the fresh light of day I picked up the phone and called the first exterminating company in the phone book. I wasn’t going to take any chances. I wasn’t going to give that devil another chance to enter my home. And the children, they used to sing along with the grace, from the Lord above. And the children they used to sing along with the grace, from the Lord above. The words to the song played through my mind once more. Then another vision appeared within my mind. We were singing in the little church on Morning Glory Circle. All the children suddenly begand screaming and ran from the church. I hadn't seen it, but I ran along with the rest of the children. I watched this scene playing out and then I saw why we all ran from the church in fear. A large rat ran across the floor in front of the altar. Had Amanda's spirit actually come to warn me of the devil trying to enter my home? It was then that I saw a shadow that seemed to be taking on the form of a young girl and a moment later it was gone, but I heard Amanda's voice singing the little song of long ago. She had come to warn me. Of this I am sure. Listen to your heart when strange things happen. Hear the messages coming from the underworld of the dead. A friendly spirit just might be trying to warn you of imminent danger. Telling you that sounds in the night can hurt you if you don’t discover the source. So listen to the house sounds as you watch television and if you hear scratching in the night; it could be a devil in your drainpipe too, in the shape of a large gray sewer rat, just waiting for you to fall asleep. Listen and beware… By Nancy Lee Shrader   © 2009 Nancy Lee Shrader (All rights reserved)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Lauren Marie]

Being afraid of such things like rats already, this story left me with chills!

Thanks for entering my contest!

~Lauren