Hush Hush

Jenny winds up in a bookstore but doesn't expect this horror to happen when she has already had a bad day.

Jenny knew she was being followed that night. She knew when she turned a corner and that person did the same. She didn’t know what to do. She started running and that person started running. He eventually caught up to her and got in front of her.

“Where are you going babe? All I need is a few bucks.” said the stranger. She had never seen this guy before and didn’t know why she was picked.

“Can’t you leave me alone? You have been following for awhile now. Leave me alone.” she said as she pushed him out of the way. Another guy popped out in front of her.

“You heard him, all he needs is a few bucks.” the second guy said snickering. “And maybe a little something for me.” Jenny was scared out of her mind. She only had one escape route down the street but first she didn’t know if there was another person waiting and second she would have to run like hell. Jenny knew what she was going to do. She was going to run.

She slowly backed up towards the street sign as the two guys got closer to her on each side. Once she got to the street, she ran as fast as she could.

“S**t!” the two guys yelled as Jenny started running. That made Jenny feel better because if they said that, that means that there is no third guy. Yes she thought to herself. As she was running with the guys trying to catch up to her, she saw a store at the end of the street. There was a lit up “open” sign. That was where she was going to go.

As she ran up the steps to the bookstore, the guys behind her slowed to a walk. She got inside and she locked the door. She looked out and the guys stuck up their middle fingers and then went their own ways. Jenny sighed but she knew that she should stay inside longer.

“May I help you?” someone said. As Jenny turned around she saw an old woman behind a counter with books stacked on top. She looked around and realized that this was a bookstore.

“Oh, I’m sorry. These men were chasing me and-”

“Say no more, dear. I understand.” The old woman said as she cut her off. “You are welcome to stay as long as you like.” Jenny was relieved.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Jenny said as she was catching her breath. Jenny looked around and saw the aisles and walls stacked with books. The store had brick walls and looked as if it has never been torn down.

“Feel free to look around if you’d like.” the woman said. Jenny started walking towards the walls stacked with books. Jenny loved books, ever since she started to read. As she looked on the shelves, she saw one book on the top shelf sticking out. With curiosity, she grabbed the wall ladder and climbed up to get it. As she stepped off the ladder, she held the book and admired it. The book’s title was Hush Hush. Jenny wanted to buy it so she walked to the counter.

“How much is this book?” Jenny asked the old woman. The old woman examined the book and was confused for a moment.

“Where did you find this? I do not remember ever seeing this book.” the old woman said.

“It was on top of the wall shelves, covered in dust.” Jenny answered as she pointed to the wall.

“If it was there then it must be mine. Since I don’t have a price for it, you can keep it for free, dear.” the old woman said with a warm smile on her face.

Standing in awe, Jenny answered the woman “Thank You,” with a warm smile. As she looked at the clock on the counter she realized it had already been about 45 minutes past when she came. “I should be getting home now. Thank you so much for letting me stay.”

“No problem dear, I was glad to help someone in need.” Jenny waved as she began to leave the bookstore with the old woman waving back with a smile. Jenny was lucky enough to find a taxi still on duty late that night. As she was riding in the taxi, she admired the illustration on the book’s cover. It was an illustration of  smoke like drawing with hands in the position as if they were dancing.

As Jenny reached her apartment, she made sure she had her book with her. Her curiosity on what the book had inside was making her excited. Even though Jenny was tired, she would not get the book out of her mind and schedule. When she opened her door, she was relieved to be home and immediately sat down on her favorite chair. Jenny was tempted to start reading the book right away but she knew she had to change and get everything ready for the next day.

When Jenny got up and left the book on the table, she went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of wine. It had been a long day. As she stood over her sink, she heard a slide behind her. She turned and realized that her book had slid to the opposite side of the table. It was closer to her.

Interesting, she thought. She finished her glass of wine and decided to grab the book and start reading. Jenny thought she left the book at that side and heard the slide as nothing.

She felt the pages run through her fingers as she sat down. They felt old and very dry. Old book, she thought. Her curiosity was running wild as she opened her book to the very first chapter. Her whole mindset changed however when she did. The first sentence was “Hush hush hush, here comes the boogeyman.” That was it, nothing else, the rest of the pages were blank. Jenny started thinking that the old woman took her book from the counter even though she checked the pages and never took her eyes off it. She then called the old woman at the store even though it was so late.

“Hello?” answered the old woman.

“Hi, this is Jenny. I brought one of your old books home tonight but there is only one sentence. Did you take the actual book away?” she asked with frustration in her voice. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“I’m sorry but when you left your book on the counter I did not touch it. That was only touched by you,” she answered.

“What the hell? The only sentence in this dumb book is ‘Hush hush hush, here comes the boogeyman’,” Jenny answered.

“What did you say?” the old woman asked with a voice of concern.

“You heard me.” Jenny answered, her nice side was just gone at this point.

“Throw the book away, before it is too late,” the old woman answered with a very scared voice. “Or else the real boogeyman will come for you.” All of a sudden, jenny could hear the dial tone. She threw her phone on her couch and couldn’t believe how the old woman was acting. It’s just a book she thought. Suddenly, Jenny started to feel very cold.

She walked to her furnace dial and tried putting it back up. What the hell? Work damn it. It’s freezing. Then the lights started to flicker off. Jenny started to get anxious. She couldn’t figure out what was going on. Suddenly every single noise in her apartment started to turn on to its maximum volume. Jenny tried covering her ears but it was so loud. She couldn’t even hear herself scream.

Then, silence. Still covering her ears, she slowly let go and looked around. BANG BANG BANG. Jenny jumped at the noise, but it wasn’t coming from her door, but the door of her bedroom. She went to her bedroom and listened for movement or an intruder. She could hear scratches. As she opened the door, expecting an intruder, she saw a tall old man, with his mouth covered in red, and with long nails for his hands.

“You called for a boogeyman?” he said as he looked down on her. Jenny became horrified. Jenny’s last image was a demon like face coming down with an open mouth full of sharp bloody teeth. Then everything went pitch black.

The End

Author's Note

Please try to ignore grammar problems. I really hope you enjoy this since I haven't written in a while.