Blank Stares By Nixiey
I'm a scaredy-cat. There is nothing that I hate more than being left alone at night in a dark, rambling house. In truth I usually do okay. Stay in my chair, on my computer... watch horror movies and shows. I'm a scaredy-cat, but I kind of like being scared.
I was doing my usual routine. Watching things, snacking, waiting for my room mates to get home and bring the house to life again. Nature called to me and I abandoned my comfortable nest I made in the arm chair to wander to the bathroom. This room in particular is one of those modern examples of style. Big white space with mirrored surfaces, and the affronting display of the latrine tucked into its own small room with a linen closet behind a separate door.
It really bugs me, but whenever someone else uses my bathroom, they always leave all the doors ajar. I never catch them so I don't know who to scold, but they all know that it bothers me. That's probably why they do it. This was one of those occasions, where the toilet door was wide open and the linen door cracked just inside of it. Whatever. It's not that big of a deal.
As I stepped forward into the bathroom, past the dark crack between the wall and the other door... I froze. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw... something. My startled brain tried to gather the pieces of the glimpse. It looked like a white face. Wide and bony, with dark pitted eye sockets and a Grinch-like grin. I saw it low to the ground, under where the door handle is located.
There I was staring at the back of the door, a creeping feeling making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. There's nothing there, right? I have an overactive imagination, and often "see" things at a glance but this felt different. My friends warned me about watching so many horror films. I chuckled nervously at my foolishness, but... I reached out and closed the door anyway.
Back to business. I unzip and turn to the porcelain throne. Still, that feeling of static down my spine. It feels like I'm being watched. Damn it, I can't pee like this. I turned to face the closet again. Door closed just like I left it. For a minute or two I just stay there. Watching the door.
"This is stupid." The sound of my own voice startled me in the tense air. "There's nothing there and you know it. It's just not logical to be acting this way!" With the little pep talk snapping me out of my unfounded petrification, I did as I needed and left, but not without closing the door after me.
I just don't like them open, okay? Washing my hands at the separate sink, I headed back to my room, closing the final door to the gleaming white (and utterly harmless) room.
Seriously, what's wrong with me? I closed out the show I was watching and opened a new tab to a meme site, needing something funny to take my mind out of my current state of agitation. Everything's fine, for goodness sake! Wait... was that the bathroom door?
Afterword:
My stories are written in the style of exaggerated truth.
The events of the evening happened almost exactly as written here, all except the ending. The creepy part of all this is now whenever that particular door is closed when I go to use the restroom... I always freeze up a little, afraid that what I saw may be waiting on the other side of the door.
I know it was just an illusion, when you see something strange out the corner of your eye that isn't really there. I'm being silly about it really...or am I?
Thank you to Mr. StrangeTony for reading my pasta!