You can’t help yourself anymore when you see the man in black
Cold. One, simple, ever so small word. Or that’s what you can say, and lie about. That’s what I wake up to. That’s the same thing I wake up to every morning. The same gruesome cold I’m forced to live with, in my small, unassuming apartment. I’m the kind of guy some would consider “A waste of space.” Personally, that’s a little much. I’m the kind of guy to work low-paying jobs and night shifts at dingy beat down places, or just some not out of the ordinary fast food restaurant. Hey, who serves you that food you get at your favorite fast food restaurant? That low-life guy just trying to make a living. I’m not one to notice in the crowd, I haven’t done much that others would consider an accomplishment. But low-life is my life, like it or not.
Aside from that, I spend most of my time either watching the news or scrolling through some social media platforms. And on that news channel I’ve seen…Stuff. Recently, there’ve been many instances of people going missing, which, to be honest, I’m terrified I’m going to be next.
The dude’s on the news say it’s starting to be called “The Kidnappings.” They don’t know where the people have gone. Some suspect they just ran away, others suspect an actual kidnapping, some suspect foul play. Then there’s the ones like me, who believe it’s something deeper. Something…more. Paranormal creatures, maybe. Something people are trying hard to cover up with fancy suits and reassuring words.
That’s something you get from living a low-life. You don’t just listen to what everyone else is saying. It’s something the fancy lawyers are trying to avoid, the doctors are afraid of, and the government is plain out hiding from. Not me, the low-life, living on the streets at points, staying up to work the night shift at the nearest pizza place, has seen what the higher-ups don’t. Fear. Real, pure, strong. Something you can’t deny. The alleyways hide secrets only we know. You know what bad is…So you know how to decipher really bad. It’s hard to describe. People like me just…Know. And these kidnappings are no “Coincidence.” The only “Coincidence” is the fact no one wants to admit it…Something’s off.
Aside from that, my head is hurting. I was up all night last night working night duty at the nearest fast food burger place called “Buger4u”. That’s one of the three jobs I work. I work the night shift at Burger4u on weekdays, part time during the day at the nearest local gas station “Mickey’s Stop” also on weekdays, and work 48 hours straight at a local grocery store, “Andy’s Groceries.” It’s a lot, sure, but you get used to it. And I have half the day on weekdays to do whatever I want, since I only work part time during the days at Mickey’s Stop.
The day goes on, as it usually does. My head’s pain doesn’t ease, either. I have to work at Mickey’s Stop from noon to five, so I have to head to my job. It’s 11:50. I throw on my work shirt, a pair of jeans, and a belt. Quickly, I speed down the stairs and get in my car. I head to Mickey’s Stop with semi-urgency. The time is noon when I arrive. I hop out and lock my car, hearing the beep of it locking.
The gas station looks busier than usual. I walk in and the guy working the former shift nods at me as I walk in. That’s one thing I hate about working, people. They bustle around me as I take my spot at the cash register, side-eying me as I walk in. Sure, I look beat up. But that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? I must look sleep deprived.
When I pull out my phone, I see my beat up face. My eyes look almost lifeless, like someone drained all the life out of them. Hair falls down to my eye, so I push it back up. My curly, semi-fluffy hair is all over the place.
I take my spot at the cash register. People come over to check-out, exchanging words or side-eying me. I put on my best “customer service” act and do everything I have to. Say hi, smile, scan their snacks, tell them their total, and wish them well.
By three the gas station was depleted of life. The brick walls seemed to trap me. A single, lone man in a black hoodie, with the hood up, walked into the store. He gave…Off vibes. But there was nothing to judge, he did what every normal person would do coming into a gas station. He grabbed an energy drink from the fridge. Then he walked up to the counter and sat his cold drink down.
I rang up his drink, jumping a bit at the sound of the beep when I scanned the barcode. He said nothing, just looking down. There was a void where his head was supposed to be.
“That’ll be 3.75 dollars, sir,” I tell him, swallowing hard.
He didn’t respond to that. His head was still looking down. No response, no nothing. Just…Awkward silence.
“Sir, if you want the energy drink, you’re gonna have to pay,” I told him, trying not to sound afraid.
“Sir!” I told him as he looked at the energy drink, grabbed it, and started to walk off.
“You have to pay for that!” I shout at him, bolting out of the counter to catch him. I swung the door open, less than a second after he had walked out. But, no one was there. Just the blaring sun and my car, the only one in the parking lot.
“The hell?!” I shout. How did he disappear less than a second after I opened the door? I walked back in, confusion overwhelming me.
The rest of my two hours there dragged on. Every time I heard the ding of the door opening, I froze in fear. Luckily, it was just a happy person looking for some snack, or maybe a less happy person there for the same reason.
Most of the time that people weren’t there, I was scrolling through social media. Or looking at the seconds tick by on the clock. 4:00, 4:01, 4:02, 4:03…The entire time I was afraid that…Whatever it was…Would come back. Maybe it was the one responsible for the kidnapping.
“Hello, sir!” I shout in a friendly manner to a man who walks into the gas station. He nods at me.
“Fine day, isn’t it?” He asks, smiling, one of the only people who have smiled at me in my disheveled state.
“Sure is,” I responded. The man walks over and gets a drink and a snack before walking over to the cash register.
“How was your day?” I ask him.
“Good. You?” He asks in response.
“Decent,” I say.
“You look pretty tired,” He says in concern.
“I am,” I say back. I ring up his items as we make small talk, “Your total is 9.50.”
He signs, “Damn, everything is getting more expensive by the day.
“I know, right?” I say, “I have to work three jobs just to get the food on the table and a small apartment.”
“Yeah, everything is just so much,” He replies sympathetically.
He gives me a ten dollar bill. “Keep the change,” he says.
“Thanks,” I say. He walks out the door and I’m left alone again. 4:30, 4:31, 4:32…4:37…4:45. Another person walks in, gets stuff, pays for it, and walks out.
Finally, it’s five. I hand the keys to the person who will be working the closing shift. Then, I walk outside and hop in my car.
I’m home, and glad of it. The small space in my apartment feels better than Mickey’s Stop. I have to work the night shift at Burger4u in three hours, so I eat dinner and shower. The rest of the time is spent watching the news on the newest disappearance.
More mysterious disappearances are happening, yet there is no evidence of their disappearance. Some suspect foul play, other’s suspect a run away. But we don’t know. Oh, this just in, a fifty year old man just disappeared. There is no evidence he disappeared.
The man on the screen was describing the incident. My head hurt at the blaring, bright lights. When it was time to go, I got my official Burger4u shirt and headed out the door. I got there and was handed the keys.
The night went on with that slow, dragging pace. I looked at the security camera footage to see the same man I had seen at Mickey’s Stop, walking into the building and sitting at a booth. The footage flickers off and turns back on with static.
“What…the hell,” I say in a hushed voice.
Don’t serve him, don’t serve him, don’t serve him, my brain is screaming at me. But he’s a customer, right? I walk over and put on my customer service smile.
“Hey sir, what can I get you?” I ask him. He just sits there, saying nothing. I feel an overwhelming cold rush through my veins. It’s like the temperature dropped to -50 degrees. I try not to shiver. The man just looks down, hood over his head, not responding.
“You came in here, so what do you want?!” I say, a little too loud maybe because he looks up at me. There’s just black where his head is supposed to be. Just a void and shadow together. I preferred when he wasn’t looking at me, to be completely honest.
“No.” One word, that’s all he says. An ever so plain “no.” I’m trembling with fear and cold. And that’s when I leave him be. I walk back to the drive through window and check the security footage, which I’m glad switched from static back to the actual footage, to see if he moves,
His head is still down. He’s just…Unmoving. If he hadn’t spoken or walked in here, I would be convinced he was a manican. The rest of the night is spent staring at the footage. I’m almost lifeless, terrified he’ll come for me. My breathing is shallow and my heart is pounding. Once the time reaches six in the morning, he gets up, walks out, and vanishes without a trace. I hang the keys up as the person who works the next shift walks in.
“Thank god you’re here,” I tell the guy.
“Why?” He asks.
“Just…If you see a man, dressed in all black with a black hoodie, hood up, walk in…Don’t approach,” I tell him. He looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am, since I haven’t slept in two days, but still…I don’t think that was a hallucination. I walk out and hop into my car, then rush home. I’m tired, so when I arrive I eat and fall asleep.
I wake up to the beeping of my alarm clock, saying it’s 11:30 am. I get up, get dressed, eat a quick snack, and head out the door. I’m back to my shift at Mickey’s Stop, and the entire time I check all the security cameras. I feel like I’m going crazy…But… There’s something deeper than that. It’s more than me seeing stuff that isn’t there…My gut says it’s real.
And…Oh god…He’s here again.
“Oh god,” I say.
He walks in, and that’s when I take a run for it. I bolt out the door, sprinting to my car and driving. Where? I don’t care where I’m going, I need to stay away. But following me is a black van, speeding slightly slower than me so it doesn’t run into my car. It follows me the whole way. I decide to drive to my house, so I head that direction. The van follows me, but I arrive safely. I speed up the stairs, slam my door, and lock it.
When I open the door, he isn’t there. So I decide it’s safe to watch the news. I turn the tv on and start watching it.
Welcome to April 12 news! Another person has disappeared, a 18 year old high school boy. This time, there’s evidence behind the disappearance. He had a diary, and after his death we read it. Here’s directly what it said from the beginning of the evidence.
March 5. Hello, diary. I’ve had some…Weird…Things happen to me recently. I was out taking a walk by myself. There was this guy I saw, he wore all black clothes and a black hoodie, hood up. I said hi but he didn’t respond. He gives…Off vibes. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, there’s no evidence he’s doing anything wrong. I’m not gonna tell anyone, it doesn’t matter.
March 13. I saw that same guy again. He really creeps me out. I was biking home from school when I saw the guy. He was looking down, too. Maybe I’m not so crazy anymore.
March 21. I know it’s been a little bit since I’ve written. Let me update you. I saw him three times since I wrote last. Once while I was out walking alone, once while at my job when no one was there, and once when I looked outside, alone in my room. He seems to appear whenever I’m alone. I’m not crazy, he’s definitely following me. I just can’t figure out why.
April 2. He’s appearing everywhere I’m alone. I’m not crazy…
April 11. He’s been outside my room window all day. I refuse to leave my room. God, he came in. He…
That’s what we have! Then the screen went static before coming back on. Two men in black suits and had their eyes blacked out were on either side of the news man. The news guy smiled. We’re sorry! That book was mistranslated. Please forget you ever saw anything! The screen then went black,
“That’s…that’s the guy I saw,” I said to myself.
Then there was a knock on the door…A slow, deliberate knock that sent shivers down my spine.
“Who’s there?” I ask in fear. Fear that whoever or whatever that was, it would find me.
“Open up!” Said the voice. The same voice that had said the ‘no’ previously.
What to do? Where to go? I should have tried to find some way out, but all I did was freeze. It’s here, I thought, trembling. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. But all I did was freeze.
Then it busted the door open. Then everything disappeared. Then I woke up. Somewhere. Where? That’s what I don’t know. I’m not sure I’d like to know. I could barely feel my limbs. But with enough effort, I moved my arm. It didn’t get very far, and that’s when I realized I was chained.
My senses came one by one. First came my sense of feeling. I felt cold, hard chains trapping me. Next came my smell. It smelled like a landfill. To say the least, it stank. Next came my hearing. There was a siren sounding something. Then there was my taste. I tasted blood. Metal-y and tangy. Lastly, my vision came to me. Walls were around me, dark gray. Dim fluorescent light shined. And very lastly, pain. I gagged, I choked. I thought everything would be okay.
The man in a mask, as I’ve started to call him, came in, holding a knife. Sharp, deadly. The power to kill me all in one. He stabbed me with it. I felt the cold as it dug into my neck.
Blood. I gagged and coughed it up. It fell on my face. This story had no happy ending, at least for me. I’m gone, he took me. Well, wherever we are, I can’t die. I face torture through day and night. He feeds. He feeds off the pain of his victims. He smiles at our screams. He loves pain. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
If you’re reading this, when you see a man in all black, there’s nothing left to do. Honestly, I may sound like I’m just telling you to give up. There’s nothing you can do. It ends your life here, on earth, and make’s your life torture wherever there is. Whatever you’re going through, it’ll make it worse. Whatever “it” is doesn’t matter. It’s like hell but worse. God, so much worse. If you see the man in black, there’s no hope. Don’t get all confident saying you can make it. That’ll make you end up here.
You can’t help yourself anymore when you see the man in black