The Headless Corpse

Jack’s head shot up off the pillow and his eyes stared meaninglessly into the infinite darkness, temporarily forgetting where he was. His heart beat fast and he was gasping for air as if he had just finished a marathon. The inexplicable exhaustion overwhelmed him even though he just woke up from a feelingly long sleep.

His attempt of calming his heart rate went well by taking slow and deep breathes while his eyes were slowly adjusting to the endless darkness that filled every corner of his room. Laying back down, he stared at the ceiling trying to recall what kind of a dream he had. As the time went by he felt increasingly uncomfortable as he could distinctly sense the stench of death lingering in the air. Something was clearly amiss but he could not tell what it was as his mind was still in a state of confusion. The moon was covered completely by the clouds that not even a single ray of moonlight was able to escape. The street lights were, for no apparent reason, all switched off. That explained the deep darkness within his room.

Mustering all the courage, he decided to get off his bed and went out of his room to check his house out. Just when his hand was about to reach for the door knob, a loud bang followed by a few footsteps coming from downstairs were clearly detected by his ears. The racket coming from downstairs proved him right that something was going wrong in his house and he felt the urge to go downstairs. Quietly, he closed the door behind him after he exited his bedroom and crept stealthy down the stairs as he did not want to draw the attention of the mysterious creature downstairs. Images of horrifying creatures started flashing through his mind, each being progressively terrifying than the previous one.

The parlor was a total mess. Everything was not positioned at where they should have been. The drawers were all opened and the stuffs that were supposedly in them were all laying down on the floor. At the far end of the parlor he spotted a shadowed figure that shaped like a normal human being fumbling in the dark searching for something. The notion about monster invasion was quickly dismissed. He was slightly relieved knowing that it was just a thief broke into his house but he did not let his guard down as all sorts of criminals are dangerous.

Like all the other rational individuals, he decided to get the cops involved to avoid any possible tragedies from happening. The phone was somewhere near the thief so the only option left was to use his cell phone which was sitting on the desk in his bedroom.

Slowly, he climbed back up the stairs step by step in an attempt to not make any sound that could distract the thief from what he was doing. However, luck wasn’t on his side as he tripped over an unknown object on the fourth step and ended up rolling aggressively down the stairs. The thief, in a swift motion, turned around and scanned through the area where Jack was trying to locate where the noises came from. For a brief period of time Jack thought that the only remaining option was to be like a man and fight with the thief although he realized the possibility of him getting injured or even killed. However against all odds, the thief failed to notice his existence and turned around continue rummaging through his stuff. Luck had not abandoned him after all. With the offering of the second chance, he successfully climbed up the stairs without disrupting the peace.

However, as he approached his bedroom, he could once again detect the insufferable stench of death which was absent downstairs. There was definitely something in his room, something he failed to perceive when he came out from there. Maybe something got in there when he was away. He entered the room with precaution and the stench of death intensified upon entering the bedroom.

The clouds that previously covered the moon were now gone allowing rays of moonlight to enter the bedroom via the window by the desk, dispersing the darkness in the room giving him a better and clearer view. The horrific scene in the bedroom completely petrified him. On the bed lied a lifeless body with his head missing. The bed sheet was stained with the poor victim’s blood. Albeit feeling sorry for the unknown victim, he reminded himself that finding his cell phone was his priority. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found as if it grew legs and ran off to the world’s end.

All of a sudden, he sensed a threatening presence approaching him. The door behind him slowly opened. It was the thief from downstairs. The thief was carrying a gigantic bag probably stuffed with his valuable possessions. The unwelcome guest’s face finally came into light revealing his true identity. He was the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered several innocent people around the town recently by the name Michael Hannigan. Jack knew that his life would soon come to an end, but not before he put up a fight against the obnoxious serial killer. Strangely, Michael stood there not making a move for a couple of minutes before he took something from his bag of victory and threw it right into the middle of the bed. Michael’s face displayed a sinister grin as he turned around leaving the room not noticing Jack’s existence once again.

Puzzled, he approached the repulsive bed to examine the thing Michael left behind. Everything immediately came to sense for his miraculous invisibility. That was the head of the decapitated corpse, or more precisely, the head of Jack himself.