Gothic Short Story

It was a cold stormy night. The house was still. I was lying in bed when I heard a series of knocks at the door. As I descended the stairs the knocks were getting louder and louder. I thought to myself, "Who could be at the door this late at night?" When I opened the door there was a tall man dressed all in black. He smelled of fish and looked like he just walked out of a mud pit. He was having car troubles and needed to use the phone. I invited him in and told him that the phone was down the hall in the living room. Instead of calling the tow truck he called his friend, George, to come pick him up. I invited him to have a cup of coffee and some cookies while he waited for his friend to pick him up. We talked for about an hour when there was another knock at the door.

Harry Chapin at Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Harry Chapin's gravestone

A MOST FAMOUS SOFA: SIGMUND FREUD'S SOFA

The police were here looking for a murder named Harry. Harry had just escaped from jail and stole a guard's car. The guard's car was located outside of my house. We went into the kitchen to find the man with car troubles missing. The police jolted outside to try to catch him. They couldn't find him, but questioned me about him for what seemed like hours. When they finally left, I went upstairs to go back to sleep.

When I awoke Harry was in my bedroom, staring at me. I was frightened. Harry wanted my money and my car immediately. I gave him all of the money in my wallet, which only came out to be $100.00. Harry wasn't satisfied, he wanted more. He put a gun up against my head and said, "Go to the bank and give me all of your money!" Harry forced me into my own car and made me drive to the closest bank. After we emptied my bank account I drove back to my house.

When we arrived at my house, there was a short stubby man named George waiting on my porch. Harry called George the previous night because he needed a place to stay. George was furious with Harry for calling him during the night. Harry tried to calm George down, by giving him some of my money for his troubles. George was not satisfied. They were too busy arguing to notice that I slipped into the kitchen. The phone rang and they both silenced. My neighbor called curious why there was shouting in my house. I told him that there was nothing to worry about. They were about to leave when Harry grabbed my arm. He

wouldn't let me stay home because I knew too much information. George didn't want to bring me because I would be "dead weight".

After a few minutes of arguing they agreed to take me with them. I had no idea where they we going. They started drinking as we drove late into the night. We stopped at a cabin in the woods. There was a young couple in the cabin. Harry and George shot the couple. Their blood was splattered everywhere. I was terrified of what they would do with me. I wanted to get away from them for fear of losing my life.

I waited for them to fall asleep. I cautiously tried to walk out of the house. I tripped over the coffee table causing George to wake up. George threatened me with his gun. I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Where do you think you are going?" questioned George. "I...just needed to go to the bathroom," I stammered. George wasn't convinced so he slapped me across the face so hard that I became unconscious. When I gained consciousness I couldn't see where I was. The ground underneath me was moving. I couldn't feel around me because my hands were tied behind my back. The ground suddenly stopped moving. I heard a door slam and two men started talking. Then they opened the trunk and carried me out. We were at a warehouse. I begged them to let me go, they refused. The warehouse was full of boxes. Foolishly, I asked what was in the boxes. Harry opened one of them to show me their contents. The boxes were filled with guns of all sizes. The instant he showed me the guns, Harry pulled out his own gun. I begged for my life, but it was too late I knew too much. He shot me right in my forehead.

A few days later the police found my body floating down a river. Harry and George were never found. They escaped to the Caribbean with over $50,000 worth of weapons and cash. They spent the rest of their lives running from country to country trying to avoid their charges.

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