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The Hat Man


10:30 PM. Late in the Summer Season. It’s storming outside. My favorite time of year and my favorite kind of weather. Whenever it storms I just have to smile. Storms are beautiful, or at least I used to think so.

Almost all the lights in the apartment were off, and I’m just talking to some friends over AIM. Then suddenly it became very very cold. As if the storm from outside was creeping thru the door. I just figure there was a temperature drop because of the storm, so I toss on a sweatshirt. After about 30 minutes or so I’m still freezing cold.

I start to get this feeling.

It’s a feeling we all have felt before.

The feeling that someone is staring at you.

The feeling that this someone is not very far away.

The feeling that if you turn your head the slightest bit, you would see them.

I shrug this feeling off because I am an extremely paranoid person and I get this feeling all the time. I continue to converse with my friends, I even mentioned this sensation that I currently had, and my friends naturally laugh at me saying I need to stop being a baby. The sympathetic ones say it will go away eventually and not to worry. I waited awhile…it did not go away. In fact it increased.

It felt like something was consuming the very Happiness within me.

Like something was filling me with Dread.

That chilling Terror we all felt as children when the lights were turned out.

A true Fear of the Dark.

But it’s not the dark we are afraid of….but of what lurks in the dark

I almost couldn’t take it anymore. Here I am, almost a grown man, and I’m jumping at shadows. It’s ridiculous, but as ridiculous as it seems, I still have this little voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe I have a reason to be afraid. Maybe I should turn around and see if there’s actually anything there.

Wait…why would I turn around?

I don’t want to turn around.

Whose thought was that?

That certainly wasn’t mine.

But who else’s could it be?

I reached my limit. If I stay in this chair another second I’m going to go insane. I wonder if I can make it to my room before this thing gets me. It could be nothing, but I am not staying here to find out. I’m a pretty fast runner, there’s no way this thing can catch me. Let’s do this.

The chair clatters as it falls to the floor. I don’t think I could move this fast again if I wanted to. After my first foot was through the gateway to my room, I was already in the process of slamming the door. I rush over and turn on every light, including the T.V. making sure there’s no room for any shadows. I put my ear to do the door to see if I can hear it following me.

Nothing

Complete Stillness

The type of silence most people only experience once in a life time.

I don’t know why people would ever seek this type of quiet.

I never want to hear silence again.

I slowly back away from the door. I have one thought going through my mind. What in the hell did I just see, and why did I ever look over my shoulder. I will never forget what I saw. It was a shadow, but it wasn’t a shadow. It was free standing, as if it was a man. The surrounding night seemed to channel into this horrific being, making it seem blacker than the darkest pit in hell. It chilled me down to my very bones. Though something peculiarly odd stood out about this particular shadow being, it had a cane with a silver handle, and a top hat akin to something you’d expect to see in a movie from the early 20th century.

And the thing that was the scariest part about it:

To this day I swear it was smiling, and not the smile you ever ever want to be on the receiving end of.

A smile that said I’m evil.

A smile that said I had fun tonight.

A smile that said I enjoyed toying with you.

A smile that said I really want to hurt you.

A smile that said I’ll see you again.

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