Monkey's Curse

“Monkey’s Curse”

Written by Nicole Ney

**This story is inspired by true events**

**This story contains offensive language, discretion is advised**

“Come here, it was just an accident” said Sandy as she embraced her daughter. 

“I, was an accident! Spilled milk is an accident! This is catastrophic!” cried Angela. “I am the idiot that unleashed monkeys on New York! Who does that?!”

“By accident Angela.” Sandy reassured her. “You were overworked and overtired. That could’ve happened to anyone in that position”

“Noone is going to see that Mom! You don’t get it! They won’t think that I was ‘overworked or overtired’, they’re gonna’ think I’m incompetent or some looney activist!” Angela sobbed in her Mom’s chest. “I just wanna die! I worked so hard for this job! Nobody will hire me againnnn” sobbed Angela. Just like clock work, in ironic timing, phones and TVs started sounding an annoying alarm:

EERRRNNN, EEERRNN, BEEEEEEEPPPPP, THIS IS THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. THIS IS NOT A TEST. PLEASE STAY INSIDE AND SECURE ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PLEASE DO NOT PANIC. PLEASE STAND-BY FOR FUR-

Sandy covered her daughter’s ears and escorted her to another room, away from the alerts. Sandy’s daughter was a lab worker at a research center in New York. She participated in bio research on Capuchin monkeys. Due to an uptick in illnesses, Angela had been picking up extra hours to fill in for those who were out. Unfortunately, that left her overworked and overtired. She made a very easy, but devastating mistake, she forgot to fully secure the cages. See all the monkeys go into separate cages, then a second lock and alarm is engaged once all the monkeys are in. She put all the monkeys away, but didn’t secure them fully. It wouldn’t have taken long for at least one monkey to realize the cage wasn't fully  secure, before all the monkeys followed suit. And of course the lab is designed more to keep people from getting in, than to prevent the animals from getting out. Because of Angela’s small mistake, close to 50 monkeys had escaped. Some lingered around the lab because they knew there was food there. Some were captured using bananas as bait and thermal imaging cameras. Some succumbed to nature, but a few were never caught or seen again. 

One “lucky” monkey made his way to an old theater. He got in through the roof vents and found his way to the concession stand where he would help himself to popcorn, snacks and soda. Eventually he made his way to the attic, where they stored props and would go into a food coma. He was awakened by booming voices and sounds. He was curious, but cautious. He crawled along the rafters following the sound. Eventually he made his way above the stage, where he would sit every show and watch the humans act out scenes. He too would mimic the humans and their scenes. When the humans were gone and he was alone, he’d snack and mock them on stage. Putting on his “own” shows. He was lonely, but loved this life much better than his last. So much, that if another human got close to spotting him, he’d scurry off. Noone ever saw him though. However, people would hear him, or see shadows of him. The workers started noticing the food missing and things moved. Eventually a legend started to form about a ghost of a disgruntled actor. The story snow balled and changed so many times. Mostly because it wasn’t true. It was the monkey the whole time. 

One day the monkey spooked a security guard, causing the guard to take chase. The monkey got so spooked, he didn’t pay attention to where he was going, and got himself wedged behind a large heavy armoire. The guard never caught him, but the monkey never got out. The armoire was too heavy for the monkey to get out from behind, and he didn’t want to alert anyone to his whereabouts. Eventually he passed away. And there he remained for years just rotting away. Noone ever found him or the smell. They just figured an animal died in the walls or something. Unfortunately, that was true. Years later, the theater was eventually condemned and abandoned. Aside from a vagrant or explorer here and there, it remained abandoned for years. 

25 years later . . .

“Yooo boss, I need you over here ASAP” called Matt over his 2-way. 

“What is it?”

“I think we found the smell they were talking bout’”

“What the f-- (he paused) alright I’m coming” he sighed heavily over the walkie talkie as he released the talk button and clipped it back on his belt. “This better not be a fucking prank or a human. Son of bitch….” Jon continued muttering under his breath as he made his way through the dilapidated theater to his workers. 

Billy and Matt pulled the armoire away from the wall and BUMP the monkey’s skeleton hit the floor. The guys jumped and wrinkled their faces in disgust. 

“What the fucking fuck!”

“What even is that? A cat?”

“I’m not getting close to it. You do it.”

“Both of you do it! That’s what the fuck I’m paying you for!” Growled Jon as he snatched a garbage bag. 

Matt grabbed a shovel and scooped it off the ground to put in the bag. Just as he did, Billy yelled out so loud, everyone jumped.

“HEY! I THINK THAT’S A FUCKING MONKEY! I mean I think that’s one of thee monkeys.”  

Jon looked at him in anger “What do you mean “thee monkeys!”

“This HAS to be one of the monkeys that escaped the lab a while ago! Remember? They didn’t catch them all?”

“Oh ya! A bunch of monkeys escaped a research lab right?” said Matt

“You think this is one of those monkeys?” asked Jon dumbfounded. 

“Why else would there be a monkey in a theater?”

“Someone’s pet?” joked Matt. “Do we have to call it in?”

“Fuck that! Too much paperwork! Toss that shit in the trash and finish up, we’re on a deadline!”

“Can we keep it?” asked Billy. Before Jon could protest, he interrupted “Like for a mascot. Monkeys are spose’ to be good luck. We can have him stuffed” 

“I don’t want a dead carcass in my fucking truck Bill. Do what you want with him, just get rid of him and I don’t want it in my truck. Finish up! No more fuckery!” Jon stormed off. 

Billy bagged the body up, ignoring Matt’s judgmental looks. That weekend he got the monkey cleaned up and stuffed. He even named him Abu after the mischievous monkey in a movie from his childhood. He called him the company’s mascot and propped him in the work truck despite his boss's protest. The monkey creeped everyone out, except Billy, who considered him his lucky charm. Or so he thought. 

The first weird incident happened almost immediately. After removing “Abu” from the theater, there was an electrical fire, burning down what was left of the theater. But the theater was old and condemned for a reason, so the incident was brushed off. On the next job, someone was crushed by a machine, after a machine operator failed to see a worker on the site and drove right over him in a backhoe. Again, accidents happen. The following job, Matt was on a cherry picker that malfunctioned and sent him straight into a steel beam. On another job, a worker was killed when an unmanned forklift mysteriously punctured and pinned a man to a concrete wall. Job after job began to feel like ‘Final Destination.’ Freak accidents were happening, seemingly for no reason. Slowly the whole crew was picked off one by one. Billy started to think, maybe the monkey was cursed. Maybe he never should’ve taken the monkey. Sadly he grew eerily attached to the monkey. Like a spiritual pet. He knew he had to get rid of it somehow. The following week they were supposed to demolish an old abandoned mall. He would bring the monkey to the mall and find a good place to leave it. 

The day came, and Billy carefully packed the monkey in a backpack and went about his day at the mall. He took a chance to walk around the empty mall frozen in time before it was demolished. “Such a shame," he thought silently. He walked through the mall with flashbacks of his past. He tried to think of a reasonable place to leave the monkey. Dick’s Sporting Goods? Spencer’s Gifts? Candy Shop? Then he saw the food court. “This is where I’d want to be,” Billy thought to himself. He took the monkey out of his bag, gave it a sympathetic look and left it next to “Monkey Joe”, a playground statue at the entrance to an indoor playground in the food court. He took a deep breath and spun around. Crackling of his walkie talkie made him jump. He couldn’t understand what was being said. He hoped it wasn’t important. He slowly sauntered toward the exit, sad to let go of the monkey and the mall memories. 

Suddenly a loud crash and an explosion of glass and debris fell into the food court. Along with a loud THUD. Billy instinctively covered his head and ducked down, not knowing what the hell just happened. Once Billy realized no more debris was falling, he began looking around to investigate what just happened. Something came through the giant sky light window of the food court. He squinted through the dim lit mall and debris. It didn’t take him long to recognize his boss, or what was left of him, splattered on the mall floor.

“JON!!! NOOOOOO!!” Billy started heading to the lower levels toward his boss. He heard what sounded like other workers rushing toward the same direction. As Billy got closer, his pace slowed, he was gone. Brain matter, teeth and blood, so much blood was everywhere. Billy’s eyes teared up. They had to get out of there and call officials. As they turned to leave, a loud rumbling could be heard. They had no time. The roof suddenly started collapsing, as if all the walls suddenly got pushed outwards. The whole crew, or what was left, perished in the collapse, along with the monkey. 

“This just in! It has been reported that a freak accident occurred just minutes ago at the demolition site of the Old Town Mall. What can you tell us Brian about this accident?” A breaking news alert boomed on the TV.

“Well Terry, it happened just over there earlier this afternoon, at the Old Town Mall. J. C. Construction was on site prepping the mall for demolition. The Supervisor was on the roof carrying materials, when a sudden gust of wind picked him up, carrying him and dropping him through the glass roof of the food court up there. We are unsure whether or not he survived that initial impact, however shortly after, the roof collapsed trapping and killing a total of 10 workers, whose names have not been released yet.”

“Wow Brian that is a tragic story! Was there a cause for the collapse?”

“Sorry Terry, this accident is still under investigation, but we will release more details as we find out. Stay tuned. For now this is Brian with NBC 4 New York. Back to you Terry!”

Till this day, the site of the mall is said to be haunted by a mischievous spirit. No matter what was built there, a spirit seemed to follow, along with “freak accidents”.  Some say the land is cursed. The location remains abandoned til this day, with no interested buyers or builders.