2 comments

Mystery Fantasy Crime

   It was an ordinary school day. It didn’t feel any different from yesterday. When this thought came to Kimberly’s mind, she realized every day for the past few weeks was the same, or at least she felt like that. Every day she came to school, it felt like the same things were happening over and over again. It was like she was stuck in a time loop. Of course, it can’t be true since this was something that only can happen in movies or books. She had no idea what was going on with everyone in the town, but she knew something was wrong. It seemed like she was the only one who was thinking like that. There were people in the town who were found dead. The police believed they were suicides, and it seemed like this explanation satisfied everyone else but her.

  When Kimberly heard about the first death, she believed it was a suicide since that person was homeless. After that, other deaths started to follow it. The second person was a married man with two kids, who just got a promotion. It made Kimberly suspicious. That man has no reason to suicide. With the third death, Kimberly was sure none of the deaths were suicides. There was a serial killer in the town. The third person who got killed was a journalist who was investigating the deaths. Kimberly never told a soul about her suspicions because she believed the murderer was going after the people who tried to find the truth behind the deaths.

   Apart from being the only person who is aware of the murders, there was another strange thing she was experiencing. Kimberly was having the same dream every night since the first murder. She was in an endless corridor full of different doors. She had no idea what kind of a connection these two events had. Probably nothing. She became paranoid because of the murders. How can murders and her dreams have a connection right?

   What she didn’t know was there really was a connection, and she wasn’t the only person who experienced that strange dream. The other victims of the murderer experienced the exact same things. But there was someone else, who is still alive, in the town going through the same things as Kimberly.

   Morgan had hated going to school more than usual these past few weeks. He was sure every day was the exact copy of the other days. It was getting harder and harder to keep his sanity. Every weekday at school same things happened, the weekends was the same even in his dreams same things happened over and over again. He was so close to losing his mind. He couldn’t understand how this didn’t bother anyone else and how no one seemed to be aware of that. Also, everyone believing that the so obvious murders were suicides was just unbelievable. Morgan was sure the first dead claimed as suicide was murder. The ones which followed it just confirmed his thoughts.

   Morgan knew there was something wrong with the people in the town. Since he has always been an observant person, he knew the reactions they were giving aren’t the ones they would give under normal circumstances. He couldn’t find any logical explanation for their behaviour. So, he tried the figure out the motive of the murderer. It was another dead end for him. Those people had nothing in common. They didn’t know each other, they didn’t go to the same school, they didn’t work in the same place, etc. The victims had no connection at all. Not being able to find a logical explanation frustrated him.

   He wished there was someone else in the town who is aware of the strange situation they were stuck. Someone who he can talk about this and help him to find a solution to this. He knew it was silly to wish. Wishes were for kids and people who are silly enough to believe them.

   Although Morgan doesn’t believe in wishes, his wish came true that night. He met the only other person who was aware of the strange situation.

   Morgan was having the same dream he had been for the last few weeks. He was in that silly endless corridor with doors. As he was walking in the corridor, he stopped dead in his tracks. A girl was walking towards him. When she noticed him, she stopped too. For a moment they just stare at each other with mouths agape.

   Kimberly broke the silence with a question, “What are you doing in my dream?”

   This question caught Morgan off guard. It was his dream after all isn’t it? “But this is my dream. I have been having this dream for weeks.” He said.

   “So, you are saying you have been seeing this dream since the first murder?”

   “You know about the murders?”

   “Okay, wait. So, you know about the murders, you had been having this dream since the first murder and probably you are aware of the strange time loop thing we are stuck in, right?”

  “Yes. I guess the same thing goes for you too. If both of us have been had the same dream all this time, how have we never met until now?”

  “I have no idea. I also don’t understand why we are dreaming of an endless corridor with locked doors.”

   “How do you know the doors are locked?”

   “Because I tried to open almost all of them. You have been in this dream for weeks and you are telling me you never tried to open one of them.”

   “Why would I do such a thing?” He asked like it was such an absurd thing to do.

  “Well, I don’t know. Maybe for seeing what is behind them or finding the connection of this dream to murders.” She answered sarcastically.

  “Don’t tell me you believe there is a connection between the dream and the murders.” He said unbelievingly. How can someone believe that kind of silly thing?

  “I do. I never had a dream like this, but since the first murder, I have been having this dream over and over again. There must be a connection.”

   “A dream and murders that happened in real life having a connection are illogical.”

  “We are two people in the same dream, and we are aware of we are dreaming. In real life for weeks, we had the exact same week over and over again. And you found my theory illogical. I think we are past the point to find a logical explanation for anything.”

   “Okay, you have a point.” He said. The things she said were illogical too, but they were also real. He decided to give a shot to her theory. Then asked, “So, let’s say you are right there is a connection. How are we going to find it?”

   “By trying to open the doors and hoping one of them wouldn’t be locked. Hopefully, we found the answers we seek behind that door.”

   “How long have you been trying the open the doors?”

   “Since I started to have this dream.” She answered hesitantly.

   “It had been weeks, and you still didn’t find it. What makes you think we could find it? And how can you know the answer is behind one of these doors?” He questioned her logic.

   “There must be a reason we are having this dream. The only thing here is the doors. So, we had to find something useful behind one of these doors.” She reasoned with him.

   “Okay, then we should start searching. It will be a long night.”

   They tried to open the doors. Since they were in a dream it was impossible to tell how long they have been doing this. Also being in an endless corridor didn’t help them. After so many tries, their hope started to wear thin.

   Morgan thought about telling Kimberly maybe they should continue their search tomorrow night. At that moment Kimberly was trying to open a black door. To both of their surprise the door opened. They shared a look. Kimberly slowly opened the door enough for them to get in.

   They quietly walked in. The room they were in has dark grey walls. The room was illuminated by candles. There were spider webs everywhere. The woods of the floor were old and were squeaking with every step they took. Morgan noticed the woman who was standing in the room, before the woman could see them, he pulled Kimberly with himself, and they hid behind the wall.

   The silence was disturbed by the woman’s monologue. “Finally, everyone in the town who realized they were stuck in dreamland is dead. No one can stop me from extracting their souls in order to enlengthen my lifetime.”

   Morgan and Kimberly looked at each other in fear. This woman was the murderer. If she notices them, they will be her new victims. They had to get out of here and found a way to kill her. Both of them had the same question in their minds. How can you kill a witch?

   As they were slowly walking to the door they came in, one of the woods Morgan stepped on squeaked loudly. The witch swiftly turned towards them.

   “Look what we have here. Two teenagers who think they can come to my home uninvited. Don’t you know eavesdropping is rude?” She asked.

   Kimberly and Morgan were paralyzed by fear. They had to do something. They had to stop her. Before they can come up with an idea, the witch threw them to the wall with a hand motion.

   “What should I do with you?” The witched asked herself. “Unlike the others, you aren’t putting up a good fight. You are too weak. I wonder how can two of you have the ability to see through my spell. The others come one by one, but since there are two of you, I think we can make it fun.” She laughed loudly.

   Kimberly and Morgan were shaking by the fear. Both of them were sure this was how they were going to die.

   “Who should I start with? You know they always say ladies first. I think we should change it. Let’s start with you, young man.”

   With one hand move, the witch pulled Morgan towards her. She smiled evilly to Kimberly and said, “You can cry, and scream as much as you want sweetheart.” Then added turning towards Morgan, “The same goes for you too, pretty boy. I would appreciate it if you begged. It is the best part of killing someone slowly and painfully.”

   Kimberly wanted to help Morgan. She felt herself responsible for this. It was her idea to see what was behind the door. She tried to stand but she was feeling dizzy. She lost her balance as she stood up. She tried to hold onto something to keep herself from falling. She couldn’t grab something but accidentally her hand bump into one of those candles and made it fall at the witch’s feet. Before the witch can do anything the floor and her dress caught fire.

   Morgan got freed from the witches hold. He helped Kimberly to get up. They ran towards the door. They can hear the witches screams. They get out of there and closed the door behind them. Once again, they were in the endless corridor. The black door they came out seconds ago disappeared.

   They wanted to talk about what happened, but the corridor started to get blurry. Since the witch’s spell was broken, they were waking up.

   When Kimberly opened her eyes, she found herself in her room. She wondered what would be other people’s reaction to the deaths since the spell was broken.

   When Morgan woke up, he was thinking the same thing as Kimberly. Also, he was happy to finally get rid of that maddening routine that repeats itself.

   Both of them got up and looked at today’s date. According to the calendar, today was the day of the death of the homeless man.

October 01, 2021 19:00

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

2 comments

Tetsuya Date
20:29 Oct 01, 2021

Wonderful story, I couldn't help but laugh when she accidentally killed the witch :D

Reply

Z. A.
21:08 Oct 01, 2021

What can I say, I love putting things on fire accidentally in my stories.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in the Reedsy Book Editor. 100% free.