“Can I tell you a story?” he asks, his voice low and gravelly.
I glance at the clock. Almost midnight. “We’re closing up.”
“It won’t take long,“ he insists, nursing his third drink. “Just while you’re cleaning. I’ll be gone before you lock up.”
With a sigh, I nod. It’s been a long night, and I’m too tired to argue. “Alright, go ahead.”
An Awkward Silence
He leans forward, eyes shadowed and intense. “There’s this guy. Used to be a night watchman at an old hospital. You know the type—cold, drafty, abandoned for years. But he needed the money.”
“One night, he’s doing his rounds, flashlight cutting through the darkness. It’s quiet, too quiet. He’s used to the creaks and groans, but tonight, there’s nothing. Just the echo of his footsteps.”
“He’s about to finish his shift when he hears it. A faint tapping, like fingernails on glass. He follows the sound to the basement, the place where they used to keep the most disturbed patients. The door’s ajar, and the tapping’s louder now.”
A Desperate Plea
He pauses, taking a sip from his drink. “He steps inside, and there it is. An old mirror, covered in dust and grime. The tapping’s coming from the other side. He wipes the glass, and for a moment, he sees himself, but then…”
His voice drops to a whisper. “He sees something else. A woman, gaunt and pale, with hollow eyes. She’s tapping, trying to get out. He jumps back, but the image fades. Just his own reflection staring back.”
“He convinces himself it’s a trick of the light, maybe his mind playing games. But the next night, it happens again. This time, she speaks. ‘Help me,’ she says, her voice muffled but desperate.”
I feel a shiver run down my spine. “What did he do?”
He shrugs. “He tries to ignore it, but every night, it gets worse. She’s screaming now, begging him to free her. He can’t sleep, can’t eat. It’s driving him mad.”
“One night, he decides to end it. He brings a hammer, ready to smash the mirror to pieces. But as he raises it, she pleads with him, ‘Don’t break it. You’ll trap me forever.’”
“He hesitates. She swears she’s innocent, trapped by some malevolent force. She promises him anything if he helps her escape. In a moment of weakness, he agrees.”
A Sinister Revelation
The man’s hands tremble slightly as he grips his glass. “He cuts his hand, presses it to the glass. The mirror shimmers, and she steps through, cold and real. She thanks him, but there’s something wrong. Her eyes, they’re not grateful. They’re hungry.”
“He realizes too late he’s made a mistake. She wasn’t a victim; she was a prisoner. Trapped for a reason. She vanishes, leaving him alone with the mirror. And that’s when he sees it. His own reflection, staring back with hollow eyes, trapped behind the glass.”
The bar is silent, the air thick with tension. “So, what happened to him?”
The man leans back, eyes dark. “No one knows. They found the hospital empty, mirror smashed to pieces. But some say, if you go there at night, you can still hear the tapping. Some say, if you look closely, you can see him, still trapped, waiting for someone to make the same mistake.“
I swallow hard, glancing around the dimly lit bar. “That’s quite a story.”
He nods, standing up slowly. “Yeah, well, like I said, I just needed someone to hear it.”
As he turns to leave, something catches my eye. His reflection in the mirror behind the bar—eyes hollow and empty, just like the story. I blink, and it’s gone. He’s gone.
I finish locking up, heart pounding. Stepping outside, the night feels colder, the shadows deeper. I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve just heard more than a story.
And as I walk to my car, I swear I hear it—a faint tapping, coming from somewhere close. Far too close.
Rate the level of creepiness in the story using the “Creepy Meter” below.
Find more twisted stories and creepy tales, send us YOUR CREEPY STORIES, or join the Bonfire Discord Community to find more Horror geeks to discuss.
If you enjoyed this story, then you should read or listen to another spooky tale inspired by a popular song Hit Me Baby One More Time: The Revenge
-
Creepy Meter | How Creepy it was
