Minji

Under the Rug

2 weeks passed and it happened again…


ÝThe first incident happened on the night Mr. Stevenson moved to his new mansion. He was sitting on his brand new tea table, sipping some green tea while reading the newspaper and listening to the TV at the same time. All of a sudden, he heard a small noise that sounded like something rubbing against the rug. He looked around carefully and his eyes caught a small lump under his cream-colored rug, moving rather slowly towards the kitchen. What is that thing? He thought. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes hard, to make sure he wasn’t just tired, but the “object” was still there. It was still crawling, or walking. He didn’t know.
ÝThe mysterious “thing” kept heading towards the kitchen, constantly increasing speeds, but when Mr. Stevenson slowly crouched to look at it more closely, it suddenly stopped and in a second, it was gone. It ran away, or…?
Ý
ÝThe old eerie mansion on Redbrick Road had been emptied more than 100 years. The neighbors say that ghosts haunt it and that there’s a horrible, cruel devil living in it, but none of them really knew the reason why it looked so creepy. The rumors about the mansion spread like wind, so people didn’t even tried to go near it and no one wanted to buy it. However…
ÝMr. Stevenson is rich and a very organized man. He’s a hard worker and he’s proud of himself, but has some problems with his personality.
ÝHe is very obstinate and cynical. He yells at people if something goes wrong or if he doesn’t feel good. He’s so nosy and he always has a suspicious look on his face. He’s afraid that someone might take his precious money. He thought money ruled everything. That’s probably the reason why his wife wanted to get divorced.
ÝHe and his wife had separated last month. They argued a lot and the result was a divorce. His daughter and son left him with his wife. He told himself, “I don’t care. I don’t need a family. I can live without them, absolutely!” But inside, he was very lonely.
ÝAfter the divorce, he didn’t want to live in the house that he and his family had been living before. It prompted him to remember the happy days with his family. That made him upset. So he decided to move to where he could start all over again. Where it’s very quiet and peaceful…
ÝThat’s why he had chosen the mansion on the Redbrick Road. It was a perfect place for him to start his whole new life. He immediately bought the house, with the image of him living peacefully in the house.

ÝAnd what was this? A weird lump appearing all of a sudden, which made him a little frightened for a second. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. He wondered what it could be. Could it be …a ghost? Nah. He didn't believe in ghosts. He didn't believe that they existed. Then what could it be? A normal animal can't disappear that fast. He thought of it all day but couldn’t figure it out. He decided to ask the neighbors about it. He went to the house that was right next his house first. He asked the guy that was living in there but he just replied, "I don't know 'cause I didn't live there."
Mr. Stevenson asked pretty much everyone on his street, but no one knew anything about the house. That's because they tried their best not to go, look, or know about that house, of course. It was annoying him very much. Whatever it was, if I see it again, he thought, I will kill it!
ÝBut the "thing" didn't reappear for 2 weeks. Now he had almost forgotten about it because he had told himself that it was all just a dream.
ÝHowever, the “thing” reappeared exactly 2 weeks later. It wasn’t a dream. Mr. Stevenson was lying on his leather sofa, watching late night news. He was getting sleepy so he slowly closed his eyelids, then he heard it again! The same exact noise came from the rug. He abruptly opened his eyes wide and listened to the noise without a single movement. The noise came continuously so he carefully got up from the sofa and picked his chair up high, closed his eyes aiming at the thing and.... SMASH!
ÝHe opened one eye to peer at what happened after he had hit the thing with the chair. 2 legs of the chair were broken and the lump under the rug was split in half. He sighed and put the chair down and looked at the broken lump again. Before he could wonder how it was broken exactly into half, the 2 lumps twitched a bit. Then they started to get mixed together, or they combined each other, and it was a circular lump again. He gasped. How can this be happening? He thought. He was terrified. This time the “thing” started to move towards him. He couldn't move his feet. He was frozen on the spot with eyes as wide as balls. He couldn't do anything but stare at the moving lump and wondering what would he see if it comes up. Then unexpectedly, the "thing" jumped up, ripping the cream-colored rug, and appeared right in front of him. He couldn't even scream for help. He was just so horrified he couldn't think anything but screaming for help. I can't die right here, right now, he thought. I want to live, I want to see my family again and I need some time to spend my money. I can't die… I don't want to die!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hey, hey! Mr. Stevenson! Are you listening to me?”
"Whoa, what?" Mr. Stevenson said, opening his eyes and looking around him wildly. He wasn't dead. He was in his old house talking to a guy that sells houses.
It must've been a dream, he thought. He was glad that it was just a dream. He let out a sigh of relief and looked at the guy who was sitting in front of him.
"So which house do you want to buy, sir?" the guy said.
"Hmm... Which house is the best house?" he said, with a relaxed smile on his face.
"Well... All the houses are good but the best one would be this one because almost no one had lived in it even though it's about more than 100years old." the guy said, pointing to a picture of the house.
ÝMr. Stevenson looked at the picture of the house.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" he screamed.
ÝAll of a sudden he screamed for help and he grabbed the guy and cried and cried begging for help. He kept saying that he didn't want to die and he can not die right now. The guy called the ambulance and Mr. Stevenson was moved to a hospital.
ÝWhat was it? What was so horrifying for the old Mr. Stevenson? He wasn't scared of anything, according to what he had said before. What was it the "thing"? Was it the face of the “thing” that made him horrified... or... was it what the "thing" had done to him...?