Gothic Short Stories

Though the trail was long, the view was breathtaking. Every day, the sun rises beneath the peak, and the inflamed glow spreads all across the mountain. I volunteer down the path of McCarthy Street. I thought by registering, I could work off service hours, but at the same time, have a little fun; however, every day is just a continuous routine of doing this and that: cleaning dishes, the bathroom, and mopping the ground that is usually covered in fine mud prints.

Still, even after doing all the work that is part of the daily routine, there turns out to be more every time. One particular night, while speeding through the dishes, I glanced up at the clock that was hung in an awkward position. I took a step back, with my eyes fixed on the clock.

I kicked open the door, with my head tucked under my shirt, only to find that the bathroom was perfectly clean like before. All of a sudden, the door slammed behind me, leaving its echoes ringing in my ear. An inhuman shiver ran down my spine. Abruptly, another wave of nauseating odour passed by my nostrils. Frantically, I marched towards every opening there was to find the source. I opened every tap and flushed every toilet, but the stench still had not dispersed. Puzzled, I looked up, noticing a vast crack in the ceiling. There seemed to be a fluid running down the crack and onto the floor. Disturbed, I quickly wiped it away. Feeling lightheaded from inhaling so much of its toxic fumes, I sat down to rest a bit. I closed my eyes, feeling that my consciousness was starting to fade.

Against my own will, my head suddenly jerked to the left, then the right, and then the left again, playing with me as if I were a puppet. Broken shards of crystal-clear glass fell in an orderly fashion behind my head. The aggravating sound of fire bells chimed in my ears as I tried to rise; but I tipped over and fell onto the ground again in agony. While still conscious, an eerie laughter ran through my ears. Before I knew what it was, everything vanished before my eyes. Then, through the tiny cracks of my vision, a sliver of light shone