The Whispering

A sound so quiet, yet so deadly. Sitting alone here I can reminisce, but not to the advantage of others who have suffered. They took their chances, and in the end, lost their lives. I was one of the lucky ones, lucky enough to be sitting here writing this. I write this not for the money or for the acclaim, but to warn. To warn everyone not to listen. Close your ears, and hum to yourself. Make sure you do everything you can to block them out. Beware the whispering.

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The night was dark and menacing. The moon was full in all its glory and the trees cast dark shadows upon the house. Earlier we had set out to take a hike into the woods, later we got lost, and hungry, and cold. To avoid mutiny we set out to find a place to stay. An opening in the woods revealed this to us; a large house that was seemingly empty.

We looked at each other with a silent horror. We had heard story after countless story of people getting lost in the woods and finding what seemed to be an ordinary house only to have their life end prematurely through some unfortunate turn of events. I have to say that I was hesitant, almost to the point where I would have turned around to brave the cold woods. However, thoughts of wild beasts and murderous fugitives kept that thought at bay.

The others in my party were much less hesitant. Their eager eyes brimmed with excitement and adventure. No thought of possible danger crossed their minds. The self-appointed “leader” of our expedition was none other than Robert, a very self-loving, narcissistic man. I did not like to be in his company.

He had come along due to his friendship with Lindsay, a lovely young girl with vibrant blue eyes and a beautiful body. Many of my thoughts as of late had been of her. How I clamored to be alone with her, to say what I feel and to have her as my own. This was supposed to be our day together in the woods. I frown to mention that she decided to invite Robert along. I never understood her relationship with him.

Also in our company was a little round man whose name I did not know. One of Robert’s good friends and just as arrogant as him. I did not care to know this man any more than I cared for Robert. For the sake of this story, I will just call him the fat man.

As we approached the large house in the clearing, I stopped in my path for a moment of absolute awe. I noticed that this house was no house at all, but a large mansion built in the seclusion of the woods. It is a wonder that I had never noticed it before.

When I looked down, I noticed that Robert and the fat man were running to the gate that surrounded the entire manor. Lindsay was standing next to me, thinking silently to herself. Oh how I longed to be the subject of her thoughts. I knew that would never be the case.

Robert and the fat man were trying to find a way to open the gate. The gate had a large lock on it and was covered all around in a barbwire. I think I suggested that Robert jump over and open it from the other side, but only received a dirty glance from all.

The fat man suddenly looked as if he had an idea. He ran around the house (how amazing it was that he ran) and soon produced a large branch from a tree. Curious as to how he was planning to use the branch, I slowly leaned in a little closer.

It was a humorous sight, watching the fat man try to jam the branch in the lock. He must not have realized that the branch was just too big. I think that I suggested to him that he just try leaning on the fence, but my reception was as icy cold as before.

I began to become impatient, and it must have shown on my face, due to the fact that Lindsay was staring at me looking worried. I tried to ignore the fact that I knew Lindsay’s beautiful eyes were staring at me and that it seemed as if she finally cared about me. Could this be the moment that I told her how I felt? Should I finally explain my feelings for her? I began to open my mouth to speak.

A loud metallic crashing sound echoed across the forest, and my moment of braveness and sensitivity passed. I silently cursed the fates. It turns out that the fat man had found a weak spot somewhere in the metal and actually managed to take the whole front part of the fence down. I prayed to myself that no one lived here.

As I walked through the new hole in the fence with Lindsay, Robert was standing proudly over his work. Son of a bitch, I thought while smiling at him as if I appreciated his work. To my dismay, Lindsay gave him a kiss on the cheek. My anger rose.

You may, at this point, portray me as a very shy passive-aggressive, but I ask you to hold your judgment, and to sympathize with me. Imagine the feeling of loving someone for a long time, only to have to compete against this fool Robert as I have. Maybe I am trying to tilt your opinion my way, but then again, I can’t help it. Forgive me.

Somehow, as we walked down the pathway to the front door, it seemed to be getting darker. At first I felt as if it were just me, but I realized as I looked up at the sky, that the clouds were thickening and the moon had been overcome by the darkness of the clouds.

Then came the rain. Light at first, and then pouring down with an animal-like intensity, the rain was cold and quickly soaked our clothes thoroughly. Lindsay let out a little screech, but I quickly covered her with my leather jacket, leaving me with only my white tee shirt. The things I did for that girl may seem foolish, especially if she showed no signs of affection for me, but at the time I felt drawn in by her beauty and would have done anything for her.

Lindsay’s hair was all matted together and her mascara was running. At this point I found her to be the most beautiful I had ever seen her. She seemed so vulnerable, so obtainable. She needed a man who could protect her, and a man who cared about her. I wanted to be that person more than anything in the world.

As I reached to put my arm over her shoulder and tell her that everything was going to be all right, I felt a sudden heaviness on my shoulder. It was too much, and suddenly I found myself face down in the muddy walkway. I could hear a childish laughing behind me. At first it was one voice, then it became two. As I lifted my face out of the mud, and then wiping the earth out of my eyes, I saw that Robert and the fat man were hunched over a rock laughing so hard, I thought the fat man might explode and kill us all.

Lindsay was scolding them, telling the fat man to stay off of my shoulders, and also yelling at Robert for co-conspiring with the fat man. Robert denied having anything to do with it.

I stood up, trying to no avail to get some of the mud off of me. My head began to throb, and I felt nothing but hatred towards Robert. I just smiled and told him that it was a good joke. The fat man agreed. Oh how I hated them both.