The Audition - A Tale of Terror Part 5
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
by Ryan Stroud
That sounded like McCoy, Jim thought. They two looked at each other with wonder stricken across their faces.
"Dude, what was that?" Jim asked.
"Um, well, I bet it was nothing. Hey, wait here, practice some scales and I'll go check it out, alright?" Murphy put his guitar down and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Jim sat there, bewildered, and decided to try to see what was going on. He was nervous as he approached the door, sticking out his hand towards the knob. He twisted the knob slowly, just enough to not make a sound and opened the door slightly to peer through.
"Wow, sorry about that. Hey, I have to take care of something; do you mind just hanging out here for a moment while I fix a problem?" Murphy asked Jim.
"No, not at all, that's cool, man," Jim replied, not looking Murphy in the face. He was scared but Murphy didn't seem to notice Jim was at the door, watching him.
"Alright, I'll be back in a second." Murphy smiled while shutting the door.
What was going on, Jim thought. Murphy must not have seen him there, or he was playing it off very well. Jim set his guitar back down and crept up to the door. Once again, he ever so slightly and quietly turned the door knob and opened the door just the faintest to peer through. There was Murphy again, forcefully pointing at someone again.
"Who's he talking to?" Jim asked himself.
A dark figure was coming out of the hall. Jim could see only a little trace of the figure and he thought it was smaller than McCoy. The figure moved a little closer to Murphy out of the hall, just barely touching the light. Jim squinted his eyes, trying to see further. "Who is that?" he said again.
The light had hit just enough of the dark figure for Jim to see. It wasn't McCoy, Jim thought. The dark figure had long, dirty, almost dreadlocked hair swaying in its face. Its skin was extremely pail and had the structure of a woman. Its clothes were dirty, torn in many places, and lacking color of any sorts. The dark figure stood there for a moment and Murphy turned and walked back towards the rehearsal space's door. Jim, once again, quickly moved back to his guitar and picked it up as Murphy entered.
"Hey, problem solved, no biggie," Murphy said.
"What was wrong?" Jim asked.
"Oh, McCoy hit his head pretty hard while trying to leave. He's gone now."
"Are you sure everything's alright?" Jim questioned.
"Yeah, everything's going to be fine now," Murphy replied with a sly smile. Jim didn't like that smile but it wasn't treating at all, so Jim shrugged it off. But he couldn't help think of that dark figure. Who was that? What was that? Jim's hands started sweating again.
"MURPHY!!!" something yelled from outside the room. Both men jumped in their seats. Murphy started to laugh a little, it was a scared laugh. He was just as startled as Jim.
"Ok, now what was that?" Jim asked.
"Oh man, that scared me," Murphy said with a chuckle. "That's my sister, man. She lives here with me. She's cool, I promise." Murphy stood up and headed back to the door. "Sorry about al the interruptions, just give me a second and I'll be right back. Last time, I promise."
"It's fine. No worries," Jim said.
Murphy exited the room, shutting the door behind him. "Now, you don't go running off, ok?" Murphy said with a smile. Jim just looked up and nodded. As soon as Murphy shut the door, Jim was up and ready to look out. He was now getting really nervous, not fully understanding what was going on around him. He felt Murphy was acting a little strange and wanted to get at the bottom of this. He twisted the knob again, slightly opening the door.
To be continued...
Ryan Stroud is a military trained journalist who has served in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army. Prior to his military experiences, Stroud grew up playing, coaching, and refereeing soccer. Also, Stroud focused many years of his life playing, touring, and recording/producing local music acts. He has a wonderful wife of 4 years, a 2 year old son and a newborn daughter.
Stroud's biggest writing influences are Jim Butcher, Chuck Palahniuk, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Christopher Moore and Ben Fox.
He currently resides in Huntsville, Al, with the 59th Ordnance Brigade at Redstone Arsenal.
Stroud would also like to take a moment to thank his friends who are currently in battle over in Iraq. God bless all of you.
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