Chapter 4
Carter
I have no idea what’s going on in the shop but something is.
definitely not how I imagined it to go today.
My first client showed up just to jump out the seat ten minutes into the session saying someone sat on his lap.
I laughed it out but as soon as he sat down again bottles of ink started to fall from the shelves behind him and he said it’s a bad juju and ran out.
Then the lights started flickering but only at my station making it impossible to focus on my work.
Roman sent me a few new photos from the youth center and the same masked person was in all of them lurking somewhere behind but even though he sent pictures of different people that person was never in the center.
Me: Babe, who's the blond girl with the Catrina mask?
Muscles: Who?
Me: The one in the pictures.
I sent him a screenshot after circling the person I was talking about.
Muscles: That’s weird, I just checked and there is no one dressed like that.
Me: Huh, that is weird. If you happen to find them, tell them Ry loves the mask.
Muscles: Sure, thing.
“Carter!”
I jump in my seat at the sound of Nix’s voice. What is wrong with me? I’m never this jumpy. I guess the probability of seeing dead people does that to a man.
“Where’s the fire?” I ask before walking over to her station. She’s looking around her. She’s pissed and I think it’s because of the snake she finally found. Took her long enough.
“Where’s my shit? I know it’s one of your pranks.” She points her finger at me.
“Wait, it's not about the snake?” I ask dumbfounded. “Why would I take your stuff?”
“I found your stupid snake five minutes after I arrived, I’m not an idiot.” With hands on her hips she scowls at me and suddenly I feel like I’m fifteen again my mom is chastising me. “I didn’t react the way you hoped so you decided to up your game and hide my things?”
“Wha—?” A shiver runs through me and suddenly I feel cold. I look at the front window in the search of, I don’t know, sunlight to share its warmth but noticed it’s already dark outside. “Is it cold in here?”
“Do not change the subject, mister.” As she continues with her reprimand, lights in the shop start flickering.
Okay, it better not be a problem with the electricity, Gavin might also blame it on me. This day is not going as I expected it to.
“My needles, Carter.” I focus again on Nix shivering in my henley.
“Fine, I’ll bring it to you, but turn up the heating while I’m gone because it’s like a fucking morgue in here.”
I turn around and just as I’m about to enter the back hall something catches my eyes. Something at the front window that wasn’t there before. A blond head with a Catrina mask right in front of our shop staring right at…me.
“Carter, needles.”
“Do you see her?” I look quickly at Nix and point to the window.
“Who?”
“The girl in a Catrina mask? She’s—” I stop because no one’s fucking there. What the hell is happening. “No one saw her?”
“Car-Car I’m the closest to the window and I’ve seen no one.” Pete assures me but I just stand there staring at the empty space.
“Carter!” Nix’s voice wakes me again.
"I'm going, Jesus.” What’s wrong with all of them? A day that was supposed to be the best of the year turns out to be Lets kick Carter because he’s already on the ground. Thank god there’s a party later at JACKs and Roman won’t be that mean to me as all of them are today.
I turn on the lights in the storage room and walk straight up to the cabinet with all of our supplies. Some of us have favorite brands to use so it’s not a problem to find Nix’s needles.
Suddenly I hear the click of the doors as they close and the light goes off. I try to turn it back on but it doesn’t work. Gavin is going to be pissed.
Grabbing the door handle I push forward to get out of this darkness but my shoulder just hits the hard surface that won’t budge.
“What the fuck?” Could this day get any worse? “Hey guys, some help, please? I’m stuck here.” I yell in hopes they’ll hear me. I reach for my phone but it’s not in my pocket. I must’ve left it at my station. Fuck my life.
The light starts to flicker again.
“Carrrrttteeerrr.” Someone whispers.
I jerk at the sound. “Who’s there?”
“Carterrrrr.” Again, this time a little louder it seems it’s a female who’s whispering. “Carter, you’re next.”
“Who are you? Next for what?”
And then bitch starts to chant like the boy from Pirates of the Caribbean. I can’t get my legs to work. They’re just stuck while my insides scream for me to run.
One by one the lights go dead,
Whispers crawl inside your head… you’re next
“Carterrrrr.” again with the whispering. I have goosebumps all over my body and the hair on my arms are standing on end.
“Guys, this is not fucking funny anymore. Help me.” I bang my fist at the door.
The lock clicks open and I run out of the storage like my ass is on fire.
“Very funny, fuck all of you.” I look around but no one’s there. I’m all alone except … someone is humming the same melody that stupid rhyme was sung to. “Come on guys, haha, you had your fun. You can come out now.”
The lights turn off and on again and there at the opposite wall stands the blond girl with her mask on. I gasp.
The lights go off again. “Carterrrr.”
This time the whisper comes somewhere from the right. I jerk my head in that direction. The light turns on again and the girl is there by the window. She tilts her head to the side and starts humming the melody.
“What do you want from me? Where is everyone.”
The lights go off again but now there are multiple voices, all reciting the rhyme.
One by one the lights go dead,
Whispers crawl inside your head… you’re next
I take a step back and my back meets the wall behind me. What the fuck is going on.
The voices keep getting closer and closer. I can feel the blood pumping through my veins.
Then it’s bright again and in front of me are three figures with blond hair and those damn masks. All of them chanting the words with a creepy voice.
Someone screams. Is there someone else here? Oh fuck, I’m the one screaming.
It’s dark again and I have no idea what to expect next. Maybe they’ll jump on me and turn me into a zombie or something. I should run. If they’re girls or even older women I can push them to the side and run out.
Just as I’m about to do that a male voice, somehow familiar, whispers in my ear: “You’re next.”
Fuck that, I’m done. I scream and run straight not thinking about who’s there. Fuck them, they can die if they’re not already.
The light turns on again and there behind the reception stand all of my friends, laughing they’re ass off.
The masks come off and all the girls high five my husband who comes out from the back hall.
It’s a prank? They pranked me? Tears sting my eyes and I can’t hold them any longer.