Friday, The 13th

It was Friday the 13^th, but Jaya didn’t believe in these ridiculous superstitions. She was happy, doing the thing that she did best-cooking. And she was preparing her favorite dish today, Alu-Gobi. Her comfort food! She had come back early from work because they were predictions of heavy thunderstorms and rain. Jaya picked up the local newspaper as she cooked.

“Dangerous psychopath’s incredible escape from maximum security prison”. A small shiver went down her spine as she read with bated breath that the man convicted of killing his family, including his aged parents, his wife and two children, had miraculously escaped from his cell where he was serving his life sentence. The media had nicknamed him as The Ripper because of the violent and gruesome nature of his attack.

Jaya wondered what would happen if the killer came at her doorstep and felt a little jittery. She blamed it on the stormy night-the deafening thunder, the heavy downpour and today’s date had spooked her-that’s all. That was when she heard the knock on her door…

C…R…E…A…K…

Ashwin stopped typing on his laptop and whirled around in his chair with a frown on his face as the door to his study opened with a squeaking noise. He was sure that he had locked the door before starting his work. How had the door opened? He looked back at the incomplete sentence on his laptop. He was so engrossed in writing Jaya’s story that he couldn’t think clearly whether he had latched the door. Maybe he had just imagined that he had done it.

Ashwin thought it better to shut the door. Just like in Jaya’s story, the night outside was going to be a stormy one and a fierce wind was howling through the windows. He walked quickly and closed the door firmly, latching the bolt. He walked towards the windows to stare at the gloomy night outside. A sudden chill in the room made the hairs on back of his neck stand on end. He could feel his skin break out in goosebumps. He knew that there was something terribly evil in the room…

“Behind you, you idiot…”

Just as Ashwin whirled around, the knife slashed in his face and there was a terrifying scream of agony.

Jasmine paused the movie. “What a useless horror writer! Doesn’t he know that the killer always attacks when you have your back turned towards the door or window.” Jasmine pulled the blanket closer and settled snugly on the sofa. She loved watching these slasher movies and today had seemed like a perfect day for a horror movie marathon. Unlike her friends who were scared to watch horror movies, Jasmine was a horror film junkie. She was addicted to them. Today was Friday the 13^th, and she decided to binge watch all the horror movies in her collection. Alone! I told you she was not your typical girl who grasped her boyfriend’s arm in theaters after being coerced to watch slasher movies.

A slight noise in the kitchen distracted Jasmine’s attention but she didn’t budge from her cozy perch on the sofa. She lived with 2 other girls and 3 stray cats from down the road. So midnight snack attacks were common in their house. But Jasmine, you’d’ve been paralyzed with fear had you known that The Ripper had broken one of your kitchen windows and was now gazing lovingly at the array of knives on your shelf.

Behind you, Jasmine. You should know better, after all you watch horror flicks, don’t you?

This post is written for WriteTribe Problogger October 2017 Challenge. The theme for today was Bated Breath. #writebravely #writeproblogger