Decoy

A little scare in the style of Alvin Schwartz

Rebecca got home late after a long drive back from the city. She set her house alarm, securing all the doors and windows, the little light on the control panel turning from red to green.

“Armed.”

She was getting a glass of water at the sink when she looked out the window and saw someone standing at the far end of her driveway. It was too dark to see anything but their silhouette, but whoever it was, seemed to be staring at her, totally still.

Coming to her senses, she took a step towards her phone. When she did, the figure hobbled impossibly fast toward the window. Rebecca gasped and recoiled back to the sink. It then moved back to its original place, still staring.

Rebecca breathed in and out, trying not to faint. “Could this be someone playing a joke on me?” she wondered. But that didn’t make any sense. No one around here knew her and she lived miles from her nearest neighbor.

In the pale light from a street lamp down the road, she could see the figure was tall, thin and seemingly injured from the way it moved. But then how was it so quick?

Once again Rebecca dashed for the phone. And just as before, the figure scrambled toward the window, as if in fast-motion. When she picked up the receiver, it banged so rapidly on the glass with its’ fists that she feared it might shatter. Rebecca saw two lidless eyes and chattering teeth. She let loose a wild scream, dropping the phone to the ground. The thing stopped and again, backed up slowly to the driveway.

“What is going on?” Rebecca cried, tears streaming down her face. “Why is this happening?”

The phone on the ground alternated between a harsh beep and an automated voice. Rebecca stood, shaking, eyes locked on the thing in the driveway. It never moved. Never swayed. Never twitched. Then the beeping stopped. The house was silent.

“I’ll stay here until the sun comes up,” she thought, “Then it’ll go away.” What seemed like hours passed. Suddenly, the thing nodded its head once, as if taking an order, then it scampered away.

Rebecca watched it fade into the darkness and disappear. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing and picked up the phone. Her fingers trembled so badly she could barely dial 9-1-1. Waiting for an answer her eyes spotted something strange. The little green light on the alarm control panel now glowed red.

“Disarmed.”

No longer able to breathe, she watched as three pairs of lidless eyes stared at her from across the room, teeth chattering.