Psycho Possession

By Eliot Banaszak

Have you ever been afraid of the dark? No? Well, I have, and it is not fun. For my entire life, I've been terrified about seeing creatures in the corners of my room, paranoid that a body would crawl out from underneath the bed or straining to hear the creak of the door moving when nobody's there. I moved away to college hoping that these familiar fears would leave me in a new setting, but they only followed me. At first, the sights and sounds intensified, and I did not know what to do. Soon after, I found that it is not all bad. I befriended and fell in love with a girl who lives across the dorm hall. At first her support was so comforting; we would go on long walks or hang out at each other's apartments and just talk. Why now has it gotten worse and I feel like I'm back to square one? Even after my brother moved in with me the following term, I felt secure with the familiarity, but I'm afraid this only helped for a while. The voices inside my head have only gotten worse, and now they want me to do things that I never thought I would. I tried killing myself, but I couldn't go through with it. Am I going crazy? I think I might be worse than the monsters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662409677

Book preview

Chapter 1

Henry

When I moved out, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never lived on my own before; though I have been on my own when both parents had errands to run or had their date night, that was different. Considering that I lived in a totally unfamiliar environment, the expectation was to be up all night, tossing and turning in a restless cold sweat. However, on the contrary, it felt quite refreshing.

The apartment complex I moved into wasn’t the cheapest on the block, but it was still cheap enough that I could manage it with the aid that Dad gave me. Was it a bit smaller than what I was used to? Sure, it was an apartment, but it fit, and it fit comfortably. And thanks to the location of the apartment I was in, it gave me a, more or less, centralized area between work and school.

When I had first moved here, I was completely alone. I was never very good at making friends, but I was never afraid to participate in conversation, even if I wasn’t originally a part of it. I would go day in and day out, going from my apartment to work and then back without doing much in between. I eventually spent some time walking across campus, looking for my classrooms. After I had memorized the room numbers, I looked for the quickest routes across campus to reach them. Afterward, I stopped at the bookstore, where I ended up buying all my books. I wished I had bought them beforehand, but I had procrastinated and ended up running out of time. After looking at the price, I realized I would never make that mistake again.

As for my job? I worked at a grocery store. Brian was the owner as well as the manager of the store. They hired college students and college students only; it was to help us get through and have cash on hand. Everybody worked part-time so that he could have more students working at the store. The only problem was that the hours were not set in stone and could change every other day, but most of the time, it was normal and easy for students to get paid and still go to class. Now I’ve worked in fast-paced environments and normally enjoy the challenge of not only keeping up but surpassing the workload. However, when it came to retail and at a grocery store, I felt overwhelmed and was ready to quit, and I hadn’t even been working there long. But the long line of customers coming in during the middle of the day or evening hours was not my kind of fast-paced fun.

I guess the feeling of me being overwhelmed showed on my face because, the next thing I knew, a girl by the name of Jessica came to my rescue, only after a little over a week at the grocery store. She helped me get back on track and gave me a few of her secrets for not only the fastest but most productive ways to get the job done. Once at the end of our shift, we both got in our vehicles and drove, unbeknown to either of us that we were driving to the same location. I had never seen her vehicle before and wasn’t specifically looking for this woman. But once we pulled into the same parking lot and both got out, that was when we noticed each other standing next to our vehicles, about fifteen feet apart from each other. A smile started to grow on our faces as we neared each other, both of us still in our work clothes. I held the door open for her and followed her up the steps to our floor. I could feel my face getting warm as we walked to the same exact spot though she stopped at the door directly across from mine.

I unlocked my door and she unlocked hers. I turned around and saw her smiling at me, and soon she disappeared behind her apartment door. I turned around and walked into my own apartment, closing the door behind me. I stood next to it; the back of my head rested against the door. Music was playing in the background from the radio with some heavy metal song. I took off my shoes and dropped my keys onto the counter, walking down the hall and into my room on the left side. My brother’s room would be on the right. The room was sizable enough to fit a bed in and a couple of dressers. I got changed into my normal clothes and was sitting at my desk, going through my computer, when I heard a knock at the door.

I sat back wondering if it was my imagination or if someone was really at the door. Two more knocks came, and I stood up and walked out. I turned the music down before I made my way to the door and opened it up. Jessica stood at the door a platter in her hands.

Hi, I said to her.

Hi, she said back. I stepped aside to let her in.

I closed the door behind her, and standing in the doorway, I watched as she walked to the table and put the platter down and uncovered it—cookies.

I hope you like cookies, she said, looking back up at me.

I love cookies, I said, and closing the door behind me, I walked over to the table, grabbed a cookie, and took a bite. Wow, these are good. Did you make them?

I did, she said with delight and happy that I was enjoying them. She sat down.

I sat down as well, and before long we were conversing about nothing and we continued to talk until we were both tired, and soon afterward she left.

I closed the door behind her and locked it.

Walking to my room, I then changed into my pajamas and ended up staying awake for close to an hour or so just going back through the conversation I had moments ago.

We ended up doing this for a couple of days since we were both bored after work and school still didn’t start for a couple more days. We decided to take advantage of our free time and started to hang out before and after work, sometimes even driving together when we had the same shift.

Possibly the most outgoing thing that she was able to get me to do was go out and party at her friend’s house. It was during this time, I also found out she was a year ahead of me. After that evening, she managed to drag me out to a couple more, a few of which were within the same apartment complex. I was tense and uncomfortable with nearly every outing that she dragged me on, mostly because I knew nobody, and she knew quite a few. She would introduce me to her friends, and we would start talking. They would try to get me to do a couple shots, but after turning them down a couple of times, they stopped bothering me. Thank goodness Jessica wasn’t much of a drinker either. It wasn’t until the last night where I did a what the hell moment and went for it. We walked into one where loud music was playing, and people were drinking; a few had already passed out on the floor.

That was fun, I said one evening as we walked out of the house.

Fun? Did you actually do anything? she asked as we got in the car at one thirty in the morning.

Yeah, I had a couple drinks. Just go for it, you know.

Well, I guess. Obviously, you didn’t drink too much, but be careful with these people. They tend to spike people’s drinks for a few laughs, and they know how to give you a headache the next morning.

I only had one, I thought. How bad could it be?

The next morning, I woke up and practically had to force my eyes open, but as soon as I did, I wished I hadn’t. The light that shown through my blinds felt like it was shining right in my face. My head ached with unbearable pain, and my throat felt dry as if it had been dragged across the desert, and when I opened my mouth, it felt gummy.

With the assistance of my hands, I sat up and looked at the clock and remembered I had to work today. I stood up and nearly stumbled forward, and after regaining my balance, I managed to stand and slowly walked to the bathroom to relieve myself. I was just thankful my stomach wasn’t upset. As I looked at myself in the mirror, it looked like I could use about eight more hours of sleep. I slowly walked back to my room and got dressed for work and waited for Jessica out in the hall.

The door opened, and out came Jessica fully prepared for work and in a good mood. Once she had locked her door and turned around and saw me, she nearly burst out laughing. It looks like someone’s drink got spiked.

Oh, shut up, I said to her. Let’s go to work.

You sure you can work? she said as we headed down the hall.

Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve had a hangover before.

Is that why you hate drinking?

I didn’t have to answer that question.

Work, once you got used to it, wasn’t as bad as it looked; so long as you knew what you were supposed to do, it was quite easy and tolerable. The busiest hours were almost always around lunchtime and evenings, basically when everyone was on break or done with work. But sometimes there were days where hardly anyone came around and we were busy doing nothing and we would just mess around. We were a small grocery store but still employed about thirty or so students. Some were experienced, but many were new, and for a few, it was their first job. The first thing I noticed when entering the building was that Brian wasn’t in today. His son ended up taking over the operation of the store, and it still ran smoothly.

It wasn’t long before school entered into full swing and we were back to sitting at desks, listening to the teach-professors, as they are called in college, drone on about who knows what, and sometimes pretend we are listening. But once school started, schedules at work were redone to fit school schedules, leading many to being rescheduled to the afternoon and early-morning shifts. My school schedule was very flexible, and I was willing to take whatever worked best. Jessica and I ended up not being able to hang out much that first week as we were both feeling a little overwhelmed having to juggle both work and school and figuring out how to entwine homework into the mix.

I think the most interesting piece of the school was the gym. I had never seen anything so large with so many different pieces of equipment. I had never worked with weights in a day in my life, but after today, I felt motivated to start picking it up. And that’s when I realized how weak I truly was.

It wasn’t long before I found my choice of time of when it was best to exercise and, one morning, found that it was totally empty.

Pulling up into the parking lot, I stepped out from my vehicle and dreaded the long walk back up to my apartment as my calves and thighs hurt after being used for the first time in months. Upon entering my floor, I walked past two girls who smiled at me and immediately became self-conscious, wondering if they were laughing at me or not. I mean, I wasn’t a super skinny guy, but I looked ridiculous enough to be wearing gym shorts and an exercise shirt.

Unlocking my door and stepping inside, I was instantly greeted to music playing off the radio. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower before entering my bedroom and grabbing a new set of clothes. I headed back to the bathroom and closed the door.

I was lathering shampoo in my hair when, from out of nowhere, a crash came from somewhere in the apartment. Turning away from the showerhead, I slipped on the slick floor, frantically trying to grab on to something, anything for support; my soapy hands defeated me, and I fell to the floor.

My heart skipped a beat; panic and fear started to grow as I sat on the shower floor, just waiting for someone to burst in and kill me. No one came. All was quiet except for the running water, making my anxiety worse. Slowly, I got to one knee before standing up and, with the same caution, moved my hand to the shower knob and started to turn it off when I realized that would inform my intruder that I’d heard something. I decided to leave it running.

Wrapping a towel around my waist, I stepped out onto the cold tile floor. Placing a hand on the doorknob, I took a deep calming breath, trying to steady my nerves before finally unlocking the door. Very slowly, with only a slight creak in the hinges, I opened it and stepped into the hall.

A cool breeze brushed my bare skin. With only my footsteps making noise, cautiously, I made my way toward the kitchen. Just the possibility of something there scared me. My mind playing horrible tricks, I spun around when I thought I heard something behind me. I stood and waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Sighing with relief, I turned my focus back to what might be ahead of me. I stopped at the point where the hall met the living room on one side and the kitchen on the other. I poked my head into the living room. Nothing. I turned my head so that I was facing the kitchen and started walking around the countertop and into the kitchen. Nothing. Placing a hand on the counter, I breathed another sigh of relief. Seeing the front door was still locked, my worst fear was behind me.

Damn.

My head was on a constant swivel as I made my way back to the shower.

I took one last look down the hall before quickly stepping back into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. Ten minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed and a lot braver than I did before. Upon entering the kitchen, I walked back around the counter and everything was just as it was before. Nothing. A thorough examination continued to set me at ease and convinced myself the noise I heard was all in my head.

But that didn’t stop me from scurrying around as I gathered all my books and headed out the door to school. Once at school, I was able to put everything behind me. I focused on my classes and listened to the professors give their lectures for the day. The most boring thing about class is that some professors don’t know how to make their classes exciting. Some just droned on, and I had to pinch myself multiple times to stay awake.

Once school was done for me, I nearly had to rush out as one professor was pushing over class time and ended up walking out before it was officially over. Arriving at work just in time to get started, apologizing to Brian, our manager and owner that it couldn’t be prevented, and he assured me that it was all right. For the next several nights, this was my schedule day in and day out. A week passed and I had forgotten all about the scare I got while in the shower.

What I had not realized was how much homework a professor could dump on you; it almost seemed unfair. It almost came to the point where I felt I had to quit my job so I could further focus on my classes. It wasn’t until I had asked Jessica for help did she come to my aid and helped me juggle both work and school and still have time to do other stuff.

I managed to hang out with Jessica as often as I could, but since she had a life as well as her own schedule, we weren’t always able to spend day in and day out with each other like I had originally hoped. The most notable thing that happened was on a Saturday; it was an unusually busy day, and I was asked to stock shelves with another employee who was half my size, and I was comparatively small to many people. I was aiding him in getting large containers up on the top shelf. The reason for this was our stockroom was full, and we were using the top shelves to use as storage as well. Yes, we were using a stepladder, and I was trying to lift it when my hand slipped and we both came crashing down to the floor; neither of us were hurt, but we were both covered in this sticky substance. The whole room burst out laughing at this catastrophe, and Brian just simply told us to go home and get cleaned up.

As I was getting to my feet and started the embarrassed walk of shame out of the store and saw Jessica with this huge smile on her face and I knew she had been one of the people who were laughing, I couldn’t help but smile as made my way out.

Once home, I turned on the shower, grabbed new clothes, and hopped into the bathroom. Testing the water, I adjusted it to a warmer temperature and took off my shirt. I bent down and looked at my hair and swore under my breath, hoping that it would come out. I unzipped my pants and was about to take them off when I heard the sound of glass shattering. All at once, everything came flashing back to me just as if it were yesterday. I turned the water off and grabbed my shirt. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be afraid in my own home again.

I headed toward the kitchen where the sound seemed to originate. I was still scared, mind you. Who wouldn’t be with the sound of glass smashing in your supposedly vacant home? On the way, I poked my head into the living room, saw nothing broken, and went on into the kitchen. Walking around the counter, I discovered glass shards everywhere on the floor. One of the high cupboards had its doors open and a few other glasses sitting on the edge of the shelf. A loud thud came from somewhere above that shook my entire apartment. A mug toppled over, and with quick reaction, I caught it. A shiver ran down my spine. Staring up at the ceiling and fumbling for my keys on the counter, I briskly made my way out of the apartment, glancing back at the ceiling as I went.

I didn’t care if it was from someone above me or not.

Chapter 2

Henry

I’m not sure if I should be thankful for my paranoia and my nightmares or not. Whatever the situation, this gave me more time to speak with Jessica. The thing was, I’ve never been open about anything with anyone other than my parents. So I don’t know why, but just being with her, I felt different around her and I was able to open myself a little bit when I’m around her. She was more than willing to help me overcome my own fears as her older sister had at one time helped her with her fears.

I was shaken after that; after dealing with fear for most of my childhood, it hit me hard. I ended up sleeping on her couch for the next couple of nights. She simply tossed a pillow and blanket on the couch, and that was all I needed. But during that, our connection grew stronger and we started doing more together, and by the middle of the week, I was back on my own again. Days turned to weeks, and in that time, Jessica and I spent most evenings talking or just walking around campus.

I always felt comfortable around her. She was the most beautiful person to ever walk this earth, and I would do anything to protect her, but I didn’t know how to talk to her about the feelings I had.

She helped me overcome my fears, and simply being with her helped. However, each night, returning to my apartment and leaving her left me shaken and paranoid. There’s no way the fear could ever completely leave me, but she did give me an explanation, which made me feel a bit stupid for my paranoia, because I knew what she was going to say. Other people were living in the same building, and it could just be that you’re not used to the other people and other surroundings just yet.

Once, I woke up in the pitch-black of night and rolled over so that the clock was in view. It was just after three in the morning. I blinked several times, staring at the clock, before turning onto my back and rubbed my face with the palms of my hands. I wondered why I was awake so early. When I was a child, I was up most nights, but that was many years ago. The slight noise of a door creaking open caught my attention. My hands slowly moved down my face, allowing me to see my still-closed door. I slowly raised myself up on my elbows; each breath I took slowly increased. I watched the door for what felt like an eternity, and finally, I lay back down against the pillow. My eyes were wide-open, staring up at the ceiling, and all I could think was, Thank God. My imagination was playing tricks on me again, and I remembered back to Jessica’s words.

I started to calm down and I could feel myself start to drift back to sleep when I heard the sound of creaking hinges again. I kept still, not wanting to catch the attention of whatever was inside my apartment. Raising my head, I saw the door was still closed, but the sound of creaking hinges continued. Then the loud slam of a door made me jump out of bed and hide, sitting back up in a corner of the room.

I must have dozed on and off throughout the night, hearing every single noise all the way down to the creaking of bedsprings in nearby apartments. Never before had I felt more terrified. The night took forever to end, and when the morning light seeped past the blinds and into the bedroom, I was relieved. Glancing toward the door, I sighed with relief. It was six thirty in the morning. I grabbed my robe and put it on.

In the hallway, my tired expression faded as I stood in front of the spare bedroom door. A shiver ran down my spine, my fight-or-flight response on high alert. Placing a hand on the doorknob, I swung the door open. Slowly, I stepped into the room and scanned the entire room; not a single breath escaped my lips.

Thank goodness.

After getting something to eat and a taking a shower, I headed to class, all too happy to leave my apartment behind for the day. It was a long day, and today, I was at school from morning to late afternoon. My stomach growled hungrily as I pulled the key from my pocket and unlocked the door. I walked inside and, without even a second thought, flipped on the light switch and stood in the entrance to the living room.

Closing the door behind me, I stood in the doorway of my apartment. It was completely trashed. Garbage littered the floor; pillows were scattered everywhere. I don’t know how much more I can take of this kind of torture. Not bothering to check the rest of my apartment, I fled down the hall and out the door, heading toward the clubhouse.

There was a long line of people waiting to get help. A large, heavyset man addressed everyone, speaking of a series of break-ins to the dorm apartments. He said he would send someone to fix or replace items in the apartments the following day. Just fill out this form. Everyone in the room were all thankful. I was relieved to know that it was just a burglar and nothing else.

Back in my apartment, it felt cold, as if the air-conditioning had been left on all day. I made my way over to the thermostat and noticed that it was still at the temperature that I always left it at. So why did it feel so cold in here? I turned around rubbed the back of my head, wondering where the cold air could have come from, and that’s when I decided to start investigating my apartment. Quickly glancing into each room and putting everything back in its place, nothing was broken or missing, just scattered about.

What the hell is going on? I asked myself, rubbing the back of my head and made a full turn around the room.

From out of nowhere, a noise came from the other end of the apartment. I paused, my back facing the dimly lit hall. Turning my head around, I listened for nothing. No sound came; all was silent throughout the apartment. Turning around, I walked to the kitchen and stupidly grabbed the largest knife I could find and instantly thought, Since when does a knife help in a horror movie?

Making my way into the hall, I didn’t stop until both doors were on either side of me. I listened, but when nothing came, I quickly opened my door and flicked on the light. Nothing. Slowly, I closed the door and turned around until I came face-to-face with the spare bedroom. Raising my now shaking hands, I meant to open the door, and that’s when I noticed the doorknob was busted and the door already slightly ajar. A long thin bloody handprint smeared along the wall, as if someone had slid their hand across it until it disappeared into the darkened room.

Slowly, I opened the door and poked my head inside. My eyes adjusting to the darkness, I listened. I listened for anything that would alert me to a break-in. Nothing. I turned to leave when the sound of irregular breathing became noticeable, followed by the sound of crunching. Crunching? I turned my head and, in the corner of the room, spotted a figure hunched over; it was way too skinny to be human. I couldn’t tell if this was my imagination or if this was really happening. I continued to stand and stare and finally decided to back away from the entrance way. Creak! A floorboard let loose a groaning sound as the weight of my foot lifted off the floor. I froze. Everything was quiet except for my breath as it increased into near panic attack. The sound of crunching abruptly stopped just slow enough for me to hear, and that’s when I turned my head. Slowly it twisted around in a way that wasn’t humanly possible. It immediately locked its eyes with mine, its eyes glowing in the darkness. A shiver ran down my spine, and that’s what sent me running down the hall to the front door. Fumbling with the locks until it was finally flung open, that’s when I paused and turned around. I could still see it, a sliver of its glowing eyes just shining out of the darkness. It let out a loud single screech, almost like a banshee’s howl, before I grabbed my keys and slammed the door shut.

I hurried across the hall toward Jessica’s apartment. Without hesitating, I rapidly knocked on the door, wanting hysterically to get inside. My head kept swiveling back toward my apartment. I didn’t care who else heard. Did anybody hear me? Finally, Jessica opened the door. Her hair was tousled, and she wore a purple robe over her pajamas. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Henry, it’s nearly midnight. What are you doing here at this hour?

You’ve been in here this entire time? I asked her, momentarily forgetting why I was at her door in the first place.

I’ve got early classes tomorrow. Above all people, you should know that, Henry.

We stood for a moment and then she asked, What do you want, Henry?

My fingers locked in a desperate plea, I asked her, "There…there’s something in my apartment. I-I just need to get away from mine for a while. Mind if I sleep