by
Kristin Canada
It was the holidays and most of the kids had gone home from boarding school for a week. Some of the students, however, lived too far away, or their parents were out of the country, or someone was coming to pick them up later in the week. To save electricity and heating oil, all the students were moved into two dorms temporarily, one for the girls and one for the guys. In the girls' dorm, two girls who had never met were put into a room together.
They hit it off well from the first, and the sun had long gone down when they got back to the dorm from the dinning commons. The older girl told the younger girl that she had seen someone in the shadows outside the dorm, and they had agreed to keep the door to the room locked.
The the older girl went to take a shower. She was gone a long time and the younger girl began to get scared. She stood with her ear against the locked door of the room, hoping to hear the older girl's footsteps when she was coming down the hall. What she heard terrified her. It was a noise like a huge snake, sliding down the hall and moving slowly toward the door. Then she heard a gurgling sound, like a monster blowing bubbles in the water of a lagoon. Then something began to claw at the door, scratching as if it wanted to get in. The younger girl screamed.
What was the thing outside the room-some kind of huge, hideous animal that cralwed like a snake and clawed at the door? The scratching went on and on! Was it some kind of maniac? What weapon did he have? Was he cutting slowly through the door?
The younger girl retreated from the door into a corner away from the windows. She slid slowly down into a seated position and began to cry. The scratching, clawing sound went on. For hours. The girl cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up, it was bright outside, long after sunrise. There was no sound at all in the dorm. There was no sound at all in the hall. The younger girl walked slowly to the door. Did she dare open it? She gently took hold of the knob with one hand. Was the monster waiting just outside, waiting for her to open the door? She took the knob of the lock in the other hand. Was the maniac just down the hall with his weapon, waiting? Slowly she turned the lock. Slowly she turned the knob. Slowly she opened the door.
On the hall floor was the other girl, dead in a pool of blood. Her throat had been cut. The door was covered with scratches from her fingernails. She had been trying to get the younger girl to let her in.
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