The Meeting
There was a tiger in my attic. Literally. But it wasn’t a normal orange, black or white color. It wasn’t arctic either, it was just black with white and poisonous eyes. It’d give you a heart attack if you saw it. He was the highlight of my nights. We’d always play a little before the time came to sleep. I miss the tiger in my attic.
It all started when I moved into an “ancient” air bnb. It was said to have been designed ancient, but it sure smelled like it was. Dust was everywhere, and me being the air bnb’s new owner, I had to clean up. It was only for a few months ’til I had to go. I was told to not go into the basement, nor in the attic. I hadn’t asked why because I knew I had no use for them. That was my first mistake..
A few weeks in and I started to hear some growling noises. I couldn’t tell if it was above or below me, either in the attic or the basement. I smiled and thought to myself, I bought a damn haunted air bnb didn’t I? God, why didn’t I see the signs.. The previous guy packed and ran like his life was in danger! A free week I didn’t have to pay for, because it’s haunted. I got up and reached for the door. I heard footsteps. Okay! A break in! I thought. I snatched a bat from underneath my bed and slowly crept outside my room, into the kitchen.
Crash! Whack! Thump! A body fell to the floor. But.. It was my own? I yelled in pain, “What the hell!” and soon passed out. It was weird that I was the one who swung but hit myself? Did I swing too far back and too hard at the same time? For a guy who doesn’t work out, I sure gave myself a giant knot in the head.
I awoke in my bed, with a warm towel on my head. How did I get here? I then heard footsteps walking towards me. But there were four at a time. I closed my eyes then opened them again, only to see a black figure standing over me. I screamed and fell out of the bed. “Who are you?” I yelled. I then heard a roar. I ran out of the room in complete fear and out of the house. What the hell did I get myself into?
Those next few weeks were like nothing new had happened to me. I must have been dreaming or hallucinating that one time. Because, I didn’t see, hear, or smell anything for a week. Nothing had been stolen, and nothing had been broken into or anything of the sort. It was like it had never even happened.. But a few days into that next week I started to hear growling constantly. Sometimes, it was even a stomach growl but it wasn’t mine. It even shook the house randomly. I came to the conclusion that the house is only haunted OR… I’m just hella crazy. So I asked a few co-workers to come by after work. We were celebrating an award ceremony for us. These co-workers were close friends of mine, so we partied a lot with just the few of us.
We popped champagne and ordered food. Then, out of nowhere, my attic’s ladder falls and unfolds itself. It scared the crap out of me, and my friends were mostly drunk. “Does that always happen?” My friend Carter asks. I shook my head and went to put it back up when I saw eyes above me. It was really dark in the attic but I saw eyes. They were staring at me. It freaked me out but I was a bit tipsy.. So I went on up. And as the eyes backed away the further I climbed, the more I could see it. My eyes got used to the dark and I could vaguely see the outline of an animal.
I screamed internally when the beast pulled me into the attic with lots of force and I hit the floor. “You okay Olly?” My friend Amber yelled. I didn’t reply because I was too scared to. The fear kept my mouth shut as I heard footsteps slowly walking to the ladder. I breathed heavily, this was no animal. It was a man. He turned on a lamp that was sitting on a little nightstand. He put his finger over his mouth, I guess it meant no screaming.. He pointed down the ladder and made a talking signal.
“Yeah I’m alright, I’ll be a minute or so!” I said, my voice cracking.
“Oh well we’re gonna go, we’ll see you at work next week!” Carter said. I then heard my door close shut, waited a while and then screamed..
“HOW DID YOU GET IN HER-”
“Please, my ears are killing me.” he said. I nodded in fear as he covered my mouth. A few minutes, for what felt like hours, we sat there. Him covering my mouth and me analyzing him. He then breathed in and sighed deeply. “Now answer ME this, why are you in MY house?” he asked. He seemed really pissed off. But, his house?
“This is an air bnb, what are you talking about? Technically it’s mine-”
″What’s an air bnb?” he asked, sincerely. Is he dense or something? “What year is it?” he asked, panicking.
“2021” I said. Air bnb’s weren’t as popular now than they were I think a few years ago. So maybe he hadn’t heard of them? But, why is he in the attic?
“Did you hurt my family? Or did they abandon me..” He mumbled. He teared up and crawled into the shadows of the attic. I felt bad for the guy, so I did the most illogical thing..
“Hey, uhm do you.. Want to eat together? I don’t know what you like so I hope you don’t mind the selection..” I said. I heard a sniff and saw his eyes. His stomach growled, which actually sounded horrifying. I kind of laughed a bit and slowly coaxed him to follow me.
