This happened three weeks ago. I’ll recount it exactly as it happened without any embellishment. Part of what transpired may or may not be the result of supernatural forces. It happened in the middle of the day in a bright and boring conference room. It is also the scariest fucking thing that has ever happened to me.
So…basically… I knew that I screwed up as soon as Tom stood to present his slide deck to the room. The guy was a complete train wreck. Normally, his clean-cut look was perfect for demos and public speaking. However now, the dude was sweating profusely, and his head twitched slightly with some kind of odd ticking that I had never seen someone do. His right eye kept constantly squinting, like he had a migraine or something.
“Hey Tom, are you okay? Seriously, don’t worry about the presentation, we can catch up tomorrow”, I said pointlessly. I knew the damage was done. He was such a golden retriever that he would never back down in front of everybody. I felt so horrible seeing him up there like that. I had overworked the guy… I don’t think it was to the Karoshi point, but it probably wasn’t far off.
“James…I ….. Sorry, my head hurts. ARGG FUCK!!!”, he screamed suddenly shocking the dozen other people in the conference room.
“CAN’T YOU HEAR THEM????? I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR THEM!!!!”, he shouted again.
Hear whom? I had no idea at the time. I looked around for someone to take charge. Unfortunately, everyone was looking at me, like I knew what the hell to do.
“Tom, like…. It’s okay. Why don’t we step outside for a second? It’s going to be all right.”
“NOO, SCREW YOU JAMES! IT’S YOUR FAULT…”
I didn’t know how to respond to him. Everyone’s gaze kept shifting from me to Tom. Tom was a big guy, well more tall than big. However, the effect was the same. This tall dude with a deranged look was twitching and pointing at me with a slightly bony hand and telling me off in front of everyone in the room.
“Tom, please calm down”, I said.
“No, you calm down!!! I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in WEEKS, thanks to you. I work constantly. I’ve slept on the floor under my desk every fucking night trying to finish up the plan and you sit here trying to tell me to calm down!!!! You should be locked up!!!”, he screamed again.
Wendy, my assistant, had just slinked out of the room. Maybe to get security, but I doubted it.
“Damn, I’m really sorry”, I said to him. It came out more of a whisper, but it was sincere. I meant it.
“Why the fuck did you call this project Moloch, anyway you freak? It’s just a simple development project!!!”, he shouted as spittle flew from his thin lips.
I mean, I think a few seconds had passed since he said this, but it felt like a long time. However long it was, SOMETHING in the room changed after he said this. Like he had crossed some weird line after which there was no going back.
“WHY CAN’T YOU HEAR THEM????? THEY ARE SINGING TO ME!”, he roared as everyone gasped. I had absolutely no clue what to do. I just sat there frozen in my seat behind an overpriced conference room table, completely unable to avoid the nightmare that happened next….
“IT HURTS!!!!”, he groaned as he grabbed his right ear tightly and winced in agony. One other person bolted from the room but everyone else was like me and shocked into immobility.
Then, all of a sudden, Tom stopped shouting and stood tall. He scratched his face violently for a few seconds then stopped. A creepy smile sprouted onto his youthful face and then it happened….
Slowly…. a stream of tiny spiders spewed out from Tom’s right ear. They crawled first over his deranged looking face and then down his neck and finally onto his sweat soaked dress shirt.
There must have been thousands of them pouring out of him….
Everyone screamed at this point and started to run from the room. I admit that I did as well. Tom collapsed and someone finally called the paramedics. Anyway, long story short, you shouldn’t sleep on the floor like that, I’ve learned. Tom is currently on leave, and I now live with the consequences of what I’ve done.
That face of his, covered in countless baby spiders, will never leave me for as long as I live.