“Goodnight, Dean!”
Sam shouted to me as he exited the back door of the kitchen. I was going to protest that I hadn’t checked over his work but then thought better of it. It was nearly midnight and I just wanted to finish my deposit for the restaurant and get the hell out, Friday nights are usually a late-night affair for me but not this late.
“Finally!”
I exclaimed aloud before slamming the cash deposit in the safe and locking it.
“Almost done then time to…Oh shit.”
I had just realised I never called my girlfriend to let here know when I would be home. I quickly exited the office locking it behind me, as I made my way down the hall past the employee bathrooms, I whipped out my phone; three missed calls and six text messages all pretty much saying the same thing, hey where are you? How long are you going to be? Etc… I quickly sent my girlfriend Katie a text saying I was just about to leave, as I made a left past the bathrooms into the prep area, everything smelled sanitized and cleaned, which was good for me, last thing I wanted was to find a heap of shit and get stuck here even longer. Just past the prep area was the kitchen, which I would have checked if it weren’t for the sound of loud knocking coming from the front.
Fuck, come on, don’t be another problem, I’m almost out of here!
I thought to myself as I bee lined it past the kitchen, through the swinging doors that lead out to the dining room. It was peacefully quiet in the restaurant now with everyone gone but with all the lights off it was a little creepy. I was nearing the front doors which were just your typical glass doors you would see at any restaurant when I froze. At first, I didn’t know what I was looking at, thinking maybe the darkness was playing tricks on my eyes but no, right outside the door was a man in a business suit, clean shaven, handsome even if it weren’t for his blood shot wide eyes and massive toothy grin. He was suddenly illuminated by the outside light above his head, which didn’t help ease his unnerving presence. I don’t know why but I could not move, I stood there like a tool just staring this guy down, beads of sweat forming on my forehead, when he slowly started raising his arm.
To my horror my arm opposite of his began to raise slowly too, the eerie man did a slow wave, and I did the same unable to stop myself, all the while his unblinking bloodshot gaze transfixed on me. He mimed walking backwards and I found myself walking towards the door, my body now had a mind of its own and I couldn’t even scream or even move my eye’s off him. I was right in front of this terrifying man, only the glass doors between us, he tilted his head slightly to the left and mine tilted to the right.
“Simon say’s open the door.”
Simon spoke his voice so soothing, so calm and to my disbelief I found myself opening the door for him. I pushed the door bar, hearing the click of the lock being disengaged. I was now frozen holding open this door as he strode past me, then grabbing my shoulders, spinning me around to face him. I wanted to run, scream, hide, anything! It was as if I was a puppet on a string, Simon the puppeteer. My nose was almost touching his, I felt a chilling presence exuding off him as my phone began to vibrate.
bzzz bzzz, bzzz bzzzz.
For the first time Simon’s gaze shifted from my eyes onto my pant pocket where my phone was. His horrible unblinking green eyes snapped back to mine, reaching into my pocket pulling out the phone, holding it facing towards me between us, he swiped and answered the call.
“Hey hunny is everything alright?”
It was my girlfriend on the phone
“You said you would be home soon, did something happen?”
Simon again tilted his head back and forth with mine mimicking again, still opposite.
“Simon say’s stop breathing.”
I flared with anger as I could hear Katie on the line choking her phone falling to the floor. I tried with everything I had to fight off whatever possession had hold of me but could only manage to get out a single tear. Simon turned his smile into a frown as my blank expression turned into the sickly smile he just wore.
“Simon says breathe.”
He said in a mockingly sad tone, and I could hear Katie finally gasping, breathing in air.
“Simon says laugh as hard as you can!”
His facial expression was again a wide painful smile, mine now a permanent frown and Katie laughed like I never heard her laugh before. Simon dropped the phone as he began to grow taller or was I growing shorter? To my surprise both were true, as Simon grew, I shrunk. He was now leaning over to see me.
“Simon says run free!”
I could feel myself having control of my body once more! I tried to run but realized I was the size of a rodent! Simon quickly pinched my shirt and lifted me higher and higher, all the while Katies laughter continued. I was lifted right above his head as his jaw began to open, I could peer all the way down into his stomach and saw too many people to count, all attempting to climb out clinging to his insides, trying to find footing and freedom. I cried and screamed as I felt no longer suspended by Simon’s hand and fell into his mouth blacking out. I snapped awake screaming in the office chair.
“Jesus Christ Dean are you okay?”
It was Sam, he had just walked into the office, probably to make sure I was alright.
“Can’t really blame you for taking a nap, it was an exhausting day!”
I tried to compose myself but felt my hands still shaking.
“Wow must have been one hell of a kitchen nightmare I bet! Anyways I’m all done if you can check over my stuff! See you tomorrow!”
Sam walked out of the office whistling a tune and exiting through the back door. I tried to tell myself it was all a dream, quickly getting up and locking the office door behind me, I checked my phone walking down the hall. Three missed calls and six text messages all from Katie, I put my phone back away and looked to my left towards the kitchen, I figured everything was fine and was still too freaked out to even go near the front of the restaurant. I turned to my right opening the back exit door when I heard it.
A knocking on the front door.