As soon as I was informed there was a small farmhouse available in the Dutch countryside, I quickly called the number on the front page of the website.
I have always wanted to live alone in a nice, quiet area. Only my thoughts and I live out the rest of my life peacefully. Ever since my wife died things have been having a negative effect on my mental health. Hearing this offer of my dream home. I was stoked, I could actually afford the house because it was very cheap. This is perfect I thought, this is what I wanted.
I dialed the number from the frontpage into my phone.
“Hello?” a raspy voice came from the phone
“Yeah uh, hi I was looking at the farmhouse you have for sale, Can I take a look at it when you have the time?” I said in an excited tone
There was a moment of silence on the other end, I could hear muffled speaking, yet I couldn’t make out the words.
“Yeah, tomorrow at 14:30 is the house viewing, do not be late.” he said
I hung up the phone and checked the calendar, marking the date and time. I checked my watch, surprisingly it was way past my bedtime. I sighed, walking upstairs and covering myself with sheets.
I woke up the next morning to the sounds of birds chirping, due to my window being left open slightly the sun glared through my eyes blinding my sight. I rubbed my eyes and checked the time, it was 12:54. Crap, the drive is 3 hours away estimated from the directions app. I jumped out of the comfort of my bed and ran and dressed myself. I grabbed a banana for the road, and I was off to the viewing.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a large corn field surrounding what seems to be the farmhouse, driving through the bumpy dirt road to the front of the house. It was a small, white farmhouse with a few scratches on the house and pieces of chipped paint.
That is an easy repair I thought, reassuring myself this is a good idea.
A man in a bright yellow suit walked out of the house to greet me, his abnormally large sunglasses over his face. He walked up to me and shook my hand, with a tight grip. Holding it for a few seconds and then letting go.
“You’re the only one who wants to offer for this house, lucky you” he said
I am lucky, I wondered why nobody would want to be in such a beautiful house. The frames look steady, with a porch wrapping around the house, on the front porch there were small steps in front of the porch, on the porch there was what looks to be an old rocking chair, slowly rocking in the breeze of summer. A flower bed was also on the porch, seemingly empty with no dirt. The door looked a bit worn out with scratch marks all over the front. The original owner probably had a dog I thought.
“Let me show you inside” he said
I followed him into the door, as he opened it, it made a loud creak and when inside it made a loud thud when it slammed, noticing marks all over the wall where the door hit. We walked through the house; I examined every piece of architecture.
Later that day, I bought the house, and next week I can move in.
When that following week came, I was in a state of euphoria. I hired my grandsons to help me move furniture into my new house.
“Finally,” I said out loud as I fell onto my newly placed couch. I hadn’t realized I was so exhausted; my back was sore from the lifting and my neck was aching. I fell asleep on that couch. I woke up to a scratching sound at my door, I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock, it was 2 in the morning.
Who the hell would be at my door this early, I thought, being slightly annoyed.
I forced myself off the couch and I found myself at the door, still hearing scratching noises.
“What the hell do you want?” I yelled at the door
The scratching went silent. It must be some sort of animal or critter and I scared it off. I shrugged and went back to the couch. When I awoke the next day my back was extremely sore, I could barely move a muscle. Quickly reaching for my medication, and knocking it over and spilling pills all over the floor.
I sighed, being defeated. I got up and picked up every individual pill, it felt like there were hundreds of them. Once I finally got done I went to the kitchen to get something to eat, when I came back to my couch the pills were on the floor again. What the hell, I thought. I thought I picked it up already.
I spent the next 20 minutes picking it up.
I awoke that night to a sound scratching my door, when I checked my watch it was 2 in the morning. I jerked up. The scratching started to get more and more violent as seconds passed. I was scared, I did not know what to do. This can’t be a critter again, I thought, sending shivers down my spine.
I jolted back and fell down, quickly scrambling to pick myself back up. I ran to my room and opened the closet, I grabbed my old hunting rifle and I went back to the living room, aiming at the door. It suddenly stopped, I felt a presence behind me, spinning around, I saw nothing behind me.
I ran upstairs and locked my bedroom door, I stayed up all night aiming the sights at the bedroom door.
The next morning I ran to the store to grab equipment. I bought a cheap video camera for the front porch, So I can see what was scratching at my goddamn door. I stayed up till 2am that night, waiting, with my rifle drawn, chilled to the bone, I was shaking in fear. I don’t have the strength as I used to, I am just a retired old man trying to live out my days peacefully, I started to tear up when it reached 1:58, I was scared.
The second my watch said 2 am the scratching started, remembering I have a camera on the patio I opened the app on my phone.
“Crap” I muttered, it was Pitch black and the porch lights were not on. I could not see anything with the camera. I mustered up the bravery to stand up and aim. Aiming the sights at the door, shaking with every painful violent scratch the creature makes, I felt weak, I felt vulnerable, I knew I stood no chance against whatever was out there. I knew tonight might be my last night, accepting my fate, I opened the door, rifle drawn. What I saw that night keeps me up to this day, What I saw, in the crops, was a humanoid looking figure, standing 3 meters away from me, as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw what that thing was, It had no eyes, staring into my soul were his dead empty eye sockets, following with a farmers hat on him, his proportions were unrealistic, his chest large as his heart can be seen beating inside his thin skin, I could see every organ he had, his arms were abnormally long, almost half the size of me. He stood there, he was wearing a pair of mud stained overalls. His legs were a bit smaller than his arms, when I examined his face again, I noticed his mouth was stitched shut, I realized he had stitches all over his body.
After I examined that unholy figure, I was paralyzed with fear, I held up my gun shaking horribly. When I aimed down the sights of the gun and saw that thing in the sights, I fired 1 shot, brazing his arms and peeling off half of his shoulder. His facial features said it all, he couldn’t scream, he felt pain. It charged at me, crawling on all 4’s, I could barely see him approaching in the dark and I felt a pain shoot up my arm. I yelled in pain, blood started pouring down my arm, I ran inside and locked the door. While that thing was banging on my door, I examined my arm in the light. Apparently he tore off a piece of skin on my arm with his nails. It wasn’t a bad wound. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around my arm, still wincing in pain. The pounding got louder on the door, it wanted to break in, he is scratching and clawing, I heard a scream, animal like scream of agony, his stitches must of came loose from his mouth, after that he started yelling and screaming like a demon, I retreated to my bedroom upstairs, I slammed the door and locked it, pushing my dresser in front of it.
I dialed 112 (911) frantically, holding my phone up trying to get a signal.
“Hello, what is your emergency” a voice emerged from the phone
“Please, I need help, there is an intruder, he is trying to break into my house, I need help quickly.”
I knew she could hear the screaming of the creature, she was silent for a moment before answering.
“Okay sir, where are you located? Are you in a safe place in the house, is the intruder inside the house?” she asked quickly
Before I processed the words I heard the door collapse downstairs.
I started to somehow get even more terrified, I couldn’t answer her, I was paralyzed in fear. Was this going to be my fate, will I die a gruesome fate in my so-called dream home, I thought,
“Sir, are you with me” she said worried
“Yes I am in the bedroom upstairs” I said
I gave her the location of my house and she said the nearest Police Station is 30 minutes away.
“Sir I need you to remain calm, do not panic, you will make things worse.” she said
“Easier said than done” I mumbled in my breath.
I was going to speak until I heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Sir, are you with me, are you okay?”
I hung up the phone, fear of shocking me. I grabbed my rifle off the bed, and I took aim at the door. Hearing each individual step that thing took, making the house shake. I took out a picture of my wife, and looking at her smile, smiling to remember that I can see her again. Tears rolled down my eyes until I heard the last step before he was on my level. I felt so cold in that room, I was shivering and crying with my gun aimed at the door. It feels like 2 hours have passed but it’s been 15 minutes, I can feel it standing there, waiting to open the door. In a sudden blow the door was blown down, crashing to the floor. Looking up, I saw the thing. His mouth was bleeding from the stitches torn off, blood streaming down his body and staining his overalls. He approached me, looking me in the eyes, I could feel his cold breath on face, the environment felt even colder.
He held his hand out, appearing to be holding a bracelet of some sort.
“Take” he attempted to talk in a painful tone, his voice breaking.
I reached out my arm and grabbed the bracelet, looking back up at the thing, and then inspecting the bracelet. The curvature of the golden twists of it felt familiar, the shiny glare of it from the light of my lamp showed the beauty of it. I realized, this was the bracelet I bought my wife when we were younger, she lost it accidentally on a walk. I was filled with shock, and a sense of grief. I held the bracelet tighter and pressed it to my face, feeling the stinging cold shock of the gold pressing against my skin. Tears started streaming down my face. I looked back up at the creature.
“W-where did you get this from” I stuttered with shock
“It forgive” he tried to voice out, pointing at my arm with his sharp nails.
“I-I” I suddenly stopped as he got closer to me.
He started speaking a mix of Dutch and English from his raspy voice
“Gift of crop, keep safe, protect” is what it said from my understanding
The creature backed up, as glaring lights could be seen through the window.
“Crop must go, crop must hide” he said in Dutch
Before I could say anything he sprinted downstairs and out the missing door frame, I ran downstairs to see him, looking at me before disappearing into the cornfield.
That night I had to answer thousands of questions, I never told them what I saw, I said it was a human intruder, he knocked down my door and slashed me with a knife, when the police arrived he fled on his bike down the road.
I am now in a hospital bed, writing this while I am being tended to my wounds. I felt sorrow for the creature that night, I wounded him badly, and he attacked back. He gave me something important, I can never forget, he gave me a memory of my wife. He didn’t kill me that night, I don’t know why but I am thankful.
Take this as a lesson, beware of the Man of Crops, do not anger him, he is a creature of powers never seen before on this earth, this is a warning to those out there.
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Hey this is my first horror story and first time posting here, any suggestions for writing to be clearer would help a ton.
thanks,
OP