The storm unsettled Jacob. Storms always had and always would. He tried to keep calm; to stop pacing, but it was no use. He flinched with each crack of thunder. Each time the room lit up from lightning, he recoiled. The dog, Jack, watched Jacob pace. The tension refused to allow the dog a chance to settle.
The rain pounded the roof, sounding like hundreds of tiny feet stomping. The storm would have made Jacob uneasy no matter what, but there was something about this storm he didn’t like. Something was off, though he could not nail it down.
The lights flickered like a firefly before disappearing completely. The room flashed; filling with light as the thunderclap washed over Jacob causing him to cringe. He blew out his breath and shuddered.
“It’s just a storm.” He said out loud.
But he didn’t believe it.
The sound of the rain was different suddenly.
Tapping? No, he thought, that’s not tapping. But then he heard it again. Outside. On the window. Was there someone outside? He thought. It couldn’t be. Was there something tapping?
“Don’t be crazy.” He finally said.
Then he heard it again.
He looked down at Jack. He was staring at the window too. Dread filled the entirety of Jacob’s body and stiffened him like cement. He felt heavy. His hands and feet weighed thousands of pounds. His breathing became heavy and fast. It was loud. Only the storm outside covered Jacob’s arduous breathing.
TAP TAP TAP.
Slow and labored, Jacob dragged his feet across the floor. He grabbed the cord meaning to draw the blinds up but couldn’t force himself to do it.
Lightning flashed again.
Was there something on the other asked? He asked himself. Did I just see a silhouette of something?
TAP TAP TAP.
He breathed in deep, still holding the cord in his hand.
“You know I’m not going to open these blinds, right,” Jacob said to the Author.
The Author sat dumbfounded for a moment.
“What the hell is going on?” The Author muttered. He scratched his head then went back to typing.
“Just stop it, man. I’m serious, these blinds aren’t opening.” Jacob said.
“You don’t really have a choice.” The Author said.
“The hell I don’t. This is what happens when you start writing a story without an outline, you idiot.”
“Well, that was a little rude.” The Author said.
“Was it? You were planning on killing me.”
The Author shrugged. Jacob had a point. The Author decided to concede the point and rewrite the story when Jacob started up again.
“You couldn’t write a couple of ladies in this story? And why did you make me scared of storms? How’s about you and your little man-bun start to rewrite this story.”
Once again, the Author was at a loss of words. Jacob stood there muttered under his breath. The Author couldn’t understand all of it, but he got the gist and it wasn’t very flattering.
“You know what?” The Author said.
“What?” Jacob taunted.
The window shattered. The creature, a tailor-made monster of Jacob’s nightmares and worst fears, grabbed Jacob with its long arms crafted of spiders[*], heights, and public speaking. The monster pulled him toward its gnawing jaw.
Jacob’s last words escaped. “You dick.”
Out of spite, the monster ate Jacob’s dog too.
“Fuck you, Jacob.” The Author said as he closed his laptop.
[*] Jacob wasn’t necessarily scared of spiders. It was more that feeling when a spider is on you and you’re like “Oh, what the hell is that?” and you’re not exactly sure if it’s a hair or what. That shit creeped him out.
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