As per your request

An idea for a  horror story that came to me last night when I was falling asleep. Enjoy!

It sits there in my inbox. The clip. Taunting me, daring me to watch it. I don't want to, but I don't know how long I can stay away.

I got the first clip six days ago. At first I thought it was from a friend, but on closer inspection, the email address was slightly off. The email itself held no message, the subject line only said ”Per your request”. Being around the start of April, I figured it must have been a joke, but the video was seriously weird. Besides it wasn't funny. Quite the contrary, it was incredibly atmospheric and creepy.

A long shot descending a concrete stair, filth and discarded items slowing the journey down. The lighting was very poor, in fact there was just enough light to make out general details. The video had no sound, apart from a static buzzing that faded in and out.

At the bottom of the stairs, the camera rested, almost dwelling on a narrow corridor disappearing into darkness. It then panned slowly to the right, past a broken door frame, paint flaking off it's cheap finish. Harsh shadows threw the room beyond into a jagged mosaic of wet, stained concrete. Mostly empty, the chamber contained a few pieces of smashed furniture. Suddenly something scuttled in and out of frame across the lower right hand corner, and the clip cut off. That was all. In total, three minutes to the second.

I'm not ashamed to say I was pretty freaked out. It made no sense. I asked around, but none of my friends copped to making and sending it. A couple of days passed, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally, on Friday night, I pulled it up and watched it over and over again. I tried to figure out what the scuttling thing was, but I had no luck at all. It was too bulky to be a rat, it's motions were too crab-like to be a cat or a dog. Finally I gave up and went to bed. I slept badly, my dreams violated by the clip and it's undulating static buzzing.

When I woke up, my head was pounding and I felt like shit. With a cup of coffee at hand I sat down at my computer, and found another mail in my inbox. The subject line the same ”Per your request”. Again the message box was empty, but there was a new clip attached. I carefully scanned it for viruses, but it came up clean. I double clicked it.

The clip started exactly where the first one left off. Now entering the room, the camera panned slowly to the left, and I got the unpleasant feeling that the scuttling thing was right behind me. The camera kept turning, and a pale blurry mass came into view. As the picture slowly came into focus, the static buzz rose sharply in volume and I saw a manniquin standing stiffly in the corner. Her white plastic body was naked and she had what looked like jam smeared all over her groin, running in sticky red rivulets down her legs. The camera focused in on the dripping mess, before crawling obscenely up her body. My stomach bubbled as the camera passed her breasts and stopped at her face. Like all manniquins it held an empty, vacuous stare, but the way the corners of her mouth was pulled down made me feel like she was disgusted. After lingering on her face for what seemed like forever, the camera started to turn to the right. The buzzing was still almost painfully loud, but I didn't care. The picture swept across the filthy room, everything a hazy mess, and stopped at something I thought might be an old bed. As the focus sharpened, I saw that it was indeed an old rusty steel-framed bed with a nasty, stained mattress. Just as the picture became clear, a shrill scream tore through my speakers and something pale slammed into the lens from the left. Everything went black.

I screamed and knocked my coffee off the table.

The rest of the day was spent in a feverish haze. I thought about going to the police, but they'd just laugh at me.

Could it be some kind of art project? I knew several artists in college, some quite freaky and out there. That idea calmed me, that had to be it. Someone had made this as a project and sent it without warning to maximize the effect. Come Monday, they'd call and we'd laugh about it. But as darkness fell, the fear came creeping back. Unable, even unwilling to sleep, I spent the night watching anything I could find on the web to distract me. Comedy clips, failed stunts, anything to stop thinking about the videos. Maybe I should have tried to read instead, I don't know. Doesn't matter now.

I jerked awake in my chair, unaware that I had even dropped off. The clock showed 4.15 am. I rubbed my swollen eyes, and saw I had an unread mail. My whole body tensed up, and my hand shook so badly I barely got the page up. Same sender again, same goddamn subject line: ”As per your request”. I opened the mail. This time there was only a message.

”You got what you wanted, now payment is due.”.

I couldn't say how long I sat there just staring at the message. As the sun slowly rose above my windowsill, I became aware of another mail. Same subject line again. No message, just a clip.

Barely able to breathe, I started it.

Not the basement this time. A street. My street. My front door. The same sickening buzzing. Then it cut off.

My gut cramped and I vomited all over my lap. When the heavings stopped, there was a new mail, a new clip.

I don't want to watch it.

I think I have to.