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Listen to the TV

A warning from an entity or all just a hallucination?

By TrykePublished 2 years ago 8 min read

I had recently lost my job and, although I found another one working as a security guard just a month later, I didn’t have enough money saved up to pay my rent. I had already been paying late for a few months prior to this, as I was living paycheck to paycheck and barely making it, so I ended up getting evicted. I didn’t have much time to look for a new apartment, so I chose one of the cheapest ones I could find in the area. The town I’d lived in already had a low population, but the new one I’d chosen was even more sparsely populated than the last. It actually didn’t seem that bad, there was a balcony with a view of the woods just outside a sliding glass door. It came with free cable, but this stopped being a free benefit just days after I moved in. The bedroom was pretty spacious and the kitchen was fairly nice. Some things were broken and the paint job on the walls was really bad, but overall I was shocked at the low price. One thing I noticed as well was the relatively low number of cars parked in the complex. This gave me the impression that barely anyone lived there.

The first few days at my new apartment were fine. I moved in pretty quickly as I didn’t have very many possessions to move. I slept in my room, went to work, watched TV, ate food, and carried out other activities in my repetitive daily routine each day for the first four days.

That’s when it happened. The TV went out. I received a letter letting me know that free cable television would no longer be provided. I sighed, sat on my couch, and searched on my phone for a Fire TV stick. While waiting for my package to be delivered, which would take around a week, I decided to start working out. I would wake up early and go for a run before I had to go to work. One morning, at around 5 a.m, I noticed something strange. I woke up, got ready to go for my run, and walked toward the front door when my TV flicked on. I watched the local news play without me ever touching the remote. At first, I didn’t think much about it other than that it was strange that my TV turned on without me doing anything, but then I simply became confused. I no longer had cable. I stared at it for a minute, noticing that the screen seemed darker than usual, before picking up the remote and turning it off. I pushed out the thoughts about just how strange this was and went for my morning run. By the end, I could barely make it up the stairs. My apartment was on the third floor, and my legs were killing me by the time I made it to the top. Sweating, I lifted my hand to open the door.

As I did so, my skin shuddered and my hair stood up. Not only could I hear the TV inside my apartment, but the channel was actively changing. I opened the door. Methodically, the channel changed every other second. I stepped inside. I let out an audible “what?” I watched the remote, now in an entirely different spot than before, sitting on the armrest of my couch, entirely still. The button was not being pressed. My imagination of an apparition proved false as the TV flicked behind me. Then it stopped. I turned to look at the TV. The scrolling halted and landed on one of those cheesy ghost hunter shows. I stared at it for what felt like hours when I noticed something. The front door, directly to my left, was now ajar. I was absolutely positive I had closed it. I turned to face it as it violently threw itself open. Out of fear, I stood there doing nothing for many minutes, before silently and slowly closing the door. I was in denial. I wanted so strongly to believe that my life was going to turn around and get better, that this apartment was the start of a new life for me. I was not going to accept the idea that it was haunted.

Nothing else happened for the rest of the day. I went to bed like nothing had happened. No fear entered my mind as I drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, just as consciousness left me, I was jolted awake by the sound of a drawer crashing open. I ran into my kitchen to find my knife drawer wide open. The TV yet again flicked to life, the channels changing much more rapidly than before. At first, it was nonsense. The channels changed so fast there was no time for a single word to be intelligible. Then the first word came.

“Get.” It said as I watched on in terror. More nonsense.

“Out.”

More nonsense. “I.”

More nonsense. “Am.”

Nonsense. “Trying to.”

Nonsense. “Help.”

Nonsense. “YOU!”

The volume boomed as the final word rang out, echoing against the walls of my tiny apartment. A knife lifted up from the drawer and was violently launched at me like a spear. It lodged itself into the wall behind me just centimeters away from my ear as I screamed bloody murder and ran to my front door. I grasped the knob as hard as I could and pulled. Nothing happened. The door was unlocked and yet it would not budge. The room began to stink and the paint began to peel itself from the walls as I scrambled backwards and ran into my room, locking the door and curling up in the fetal position under my blankets. I felt like I was going to cry, but the sheer fear and the adrenaline rush I was feeling kept me from it. I hyperventilated as I heard banging on my door. I looked down. There were no blankets anymore. The mattress I was on was stained and old, having no sheet or box springs. The room smelled so horrible I felt like I was going to puke. The banging on the door continued.

After about an hour I checked the time on my phone. The no service signal seemed to mock me. I had no WiFi either. The banging had turned into a knock, and when it finally slowed to a stop. I waited even longer. I gathered up my courage. Finally, I slowly opened the door and stepped out into the living room. The TV flicked on again. This time, the channel did not change. It was back to the local news channel. My blood froze in its place as I heard the words, “hit and run,” “abandoned apartment complex,” “unidentified man,” “appears to have been staying in a third-floor apartment,” and finally, “five other bodies found. The causes of death are still unknown.” I picked up the remote, screamed in frustration, and smashed my finger against the off button. I walked backwards toward my room, watching the refrigerator slam to the floor in front of me just as I walked past it. It was much older than I remembered.

I reached my arm over to the light switch and flicked it on. Nothing happened. The light had likely been burned out for a long, long time. I began to cry out of pure terror and helplessness. My hands shook and my knees weakened as I fell to the ground. Nothing happened for a while, finally giving me a chance to collect myself. I realized what I thought was happening. There seemed to be one soul controlling the television, trying to warn me of some other entity that was out to harm me. It was trying to warn me of something. It wanted me to get out as fast as I could. It required no thought on my end. The moment of calm, however, scared me. It was almost like the entity was waiting for me to make the next move. It was like a game. I sprinted toward the door, leaving it open behind me as I swung myself around the corner and down the stairs. Everything appeared so old and unkempt. The railing was practically falling apart and the steps were worn. Dust swarmed me and entered my nostrils, forcing me to cough as I hurried down the staircase. I felt a force wrap hard around my leg as I cried out in a mixture of pain and panic.

I tripped, falling down an entire flight of stairs. Luckily, I was either not badly injured after the fall, or I was unable to comprehend in my adrenaline-fueled state just how damaged I was. I picked myself right back up and looked at my surroundings. I was at the top of the staircase. It was as if I hadn’t walked down a single step. The smell overwhelmed me as I sneezed and coughed from the dust. I had no other choice but to try yet again to rush down the stairs. That time I made it all the way down and hurried toward the door. The large, glass doors wouldn’t budge. I lifted my leg and began to slam it into the glass over and over again. I watched as the glass on the right door popped out of its frame and crashed to the ground, shattering into a million pieces. It seemed as though I was moving in slow motion as I sprinted outside. The pitch-black sky probably should have given me no comfort, and yet I felt more free than ever. My moment of relief was cut short, however, as I took in the scene around me.

My body went numb. There were only six cars in the parking lot, and all of them looked much older than I recalled with the exception of mine. The buildings looked rotten and decrepit, decaying buildings towering over me as tears filled my eyes. I spun around to look at my building. It looked the exact same. Now that I was outside, I expected the smell to disappear, but it only grew stronger. I projectile vomited on the ground and fell to my knees. I then heard my car start. I turned around only to see it flying away. I sprinted after it for a few minutes before giving up and pulling out my phone. I still had no service. I made the decision that I had to get to an area with people. Just down the road was the center of the town and I knew I had to find someone there. I ran as fast as my legs would allow, using my phone as a flashlight before I finally reached a lit area. It was the cemetery. I never thought I would be so comforted by a cemetery. Just past it was a gas station, but I had to cross the road. As I stepped onto the crosswalk a horrifying thought crossed my mind.

I recalled the chilling news story that I heard earlier. The story wasn’t just a warning of what might happen, it was a prophecy if I ignored it, and that’s exactly what I did. I paused for a second, turned my head, and opened my eyes wide in shock and horror. As I saw my own car hurdling at me at an insane speed, my heart stopped cold. The last thing that ever went through my brain before it slammed against the road behind me was the chilling sight of my own car driving at me with no driver.

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Tryke

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    TrykeWritten by Tryke

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