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We played a prank on the new guy in the office and he didn’t seem to take it very well…
“Okay, is everyone ready?” Jake asked. He was perched behind the door to our office where the tech support crew congregated. The lights had been turned off on our end, and we were waiting for Clark to arrive. The prank wasn’t elaborate. We were going to hide in the dark, and when Clark walked further down the hall to turn on the light, Jake was going to spin around and hold the door closed from the other side as we slithered towards Clark in the dark, moaning and making other creepy sounds like ghouls.
Jake had momentarily disconnected the switch from the wall so that the lights wouldn’t come on, and since we were in the basement of the building, there would be no natural light to help Clark get his bearings once the hall door was closed. And since we were in the basement, there was no concern about anyone else overhearing our prank, either. The basement was practically a dead zone.
I was waiting towards the back of the hall with Jenna and Earl. None of us were super keen on the idea of spooking Clark when we didn’t even know him that well, but Jake insisted. It was almost Halloween after all. Halloween Eve, actually, and the idea of at least doing something seemed better than nothing.
“I hear the elevator!” Jake whispered. “He’s coming, he’s coming! PLACES!”
I ducked down behind a cabinet, not that I really needed to hide in the dark. Earl was sitting in his office chair and playing with his phone which emitted a dull glow. I could tell he was going to half-ass it, which made me smile a bit. Jenna kept giggling somewhere between us, and I could tell she was holding her mouth closed to keep herself from laughing out loud.
I whipped my head up and heard the soft patter of Clark’s shoes coming from down the hall, then stop. He was probably confused why the door to our office was completely dark. It was around 8:45 am, and most of us were usually there before 9 am. Clark continued his pace, and eventually crossed into the threshold of the hall. I heard his hand brush along the wall, and it grew closer as he kept searching. The light switch was further from the door than you would expect.
Clark stepped forward a bit, still searching, and I saw the door frame begin to close shut behind him. Jake was taking this seriously, hardly making a sound. Suddenly the door shut, and the only light in the hall was now the crack from under the door. Clark whipped around and started shaking the doorknob. Then a moan came wailing from down the hall. A series of them. Way louder than any of us could have been.
My skin broke out in goosebumps. I heard Earl whisper, “*What the fuck!?*” and then realized that Jake must have rigged up some speakers in the hall. Some really good speakers, because even I was getting freaked out.
“Jooooooin usssssss….” came the choir of moaning spirits. “Joinnnnn the deeeeeaaaadddd….”
Clark was now frantically banging on the door. “Let me out! Let me out! Somebody help me!” he yelled, way past the point of being embarrassed if anyone else heard him. He shook the doorknob, slammed the frame with his shoulder. The door wasn’t budging. Whatever Jake was using to hold the door closed was doing its job.
“Fucking open! OPEN!” Clark yelled. The choir of voices grew closer until they seemed to be almost touching Clark.
“No!” he yelled, as if the choir were starting to poke holes into his skin. “NO!”
The door sprang open and Jenna and Clark fell over. Jake rushed into the room and flicked the lights on with a switch further down the hall, then burst into laughter, his face completely flushed like a cherry tomato.
“HAHAHA!” He boomed. “Oh my god… oh my god! Clark, your face… hahahaha!”
Jenna looked apologetic. “I just tried to tickle him…”
I looked over and noticed Earl hadn’t moved at all. He was futzing with his phone and looked irritated at how loud everyone had just been. He was one of the older workers in our department after all, so I wasn’t surprised at his distaste for pranks.
Clark scooted to his knees, his face pale and full of perspiration. I could see some tears in the corners of his eyes and felt my stomach drop.
“What… was that?” he mewled.
Jake had calmed down a bit, but his face was still warm. “A prank, amigo. A Halloween prank, and that went way better than I thought!” He pulled his phone out and pressed play. The moans started playing again, then he cut them off. “I’m gonna say it even though it’s not cool anymore. That was an epic prank. Actually epic!”
Everyone groaned except Clark, and now I wondered why we hadn’t put up more resistance to Jake’s plan. It all seemed stupid in hind-sight.
“Clarky-Clarky scared of the darky-darky!” sang Jake.
Clark got to his knees, ignoring Jenna who seemed almost too embarrassed to stand up herself.
“I really, really don’t like getting scared,” Clark said, his voice flat. “I don’t watch horror movies, I don’t read creepy stories, and I definitely don’t watch the news. Understand?”
“Oh come on, Clark. It was funny,” Jake said. “Don’t you like Halloween?”
“I do NOT like Halloween and I never have,” he replied, then avoiding everyone else, went into his office and slammed the door.
“I think we went a bit too far…” Jenna said quietly.
“C’mon,” said Jake. “He’ll forget about it by tomorrow.”
\---
“Hey Clark?” I asked, knocking tentatively on his door frame. The door was ajar now, and I could see some of Clark’s office. He whirled around in his chair, closing his browser, but I saw he was browsing some food recipes.
“I just want to apologize for the prank earlier. We really didn’t want to do it, but Jake insisted and thought it would be funny. It really wasn’t cool, man. You know what? I’ll buy you lunch this week.”
Clark spun back and forth in his chair a little, then blew out some air in a grin. “Hey, I really appreciate that, Jim. I’m actually a little relieved somebody apologized! I was really starting to wonder what I did to deserve something like that.”
“No harm no foul?” I asked.
“Sure,” Clark said, not entirely convincing. “If you say so!”
\---
The next day was Halloween, and this time Clark was the first one in the office. As I sat down and got myself together, I heard Clark go down the hall and talk with Jenna and Earl. Seemed like he was giving them something?
I leaned out of my door a bit and saw Clark go into Jake’s office. Jake wasn’t in yet. If I had to guess, he had been up late drinking at some Halloween party. Clark left Jake’s office but didn’t come around to mine. *Huh*, I thought. Curiosity got the better of me, so I quickly trotted into Jake’s office and saw the most peculiar thing sitting there. It was a cupcake.
I stared at it, gave it a look over. The cupcake appeared to be chocolate with chocolate chips baked in, and a smattering of orange-colored frosting. The cupcake wrapping was even full of little ghosts and ghouls wandering around a pumpkin patch.
Well, for Clark not being a fan of Halloween, he seemed to be getting into the spirit today. I tried to not take it personally that I didn’t get one. Maybe Clark thought the others didn’t like him, so he had to give them something to help win them over. Well, the cupcakes must have been pretty good because I wasn’t hearing any chatter from Jenna and Earl.
I smirked a little at the thought of Jake not getting his cupcake and thought it would be a bit of karmic payback if I snacked on his. I peeled back the cute wrapper and wolfed down the cupcake in four bites, then licked some of the sweet frosting from my lips. It was pretty good! There was a sort of nut flavor to it that I imagined might have been walnuts or some other kind of nut, though I tended to only add nuts to things like banana bread.
I turned around and made eye contact with Clark who was watching me.
“Oh, Jim? You ate the cupcake meant for Jake?” Clark looked a little worried for some reason, maybe because he was now caught in a bit of an awkward dilemma.
“I uhhhh… thought it would be funny if I paid Jake back for his prank. You know, like he doesn’t get one? I’ll leave the wrapper here, too so he'll wonder who did it!”
“You know, don’t worry about it. I plan on catching up with Jake later tonight. You might… want to go lay down for a bit. Sorry. Y’know, you really weren’t supposed to eat one. I appreciated that you apologized yesterday. Oh well, Happy Halloween, bud,” Clark said and slapped my shoulder.
I was confused. My mouth felt a bit dry, and now, that nut flavor was coming through more prominently than it had before… something like… almond? I tried to wet my lips but found that I couldn’t. I felt dizzy and I lost my grip on the edge of Jake’s desk. Vision blearing, I went to take a step and stumbled, crashing to the floor. It was then that I was able to see down the rest of the hall.
I saw Jenna and Earl, similarly slumped over. Bubbles popping around their nose and mouth, their eyes empty and lifeless.
It was then that I noticed Clark pulling on a jump suit and some sort of… decrepit mask from a bag. He pulled it on over his head, and it looked almost like the burlap sack from a scarecrow. Some other things glimmered from the bag. A knife, a hack saw, a pair of rust-colored twine and cheese wire. Things that didn’t look new.
“I don’t like Halloween,” Clark said. “But I have been trying to get into the spirit lately."
I opened my mouth to yell but found that I could barely move. Whether I was paralyzed or slowly succumbing to some sort of poison, it was hard to tell. “H…..h…help!” I rattled. “Hhhhheeeeelp!”
But it was then that I remembered the thing that had made the original prank possible to begin with, as Clark banged against the door and continually screamed for help.
The basement was practically a dead zone.
#entertainment
source
“Okay, is everyone ready?” Jake asked. He was perched behind the door to our office where the tech support crew congregated. The lights had been turned off on our end, and we were waiting for Clark to arrive. The prank wasn’t elaborate. We were going to hide in the dark, and when Clark walked further down the hall to turn on the light, Jake was going to spin around and hold the door closed from the other side as we slithered towards Clark in the dark, moaning and making other creepy sounds like ghouls.
Jake had momentarily disconnected the switch from the wall so that the lights wouldn’t come on, and since we were in the basement of the building, there would be no natural light to help Clark get his bearings once the hall door was closed. And since we were in the basement, there was no concern about anyone else overhearing our prank, either. The basement was practically a dead zone.
I was waiting towards the back of the hall with Jenna and Earl. None of us were super keen on the idea of spooking Clark when we didn’t even know him that well, but Jake insisted. It was almost Halloween after all. Halloween Eve, actually, and the idea of at least doing something seemed better than nothing.
“I hear the elevator!” Jake whispered. “He’s coming, he’s coming! PLACES!”
I ducked down behind a cabinet, not that I really needed to hide in the dark. Earl was sitting in his office chair and playing with his phone which emitted a dull glow. I could tell he was going to half-ass it, which made me smile a bit. Jenna kept giggling somewhere between us, and I could tell she was holding her mouth closed to keep herself from laughing out loud.
I whipped my head up and heard the soft patter of Clark’s shoes coming from down the hall, then stop. He was probably confused why the door to our office was completely dark. It was around 8:45 am, and most of us were usually there before 9 am. Clark continued his pace, and eventually crossed into the threshold of the hall. I heard his hand brush along the wall, and it grew closer as he kept searching. The light switch was further from the door than you would expect.
Clark stepped forward a bit, still searching, and I saw the door frame begin to close shut behind him. Jake was taking this seriously, hardly making a sound. Suddenly the door shut, and the only light in the hall was now the crack from under the door. Clark whipped around and started shaking the doorknob. Then a moan came wailing from down the hall. A series of them. Way louder than any of us could have been.
My skin broke out in goosebumps. I heard Earl whisper, “*What the fuck!?*” and then realized that Jake must have rigged up some speakers in the hall. Some really good speakers, because even I was getting freaked out.
“Jooooooin usssssss….” came the choir of moaning spirits. “Joinnnnn the deeeeeaaaadddd….”
Clark was now frantically banging on the door. “Let me out! Let me out! Somebody help me!” he yelled, way past the point of being embarrassed if anyone else heard him. He shook the doorknob, slammed the frame with his shoulder. The door wasn’t budging. Whatever Jake was using to hold the door closed was doing its job.
“Fucking open! OPEN!” Clark yelled. The choir of voices grew closer until they seemed to be almost touching Clark.
“No!” he yelled, as if the choir were starting to poke holes into his skin. “NO!”
The door sprang open and Jenna and Clark fell over. Jake rushed into the room and flicked the lights on with a switch further down the hall, then burst into laughter, his face completely flushed like a cherry tomato.
“HAHAHA!” He boomed. “Oh my god… oh my god! Clark, your face… hahahaha!”
Jenna looked apologetic. “I just tried to tickle him…”
I looked over and noticed Earl hadn’t moved at all. He was futzing with his phone and looked irritated at how loud everyone had just been. He was one of the older workers in our department after all, so I wasn’t surprised at his distaste for pranks.
Clark scooted to his knees, his face pale and full of perspiration. I could see some tears in the corners of his eyes and felt my stomach drop.
“What… was that?” he mewled.
Jake had calmed down a bit, but his face was still warm. “A prank, amigo. A Halloween prank, and that went way better than I thought!” He pulled his phone out and pressed play. The moans started playing again, then he cut them off. “I’m gonna say it even though it’s not cool anymore. That was an epic prank. Actually epic!”
Everyone groaned except Clark, and now I wondered why we hadn’t put up more resistance to Jake’s plan. It all seemed stupid in hind-sight.
“Clarky-Clarky scared of the darky-darky!” sang Jake.
Clark got to his knees, ignoring Jenna who seemed almost too embarrassed to stand up herself.
“I really, really don’t like getting scared,” Clark said, his voice flat. “I don’t watch horror movies, I don’t read creepy stories, and I definitely don’t watch the news. Understand?”
“Oh come on, Clark. It was funny,” Jake said. “Don’t you like Halloween?”
“I do NOT like Halloween and I never have,” he replied, then avoiding everyone else, went into his office and slammed the door.
“I think we went a bit too far…” Jenna said quietly.
“C’mon,” said Jake. “He’ll forget about it by tomorrow.”
\---
“Hey Clark?” I asked, knocking tentatively on his door frame. The door was ajar now, and I could see some of Clark’s office. He whirled around in his chair, closing his browser, but I saw he was browsing some food recipes.
“I just want to apologize for the prank earlier. We really didn’t want to do it, but Jake insisted and thought it would be funny. It really wasn’t cool, man. You know what? I’ll buy you lunch this week.”
Clark spun back and forth in his chair a little, then blew out some air in a grin. “Hey, I really appreciate that, Jim. I’m actually a little relieved somebody apologized! I was really starting to wonder what I did to deserve something like that.”
“No harm no foul?” I asked.
“Sure,” Clark said, not entirely convincing. “If you say so!”
\---
The next day was Halloween, and this time Clark was the first one in the office. As I sat down and got myself together, I heard Clark go down the hall and talk with Jenna and Earl. Seemed like he was giving them something?
I leaned out of my door a bit and saw Clark go into Jake’s office. Jake wasn’t in yet. If I had to guess, he had been up late drinking at some Halloween party. Clark left Jake’s office but didn’t come around to mine. *Huh*, I thought. Curiosity got the better of me, so I quickly trotted into Jake’s office and saw the most peculiar thing sitting there. It was a cupcake.
I stared at it, gave it a look over. The cupcake appeared to be chocolate with chocolate chips baked in, and a smattering of orange-colored frosting. The cupcake wrapping was even full of little ghosts and ghouls wandering around a pumpkin patch.
Well, for Clark not being a fan of Halloween, he seemed to be getting into the spirit today. I tried to not take it personally that I didn’t get one. Maybe Clark thought the others didn’t like him, so he had to give them something to help win them over. Well, the cupcakes must have been pretty good because I wasn’t hearing any chatter from Jenna and Earl.
I smirked a little at the thought of Jake not getting his cupcake and thought it would be a bit of karmic payback if I snacked on his. I peeled back the cute wrapper and wolfed down the cupcake in four bites, then licked some of the sweet frosting from my lips. It was pretty good! There was a sort of nut flavor to it that I imagined might have been walnuts or some other kind of nut, though I tended to only add nuts to things like banana bread.
I turned around and made eye contact with Clark who was watching me.
“Oh, Jim? You ate the cupcake meant for Jake?” Clark looked a little worried for some reason, maybe because he was now caught in a bit of an awkward dilemma.
“I uhhhh… thought it would be funny if I paid Jake back for his prank. You know, like he doesn’t get one? I’ll leave the wrapper here, too so he'll wonder who did it!”
“You know, don’t worry about it. I plan on catching up with Jake later tonight. You might… want to go lay down for a bit. Sorry. Y’know, you really weren’t supposed to eat one. I appreciated that you apologized yesterday. Oh well, Happy Halloween, bud,” Clark said and slapped my shoulder.
I was confused. My mouth felt a bit dry, and now, that nut flavor was coming through more prominently than it had before… something like… almond? I tried to wet my lips but found that I couldn’t. I felt dizzy and I lost my grip on the edge of Jake’s desk. Vision blearing, I went to take a step and stumbled, crashing to the floor. It was then that I was able to see down the rest of the hall.
I saw Jenna and Earl, similarly slumped over. Bubbles popping around their nose and mouth, their eyes empty and lifeless.
It was then that I noticed Clark pulling on a jump suit and some sort of… decrepit mask from a bag. He pulled it on over his head, and it looked almost like the burlap sack from a scarecrow. Some other things glimmered from the bag. A knife, a hack saw, a pair of rust-colored twine and cheese wire. Things that didn’t look new.
“I don’t like Halloween,” Clark said. “But I have been trying to get into the spirit lately."
I opened my mouth to yell but found that I could barely move. Whether I was paralyzed or slowly succumbing to some sort of poison, it was hard to tell. “H…..h…help!” I rattled. “Hhhhheeeeelp!”
But it was then that I remembered the thing that had made the original prank possible to begin with, as Clark banged against the door and continually screamed for help.
The basement was practically a dead zone.
#entertainment
source
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