The Box

[00:00:00] Welcome to Scary Story Podcast. Today's stories begin with a trip back to another episode you might be familiar with, moving on to tales that can only happen late at night. My name is Edwin. Here is a scary story. The Box.

[00:00:25] I was drowning once again, those dreams made from the fibers of nightmares of a different breed. Those that make you think twice about reality, then a third time until it convinces you that

[00:00:37] the waves of dark water are there, swelling up behind you and about to crash down at any moment. And it does. You swirl around your outstretched hand feeling the sandwich or palm as you try to push yourself to stand upright.

[00:00:53] But now, only your fingertips can feel those grains in tiny rocks. You open your mouth and it fills up with a stinging salt water. You gasp it all in through your mouth and nose. This is how you die.

[00:01:10] My arms hit the headboard when I woke up and sat up on my bed. The ceiling fan was spinning slowly, not doing anything to cool down the place. If anything it was a hum that I liked. It would drift me off to sleep in this new apartment.

[00:01:27] You might remember my story about what was hiding in the box and finally I am ready to share with you what happened next, about things that I wish I had never found out.

[00:01:40] I used to live by myself in a one bedroom apartment and it took me a while to realize that the cause of the strange things around the place were not caused by me but rather by the apartment. The nightmare is about drowning every week.

[00:01:56] The strange non-stop tapping at all hours of the day and night coming from the bathroom. And yes, the box. The box that was in the little storage area inside the bathroom with a lock that I had no key for.

[00:02:13] You see I never met the owner of that place. I emailed back and forth from a room at a Motel 6 and I think the property manager called me while I was ordering a pizza and I put the poor guy on hold. I don't even remember her name.

[00:02:28] Desperate, I mean I was desperate. I was at a Motel on the side of a highway so I accepted it and I paid three months up front to get access to that place. At least the key code worked and I had the place to live near my work.

[00:02:42] But there was always something about the tapping that I couldn't get used to. The game felt oddly dark about the place during the day and I had no one to tell about it.

[00:02:55] It was until there was an incident with the owner's daughter who managed to get into my apartment that I truly understood that I had gotten into something much more sinister than I had anticipated. The thing that bothered me even more than the dreams was that tapping.

[00:03:12] The faint tapping on the window or the door or the box. I heard it in the middle of the night scratching, something itching to get out of the floorboard or out of a room in the house.

[00:03:29] Light tapping like the kind that people do when they try to get your attention without waking anyone else up. One day I heard the tapping during the day coming from the kitchen window. I ran to look outside and fed up with it all. That's when I saw her.

[00:03:47] The owner's daughter. A woman that had only been mentioned by one of the nosy neighbors who had told me far too much about her life. Things about the owner struggling with getting her back into rehab. Things about the tragic death of her baby daughter.

[00:04:05] I had mentioned her before, right? When I ran up to the window and caught a glimpse of her, she ran off toward the laundry area of the complex. I followed behind her, ready to confront her and ask about the annoying tapping around the house at all hours.

[00:04:23] She managed to go around the building and enter through my side door. She locked me out of the apartment until the police came. She was trying to break open the lock inside the bathroom. I could hear that plunger against the wooden box.

[00:04:39] When the police got there they asked if I could open the box for them, but I had no key for it. The lock must have been made out of some unbreakable material for it to survive the beating that this woman had given it.

[00:04:53] The box had started to break. Eventually the woman was escorted out and no, I didn't press charges. But I couldn't get her out of my mind. The neighbor came over that night to talk about what had happened and she

[00:05:09] told me about the tragedy that the owner's daughter had undergone and the reason why her parents rented out the place to me. They needed money for her treatment. Exterior camera footage had caught her taking her daughter on the stroller out

[00:05:23] toward the beach close to the apartment and later caught her return all by herself. No baby, no stroller. The next morning she reported a kidnapping and the search was underway. The whole community searching for the baby. They had not found her.

[00:05:44] I was tired when this was being explained to me, but I know that something didn't sound right about the whole thing. She leaves one night with her baby and doesn't return with her nor with a stroller.

[00:05:58] The neighbor left that night after seeing me lost in my own thoughts. I took a shower, got into bed and sure enough, when I was fast asleep, I woke up to the sound of taps once again. I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, 3.30am.

[00:06:17] It was always 3.30am. The light from the moon was lighting up the bathroom from its window and it shined directly on the box, illuminating it with a light purple. That's when I saw it. The lock on the box. It was moving.

[00:06:38] I got a sick feeling in my stomach along with the thoughts like flashbacks, drowning in dark water. I saw it. It was rattling right in front of me. I panicked and ran out of the bathroom, out of my room and into the kitchen.

[00:06:56] I looked under the sink cabinets and grabbed the hammer. But just as I did, the tapping stopped. Had I imagined the whole thing? Was I still dreaming? I stepped back into the dimly lit room. There was enough light coming through the windows.

[00:07:17] With every step I took, I felt closer to giving in to the urge to run away, to ditching this dumb job and flying back home across the country. I hated this place and my coworkers. I wanted to scream at that moment and yet, I continued walking.

[00:07:37] I opened the door to the bathroom, without it creaking this time. And I looked at the lock. It was resting still on the lid of that box. I turned around to flick the light on.

[00:07:51] When I saw a toddler sitting right in the area in front of my bed. Her pale face reflecting off the moonlight. The light turned on and it blinded me for a second. I turned it back off and I begged for my eyes to adjust.

[00:08:09] I had nowhere to go. But now, the room was empty. I grabbed the hammer and slammed it against the lock. It rattled in front of me and then became still again. I hit it again and again until finally, I saw the hinge of it begin to break.

[00:08:30] I wedged the hammer between the lock and the box and pulled until I heard it. It snapped. I couldn't wait any longer and lifted the lid. A sudden stench filled the room. The smell of death started to crawl down my throat and into my stomach.

[00:08:50] Inside, a bundle about the size of a large watermelon, wrapped in a black bag, held together with duct tape. It was surrounded by random objects. A wooden stick wrapped in dark yarn. A book with a cover stained by insect eggs and droppings.

[00:09:13] The bottom of the box looked wet as it shined from the light of the ceiling. It moved in tiny waves all around the base of it. But then, the tiny pieces of the liquid started floating up the sides. That's when I realized it wasn't dark water.

[00:09:32] They were roaches. Hundreds and hundreds of roaches piled on top of each other, hissing and tapping around the bag, overflowing out the edges now. I shut the lid and ran back out of the room and I went close to the front door,

[00:09:49] turning on the lights as I went. There was a knock at the front door. I yelled out, who is it? Not realizing that the neighbor had already been calling my name and tapping on the window by the front.

[00:10:03] I opened it and the neighbor covered her nose and asked me to go outside. I couldn't speak. I simply looked at her and pointed at the room. Something told me she knew what this smell was. She called the police for me and was asked to give a statement.

[00:10:24] I had to stay outside while investigators stepped into my room with flashlights and cameras. Then the black truck came to pick up the bag inside that box. Except, the bag had already been opened enough for me to catch a glimpse of the head of a tiny decomposing body.

[00:10:46] It didn't take long for the neighbor to piece together what happened. But she didn't wait to tell me about it either. You see, the book and other items inside that box were not placed there by accident.

[00:11:02] They were hidden, just like the instructions for the sacrifice were supposed to be kept. In secret. Away from everybody. Alone at my house. I didn't know it at the time but I used to bother my parents a lot when I was growing up.

[00:11:32] I didn't get bullied at school but there were some days that I really didn't want to be there. My parents, obviously concerned, asked to speak with my teachers and even the school principal about it. I knew what worked most of the time.

[00:11:49] Stomach aches, headaches or sometimes I would fake that I needed to go to the bathroom and just sit in the stall for a long time. Back then we didn't have cell phones or anything.

[00:12:00] So imagine how desperate I must have been in order to sit there without doing anything. But one time I really did have a headache and I blamed it on not being able to sleep.

[00:12:13] Every night at around 11 or so I would wake up with the lingering feeling that someone had been in my room. I don't know if you've ever gotten that too but sometimes you just know when someone is watching you.

[00:12:29] As if it was safer this way I would turn around and cover myself up with a heavy blanket. One that got way too hot, way too fast. But still, it was a better option than to be vulnerable at whatever was out by my bed.

[00:12:45] I told my parents about it but like with most things they were getting fed up with me. Telling me that I should stop being so difficult was their catchphrase now and believe me it took years for me to realize that this was 100% true.

[00:13:04] They started taking me seriously again eventually though. They had an event planned out with my aunts, to a house that was way too hot when it became full of people. Apparently I was the only one to notice.

[00:13:18] They asked me to go with them because they couldn't leave me alone at the house but I didn't go down without a fight. I told them I would call them or call the police in case anyone tried to break in.

[00:13:30] I told them that I would be careful and not answer the door. Eventually dad lost it and said to just leave me. Mom was a bit more understanding and she hugged me and told me to not turn on the stove and not open the door for anybody.

[00:13:45] She wrote down some phone numbers and left them on the kitchen counter. It was a strange silence that I felt when they shut the door and honestly I regretted telling them that I wanted to stay right away. There's a first time for everything right?

[00:14:02] The steps creaked below me as I climbed back upstairs to my room. 7 in the evening turned into 10 and I was tired. But nobody telling me to go brush my teeth or wash my face, I took care of it. I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed.

[00:14:21] I tried to act as responsible as possible right when my parents were in there. Which is ironic, because normally I always wanted to stay up late and this would be my chance to. But no. I decided it was time to go to sleep and turn off my lamp.

[00:14:38] It was probably around 1130 or so when I heard my parents come in the front door. I opened my eyes right away, wondering if I should go up to greet them or if I should simply keep my act up with the responsible kid who got himself into bed.

[00:14:55] I opted for the second choice and decided to stay there, keeping my eyes open but ready to shut in case they opened the door to come to check on me so they could see that I was already fast asleep. And maybe I would be asleep.

[00:15:12] However I couldn't go back to sleep as easily as I thought I would. So I simply waited for the space underneath the door to light up when my parents would come upstairs. The lights were still off when I heard footsteps coming up the staircase.

[00:15:27] They were painfully slow and I was dying with anticipation to hear what they would say about me. What a responsible kid. Or wow, finally growing up I see. I don't know what I expected honestly but I wanted them to come upstairs. The steps got closer and closer.

[00:15:50] Was it just one of them? Was it dad? The steps came right up to my door and then stopped. I shut my eyes, my face to the door. That's when I heard the doorknob begin to twist. The door opened.

[00:16:11] The lights were still off so I opened my eyes slightly. That's when I saw the silhouette of the tallest person I had ever seen. Teller than mom and dad. Its head tilting slightly to avoid hitting the ceiling.

[00:16:28] I shut my eyes tight again unable to scream or do anything. Then I heard the door close. The thing inside my room or out in the hallway. That's when I heard the front door open once again, followed by the chatter of mom and dad downstairs.

[00:16:53] The light in the gap underneath the door flicked on and I heard footsteps coming upstairs. The doorknob twisted once more. I saw mom silhouette looking at me through the crack in my eyelids. How responsible. You got yourself into bed. Have a good night.

[00:17:27] The following story is called Voices at the Mall and it is coming up right after a quick message from sponsors that help pay for this podcast. Is something getting in the way of your happiness or with you achieving your goals?

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[00:19:06] I work at a mall doing a lot of the cleaning and maintenance. For a while we had been closing early and I took up some of the security duties. Although I didn't receive any training for it, the job was basically to walk around and lock up the closets,

[00:19:22] lock up the side doors, set the alarms and a few other things, like checking the security cameras for activity. You would be surprised to find out that some of the main troublesome stuff at a mall

[00:19:35] is actually rats or cats getting inside and then having to chase them out of the place. Most of the time they were too small to set off the alarms, but every once in a while they managed to do so.

[00:19:50] One of these nights I had a work order to fix some of the gates that dropped down in the food court counter. They're like roller doors that slide down to make sure that nobody hops over the restaurant's counter when they're closed.

[00:20:03] You've probably seen them at the mall as well. Since the order came in a little later than usual, I postponed it until I inspected the doors and closed everything up.

[00:20:14] Besides, I was already on overtime pay and this was a legitimate excuse to stay a little later than usual. So I walked from end to end of the mall, passing the large empty windows with the mannequins looking at me,

[00:20:29] past the upside down chairs resting on the tables after the cleanup crew had mopped and waxed the floors, and past the fountain in the middle of the building. It's water completely still now. That was one thing I could never get used to. The voices.

[00:20:49] They say that in places like amusement parks or places where large amounts of people gather, sometimes you can hear the ghost voices of the people that were there. Some type of energies that remain supposedly. But I can tell you for a fact that they are very real.

[00:21:08] I mean unless a group of people were literally hiding between or inside the close up shop somewhere, where we had motion detector alarms. There was such a thing as phantom voices. I could hear them say things to each other.

[00:21:24] I could hear little children scream and laugh at the same time as they found her play area. My footsteps would echo slightly on those shiny floors every single night as I made my way through those dim lights that illuminated the hallways,

[00:21:40] the ones that led to the maintenance closet and the bathrooms. Faded voices of a group of teenagers laughing at the same time faintly across the pretzel shop. It was normal I guess. It wasn't something you could talk about openly though.

[00:21:58] I would be laughed out of the room especially if the other maintenance guys would hear me say something like that. But those of us who stayed late at night, we knew of the phantom voices.

[00:22:10] And so I walked past the shoe store, the children's play area and the vending machines. With nothing around me but my footsteps and the phantom voices. This mall was old and I mean really old. Some of the air conditioning units are still running after almost 30 years.

[00:22:33] I don't know what they're made of but I wish I was made of that same material. Everything nowadays seems to last about two years before getting replaced. A break room even had one of those old soda machines. Like the old Pepsi ones that cost a quarter.

[00:22:48] It didn't give out Pepsi though, like it was Shasta. But still that machine was an antique probably. I finally made it to the shop that needed the repair. I lifted up the gate and got to work.

[00:23:03] The latch that wasn't working thankfully was the exact part I had brought over for my shop. I started removing the old one, turning the screwdriver over and over again to loosen it up. But that's when, out of the corner of my eye,

[00:23:21] I saw a mist float across the entire food court. I turned my head, following it until my neck could twist no more. And I let go of the latch, turned my whole body toward it. Eventually the mist went over the railing and kept on floating by.

[00:23:42] I thought my eyes had been playing a trick on me. I remember sort of shaking my head and then facing the door I was fixing once again, trying to get my mind off of it. I talked to myself and started humming, anything just to make some noise.

[00:23:59] Whenever I placed the latch I locked it up once again and I left a note on it saying it had been repaired. Then I remember walking very quickly back to the break room, ready to clock out.

[00:24:13] You see that railing by the food court was made taller before I started working there. I had repainted it a couple of times too and that's what the old drawing showed. They made it taller because the mall had been on the news one too many times

[00:24:29] for another victim falling off the second level and dying on impact below. I solved the mystery that night. Even though it was the first time I ever saw the mist, I had a better idea of where the helpless screams of crowds was coming from.

[00:24:49] In the middle of the night when I did my rounds, Scary Story Podcast is written and produced by me, Edwin Covarrillas. Geen access to my Discord server and follow me on social media by going to scarystorypodcast.com.

[00:25:14] You can also enter your email on there to get notified whenever a new episode comes out. Remember that you can also tap follow right now on the app you're listening on. Until next time, thank you very much for listening.