WHAT THE NIGHT SAW

08-27-1996

The tapping... DAMN YOUR TAPPING! Each night, hour upon hour... It started at my window a week ago, and a night later upon my door.

It started that night, 8 days ago, whilst I was returning to my small dwelling on the edge of the village after a moonlight hunt, when I came across Nicholas, the town miser. I was interested in what he was doing in the woods, and since he had not seen me, I crouched behind a bush and spied upon him.

He was crouching before a large oak tree, moving a large heavy stone. He He lifted an iron box out of a hole, and set it onto the stone. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked it, then replaced the key into his pocket, and then took out his wallet.

"So that's where he keeps his money." I thought to myself.

I quickly formulated a plan. After he left, I would steal the iron box and force it open and take his money for myself.

Alas, that plan was changed when his mangy excuse of a cur wandered into the opening, and looked at the bush I was hiding behind, showed its teeth, and began to growl. Whether he smelled me, or the three coneys that I had snared earlier, I do not know. All I know is, I was found out.

"Who's there?" Shouted out Nicholas, quickly closing the lid on the iron box.

"Tis me, Nicholas. Richard. What do you have in the box?" I asked softly.

Go away! It's mine! Mine, I say!"

He clutched the box tightly to his chest. His dog growled louder.

"Can I have some money, Nicholas? I'm in need of money, and you have so much." I spoke in a voice but louder than a whisper. I took a step towards him, absently playing with the trigger of the shotgun I had used for hunting earlier.

"No! NEVER!" He shouted.

With that final scream, his dog leaped towards me, ready to protect its master.

In quickness, I raised the shotgun and pulled the trigger. The closeness of the shot blew a hole through the dog.

I turned and looked at Nicholas just as he dropped the iron box and drew a firearm from his waistband. I pointed the shotgun at him and fired the second barrel...

I stared in disbelief at the horror before me. What did I do? What did I do?

It seemed like eternity, but no more than a minute had passed before I had figured out what to had to be done.

A mere fifty yards away was a raging river. I carried the bodies of he and his dog, one at a time, to the bank of the river, and then threw them both in. I watched as the turbulent water carried both bodies away. Come morning, they would be at least 150 miles downstream, and by dusk the next day, should be at sea. The rocks in the river would pummel the bodies, making him unidentifiable.

Returning to the scene of the incident, I picked up the blood-stained iron box and opened it. Inside, I found Nicholas' wallet laying on top of a small parcel wrapped in brown paper. Looking inside the wallet, I found the sum of twenty-five dollars. I put the money in my pocket, and put the wallet aside. I would have to destroy it later, so no trace of it could be found.

Next, I removed the small parcel. Beneath it, I spied another parcel wrapped in brown paper, this one larger than the one I now held in my hands.

Instead, to my horror, I found books. Not just any books, but rather books of untold evil - De Vermis Mysteriis, Die Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Les Cultes Des Goules, and the worst... The one written by the mad Arab himself, the Al Azif - The Necronomicon....

I dropped the books as if the mere touch of them burnt me. I crossed myself, a sign of blasphemy from one who but half an hour earlier had murdered for the contents of the iron box. I picked up the wrapping paper that I had placed aside, and struck a match to it. When it was burning fairly well, I placed it into the box, to ignite the books of Evil itself. After the fire had died out, I peered into it, and saw that the books were now ashes. The iron box was still hot to my touch, but I managed to get it to the river, where with all my might, I threw it far into the river, scattering the ashes upon the waters and the wind.

I returned to my small dwelling, and there I burnt my blood-stained clothing in my small fireplace. I did not make a meal of the coneys I had snared earlier that evening, instead opting to go straight to bed and try and forget what I had done that evening, as well as what I had seen.

The next morning, after sufficient thought, I had reached a conclusion. I would wait a month, and then silently slip out of town with the money I had obtained the night before. Counting it out on the table, I found there was a good four hundred and ninety-seven dollars, more than enough to get me to a distant city to start a new and better life. I would continue to live the poor life until then, so as to not draw attention to myself.

If only that was the case...

Later that night, as I was preparing to retire for the night, a gentle tapping was heard upon my window pane. Going to the window, I drew back the curtains. No one was there. I opened the window and looked out. Again, I saw no one. I closed the window and went back to preparing for bed. As soon as I had removed my shirt, the tapping started again. Again, I went to the window, and again, nothing. This happened over and over, until I finally fell onto the bed, fully clothed, and fell asleep from the Exhaustion. At no time did I see anyone that could have been doing the tapping.

The next evening was even worse. Not only did the tapping continue at the window, but now too at my door. Even with me standing on the other side of it and throwing it open at the slightest tap did I catch anyone. This went on for 2 hours, and then stopped. Warily, I went to bed, uttering prayers to God for protection through the night.

This continued for 3 more nights before I noticed it. "It" was the ground outside the door and window. As I threw open the door, as I had been the last few nights, my eyes were suddenly drawn downward. The ground was wet with water. Going to the window, I looked at the ground below it. It too was soaked. And laying in the puddle, was Nicholas' wallet, the wallet I had forgotten to destroy in my haste to destroy the books of evil!

And last night... Besides the tapping and water, I heard a new sound. A deep, guttural growl of a dog. Tonight, the tapping is more furious, the growl deeper and meaner...

I now know what horror awaits me in the night, and when I am gone, I know that only the night will know what it saw....