Each piece of art will be paired with a short story of 200-1000 words. The art will be at the bottom of the chapter.
The prompt list I'm using can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUSzT18LbFp/?utm_medium=share_sheet
I received the tape one week ago, in a small box on my doorstep. It had no markings, no return address, no identifying marks besides what looked to be water stains on the bottom of the box. Like it had been sitting in a puddle. I found this odd, since it hadn't rained in weeks.
But, hey, I figured, why not give it a watch. If it turned out to be something bad, I'd turn it in to the police, but I had a sneaking suspicion it was an early Halloween prank, which I respected. Halfway through September I was already eating candy corn and watching horror movies.
Anyway, I had a feeling it must have been from someone who knew me. After all, I'm one of the very few young people in the year of our lord 2021 who owns a VCR. I actually have a small collection of VHS tapes, none particularly rare, but they mean a lot to me.
So I popped the tape into my VCR, and sat back to watch whatever it turned out to be.
The video started suddenly, showing a view of a tiled hallway. There was the sound of rain in the background. It reminded me of a hospital, but so dark I couldn't make out many details. The camera bobbed slightly, like someone was holding it, but didn't move.
A few minutes went by, until a light began to creep towards the camera from the left, along the floor.
It showed what I sort of expected. The floor was dusty and scattered with small bits of debris. Wherever this was, it seemed abandoned.
The camera did not turn to the light, continuing to point toward the opposite wall, even as footsteps began to be audible. Eventually, a figure began to come into frame.
And that's when I got concerned.
The person held a flashlight in front of them, walking slowly. She was wearing a very familiar outfit. In fact, everything about her looked familiar.
This was a video of me.
It was only then I noticed the date on the bottom right of the screen. October 1st, 2021. A few weeks in the future from when I received the tape.
For a second, I wanted to just take the tape out. Burn it maybe. But I had to know what happened. Who this person who looked like me actually was. Because it couldn't be me. I haven't been to a hospital in ten years, let alone an abandoned one.
I continued to watch as the onscreen me walked by, pointing her flashlight forward down the hall and not even acknowledging the camera.
She was acting kind of odd. Her walk was more of a shuffle really, and her face was devoid of any expression, her eyes blank and half-lidded. It was like she was sleep-walking.
As she finally passed out of view of the camera, it finally moved. It turned slowly, and began to follow her, by my guess about seven feet behind her. She didn't turn around.
The tape continued like that for a few more seconds, showing just a little bit more of the hallway. There were no windows or doors, but at the end, there appeared to be a turn.
Past the turn, there appeared to be something producing flickering yellow light. But before the person who looked like me could even get close, the video ended.
It had been barely five minutes long.
I ended up watching the tape over more than a dozen times. I didn't catch much more, but on the third viewing, I noticed that, when the camera followed me, I couldn't hear any footsteps. Sure, the camera bobbed like it was being held by a person, but why wouldn't they make any sound at all?
I don't know. I still don't know.
Today is October first, the date on the tape. I don't know if something is going to happen. I haven't talked to anyone else about this. I haven't left my house in a week.
I still have the tape. After today, if there is an after, I'm going to destroy it. I can hardly stand to look at it anymore.
It's beginning to rain outside.
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