Short Stories

The Three Visitors

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen the three of them.

It was a Wednesday night, dead as ever at the Dairy Queen where I worked. I had a few other teammates working with me, but they were just as bored as I was.

I leaned against the order counter, my gaze frequently darting back to the three visitors. There were two guys, one girl, and they were all laughing and talking with each other. Every once in a while, they would glance over at me, eyes glittering, seemingly surprised I was standing there. They seemed in no hurry to order anything.

“Darby. Can you take these guys when they’re ready?” I asked.

Darby managed to tear her eyes away from her phone long enough to register what I had just said. “Yeah, why?”

“I need to use the bathroom quick.” And these people are frustrating me.

She was already back on her phone. “Sure, whatever.”

I headed toward the bathrooms.

After I came back out, Darby was still on her phone, and the three visitors were still standing by the counter.

“They still haven’t ordered yet?” I mumbled, and Darby overheard me. She looked up, sliding her phone into her pocket.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, they must’ve left. I checked while you were gone, no one’s there.”

“What?” I stared at the three teens.

Darby raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you saw...a ghost!”

“Darby,” I exclaimed. “They’re right there.” I turned to glare at them again, but they had disappeared. “They...they were just there! I saw them, I know I did.”

Darby gave an incredulous look. “Um, Dave, I think Micah’s having hallucinations or something.”

Dave’s face popped out from the kitchen. “You need some air, dude?”

I felt my face heat up. “Yeah, maybe I do.”

“There’s two bags of garbage with your name on them, dude.” Dave gestured behind him.

I gave him a look but grabbed the bags and went out into the cold night air.

I gripped the bags hard. I had seen those teens before. They came in all the time and never ordered anything. It had started grating on my nerves. But nobody else seemed to notice.

Maybe I am just hallucinating them. Are recurring hallucinations a thing?

I opened the garbage bin and hoisted one of the bags up and in. Suddenly, from behind me, I heard a flurry of squawking.

I glanced behind me and was shocked to find a swarm of crows coming at me. I freaked out and dropped the other bag, shielding myself for the inevitable impact. But the crows stopped before they hit me. I peeked up and saw a man materialize from the crows. It was the tall, thin guy from inside. And he was holding a Slurpee. His voice was deep. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

Not two seconds after he said this, shrieking filled the air as dozens of bats swooped down from the roof of the Dairy Queen, dive-bombing straight at me. Their claws graced the top of my head and they quickly coalesced into the form of another man, the shorter, but equally thin guy from inside. 

“Not much, how about you?” he said with a grin.

At this point, I’m not even sure if they register that I’m there. “Um…” I tried to speak, but I was too breathless. “You...who…”