The Hanging Man

I can feel the hanging man. Can't you?

The Hanging Man

Do you hear that? Do you feel that? The sound of a creeping insanity slowly seeping through my fragile sanity. The sound of my heartbeat escalating. The feeling of a thousand needles slowly piercing my cold skin. Over and over again. The feeling of an unnatural dread threatening to consume me. What is this feeling you might ask?

It’s the hanging man. Can’t you feel him breath on your neck?

Whichever reflection I look in, I see him. Eyes completely devoid of any pupils, only a pool of pure whiteness. A grin without any teeth, just blood-soaked gums glistening back at you. A nose, parted in the middle, to give life to the unearthly breathing. Like every breath is a struggle. And his neck, contorted into a position that can only be describe as someone who got hanged. In every reflection, he smiles back at me. Ever since I moved into the apartment.

He's the hanging man. He’s here. Can’t you feel him?

Am I going mad? My apartment is a mess of cloth covering up every area he might appear. The kitchen stove, windows, the TV, the transparent lamp, the glass table, everything. I do not even dare use my phone. But I can still feel him, watching me. I can still hear him, whispering to me. And when I close my eyes, I see his bloody grin.

I cannot escape the hanging man, can I?

Moving is not an option. Money is a rarity which I do not have. So I’m doomed to stay with the hanging man. If I spoke of him to others, they would surely think I was insane. Because the hanging man only appears to me. Wherever I go, he follows.

I have curled myself into a ball, softly rocking myself back and forth on the sofa. I can hear him. He whispers to me. But never a sensible sentence or word. Just barely audible sounds of different letters mixed in the wrong combinations to not formulate a phonetically comprehensible sentence. It terrified me, forced me to make sounds of my own, so he would evacuate my head.

Can you hear him? Can you hear the hanging man whispering softly into your ears?

I tried confronting him once. In the bathroom mirror. Just glare back at him like he does to me. But never before have I experienced the sense that someone pierced through my very being, digging deep and far into my soul. His grin suddenly turned from playful torment, into something wicked. The hanging man knew. Every little sin I had committed, he knew. If his dead mouth could laugh, it would, but instead he just stared. Ever since, I’ve never dared confront him again. Now, I cower in fear.

The rain was awfully loud today. I used it as an excuse to open the door to my apartment, but not too much. I couldn’t let people see me. Because out in this big world, there was something even more terrifying than the hanging man. Humans. I opened the door and was greeted with a horrifying sight. Instead of raindrops plummeting to the ground, teeth colored in a faded white hailed from the sky. As they hit the ground, they slowly turned into liquid and evaporated into the ground. From a streetlight, I saw the anorexic silhouette of the hanging man, swaying back and forth. His was smiling, showing of his gum, which was oozing with blood. The blood slowly trickled across his chin, down his neck, to his arms and dripped to the cemented ground. I shut the door before the nightmarish sight could engrave itself in my mind.

Will my torment ever end? Outside is Hell, inside is Hell.

I had atoned for my sins, yet I was still haunted. Even though it wasn’t my fault. They accused me of being a monster, but I did not know this monster who they spoke of. If they had seen the hanging man, they would have known a true monster. With every creak, a jolt was sent through my body. With every noise, my hands quivered in fear. I didn’t want to see him anymore, not after the teeth incident. I was this close to madness, an edge I had been living on for far too long.

Please, someone, save me.

I loudly read myself a nursery rhyme from one of the books by the previous owner, in hopes that it would drown out the whispering. It must have angered him. Suddenly, the light in my chandelier burst, leaving me in the vast darkness. I had always kept the lights on at all times, and this was the first time in many weeks which I found myself engulfed in the dark. I heaved for my breath, yet my lungs seemed incapable of receiving the oxygen I sent. The needles that otherwise had plague me with constant stabbing, turned into knives, and my body ached from the agonizing terror which consumed me. Amid the blackness I heard it, the swaying of a rope, tied tightly around something. As the chandelier suddenly flickered with light, his silhouette was once again in front of me. The blood gushing from his mouth, staining my floor in its deep, red color.

“Sau oya dr nme eth emae,” he screeched.

I screamed out for help, but it was as if the dark devoured my words. Eventually, I blacked out, my consciousness faded away.

I want to die.

I woke up, sprawled out on the bathroom floor. I slowly lifted myself, only, to my horror, to find the mirror uncovered. However, what gazed back at me from the reflection surprised me.

I saw myself. And no one else.

Ever since that day, the hanging man hasn’t appeared once. I felt a strange sense of loneliness. Yes, the nightmare which had terrorized me was gone, yet, that was the only company I had ever had and would have. Yet, a strange sense of tranquility beckoned on me. Because I knew.

I can feel the hanging man, rooted deep within myself. The noose he has tied around my psyche. The question is; can you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s the hanging man. He’s here. Can’t you feel him?     

Reviews

[Ioanna Engarhos]

I loved this! I have never seen someone use the size of the letters to actually further convey emotions in a story. This put me on edge. The level of horror that this takes is incredible. The fact that certain words are shrunk makes it seem as if the character is far away, or whispering. I really enjoyed this :)

[TobyObey]

That's great to hear, I'm really glad! And thank you so much for taking the time to read and review this, I really appreciate it!