Changes Faces.
701 Words
Riley had an eye for bargains, and that day she found one...
It was a disturbing looking statue, to say the least, it cost 5 dollars. Riley was not gonna haggle over that price, she thought to herself, some special person would buy this Ugle statue for 2 or 3 hundred dollars... What a find, if Riley only knew...
When Riley got home, she placed the statue in her garage and turned it into a bargain find...
Riley never listed her finds right away, she liked to enjoy them for awhile, since she buys most of her stuff somewhat locally, a early experience taught her to wait...
She had found a great bargain, like the statue. She had listed it the next day on f*******:. A big mistake. The lady she had bought it from, saw the ad, and raised a fuss all over sss. Riley removed the ad the next day. A year down the road, she finally sold the item, without a problem... A valuable lesson learned...
Each day when Riley entered her garage of bargains, she noticed the statue would have a slightly different expression, barely noticeable, but she had a very keen eye for detail...
In the two months since she had bought the statue, her total sales had dropped by half, the nearly dozen friends she had shown the statue would not return her calls or texts, it was like she was being cursed...or she knew she was for sure...
Riley was a very practical person, something was going on, something was not right, something was really wrong, her sixth sense told her to get rid of the statue right away, but she had a routine, and she didn't want to break it...but deep down she knew she was making a big mistake...
Over the next several months, Riley's luck declined rapidly, she lost her full-time job, her online business was all but nonexistent, her life savings was dwindling, all her friends had abandoned her, even the pastor at her church had told her to stop attending, her life was spinning out of control...
She knew it was because of the statue, but she couldn't get rid of it. She had even moved the statue from her garage to the nightstand in her room. Recently, the expression on the statue has not changed day to day, like it did in the beginning, its current expression was of pure mirth...
Riley also started getting nightly visits from a young boy. The boy would whisper secrets of the dead in Riley's ear...she would never open her eyes when he was present...
Was she losing her mind??? She felt like she was trapped somehow in her body and mind, she went through her daily routine, but it was like she was watching another person doing these things...somebody please help me...please somebody...anybody...her plea for help was granted...
The next week, Riley's next door neighbor called the police. He had not seen her in a week, and he was concerned...
The police entered Riley's house. It was nauseating to say the least, it looked like Riley had been living like an animal the last few months. In fact, they had found nearly three dozen animal carcasses around the house, some half eaten, some knawed to the bone...the police were horrified...
Riley, a vivacious 30-year-old, doing so well, had declined in less than one year, into pure insanity and depravity...
They never did find Riley... Eventually, the city cleaned out her house. It sits empty, except for an ugly statue in the corner of Riley's bedroom...
Locals say they have seen a young boy staring out at them from the window of Riley's house, but that just might be myth over reality...
It has been six years now, most of the homes on Riley's block have been abandoned, a few have burned down, 12 people have gone missing...
The city government in Pontiac, Illinois, doesn't know what to do, it seems powerless...a local suggested they get rid of the statue, but the city council unanimously voted down this idea...no reason has been given...thus far...
The statue is still there...with a huge smile on its ugly face...
What A Bargain...Do You Think So???
- Writer
