Author Raul F. O.

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The Horrorscope - Episode 7: Knowing a dead man

Give me some gloves. As he hands me the gloves he asks me what I want to do. That cold thing, did you turn it off? He looks at me confused for a second before it clicks. Oh, it turned off the moment we touched the door. So we wouldn’t just send everything at the ground level flying. I chuckle. Well, you are going to hate my idea. I am going to run my hand through the carpet and I need you to turn it on so it can catch whatever will float. Maybe we’ll find some specs of skin, feather or felt. Ready? He nods with the remote in his hand. 3… 2… 1… As I run my hand across the carpet, dust explodes into the air. He clicks the button and a sudden cold wave covers the whole floor. I slowly take my hand under the biggest specs of skin or dust. Turn it off… Now! They fall onto my gloves and I gently place them into a plastic bag. There’s a bump here… He looks at me. It’s probably where he hit his head. I start to scratch my head again… I see…

Is this how everything was arranged when you found him? He nods. Isn’t it weird? He looks a bit around. No. Why? I keep turning around. Doesn’t something feel off for you? It’s like something is missing. There’s a TV on the wall there, there’s a couch here, a coffee table, a carpet, but… There’s nothing on the table. And if you didn’t remove anything, I doubt he never watched TV or didn’t use it for anything else. You have shelves there by the door, but they’re mostly empty. He lived here for what? A hundred? Two hundred years? And nothing? At least some people buy some flowers or books to look a bit more… Interesting. Here, by the drapes, there’s also nothing. Was he a minimalist? He shrugs. I couldn’t tell you. I never really cared to remember people’s houses. I start to look around the kitchen side of the room. Look here, I say as I open the fridge, just as expected there isn’t much in there. The kitchen is flawlessly clean. It’s like he wasn’t even living here. Did he have a wife or something? He shakes his head. Who has a wife anymore? I sigh. Yeah… Right… Forgot.

What about a girlfriend then? Did he maybe spend time somewhere else? Hobbies? Addictions? Anything? This place is too spotless and weird. He looks around. I don’t know about a girlfriend. He was never the type to care about things like that. I think he got jaded. I interrupt him. What about children? He shakes his head. We stopped having those too, remember? This is frustrating. I am just trying to figure something out, anything. He looks at me with pity. He had no hobbies either. I think the last thing he did was some collecting of some sorts and he sold it after he got annoyed for some reason or another. Addictions, besides the morning vice, I don’t think he had. As you said, he was still young and experimenting with stuff. I shake my head. Is that all? Is there anything else you might have forgotten or missed? He shakes his head. Something is off. There had to been a motive for someone to want him dead… As those words leave my mouth, a knock on the door…

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