Cookie nosleep

Instead of all the things I miss about my ex, there are actually whole bunch more I don’t ever want to recall about her. One of which that tops the list is her cooking. My god. She was terrible at it, and of all the things she cooked for me in the past, I hated her cookies the most. Those damn cookies. Just can’t stand the smell or the sight of them. The whole image of her nibbling on those damn things and the guilt feeding. She got really angry when I refused to eat them for whatever excuse. It doesn’t go with anything either. It even makes the milk taste bad. I really had no idea how to deal with it. Looking back to our memories, all I can say is; Thank god! Now that I have broken up with her, I never ever have to see those damn cookies ever again! Until, that is, when I got home one day after work…

Even before entering the apartment, I somehow sensed it. Getting off the elevator to my flat, no, just entering the building, I somehow knew, something was off about that evening. That strange smell that just hung about in the air reminded me of that musky gooey awfulness, along with all the reasons why I split with her.

My fear grew stronger as I got closer to my door. I turned my door knob just to find it unlocked, and god damn it, the stench of it pierced through my nose. From the corner of the kitchen, she popped out her head and casually greeted me home. “Hi~”

“What are you doing here?” I hustled into the kitchen. She was blowing the steam off her freshly baked cookies. I tried my best to ignore it all, the entire scenery, of her and she holding those damn tray of cookies, soon hidden away from my view behind the refrigerator door. I stuffed my face into the icy coolness in search for salvation. I picked up a bottle of beer.

“Would you like some cookies?” She asked.

“Nope.”

“Don’t be like that. Just because we broke up, doesn’t mean you can’t have any of these.”

“Samantha, I don’t want your cookies, nor will I ever want them in the future. To tell you the truth, I never did like your cookies. In fact, I don’t get why you even bother to cook in the first place. Shouldn’t you have learned by now that you are a terrible cook?”

Snapping the cap off my beer, I rambled on, not minding her or whatsoever. I gulped down the beer as I finished my sentence, then I waited in silence, observing her reaction, waiting for her to belch all over me the anger, and just waiting for her to smack me in the head, giving me the reason to kick her out of my home. However, instead, the silence prolonged, uncomfortably long. Time slowed. I felt every tingle of the beer draining down to my stomach. To my surprise, tears welled up in her eyes. Droplets flowed down her pinkish blushed cheeks. I’ve dated Sam for about a year before I broke it off, but never have I seen this girl this vulnerable. There were only two kinds of emotion on this girl, one being tantrum and the other being anger. Tears of sadness, being upset, pouting, joy, those just weren’t the faces I ever saw with her while we were together. Even yawning wouldn’t make her cry.

“You… Okay? Samantha?”

She started to sob.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She let out a solemn wail like a little girl who just got pushed over in the playground and got smeared in ice cream.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey… What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?!”

I took out another bottle of beer from the fridge and grasped it in her hands. Yet still she cried, holding that bottle in one hand, and tray of cookies in the other. I cautiously led her towards the couch in the living room and sat her down. She cried, cried and cried. I didn’t know what to do. It was so frustrating. I never seen her like this before, ever.

“I… uhh… I’m gonna head down and get some uhh, stuff. You like pizza? You want some pizza? I’m gonna go get some pizza.”

I fled out of my flat. The wailing continued on, trailing behind and followed me out the room. I quickly shut the door, however, the walls could not completely mute the noise. Softened cries echoed the hall, and that stink of her cookies was still hovering in the air. Any nightmare would be better than this.

My neighbor walked by. “Yummy! Love that cookie scent!” Idiot…

I got out, but didn’t exactly have anywhere to go. Down the block, there was a pizza joint I frequented time to time. I crossed the street and leered at my windows up the building. I could visualize the scent in the evening haze, showing off the most greenish brownish color, a mixture of disgust and bitter hatred. I shook my head and walked down the block. After going back and forth a couple of times, I hung out at the pizza place, playing the arcade game that sat by one corner of the restaurant. After several quarters, I finally made my order. A large pizza, half pepperoni and half mushrooms. 20 minutes passed by. My nose tingled with joy at the scent of a hot sizzling pizza. Finally, something good and something fresh.

I loathed my way home, but with this pizza in my hand, I dare not let it get cold. I came back to my flat with some bit of cheer in me. The scent of the pizza was well covering up the disgust in my nose. I got to my floor, just to find that idiot of a neighbor rubbing his nose, sniffing around between the corner of my door, sucking up all the air around it. I pulled him off my door.

“Oh, hey neighbor!” He exclaimed out loud. “What have you got in there that smells so nice?”

“What the heck, Maurice. What’s wrong with you?!”

“Nothing! Just chilling, soaking up that delicious smell!” His eyes were shaking. He was sweating like an ice cream out in mid summer’s eve.

“Go home, Maurice. You don’t look so good.”

“Uhh, yeah, yeah, you are right.” He said, wiping off his forehead with his sleeves.

“Phew! Must be all the exercise!”

However, he lingered solid behind until I got into my flat, poking over my shoulder and between to peep into my house. I hurriedly closed my door. I peered through the door scope, and again I found him standing there still, sniffing.

Samantha greeted me at the door. “Hey… Sorry about that just before… I just had a big fight with my boyfriend… What’s going on? Something wrong?”

“Uhh, nothing, just the neighbors. Feel better? Here. Fresh pizza, still warm.”

I set up two plates on the kitchen table. Brought out two more bottles of beer and a can of soda out from the refrigerator. Just as I was to seat down and have a bite, I heard a knocking on my door. Through the door scope, yet again, I found Maurice waving. I quietly chained the door and slightly opened it ajar.

“Hey, neighbor! Sorry to bother you like this, but I couldn’t just pass by that delicious scent without asking. What have you got in there that’s getting me this anxious?!”

He seemed a bit eccentric than our usual encounter in the hall. We plainly nod or give out short salutations, but never have we ever spoken to one another, and now he is in my door way asking for cookies. We've been neighbors since I moved into this apartment. He is about 40, bit overweight, with huge glasses that made his eyes look so much bigger than normal. Maybe, he’s high? It was scary. I hardly know this guy. I don’t know much about his ‘condition’ other than that he is sweating and twitching right now.

I tried to close the door, but Maurice had his foot shoved in between the openings. I searched the room. The cookies were neatly stacked and sat on a glass plate by the living room table.

“Hold up.” I tired once more to close the door, but Maurice’s foot got in the way. I gestured to his foot.

“Oh, right. Sorry! Silly me!” He giggled.

I got the plate of cookies, took a deep breath, and took the chains off. Maurice pushed open the door. I quickly held out the plate to his chest to prevent him from coming into my house. “You can give me the plates whenever you are done!”

Maurice’s face brightened up at the sight of the cookies stacked high on to the plate.

“Really? This much? That’s really generous of you! Why thank you neighbor! I can’t think of any…!”

“Bye Maurice” I slammed the door shut and locked it tight.

“So you really hate my cookies.” Samantha said out loud.

“Yeah!” Crisp short reply was all that was needed in this situation. I was just glad that I got rid of those cookies. I went back to my pizza.

“Then why did you eat them and say they were good?”

“Eat them? My god. Eat them Samantha? More like having them shoved down my throat, being force fed to swallow. You know what, it was actually better to go through that crap than to deal with your crazy tantrums!”

There was a moment of silence, which without doubt, is going to be destroyed. Calm before the storm. I hoped after this, she would run out and never return. I waited for her response, instead…

“Hey! Where d’you get those cookies!”

Loud yelling came bursting through the walls. Samantha’s face froze up. I leaped towards the door and gazed into the scope. To my surprise, Maurice was still standing there, savoring every little crummy piece of that cookie. On the opposite was this huge gigantic man, thick with muscle that was rumbling visibly under his leather jacket. With his every step towards Maurice, the whole building shook.

Maurice stopped shoving cookies in his mouth, and stared in awe at the man who just screamed at him.

“I said! Where did you get those cookies?!”

“None of your business, pal!” Maurice spat back.

“Give those to me, NOW!”

“Fuck off, you Fuck fa…!”

WHAM

Before Maurice could finish his words, with brick like fist, the huge man punched Maurice in the face. He flung back, scattering the cookies on to the floor.

“No!” The giant screamed. He jumped to the floor, securing the cookies. Carefully he picked them up, and one by one he put them into his pockets.

“Oh no you don’t!” Maurice came running in with a fire extinguisher in his hands, and swung it down on to the giant’s head.

Clang

The metal hit, yet without a flinch, the giant man stood up towering over little Maurice. His muscles twitched and his jaws clenched. He grabbed Maurice by the neck and slammed him into my door. I backed up. I could hear Maurice’s scream as the man stomped him down against my door. Soon, my door gave a crack, and blood oozed in from between. I reached for my phone and dialed up the police.

“Emergency hotline, how can I help you?”

“Hello? Yeah, this is Oak Tree road, Maple apartment, Twelve, three, o…!”

Samantha snatched my phone then flung it over to the living room couch.

“Wait! I’ll take care of this…” She carefully opened the door.

Maurice’s sunken face fell in with a thud. The man responsible was now on the floor salvaging the cookies.

“Babe?” She called out loud.

The man looked up. “Samantha!” He got up and held her tight in his arms.

“I’m sorry Sammy, I didn’t mean all that! I’m really sorry!”

“It’s alright babe, I forgive you.”

They pushed their lips on to one another.

Can’t believe I use to date this…

“Who’s that guy?!” He asked.

“No one of importance babe. You won’t ever see him again.”

I nodded back.

“Let’s go hun.” The man said.

“Wait just a sec...”

Samantha came barging back in. She grabbed a kitchen knife and a plastic bag. I slowly moved to the side and got out of her way. She squatted down before Maurice’s still warm body. Hack and slash, she cut opened Maurice’s stomach and carved out a big chunk of his liver and stuffed them into the plastic bag.

“What… What are you doing?” I asked.

She got up and gave me a sinister smile.

“Why d'you think my cookies tasted so good in the first place?”

“Hell yeah, baby.” The man exclaimed out loud.

They held each other by the waist and walked down the hall.

I called the police.

Suddenly, the smell didn’t seem so bad after all…

Submitted February 17, 2016 at 12:17PM by coolhyun321 http://ift.tt/1PEBga8 nosleep