Brian quietly walked up to the door and raised his hand to knock. It was shaking. He lowered it half way then raised it again and brought his knuckles against the surface, one, two, three times. He winced at the pathetic sound on hollow wood. Even his knock was unsure of itself. He could swear he heard the trees next to the house laughing. He was so tired of the laughter.
He waited, convinced there would be no answer. It was Candy’s house alright, and he had asked her out for the night. He still felt uncertain she had agreed to see a movie with him, even though he had replayed her response of “yes” a million times in his head. Yes wasn’t a familiar term to him.
When she opened the door, he realized he had been holding his breath and let out a mortifying whoosh. Her giggle was sweet and made everything seem okay. When he said, “Hi,” and she smiled, it felt like a triumph.
They got to the theater without too many more difficult moments.
“Two for ‘The Situation’ at 7:30,” he said. He pushed the money forward on the counter.
“That’ll be theater nine,” said the teen behind the glass.
After a quick stop at the snack stand, they went to their seats. They were only ten minutes early, a blessing because it meant he wouldn’t have a lot of time to fill. Conversation wasn’t his strong point. As they were settling in, he wondered what his strong points were. He hoped he’d find them before she found out maybe he didn’t have any.
“I’ve heard this is a really scary movie,” Candy said.
“Me too. But don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he said. It was corny, but he had practiced that line in anticipation of her comment.
‘The Situation’ was supposed to be the most frightening film about demonic possession made since the Exorcist. It was pretty solid, he thought, maybe a little over-hyped. He had seen it already, earlier that week, just so he would know where the scary parts were. He wanted to appear to be brave and not jump at the jump-scares. There were twelve by his count. Plenty of chances to offer her comfort. At least that was the plan.
“Looks like we are the only ones here,” she said. Brian surveyed the empty auditorium and said, “I guess it’s been out for a while, and it’s not a big date night.” He grimaced, afraid of having called it a date.
The theater darkened as the trailers began.
A minute later, another patron showed up. It was difficult to discern much in the dark other than the person was heading down the row directly in front of them. The shape and gait of the shadow revealed that it was a man. A big man.
This stranger lumbered down the row until he was right in front of them, and sat down noisily. “Oh, God damn, I gotta take a piss!” he said in an obnoxiously loud voice. He stood up and stomped out of the auditorium.
Brian leaned over towards Candy, “Whew, that was close. Hopefully, he won’t sit right there.”
Two minutes later he was back, as loud as ever, sitting right in front of them. Suddenly he spun around and said to Brian, “Hey guy, thanks for holding my seat!”
Brian looked cautiously. In front of him sat the biggest, broadest man he had ever seen. He was spilling out of both sides of his seat. His massive, square head looked as if it were sitting directly on his shoulders.
Brian saw Candy’s wide-open eyes, looking like a deer in headlights. He knew he should say or do something to put her at ease. He whispered to her, “He’s in the way now. Let’s move down a few seats.” She agreed, and they sidled down the row.
Once they had settled, the enormous man stood up and moved right in front of them again. His body odor followed. It smelled like rotting fruit.
“Excuse me, sir, but you’re really tall and there’s plenty of space so we’re trying not to be behind you,” Brian said, trying to not shake like a leaf. He stood up and Candy followed him back to their original seats.
The stranger moved once more, back in front of the couple. Brian closed his eyes trying to think of what to do. He had the weirdest feeling that this was a test.
The third trailer began.
“Oh, my God!” shrieked the stranger, “I didn’t pay for no preview bullshit!” He turned around and was kneeling on his seat, looking over the back directly at them. “Bring on the goddamn movie, right Brian?”
He reached forward and squeezed Brian’s shoulder hard. Hard enough to hurt. “I can call you Brian, can’t I?”
“Do you know this guy at all?” Candy asked Brian.
“Never seen him before in my life,” he said. Clearing his throat he asked the man, “Do we know each other?”
At that, the guy stood up and stepped around the aisle to their row and sat down right next to him. “Oh yeah dude, we are just like this,” the giant held up a massive hand with crossed fingers.
“But I don’t… Brian said.
Candy said, “You should leave us alone, you creep!”
“Oh crap,” Brian thought, not sure what was unfolding. He didn’t understand it at all. But he understood this much, she shouldn’t have said that.
The man stood up. He was six and a half feet tall and easily two hundred seventy-five pounds. He was built every bit like a brick apartment house.
“What did your bitch say to me… Briiiiaan?” he said, stretching the name out childishly.
Brian looked at Candy. Her long legs were crossed, as were her arms. She was clearly incensed. Brian didn’t know what to do.
The brute reached down and picked up the popcorn bucket out of the holder to Brian’s right. He reached in and grabbed a mouthful of kernels before spilling the rest into Brian’s lap. He laughed brazenly. Too loudly. It was an exaggeration and went on and on while spittle flew out of the sides of his mouth. The way his head was moving back and forth, it looked and sounded like he was a scratched vinyl record. It was glitchy and freaky and there was no sign of it stopping anytime soon.
Candy whispered, “Brian, this guy isn’t right. Let’s just get out of here.”
But Brian didn’t respond. He was lost in that maniacal laughter. It was the laughter he had heard all his life. Laughter at his expense. The longer it went on, the more he recognized it. As the man’s face continued to glitch it morphed and contorted into the faces of those who had tormented him throughout his life.
“I d-d-do kn-know you,” Brian said.
“You’re right. I am the manifestation of your fear Brian. You’ve been afraid for so long you’ve made me real. Thought into form. I can’t leave you alone now. Heck, I’m just getting started!”
He thought about grabbing Candy’s hand and running, but this entity had thrown down the gauntlet. That couldn’t be ignored, not this time.
Brian felt something inside crack and shift. Then he did something he never expected. He fought back.
He smashed his right foot down forcefully on the giant’s left foot. The bully screamed in pain and grabbed the front of Brian’s shirt. In a blind panic, Brian reached back and grabbed the large soft drink he had ordered and poured it down the front of the giant’s pants. The man doubled over from the shock of all that ice on his crotch. Seeing the jutting chin of his opponent, Brian took the chance to raise his knee, hard. He connected, knocking the bully onto his back. Candy stood with her jaw dropped.
”We aren’t done with you yet Briiiiaan,” said the man lying on his back, his head still flickering weirdly.
“But WE are done with YOU!” Candy said.
They started up the aisle. Looking back as the movie began the couple grinned. Nothing about demonic possession was going to scare them now. They walked out into the night, leaving the man flat on his back. Maybe not a man, maybe an accumulation of all my fear. Who knows? The important thing is that I beat it, Brian thought. He had to wonder however, what did the brute mean when he said “we aren’t done with you.” Who was we?
At that moment Candy put her arm around Brian and rested her head on his shoulder. Brian’s thoughts collapsed as suddenly he felt like a hero. They were both so wrapped up in a world of their own they didn’t notice the smell of rotting fruit, or the group of shadows following them into the parking lot. Brian forgot… he had a lot of different fears.