Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Pass It Forward

“Please show me,” she says softly, placing a hand on his leg. He looks down, feeling his cheeks glow red, then looks up into her face and smiles.

“Dear sweet Patricia, how you always manage to bring a smile to my face, even when I am at my lowest,” he says, placing a hand on hers and squeezing it tightly. “If you really want to see it, if you’re really sure, I’ll show it to you, but,” he says, looking to the ground and sucking in a breath before he continues, “if I show you, you’ll never be able to unsee it. You’ll have to carry its secret, its very existence and purpose with you until the memories are forgotten. Can you do that?” he asks, looking back into her eyes.

She smiles nervously. “Until the memories fade, and even after that,” she says.

He laughs and springs to his feet. “And after? That is a solemn promise indeed. Of course, in theory, it is impossible to remember something after it has been forgotten, but the main thing to take from all this is that you meant it,” he says, extending his hand towards her. “Come, let me show it to you. It has been far too long since I have been the keeper of this secret, and it is a tiring task. Sharing that burden will be a release,” he says, pulling her to her feet and dragging her through a series of interlocking hallways, down a trapdoor that leads into a tunnel, which splinters off into another, and then another, until finally, they come to a room with a single box sitting in its center.

“I-I-Is that it?” she asks through trembling lips, her hands shaking as a mixture of nerves and excitement rush through her body.

“That’s it,” he says proudly, before shoving her into the room and slamming the door behind her.

“TULANE, YOU BASTARD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she screams, as she scrambles from the dirty floor to her feet and searches for the door’s handle, but only finds a flat surface where it should be. “What the fuck are you doing, Tulane? Let me the hell out!”

“I’m so sorry, Patricia, I really am!” he yells from the other side of the door. “But I can’t do it anymore. I thought I could, but I just can’t keep feeding the bloody thing. It’s time for someone new to take on the burden. It’s your turn.”

“My TURN? What the BLOODY HELL does that mean?”

“Open the box and find out. Don’t open it, and the things inside will feast on you. There are more rules, but you’ll work them out like I did. All you have to do is open the box—I’ll f—” His words trail off as he looks around the tunnel in confusion.

“Tulane? Are you still out there?” Patricia calls out.

“Y-Y-Yeah, I’m here, wherever here is,” he answers.

“Can you open the door?”

“Umm, sure. Do you—do you know why we’re down here?” he asks as he turns the handle and pulls the door open.

She smiles. “I wanted to show you something silly, don’t you remember?”

He laughs as he scratches his head. “I have, like, no idea. The last thing I remember was Klause getting me to cut school. Are you a friend of his?”

“Yeah, sure, why not.”

“Cool. What do you want to show me?” he asks, stepping into the room.

“That,” she says, pointing towards the box. He raises an eyebrow as he gives it the once-over, before turning back to her.

“What’s in it?” he asks, as she shoves him into the room and slams the door behind him.

“Open the box and find out. Don’t open it, and the things inside will feast on you. There are more rules, but you’ll work them out—”