Compulsive Evil (Short Story)

A man walks nervously in the nighttime, inconspicuously as to blend in with his surroundings. Few and far between are lights in the street and in the darkness between them, he yearns to know why he does what he does, secretly, immediately returning to his rough, ominous appearance of shame. This man of the night is a thief, caught up in the license of living off the street. Forgive him, for he does not know what he does. He does not know why, either, only that his impetuosities are nostalgic to one such as him. He wishes he could disobey the feelings that bind him and make him who he is. No longer does he want to be constrained by ransacking others’ things. This is what his life has become.

The man delves into the darkness then makes his way up an apartment scaffold to where he finds an open window. "This is unusual," he thought, "This will be an easy steal." He looks into the seemingly untenanted home, feeling the gentle breeze of the cool night. He makes way through the window, stepping as lightly and quietly as the breeze blows, feeling footings on the floor below. The step down is further than what he is used to infiltrating and his balance and dark decorum are almost shattered. Yet, his entrance is executed with the utmost caution. Once inside the domain, he takes out a small flashlight, which he proceeds to sweep back and forth around the room, taking a respite from his journey thus far.


Our crook is a discreet one, his eyes ever watchful. He passes the light over what seems to be a doll, leaning on its feet in the corner. The beam shines elsewhere, and then returns to the location of the doll. It is gone. The burglar illuminates the other parts of the room, and as he comes back to the original location of the doll, it is there again. It does not move, is rather grotesque, and almost life-like. Our man is dauntless, as one must be in his position, but this doll frightens him, to the point where he feels that this house was a mistake to enter. He gathers himself up, turning to where the window was, or where he thought it was. He spins around, searching for the window, clenching his fists and getting anxious. The doll then appears right in front of him, screaming shrill shrieks of terror. The sound pervades his body. The man collapses onto the floor, being tortured by this creature. He then starts yelling at the top of his lungs, "Go Away!" His request is harshly denied by more and louder squawks from the apparently evil being.

Suddenly, the evil stops, and then starts again, this time explaining itself. It roars out "I was violently slaughtered in this apartment twenty years ago by an intruder. I have no mercy towards anyone who enters uninvited. All who do must die!!!" Our man responds "You are mistaken. I can not help what I do. What I do is compulsive, I cannot control it." Anger pours out of the evil in front of him and it says, "No mercy!" The man received no compassion from the entity. His small flashlight falls from his tightened fist, rolls on the floor, and shuts off on its own. The Evil of thievery claims another.




I wrote this for my grade 11 English class. The assignment was a "morbid essay" and this is what I came up with. I received an A+ (50/50, 100%) for it.