The Clown, part 3

I walked on rubbery legs across the room and stared at the clown, unable to believe what I was seeing. I could've laughed it off and just said it was similar, but it wasn't. It was THE clown, right down to it's striped hat and demonic eyes.

The desk clerk laughed. "Freaky, ain't it?"

"You could say that," I replied. "Where did you get it?"

"Dunno. It just sort of appeared one day."

"What? How could it just appear out of thin air?" I was getting hysterical and Brad put a calming hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, folks are always dropping off weird clown stuff, knowing how we collect it. Somebody just left it here one day."

I nodded at him then looked back at the clown. It looked like its face had changed. It was smiling before, but now it looked mean. I clutched Brad's hand.

"What is it, hon?"

"Remember that freaky dream I had in the car?"

"Yeah?"

I pointed at the doll. "That was what I saw."

"Whoa. You're psychic! Cool."

It didn't feel very cool. All I knew was I wanted to get away from that thing. Clowns were supposed to be joyful and fun. This thing reminded me of Chuckie from Child's Play.

We thanked the desk clerk and headed upstairs to our room.

"This is supposed to be the quietest room in the place."

"Great! I could use that. I just endured the week from hell."

"Your boss still on your case?"

"Yeah, she won't let me do anything without looking over my shoulder. Geez! I'm seriously considering quitting."

"You should." He put his arms around me and held me tight. "Let this be our celebration trip of you soon finding your right work." 

"Thanks." I gave him a squeeze then went to open the window to let in the cool night air. It sure got dark fast. I don't remember the sun being very low in the sky. Maybe we were in the office longer than I thought. 

It smelled a little mildewy. That was weird. Usually outside air smelled fresher than that. Maybe it was the old wood. It was pitch black, I couldn't see much of anything. That's good. At least there wouldn't be any cars racing by. Suddenly a light shined over the landscape, probably from someone entering the parking lot out front. I squinted, unsure of what I was seeing. It looked like old tombstones.

"Um, what are those?" I asked, pointing next door.

Brad peeked over my shoulder. "Oh, that's the cemetery."

What?!?