Devil’s Call (working title) Novel snippet

Hello, you want to see the first three chapters of my horror novel Devil’s Call (still the first draft btw.).
Well then, please have a look and remember, it is still work in progress and it was quickly edited with the help of Ginger and MS Word (the correction software that’s included there).
Oh and yes, my novel called Grim is finished… now I have to find a publisher -__-

Devil’s Call

Chapter 1

Journey

A young woman sat on the train, texting with her cell phone like any other at her age. She frowned because of all the loud noises in this crowded train.
People were arguing, chatting and little kids would get on her nerves with their squeaky voices that asked for all different kinds of stuff continuously. Even though she liked, no she needed company, this was different and it was simply annoying to her.
Rain poured out of thick, grayish clouds and drummed on the windows, pretty much like hail would. Still on her cell phone, the young woman grinned at a message that she got from one of her female friends.

“Hi, I can’t wait to see you soon again ^^. It’s been too long, Karen. See ya. I have
something for you, when you’re back  “

Karen wiped a flick of hazelnut colored hair out of her face and looked in the reflecting window, right next to her. Her green, big eyes and slightly upturned nose fit perfect in her young, rather cute looking face.
She sighed and answered to the short message that her friend, Amy sent her just a few seconds ago.

“I can’t wait either ^^. I wonder what you have prepared for me :p”

She smiled, sent the message and put her cell phone in her black colored backpack that stood right next to her on the other seat. She has been separated for almost three months from her best friend, because she started studying at a university. But before she could visit her, she had something else to do. It wouldn’t take her long, she guessed, but it was important to her, to meet someone else before the fun could start.
A week ago, she got a letter that she found to be pretty weird, because everyone uses E-Mail and cell phones nowadays. When she read this said letter, she almost froze instantly. It was from a person that she had forgotten a while ago. Or she tried to. Non pleasant memories came back to her and the only sentence that was written on this old paper that stuck inside of a crumpled envelope said, “We need to talk.” The simple idea of talking to this person sent shivers down her spine.
She shook away his feeling, decided to take a quick nap, snuggled in her seat and used her backpack as a pillow. Slowly, her view began to fade to black and she slept longer than she anticipated.

Chapter 2

Awakening

Her dreams were weird. She dreamt of horrific things which haunted her in her dreams. Unable to do anything about the actions of twisted creatures she had to endure this torture as if she was under a sleep paralysis.
Monsters… no, not monsters, more like deformed human figures infected her dream world and only a sudden jolt made her waking up from her nightmares.
Confused, she rubbed her eyes, yawning and stretching she tried to give her nightmarish dreams a sense, but she couldn’t. They were too random and not really related to anything she had ever encountered in her life before. Quickly she put her backpack to her side and noticed something. The train had stopped moving completely. A thin layer of what seemed to be fog has entered the inside of the train. But that was nothing compared to the thick fog outside of the train wagon. Fog patches danced in front of the windows like manta rays in the ocean, covering everything. Every now and then Karen was able to see some patches of grass and a few silhouettes of fir trees, but nothing more, “What the fuck is going on here?” She wondered and held her left hand in front of her mouth as she yawned again. After a short moment she checked on her cell phone. It was dead. No battery and even after she took out the battery and reinserted it, it still didn’t work. She sighed, put her cell phone away, scratched her neck and looked around.
“Is this the final stop and the train personnel forgot to wake me up?” She whispered and looked around. No one else was in the train. No kids running around or screaming.
She stood up, rubbing her eyes, grabbed her backpack and shouldered it. It was dead quiet and she could her own steps loud and clear.
The whole inside of the train wagon seemed clammy as she looked around and entered the next train wagon. It was also empty and smelled like decaying wood, “Really, what the heck?” She frowned and moved forward. No trash was left by the other passengers, no sign that someone had been here for quite a while.
And this smell, this weird smell, how come that she just now noticed it and not when she entered the train? There was not even the slightest note of human presence, in every other of the train wagons.
Oh yeah, the train operator must be somewhere around. I felt the jolt before. He can’t be that far away. She thought quickly.
She hated to be alone and isolated and this here has been the closest to being alone by her own since a long time. She moved to the front train wagon with the driver’s cabin, where she suspected the train operator, “Hello, anybody here?” She asked and knocked on the glass door, where half opened curtains showed a good portion of the interior, “Hello?” But nobody answered. She looked inside of the driver’s cabin, but still couldn’t see anybody.
“That’s creepy. I’m outta here.” She grunted, turned around and walked over to the hydraulic doors. They were closed. She tried to pull them open, but nothing that she tried would help. She sighed and turned around.
“Fuck, how am I supposed to leave this train?” She asked herself as she looked in circles. She moved through the other wagons, but still nothing could be found, to help her. The darkness didn’t help either in her search activities, “The damn power must have been cut for the whole train.” She concluded, because none of the lights in this train were working either.
“Oh man, where are those little hammers with which I could break the windows?” She wondered and scratched her head. All the emergency hammers were gone too.
“Seriously, am I still dreaming?” She wondered and scratched her forehead.
Crack! She shrugged instantly and was ready to defend herself. A loud noise came from the front of the train. Slowly she turned around, hearing some quieter cracking noises from the same source and approached the glass door of the driver’s cabin, “You gotta be kidding me. Who the hell did this?!” She whispered unbelieving.
At the door, made out of unbreakable glass, a crowbar was stuck. With an unimaginable force, someone must have pushed it through the material like a maniac. Anxiously she looked around, checking under the seats and behind her back before getting nearer the door.
After a few moments she got to the door and looked inside of the driver’s cab, but no one was there to be seen.
“Who the hell would do that?” She whispered, “Hello, can anybody hear me?” She shouted, but didn’t get any response. She looked at the large piece of metal, grabbed it and pulled it through the hole. The glass held the crowbar in a tight grip, before Karen finally ripped it out and almost fell on her back, “Man, that wasn’t easy.” She sighed. Analytically she observed the situation. The door right in front of her might be too heavily secured for her to pry open. A big magnetic lock and almost no crack to put the crowbar in and even when she tried to smash the almost broken window, with the crowbar, she only saw one real choice.
She went to the hydraulic double doors to pry them open, with the newly found crowbar, which surprisingly worked pretty well, after a few attempts.
“Free.” Karen laughed quietly and breathing heavily, after she got out of the train. Cautiously she stepped on the clammy concrete under her shoes. Hopefully no one saw her damaging the doors she thought and moved away from the train a bit more, hiding the crowbar behind her back, but there was no one who could have seen her.
The thick, almost opaque fog lingered over the whole town. In the sky she could see a very faint sun and darker patches of fog which would sometimes cover the bright ball in the sky entirely.
An unsettling twilight filled the scenery and almost no shadows created an unreal, almost fantasy like environment, in her opinion. She never saw such an intense fog and never felt more isolated and lost before.

Chapter 3

Trapped

She heard nothing, except for the wind that rustled through only poorly visible treetops.
Her steps on the concrete were clearly audible as she walked inside the open, kind of old looking station building, “Maybe someone will be inside?” She whispered to herself and slowly walked through gaping, non automatic double doors. Even inside the brick stone building, she could see a hint of fog or moisture. Everything looked grayish and the windows of the shops in this small town station building were smeared with dust.
“Hello? Is there anybody?” She yelled and immediately wondered where the train actually stopped. She remembers that she read the name of the station, but without really noticing it. It must have been on the map that she had on her phone… well that didn’t help her right now.
She wandered to the nearby ticket counter and searched for a few hints and maybe a map because she didn’t notice any signs with the towns name on it so far. The door on the side of the ticket counter was open, “Hello?” She yelled again, shrugged and entered the room.
Countless papers and folders were stacked here. She ignored the stacks and went for the counter itself. After a while she realized that she wouldn’t find anything inside the drawers of the counter or even on it. She instead searched inside of a fresh looking stack. All the others seemed to be covered in a thin layer of dust.
What seemed to be a bound in leather folder, actually was a book.
“Weird.” She hummed and opened the book. It smelled old, kind of like it have been in a clammy cellar for a long while and made slight creaky noised as she opened the first page.
When she read the first sentence, she almost shrieked, “Oh my god. That can’t be, what is happening to me?” She wondered and cocked her eyebrows.
Welcome to Cornerfirth, Karen. Enjoy your stay here.
She shivered and looked around. It was the town that she had planned to visit before she could meet her best friend, but this whole place seemed different. She knew the train station of this town, but it looked very different. Could six years have changed so much here? A creaking noise appeared and other, more familiar sounds. Sounds a train would make, when it started to roll again appeared. She ran out of the ticket counter to the door. It was locked. Hammering with her fists she tried to pry it open, then she remembered her crowbar. She tried to open up the doors with it, but even though it should have been working, the doors didn’t move even a little. Her efforts didn’t really matter as the train had already vanished, without any sign of it standing there only a couple of minutes ago. Trees lay on the tracks and already started to decay as if it has been like this for a few months already.
Am I loosing my mind? Karen thought to herself and backed away from the closed, gigantic double doors, holding her head with her left hand. She turned around and saw how the other pair of doors, on the other side of the rather large building, opened up.
“That’s freaking creepy, man.” She shook her head, took a good grip on her crowbar in her right hand as she walked over to the doors. She heard the wind again and saw how fog poured inside of the building like a thick, slow moving liquid.
Carefully she exited the building and looked around. The place wasn’t unfamiliar for her. She had spent a few weeks here, years ago. Those weeks were amazing until she had to deal with something that made her move to another town. She once promised herself, to never visit this place again, but now she stood here, on the vast place in front of the station building with his ancient, big clock on its front.
“And all this because of a damn letter from you…” She mumbled and stopped mid sentence as she noticed something.
This big, old clock worked and so did some streetlights. Were they working a moment ago? She couldn’t tell, but she hoped so. It already became a little darker and the air featured a slightly freezing wind that blew around her neck, which gave her shivers. Holding on to her crowbar and her backpack, she crossed the open space and came to a street. In fact it was one of the main roads that led through the town. Even if it was a micropolis, there should always have been people around here on the streets. But there was no one. Only some crows were flying high over the fog or sat on chimneys, along the road. All traffic lights were set to red. None was set to green or yellow, while she walked to the nearby police station. Maybe there could have been someone to help her?
On her way, she inspected some open, abandoned cars, where even the keys would stick in their locks, but they won’t start. The engines didn’t accept the commands, even though their tanks were full to the rim.
For a couple of minutes she would just walk in the general direction, and following the slightly rusted and mossy signs to the police station. After a while, she heard a weird compilation of noises from one of the side streets. Just a few blocks away from the police station, she stopped to investigate the origin of the noises. Something sounded wet, but also paired with the sounds of clothing ripping and… smacking noises.
She decided to investigate the source of the noises a little more, “Oh man, this is stupid. Why am I doing this? Hello?” She first whispered and then yelled in the fog filled, narrow road.
Immediately the smacking noises stopped but instead steps could be heard form the far end on the road.
“Umh, hello? Can… can you help me? I’m kind of lost here? What is going on? He… hello?” She asked loudly and heard those gross smacking noises, shuffling steps and a sound of something being dragged behind, “Hello? Do you understand me?” She asked repeatedly until she could see a soft silhouette peeling slowly through the fog that made her gut turn.
“Fuck me, what the hell? No! Stay away from me!” She screamed and grabbed her crowbar with both of her hands, ready to strike the figure that slowly but surely went for her, dragging something big, fleshy behind itself.

To Be Continued…

What for, sometimes weird, job market barriers exist for university graduates?

It can be frustrating to enter the job market after graduating, right? Well, at least for several people it is.
This article refers to people who the author knows, himself and what he found on the internet, while browsing the countless posts from many graduates.
Especially fun sites like 9GAG.com, show a broad variety of how difficult it can be to enter the job market after finally graduating.

Just recently the author finally graduated from university and thought that it would be rather easy, to find a job that would justify the time that he spent studying at the university.
After writing and sending out quite a lot of query letters, to various employers, the harsh truth hit him and many of his fellow students.
There were no jobs for them. Well, at least no jobs that they would be technically qualified for.
It did not matter what kind of job they were searching for. Most of the job descriptions told that that they must have at least two, six years of experience, or even more. Fair enough, it is understandable, why employers would put this kind of barrier in their job descriptions. That way, they might get more experienced veterans in this field.
From a purely personal point of view the problem is that the author worked for over nine years in retail and participated in quite a few internships, but all this does not count including his master’s degree, so far.
When someone studied for a long or even short period of time, of course they hope to get a well paid job. So far most of the author’s friends and him included, are struggling to find one.
Maybe it is because the subjects that were studied are not ideal for a certain type of job, but that is not believable in many cases.
But to elaborate this topic a little further. This article is mainly about the German job market, because that is, where the author lives at the moment. It is rather well known that the USA is handling things a little bit more open minded in some areas, when it comes to jobs.
This was also discussed in some of the various sociology classes that the author participated in. The conclusions were often that it would be much more likely to get a job that someone is not one hundred percent suited for, than in Germany. Of course, this is not applicable for every kind of job, but for some types of jobs it is perfectly fine, to be a lateral recruit which is rather great in some ways.
But before this article gets shredded into pieces by people who disagree with it, it should also be clarified that this applies to some employers in the USA as well. The idea is just that it is easier to be a lateral recruit in the USA than it is in Germany, which gives fresh graduates may be a greater chance to get a job.
Some of the biggest problems are indeed those very strict and often, almost lunatic job descriptions which many employers set. It is getting quite frustrating when you know that you could do this or that job and that you would be really good at it, but you get instantly blocked by some ridiculous rules.
Often, people do not apply for a job at all, because of those barricades. As mentioned in the beginning of this article, it is an understandable tactic from a business point of view. But this behavior is rather unprofessional, when an employer tries to hire someone for a junior job position and this person must have at least two or even more years of experience.
To all companies, please try something new. Hire people who are fresh out of college and loosen the barriers for them a little bit. Often, new employees might offer to work for a smaller wage, for at least one or two months, to compensate for the time that they need to get used to the new job. At least that is what some people would do and who knows, maybe you found the talent that your company always needed and the same goes for those lateral recruits.
But, when it comes to jobs, where human lives depend on the skill of someone, like in the medical sector etc. There are barriers for a reason. Plus, it would not be recommended, to employ, a mechanic to do a brain surgery, but that goes without saying. Nothing is more worrying than the thought about, being treated by a doctor, who is not a trained one.
The last thing that should be stressed here is that the author knows many business decisions and why things are, the way they are, especially when the economy is in a bad shape.
But maybe this humble, little article gave you a little thought and maybe you, as an employer, will at least invite some applicants for an interview, even though you didn’t consider them before.
An interview can mean a lot too or at least a formal letter in which you state, why you won’t invite them to an interview or why you didn’t consider them for a position in your company.
On the other side, there should also be mentioned that some applicants should be a little more realistic.
A senior job is for a senior, a veteran in this certain type of job and sadly you must deal with it. In general, it is a give and take situation and both sides could compromise, when possible. But in the end, the employers have the most power and shouldn’t abuse it or set too high standards for people who just started to pour into the job market.

By Sidney Oliver Brehm 09.20.2014

Quick edited with the help of Ginger Software and Microsoft Word 2010.
This whole article was written within a rather short amount of time and represents only a quick thought.
All the views presented here, are mostly aimed at employers and only serve as an idea generator.
As someone who studied media sociology and organizational sociology, paired with cultural anthropology and public law and knowledge in business studies, the author presumes that he has enough insight to discuss this topic.
Additionally the author also wants to say that he plans some other articles and that he is still for hire.

Insomnia (Short Story, 1285 words)

It’s been a while, but here’s my newest “horror” short-story. I wrote it within two hours and I used spell checker for a quick grammar correction (I hope that it isn’t too bad) 😉

Insomnia

Dog-tired, I scuff through the floor of my apartment. The wooden planks beneath my feet are warm, except for one spot, which is always cold. Every day I wondered why it is so, but… my stupid janitor said that it was nothing and that I shouldn’t care about it and that I shouldn’t ask him again. Slowly I march into my nice, little kitchen, touch the glass-table and let my hand hover over a bowl which is filled with apples, “Mmh apples.” But I’m not going to eat those now. The wooden floor beneath my feet feels great. It was a good choice to buy this apartment. Gently, I grab the handle of the nearby refrigerator and open the door. Cold air flows out of it, covering my chest and my arm as I let my hand slip inside of it, “Yummy.” I hum. Rather quickly I grab a plate, filled with mashed potatoes, gravy and meatballs.
“Thanks mom.” I grin, close the refrigerator and put my meal into the microwave and activate the timer. It feels like activating a time-bomb, ready to give me the explosive tastiness of a home cooked meal, “Hehe.” I smile and wait for my dinner that I got from my recent visit at home.
The smell is great and my mouth is already watering. Better than ramen noodles.
Beep Beep Beep! The microwave has finished the reheating process and I wonder if the plate will be hot and my dinner will be freezing cold. Speaking… I mean thinking of frozen… why is the floor cold here too? It was warm a moment before.
“Hmm.” Maybe the cold air from the refrigerator crawled down and now floats over the floor? Anyway, a fine meal awaits me. I open the glass-door, carefully grab the plate and check the heat of my food with my other hand. It is surprisingly warm and not only the plate. I close the microwave, grab a fork, a knife and go to the living room. Finally, I can sit down on my large couch, place my plate which is full of tasty food on the coffee table and switch on the television via the remote control.
Well, now I sit here, enjoying my food, watching a show and wonder what else I need in my life. I have a great job, a nice apartment, a lovely family and… yes, “A girlfriend would be great.” I sigh.
“Anyway.” I grunt and swallow the last, juicy meatball and continue to watch some TV. Man, I am really tired after this rich meal. I yawn and notice that the floor beneath my feet gets colder and colder, “Weird.” I yawn. Maybe it’s the ventilation shafts that run through the floors?
Stretching my back, I stand up, turn off the TV and wonder if I should play a game on my console?
“Nah.” I yawn again and walk over, to the bathroom. With a small motion of my pointer I switch on the lights in the sterile looking room and approach the sink. A short look in the mirror above the sink shows my face, “Damn, I’m one good-looking dude.” I joke to myself. Something immediately catches my interest. It is a long, blonde hair, deep down in the sink. Shrugging with my shoulders, I flush it down the drain, but wonder, where it came from. Most certainly it is none of mine, because I have short, brown hairs. Maybe it stuck with me after work? Do we have a woman with long, blonde hairs in the office? No, I’m too tired to investigate this any further. Quickly I brush my teeth, undress myself, except for my boxer shorts and T-shirt. I waddle to my nearby bedroom and swiftly jump on it. The bouncy material cushions my fall and I immediately pull the blanket up to my shoulders.
It feels cozy, like always. Now I lie here, in my big, comfortable bed and wonder how it would be, if I had a girlfriend. Damn, I need someone to talk to and cuddle with. Nice thoughts, and I get tired by the minute, but I can’t sleep. I try to, but somehow it is not possible.
“Oh man.” I sigh and pull the blanket up a little more.
“Why is it getting colder?” I wonder and feel kind of uncomfortable as a cold breath of wind sneaks under my blanket and touches my hip.
“Stupid janitor… I… I will tell him tomorrow, to fix the damn air conditioner.” This damn air conditioning system is the only grief that I have about this otherwise amazing apartment.
Maybe a little thinking will distract me from the sometimes cold breaths of air that now even touch my neck.
And again, another breath touches my neck and after a short break, another one, “It feels like…” I turn around and see nothing. But for a moment it seems like the blinds in front of the windows have moved.
“Nah, stupid mind, go to rest. You’re a grown up dude. Monsters and ghosts don’t exist, silly.” I whisper to myself and turn around, only to feel the cold air repeatedly touch my neck. Slowly I begin to accept this rhythmic flow of air and I get more and more tired, but another cold blow enters my blanket.
Dammit! That’s so… my thoughts stop immediately as I feel gentle, slender but also cold fingers touch on my arm. I can’t move, I… I feel paralyzed. Slowly I feel the weight of a person on my whole arm, my eyes widen and I can’t close them. The weight shifts over and now rests on my chest. I don’t see anything. No shadow, no physical shape, but I feel… someone breathing. Cold air tickles my face and I try to move my eyes to the left before thin forearms appear in my fixed sight. Long, pale and bony fingers move without a sound, touching the blanket to my right. A head covered in long, blonde hairs comes into my view. Paralyzed, I can only watch as the hairs move to the sides, revealing a pale, face with no eyes, no nose, but a gaping mouth that turns into a grin reveals hundreds of flat but thin teeth. Behind those teeth lies a pitch-black and endless seeming throat.
The jaw of the creature, with no real facial features, opens wider as a long, worm-like tongue emits from the blackness of its throat.
Slowly, this pale creature creeps nearer to my face, dripping saliva on my chin and starts to talk to me, “You wanted a girlfriend? Here I am. You’re mine now!” Are the last words I hear, before the creature leaps forward and buries its teeth in my face.

I don’t know for how long I’ve been asleep, but now that I’m awake, I wonder where I am. It is dark, where I am. It is cold and clammy. I wander around, but I can’t seem to remember this place. I try to scream, but no word will come out of my mouth.
From time to time I hear steps from above the ceiling but only muffled voices. Am I dreaming? Am I dead? Again, I can hear steps and voices from above.
“Oh honey, it is perfect, let’s buy this apartment.” I hear a female voice.
“Sure sweetie, let’s buy it. But, why did the last owner left this place?” A male voice asks.
“If I remember correctly, he simply vanished a few months ago. No one knows what happened to him. I really wouldn’t worry about it.” The female voice answers and the blood in my veins freezes as I feel cold air touching my neck…

Thanks for reading \m/^^\m/