The Delivery

The rain was coming down in sheets when I got the order.

After the drop-off, the customer was taking forever to come out.

I was about to bail, when the door creaked open.

And the psycho inside gave me this creepy, unsettling smile.

1.

It was after 1 a.m., and I was clocking a late delivery order.

We work at this popular, name-brand chicken joint.

Because the business is so good, we don't use those delivery apps.

All our orders are delivered by employees.

Tonight, it was just me and old Lou working.

He finished up the chicken, then grumbled about the rain and wouldn't take the delivery, so it fell to me.

Luckily, the customer's address wasn't too far, just over a mile from the shop.

Soon enough, I was parked out front of the building.

It was an older complex, without any elevators.

The order showed the customer was named Brenda, living in Apt. 602, building 10.

Finally, after dragging myself up to the sixth floor, I gave her a call.

The phone rang a bunch of times, but nobody answered.

Company policy says all orders have to be handed directly to the customer,

Unless they specifically tell you to leave it at the door.

But this customer didn't say anything in the instructions.

So, I figured I’d better knock.

"Hey, your delivery is here!"

"Apt. 602, delivery!"

"Brenda, are you home?"

I shouted a few times, but the place stayed silent.

Could she not be home?

With this crazy weather, the hurricane’s about to hit, where would she be?

I've been to this neighborhood plenty, mostly elderly people live here.

Could something be wrong?

It made me a bit nervous, so I raised my voice even more.

"Brenda, are you okay? I'm calling 911 if you don't open up!"

I grabbed my phone, ready to dial.

Just as I was about to punch in the numbers, the door swung open with a low “creak”.

2.

Weird, the door was open, but nobody was there.

I peeked inside.

It was a small one-bedroom apartment.

To the right of the entrance was an open kitchen, and the living room was straight ahead.

The bedroom was separated from the living room by a sliding glass door.

The living room lights were on.

But the place was pretty dim, so I couldn't tell if anyone was there.

"Hello, your delivery's here."

"Just bring it in."

Finally, someone spoke.

It came from the room.

A woman's voice.

And there was something weird about it.

Raspy, and kinda high-pitched.

Like someone was deliberately changing their voice.

I got this nervous feeling all of a sudden.

I looked down at my shoes, all covered in mud, and made up an excuse.

"Sorry, my shoes are kind of dirty, I can't come in. Could you come out and grab it?"

“Cough, cough… it's okay, come on in.”

The woman sounded like she wasn't feeling well.

Grandpa always told me to be kind to others.

So, I figured I’d go in and check on her.

Maybe she needed some help?

I had one foot inside the door when I stopped cold.

Wait a minute!

Her door lock was a basic, run-of-the-mill one.

Someone on the inside had to turn the knob to open it.

When the door opened, I didn'...