The boy who cried edits
The office was decked out in its full Halloween glory, down to the orange and purple string lights around the walls, the fake cobwebs and even a few inflatable ghosts in the corners. Jamie crouched near the window with her camera in hand, snapping a photo of the office, “This will be perfect for the story!”
Theo sighed behind her, dragging a massive duffel bag. “I understand your story is about the old legends about the office, but do we really need to stay the night? And all together?” Theo said, throwing his duffel on the couch. Jamie glanced up, smirking. “Please. I’ve seen scarier things in your apartment.”
Theo slammed his hand over his heart like it had just been broken, “Excuse me?”
Jamie patted his arm, “Creepy corners and strange smells and mysterious piles of god know what, it’s basically haunted adjacent.”
Lena then walked in with a stack of blankets, “I can attest to that, Theo’s apartment is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen!”
Theo raised his eyebrow with an offended smile. “Wow, glad my apartment is scarier than this hundred-year-old building,” he shot back and tossed a pillow at Jamie.
Ollie tiptoed in behind Lena with a basket full of snacks in his candy-themed pyjamas, “Actually, our office is 256 years old, making it the oldest building at Dalridge.”
“Oh yeah, and there was a rumour that there was a speakeasy here during the Prohibition,” Jamie said. Just then, Julia and Daniel walked in, wearing her Star Wars onesie and carrying a small cooler, “Well, thank god it’s not Prohibition.”
Daniel was behind her in his impeccable formal buttoned-up pyjamas, looking like he’d wandered out of a catalogue, “Honestly, if the ghosts don’t kill me, your pyjamas might.”
“Halloween’s next week, not the early bird special, gramps,” Jamie said, laughing.
A couple of hours passed by, and the blankets and pillows were scattered around the floor with boxes of half-eaten pizza and cans of coolers. Ollie grabbed another slice, “Alright, someone’s gotta tell a scary story!”
“Ohh, I have a good one. Back when The Oddity first started, there was an editor, Sam Coupin, who was known for his brutal critiques. I mean, none of us would be employed if he were around. One night, Sam decided to stay late, going over the edits, and the office was quiet … too quiet.” Lena held a flashlight under her chin as everyone huddled closer to her.
“He started to hear whispers, not anything random but whispers repeating his critiques back to him, grammar mistakes, tone issues … every … little … thing. He swore the papers on his desk moved on their own. Night after night, the whispers got louder, driving him insane. And then, one day Sam never came in, nobody saw him leave, and his desk was empty, but all his edits were still open.”
Lena glanced around, then continued, “Some people say you can still hear him whispering late at night.” At this point, Daniel was holding onto Theo for dear life. “Nope … No, I don’t like this. I’m out.”
Theo awkwardly patted Daniel’s arm, “Relax, man, it’s just a story Lena made up.”
Suddenly, the lights started to flicker across the room, “Are you sure about that, Theo?”
“What the fuck was that?” Theo said. The lights went out completely. “This newspaper is a mess,” The whispers echoed in everyone’s ears. “You all heard that, right?” Lena said, clutching her blanket. Everyone looked at Jamie, praying it was a sick prank. “This is not me, guys, I promise!”
“I’ve read obituaries with more life, soon they’ll be reading YOURS!”
“I swear to god, if this is how I die, I’m haunting all of you!” Jamie yelled, hugging her camera like it could save her.
“Guys … where is Julia?” Ollie’s voice cracked.
“Julia’s edits bled red!” The papers started to fly around the office, and the lights began to flicker harder this time.
Theo, pointed at Daniel now, “Sam, take Daniel! He’s the senior writer, he’s the real threat, not me. I just do layouts, spare me!”
“WHAT! I’m not dying for your lazy ass font choices,” Daniel screeched.
“You literally cried over Garamond last week!” Theo shouted back.
“Because it’s timeless!”
“Cut it. Cut it all. Start over again. FOREVER!”
“I swear I’ve been kind to interns … PLEASE DON’T START WITH ME,” Lena yelled with her eyes shut.
Theo raised his hands in defeat, “It was nice knowing y’all. Please tell my mom I died doing what I loved … avoiding real work.”
Daniel was practically hyperventilating now, and Ollie started sobbing into the blanket fort, “Join the newspaper, they said it will be fun!”
Just as suddenly, the lights snapped back on. Julia stood in the corner with a smug smirk, holding a mic.
“Boo, bitches!”
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