The Photo Booth

The Photo Booth

Part I

“C'mon.” She said pulling on his arm. She was smiling and he was fighting her but not a lot, just enough to be playful. It had been a good day. No, a great day. They were at the Bristol County fair and had been there since early afternoon ridding rides and playing games, and now she wanted to get into the photo booth. The photo booth looked like a relic from the eighties or nineties. The ones that you putting a few bucks and it takes four pictures of whomever is inside. “C'mon please? I’ve always wanted to try one of these and what better way to remember the day than a photo.

“We have this silly little device called a cell phone that has a much better camera on it than this relic has.”

It's not the same and you know that. Please.” She said this time giving him the puppy dog eyes.

“Fine, but it’s not fair. You know I can’t resist the puppy dog eyes.”

“I know, that’s why I used them.” Now she was smiling and had a playful look on her face. He pulled a five out of his pocket and put it into the bill slot on the side of the photo booth.

“It's chilly in here.” She said as they climbed through the curtain and sat down. To him it wasn’t chilly, it was down right cold.

“Damn, I swear it dropped 10 degrees or more.” He said rubbing his hand on his arms to try and push down the goosebumps that arose on them. “Hope this doesn’t take to long.” Just as he the words came out of his mouth a red light appeared just above the lens.

“Quick Smile.” She said and they both did just before the flash. Then she turned her head to him and kissed him as the flash went off again. For the third flash they just stared at each other and just before the last flash they both stuck out their tongues and began to laugh forgetting about the cold air inside the booth.

As they climbed out the 4 photos dropped into the slot next to the pay slot. “I thought it would take longer than that.” He said. He grabbed the photo and just stared at the pictures. His eyes widened as they scanned down to take in the next photo.

“What?” She asked, “Is there something wrong with the picture?” she took the photos from him to look herself. Here eyes widened and her mouth fell open. In the first photo she could see a pair of hands, barely visible on her shoulders. In the second, the hand had moved around her neck. In the third photo the hand had been joined by the shape of a head. And in the final picture she could clearly see a man’s face smiling as he tried to choke her. “What the hell.” She said more as a statement than a question. She pulled a five out of her purse and turned back to the photo booth.

“Tabitha, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He said to her.

“Greg, I need to know.” She said and climbed back through the curtain. Greg waited as the four flashes went by. Right after Tabitha returned from inside the booth and they both waited in silence for what seemed like a really long time. In truth, it was only a few minutes but when you’re waiting a few minutes can seem like hours.

Finally the little pictures dropped in the slot and Tabitha snatched them up quickly. She looked at the little pictures. Her brow was raised giving her a confused look. She turned the photos back and forth. The confused look never leaving her face. “I don’t get it.” She finally said looking up at Greg.

Part II

Greg took the photos out of her hand and looked at them. It was just four pictures of her staring directly at the camera. There were no ghostly hands on her shoulders or around her neck, no semi-visible head, and definitely no creepy face smiling at her.

“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe the first set was just over exposed or something. Maybe, somehow the chemical process caused those other images.” Greg said. “C’mon, let’s go.” Greg took Tabitha by the hand. He was shocked at how cold her hands had gotten. He figures it was the cold air in the booth but she wasn’t in there that long he thought.

They were both quiet the entire drive back to her apartment. The two sets of photo on the seat between them. Once the car was stopped he got out and walked her to her door. They had only been dating a few months but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone. “Are you going to be ok? I can stay if you want?”

“I’ll be alright. I’m sure it was like you said just some weird chemical reaction. Maybe even a left over image front the last person.” She said trying to sound normal.

“It’s no problem for me to stay.” He reiterated.

“No, I’ll be fine. I just want to take a hot bath, maybe drink a glass if wine and just relax.” She said before leaning up to kiss him goodbye.

“Sounds like a good time. Sure I can’t stay?” He said smiling. She smiled back and finally kissed him.

“Not tonight.” She said.

“OK, not tonight, but if you need me, call me.” He said his tone changing from playful to serious.

“I will, I promise.” She said as she turned to go inside. He watched as she shut the door and locked it before heading to his car and ultimately home where his PS5 awaited him. She’ll be ok. She is the toughest most amazing women I ever met, he thought.

As Tabitha headed upstairs she felt cold. The same cold she had felt the first time in the photo booth with Greg. She was just realizing that the second time in the photo booth it wasn’t cold. The temperature was the same as it was outside.

She began to run down the hall, into her room, and slammed the door shut. She had become very afraid and wasn’t sure why. She wondered if the image in the picture had followed her home. She pulled put her phone and began taking pictures. There was nothing in the image. She began to wonder if it wouldn’t show up on a digital picture. Tabitha realized that she wasn’t cold.

She slowly opened the door to her room and peered into the hallway. There was nothing there. “You’re being silly.” She said to the empty hallway. She took a deep breath and when she exhaled she could see her breath as if steam had come out of her lungs. The room became ice cold. She quickly snapped a picture of the empty hallway. She could see a thin image of someone standing right in front of her. Her eyes widened as she felt her throat begin to close. She tried to fight but there was no one there to fight. She couldn’t breathe, she tried to run but she had become frozen to the spot where she stood.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Someone was at her front door. She tried to scream but no sound came. Tabitha tried to move towards the door but she was still frozen in place.

Knock! Knock! Knock

Tabitha’s eyes began to close. She knew she was going to die. She knew she was going to die and there was help not twenty feet away. She e slumped to the floor.

“Tabitha! Tabitha!” She heard Greg call from outside the door. She tried to reach for him, she tried to call to him. She closed her eyes and died.

Part III

Greg looked through the windows ion the side of the door. He could see someone’s shoes and legs. Not someone, he thought, Tabitha. He began to kick at the front door. He has seen this done hundreds of times in tv shows and movies, he’ll maybe even thousands of times. They always made it seem so easy, but when he kicked the door barely rattles in it’s frame.

He quick trying, and failing, to kick the door in and began to search along the side of the house for an open window. After a few moments Greg said screw it and picked up a rock and smashed the front window in.

Once inside he found Tabitha lying on the floor she wasn’t breathing, she wasn’t moving at all. He felt her neck for a pulse and found nothing. He sat back as tears started to fall. He saw nothing g on how this could happen until he saw the photos lying next to her.

Ten hours later Greg unlocked the front door to his apartment, went in, and crashed on his couch. He was exhausted. Not only did he lose the woman he had fallen in love, true, he never told her, but he was in love with her. He had felt it was too soon to say it and now it was too late. He had spent the last ten hours getting grilled at the police station. Tabitha had died of some type of asphyxiation and the detective in charge thought that Greg had killed her somehow, although there was no evidence of any crime.

Greg reached into his pocket and found the photos. The ghostly hands were no longer around her throat. Greg gasped audibly as he saw that they had moved to him. All of a sudden he didn’t want to here, he didn’t want to be stationary. He grabbed his keys and took off. He wasn’t sure but he wondered if he was safe as long as he was moving or around people. He didn’t know who or what had killed Tabitha but what he did know was those were around her neck originally and now they were around his. He knew that she was fine until she was home alone e in her house. He knew this all started with that damn photo booth and that’s when he thought it will end there as well.