It was a perfect day for a drive back to Tuscaloosa. University of Alabama sophomore Maddy Thompson loved spending the summer with her parents in Fairhope, but she couldn’t wait to get settled into her new place. 

Moving into her first off-campus apartment was exciting and a little overwhelming. It was a more-than-four hour drive so plenty of time to figure out what she wanted to do when she got there.

She made it just north of the city when she saw a homemade sign for an Estate Sale. For a college student with only so much money to spare, seemed like a great way to find useful and cheap, stuff.

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected but it was definitely… more. Lots of old lady clothes, dishes that had seen much better days, dingy antique silverware, some “gently used” medical equipment… ick. 

But something about a box of large, empty Mason Jars caught her attention. Her grandma had some just like these before she died and it was hard to deny the nostalgia. They had so many uses and they… felt like home. 

Each one had its lid screwed on tight, but one was way tighter than the others. And had… condensation built up inside? 

An old, peeling piece of masking tape clung to it with “DON’T LET IT OUT!” scrawled across it in faded black ink. She lifted it out of the box to examine it more closely. No cracks or obvious chips. She shook it a little but nothing moved or made any noise. But a strange smell surrounded her. 

Like moldy rot…

“May I help you?” a shaky, scratchy voice said behind her. She gasped as she spun around, the jar falling toward the ground. A wrinkled, arthritic hand shot out and caught it. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Maddy said. A petite, ghostly white old woman stood there holding the jar. She wore all black as if in mourning. Her eyes were like fog. “Please be careful, these have been in our family a long time,” the old woman said as she placed the jar back in with the others.

Maybe it was guilt or maybe she just missed her grandma but Maddy asked “How much for all of these jars?” The old woman was almost certainly blind but she smiled and hissed through yellow-tinted crooked teeth “You seem like a nice girl. Why don’t you just take them?”

That’s the best price you could tell a college kid. “Really? Thank you so much!” She grabbed the box and shoved it into her backseat before the old woman could change her mind.

She backed out of the driveway and looked back to wave to the nice old woman but she was gone. A younger woman came out of the house looking confused, but Maddy just waved and drove away. Not sure why that lady ran to the street just to wave back.

Long drives always took it out of Maddy. She had so much stuff to unpack and all she wanted to do was lie on the couch and watch trash TV. Half the junk now and half tomorrow seemed like a good compromise. 

Once all the dishes were unpacked and put away she had a strong sense of accomplishment. Right up until she smelled that old rot again. Had she stepped in something? 

No, it was coming from the box of Mason Jars. What the hell? Seriously, it smelled like something died in them. She must’ve missed it with the windows down. 

These had to get cleaned immediately. She unscrewed each lid, one-by-one, and placed them in the dishwasher. Until she came to the strange one… “DON’T LET IT OUT!” If it meant the smell, too late. 

She tried over and over, but the damn lid was really on there. “How did you even…?” she grunted. Tapping it didn’t work. Neither did prying it with a spoon. Then she remembered… dad gave her a gripping jar opener!

It still didn’t want to budge but Maddy wasn’t letting it go. She could feel the skin on her hand burning as she gave another hard twist of the jar opener and the lid finally popped free.

“Finally!” she exclaimed. Then the smell… “Oh, no!”

She threw it in the dishwasher with the others, not even bothering to peel the taped warning label before starting it up. She’d never had anything like that in her nose and hoped she never would again. 

Her pillow had never felt so nice when Maddy laid down to sleep. After that drive, this was all she could ever want. 

Loud, clanking glass woke her up. 2:17 a.m. on her phone screen. More clanking. From the kitchen? Was someone breaking in? 

More than just clanking as she moved down the hallway. Now shuffling. Someone was in there! She threw on the kitchen light. No one there. 

Maddy couldn’t believe what she saw. The dishwasher was open and all the Mason Jars were perfectly laid out, upside down on a towel. Each lid propped on a jar. 

She edged toward the counter where the jars sat. It looked like all of them were there… except one. 

A trail of water ran from the open dishwasher door to the edge of the kitchen floor and living room carpet. 

No. Little claw prints.

The front door flew open and slammed shut. Maddy pulled it open… no one there. But there was an open jar at her feet. 

She picked it up, running a finger over a brand-new piece of masking tape. Her eyes went wide when she read the new message written in deep red…

“DINNER TIME!”

All the jars on the counter began to clink together like chattering teeth. The apartment door slammed shut and locked. No matter how hard she pulled, Maddy couldn’t open it. 

Her kitchen light went out as hundreds of needle points latched onto her and burrowed deep.