13 Ghost Stories in 13 Days
Luigi’s Coins
Luigi once numbered among the finest jewel thieves in the city. He never made as much money as some of the gangsters he came up with, but he also never got caught.
Alas, a life of crime doesn’t offer the best retirement plan. And so when the time came for Luigi to hang up his sneakers, he settled down to live out his days in a quiet, simple shack at the edge of the woods. He appreciated the solitude, but at times he admitted something was missing.
He wanted a television.
He planned one more heist. More of a long con, really. But most certainly a victimless crime.
It was common practice those days to bury the dead with a coin on each eye, so that the recently-deceased souls could pay the ferryman to transport them on to the next world. Luigi didn’t believe in that stuff. Mumbo jumbo. A waste of coins, if you asked him.
Every other week he would make a call to his old friend Greg, a security guard at the old cemetery in the bad part of town, and ask him where the fresh graves had been dug.
The gravediggers at the old cemetery were decent men. They dug their graves shallow. Maybe they wanted the dead to feel the rain. Maybe they were a little lazy. Either way, it made life easy for Luigi, who would dig up a fresh corpse, swipe the coin off its eyes, then rebury the body. On a good night he could dig up five former human beings and leave with 10 coins. Then he’d head home to his shack, put the coins in an old ceramic vase, and count the days until he had enough saved up for the color TV.
One morning, Luigi sat drinking bitter coffee and reading the newspaper. The Appliance Giant was having a one-day sale the next day, the newspaper said. All TVs half off, including the big one Luigi always dreamed of.
He finished his breakfast and went to count his coins. Only about 20 away, he estimated. It would be a hard night, the most coins he’d ever gathered, but if he put his nose to the grindstone he could get the TV and finally be done with the thievery game forever.
He dialed Greg’s number.
“Any chance you guys got 20 new bodies since the last time I been there?” Luigi asked.
“Business is slow,” Greg answered. “I ain’t seen a funeral for days. Modern medicine. You know how it is.”
“The Appliance Giant is having a sale,” Luigi said. “I can almost afford that TV.”
Greg the security guard fell silent for a few moments. They were old friends, but Luigi knew Greg was uncomfortable with their arrangement. Getting Luigi out of the cemetery for good would help them both sleep better at night.
“There’s that ancient section, way out the back, next to the mausoleums,” he said. “Bodies a little deeper, the coins a little rarer. Might could be enough to get you the TV before dawn? I don’t know.”
“That would be perfect,” Luigi said. “You won’t ever hear from me again after this, I promise.”
“Gate’s unlocked,” Greg said.
That night he went to work, silently crossing the cemetery into the restricted area Greg told him about. It was colder on this side of the graveyard, which Luigi appreciated. He dug twice as fast to keep warm.
Soon enough his shovel thwacked against the first coffin. He opened it up. Two silver coins with skulls on them gleamed in the moonlight. He snatched them up, then his blood froze.
The eyes of the corpse were staring back at him. That couldn’t be right. Any undertaker worth his salt would have closed the lids before putting the coins on those eyes. He shivered and started shoveling dirt back on the body without re-closing the coffin.
The next three corpses unearthed the same problem. The coins increased in their rareness and value, but each time he removed them, the dead stared back blankly at him. Each time he panicked and shoveled dirt back on top without closing the coffin. Each set of eyes seemed more lifelike than the last. By the fifth body he could swear the eyes were watching as he shoveled. By the seventh he could swear he saw one blink.
The coins were even rarer than he’d hoped. They were certainly enough for the TV. He didn’t even bother to refill the final grave. He was never coming back. It was Greg’s problem now.
The sun was up by the time he reached his shack. The Appliance Giant would open soon. He headed into his old truck and drove into town.
The salesman balked when Luigi tried to pay for the TV with a vase full of old coins. He called the manager over, who pulled out a magnifying glass.
“These are rare coins for sure,” the manager said. “We’ll take them. The TV’s yours. My guy here will load it into your truck.”
Luigi drove home, set up the TV, turned on his favorite crime show, and fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep.
He awoke sometime after midnight. The TV was still on. A show he’d never seen. A man sitting alone on a couch in a quiet shack. It was Luigi.
He stood up. The version of himself on the TV did the same. He walked toward the TV and changed the channel. The Luigi on the TV did the same. Otherwise the image did not change. He switched the channel again then switched the channel again. The Luigi Show was playing on every single one. He figured there must be some sort of camera inside the set. He got up and took a closer look. For the first time, the Luigi on TV did not mirror him.
Something offscreen distracted the TV Luigi. A knock had come at his door. The on-screen Luigi looked very frightened. Luigi watched in horror as a shadow appeared behind his doppelganger. There was something else in the shack. He spun around. In the real world, he was still alone. Whatever it was, it was only coming for the TV character. Offscreen you could hear a window smash open. Footsteps crunching over shattered glass. Luigi screamed out a warning to the television. Maybe they heard him.
Seven corpses fell upon the TV Luigi. They tore at him for a few moments, then receded as quick as they had come. The TV Luigi lay frozen on the ground for a few moments. Finally he got up and turned his face to the monitor.
His eyes were gone.
Luigi tried desperately to turn off the TV. Nothing happened. He put his foot through the screen. Sparks flew everywhere. He kicked and kicked and kicked until, finally, his foot went right through the screen and the image blinked off.
All that work for nothing.
He shot up on the couch. It had all been a dream. The TV was off and intact. He relaxed, but just for a moment. It was slightly after midnight.
He heard soft scratching at the front door. A loud thud against his only window. Footsteps in the darkness behind him.
Something switched on the TV .
Previously on 13 Ghost Stories in 13 Days:
The only rule of 13 Ghost Stories in 13 Days is that the story must be posted the same night I started it.
Day 1 The Ghost’s Girlfriend
Day 2 The Girl with the Puka Shell Necklace
Day 3 The Time I Went to the Old Church Later Than I Should Have
Day 4 Ride Scare
Day 5 Miranda, Who Appears as a Portent of Death
Day 6 A Halloween Carol
Day 7 El Mariachi de los Muertos
Day 8 Death on Demand
Day 9 The Ballad of the Cursed Mudville Maroons
Day 10 Officer Mac’s Last Day
Day 11 Chad vs. The Genie
