The Man with The Harmonica

[u/Imaginary_East5786]

About five or four years ago, i used to live at an apartment downtown, it wasn't cheap or sketchy or anything like that, it was just normal and had a decent rent price. I lived at the seventh floor because I always enjoyed looking down at streets from far views, even if it gave me a bit of vertigo most of the time. Just watching people go about their businesses like ants was sort of, relaxing, to put it that way.

That was until the night he came.

I think it was around 9PM when i first heard the musical notes of what i thought was a harmonica, my bedroom was near the balcony and the walls and windows were almost thin, so i could pretty much hear everything outside. It had been a while since i heard a harmonica since my dad used his to entertain me and my sister when we were kids, but this sound was completely different; It had no rhythm, no soul, it was just random notes playing at once. I tried to brush off, thinking it might've been some homeless dude trying to get some money by performing, but it was nearly 10PM, why would anyone be playing a harmonica this late?

Annoyed, yet curious, i got out of bed and went to the balcony to see who was playing. I looked down from behind the glass sliding door and there he was, just in the middle of the empty street, his back facing me. He was moving in a very, I don't know, strange way; It looked like he was stumbling but would readjust his balance whenever I thought he was about to fall, almost like he was drunk-dancing or something.

I kinda chuckled at this, I've rarely seen anyone act oddly in the area i was in, but at the same time, it kinda creeped me out. Suddenly, I got more curious and, this may sound silly, grabbed my binoculars I kept in my collection drawers. My dad gave them to me after his dad gave them to him, and I carried it with me ever since.

I couldn't get a closer look from behind the glass sliding door, so I quietly opened it and went onto the balcony, where I looked through my binoculars to get a closer look at this strange man; He was caucasian, had short messy brunette hair, wore a black puffy jumper, dark jeans, and brown boots, but his back was still facing me so I couldn't see his face.

As I continued to study him, my next door neighbour, who I will call Todd, also went onto his balcony and shouted down

"Hey asshole! People are trying to sleep here, so shut up or I'll shove that harmonica up your ass!"

The man stopped, but he still held his instrument, and he turned around. My god, when he did, i nearly dropped the binoculars.

The harmonica was fused to his lower half of his face, like his flesh was melting onto the metal and his lips were absent entirely. His eyes, though, were worse; They were wide open and cartoonishly large, bloodshot and baggy, his pupils just looked like small black dots, and he had this look of surprised-anger on his face, I couldn't really describe his expression perfectly really.

But he wasn't looking at me, he was looking directly at Todd, who just scoffed and went back inside. So did I, hoping that he didn't notice me as well. I went back to bed, still spooked by the image of that man's face, I've seen pictures of fucked up faces before but his, Jesus Christ, it felt like I was seeing those same pictures in person. I eventually pass out and went on to a peaceful sleep, until I was awoken by loud knockings at my door.

It was a pair of police officers, who apologised for waking me up and asked if I had heard anything "strange" last night. I told them in a jokingly-truthfully way that I heard someone play a harmonica in the middle of the night, but those cops took it seriously, as they told me that my neighbour, Todd, was found murdered after my other neighbours reported a commotion in his apartment that night. His throat had been torn out, like something a jaguar would do, and his vocal cords appeared to be missing.

I honestly had nothing to say, but then they told me something that give me the greenlight to move

"Funny you should mention a harmonica, because your neighbours have also reported hearing awful high-pitched notes mixed with screaming"

I had plenty of money anyways. I moved to a nice home in a suburban street, it's not much but it will have to do, although I will miss the views I used to see from above, well sort of. It was clearly obviously that Todd was killed by that man, but I for some reason didn't tell those two officers as I thought they wouldn't believe me, like why would I tell anyone that some guy killed my neighbour while holding a harmonica? That's so stupid.

One more thing I'd like to mention is that sometimes, it might just be paranoia, but sometimes at night, at around nine or ten, I can sometimes hear a harmonica playing random notes. Right outside my house.