A Menacing Tick

I slipped back inside through the cracked terrace door, leaving the city pavement behind to claim the bedroom's shadowy depths. Right beneath the lower shelf of the bedside table lay an old metal wind-up alarm clock face-down on the rug. Clambering over its rounded bell cap, I gripped the jagged winding key between both paws. Slowly... agonizingly slowly... I twisted the heavy key until the internal spring tightened with a rusty groan. *CLICK.* I jammed a sturdy plastic hair clip into the turning mechanism to stall the inevitable fury. Reaching out with one claw, I popped the clip free—*BRRRRING-CLATTER!* The bells erupted in a deafening metallic rattle, vibrating across the floorboards as I threw both arms wide in a grand theatrical jump scare at the dark room!