I was blog-hopping tonight, and I ran across an old contest on a publisher's blog from last Halloween. It was called the "Scare your pants off" contest. I read all the entries, and apparently, it was supposed to be just a couple of paragraphs that were the 'teaser' to a scary story.
I thought it sounded like fun, and even though I'm a year too late (typical me) I wanted to play anyway.
I broke all the rules, I'm sure, and it's way way too long, but the contest is over sweetie, so get over it! Hee hee....
Anyway, without further ado, here's my non-entry:
The moonless late October night was too delicious for Charlene and her friends to let pass unexploited. Fall semester had been stressful and difficult, and they needed to break out and let loose some frustration.
They exited the library, and loaded into Brent's car.
"Where to guys?" Brent asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror.
"Do you want to check out that Spook Alley that just opened up the street?" Derek offered.
"Naw - that's lame," Cindy complained, "let's go ride out to the old Wheeler place, or somewhere really creepy like that!"
"Are you sure you want to do that girls?" Mike teased, the wheels turning in his head. He sensed an opportunity for some real mileage here - scare the girls half to death, and they could get real clingy...
"I know just the place." He elbowed Derek with a wink when the girls all approved.
They drove down a long country road, giggling and trying to out-do each other by recounting frightening urban legends.
Tina sat quietly, pressed next to the back passenger door. She hated it when they got this way. Being scared was not her idea of fun.
She wished she had opted to stay at the library and just walk back to the dorm, but the truth was, she was afraid to cross campus by herself on a night as dark as this...
They drove through the old rusty gate which hung precariously by one hinge.
"Last chance to change your mind girls," Mike tortured, with an evil grin.
"You have got to be kidding!" Charlene protested when she realized where he had taken them. "Not this old deserted cemetery!"
The girls grew quiet, having second thoughts after all.
There were no street lights in this out-of-the-way relic of a small town's past.
Many of the neglected old graves were just mounds of earth, and some were so ancient that they had since sunken into deep eerie depressions. Most of the headstones no longer stood as straight monuments, but tilted, cracked, or toppled over all together.
Tingling with nervous tension, they all climbed out of the car.
"Leave the lights on Brent, it's too dark to see where we're walking," Cindy requested, a shudder passing through her.
"Okay," Brent acquiesced, nudging Mike and Derek.
He held his fingers to his lips in a shushing gesture.
He motioned for the other guys to follow him, and they quietly crept back into the car. Brent turned on the lights - and then started the engine.
He drove past the girls, his window rolled down - all of them guffawing and waving at the girls as they drove around the trail and back out through the gate.
Tina froze, as the other girls screamed and ran after the car, engulfed in the cloud of dust that trailed behind it. Out of breath, they huddled together, cursing themselves for letting themselves get into this situation to begin with.
Without the aid of the headlights, they stood, frozen.
They were afraid to move in any direction, not knowing where the graves were located, and terrified of tripping over, or worse - falling into one of them.
Several terror stricken minutes passed, when finally they saw two specks of light which were Brent's headlights returning to the scene of the crime.
Filled with relief, but at the same time frothing with righteous indignation, the girls plotted their revenge.
They practically fell over each other clambering back into the car, and ordered Brent to "get them out of there - NOW!"
Brent peeled out, throwing gravel as the wheels spun through the gate. All of the boys had a second laugh at the girls' expense.
The mood was ugly on the return trip, as the girls minced no words letting the boys know just how funny their little "joke" had not been.
They arrived at the dorms, and unloaded, deciding what - if anything, to do next. They were at a stalemate as to whether to go get ice cream, or just call it a night.
Cindy turned to make sure everyone had given their input. She looked panicked, searched left and right, then said, "Uh, guys - where's Tina?"
Everyone stopped talking, stunned.
"Cindy, do you remember seeing her get back into the car?"
Cindy, suddenly very pale, croaked, "...No, I don't remember seeing her at all since we first got out of the car!"
Now, all of them feeling panicked, ran to Brent's car and urgently climbed back in...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
...Tina groaned, and pushed herself up from the ground where she had landed after everything had gone black.
She brushed off the gravel that clung to her cheek.
She looked around disoriented. Where was she? It was too dark for her to get her bearings. She turned, looking up into the star sprinkled sky.
She took a step, and dropped. She found herself waist deep in - what, a ditch? Just then, horror gripped her as she realized where she was. She had fallen into an ancient grave!
She scrambled desperately to get out, losing a shoe in the process. She shuddered as she stood, planning to just leave it there, but the realization hit her that she was also all alone, and that she was going to have no choice but to walk home.
She knelt and with a trembling hand, reached into the hole to try and retrieve it.
She heard the crunch of gravel behind her, and felt a whiff of warm breath cross her neck. Relieved, she turned and grouched; "It's about time - where have you... wha?...
Aaauuuuugggghhhhh!!!!!
...To be continued - or not...
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