This post will feature a short story I wrote my freshman year of high school, as a senior I have changed my writing a bit. I recently went back through the story and noticed I had a very bad habit of putting "?!?!?!?!?!" after a sentence where I was showing an excited, or rather shocked question. I went back through and edited those out for the most part and fixed a couple weird sentences but other than that it is the same as when I wrote it three (11 now in 2024) years ago. My inspiration for this story came from a lot of things, I was suffering with depression at the time after losing a friend of mine to suicide. Unlike my poem in my previous post I also got some inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe, he was pretty good about mixing love and death together, seeing is how my friend was like family to me it was very hard to hear of his passing, I also based the main male character on the boy I had a crush on at the time who was also one of my best friends when I was at my old school. Hope you enjoy my story!
Blood
as Dark as Night
I
let out a terrifying scream, while I stand there unable to move as the killer
slowly walks towards me. My life flashing before my eyes. Just a week ago I
never ever know about this place let alone would have come to a godforsaken
place like this. “It’s Tuesday, May 17, 2016 around 5p.m. If you’re reading
this hopefully you have also found my body.” I wrote that in notebook I was
given by my grandma just three days ago. I threw the notebook at the man
walking towards me and that one second is all I needed, so I took off running.
He chased after me but tripped over a tree root and I never looked back. After
running through the woods for about 5 minutes I found a large evergreen and
climbed about half way up, until I was covered by branches so unless he looked
very close he couldn’t see me, and sat on a large branch, “How did I get into
this,” I mumbled. Sitting there, in the tree, I started thinking about where it
all started………….
“Class,
this is Annabella, she’s new here and I would like all of you to make her feel
welcome and give her a warm Fallen Angels welcome.” Said my science teacher,
Ms. Star, she was a tall women with long, blonde hair and green eyes as bright
as emeralds. “There is an open desk next to John you can sit at.”
That’s
when I first saw him, John Patrick; he was the cutest boy I had ever seen in my
life! His voice sounded like a thousand Angels.
“Hi,
Annabella was it? I’m John. Where are you from?” He said ever so softly.
“Nice
to meet you John, and yes it’s Annabella.” I said while staring into his
beautiful blue eyes, “I’m from Harrisburg, Harry high school! Home of the Harry
goats.” I said and we both started laughing.
“John
I would appreciate if you do not distract Annabella from class.” Ms. Star said,
“Annabella dear, the front of the room is this way.” That’s when I realized I
was still staring at John! I started to blush so I quickly turned away and hid
behind my notebook.
The
rest of the day went well. John is in ALL of my classes so he helped me around
and I met some really nice people, or so I thought…..
4
days had gone by, and then finally it was Friday.
"Hey
Annie wait up!" John said running after me as I walked to school. "Me
and my friends are going to camp out in the woods tomorrow up on Dead Man’s
Peak, wanna come with?"
If
anyone else had asked me I would have said no, but something about the tone of
his voice and the look in his eyes got me to blurt out, "YES! Errmm…. I
would love to."
Then
with the most adorable smile he said, "Thanks and we will come to your house
around 3 on Saturday, can’t wait to see you there."
I
started blushing again and said, “OK! Can’t wait!”
Time
seemed to take forever on Saturday! Then finally 3 o’clock came around and John
showed up with four of his friends I hadn’t met yet. I grabbed my backpack and,
after giving my little brother a hug, left.
It
was about an hour walk before we got to Dead Man’s Peak, then about 15 more
minutes before we got to the opening. By then I had gotten to know the others
better. There were the twins, Mark and Macey, John’s best friend Connor and
Connor’s girlfriend Sophie. We were all having a blast, laughing and singing!
“Hey
guys check this out! There’s a house over there!” Mark said pointing.
“Well
yea dude we can all see that,” Connor exclaimed, “Why do you think it’s called
Dead Man’s Peak?”
“What
do you mean?” I asked, “Did something happen here?” Of course everyone is now
staring at me in disbelief.
“Cut
Annie some slack you guys, she is new round here after all,” John stated then
turned to me and smiled. He continued, “That’s Old Man Silvertooth’s place,
legend has it he was murdered in that house! But his body was never found......
People claim to see his ghost but before they can tell anyone………”
“THEY
DISSAPPEAR!!” Connor screamed, making a lot of us jump “AHAHAHAHAHA you guys
were so scared!!” We all started laughing again.
Later
that night, “Why does John call you Annie?” Macey asked me, “no one else does.”
“Maybe
he likes her!” Sophie shouted, “Oh how cute! By the looks of her face she likes
him too!” She had noticed me blushing.
“Sophie
shush!!” Macey said, “We don’t want the boys to hear us!”
Macey
had a good point, what if John didn’t really like me and found out I like him.
Well I didn’t think about it much because I was so tired and I fell asleep
shortly after that conversation.
I
was woken up the next morning by a shrieking sound out the side of the tent,
which I later found to be Macey after the boys saw her with bed head. She
freaked out and ran into the tent while we were all laughing.
“Mace
come out, we were just kidding,” Connor said trying to hold in his laughter,
“you look fine!”
Macey
finally came out of our tent with a big smile on her face and we all decided to
go for a hike in the woods. It was a long hike and we lost track of time, next
thing we know it’s dark and we tried finding our way back but it was hopeless.
“Here
we can split up,” Mark said pulling 3 of his walkie talkies out of his bag,
“I’ll take Macey, Connor and Sophie and then John and Annabella.”
We
were all kind of nervous, but decided to go. I was so scared I didn’t even
notice John grab my hand… How were we supposed to know we were entering what
may be our last few days alive?
“Annie
are you ok?” John asked trying to hide his own fear.
“Not
really, I’m really scared and want to go home.” I said shaking.
“Guys
Macey, Sophie and me all made it back, where are you?” Mark asked his voice
crackling through the walkie. John got a puzzled look on his face.
“We
are still lost,” John said, “Where’s Connor?! He was with Sophie.” He sounded
shocked and puzzled at the same time.
Just
then Connor came running out of some bushes with blood streaming down his face.
I screamed at the sight and John turned me away. Of course I turn back around just
as Connor collapsed, we ran to him trying to stop the bleeding. That’s when we
realized Mark hadn’t answered us.
“Sophie,”
Connor said faintly, “they know! They…..” Connor didn’t say another word. The
hand John was holding went limp and he stopped breathing. Connor……was dead.
John
and I couldn’t believe this! I started crying and John was too, he was also
shaking Connor hoping he would wake up, but he didn’t.
Still
crying I yelled, “John stop it! He’s gone! You can’t bring him back!” By then I
was crying so much I couldn’t see.
“NO!”
John screamed, “I won’t leave him! He’s my best friend! I can’t go without
him!”
Then
I thought about what Connor had said, “Sophie. They knew.” Those words were
running through my mind like angry bees. Did Sophie do this? Why would she? What
about Mark and Macey, did they know?
“Annie
look!” John said wiping the tears from his face and pointing, “It’s Old Man
Silvertooth’s house!” Just then I noticed the eerie silhouette of the old
abandoned house.
“Camp
must be close!” I screamed. But then we heard another scream from the direction
of our campsite. It was Macey! John took off running and I followed right
behind him. The screaming was getting louder and louder until we got to the
opening where we set up camp and found Macey tied to a tree.
“Mark
and Sophie are CRAZY!!” She screamed, “wait where’s Connor?!” she looked
sincere and then John started to cry again and that’s all it took, “no,” she
said faintly, “he isn’t..” now she was crying too, “They took all our stuff and
Connor and Sophie were the ones who showed us here, I don’t know my way back.”
“Maybe
we should go to the house up there,” I suggested, “we might be able to see town
from higher ground.”
“Are
you insane?!” Macey said, “I don’t want to go anywhere near that house!”
“Mace
stop being a coward,” John said while we walked towards the abandoned house, or
what we thought was abandoned.
“John
this place gives me the creeps,” I said when we got to the front door, “maybe
we should go back.”
“It’s
getting dark and cold, I think we should stay here the night just in case Mark
and Sophie come back. They would never check here.” John said trying to keep us
calm, “plus it’s supposed to rain.” John tried the door but it wouldn’t budge.
“Too
bad the door’s locked,” Macey said with a sigh of relief, “looks like we have
to sleep outside.”
Macey
and I turned and started walking away until we started hearing a weird noise,
we turned back to the house and sure enough, it was John. He had found a large
stone and was smashing it on the hinges of the door trying to break them loose,
and of course it worked. We walked into the house as it started pouring
outside.
“John
I thought this house was abandoned,” I said in terror at what was before me,
“what is this?”
“I-I
thought it was!” John said looking completely shocked, “no one has lived here
since Old man Silvertooth or at least I thought so…..”
We
had walked into the house we believed to be abandoned, but to our surprise,
there were lights on!
“O.K.
I am out of here!” Macey said, I’m not going stay here! This just isn’t right!”
“Macey
please stay!” I pleaded, “I’m scared too, but look what happened to Connor.
It’s safer if we all stay together.”
“Fine,
I’ll stay, but I still hate this place,” Macey said looking around, “I’m going to
go this way and try to find somewhere to sleep.” She finished and walked away.
Around
a half hour had pasted and Macey hadn’t said anything or come back yet.
“Maybe
she got lost,” John said, “That is so like Mace, or maybe she fell asleep
somewhere. Let’s go look for her.”
We
walked around for a while before, while in the basement, I felt something
dripping on me from the ceiling. We went back upstairs to find out what it was.
“Annie
don’t come in here!” John said, after pushing me away from the doorway to the
next room, “You don’t want to see this.”
I
didn’t listen and walked into the room and screamed, louder than I had ever
screamed before. I had walked in to find Macey dead hung from the ceiling fan
by a rusty chain, her poor body covered in cuts with a huge gash across her
throat. I fell, in tears, to the ground. All of my new friends were dying and I
had no clue who was doing this. Now only John and I remained and we vowed to
stay together the rest of the night until we can go for help. Too bad we didn’t
know it may be our last.
It
was dark and still storming outside. We went to explore the house and John had
brought a metal pipe he had found by poor Macey. This house was giving me the
creeps, but I wouldn’t leave John’s side.
“Once
I find who is doing this I am going to make them pay!” John said holding the
pipe even tighter and still in tears, “even if it’s the last thing I do!”
By
then I my tears had stopped and my heart became heavy, for at that moment I was
filled with rage, anger and I wanted revenge.
“John,
you can’t expect me to just sit by and let you teach whoever is doing this a
lesson by yourself do you?” I said while picking up a pipe from the ground as
well.
“Annie
no,” John said he was starting to tear up again, “I have lost some of my best
friends, I can’t lose you as well.”
I
hugged him and I didn’t want to let go. I didn’t feel scared anymore, I am a
different person when I’m with him, I just can’t explain it.
“John
I have to try,” I said trying to avoid crying, “I know you care but so do I.
Besides if I die today I’m glad I got to spend my last day with you.”
That’s
when a man dressed in all black showed up; he came into the room with a bloody
knife in his hand.
“Oh
my god!” John screamed, “Its Aaron! Mark and Macey’s older brother!”
“Look
who’s the smarty pants now,” Aaron said with an evil smirk on his face, “too
bad no one else will find out how smart you can be.”
“Guys
are you there?!” It was Sophie, “Mark is insane!! He killed Connor and took me
to make sure you couldn’t find your way back!!” She sounded scared and was
talking so fast we could barely understand her.
“Sophie
why should we believe you?” I said trying to hide the fear in my voice, “you
could have said something earlier and tried to get away.”
While
I was talking to Sophie John was talking to Aaron trying to stall, while he was
toying with the two of us knowing we were doomed.
“I
thought you were dead!” John yelled, “three years ago when you ran away, they
found your body! You were burned alive!!”
“That
was the whole point John,” Aaron said with a chuckle, “Then if anyone found my
victims I would never get caught. The boy that was found and believed to be me
was my first kill and had they not thought it was me I would have gone back and
claimed self-defense and gotten away with it.”
“So
all those people that mysteriously disappeared….” John started.
“Yes,
it was me,” Aaron said with a hint of happiness, “but sadly you know way too
much so I have to kill both of you. The question is how to do it, oh and who
dies first.” He started to smile and laughed again.
“What?
I thought you were going to kill us anyways,” John said being a smartalic.
During
that conversation they had I learned Sophie was telling the truth and that Mark
was going to kill her because, like John and I, she knew too much.
“You
should have listened to Sophie,” he had said, “She is very sorry about all of
this. It’s so sad that you got mixed up in this Annabella, I was just getting
to know you.” I heard Sophie scream while Mark laughed in the background,
Sophie got quite and Mark stopped laughing. “good bye Annabella, enjoy spending
time with my brother.”
“Annie
get out of here,” John yelled, “try to find your way back to town!”
“No
Annie why not stay,” Aaron said, “the fun is about to start.” He started
laughing and John came and stood by me.
“John,
I’m not leaving without you!” I said grasping the pipe in my hands tighter, “No
way. We will do this together.”
“Awe
how cute the lovers are gonna try and stop me.” Aaron laughed again, then like
a cat he sprang into action running right at us full speed. I screamed and John
grabbed my hand and we started running as fast as we could.
“JOHN
NO!!!” I yelled as he fell after tripping over a piece of wood, “GET UP!
PLEASE!!”
“Annie
go!! Aaron is coming!” John said, “Annie you’re a great person and I’m glad I
got to spend my last days here with you. NOW GO HURRY!”
I
took one last look at John, he smiled at me, both of us were crying now, and I
nodded and took off running again. I heard a scream and the sound of Aaron
laughing again, I knew he was gone. All I could think about when I was running
was, “Did they suffer? Will I die tonight?” And most importantly, “If I live
what will I do?” All of those thoughts running through my head like crazy.
I
had been running for what seemed like an eternity. I had to find a way out, but
I was so tired and didn’t see Aaron so I decided to stop and rest. I sat down
and felt something in my small backpack, it was my notebook!
“Look
who I found,” said Aaron walking into the room, “its little Annie, the only one
left of these brats that came here.”
I
screamed…… Now, hiding in a tree, I started to cry once again. I started to
hear rustling in the bushes by the tree and sure enough Aaron walked into view
right underneath me. He is looking around, but finally he walks away. I tried
adjusting how I was sitting on the branch but it broke!
I
fell to the ground and got up and waited until I saw Aaron to run. Yes it’s not
my smartest plan but I didn’t want to run right into him. I took off running,
faster than I ever have. I have been running for what feels like forever and I
couldn’t lose him!
“Annabella
just give up!” Aaron said, “You can’t run forever, you won’t get away! I
promise you will die quick.”
“So
was this whole trip just a part of your and Mark’s devilish plan to get all of
us here?” I blurted out.
“Annie,
my dear little child, you weren’t supposed to be here,” Aaron said, “I was to
annihilate the others. But yes, this was a rouse to get them all here. You,
Annabella, are just a bonus kill for me. That first kill was the start of a
wonderful life for me. I always have something to keep me active.”
“So
you have no remorse for what you have done?” I said knowing I can’t keep
running for much longer.
“None,
none at all,” He said laughing, what’s wrong? Getting tired?” He must have
noticed I was starting to run weird.
Aaron tripped and hit his head; I
thought it was finally over. So I stopped running and watched him lay there,
motionless, until suddenly he got up!
I tried to run but slipped and fell, I
started getting up but it was too late. Aaron stood over me laughing, he knew
he had won. He pulled out his knife and after he stopped laughing he stared at
me. “Any last words Annabella?” He asked.
“Yes,
I LOVE JOHN PATRICK!” I screamed as loud as I could and started crying.
“Annabella
that’s so cute,” he said, “and if John hadn’t told you my name I may have let
you live.”
He
laughed again, and came at me with the knife; I let out a final scream.
