This story was for my Section B Essay for English. It's Question 4 that went
"Continue a story with 'He hurried home quickly. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky..."
Not one of my greater works but it influenced me in a way I would never imagine.
You'll know soon enough. The question practically grovelled on its knees for me to write something spine-tingling---and not in a good way. Muahaha. I rarely flex my fingers for a horror story, so this would be my first try in trying my skills in the horror genre.
I'm proud to say that, in my opinion, it would have been cast as a C-Grade movie.
Or lower. Whee :D
You'll know soon enough. The question practically grovelled on its knees for me to write something spine-tingling---and not in a good way. Muahaha. I rarely flex my fingers for a horror story, so this would be my first try in trying my skills in the horror genre.
I'm proud to say that, in my opinion, it would have been cast as a C-Grade movie.
Or lower. Whee :D
I'm writing it back just to remember it and perhaps, for your entertainment as well.
If you don't mind, this is not the orignal version and I would not like to have the unedited and edited version on one post because it would be rather boring to read the same thing twice, so I'll just post up the nicer, cleanier and sparklier version. So enjoy :)
If you don't mind, this is not the orignal version and I would not like to have the unedited and edited version on one post because it would be rather boring to read the same thing twice, so I'll just post up the nicer, cleanier and sparklier version. So enjoy :)
"
He hurried home quickly. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky. So much for the name of the town, Bluesky Woods. Under the concealment of his coat, he hid his bloody arm from his neighbours. This was ridiculous. Home was the last place he should be. Teri did not want his father and little brother to get hurt or taken away.
Passersby darted into their respective house as a powerful wind picked up from behind him. He tried to see from the flurry of his hair the paveway. The ominous clouds were now overhead and stretched till they eyes can see. Everything was dark. It is hard to believe it was only one o' clock in the afternoon.
Teeth chattering at a sudden chill that crept his spine like a vinestalk, Teri tried to figure out where to go, where to run. He should be away where they are no civilians. He did not want anyone else to get hurt, or worse, taken away. He contemplated the park. No one would be there on a stormy day like this.
Teri tried to run without screaming. It was terribly hard. Once he remembered what he was running away from, his lips started to bleed. The prospect of tomorrow suddenly felt impossible. He was halfway across the street, making his way to the park when he heard a snap like a switch echoing in the air. He was unsure if that sound was even real.
He turned as a gust of wind came howling behind him, eerily moaning his name. He looked behind him to the middle of the street. He staggered forward but did not tear his gaze away and almost fell. Luckily, he did not but stayed, his shoes bolted to the asphalt, watching in horror or fascination as the creature came gliding from the sky like a black-robed angel.
There was a legend.
The town where Teri lived, Bluseky Woods, despite the sunny name, had a dark past that everybody in town knew. The old townfolks during the turn of the 19th century, shared an unusual court case. They have prosecuted an entire family out of suspicion of practicing witchcraft. The one and only case of its kind in Bluesky Woods.
The family was sentenced guilty without trial. The father of the family of four, who had been charged for associationg and accomplicing with witchcraft with his steely-faced wife, swore before they were burned alive that they will have vendetta. He cursed that they will take a man from this town with them to serve them in the afterlife. That man can only be free if he takes another man's soul. That night, the mayor's brother, Tipsy Tori was found dead. There were no other records of mysterious happenings after that day. The townfolks always wondered when will Tipsy Tori get tired, who would be serve the witch family in the afterlife?
Teri guessed he was next.
The creature (a ghost? a phantom? a reaper?) glided his way, plumes of black smokes escaping his robe to the ground it was not touching like he just escaped from a fire. Teri had enough of anxiety and started to run into the park, trying to get his run fast while clinging on to his bloody arm that scraped through a wire fence while escaping the masked phantom. He had an urge to look back and found the hooded creathre was not pursuing him. Not satisfied, he ran some more until he reached the lake in the middle of the park.
He stopped next to a tree and leaned against it. His sides burn in aggression and he slumped downwards. He opened his coat, his blood sticking to the fabric and wrapped it to his wounded arm.
He gulped in some air, trying to make sense on why Tipsy Tori (he was assuming the hooded creature was him) wanted him to exchange his place in the afterlife. Is it becasue their names were almost alike? Hardly unlikely.
Teri closed his eyes for awhile, trying to subside the pain and struggle with a plan. He opened his eyes again and jolted seeing the hooded creature at the centre of the lake, appearing from nowhere (no that's a joke). Teri scrambled to his feet but the creature swooped up to him in an instant. He had no choice but to look straight ahead. He was amazed with himself for mustering enough pride to face the hooded thing head on.
"What do you want from me?" Teri asked, through gritted teetg. He was shocked when it answered in a voice that sounded like a hiss of a boiled kettle,
"To getssss yoouuu."
"There's no reason to get me, out of all people."
"Ah, but there isssss," it extended its hands, long nails with grime, wrinkled, decaying, "I came to get Teri Barthemelow Thomas Harry Bruce Kingston Deimus Arlingtonssss."
"Arlington?" That name ringed a bell, "The mayor Arlington? The one that brought to court that family of witches?"
It was silent. But it agreed.
Teri knew he was somehow related to Mayor Arlington, but never a direct line.
"You can't take me," Teri said defiantly, "I can take you on." Though, he highly doubt it.
"Ohh...you can ressssissst, you can fiiight, I will back aaaaway. I am...fraaaagile. But I can alwaysss take sssomenone elssse...liiike Tommyyyy."
Teri's eyes were still. A flash of image of his four-year-old brother holding his one hand and beg him to play with him and his toy fire truck came into mind. Tommy had large brown eyes and was a teary child.
"Not my brother," Teri quickly stated. His heart sunk a the thought of that little boy in this thing's hands. Teri could not live without him, and he just cannot take the thought of his little brother as a servant to witches. How much will he cry then?
"Chaaanged yourr miiind, I seeeeeee?"
Teri was dumbstruck. Should he actually agree to this?
"I caaan eassssily take boooth of youuu, if youu fiiight Teeeerrri."
He wanted no more of that. Anything but that. "Take me then."
"Noble, noble," One of his acrid hands struck to his neck, tight, "not like my brother."
In a flash, its scabbed hands pressed on his throat like a vice. Its smell as it came closer was chokable, undescribable. It really stank like another, unpleasant world. Teri stared at the dark shade under the hood, tears brimming his eyes as it slowly took out the cloth covering its face. He opened his eyes wide as he stared at Tori. At his death. For the last trace of memory of his life among the living, he was happy that Tommy did not have to see this.
"
