Saturday, March 30, 2013

On The Way

The year was 1930, and I was just about to buy a bus ticket. When I gave the awkward looking man the money for the bus ride he asked me a quick question, “What’s your name boy?” I am a very shy person so I stood there and gave him a stare. “My names James” I said. He nodded his head and gave me a signal to go sit in the back. Considering it had taken me several trips to go for a bus stop, I was very tired so I thought I’d take a quick nap and then sit and wait after. Except it wasn’t just a nap, I slept for a very long time, checking the time I soon realize I’ve been sleeping for about 3 hours. By about an hour I would expect the bus driver to wake me up and ask for more money, fortunately for me he didn’t.

I went to speak to the man and he seemed very quiet, as well I noticed everyone on the bus had got off. I stood over the bus driver, his pale face which was oddly more pallid than it was when I walked in. “Are you ok?” I said. Being curious was always what got me in trouble in some way. He never responded and kept his eyes on the road like he never even noticed me. Soon we stumbled into a town, on the map it said we were somewhere in providence. “Weird, I never asked to pass through providence” I thought. I looked back and asked “How did you know I wanted to go through providence?” Again he didn’t respond so we kept going.

Finally we stopped at a bus stop which relieved me because I didn’t want to stay in a vehicle with this weirdo. I walked out and thanked the man even though he probably wasn’t going to reply, but when I got off the bus he said something in the creepiest voice imaginable. “Good luck”. Before I could speak he closed the doors and drove as fast as he could go, that man was such a creeper I couldn’t believe it if he actually had friends or even a girlfriend. I walked around until I found a house with a mailbox that stated “The smiths”. Strange that name is so common but I decided to talk to them and maybe ask of a place I may stay for a while. I knocked on the door which seemed to be a long time before a little girl answered.

In the rudest way possible she asked “Something you need?” I hesitated to answer because the way she looked at me was like she was demonized. “Hi I’m James, are you parents’ home?” She rolled her eyes and spoke the words “Get over here”. How obedient and bratty I thought she was going to get her butt whooped until her father stepped in and ignored her. “Yes what?”  “I’m on my way to Greenville and was wondering since its getting dark out if I could stay in and have dinner with you fine people”. (Did I mention being a suck up was always my way as well?) He looked at me all around and finally just hand signaled me in. I saw a very boring style of a house; nothing was out of order except the shoes I removed. I was surprised to not see toys or dolls from the little girl but nothing was here. I was creeped out and as soon as I heard their mother calling for dinner it scared me even more. Considering that she didn’t sound like a human being at all. I sat down at the table enjoying this food that seemed to plain I decided not to be curious about it. “So is this town nice here?” I say as soon as I scarfed down that non mixed rice. “Well we don’t talk to people like you about that because you’re an outsider who needs to visit aba…” She is stopped by the father and they go into the room to talk, then a boy walks out in perfect clothes and fresh shoes. “Who the hell are you?” He asks in a disrespectful way. I didn’t answer but instead found the guest room and slept.
The next morning I tried taking off only there was one problem, I couldn’t.  They were holding me there because of very little things like “Oh you need to eat” and “but you need clean clothes”. Finally I told them I’m leaving and they got furious. The boy raised his tongue upwards and something came out of his mouth I look to see it was a rat. I was freaked out so I ran out of there. Only to see a mysterious castle. On the side were gargoyles and other horrific stuff that gave me the chills. I went closer but then I realized the mailbox had the words OPEN instead of “The smiths” on it. I opened and found a bible bookmarked to the chant to get demons out of the bodies. I thought about it. What’s wrong with this place?

I went into the castle trying to remember the shout and what to say if I encounter any demons. Soon a man walked out which looked like a king of some sort and was red eyed. “What brings you here mortal”? Mortal he is a human too, but those words didn’t make me so confident about it. I looked at him and said “are you the one who has tormented this so called town?” He replied with
“Very well then leave or be possessed.” His eyes were pure white with no pupils. I then chanted "We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects...” Before he could be halfway finished he screamed and begged for mercy. I continued: “Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you... stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation...”

I then spoke these words of the chant “Be gone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man's salvation...
Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy and terrible Name... which causes hell to tremble...
From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord. That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty; we beseech Thee to hear us." The demon screamed as he was getting burned and melted but before he melted he sent a demon Alabam, to possess me soon I was fighting for my life but I knew it was too late so I let god take me in and let me die a possessed man.

~Ricky Wilson

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Well


You pushed me down the well
I hope you have fun in hell
It was the day I fell
Which was the day I felt
It scared me I must say
Knowing I would die today

I woke up like I would
And looked to where my table stood
I put on my clothes
And put food on the stove
I was feeling restless
Much like how you were relentless
When you were beating me senseless

I cried hoping I would wake up
But was without luck
As it was not a dream
All I could do was scream

I collapsed from pain
Blood coursing through my veins
My heart racing; I said to myself
That at least you’ll burn in hell

It all seemed rather dire
When you decided to burn me in the fire
You suspended me from a wire
But when the fuel would not light
I looked in your eyes and saw fright

You knew it would not burn
I broke free from the wire I was held by
Now it was my turn
I smiled looking sly

I pulled out a knife
And begun to slice
Your skin so smooth
It’s a shame I’ll cut all the way through
It was a pleasure knowing you

But in the middle of the cut I noticed something

You had no fear
You felt no agony
I realized that as I cut… I was just like you
Broken and numb

Then I sat down
Right there next to you
Your body seemed lifeless yet warm
Had your soul finally been torn?
I felt your heart and there was a beat
And I looked down and noticed a twitching of your feet

I threw the knife down the well
Deep into the darkness it fell
I heard a splash that echoed faintly
As the surrounding world turned quiet
I felt a sense of safety

That withered away quickly
As the sky began to pour
And my body was feeling sore

The air felt warm and damp
I dragged you under the well
Under the cover it was arid

But then you awoke
From fear I started to choke
For that look in your eye was horrifying
And I began petrifying
The way you seemed to see my soul was terrifying

I gasped and began to fall
I reached out hoping to grab hold of the wall
Nevermore will I see another day
The light began to fade
The farther I fell
The closer I felt
To the end of my suffering

If you had let me live
Maybe I would confess my sins
Maybe I would have changed for the better
Or I would have stayed worse

Maybe it’s best for me
For me to no longer be
I thought back on these moments
They were no longer of torment
I knew I would get what I deserve in hell
And honestly I’m glad I fell

By: Kylan Walker

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Artist


It was all over the news; a serial killer in my home state of Washington! The killer travelled around the western side of Washington, towns like Renton, Seattle, North Bend, and so on. I was watching the news in my apartment; they called him the Evergreen Killer. The police would not divulge the details of the killings; all they could say is that he had an artistic mind. Great I thought; there are tons of artists in Washington. In addition the police revealed that the reason for these killings may have been a period of depression he recently went through; maybe his art being resented by someone he cared for, or not being seen. I noticed that as the police continued on they mentioned artist a lot. This got me curious; I searched for body artists in Washington. Assuming that the killer did some sort of artwork on their body. Then I cross referenced any with medical experience. There was a list of about 180 people. Maybe my list was wrong but I decided to email the list to my friend at the police department. Since the killer had crossed multiple county lines the FBI had come to work with each of the lead departments.

My friend replied back saying that the FBI’s lead investigator loved the idea, and greatly narrowed the search. I had been training to be a detective but during my studies in criminology I got interested in other things. I knew I liked solving things but I got interested in solving problems for computers; they seemed so much easier to use than the real world. My father had been a psychiatry teacher at the University of Washington. In fact that’s why my family had moved to America when I was 3 years old. We came from Ireland and I would always visit my cousins there every year or two. My mother had found a job as a waitress for a restaurant. My parents were very kind, and always pushed me to exceed in the things I do; but back to the point. My friend at the police department told the police about my theory and they recruited me to help consult on the case. At first I was hesitant, but after I had a few hours to talk it over with my friend at the bar he finally convinced me to join the search.

When I had gotten over my hangover the next day I packed up my stuff; computer, notebook, sticky notes, etc. I went over to the police department to talk with the lead investigator from the FBI; his name was Mark Finley, he solved the country’s most recent serial killer.

The Mad Dog they called him. He would use the head of a dog that the teeth were coated in saliva with rabies. After he killed his victims he would bite into the neck of each victim. Mark had figured out that he was mad that his sister when she was two, died from getting bit in the neck by a mad dog. He had been looking over newspapers about dog attacks and found the story about a group of people who were killed by a rabid dog. One of the relatives; an older brother, had witnessed his sister get bitten by the dog. The evidence of this wouldn’t have been strong enough to support his claim, but he found an article about him getting put into a mental institution for anti-social personality disorder which he was later assumed cured of and released. This evidence held up for the judge and a search warrant was issued. No one in the neighborhood had any dogs. This was their final clue so they found the guy and he had heard them coming. When the FBI invaded the house he jammed his head into a bear trap and it ripped a large portion of his neck out and he bled out minutes later.

When I was told my idea had possibly narrowed the search they gave me all the details about the case and my own little cubical to set up what I was working on. They told me all the cities that the killer had attacked in. I mapped each one down, looking for a pattern and saw nothing. My friend the detective came and we talked over possible things about the killer. Just then Mark came back into the building and said “detective Stevens I need to talk to you.” And with that my friend left the room. His name was Jacob Stevens, I had known him since high school, we went to college together to study criminology and then we each went our separate ways. We still stayed in contact; and would often talk about the projects we were doing. After Jacob had gotten back, he gave me the photographs of the crime scenes. Each body was found in a random place, and a picture was found at a separate location. The pictures were painted with their blood and their skin as his canvas; this was one truly sick mind.

The first picture was the picture of a skull; the blood seemed to smear upward; that’s when I got it. The painting was done upside down. The guy must have a high I.Q. to be able to draw things such as that. The skull seemed very detailed; I am able to count the teeth on the skull, and can see the part where the cartilage that connects the nose to the skull had been really detailed. This guy was so artistic; it’s a shame he had to waste this talent on murdering people. I look at the other pictures, I see an angel, and the angel seems to be holding something; it looked like a decapitated head. I can see the layers of feathers on her wings that are so boldly drafted. On her face you can see how he parted the blood to make it seem as though a tear formed from her eye that breezed down her face to the side of her cheek; it was so unique. The third picture I saw seemed different. It seemed like he was painting a death instead of something that was dead. He painted a being reaching out to the sky, used the dripping technique to make it seem like his body was exploding upward, his face was detailed enough to see a crying expression.

There were more paintings, despite how intriguing they were to look at; I just could not stand to describe them any further. They were beautiful yet full of some sadistic evil. I didn’t want to think about them anymore. Jacob told me I should take a break; I go across the street to the Starbucks. In Washington it seems like there’s a coffee shop on every corner. I got a normal cup of black coffee with sugar, paid and left. When I was walking up the stairs I realized something; what if he was expressing something he witnessed in his life? I ran up the stairs almost spilling my coffee as the plastic lid wasn’t put on properly. I made it up stairs and told them my idea. Look for events that involve those pictures. After about a day of searching with two teams, we couldn’t find anything. I was dismayed at this. I felt strongly that my idea had been correct. I collect news articles for the past 30 years from around the country. I set up a computer search algorithm on the documents for certain text tags; still nothing. Then it happened. An angel statue was destroyed, and a man was burned to death on the same day. No news article about the skull… or any of the other paintings. I felt I was getting closer. These events happened in Florida, it’s as if the killer – assuming these events involved him – was trying to get away from it all.

I bring up my find to Mark and he puts it on a board for a possible idea to look into. He assigns two agents to search for any similarities between the two; other than that they were in the town. “Look for similarities to the other paintings in nearby towns.” He told them. I said we can probably narrow it down with people who were on the list that moved to Washington in the past 20 years. The events in the newspapers took place about twenty years ago. We shortened the list to about 25 people, strange I thought it would be shorter by this time. We crossed off 2 of them because they were dead now. One of them was documented at the site of the angel statue. None of the remaining ones seemed to be related to the paintings, or stories.

The next day another victim was found. This victim’s body was found half an hour later. The painting was of what appeared to be an island, surrounded by an ocean filled with dead bodies. He must’ve used a really small brush for such detail. The canvas was larger than his normal canvas’s he made from the human skin. Instead of the fishing wire he usually uses to stitch the skin together into a sheet; this time he used the victim’s hair. The stitching in the middle formed words that made this sentence: “and with death comes new life, the lost will be set free tonight.” We documented this and were worried.

Sunset had begun to fall, and we had no idea what to do. There had been a multitude of missing person’s cases in the past year and we did not know how many would be victims. We could tell from the circumstances that this attack was going to be an escalation of the previous single murders. During the next Seahawks game at the Seahawks Stadium right before the players stepped into the field, an array of wiring pulls the dirt off the ground. An entire canvas of skin with a painting of blood shows. Every single viewer of this game is screaming. This image was being broadcasted live. I noticed the game on television; that canvas must have been made from hundreds of bodies, most importantly how did he place the painting there in such little time. The painting was of two groups about to go to war with each other. Above that in the horizon were the entity of death and rays of blood lightly splattered over heading towards the being of death. The skin had made a natural sunset appearance from the way the different skin colors formed. The FBI had made it to the field in less than 10 minutes but at that point the entire nation was in panic.

They had to bring helicopters to remove the painting without damaging it. They had taken a team to look over every single detail on this painting, there had to be some sort of evidence. After a day of searching all that was found was parts of the painting that were written in human hair saying random phrases such as “Be the one who brings the night, for you must do what you know is right” None of the FBI psychologists and text analysts could depict anything about the picture. It was as if he wasn’t human; at least in the psychological sense of the word.

The idea popped into my mind when I was getting ready for the night in the bathroom. I jumped to my phone and called Mark. I told him “the killer would respond if we insulted his art on television. He had to admire his work on the news, or the internet. We should convince an art critic to explain the flaws in his drawings to lure them out.” Mark was impressed with my plan and begun prepping for it right away. The next day at noon I turn on the news to view the news post explaining the killer’s art works are just amateur work.

I was hoping this was to pay off and not become a serious mistake. I drove around Seattle, I couldn’t sleep. I’m going through my thoughts when I realized, the killer always put his paintings around trash dumpsters, or coffee shops. The only thought that could go through my head was bad dreams. Then I realized the killer must be afraid to sleep. He must see nightmares with these images in his head; that he is afraid of and they drove him into madness. He wanted everyone to see, but he wanted to throw them away. I called Jacob and he told the station my discovery. We look for anything depicting an artist that wants to get rid of some of his works. We find only three; one of them was from the two guys that we crossed out due to them dying. I noticed this and pointed it out to the rest of the group. He must have been alive this whole time. “How do we find someone who’s dead?” Jacob asked. Everyone looked around not knowing what to say. Mark asks “how long has he been dead?” I say “let me check” and go to my files. He died, three weeks before the killings started. He was in a fire that burned him so much that his body was no longer recognizable. We got to the point where it was obvious that the body was someone else. But now we were stuck with a dead man killing people. What could we do? I left for another cup of coffee; Jacob came out and followed me and told me not to get another cup. I asked why; he responded with. “Because you seem to drink coffee when you’re nervous and you’re not putting as much input as you could if you weren’t under the effects of caffeine.” I had decided he was right and went back up.

When I was walking up the stairs with Jacob I felt a slight perforate on my neck and then everything went dark. After what seemed like seconds I awoke in a cold room. I look around and see a tray of surgical knives and an array of strange looking tools. One I recognized from one of my criminology lectures where the professor was explaining tools used to deal with criminals in medieval times. I think the name of the tool was “The Pear of Anguish” or something similar. It was stuck in one of the body’s larger holes and then slowly expanded, sometimes over periods of days or weeks. Until the body gives out from stress, and such symptoms as the jaw being removed if it was placed orally; or other such injuries such as the legs are dislocated if the Pear was placed lower. I could not see or hear Jacob; had he been the killer the whole time? No I thought Jacob wouldn’t do something like this.

Moments later a man walks in; holding a paintbrush with red drops dripping from the tip of it. The brush had dried blood along the shaft of it. I look back up at him and see he has a white shirt with a rubber apron over it. He has long black gloves, and he has black rain boots which were surprisingly clean. I notice a mask over his face made of a black plastic or rubbery substance. I look around the room again, just for any possible ways to escape. I see nothing but plastic, hanging lights, rusty metal walls and a bare concrete floor. There was no way for me to escape. I struggle but nothing happens.

I was stuck, suspended in that position. I tried shaking hoping it would loosen something. Nothing happened. The man takes his knife and begins cutting around my left thigh, I scream as loud as I can. He steps back and gags me and I’m shaking as violently as I can. He knocks loose one of the levers on the cuff holding my hand in place and he doesn’t notice it. I bite his neck and he goes into the next room to patch it up I assumed. I unlock the cuffs that are holding me down and grab one of the tools on the tray. He comes out and I stab him in the stomach and head to the next room in a limping manner. I look and I see a door and go through it. I see the skin of Jacobs face lying on the floor and I collapse with sadness and fear. I scramble to get up just as the killer lunges at me and we scuffle.

I kick him off with my good leg and get up and start trying to move; I slip in a pool of Jacobs’s blood which causes the killer to miss his swing at me. I crawl into the next room and find a drawer. I notice a lock on one of them; I take a screw driver and jam it into the lock breaking it. I open the drawer and find a gun; a .44 magnum revolver. I check to see that it only has one bullet. I must make my shot count or he’ll kill me. He comes running towards me and I shoot. I missed! He lunges at me but I pull the desk down on top of me; he pulls it off of me as I took the knife I grabbed earlier and stab him in the chest. The crimson fluid flows from his body. I find my way outside of the building and call the police; they arrive minutes later as I pass out from blood loss. A week later I awake in a hospital bed. “I had survived” I whisper faintly under my breath. 

By: Kylan Walker

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Dreams and Nightmares


I could not see. There was no light. I stumbled to get up; at that moment I turned around. I saw a light, where was I? Under the light there was a chair, just an ordinary wood chair that you’d see in many houses. In fact I had one just like it at my house. I started getting closer to the chair, as that happened I noticed screaming. The closer I got, the louder it became. I backed away afraid of what would happen. Was I dreaming? I think I was. I tried to wake myself up. Nothing happened. I turned away from the chair and started falling. I landed in a hallway, what was that horrid stench? I walked on towards the doors at the end of the hall. I see a room at the side of the hall; it was my old school room from when I was a kid. The room was lifeless except for two children in the spots of the two kids who died the year I had that class. They turn around and look at me, their rotting corpses and unblinking eyes staring at me they looked scared.

I turn away and run down the hall. I make it to the two doors and try to open them. They were locked. I look back and see the lights in the hall are turning off. A rush of adrenalin hits me and I am trying to break through the doors. I run at them just as the lights turn off where I am and the doors open. I was now in a cemetery. I see me and my family mourning over our dead father as his casket is lowered into the ground. This memory brings tears to my eyes, I wipe them off. The tears were blood! I jump back startled. I look behind me seeing that I was surrounded by the graveyard. I run, I hear suppressed moans coming from the ground. I run faster; the moans get louder. The faster I run the louder they get until they become shrill cries striking terror in my body. I made it to the gate, I opened it. When I walked through I saw me in the past proposing to the wonderful girl who is now my wife. I tried to get closer but when I walked into the garden there was nothing. Everyone had vanished and all the plants were dead; their bright colors gone.

I wished this dream would just end. It felt like I would never wake up. I find myself falling again. This dream must be the punishment I get for drinking too much and cheating on my wife the week before. When or if I wake up I’m going to tell her what happened, and I’m never going to go to a bar again! I try to walk home from where I am. Maybe if I go home I can wake up. When I’m going home I pass the bar I was at. I pick up a brick and throw it at the bar. The window shatters and the pieces of glass freeze as they are in the middle of their plummet. In fact; everything but me freezes. The ravens in the sky are no longer moving, the world has come to a halt. I try to move; all of a sudden I am frozen. I close my eyes and count to ten hoping something will happen. All of a sudden; a rush comes to my body as though waking up. I open my eyes; I was in the room where I started! I move towards the chair, the screaming starts. As I get closer the screaming gets louder and louder until it becomes deafening.

 I make it to the chair and sit on it and then to my surprise the world around me disappears and I wake up! But something seemed different. Everything was shadowy and seemed to have a blur, as though a person’s hand waving while caught on camera. I stand up and see my wife screaming and crying. It was almost like the screaming I heard in the dream; without the crying. I look back at the chair and see myself on the chair with my gun from our safe hanging in my hand and a hole through my head. I remember now. I felt so guilty for cheating on her; I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had taken the gun and shot myself because I couldn’t bear the guilt anymore. I had ended it all; the suffering I thought. But now I realize that after death there is nothing but a blackness that consumes you for eternity.

By: Kylan Walker

Heart of Shadows


Deep in the abyss of darkness lies the ashen remains of an evil that once struck fear into the bravest of men; and caused suffering to whomever lay in its path. An evil that bore fear unto death itself. As death creeps upon its prey, slowly decaying a life until it ceases to exist. With the sands of time counting down until the end, the lugubrious cycle of life. But without adventure life becomes insipid. But with all adventure comes risk. What greater adventure then ascending to the top of the world?

Six friends had travelled to Nepal for the journey of a lifetime. To reach the top of the world with such intrepid mannerism; they had begun their ascent unto the heavens. This kind of friendship they shared was the friendship of a lifetime. They had all known each other since they were just kids. Now as vibrant young adults they shared a bond that has survived through thick and thin. As the group reached the base camp they were excited. They sat around a fire and talked with anticipation. They could not wait to begin the ascent.

The next day they were all well rested. Brandon was the first to be ready; everyone knew he did it to make up for him being the youngest. Britney helped pack up the rest of the supplies and they were off to new heights. James noticed a part in the rocks and snow that made somewhat of a path and they head up it. As they made haste up the mountain it began to grow dark. Stacey stepped off the path and hit a chunk of ice. It collapsed and she jumped back on the path. The group notices a large crevice had been exposed. They walk over towards the edge and look down. They could not see the bottom of it. “How far do ya’ think it goes?” Josh asked. Everyone looked down, even though the sunlight was shining into the crevice from its position at sunset. Strangely enough the sunlight did not illuminate the bottom of the crevice. The group looks down again and feels a spine tingling chill throughout their bodies. They moved away from the crevice.

After hours of hiking the group had only made it so far up the mountain. The snow and winds greatly reduced the distance they were able to cover. Had it not been for the groups determination they would have given up their daring journey right then and there. The group found sturdy ground, with a magnificent view of the rest of the Himalayas; patches of green towards parts of the bottom, with snowcapped mountains that reached high up past the clouds. Without the lights of the city, and the high altitude, the stars had started becoming visible on the opposite side of the sky as the sunset. This beautiful sight amazed the group and petrified them as they were struck with awe. After the group had finished admiring the world around them they began to set up their camp. For even the sight of beauty wasn’t enough to mask the harsh mountain climate.

The next day the group had climbed for around three hours when they noticed something strange. They looked over and saw what appeared to be a man, wearing only a black cloak that moved across the snow as if he wasn’t even on the ground. As the being moved away from the group they lost sight of it in the fog, but not before a gust of wind blew by; the air was thick and heavy, unusual for the high altitude.

Sleep had been hard for the group; each member was too scared to sleep. The group was finally able to move on the next day, however everyone was extremely tired. They had made fine progress the previous day, but even so, must continue to head up the mountain as fast as they can; for the journey is treacherous and the rations can wither away fast. But with this danger comes an exciting thrill that slows the world around. Time is as if a rushing waterfall that feeds into a lake freezing over; it has become stagnant. As the group continues they are halted by an unearthly shadow passing over them. They look to find the source, but nothing is found. Then they feel a cold passing through them, though the air was stagnant. “What had happened?” Britney asked. “I don’t know.” Josh replied.

The group just wanted to finish their journey; to be rid of the things that bring them such fear. They continued to climb, until they saw a small ravine in the ground. They look down; they see the being they saw earlier. What they had noticed is that the cloak was not made out of any solid material; it was a black fog that enclosed around the beings body! Seeing this disturbed them, and they quickly moved on. They go around a part of the mountain blocking their path, it sort of was like a boulder, but also as if a separate mountain on its own; it blocked the path going up, so they had to detour around. When the group made it around they noticed the being walking towards them, they stopped and stumbled, two of them fell. They were paralyzed with fear. The being grabbed James before he got up. Josh got up and ran; the group followed with him.

When they found another back road to climb the mountain they directed up it. The group set up their camp, hoping that the being would not find them. When they woke up the next day they smelt something awful. But what was it? They get out of their tents and see James’s body naked; lying in the ground with his arms to his sides. The blood had been removed from his body and formed a hollow ring around him. It was a perfect circle and none of it touched his body; they looked closer and see his eyes have been gouged out. They began to freak out. They packed up camp in a hurry forgetting one of their tents.

They climbed, higher, the higher they climbed they began to question the being. “What if it’s the spirit of someone who died climbing up to the top and he must follow us to the top to be set free?” Britney said. She had been one to research a lot of ghost stories often. “That’s absurd!” Brandon said. Josh replied: “What if it is really a spirit or something?” and then Bruce replied “Then we find a way to kill it.” But the group knew deep inside them that evil cannot be killed; only suppressed and locked away.

They climb higher, towards the end of the day; they have ascended to a point where the top is visible. They decide to push on through the night. Nothing seemed to be happening, and this is what worried them. They make it to the top where they feel protected. They rest there and the next day they begin the decent back down.

As they descended faster than they climbed up; they had already made pleasing progress. They had begun to set up their camp when a chill ran down their bodies, almost as if ice being rubbed down their spines. They looked around seeing nothing… just the desolate freezing terrain they were surrounded by. The next day they continued their journey; the decent back home. The group had made a significant amount of progress on their decent; they went to sleep without seeing anything out of the ordinary. They woke up the next day, or at least most of them woke up the next day. They saw Bruce and Stacey frozen together hugging outside, their bodies’ upright and pale, covered in a thin layer of ice giving their bodies a reflective shine without disturbing the ability to see their faces. They were looking into each other’s eyes, whilst a formed gasping expression was noticeable. Their bodies’ seemed thinner; then the group looked down. A ring of blood was perfectly formed around their bodies.

The group began to run, but the snow made this difficult, they hit a patch of ice and go sliding down the mountain side. They grab their ice picks and use it to get a grip and stop sliding; they look up and see the being standing over them; as the being stood over them the black smoke was blowing to the side looking as if it waves flowing out from around the beings body. The being had a necklace around his thin pale lifeless body; connected to the necklace was a dangling heart blacker then the night itself. The heart was still beating, though connected to nothing but the necklace. The way the skin wrapped around his body, as if leather wrapped tightly around a chair, made a majority of the beings skeleton visible; except for the part over its stomach which seemed to have no muscle under it and no belly button on the center of it. The being reached through Josh’s chest and pulled out his heart; he stood there for a few seconds looking at what had happened, there was no puncture wound. He collapsed and his body begun to slide down the ice and the blood began to flow out of his eyes. It then blew away in the air, the same way the black smoke blew from the beings body, a crimson stream flowing through the air.

Brandon and Britney were all that was left; the being moved away as they released their ice picks and continued to slide; they later got to a point where they could get off the ice and continue their journey back on the snow; they begin to get off but Brandon falls into a hole in the ice that is made when he pulls his ice pick out. He falls into the ground, and lands on his icepick. At that moment Britney could see the being down in the hole looking down at his body. Britney began to run down, tripping every few steps; she slowed to a walk when she realized she’d travel faster if she didn’t trip. But even still she was worried, when she realized that she was near the crevice that Stacey accidentally opened, she knew this was how that being had been released. She yelled for the being, nothing happened. She waited and waited; yet still nothing happened. She set up her camp and slept in her tent. She woke up every few hours out of fear; and then at around midnight it happened. She opened her eyes and the being was right over her, its face was extremely close to hers, it screamed despite the fact it did not have a mouth; and she grabbed the heart necklace, the being pulled back at her. She grabbed the ice pick and the being pulled her towards the crevice. She takes the ice pick and swings it at the beings head and it doesn’t do anything, she pulls it out and there’s no wound. She realizes the black heart started beating faster, she rips off the necklace and the being is hurt. The being is crawling towards her as she is about to swing down on the heart with her ice pick. The being jumps on her just as she hits it and they both fall deep into the crevice. As they reach the bottom both their bodies are rendered lifeless and the being has been vanquished. The smoke ceases to flow from the beings body. But at that moment the heart laying knocked away from either of their bodies begins to beat.

By: Kylan Walker
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