JEAPers Creepers Page 4

  The group stayed silent for a moment.

  Finally Holly broke the silence.

  "Mr Garou, am I really…" she began to ask.

  "I told you not to mock," he replied with a smirk on his hyena face

  "A Were-skunk?!"

  Meet Victor

  Andrew Lennon

  “I’m not going in there!” Chloe shouted.

  “Ha ha, you’re a chicken,” Sarah teased.

  “No I’m not.”

  “Are too!”

  “Ok fine, I’ll do it.”

  Chloe’s legs were shaking as she approached the old abandoned house at the end of her street. All of the other kids said it was haunted. She had never believed it of course. Ghosts weren’t real.

  As she got closer to the house, she began to wonder if ghosts really were real. The house looked like a giant face. The windows were old and wooden, and they bent in which made them look like angry eyes. The door had paint stripped away from it. The bare marks made it look like they were razor sharp teeth. The house was watching her, and it was angry.

  Chloe turned to look at her friend.

  “Go on chicken!”

  “Shut up!” Chloe shouted.

  Finally she reached the door. Now that she was closer, she could see that it didn’t really have teeth. It was just paint. Nothing to be scared of, see, just her imagination.

  She grabbed the handle, and the door opened before she even had a chance to turn it. A cold wind filled with a damp musty smell rushed through her. Chloe shivered.

  “It’s an old house,” she said to herself. “It’s normal for old houses to have drafts, it’s perfectly normal.”

  Chloe stepped inside. She crept into the hallway. The door slammed behind her.

  “Aaahhh!” Chloe screamed.

  She ran back to the door. Panicking, Chloe tried over and over to open the door. It wouldn’t budge. She pounded her fists against it screaming for someone to let her out. Why wasn’t anyone answering her? Why wouldn’t someone help? Couldn’t they hear her?

  After several minutes, Chloe’s hands began to hurt from all the banging. She dropped to the floor and cried. She was stuck in here now. If the stories weren’t true before about the house being haunted, they sure as hell would be now. Trapped inside. She would never get out.

  “No, I’ve got to find a way out,” she mumbled to herself.

  She got up and walked along the hallway. She wasn’t as scared anymore. She didn’t think about the things that might be in the house, just concentrating on finding a way out. There had to be a back door.

  She walked into the kitchen. It looked like whoever had lived here needed to leave in a hurry. Old pans and dishes were laying around on the benches. They’d been left so long that even the mould had dust on it. Even the rats wouldn’t eat from those plates, Chloe thought.

  There was a space in the wall made of bricks. It was in the shape of a door.

  “You’re kidding me!” she said, realizing what she was seeing.

  The back door had been bricked up.

  Boom- Boom- Boom- Boom. The noise made Chloe jump. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It sounded like it was right in front of her, on the other side of the bricked up door, but surely there could be nothing there apart from the back garden? She hasn’t hanging around in the kitchen to see what it was anyway. If that brick door was about to be knocked down, she didn’t want to see the thing that did it.

  Chloe ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She could shout from one of the windows for help and someone could come and get her. At the top of the stairs Chloe stopped. A cold shiver ran

  from her neck all the way down her spine. She could feel every little hair standing on edge. She’d heard something. Giggling, a child’s laughter.

  “Hello,” Chloe called. “Is anyone there?”

  She heard the giggling again.

  “Hello!”

  “Hello,” a whisper in her ear.

  “Aahhhhh!” Chloe screamed, running into the nearest room and shutting the door behind her.

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just playing,” a voice said softly.

  Chloe looked around. She couldn’t see anyone.

  “H-h-hello” Chloe stuttered.

  “Hello, we keep saying this don’t we?” the voice chuckled. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I won’t hurt you.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Oh yeah,” the voice chuckled again. “I forgot about that, here now can you see me?”

  As if by magic, a young boy suddenly appeared in front of Chloe. He looked to be about the same age as her. She jumped back in fright at the image of the spectre in front of her.

  “There’s no need to be scared,” the ghost boy said. “I just wanted to introduce myself, and maybe make a friend.”

  Chloe was trembling with fear. She couldn’t believe it. Right there in front of her was real ghost! She couldn’t think properly, and thought that she should probably run away. But where would she go? She was trapped.

  “W-w-what’s your name?” she asked.

  “My name is Victor. What’s yours?”

  “M-my name is Chloe. Are, are you really….you know.”

  “Dead? Sadly yes. But honestly don’t panic, just ‘cos I’m a ghost, doesn’t mean I’m bad.”

  “How old are you?” Chloe asked.

  “Well. If you’re counting the years before my death, I’m eight. If you mean how long have I been around, well…I don’t know. A long time…I think. Time passes differently when you’re dead.”

  “How did you…?”

  “How did I die? Nothing exciting I’m afraid, just a case of good old fashioned flu.” Victor said matter-of-factly.

  “Flu! You died from the flu?” Chloe asked surprised.

  “Yeah, don’t sound so shocked. Loads of people die from the flu.”

  “No they don’t. Almost no one does, I had flu just last month.”

  “Hmmm, times have changed I guess. Well anyway, after I died my parents couldn’t bear to live here anymore. I tried showing myself to them, the way I did to you. But they couldn’t see me; I guess they were too old?”

  Boom- Boom- Boom- Boom.

  “What’s that noise?” Chloe asked nervously. “Is it another ghost?”

  “No,” Victor replied. “I’ve never heard or seen anyone else here, you’re the first.”

  “Well it doesn’t sound friendly.” Chloe said.

  “Hmmm, let’s go find out what it is then shall we?”

  “No!”

  “Why?” Victor asked. “Don’t be scared, I’ll protect you.”

  Chloe grudgingly agreed, and the ghost and child both crept slowly down the stairs towards the sound of the banging.

  Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom!

  It was getting louder; whoever or whatever it was must be getting closer. Chloe turned to look at Victor.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ve got your ghostly friend here to save you.”

  Chloe laughed. She couldn’t believe it, the one thing she’d been really afraid of was now the exact thing that was protecting her. She was actually there, with a ghost! And she was fine with it…how weird.

  Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom!

  The banging was louder again. It sounded like it was coming from the front door.

  “Chloe!” Sarah was shouting from outside. “Chloe come on it’s not funny anymore!”

  “Oh,” Victor sighed. “It’s your friend. I guess you’ll have to leave me now.”

  Chloe felt sad. Yes, he was a ghost, but she had only known Victor for two minutes and he’d offered to protect her. He had proven that he didn’t want to hurt her. He must have been stuck in this house on his own for years.

  All he wanted was a friend, and nobody ever came. Nobody came because of the stories of the haunted house. They were all too afraid of the ghost. Chloe decided that she would be coming back, she had found a new friend in Victor, and she wasn’t
going to let him sit all alone again. She would come back as often as she could to play with him.

  “Yes Victor,” Chloe said. “I’m sorry, I do have to leave, but only cause it’s my dinner time.” She smiled.

  A huge grin widened across Victor’s face.

  “You…you’ll come back?” he asked.

  “Yeah of course I’ll come back,” Chloe said. “You’re my new friend. And you offered to protect me. My ghost in shining armour.”

  “Oh wow, I don’t know what to say. I’ve not had a friend in so long…I…I”

  “Shh,” Chloe whispered. “We’ll be best friends, but before I leave I want you to do me a favour.”

  “Anything,” Victor said.

  Chloe smiled.

  Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom!

  “Chloe open the door!” Sarah shouted.

  The door opened, and Sarah stood face to face with Chloe. Sarah looked petrified.

  “Chloe that wasn’t funny! I thought you were dead!”

  “There,” Chloe said. “I proved I’m not chicken didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Sarah mumbled.

  “Now it’s your turn.”

  “What?” Sarah had a shocked and terrified look on her face.

  “I did it, so now you do it.”

  “B-b-but…”

  “Oh don’t be so scared, I’ll do it with you.”

  Chloe grabbed Sarah’s hand and pulled her into the hallway. The door slammed behind them. Sarah screamed.

  “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be scared of,” Chloe said.

  “Yeah, of course. I wasn’t scared anyway,” Sarah answered, putting on a tough voice.

  “There’s someone behind you!” Chloe shouted.

  “Yeah right, very funny!”

  Chloe’s face straightened. She look at Sarah with a completely serious face now.

  “No, Sarah.” Chloe smiled. “Meet Victor.”

  Sarah turned around.

  Ghost Light

  Alison Clifford

  “See you boys in the morning!”

  “See ya Dad.” Jake looked at his brother Andy. “This is so cool!” They sat in a tent set up in the forest behind their home, and were on their own until morning.

  “What are we going to do?” Andy asked.

  “How about this?” Jake put his torch under his chin, shining it upwards and pulled a face. Andy laughed so hard he fell back on his sleeping bag. “Here’s another one!”

  “Let me have a go!” Andy sat up, and grabbing the torch, put it under his chin and twisted his face as best he could.

  “My turn.” Jake tried to take the torch from him, but Andy dropped it and suddenly the light went out. They fumbled in the dark for a moment, throwing around the things in the tent in the race to find the torch first.

  “Here it is,” Andy yelled, holding the torch up in victory.

  “Quiet,” Jake said. “Dad’s come back - we’re probably in trouble for being too noisy.”

  The boys watched as a light approached, glowing through the green sides of their tent.

  “Hi Dad!” Jake called.

  There was no response.

  “Hello Dad!” Andy had a go, but there was still no answer.

  Jake leaned over to Andy. “I think Dad’s playing a joke on us. Let’s creep out and surprise him.”

  Jake crawled across to the door of the tent with Andy right behind him. “Shh,” he whispered as Andy let out a giggle. Moving slowly so he didn’t make any noise, Jake carefully raised the zipper and lifted the flap. He whispered to Andy, “Ready, set, go…”

  Jake rushed out of the tent, Andy on his heels.

  “RAAR!” they yelled jumping up and down. The light was still for a moment, then flew at them as if it were on wings, terrifying and fast.

  “Run!”

  Jake grabbed Andy’s arm and they sprinted to their house without looking back.

  “DAD! DAD!” they called as they reached the safety of the porch and its bright light. Jake wrenched open the door and they collided with their Dad in the hallway.

  “There was a light…”

  “It came at us….”

  “We thought it was you…”

  “We’re scared.”

  “Hold on boys. Tell me that again,” Dad asked. They told him what they’d seen and what had happened. Dad put an arm around each of their shoulders. “Why don’t you ask Mom to make you some hot chocolate while I go and see if I can find this light.” He gave them a gentle push in the direction of the kitchen.

  “He doesn’t believe us,” Andy whispered.

  “He’ll see,” Jake replied. “The light will go for him too, and then he’ll believe us.”

  Dad come back ten minutes later with their sleeping bags over his arm.

  “I couldn’t find anything,” he said, smiling, “but I brought these back with me. Do you want to camp in the games room instead?”

  “You didn’t see the light?” Jake asked, puzzled. “Not at all?”

  Dad shook his head. “Sorry boys, I didn’t see a thing.”

  “But it was real,” Andy said. “We saw it.”

  Dad rubbed Andy’s head, messing his hair. “Maybe it was scared of me? Why don’t you go and ask Mr Crawley if he knows anything about the light tomorrow? He’s lived here all his life, and part of the forest is on his land. He’ll be able to tell you if anyone else has ever seen your light.”

  “Okay Dad.”

  “Good. Now let’s make a camp.”

  ***

  Jake and Andy walked up the path to Mr Crawley’s front door the next morning. Andy carried a packet of chocolate chip cookies their Mom had told them to give to the old man.

  “It’s a bit creepy here,” Andy whispered to Jake as they stumbled through shrubs that grew over the path. The trees in Mr Crawley’s front yard were big, their branches meeting way above the boys heads. “It’s like walking into a cave, or tunnel, or something.”

  Jake agreed, but wasn’t about to admit it. “Nah. Mr Crawley is too old to do anything about his trees and garden, that’s all. He’s always been nice when we’ve met him before.”

  They reached the front door and Jake knocked confidently, just to show his little brother there was nothing to be scared of.

  “What do you want?” a voice said.

  The boys jumped. Mr Crawley had come around the side of the house and was standing watching them from under his bushy, grey eyebrows.

  “Hello Mr Crawley,” Jake stammered.

  “We brought cookies,” Andy said, holding them out for Mr Crawley’s inspection.

  “So you have,” Mr Crawley replied. His old face creased into a smile. “Come around the back, boys. I’ll get us some lemonade and we can eat some cookies, then you can tell me why you’re here.”

  The old man turned and disappeared back round the side of the house.

  “I told you it would be okay,” Jake whispered as the boys hurried to follow him.

  ***

  The boys had to wait until Mr Crawley had eaten four cookies before they could ask their question.

  “Ah, the light in the forest,” Mr Crawley said, leaning back in his chair. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard tell of people seeing it.”

  “You know what it is?” Andy’s voice squeaked with excitement.

  “Have you seen it too?” Jake asked. He was excited too, but thought he was too old to show it as Andy did. Andy was jiggling in his seat he was so keen to find out more.

  “I have seen it,” the old man said. “A long time ago.” Mr Crawley lowered his voice so the boys had to lean forward to hear. “It’s a ghost light.”

  Andy gasped; his eyes open wide. “A ghost light? Jake, did you hear that? It’s a ghost!”

  Jake grinned. This was turning into a brilliant adventure. Just wait until the kids at school heard about this!

  “Whose ghost is it, Mr Crawley?”

  “It’s the ghost of Fred McNally. He came here a couple of
hundred years ago at the end of the gold rush and had an old mine somewhere over the back of your place. They say he went mad when he couldn’t find the gold and shot anyone who tried to get near his mine.” Mr Crawley’s voice dropped even further. “The light is his ghost, walking the forest to warn people away.”

  Jake’s heart pounded in his chest. They were lucky to have got away last night! He looked at Andy - whose face had gone white.

  “Here boys, have another cookie,” Mr Crawley said, breaking the creepy atmosphere and smiling. “You look like you need one.”

  ***

  Jake was the first to recover, an idea forming in his head as they walked home. “Let’s find the mine.”

  Andy stopped dead. “No way. The ghost will come and get us.”

  “I’ve thought about that. Ghosts only come out at night.”

  “Are you sure?” Andy didn’t look too keen.

  “Yeah, pretty sure. His light won’t work during the day, so that must mean he can’t come after us.” It made sense to Jake, and anyway, he wanted an adventure. “Come on Andy. It’s daytime. We’ll be able to see if anything is following us way before it can get near us.”

  “I don’t know.” Andy’s face had gone white again.

  Jake shrugged. “If you don’t have enough guts to come with me, then you can stay home with Mom.”

  “Hey!” Andy pushed Jake. “I’m as brave as you!”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Then you’ll come with me?”

  Andy put his hands on his hips and stuck his chin up in the air. “Count me in.”

  * * * *

  “Torch?”

  “Check. Jake?”

  “Yes Andy?”

  “Why do we say check?”

  “You have to say it, it’s in the movies.”

  “Oh, okay then.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Jake and Andy headed out across the yard and into the forest behind their home. Jake led the way past where they’d pitched their tent last night - they’d helped Dad take it down that morning - and towards the hill that towered behind the forest.