The Manor House Horror
by Jonathan Becker
©1999 by Jonathan Becker and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
by Jonathan Becker
©1999 by Jonathan Becker and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
It was only two weeks ago that Mr. Schmuler had announced a “surprise” sleep over trip to somewhere on the Moses campground. Everyone had agreed to that idea, however the next was hard to swallow; that it would be on Halloween weekend.
The major argument would be the loss of the great candy that many of the scouts were hoping for. This did not pose much of a problem to the older scouts since they had almost outgrown trick-or-treating with maybe the exception of Bill Gelinas.
Even though many people protested the date of trip, it stayed on Halloween.
It was a cold (for late October), and through misty clouds hung a silver full moon. All of the scouts arrived on time and the speculation on where they would be camping began. “Well we know it’s in Moses,” stated Aaron.
“Yeah, but the question is where?” inquired Bill Hughes.
“How bout the Aquatics lodge? That place is a little weird,” said Bill Gelinas. The group looked at him as though he was crazy.
“Why do you say that?” said Mike.
“I don’t know, it’s creepy… like with all of those spider webs and snails and stuff,” said Bill. They gave him that look again.
“Anyway, we’ll find out when we get there,” said Aaron.
“Hey, Mr. Schmuler, aren’t you coming?” asked Hughes.
“No, I have work to do,” said Mr. Schmuler. ”The McGraws are going instead.” Aaron chuckled to himself then whispered to Mike, “And who says that Halloween doesn’t bring out the weirdoes?”
“It looks like everyone is here, so find someone to ride with and have a nice time,” said Mr. Schmuler.
“Hey, where’s Matt?” said Bill.
“He told me that he’ll meet us up at camp,” said Mike. The four had to find rides since their parents had left in a rush claiming they had things to do and errands to run.
“Hey guys! Come on!” yelled Jon Becker from the side of his mother’s car. They piled into the white mini-van. Becker had his headphones on despite the fact that the car radio was on. His head bobbed to the music inside his skull.
“Everyone buckled in? Let’s go!” called Mrs. Becker from the driver’s seat.
The trip to Camp Moses was long and melodious as always. The line of several parent’s cars came to a stop in the parking lot beside the trading post. The group was not surprised to see the form of Matt Atanian, in his trench coat, standing, and waiting, already there.
Everyone exited the cars and mobbed towards Mr. McGraw eagerly awaiting the revelation of their “mystery” camping spot.
Mr. McGraw cleared his trout and announced. “We shall be staying, (dramatic pause) in the Manor House.” At this everyone gasped, especially the smaller scouts, who had heard that the large building was haunted.
The Manor House was the large, ancient building in the center of the camp that had been the home of Horace A. Moses before he donated all of his land to Scouts for their camp.
Aaron whispered to Mike, “I wonder how they pulled that one off? I thought no one stayed there.”
Mike shrugged. “Maybe the council just doesn’t care if our Troop gets asbestos poisoning.”
Mr. McGraw walked up to the Manor House’s front door and gave a sharp knock. A small man in overalls appeared and began to converse with the Assistant Scoutmaster.
“I never knew that the Manor House had a caretaker…” pondered Gelinas.
Bill Hughes hushed him as Mr. McGraw walked back over to the scouts.
“Well, lets get everyone in,” he said with a pause, “then I’ll discuss the rules.” At that everyone crammed through the door. Matt looked up. The weatherman had predicted rain later, he thought as he saw large gray clouds roll across the sky.
As soon as the last of the scouts rushed through the door there was a large crack and the sound of thunder rippled through the house. Sheets of rain began to pelt the roof as Mr. McGraw closed the door. Aaron, Matt, Mike, and the two Bills breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight was going to be interesting.
Mike felt someone tap on his shoulder. It was Becker holding up the Ghostbusters II soundtrack. He grinned and turned back to Mr. McGraw.
“First of all, we should feel honored to be able to use the Manor House,” started Mr. McGraw as he put his hands behind his back and began to pace around in a line. “Secondly, we should treat it with care as with any present and not destroy the place! Also, like I said at summer camp, we’re going to have fun… got it!?! Now, all you rug rats get your stuff unpacked, OK?”
Almost at once, many of the scouts jumped to a free space on the floor and unrolled their sleeping bags. Aaron, Matt, Mike, and the Bills decided not to get involved with any floor-space battles so they searched in the other rooms.
As they were walking down a hallway, Billy peered into an open door. “Wow, I never noticed this before.” The others looked back to see his discovery.
The room was large. It had a fireplace and two antique chairs that sat in the middle of the room, but the most distinguishing feature was the large shelves lining the walls that were filled with books. Large books, small books; all leather bound. The group’s jaws were slack with amazement. The first one to break the silence was Gelinas. “I never knew the Manor House had a library.”
“For once I agree with you,” said Aaron.
“It’s funny, all the years I’ve been in Scouts, and all the times I’ve been in the Manor House, and I never noticed it, either,” Matt added.
“But, Mike said, “I guess we found a place to stay.” They began to cautiously enter the room and set down their sleeping bags when a familiar voice surprised them.
“Hey, guys!” yelled Becker.
“Can we help you?” asked Hughes.
“Do you mind if I could stay with you guys? Everywhere else was taken,” said Becker.
“I don’t know,” said Aaron.
“Come on,” pleaded Jon, “I gave you a ride here.”
“Alright fine.”
“Thanks, you guys are great,” said Becker as he let his sleeping bag drop on the floor.
They barely got their bags unrolled when they heard another familiar voice.
“Um, can I stay here tonight?” the voice timidly called out. It was Kenny.
“Sure,” said Matt.
They were finely ready when Becker asked, “Any one for a game of Magic?”
“I don’t know, I’m a little tired,” said Billy.
“Come on, it’s only 9:00,” said Becker as he yawned unconsciously.
“Hmm, I feel tired too, anyone else?” said Mike. For some reason everyone agreed. They all began to yawn and rub their eyes, even Becker.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s the air,” acknowledged Matt.
They slowly began to crawl in to their sleeping bags and close their eyes… and then the terror begun.
Hughes’s Dream:
“Bil-l-l-ly.”
Bill Hughes awoke in a dark room. Suddenly a bright pillar of light enveloped him. He threw his hands in front of his face. He jumped when he thought he heard something to his left move.
“Bil-l-l-ly.”
His whole body began to shake, he heard rustling behind him.
“Bil-l-l-ly, we’re coming.”
As he adjusted to the light hundreds of small beady red eyes appeared all around him. His heart began to race. “What do you want?” he gasped.
“Bil-l-l-ly, we want you, Bil-l-l-ly.”
“No, get away!”
Then something stepped into the light, it could have been a sheep but its sharp pointed horns and foaming mouth cast it as something else. Suddenly dozens of them charged from every side. Bill started to scream but was cut off as they all overtook him.
Mike’s Dream:
It had been several days now since Agents Scully and Quadrozzi had opened this X-file. Agent “Quad” had a hunch that the answer was hidden somewhere in the old mansion they were in now.
Both welding very powerful flashlights, they stepped over the rubble that cluttered the floor. Suddenly Agent Quadrozzi tripped into Agent Scully landing them both into very, convincing, positions.
“Quad” grinned and surprisingly so did Scully. “Quad, I never noticed how handsome you are,” said Scully as she combed her fingers through Quadrozzi’s hair. Quad felt warm, and obviously so did Scully by observing several beads of sweat forming on her brow.
Suddenly Scully’s face twisted into a look of sheer terror. Quad looked over to see Scully’s hand turn from pink to pale to sickeningly clear. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. Quad’s eyes widened with shock to see that Scully’s whole body turn slightly transparent as if to be drained by some invisible vampire. He saw this before, but where?
Oh yes, the thought hit him like a ton of bricks. People turned this color just before an alien rips out of them.
Almost on cue a large clawed hand slashed through Scully’s blouse. Quad started to back up as the rest of the alien emerged for the remains of Scully. Mike quickly turned to run only forgetting the wall behind him, he hit it head on.
Just before blacking out Quad could swear he could see Sam Neil sitting in a chair with an evil grin on his face. His haunting words echoed in Quad’s head as he slowly closed his eyelids. “Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.”
Aaron’s Dream:
Aaron felt happy.
The reason Aaron felt happy was that it was a sunny day, the birds were chirping, and he was having a nice picnic outside with his girlfriend Kirstin Porter… or so it seems.
Unbeknownst to Aaron that unwillingly he has stepped into a dimension of light and sound, a dimension that fringes on the very edges of human comprehension. A dimension called the Nightmare Zone. Let us see what happens to Aaron as he aimlessly wanders the Nightmare Zone.
“More juice?” asked Kirstin.
Aaron obliged by raising his glass.
Kirstin slowly began to pour as she said, “I think a relationship should hold no secrets, don’t you honey?”
Aaron grunted an affirmative as he took a sip of the punch.
“Don’t you think our relationship should have no secrets?”
Aaron looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t think that you have been entirely honest with me.”
Aaron wrinkled his brow in befuddlement. “I still don’t get what you’re saying.”
Kirstin inched closer to Aaron. “I’m saying that I believe that I saw you with another girl.”
Aaron felt shocked. “I… I would never be with anyone but you.”
Kirstin crawled closer and fumbled for something in the picnic basket. “Don’t lie to me, you know how I hate people who lie to me… but I have something just in case you are lying.”
Lightning flashed in Kirstin’s eyes, she quickly brought her hand that was in the basket lancing up into the air. She clutched an exceptionally large butcher knife in it.
“Oh my God, what, what are you doing?!?”
“I’m just making sure I will be the only one!” Her other hand groped for Aaron’s jeans.
Aaron scrambled backwards out of her reach. One of his hands startlingly could find only air. Aaron looked behind him only to find a yawning chasm at his back. As Kirstin’s knife came ever closer to his, ahem, family jewels, Aaron made a choice. He turned on his stomach and pushed off into the canyon. Kirstin’s haunting laughter only echoed his screams.
Billy’s Dream:
Bill was enjoying his night alone. He promptly shoved the bag of popcorn he was holding into the microwave. After a number of beeps he hit the start button.
He proceeded into his family room and turned on the TV. He quickly realized the signature shower scene from Psycho. And with a push of a switch, he flipped on his computer. With two clicks of his mouse, he was on-line.
He sighed and was about to return to the movie when an instant message appeared on his screen. He noticed it was from someone he didn’t know. It was a very strange question; “Do you like scary movies?”
Bill pondered this for a few seconds then replied, “Who is this?”
The question remained, “Do you like scary movies?”
Bill quickly typed “Yes…”
Several seconds later a new message appeared, “What is your favorite?”
Bill was undecided. “I don’t know?”
“How about Psycho?”
Bill turned around, the TV was still on, along with Psycho. “Huh? How do you know?”
“I know everything.”
Bill realized this was becoming too weird. He reached for his secret weapon; a punter he had covertly obtained off of a site. Grinning, he typed, “Bye, bye.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Bill was starting to get goosebumps. “Where? How?”
Bill looked out the window. Suddenly the microwave dinged. Bill turned around, then out of no-where, someone in a black costume with a ghost mask jumped through the bay window. He brandished a large cutting knife and knocked Bill to the ground.
“Hey, wait a minute. How could you have IMed me if you were outside and how come you’re not torn apart by the glass shards?”
The ghostly assassin just muttered, “Shut up Bill” and rose his blade. Bill blacked out with still another question forming in his head.
Matt’s Dream:
Matt felt strange. He yawned and started to open his eyes.
Whoa, am I dead?
Everywhere around him was bright, the only thing he could make out was a short old man with spectacles and a long white robe on. The old man appeared to be saying something, but Matt couldn’t make it out.
Matt rubbed his temples and looked down. His heart began to race. Oh great, he thought, someone must of splashed me with some cold water.
Matty began to regain her senses; her vision started to clear. As she looked around the immediate area she felt like she was going to faint. Who are all these people, and why am I wearing a dress? Her view finally reached her side, which brought about another shock. Standing right next to her with a broad smile on his face was that ever so repulsive Taylor Kuntz.
“Finaly, awake my dear?” he said.
Matty took two steps back. “What do you want?” she sputtered.
“Just say I do,” said Taylor, still grinning.
Matty put 2 and 2 together and got 5. “What..?”
“But dear it’s our wedding!”
Wrong answer! Matty turned and tried to run but it felt like her feet were made of lead, or maybe it was just the high heels. She tripped and fell onto the carpeted floor. Kuntz, in his disheveled tux had a viselike grip on her legs.
Matty felt weak again but the words of Kuntz echoed in her head, “Say ‘I do’, say ‘I do’…”
Simultaneously, Bill, Billy, Mike, Aaron, and Matt jerked awake. Sweaty and frightened by their disturbing dreams, they lay there panting. It was first Matt to realize where they were and what had happened. “Uh, did you guys just…”
He didn’t even need to finish his sentence, they are shook their heads in an affirmative. Billy started towards the window. “Man, I need some fresh air.”
“Bill, no!!!” everyone screamed, but it was too late. Billy threw up the windowsill and in came about 20 gallons of rushing water. It, of course, drenched everyone who was awake.
“Chikusho,” Matty cursed as she hastily shut the window. “Great, and the Manor House’s hot water isn’t working,” she added as she gestured towards the four animals around her. “Oh well, I do think the gas is on though, come on.”
Just before Matty left she checked on the two remaining scouts. Becker still had his headphones on, but with softer volume, and Kenny looked ok. That’s weird, Matty thought, shouldn’t the water have had woken them up? Oh well. The group of animal and one human left the sodden scene.
“This hall way is longer than I remember,” Matty said as she tried to find where they were. The group, however, continued on.
Something caught Hughes’s eye. He, to his surprise, looked over to see a plump, juicy mouse scamper just out of it’s hole back into the darkness the group had just come from. Hughes for some reason always felt the need to act the part when in his animal form, and so he turned around and stalked after it.
He had not gone far when he realized that he could no longer hear his friends. He also had lost the mouse. He was about to turn back when he saw something in the darkness move. It was larger then any mouse he had ever saw, in fact, it was larger then him. Hughes’s back began to arch, his fur stood up on end, and a high hiss escaped his mouth. Something plopped on his head, something green. He looked up, fear hit him straight on, the mouse he was just chasing appeared to be stuck to the sealing in some sort of goo. He looked back in to the darkness in front of him, his ears strained to hear a soft tapping noise, then a rasp breathing noise. That was the last straw. He rocketed back in the opposite direction.
Matty suddenly felt a woosh of air then something furry on her head. She sighed, “Bill, get off of me!” She started to pull at the cat but he wouldn’t let go. “Bill, let go NOW!” The frightened cat finally remembered where he was and sheathed his claws. Matty took the cat off of his previous resting-place and held him in her arms. Hughes couldn’t resist the opportunity and started to snuggle against Matty’s chest.
“Bill, what the HELL do you think you are doing!?!” Matty said as she promptly let the now dazed cat fall to the floor.
Finally they reached the kitchen. Matty started to rummage through the cupboards for the coffee kettle and a few matches. She turned the gas on and lit the burner, then she quietly filled the kettle and set it on the stove.
Suddenly Mike, who was standing watch, chirped a warning. Someone or something was coming down the hall. Hughes, Aaron and Mike hid in some empty cupboards, while Billy and Matty squeezed between the refrigerator and a wall. The terrified scouts curiously peeked out of their hiding spots to get a look at the walking monstrosity.
It wasn’t tall but had three green eyes in each socket and yellow skin. It had no hair but only long tubes attached to the side of its head. Its fur was pink with short and long patches all along its body. It shuffled over to the coffee kettle and grabbed for a cup on the counter. It poured some of the lukewarm water in the cup, and placed a small tea packet in the water. And without a sound, shuffled back to the way it came.
The scouts, seeing that the coast was clear, crept out of their hiding places. Matty walked over to the coffee pot and checked the temperature. Finally, she thought. She grabbed some towels from the cupboard and threw them to the other scouts. She then dispersed the water amongst them.
When they got back the fire was now lit, and someone was sitting in the chairs. It was Becker and Kenny, both with their heads in a book, and Becker for once sans headphones. Becker glanced over at the towel-wearing scouts and shaking his head, he said, “I don’t even want to know.” The two Bills, Aaron and Mike started to head for their extra clothes when Becker said, “I couldn’t sleep, my batteries went dead, and I just changed them too. I saw the fire going so I thought I should read, seeing how you guys suddenly left.”
After the rest of the scouts got changed Becker got up and headed to the bookshelves. He turned and with a small grin held the book he was reading in front of a vacant spot. He let the book go and to everyone’s amazement it didn’t drop, only wobbled and then as if sucked by a vacuum it deposited itself in to the empty spot. Becker then began to look for another book. He began to point to different ones. Each time, the chosen book would slide halfway out and then in as he changed his selection. He finally chose a book, which immediately flew to his hand. “Neat, huh?” said Becker as he returned to his seat.
Kenny then said, “Hey, everyone, look, it’s doing it again!” And to amazement of the other scouts, still not over the other shock, nearly fainted. The blaze that roared in the fireplace was now changing colors. It slowly shifted from pink to red to orange to green to blue to gray to black and to a bright white and back again.
That was too much, and Billy had to say something. “What? How? Who?” he jabbered.
It, of course, was Kenny who answered. “Why, it is simply ectoplasmic activity, or other words, ghosts.”
It was Becker who simply said, “I think they’re trying to scare us.”
Aaron obviously wasn’t pleased when he said, “Well they’re not doing too great of a job at it.” The fire suddenly stopped changing colors and died down low.
“Great, now look what you did, you insulted them,” said Becker. That’s when all hell broke loose. Everything in the room started flying much to the displeasure of all the scouts. Books, bags, chairs and scouts alike began to fly on near crash-courses with each other.
Then finally gravity came back with a vengeance. Everything in the room slammed back to the floor. The only ones standing were Becker and Kenny who seemed unfazed. When Mike, the two Bills, Aaron, and Matt got to their feet, they were in for another shock.
Both Becker and Kenny grasped their faces in each hand, and with the technique of one pealing an orange, the two scouts ripped off their faces, revealing hideous green alien-like looks underneath. Suddenly everything turned green and red, both Bills screamed in their falsetto voices, Aaron fainted, Mike grabbed his chest and started sweating, and… Matt, woke up.
Matt woke up, in his house still sitting where he fell asleep. He had a bowl of empty chocolate wrappers on the table next to him. He groaned, and got up. He nearly knocked over the small, animated witch that was stationed in front of the window. Ah, Halloween, he thought. Matt then turned off the front light and made his way to bed.
The major argument would be the loss of the great candy that many of the scouts were hoping for. This did not pose much of a problem to the older scouts since they had almost outgrown trick-or-treating with maybe the exception of Bill Gelinas.
Even though many people protested the date of trip, it stayed on Halloween.
It was a cold (for late October), and through misty clouds hung a silver full moon. All of the scouts arrived on time and the speculation on where they would be camping began. “Well we know it’s in Moses,” stated Aaron.
“Yeah, but the question is where?” inquired Bill Hughes.
“How bout the Aquatics lodge? That place is a little weird,” said Bill Gelinas. The group looked at him as though he was crazy.
“Why do you say that?” said Mike.
“I don’t know, it’s creepy… like with all of those spider webs and snails and stuff,” said Bill. They gave him that look again.
“Anyway, we’ll find out when we get there,” said Aaron.
“Hey, Mr. Schmuler, aren’t you coming?” asked Hughes.
“No, I have work to do,” said Mr. Schmuler. ”The McGraws are going instead.” Aaron chuckled to himself then whispered to Mike, “And who says that Halloween doesn’t bring out the weirdoes?”
“It looks like everyone is here, so find someone to ride with and have a nice time,” said Mr. Schmuler.
“Hey, where’s Matt?” said Bill.
“He told me that he’ll meet us up at camp,” said Mike. The four had to find rides since their parents had left in a rush claiming they had things to do and errands to run.
“Hey guys! Come on!” yelled Jon Becker from the side of his mother’s car. They piled into the white mini-van. Becker had his headphones on despite the fact that the car radio was on. His head bobbed to the music inside his skull.
“Everyone buckled in? Let’s go!” called Mrs. Becker from the driver’s seat.
The trip to Camp Moses was long and melodious as always. The line of several parent’s cars came to a stop in the parking lot beside the trading post. The group was not surprised to see the form of Matt Atanian, in his trench coat, standing, and waiting, already there.
Everyone exited the cars and mobbed towards Mr. McGraw eagerly awaiting the revelation of their “mystery” camping spot.
Mr. McGraw cleared his trout and announced. “We shall be staying, (dramatic pause) in the Manor House.” At this everyone gasped, especially the smaller scouts, who had heard that the large building was haunted.
The Manor House was the large, ancient building in the center of the camp that had been the home of Horace A. Moses before he donated all of his land to Scouts for their camp.
Aaron whispered to Mike, “I wonder how they pulled that one off? I thought no one stayed there.”
Mike shrugged. “Maybe the council just doesn’t care if our Troop gets asbestos poisoning.”
Mr. McGraw walked up to the Manor House’s front door and gave a sharp knock. A small man in overalls appeared and began to converse with the Assistant Scoutmaster.
“I never knew that the Manor House had a caretaker…” pondered Gelinas.
Bill Hughes hushed him as Mr. McGraw walked back over to the scouts.
“Well, lets get everyone in,” he said with a pause, “then I’ll discuss the rules.” At that everyone crammed through the door. Matt looked up. The weatherman had predicted rain later, he thought as he saw large gray clouds roll across the sky.
As soon as the last of the scouts rushed through the door there was a large crack and the sound of thunder rippled through the house. Sheets of rain began to pelt the roof as Mr. McGraw closed the door. Aaron, Matt, Mike, and the two Bills breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight was going to be interesting.
Mike felt someone tap on his shoulder. It was Becker holding up the Ghostbusters II soundtrack. He grinned and turned back to Mr. McGraw.
“First of all, we should feel honored to be able to use the Manor House,” started Mr. McGraw as he put his hands behind his back and began to pace around in a line. “Secondly, we should treat it with care as with any present and not destroy the place! Also, like I said at summer camp, we’re going to have fun… got it!?! Now, all you rug rats get your stuff unpacked, OK?”
Almost at once, many of the scouts jumped to a free space on the floor and unrolled their sleeping bags. Aaron, Matt, Mike, and the Bills decided not to get involved with any floor-space battles so they searched in the other rooms.
As they were walking down a hallway, Billy peered into an open door. “Wow, I never noticed this before.” The others looked back to see his discovery.
The room was large. It had a fireplace and two antique chairs that sat in the middle of the room, but the most distinguishing feature was the large shelves lining the walls that were filled with books. Large books, small books; all leather bound. The group’s jaws were slack with amazement. The first one to break the silence was Gelinas. “I never knew the Manor House had a library.”
“For once I agree with you,” said Aaron.
“It’s funny, all the years I’ve been in Scouts, and all the times I’ve been in the Manor House, and I never noticed it, either,” Matt added.
“But, Mike said, “I guess we found a place to stay.” They began to cautiously enter the room and set down their sleeping bags when a familiar voice surprised them.
“Hey, guys!” yelled Becker.
“Can we help you?” asked Hughes.
“Do you mind if I could stay with you guys? Everywhere else was taken,” said Becker.
“I don’t know,” said Aaron.
“Come on,” pleaded Jon, “I gave you a ride here.”
“Alright fine.”
“Thanks, you guys are great,” said Becker as he let his sleeping bag drop on the floor.
They barely got their bags unrolled when they heard another familiar voice.
“Um, can I stay here tonight?” the voice timidly called out. It was Kenny.
“Sure,” said Matt.
They were finely ready when Becker asked, “Any one for a game of Magic?”
“I don’t know, I’m a little tired,” said Billy.
“Come on, it’s only 9:00,” said Becker as he yawned unconsciously.
“Hmm, I feel tired too, anyone else?” said Mike. For some reason everyone agreed. They all began to yawn and rub their eyes, even Becker.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s the air,” acknowledged Matt.
They slowly began to crawl in to their sleeping bags and close their eyes… and then the terror begun.
Hughes’s Dream:
“Bil-l-l-ly.”
Bill Hughes awoke in a dark room. Suddenly a bright pillar of light enveloped him. He threw his hands in front of his face. He jumped when he thought he heard something to his left move.
“Bil-l-l-ly.”
His whole body began to shake, he heard rustling behind him.
“Bil-l-l-ly, we’re coming.”
As he adjusted to the light hundreds of small beady red eyes appeared all around him. His heart began to race. “What do you want?” he gasped.
“Bil-l-l-ly, we want you, Bil-l-l-ly.”
“No, get away!”
Then something stepped into the light, it could have been a sheep but its sharp pointed horns and foaming mouth cast it as something else. Suddenly dozens of them charged from every side. Bill started to scream but was cut off as they all overtook him.
Mike’s Dream:
It had been several days now since Agents Scully and Quadrozzi had opened this X-file. Agent “Quad” had a hunch that the answer was hidden somewhere in the old mansion they were in now.
Both welding very powerful flashlights, they stepped over the rubble that cluttered the floor. Suddenly Agent Quadrozzi tripped into Agent Scully landing them both into very, convincing, positions.
“Quad” grinned and surprisingly so did Scully. “Quad, I never noticed how handsome you are,” said Scully as she combed her fingers through Quadrozzi’s hair. Quad felt warm, and obviously so did Scully by observing several beads of sweat forming on her brow.
Suddenly Scully’s face twisted into a look of sheer terror. Quad looked over to see Scully’s hand turn from pink to pale to sickeningly clear. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. Quad’s eyes widened with shock to see that Scully’s whole body turn slightly transparent as if to be drained by some invisible vampire. He saw this before, but where?
Oh yes, the thought hit him like a ton of bricks. People turned this color just before an alien rips out of them.
Almost on cue a large clawed hand slashed through Scully’s blouse. Quad started to back up as the rest of the alien emerged for the remains of Scully. Mike quickly turned to run only forgetting the wall behind him, he hit it head on.
Just before blacking out Quad could swear he could see Sam Neil sitting in a chair with an evil grin on his face. His haunting words echoed in Quad’s head as he slowly closed his eyelids. “Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.”
Aaron’s Dream:
Aaron felt happy.
The reason Aaron felt happy was that it was a sunny day, the birds were chirping, and he was having a nice picnic outside with his girlfriend Kirstin Porter… or so it seems.
Unbeknownst to Aaron that unwillingly he has stepped into a dimension of light and sound, a dimension that fringes on the very edges of human comprehension. A dimension called the Nightmare Zone. Let us see what happens to Aaron as he aimlessly wanders the Nightmare Zone.
“More juice?” asked Kirstin.
Aaron obliged by raising his glass.
Kirstin slowly began to pour as she said, “I think a relationship should hold no secrets, don’t you honey?”
Aaron grunted an affirmative as he took a sip of the punch.
“Don’t you think our relationship should have no secrets?”
Aaron looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t think that you have been entirely honest with me.”
Aaron wrinkled his brow in befuddlement. “I still don’t get what you’re saying.”
Kirstin inched closer to Aaron. “I’m saying that I believe that I saw you with another girl.”
Aaron felt shocked. “I… I would never be with anyone but you.”
Kirstin crawled closer and fumbled for something in the picnic basket. “Don’t lie to me, you know how I hate people who lie to me… but I have something just in case you are lying.”
Lightning flashed in Kirstin’s eyes, she quickly brought her hand that was in the basket lancing up into the air. She clutched an exceptionally large butcher knife in it.
“Oh my God, what, what are you doing?!?”
“I’m just making sure I will be the only one!” Her other hand groped for Aaron’s jeans.
Aaron scrambled backwards out of her reach. One of his hands startlingly could find only air. Aaron looked behind him only to find a yawning chasm at his back. As Kirstin’s knife came ever closer to his, ahem, family jewels, Aaron made a choice. He turned on his stomach and pushed off into the canyon. Kirstin’s haunting laughter only echoed his screams.
Billy’s Dream:
Bill was enjoying his night alone. He promptly shoved the bag of popcorn he was holding into the microwave. After a number of beeps he hit the start button.
He proceeded into his family room and turned on the TV. He quickly realized the signature shower scene from Psycho. And with a push of a switch, he flipped on his computer. With two clicks of his mouse, he was on-line.
He sighed and was about to return to the movie when an instant message appeared on his screen. He noticed it was from someone he didn’t know. It was a very strange question; “Do you like scary movies?”
Bill pondered this for a few seconds then replied, “Who is this?”
The question remained, “Do you like scary movies?”
Bill quickly typed “Yes…”
Several seconds later a new message appeared, “What is your favorite?”
Bill was undecided. “I don’t know?”
“How about Psycho?”
Bill turned around, the TV was still on, along with Psycho. “Huh? How do you know?”
“I know everything.”
Bill realized this was becoming too weird. He reached for his secret weapon; a punter he had covertly obtained off of a site. Grinning, he typed, “Bye, bye.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Bill was starting to get goosebumps. “Where? How?”
Bill looked out the window. Suddenly the microwave dinged. Bill turned around, then out of no-where, someone in a black costume with a ghost mask jumped through the bay window. He brandished a large cutting knife and knocked Bill to the ground.
“Hey, wait a minute. How could you have IMed me if you were outside and how come you’re not torn apart by the glass shards?”
The ghostly assassin just muttered, “Shut up Bill” and rose his blade. Bill blacked out with still another question forming in his head.
Matt’s Dream:
Matt felt strange. He yawned and started to open his eyes.
Whoa, am I dead?
Everywhere around him was bright, the only thing he could make out was a short old man with spectacles and a long white robe on. The old man appeared to be saying something, but Matt couldn’t make it out.
Matt rubbed his temples and looked down. His heart began to race. Oh great, he thought, someone must of splashed me with some cold water.
Matty began to regain her senses; her vision started to clear. As she looked around the immediate area she felt like she was going to faint. Who are all these people, and why am I wearing a dress? Her view finally reached her side, which brought about another shock. Standing right next to her with a broad smile on his face was that ever so repulsive Taylor Kuntz.
“Finaly, awake my dear?” he said.
Matty took two steps back. “What do you want?” she sputtered.
“Just say I do,” said Taylor, still grinning.
Matty put 2 and 2 together and got 5. “What..?”
“But dear it’s our wedding!”
Wrong answer! Matty turned and tried to run but it felt like her feet were made of lead, or maybe it was just the high heels. She tripped and fell onto the carpeted floor. Kuntz, in his disheveled tux had a viselike grip on her legs.
Matty felt weak again but the words of Kuntz echoed in her head, “Say ‘I do’, say ‘I do’…”
Simultaneously, Bill, Billy, Mike, Aaron, and Matt jerked awake. Sweaty and frightened by their disturbing dreams, they lay there panting. It was first Matt to realize where they were and what had happened. “Uh, did you guys just…”
He didn’t even need to finish his sentence, they are shook their heads in an affirmative. Billy started towards the window. “Man, I need some fresh air.”
“Bill, no!!!” everyone screamed, but it was too late. Billy threw up the windowsill and in came about 20 gallons of rushing water. It, of course, drenched everyone who was awake.
“Chikusho,” Matty cursed as she hastily shut the window. “Great, and the Manor House’s hot water isn’t working,” she added as she gestured towards the four animals around her. “Oh well, I do think the gas is on though, come on.”
Just before Matty left she checked on the two remaining scouts. Becker still had his headphones on, but with softer volume, and Kenny looked ok. That’s weird, Matty thought, shouldn’t the water have had woken them up? Oh well. The group of animal and one human left the sodden scene.
“This hall way is longer than I remember,” Matty said as she tried to find where they were. The group, however, continued on.
Something caught Hughes’s eye. He, to his surprise, looked over to see a plump, juicy mouse scamper just out of it’s hole back into the darkness the group had just come from. Hughes for some reason always felt the need to act the part when in his animal form, and so he turned around and stalked after it.
He had not gone far when he realized that he could no longer hear his friends. He also had lost the mouse. He was about to turn back when he saw something in the darkness move. It was larger then any mouse he had ever saw, in fact, it was larger then him. Hughes’s back began to arch, his fur stood up on end, and a high hiss escaped his mouth. Something plopped on his head, something green. He looked up, fear hit him straight on, the mouse he was just chasing appeared to be stuck to the sealing in some sort of goo. He looked back in to the darkness in front of him, his ears strained to hear a soft tapping noise, then a rasp breathing noise. That was the last straw. He rocketed back in the opposite direction.
Matty suddenly felt a woosh of air then something furry on her head. She sighed, “Bill, get off of me!” She started to pull at the cat but he wouldn’t let go. “Bill, let go NOW!” The frightened cat finally remembered where he was and sheathed his claws. Matty took the cat off of his previous resting-place and held him in her arms. Hughes couldn’t resist the opportunity and started to snuggle against Matty’s chest.
“Bill, what the HELL do you think you are doing!?!” Matty said as she promptly let the now dazed cat fall to the floor.
Finally they reached the kitchen. Matty started to rummage through the cupboards for the coffee kettle and a few matches. She turned the gas on and lit the burner, then she quietly filled the kettle and set it on the stove.
Suddenly Mike, who was standing watch, chirped a warning. Someone or something was coming down the hall. Hughes, Aaron and Mike hid in some empty cupboards, while Billy and Matty squeezed between the refrigerator and a wall. The terrified scouts curiously peeked out of their hiding spots to get a look at the walking monstrosity.
It wasn’t tall but had three green eyes in each socket and yellow skin. It had no hair but only long tubes attached to the side of its head. Its fur was pink with short and long patches all along its body. It shuffled over to the coffee kettle and grabbed for a cup on the counter. It poured some of the lukewarm water in the cup, and placed a small tea packet in the water. And without a sound, shuffled back to the way it came.
The scouts, seeing that the coast was clear, crept out of their hiding places. Matty walked over to the coffee pot and checked the temperature. Finally, she thought. She grabbed some towels from the cupboard and threw them to the other scouts. She then dispersed the water amongst them.
When they got back the fire was now lit, and someone was sitting in the chairs. It was Becker and Kenny, both with their heads in a book, and Becker for once sans headphones. Becker glanced over at the towel-wearing scouts and shaking his head, he said, “I don’t even want to know.” The two Bills, Aaron and Mike started to head for their extra clothes when Becker said, “I couldn’t sleep, my batteries went dead, and I just changed them too. I saw the fire going so I thought I should read, seeing how you guys suddenly left.”
After the rest of the scouts got changed Becker got up and headed to the bookshelves. He turned and with a small grin held the book he was reading in front of a vacant spot. He let the book go and to everyone’s amazement it didn’t drop, only wobbled and then as if sucked by a vacuum it deposited itself in to the empty spot. Becker then began to look for another book. He began to point to different ones. Each time, the chosen book would slide halfway out and then in as he changed his selection. He finally chose a book, which immediately flew to his hand. “Neat, huh?” said Becker as he returned to his seat.
Kenny then said, “Hey, everyone, look, it’s doing it again!” And to amazement of the other scouts, still not over the other shock, nearly fainted. The blaze that roared in the fireplace was now changing colors. It slowly shifted from pink to red to orange to green to blue to gray to black and to a bright white and back again.
That was too much, and Billy had to say something. “What? How? Who?” he jabbered.
It, of course, was Kenny who answered. “Why, it is simply ectoplasmic activity, or other words, ghosts.”
It was Becker who simply said, “I think they’re trying to scare us.”
Aaron obviously wasn’t pleased when he said, “Well they’re not doing too great of a job at it.” The fire suddenly stopped changing colors and died down low.
“Great, now look what you did, you insulted them,” said Becker. That’s when all hell broke loose. Everything in the room started flying much to the displeasure of all the scouts. Books, bags, chairs and scouts alike began to fly on near crash-courses with each other.
Then finally gravity came back with a vengeance. Everything in the room slammed back to the floor. The only ones standing were Becker and Kenny who seemed unfazed. When Mike, the two Bills, Aaron, and Matt got to their feet, they were in for another shock.
Both Becker and Kenny grasped their faces in each hand, and with the technique of one pealing an orange, the two scouts ripped off their faces, revealing hideous green alien-like looks underneath. Suddenly everything turned green and red, both Bills screamed in their falsetto voices, Aaron fainted, Mike grabbed his chest and started sweating, and… Matt, woke up.
Matt woke up, in his house still sitting where he fell asleep. He had a bowl of empty chocolate wrappers on the table next to him. He groaned, and got up. He nearly knocked over the small, animated witch that was stationed in front of the window. Ah, Halloween, he thought. Matt then turned off the front light and made his way to bed.
Fin.
Disclaimer
Certain aspects of this story are inspired by certain horror flicks. Thank you for reading my story, I hope you are impressed as I am with it. I had a lot of fun writing it.
I would like to thank the little gremlins that live in my heating system for all the great ideas, and for Matt letting me actually write a Boy Scouts ½ story.
Oh and by the by, the shadowy figure Bill saw was the Licker from Resident Evil 2 (a great video game), also used with out permission. (Lucky for you, Jon, that you didn’t identify it as a Licker in the story itself. RE2 wasn’t out yet in 1997. –-Matt) And the monstrosity all of the scouts saw in the kitchen was Mrs. McGraw, in her nighttime makeup.
This story was written without the consent of the Boy Scouts of America, and if they ever found out about these stories, they would probably send the Chinese Mafia to break my thumbs. Also, Jusenkyo curses are from Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma ½, used without permission.
(I do not still Trick-or-Treat. Any Halloween candy I have is mearly leftovers from what my family hands out to those who still do partake in the annual door-to-door ritual. -–Matt)
I would like to thank the little gremlins that live in my heating system for all the great ideas, and for Matt letting me actually write a Boy Scouts ½ story.
Oh and by the by, the shadowy figure Bill saw was the Licker from Resident Evil 2 (a great video game), also used with out permission. (Lucky for you, Jon, that you didn’t identify it as a Licker in the story itself. RE2 wasn’t out yet in 1997. –-Matt) And the monstrosity all of the scouts saw in the kitchen was Mrs. McGraw, in her nighttime makeup.
This story was written without the consent of the Boy Scouts of America, and if they ever found out about these stories, they would probably send the Chinese Mafia to break my thumbs. Also, Jusenkyo curses are from Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma ½, used without permission.
(I do not still Trick-or-Treat. Any Halloween candy I have is mearly leftovers from what my family hands out to those who still do partake in the annual door-to-door ritual. -–Matt)