Ghost Stories October 2016 | Page 10

Village Martha Topping,13 Tentatively, I crept through the abandoned village dreading what dark creatures lurked round the corner. Dead houses constructed from blackened oak wood and cracked glass windows. Rats littered the streets. Swarms of flies ruled the everlasting night. As the lifeless road came to a dreading end. Shadows crept up the bare houses, their chanting muffled by my screams of terror. I dropped down bringing my knees to my chest, clasping my hand to my ears, pinching myself hoping it was just a bad dream. Streams of tears ran down my soft cheeks. The chanting grew louder and the sound of soldiers marching kept the beat as translucent figures draped in torn robes enclosed my innocence. Shredded hands and crooked fingers reached out grabbing and tugging in my clothes. At the moment of terror, crepuscular beams shone through the cracks in the clouds causing the creatures to cower back into the shadows. Slowly...I lifted my heavy head...and looked around with my bloodshot eyes not believing what what happened. I force my shaky legs to stand. Gradually, I start to walk, quickening my pace as I go, desperate to escape from this nightmare. As I turned the cobblestone corner, everything mysteriously disappeared like I was changing from one dreaded world to another. Then, Blackout... 10