Ghost Stories

We heard the sounds through the icy December air: plentiful, with each step growing louder and louder, boring into our heads, as we made our way into the cemetery. We were silent in our endeavor to find the grave. We had all heard the rumors, but we were a little too skeptical to believe it

"Um, I think it's over there," I pointed, shaking. Xavier turned his head over to the spot.

“Are you sure that's it?" he asked.

"More or less. Hey, you sure we should be doing this?" Xavier glanced back.

"Look, I don't like it either, but it’s the only way we’re gonna be taken seriously at school."

I wasn't really concerned with what people thought of me, but I came along anyway just be sure nothing bad happened. We crept our way into the eerie monolith and lied back on the sturdy, cool headstone. The whole reason we were here was to prove something to the seniors back at school. The whole bet was that if we spent more than two hours in the grave of the “watchman,” we would be accepted into their click. I thought the whole thing was pretty absurd, but I played along for the moment.

The rumor was that five years ago, there was a man who stood around in the streets who apparently had nothing better to do but observe people who passed him. They say that he almost never moved and rarely showed any emotion in his cold, dead eyes. People were so freaked out by his mannequin-like behavior that they called him the “watchman.” Every day for four years, he stood there for no apparent reason. He had been blamed for the disappearance of many young children.

No one knows what happened to him, but, one day, he just vanished. It was our burden to find out if he truly ever did die. I shook just thinking about it.

"Man, this is stupid. Nothing’s even happening!" he said furiously.

"I can’t take it anymore. Let's just go, before something does happen," I blurted out, shivering. Xavier looked over in both disappointment and relief that one of us was sensible enough to know that this was idiotic.

"Alright, dude, I guess you're right. We should probably get going."

"OK. Sounds like a plan," I mumbled under my freezing breath. We quickly headed back to the highway. Everything around us looked encased in snow and ice. Even the tombstones and the trees appeared to be frozen in time. The dark grayish-blue sky didn't seem to move either. It was pretty creepy, but we didn't make a big deal out of it and kept walking beside the road.

"Hey, you know what’s weird?" I asked.

"What?" he shot back.

"I don't even remember walking down here in the first place much less how to get back." I waited awhile for a response, but there was nothing but silence. I turned around to find my self alone. I looked all around, searching for any sound or sight of him, but I found nothing. Crows gathered amongst the tops of the headstones. There was nothing but the shadow of a mannequin-like man with sewn-shut eyes standing motionless on the horizon of the cemetery.

My head felt very heavy. Everything faded. There was nothing left but the sight of him and those haunting eyes - just waiting, watching. I shouted with every fiber of my being, "What do you want from me!" He moved his cold lips.

"You’re trespassing. This is my home. This is where I watch. This is where I keep," his voice echoed. I tried to wake up. I tried to open my eyes, but I froze. I closed my eyes trying to tune out the sounds, coming to the realization that every time I opened them, he appeared closer and closer. I panicked now, because I was now physically unable to shut my eyes! And he stood there waiting, watching.