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"Dude I've got curfew." Paul whined,
"Shut up." David barked.
"Yeah we're almost there anyway." Mark pulled out an egg carton. "And we don't want these to go to waste."
David, Mark, and Paul were stereotypical bullies. They stole lunch money, beat up kids smaller than they were, played cruel pranks, and egged houses. They wouldn't have even passed the 6th grade if their teachers weren't so sick of them.
"Summer's barely started and I'm already gonna get grounded." Paul mumbled.
Paul was the whiny follower of the three. He'd discovered early on to just do as he's told or he'd be the one getting his head shoved in a toilet. The only reason he was part of the group was because he could get them out of trouble if they ever got caught
When he was only in elementary school both of his parents and his little brother had died in a car accident. Shortly after the funeral he started acting up with his foster parents. He got busted for graffiti, carrying a knife, and destroying public property, but each time they let him off because of what had happened. Everytime he acted up they just dismissed it as part of the mourning process
"Everyone in this neighborhood is always asleep this late so I doubt we'll get caught." Mark agitatedly retorted.
Surprisingly Mark was the one with the brains. He was one of a few kids to get the highest score average on the CSAP test who were chosen based on those scores to meet the mayor and his family. It was an amazing opportunity for each student, but it didn't turn out the way it was planned.
As the ceremony started all but Mark was present and just as the Mayor started shaking the hands of the students, stink bombs exploded in various places of the room forcing everyone to evacuate. When they got outside Mark was sitting on the steps leading to the street in tears from laughing so hard.
"I bet I could break a window with one of these eggs."
David was the muscle and because of that, their leader. It was just him and his father at home and his father couldn't care less about him. David was free to roam during the late hours of the night and could bring home straight F's without consequence.
Things weren't always like that for him though. David used to be in boxing classes, wrestled, and even had dreams of becoming of pro football plaer. After David's mother left howevver, things only went drastically downhill from there.
"Yeah you probably could, but then alarms would go off everywhere." Mark said.
"Whatever let's just do this."David said impatiently.
They reached their target house and stood in a row in front of it. Mark handed out the eggs and almost at the same time they started to throw them. David threw each of his at the windows while Mark and Paul just threw them at random.
Just as David threw his last egg a light came on inside the house.
"Dude you shouldn't have thrown them at the window!" Mark yelled.
A second light came on and the three bolted down the street towards the ally. As they turned the corner David skidded on the dirt and fell face first into the ground. Mark and Paul stopped to help him up.
"Don't touch. . ." David sputtered, but a sudden giggle made him stop mid sentence. He looked up ready to punch Mark or Paul if it had been them but they weren't even looking at him. He turned his attention the direction they were staring and just across the street from them was a boy.
"Who the hell is that?" Mark said as David got to his feet.
"I donno, I've never seen him before." Paul said.
"I don't care who he is, I'm gonna beat him down anyway." David brushed himself off and walked over to the strange boy. Mark and Paul followed obediently.
The closer they got the more the kid laughed, and the more the kid laughed, the angrier David got. David stood just in front of him while Mark and Paul moved to either side of the kid.
He looked to be about 7 or 8 years old, with surprisingly pastey white skin and bright green eyes. His clothes were strange too. Button down brown sleeveless vest with a black dress shirt underneath, and black jeans with black boots. Almost like a cowboy but he sounded like some proper rich kid. And there weren't any of those around here.
"What do you think is so funny huh?" David barked angrily.
"You, of course." The boy smiled up at David, completely unintimidated.
"What's a little 7 year old doing out this late?" Paul asked sheepishly.
"I'm 9 years old you buffoon." The kid replied.
"Yea he's 9 years old you buffoon. " Mark mocked.
David narrowed his eyes as he looked at the kid. He didn't look familiar at all. The three had frequently ditched school to harass the elementary kids for their lunch money but he didn't look like any of them. Not that David would take the time to remember a face but this was a small town out in the middle of nowhere where everyone knows everyone. If he had been someone who just moved in, they would've already known about it.
"Tell me who you are." David demanded.
"My name is Charles." Charles grinned. "You, however, may call me Master Charles.... Or Sir Charles... Whichever you prefer."
"You're pretty cocky for someone surrounded by people twice your size." Paul stated.
"I'm sick of this." Mark said impatiently. "Let's just beat him up and go get something to eat."
David chuckled and balled his hand into a fist.
"Any last words kid?" David asked.
"You are all going to regret this." Charles said flatly.
David laughed and swung at Charles face. Charles ducked, missing the hit by just an inch, pushing Paul's legs causing him to lose his balance and then ran off down the street.
"Catch me if you can you wimps!!" He yelled as he ran.
David and Mark immediately started after him. Paul looked in the other direction thinking about just going home. He felt nauseous for some reason and had a bad feeling, but if he didn't go David would make sure he regretted it. So he ran after them. When he caught up to them they were just standing in front of a wall yelling.
"Get back here kid!!" Mark yelled.
"What are you guys yelling about?" Paul asked.
"The kid went into Press Woods." David replied.
"Press Woods. . ." Paul mumbled to himself.
Paul thought about the stories he'd heard growing up. They all came down to one ending, people went in, but never came out. The most recent incident was that 6 high school students had went into Press Woods as a dare and they've been missing for 3 years.
The width of the entrance to the woods was along the entire length of the town, which was actually only about 2 miles. And it stretched out as far as the eye could see. They spent a lot of the tax payers money building a brick wall to seperate that side of the town from the woods. They had previously only had wire fenceing.
"I'm so not going in there David. I've heard the stories about this place." Paul said.
"Those stories are fake!" Mark yelled. "That place is way too small for people to get lost in!"
"Then why has it been in the paper for like 50 years? Why are there so many missing kid signs here huh?" Paul was sounding more panicked the more they argued about it.
"They're just trying to keep us out cause it's probably a landmark thing or something." David replied.
"No, it isn't a landmark David." Mark stated. "It's just a piece of land that the city had originally wanted to make into an amusement park to attract tourists and bring in money but couldn't because some old fart wants to keep it as a memorial to his kid who went missing."
"Wait, how did he even get up there, that wall is like 8 feet high." Paul asked.
"Who cares." David said.
"We don't know." Mark answered. "We rounded that corner and saw him jumping down to the other side.
"Well then" Paul hesitated as he glanced at David. "Why don't we just go home?"
"You fools are complete wimps. I can not wait to tell everyone what sissy's you are."
As the three turned towards the voice they saw Charles sitting on the top of the wall grinning down at them.
"You are so dead!" David yelled.
Both David and Mark jumped up grabbing hold of the ledge as Charles dropped down to the other side again and they pulled themselves up. David jumped down to the other side and Mark reached his hand down for Paul. Paul just shook his head and started to walk away.
"Get up here or you'll be the one that goes missing." Mark said.
He stopped and looked up at Mark. He was more scared of Mark than he was of David. Sure David would beat him to a pulp, but Mark would actually do something permanent. He grabbed Mark's hand and hoped that he was right about the stories being fake. Mark was the smart one after all.
Once they were on the other side they started following the footprints that Charles had left behind. The trees extended high above them but the moonlight shone through so they weren't in complete darkness.
"I can't believe people are scared of this place." David said. "It looks like any other wood."
"Yeah well every town needs a story, this is probably the best the idiots could think of." Mark said.
The farther in they walked the more Paul felt uneasy. Mark and David were so intent on finding the kid that they hadn't noticed how dark it was starting to get. Everything seemed to change the further in they walked. The trees were different then the ones by the wall. They were a lot bigger and the tree tops were so close together that the moonlight was barely shining through.
"Guys the kid is probably gonna get lost in here," Paul said. "We should just go back."
"The cry baby is right." Mark said.
David sighed irritably. "Fine whatever."
David turned and started walking back, but stopped short. Mark and Paul turned at the same time and gasped in surprise. The way they had come from was completely changed. Charles footprints weren't on the ground anymore and there was no sign of the wall or the moonlight that had previously lit their way.
"Ok what just happened." David asked.
"We probably just turned while following the kids footprints" Mark said. "Let's just keep walking, we'll see the wall soon.
They kept walking and walking and still couldn't see any sign of either the wall or the kids footprints that they had previously been following. All the while it continued to get darker and darker.
"I don't like this, we should have seen something by now!" Paul was practically frantic.
A giggle. Although where it came from, they did not know. It seemed to echo all around them.
"This is not cool, I knew this place was haunted!" Paul practically half screamed in a high pitched tone.
David walked up to him and pushed him on the ground.
"Shut up, the little brat is just trying to scare us." David yelled. "So quit acting like a little whimp!"
Paul just shook his head but he slowly got up.
"I wanna get out of here. I wanna go home and get grounded in my room" Paul whined.
"Shut. Up. Paul." Mark said with a glare.
"I'm gonna beat that kid to a pulp when we find him." David said, looking around. "You hear me?! When we find you, you're dead! DEAD!!!"
"No. You are." The three turned to see the boy standing just a few feet in front of them. Instead of immediately jumping him, they stared. Shell shoced.
He didn't look the same way he did before. His clothes were torn and he was missing a boot... However that wasn't the alarming part about him. It was his face. It seemed hallow, almost like a skeleton, and more pale than it had before. Then his eyes, they were sunken and completely black.
"Look at his face." Paul shrilled. "I told you this place was haunted, he's a ghost!!"
Paul took a few steps slowly away from the boy but David grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"You're not going anywhere." David growled.
"The kid obviously has make-up on and is just trying to scare us" Mark said.
"Get him!" David yelled.
As they made a step towards him, he grinned, and moved. He didn't move like a little kid though, he practically pounced forward the few feet between them and slammed right into Paul making him fall over flat on his back with a grunt.
As David reached for the kid he immediately pulled his hand back and backstepped so quickly that he fell back on his butt. His facial expression in complete shock.
"What the hell are... " Mark started before he saw what David was looking at.
Charles had landed right on his chest, at first hiding their view of what was going on, but now he was grinning and laughing at them with his grip tight on something. David screamed and Mark covered his mouth as though he were going to vomit.
In Charles' tightly closed fist was Paul's heart. Oozing blood between his tiny fingers and dripping onto his chest where Paul now had a empty bleeding cavity from where Charles had shoved his fist into it. His face contorted in agonizing pain and fear.
As the shock left Mark he pulled up David.
"RUN IDIOT." Mark yelled in his ear.
It jolted David out of his temporary shock and they ran deeper into the woods, with the sound of Charles' maniacle laughter following them.
They ran for what seemed like an hour straight. After awhile the laughter had died out but they had kept running until their chests burned. David fell on his knees vomitting and breatheing hard and Mark leaned heavily against a tree trying to catch his breathe.
"How.. are we gonna.. " David heaved. "How are we gonna get out of here."
"Did you see that.. " Mark mumbled vacantly. "That little kid completely ripped out his heart."
"DUDE HOW ARE WE GONNA GET OUT OF HERE?!" David yelled as he pushed himself on his feet.
"I don't know..." Mark shook his head. "I have no idea, we're probably just gonna die."
The moment the words left his lip... Another giggle... but this time it was hoarse, not childlike in the slightest. Almost like a cough. They immediately started looking all around them expecting to see Charles grinning at them from close by. However they saw nothing. As the giggling grew louder it seemed to be coming from every direction.
"I'm not staying here for this. " David bolted, but slow, as he was tired from running. Mark followed.
"Why are you running away from me. " Charle's voice echoed. "I thought you were gonna beat me to a pulp."
David stopped mid run and Mark slammed into his back stumbling backwards slightly.
"Come out here and say that to my face. I'll kill you! You hear me! I will kill you!" David tried to sound intimidating but it came out more like a beg.
"I'm right here." Charles' voice whispered, the voice seeming to come from behind him. He turned around ready to punch him but stopped short.
"Mark?" His voice quiverred in fear.
He was nowhere in sight.
"Mark where are you!" David walked slowly forward, looking around trees and looking behind himself frantically.
Suddenly he felt something drop on him. He jumped back and screamed, wide eyed at his friend Mark. He was dangling with his intestines wrapped around his neck. The intestinal fluid dripping down onto the ground. David gagged at the smell eminating from his now dead friend's body. His gaze followed the inestine trail upward and standing on a branch was Charles. Holding on to the other end.
"Now it's just you." Charles dropped him and Mark fell to the ground in front of David. "And me.."
David turned to run but Charles was suddenly standing in his way.
"Please... dont kill me..." David begged as he took a few steps away. He tripped over Mark's lifeless body but he scrambled up running in the other direction.
Charle's voice followed him, but David couldn't see him.
"Daaaviiid." His voice taunted. "David don't run. Come onnn Daaaviiiid."
"NO! NO! NO!!!!" David screamed. "SOMEBODY HELP ME! PLEASE!!!"
His cries were cut short as he tripped over an upturned branch. Falling with a thud into the bottom of a deep hole.
"Oh my gawd, Oh my gawd. " David pulled himself up into a sitting postition, leaning against the dirt wall of the hole.
He looked around and then up. The hole was deep but he thought he could get out. As he was just about to pull himself up he felt a sharp pain his leg that made him crumble in agony to the ground. His leg, had been broken from the fall. And as he looked up again a huge lump of dirt fell on top of his head.
"What the hell.." David looked up. "NO!! PLEASE DON't!!"
Charles was standing at the edge of the hole and dirt started pouring in.
"Begging won't help you... It didn't help me..." Charles giggled.
"Why are you doing this!" David yelled as he tried to brush dirt off his head. "Who the hell are you!!"
Charles paused for a moment... "Charles.... Charles Press"
David yelled, the dirt starting to come up to his chest. "PLEASE, DONT DO THIS!! LET ME GO!!!"
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I HAD SAID!!" Charles screamed down at him. "But they didn't care... no matter how much I begged, they dragged me out here and left me to die. Now.. it's your turn."
David started to cry when he realized the dirt was up to his chin now. He continued to beg and plead but he was only answered with laughter. He was soon completely engulfed.
Charles smiled. His face starting to fill out and his eyes starting to lighten back to the bright green they once were. He turned and started to walk away, he felt justified, he would never let anyone suffer the way he had, by the hands of his own bullies....
. . .
It was a cool summer night, although around here even the day's never really got so hot. A young boy trotted down the street, dressed to impress with a button down brown sleeveless vest, a black silk dress shirt underneath, and black jeans with black boots. He'd been at a soiree of sorts with his father. Every year the rich folk got together and talked about how much money they had, or at least that was the impression he got as he was only 9 years old.
"Charles don't wander off, Charles be polite, blah blah blah " Charles whined, mimicking his father.
Charles had easily gotten bored, so he simply left. His father was too busy boasting of his successes and his mother.. well she had passed some time ago, so there was no one to keep an eye on him. He'd made his way around all the adults and walked right out the back door.
"It'll be hours before that bafoon realizes I've gone." Charles stated out loud to himself.
He made his way towards the center of town, it was such a small town that no one was out this late at night, everyone was either home asleep or at the get together up the hill. Charles had planned to just walk home, as he had done the last 2 years. It was but an hours walk away and he actually enjoyed the silence and privacy of the night. He was never usually allowed anywhere alone.
"Hey kid." A voice drawled.
Charles looked about him, settling on a shadowed figure leaning against a parked automobile. It stood and took a few steps towards him.
"Ah Mr. Jack Stales" Charles recognized. The teenager before him was known well, a run of the mill thief and bully.
Usually at this time of night he'd already be passed out in a gutter somewhere off cheap whiskey.
"Hey Jack, it's lil Charles Press." Another chimed in from behind Charles, just as stinking drunk as Jack.
"Ah... aren't you supposed to be at the big party with your daddy lil charlie, " Jack stumbled forward.
"I don't believe it's any of your business Jackie. In fact isn't your business back a few blocks in a rat infested gutter"
Charles shot at him. He glanced behind him. "Gary Till I see, I do believe that your parents are hosting this years get together, should you not be at their side playing good boy with your nose browned over in everyone's tailored ass?"
The drunken teens looked at each other, before they could put together they'd been insulted, Charles made a ran for it. However, he underestimated how drunk they were and in mere seconds the two caught up with him and pulled him up off his feet.
"Let's go for a walk Charlie." Jack paused, then grinned. "And if you scream you'll get your legs broken, got it?"
Jack and Gary led Charles through a short alley between two stores. Charles was fully aware that even if he did scream, no one would hear him, he was well away from any houses and except for these two drunks wandering around there'd be no one downtown this late at night.
The didn't stop in the alley to beat him up like Charles had assumed they would, instead they kept walking, which at the end of the alley was a grassy open field that extended for about a mile to the woods. He then started to panick the closer they got.
"You unhand me you ingrates!!" Charles started to struggle, but to no avail.
"We're gonna teach you some respect you lil bastard." Gary snicked.
Charles struggled harder, forceing them to practically drag him along, they reach the woods and started dragging him inside.
"No!!" Charles yelled and clamped down his teeth on Jack's hand.
Jack cried out in pain and Charles pulled free of Gary's grasp. He couldn't run back out in the field as they were blocking his way so in a panick he ran deeper into the woods, but the two had already recovered and were just behind him. Jack in a fury picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at Charles.
It connected with the back of his head and Charles fell to the ground in a daze. Jack was already on top of him pounding his face and torso with his fists so violently that Gary had to pull him off.
"That's enough Jack!" Gary yelled at him. "You're gonna kill him if you keep...."
They both stared at Charles' unmoving body. Blood was oozing out of his mouth and he was staring upward, frozen in terror.
"Oh my gawd you killed him...." Gary knelt next to Charles and stared at him. "What are we gonna do, you killed him!!"
Jack rushed forward and smacked Gary in the back of the head. "We're gonna leave him here, I'm not getting in trouble for this little rich kid."
Gary nodded and they both grabbed a hand and started to drag him deeper into the woods. They walked and walked, for hours, not noticing that the deeper they went, the darker it got, they walked until they couldn't walk anymore.
"This is far enough." Jack dropped to the ground panting and started digging a hole with his hands. "Get down here and help me idiot!"
Gary started to help jack and when they'd dug a hole about 3 feet deep they were both sweating and short of breath, their hands and arms so sore that they had to push Charles in with their feet as well as the dirt on top of him. They were so exhausted that they didn't noticed his hand twitch, or the small inhale he'd taken as they piled dirt on him. Buried alive.
They finished packing the dirt on top of him and they both sighed heavily and tried to catch their breath
"What... what if they find him." Gary asked.
"His father might own these woods but they go on for miles, it'll take him years to find him." Jack pulled himself up.
"Let's get out of here."
Gary stood and the two started to walk back the way the had came.
"Uh Jack.. shouldn't it be light out by now." Gary asked as he looked upward.
Jack looked around him and finally took notice that although it had to of been 6 or 7 in the morning, it was still dark, as though it were the middle of the night.
"Why does everything look so..." Jack stopped mid sentence as he noticed the woods didn't look right, the trees were higher above them then they had been before and they completely blocked out the sky. The trees had never been so tall before.
"What's going on Jack." Gary half whined at him.
"I don't know..." Jack stopped abruptly and stared wide eyed in fear.
Gary followed his gaze and his jaw dropped in shock, standing just a few feet in front of them was Charles Press. Dirt covering him, his face pale and bruised, blood dripping from his mouth and eyes. Gary rushed up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Oh my God you're alive!" Gary knelt in front of him and in a panicked tone continued. "Now you know.. that was just an accident, he didn't mean to, we can work something.. "
Before he could finish his sentence he felt a sharp pressure in his chest. He looked down and gaped wide eyed at Charles' small pale hand in the center of his chest. Jack screamed behind him as he saw the hand pierced completely through him. Charles pulled back his hand and Gary slumped to the ground, dead.
Jack turned to run but Charles dropped on top of him with unnatural speed. Jack tried to push him off but was unsuccesful as he had used up most his energy to drag the poor boy into the woods and bury him.
"Please dont kill me!" Jack pleaded. "I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"
Charles leaned his face close to Jack's and whispered in a hoarse deep voice. "You will be, Jack."
Charles started pummeling his tiny fists into Jack face. Jack screamed as the bones in his face started to break. Charles kept punching him even after Jack's body went limp and his skull was busted, leaving brains oozing out onto the ground.
He finally stopped, and stood. He looked up and opened his mouth inhumanly wide into a terrifying scream that shook the trees surrounding them. His eyes burning black like the abyss of a black hole, he walked away from the dead bullies with a fury in his tormented soul that would never be appeased.
Press Woods.. Anyone who enters.. Never returns.. As they're supposedly haunted.. By a boy.. A boy eternally holding a grudge.[/color][/size][/font][/b]
