Shadow of Death

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For years as halloween approached, youngsters had been making the same bet. Who could walk across the dark cemetery believed to be haunted, get one of the crosses not anchored tightly in the ground, bring it back across the cemetery to prove you actually went to the other side, then return the cross to it's place. Few had accomplished this over the years. Most backed out before they even started. Some executed half the task without having nerve enough to finish.

Sarah would be the first girl to complete this and she aimed to win tonight. Why, she was probably the first girl brave enough to slip off from home at night, much less visit a graveyard.

Raindrops glistened on the wrought iron fence surrounding the huge cemetery. A deep orange harvest moon shone down casting long swaying shadows.

A leaf crackled underneath a soft foot.

"What was that?" whispered Johnny.

Sarah couldn't say a word for the lump that had immediately filled her throat.

The decaying grandeur of the massive above ground mausoleums captured the dark imaginations of the three teens.

Sarah clamped her teeth together to keep from screaming~the ultimate embarrassment. Johnny and Sean had taunted her all week about the bet they had made as to who would come out of this frightful ordeal unscathed.

She was beginning to think it was the worst decision she'd ever made. It hadn't seem so scary when they were just talking about this dare.

All three felt the hair on their arms and neck stand straight up and a shiver rippled up their spines as a screech owl's cry filled the night.

Deep breath. Breathe slow. You're not going to faint. No screaming. One step. Another step.Sarah kept walking toward the gate.

Sean's loud intake of breath caused her to turn as he walked into a huge spider web. "I'm not sure we should go through with this guys."

"Who's scared now?" Sarah whispered. "We made a bet and I'm going to win so come on. We are almost to the gate now."

"You forget I've done this once." Johnny piped in.

"What's your point? You think you're the only one who can do this?" Sarah asked.

"I guess we'll see, won't we?"

At that, Johnny sprinted across the cemetery. The ancient burial grounds seemed to swallow him up as he darted behind one of the above ground tombs.

Momentarily he returned cross in hand. "See, not so bad, and nothing got me." he bragged. He returned the cross to it's rightful place and came back to the gate where Sean and Sarah waited.

The instant Sarah set foot inside the cemetery, a dense fog settled around her. She took several careful steps deciding sprinting would be best. She increased her speed then stopped abruptly as she saw a blue light glowing several feet ahead. As she approached it, the orb disintegrated into a wisp of smoke.

Heart beating furiously, she pulled the cross out of the damp earth. Her feet flew back across the distance of the necropolis.

"You're only half through," Johnny reminded her.

"I know. I know. Just let me catch my breath." As she turned toward the eternal resting place for so many, a cold wind howled around the gravestones. Taking a deep breath, she raced toward the opposite side. She couldn't get this cross back in the ground fast enough. As hard and fast as she could, Sarah drove the wooden tomb marker back into the softened soil.

Sarah’s scream pierced the darkness causing Johnny and Sean’s blood to run like ice through their veins.

Both boys raced out of the cemetery and ran the ten blocks to the police station. Reporting the events in between gasps for breath, all they boys could think of was getting home. The officers forced the boys to return with them as they made their way to Sarah's rescue.

The sight of Sarah's open eyes frozen in death would haunt Sean and Johnny the rest of their lives. However, no ghosts, no monsters, no roaming vampires nor zombies were found in the starkness of daylight.

When the medical examiner's report returned it was determined when Sarah had so forcefully thrust the cross into the ground, she had caught the hem of her long skirt. In her fright, she thought she had been seized by a supernatural being. She was victim to an undetected heart problem until now. Sarah had literally been scared to death.

Viable explaination? Possibly, even probably. But if you ask Johnny and Sean you will hear more about the mysterious mist, the floating blue lights, the chill that was several degrees colder in the burial ground, and a figure of a strange woman who simply evaporated into thin air. They would agree that Sarah had indeed been scared to death.

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