After taking a few calming breaths of suppressed sobs, Dlak drew himself up. “No! We must press onward, even if we never get anywhere! Never give up hope!” He flicked the lighter, the flame coming up at full strength. He blinked. “Wow… It actually worked! Neat!” He ran down the tunnel arms held out to his sides. Vi ran after him, wanting to kick him again because he was too happy. Al trudged along in the back, figuring they’d slow down eventually.
Beau walked in silence between Ban and Huai. Their footsteps echoed in the closed tunnel, the even pattern of Ban, Huai’s light treads, and Beau’s dragging gait. He felt like he was walking in place; all the shadows looked the same, the stone walls blurring. “Erm,” he said finally, trying to start some sort of conversation.
He was greeted with a glare from Ban and a creepy smile from Huai. “Yes?” the latter inquired, turning around to face his two traveling companions. The former turned his stare to the taller man, taking a step in front of Beau and using ‘protecting him’ as an excuse to be aggressive towards the older one.
Beau moved his head to the side so he could see Huai. “Is there really a way out of here, or did you just say that to make me feel better?” With a gentle smile, the older man put his hands on Beau’s shoulders, moving Ban casually out of the way.
“The truth is,” he murmured, “That I really like your expression when you’re worried,” Huai finished with a grin. Beau’s eyes undialated slightly, as he was slightly sure that Huai was not going to eat him like a chocolate Easter bunny or start singing in British.
He jumped away, bumping into Ban, when Huai burst out, “So let’s tell ghost stories!!! Beau first,” he concluded.
“Um…. Er… I don’t know any,” Beau stammered. Huai smiled reassuringly. “Uh… Well!” he exclaimed, having sudden inspiration. “Once time, I was making crepes and they were too thick! It must have been a ghost!!” There was silence. “No good?? Er well….
“Okay! I got it!!!” Beau finally said with an attempt at looking spooky. “Once upon a time, in a dark alley in a big city, there was a shop of horrors. By day, it was an ordinary book store, but by night, and in the cobwebbed shadows of the shelves, it was a dark study for the occult, a haven for evil! It was said the owner of the store was a ghost who looked like an ordinary person by ate his customers for dessert!
“One day, a group of people walked in. They were lead by the very handsome, if I do say so myself, protagonist of this story, followed by his girlfriend, clinging affectionately to his arm, his body guard, a mercenary so inspired by the leader’s wonderfulness, and his pet giant anole and her keeper/his manager, who had joined him as he had been journeying around the countryside helping those in need. The shop owner grinned and wanted to eat the probably wonderfully tasting when sautéed boy, so he vowed the protagonist would not leave his shop alive.
“So, the good-looking boy (of course, with his girlfriend who couldn’t bear to be out of his presence!) was browsing in order to improve his already exemplary intelligence, when all of a sudden, a transparent hand came through the shelf and dragged him into another room. His girlfriend was dragged away and dark magic was used to make her forget all about him, leaving only her hat behind. Meanwhile, the ghost had a very good (and scrumptious!!!) dinner! The protagonist still can be heard haunting his girlfriend because she went off with a guy who claimed to be his brother and attracted her by pure relation!!! If he wasn’t related to m-”
Huai cut him off suddenly by laughing. “Well, that was a good story, though somehow, it sounds familiar!!!”
“Degrades into a soap opera,” Ban muttered.
Beau turned red. “Well, can you do better??”
There was some time of silence. “In a dark village in the far west, farther than even the busiest merchant goes and farther than a bird would fly, the people were so poor, their limbs were black, and their ribs played the music of the starving,” Ban began. “Though their gods had abandoned them long since for places of light, the people still had despair bringing hope, and prayed everyday to be saved from their misery.
“One day, a cloaked man, light of voice but taking to shadows, appeared in the streets in order to become their savior. There was a ceremony, he told the priests, that they had not tried. It was a ritual so arcane that it was forgotten, but so powerful that it could solve all their problems. The children would dance in the moonlight, and they would be sacrifices. But the gods would be merciful and take only half. Meanwhile, the village could start again, the newborn children knowing only laughter instead of despair.” He flashed a bag of gold and the priests understood. Not knowing what else to do, they organized it. Parents sobbed, but they remembered the time that their grandparents spoke of- stories of their grandparents, when the sun didn’t seem always blocked by clouds.
“The children given to the wind and moon weren’t sacrificed to gods but to men. They were victims of the greed of the sinners who had paid the price of a bushel of apples in prosperity for all them. In an effort to own the world, they were made into enemies of each other, finding the strongest and eliminating the weak to gain an elite.
“Of the children found in this dark village, there was one who had only one friend among the chosen, his older sister. She was haunted by spirits that stole her breath, the illness that made her weak. He tried to become strong to protect her, but it became futile. Though he became the strongest of the sheep who were trying to become wolves, those in charge chose to pit friend against friend, brother against sister, to break their spirits.
“Against his sister, a best friend to the ten year old, he found that having strength wasn’t worth anything. A demon that haunted him, however, whispered in his ear. If not by your hand, the girl will die. You cannot protect her when she’s alone, it said. A fleeting grin seemed to move around in the shadows watching them. The girl herself, she knew her life was over and wanted nothing more than to help her brother. She hoped he would find the strength to end her. And that he would never think of her again.
“The voice he heard did not drive him insane. The whispers that floated on the air did not cause him to kill her through some bewitching, and her eyes did not make him do it. However, his knife swiftly cut her throat and the blood that stained his hands was purifying, innocent sacrifice. The demon laughed and laughed and disappeared in the most Cheshire way. The fools of avarice who controlled the building of monsters thought they had succeeded in breaking his spirit, but instead, they destroyed themselves.
“A rage he could not handle at his age controlled his hand, and in the liberation of death, everyone was freed. Even the controllers were left to face the judgment of their sins, student carrying the power of a devil to overtake them. In the end, the boy faced his demon, grin plastered on the tall boy’s face. The blood that stains your hands is for your revenge, not your sister, he told him, eyes lighting up. The boy no longer noticed. Your blood alone, he said, is for myself. He attacked the blond boy, going for the throat with a deft slash of knife. With the electricity of magic, he was thrown away as the dagger cut into his throat. There is the blood you wanted, the young mage. And that is all you will have.
“The boy woke up on a river bank, his clothes stained with blood. To this day, he wanders the world searching for his demon, carrying the cold taste of his blood and the warm heart of a vengeful child,” Ban finished. There was silence for some time.
Then Huai began to laugh. “Kitty, you do not know how to tell a ghost story! Nope, not at all. There were no ghosts! No scary crashes of thunder! And your demon was metaphorical!” He smiled patronizingly. “You can’t have figurative language in a ghost story! No one will be scared.” He put a hand on Ban’s shoulder, causing the younger boy to grit his teeth and reach for his dagger. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you!!!
Beau still had not said anything. He was too shocked to. Huai, however, caught his attention before he could dwell too much, and he smiled and exclaimed, “Tell a story, since you made us!”
“Of course,” Huai said with a flourish and a smile. “I am a bit of a bibliophile, after all; I should be able to tell a story.” He cleared his throat, and the light from his fire cast an eerie glow over his face. “Not so long ago, there was a group of travelers who were trying to get to visit a friend of a friend in a town they had never reached before. Though they were told it was only a day’s walk away, they found it to be after dark, and still a few hours out of town. They decided to ask at a house they passed on the forest road they were traversing. They offered to pay rent to the old couple that answered the door if they could use a room overnight to take shelter from the night. The old couple was ecstatic to have the young guests, and refused to let them pay. In fact, the offered the strangers cake and drinks, which they enjoyed while having an animated conversation with the two until all retired for the night.
“In the morning, the travelers rose with the sun. Eager to set out again, they left before the old couple woke up, leaving some money in an envelope on the table as rent. Their journey was successful, and they gushed to the acquaintance they made about how generous the two were. However, the man was shocked. It’s impossible that you stayed there, he said. That house, the one off the forest road, burned down, and the man and woman who had lived there died in the fire.
“The travelers rushed back to the location of their lodging. However, all they could find was the burned out husk of an old home. They stood for a while, staring at the remains and trying to understand what happened. All of a sudden, one of them screamed. Sitting on a charred table in the ruins was a money envelope like the one they had left that morning. ”
Ban blinked. Beau shivered. Huai laughed. “You see?? That’s a good ghost story!!”
“Too scary!” Beau whined. “I’m can’t shake this shiver now! Aw, but it was a good story!” He smiled tentatively.
Huai swung his arms around the two’s shoulders. “Don’t be scared! Together we will be safe!” He grinned at them. “Let’s go!” They marched forward, their flame floating in front of them.
Sam shivered. “I am not scared!” She told herself after listening to the last of the three stories from her position near the tunnel walls. “Fear is weak! Ghosts don’t exist! I even think I’ve read that story somewhere before!” She scanned the room.
Everything was fine until she heard a slight breath, like a sigh of relief of someone who breathes silently. She fixated on the odd rock formations in the back. It almost seemed as if one of theme was… human like... She inched closer…
A bat swooped down, running into her head as she swung around and slapped at it, claws extended. The sound of crack against stone made her smile. “Poor bat. There goes his skull.” Turning back, there was nothing odd in the tunnel. She made her merry way along.
“I think we got turned around when we stopped for dying confessions,” Al told everyone. Vi slugged her, and Dlak tried to act immediately concerned.
“Do you think we did? Aw man, I hate walking. It reminds me of when my brother would make me walk hope from school and carry all his stuff!”
Vi laughed. “Lame,” She informed him. “I carry tons of stuff-” A bat flew down, flapping wildly. Vi screamed, though she’d never admit it was her. “A GHOST!!!” She exclaimed, running wildly down the cave, the other two falling behind despite trying to keep up.
Beau was still under the protection of Huai when they got to a crossroads in the tunnel. Huai didn’t seem to be anxious to choose a path. “I usually use a map,” Huai informed them, smiling apologetically. Ban shook his head.
A shadowy shape darted across the tunnel, emitting banshee like wails. Beau jumped. “Ghost!” He screamed, breaking away from Huai. “Let’s go the direction IT didn’t!”
Before they could move out, Al and Dlak walked by. “Hey,” Al called, waving to Beau. Dlak also moved his hand enthusiastically in greeting and ran over.
Beau moved to Al. “You’ll never believe the torture I’ve been through!” He complained. “I had to listen to ghost stories and a ghost just ran past and Huai was harassing us…”
Al perked up at the last. “Harass? What do you mean?” She smiled mischievously.
“Er. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just… a word…” He stepped back nervously.
With a laugh, Dlak inserted, “And Brother, you didn’t see a ghost. That was Vi!” He pointed to the girl huddled in a corner down the tunnel.
“And do you see the door next to her?” Ban added tersely. “It’s a way out. Let’s go.”
Beyond the door was not what they’d expected. “It appears,” Huai pondered, stepping into the room, “That this is an antechamber.”
Vi punched a wall, and as they turned to stare at her, Beau stepped towards Al in shock. “The walls…” He spit out, “Are covered in monkeys!!!”
There was a thump. “They’re murals, my imbecilic companion,” Sam informed him as she stood up, having jumped to the floor from her passage, which released into the ceiling. They were distracted from the walls into staring at her. Sam blinked. “What?! It’s rude to stare, you know.” They didn’t move. “What? Why are you so quiet? What, do I have something on my face? Though I know none of you would tell me if I did…”
No one laughed. They were two busy staring at her. It seemed that the bat had bumped into her a little too hard. And that the crash she’d heard hadn’t been the creature’s head against the wall of the tunnel, but a more plastic sound. They stared in amazement at the girl who said she was Sam but hair that now fell to five inches above her waist.
Huai's story is based on “The Guests” from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark compiled by Alvin Schwartz (Scholastic 1981, New York, pages 33 and 34). It is generally just paraphrased, with some adaptations (the group of travelers vs. a couple etc…), however, due to the nature of the story and the importance of achieving a chilling effect, certain lines were directly quoted (namely the last half of the last line).
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