There They Lie
Authors Note
My name is Phil and this is my story. This story hasn't been told up until this point. I have never dared to talk about it because of the nightmares it brought me for years after the experience. This story tells of two unexplained deaths and black magic that was thought to never exist. Everything mentioned in this story is utterly true.
As my friends and I walked down the hallway, we talked about what we were going to do that night. This was the night we were going to make our Halloween costumes. Now, I know what everyone thinks when they hear this 'What 17 year old goes trick-or-treating?' Well I do.
As the day went on I pondered more ideas for my costume.
After school was over, we all met at my house for the creation of costumes. Sitting in my living room we grew tired of the silence. Finally Lulu said "Why don't we play a game?"
"What game?" I questioned.
Lulu replied " I don't know. Any suggestions"
Being the empty minded freak that Ellie is she said " Why don't we play twister."
"I think she meant a game we can play while making our costumes." Dan stated.
"Think I got it now. How about truth or dare?!" She said happily.
After we gathered all the necessary materials for our costumes, we sat at the kitchen table and began crafting out costumes. I decided to go as a lion, Dan was going as a llama, Lulu was going as a donut, and Ellie went as a twisted Alice. As we were making our homemade costumes, Lulu sighed unhappily. "When are we going to start playing truth or dare?" She whined loudly.
"If you want to play, start." Dan murmured sarcastically, almost all his attention going into making the llama head. "Fine Dan, Truth or Dare?" She said.
"Dare!" He yelled, full of pride.
"Fine, I dare you to lick your elbow and nose at the same time!" Lulu smirked.
That's when Dan, being stupid, actually tried to do that odd task. He managed to do nothing. He didn't even touch his nose. What an idiot. I thought. But I'm not much different. After Dan tried to complete the dare, Ellie fell to the floor laughing hysterically at his stupidity. Dan shot Ellie a glare and sighed.
Dan leered at Ellie "Okay, Ellie, truth or dare?"
"Truth!" She said in reply.
"What was your most embarrassing experience?"
"Once I was when I was in 5th grade, I was sick and I puked on the teacher. I was mortified."
All of us excluding Ellie nearly died of laughter. I swear, the look on her face was priceless! Then she turned her attention to me after our laughter had died down.
"So Phil, truth or dare?"
"Um... truth."
"Okay, who was your first kiss?
"Dan's mom." I said facetiously, causing Dan to smack me across the face painfully.
"That was uncalled for!" Dan screamed at me, making me laugh uncontrollably.
"Seriously, I want to know!" Ellie yelled.
"Fine, I haven't kissed anyone." I admitted. It's not that I didn't like anyone, it's just that I'd never gotten the chance to kiss someone.
Now it was my turn. I looked to Lulu and Ellie, grinning like a madman.
"Truth or dare?" I asked them.
"Uhm..." Ellie began, obviously thinking it over carefully. Everyone knew I gave the worst dares possible, but I also asked the worst possible questions for truth.
"Dare!" Lulu screamed with a scared look in her eyes; before Ellie could even answer, Ellie glared at her obviously not wanting to be dared. I gave them an evil smirk.
"I dare you to go to the haunted church in the woods!" I sneered.
"No!" Both girls screamed simultaneously.
"You have to I dared you... unless your chicken." I mocked
"Fine!" Ellie screeched. "On one condition, you and Dan have to come with us."
"Ok, but we have to go tomorrow night. Meet at my house tomorrow night at seven and I'll drive us there. I will bring my video camera too."
This is where the story really began...
As we walked through the woods that chilly Halloween night I couldn't help but wonder if I had made a mistake. What if this place was really haunted I thought to myself as we walked down a steep slope that opened into a clearing. That's when the "haunted" church came into our view. It was taller than most of the other churches in town, and it wasn't to be mistaken with a modern day church. It had to be at least two-hundred years old. After an awkward silence I finally said "Are you guys ready to be scared out of our minds?" I wasn't sure whether I was kidding or not when I said that, but everyone laughed anyway. Then I turned on my video camera and we walked into the broken down church. Even though we knew that we were the only ones there we walked with quiet footsteps, as if we were trying not to disturb anyone that may be in the church.
The main entrance was colored with age and dust. Dan began coughing hysterically due to the dust coated walls. I stopped and set my backpack on the floor, and I unzipped it. Then I fished out his water bottle, and I tossed it to him. He murmured a small word of thanks before gulping down the filtered water happily. Once he'd drunk half of the water in the bottle he gave it back to me, so I could put it back. Once I had I put the backpack back on, we continued into the nave. We took out a few flashlights and looked around. I turned the night vision on on my camera. "Guys this is creeping me out." I muttered in a hushed tone. Ellie and Lulu both nodded in agreement. Dan just chuckled.
"You guys are seriously afraid over this? It's just an old church. It's just like the one back home. It's not like it's seriously haunted. I mean, come on Phil. You were the one who dared them to do this and you're scared? Pathetic if you ask me." He ranted.
"Dan, be quiet!" I hissed, I was afraid that he'd wake something. I don't know what.
There was something in the back of my mind telling me that we should leave, but I didn't want to let everyone know that I was terrified. I wasn't just going to leave them stranded in a church in the middle of nowhere with no way to get home other than walking over 40 miles. I was thrown out of my thoughts when I heard wood break. I turned my attention to the source of the noise and Lulu had tried to sit in one of the pews. Dan was laughing at her. "Oh my God! That was hilarious!" He yelled. I watched in horror as Dan began running around giddily breaking down of the pews, all I could hear was the sound of rotten wood splitting. My stomach dropped as this happened. I couldn't believe my eyes. Was he really that idiotic and dumb. My mind told me to leave now, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from all the destruction of this beautiful, or at least used to be, architecture being caused by my best friend. The next thing I knew Dan was running around like a drunken madman all over the place yelling "I am the king, you all shall bow down to me!" I think all the dust was getting to him. I didn't want to but I screamed "DAN, you need to stop this! What if someone catches us out here?"
"Who would be out here?" Dan yelled back to me.
"I don't know, but if someone did catch us we would all be ticketed and go to juvenile hall for the destruction of property." I lectured.
" I don't care about that. I thought this night was supposed to be fun! Wasn't it?"
Meanwhile the girls were standing in the aisle probably as scared as hell. They were clinging to each other.
"Yeah... I guess, but I-" I was cut off at the sound of the bell ringing once... twice... three times. I stared up at the bell tower.
"Should we go check it out?" Ellie asked. Even in the dark, you could tell she was terrified of Dan's behavior and the bell.
"Heck yeah!" Dan shouted, running to the visible staircase that led to the top of the bell tower. We all glanced at each other and we followed Dan. We clambered up the seven flights of creaking stairs until we reached the top. We stared at the large, rusted bell. There was no way a gust of wind could make it ring with such a voice. So we were stumped. Dan began messing with the bell so I whisper yelled at him. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out what happened you dimwit." He said as if it were obvious. I stepped out of the doorway and I looked around. There were three open sides of the tower. One leading to the front the church, the other towards the side of the church, and the last one dropped to the inside of the church. I gulped. There wasn't much walking space. I looked back to the girls. "Aren't you coming?" I asked them. They both shook their heads.
Ellie gulped. "We'll be back down on the main floor." She said before leading Lulu down the stairs. I looked back at Dan.
"Looks like it's just us." He grinned at me in an odd way. I chuckled at his facial expression. He picked a rope up off the floor and he held it against his upper lip. "Look Phil, I have a mustache!" I stared at him and chuckled as he sneezed. I opened my mouth to speak to him. When all of a sudden I heard a creaked from above us. My head quickly shot up toward the noise. In the corner of the steeple I saw a faint shadow of some sort of humanoid. Next thing I knew Dan was two inches from the bell and the rope holding it up snapped. Which sent Dan stumbling backwards over the edge of the platform fifty feet down to the ground. I couldn't help but watch him fall and scream for help though he knew help was futile. As he hit the ground a piece of wood impaled him through the stomach. At the very moment I saw this I sprinted down the steps to the courtyard where Dan had fallen with tears in my eyes.
When I found him there lying on the ground, surrounded by his own blood I expected to see him dead. There was still life in his eyes though. I felt like I was about to have a mental breakdown seeing my best friend dying right before my eyes. The next thing I heard were the last words of Dan. Barely audible he whispered. "Get outta here Phil..." He trailed off, my name on his lips. I fell to my knees, allowing the tears to fall, and his blood to stain my jeans. I let out a sound that sounded like a strangled cry. My best friend was gone, dead. All because of a stupid dare. It was my fault. His death was my fault... This is all my fault. This killed me on the inside. I broke the wood that had impaled Dan and I threw it at a wall. Then I hugged him, staining myself with his blood. I didn't care. Not now. I needed to fulfill Dan's last request. I would get the girls and myself out of here. But then a thought occurred to me. What about the body? What will I tell his parents? If I get out of here. And then I thought What was that shadow thing I saw? I knew it wasn't my shadow, or Dan's. The girls were down here somewhere...
I had to find them. I called "Lulu where are you?!"
"We're in the entryway!" Lulu called. "Oh Okay" I called back. "Come here!" I added.
A minute later they approached. Ellie stopped before she arrived, her face showing complete horror and terror, her childhood friend had died. Lulu approached and she silently knelt behind him and she sniffled, obviously trying to be the 'rock'. Meaning that she wanted to be the strong one, the one that wasn't crying at all. But the tears came. She let out a strangled cry full of sorrow. She stared down at Dan's broken and bloody body. She gently kissed his forehead before she stood and silently strode inside,with bloody footprints following her. Ellie approached me and took my hand.
"We need to leave..." She murmured, her voice was lifeless and dull.
I nodded in agreement. She had tears streaming down her face as she led me towards the church. I took one last glance at Dan's body before he disappeared from my view. When we entered the building we found Lulu curled up in the corner, crying. She looked at us and wiped her tears away. "Can we leave now?" She asked hoarsely.
"In a minute." I said calmly "I just need to grab my backpack. If you want you guys can stay here or look around, but when I call, come quickly so we can get out of here."
"Can we come with?" Ellie whispered, I just nodded. Then I wandered off in search of my backpack with the two girls in tow. I looked up at the bell tower, and it brought back the vision of Dan falling backward in a straight shot to the ground. I walked up the stairs to the bell tower. I looked around the perimeter of the bell tower and couldn't find it so I trudged back down the stairs.
My search lead us to the front altar. "Let's split up." I said, turning to Ellie and Lulu. Ellie nodded and she went back into the sacristy. Lulu went down some old wooden stairs that were off the side to the altar. I stared up at the whole altar. There was a once beautiful shrine to Jesus and Mother Mary. Huge statues of them were tarnished by age and rain. They were also nearly completely coated with thick spiderwebs. A large cross stood in front of the statues, and on the edge of the stairs to the altar was a actual altar. I thought maybe my backpack had gotten under there. I ascended up the stairs and rest a hand on the top of the altar to steady myself. I bent down and got a glimpse of beneath the altar before I fell flat on my face. The top of the altar had given out and slid right off of the body of the altar. I stood, quickly recovering. I looked at where the top of the altar had once resided. My eyes were met by a glowing onyx. I wanted to leave then and there, but something stopped me. Something kept me there. Some invisible force was influencing my choices. I could feel it in my veins. I reluctantly brought my hand closer to the onyx and I wrapped my fingers around it like a raccoon holding gold. I opened my hand and the onyx rested in my palm. It made my hand tingle.
As I turned the stone in my hand I felt calm and relaxed; then I began to fall into a trance-like state. I slowly floated away from reality and into a horrible illusion...
There was a small boy about seven or eight walking into a crowd of young kids. As he walked farther and farther into the crowd, kids shouted horrid names at him. He just walked on through the crowd as if nothing was happening. Where was he going I thought to myself? So I followed him down the road. I walked for about 2 miles before coming to a gated yard. Which I recognized as a graveyard. I stood next to the gate as I watched the small boy weave through the gravestones before he stood in front of one and laid a small daisy on it. The boy then fell to his knees and burst into tears. As he laid there bawling I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, for the loss of whom evers name is on the gravestone. This scene slowly faded to black, soon enough a flash of bright light blinded me.
I was in a building. It took a little bit for my eyes to focus but after a minute I realized that I was in a courthouse watching a trial. The man on trial looked familiar. From what I gathered from the little bit I saw before it faded to black it was a trial and the man in the stand was found guilty. It didn't hit me at the time but that man was the little boy crying at the grave.
Another scene appeared after this. I was back at the church, but it looked about midday. The church looked new, and there was a platform in the courtyard in the front of the church. Someone was being led up onto the platform in chains. I recognized the man as the one who was on trial in the last scene. He looked almost angry standing there. The constable was preparing a noose and another was holding a burlap sack ready to put it over the head of the victim. The priest asked him for any last words. "I'm innocent." the man muttered under his breath. The constable put the burlap sack over his head, and the second, a noose around the neck. They both walked over to the edge of the stage. There was a moment of complete silence just before the trap door was activated that seemed to last a lifetime. Finally the trap door was activated and the man dropped. When the rope held his complete body weight I heard his neck snap in the silence. All I wanted now was to go back to finding my backpack.
They were just about to take the body down when something brought me out of the trance.
It was Ellie. "Are you okay?" she whispered
"I don't know. What happened?" I asked
"I came into the room and you were staring into your hand like you had seen a ghost."
"I think I just did." Ellie looked at me with a concerned look in her eyes, but didn't say anything more.
"Where's Lulu?" I questioned breaking the silence.
"I'm not quite sure. She was with me just a few minutes ago." At that very moment a scream came from below our feet. "Lulu." Ellie and I say at the same time.
"We're coming!" I scream at the top of my lungs frightened to see what had happened to her. As I was running into the basement of the church. I couldn't help but wonder What if I'm next? No. I told myself I can't think like that if I want to leave this place alive like Dan told me to; I was going to make it out alive with both Lulu and Ellie like Dan told me. I was going to fulfill his dying wish.
I made it to the basement just in time to see Lulu being swallowed up by a vortex in the floor. I screamed to Ellie get away from that thing,
She was petrified with fear, but managed to slowly inch backwards towards me. I didn't know what to do to retrieve Lulu from this mess that I got her into. My thoughts were put on hold when I saw the same figure I did in the bell tower. I almost ran out of the church right then and there. But I wasn't going to lose another one of my friends. All of the courage and adrenaline I had built up inside me all burst out at one moment. From where I was, I scanned the room for things that might help me rescue Lulu.
It wasn't long before I spotted a rope on the opposite corner of the room. I raced over to it hoping that it had a knot in it, so Lulu could grip it easier. When I made it over to the rope I picked it up and hoped for a knot or loop. There was nothing. On my way back over to Lulu. I tied a knot in the end of the rope. I finished right when I came up on the pit. I threw one end of the rope to Lulu, and I held the other end. With all my effort, I tried to pull Lulu out of the vortex. All the while both girls were shrieking. I didn't mean to yell but I did it before I could think "Shut your mouths and let me focus for a bit!" This shut them up for all of thirty seconds until the shadow revealed itself.
It slowly walked across the room as if nothing were happening. The next things I heard were some that will be with me my entire life. In a raspy and menacing voice it said, "Leave now, or forever be imprisoned here. Leave your friend and go; that is the price for trespassing on this property." The eerie voice of the shadow was like a knife going into your ears. I knew that Ellie and I should get out of there while we still could, but I wasn't able to leave Lulu almost dead being sucked into a vortex right in front of me.
I didn't move until Ellie came over and pulled me back. She yelled at me sobbing "Phil, we have to go now. It's what Dan and Lulu would want!" I nodded in agreement tears flooding down my face. Lulu had disappeared into the floor. Ellie and I were both crying like children who had just lost their mother in the grocery store. We ran toward the door. When we tried to open it, but it was locked. We were stuck in the church. We pounded on the door believing that someone would hear us and come to our rescue. There was no chance of that both of us knew it too. We just didn't want to give up that easy.
In the same raspy voice the shadow whispered "You are in debt to me for not leaving right away. You will experience horrific nightmares for years after this very day."
After that we heard the doors click open and we ran out into the courtyard, and then completely out of the church. When we got out into the open air, we were greeted by water droplets pouring down on us. As we were running, I took Ellie's hand because she was falling behind me. I kept dragging her forward. I knew I was pushing her beyond her physical and emotional limits. We'd both been through a lot that night. The moon was high up in the sky. If I remembered right it should be about one o'clock in the morning. There was a thick fog surrounding us as we reached the edge of the clearing. We entered the dense forest that was filled with shadows and darkness. We dodged branches and logs as we raced towards the edge of the forest. My feet pounded and sloshed against the mud. For a moment I was flying, the next my face was greeted by a mouthful of tree bark. In addition to that I heard a loud crack, which was my nose breaking. I felt the warm crimson liquid pour out of my nose slowly. I knew that I'd run straight into a tree without realizing it. I fell back into the mud, pulling Ellie with me. We struggled to stand as fatigue settled in. I had realized that my adrenaline rush had faded and I was beginning to tire out. Ellie managed to stand, and she pulled me up with her. She began running, obviously being driven by the need to fulfill Dan and Lulu's last wishes. That began to drive me as I thought about it. We raced through the thick woods as sweat, tears, blood and rain water mixed. I spat blood out of my mouth. I began to see a small opening in the trees. I sprinted towards it. The only thing I wanted to do right now was go home and hide under my bed. Images of those childhood monsters that used to torment me began playing in my head. This only made me want to get out of these wretched woods quicker. I slid down a steep hill, only covering myself with more followed after and we bolted out of the damned forest. We ran to where my car resided. I ran around and scrambled to grab the keys that had seemed to grow heavier in my back pocket. I fumbled with them until I managed to get the key into the keyhole. I threw the door open and I opened the door for Ellie. She lunged into the car. She was panting and out of breath. Her eyes were red and puffy, and black eyeliner stained her face. She had a cut that ran from the corner of her lip, to her ear. She buckled and she grabbed my shoulder. "Go!." She hissed. I realized I'd been staring at her. I quickly put my keys in the ignition and turned them. The car roared to life. Then we traveled away from the forest, the church, our two closest friends, and the demon who took them away from us.
The next few weeks were a nightmare come to life. As far as anyone knew Dan and LuLu died in a car crash that halloween night, and their bodies were nowhere to be found. As the demon promised there were many lurid nightmares. Not all of which were about the church. Most of the time they replayed the vision of Dan falling and Lulu being pulled into the floor.
Ellie was not much better she was a nervous wreck and had to go to therapy once or twice a week. She was slowly going insane.
After a few years she started to not talk to anyone about her problems anymore because no one believed her. Another couple years past and I only saw her once. Next thing I knew I was at her funeral. At the young age of twenty-seven. She had killed herself. My only friend. Now they are all dead. First Dan. Then Lulu, and finally Ellie. The demon hadn't claimed just two of my friends. It had claimed all of them.
A month later, I had gone through extreme therapy. They all died young, and all of the deaths had to do with the ground. Dan fell to his death and he died in the tall dead grass, impaled by a wooden board that we would usually class as harmless. Lulu had been eaten up by a black hole in the ground. Finally, Ellie took her final jump right off of a building. She laid on the ground, taking her last breaths. I can only imagine what she was thinking. Maybe was thinking about Dan and Lulu. Maybe she was thinking about me. Or maybe she was reliving those horrible nightmares that plagued us both, ten years later.
Dan was my closest friend. He had curly brown hair and elvish was only sixteen when he died. Dan was irresponsible, and abusive. He was immature and childish. Though he could also be bright and he could make you smile even in the worst of situations.
Lulu was the quiet one. She had long honey blonde hair and bright hazel eyes. She was more observational than maybe other who were older than her. She was very smart and bright. She also enjoyed spending time with her best friend Ellie.
Ellie was stunning. She had short wavy black hair and large green eyes. She was very outgoing and always said what she thought unless she thought it would hurt someone. She cared for everyone and tried to be the best she could be.
Those were my friends. Their lives were cut short. And now they are memories. I wrote this book so their memory could live on. This story will carry us through time. We will live forever, and so will our legacy. We will be remembered.
This was our story.