Ah, the finals.
The week where there was no more TV, no more video games, no more texting, no more computer.
To sum it up, there was no fun at all. Everyone stayed up late to study, and got up early in the morning to go take the exams.
This is what three boys were preparing themselves for. They went to Eagleland high school, in the town of Fourside.
There was Ness, the sporty type. He was captain of the baseball team, and took everything lightly. Then there was Ninten, who was a joker. He'd always pull pranks, pushing everyone to their limits until he burst their bubbles. Finally, there was Lucas, a bookworm. He was always up to his nose in books, and the two other boys always wondered why he would refuse playing video games with them.
Ninten had the house all to himself this week, since his parents were out on a business trip. He invited his friends over, figuring that it would be smart if they helped themselves study.
"Ok, so ground rules. No electronics, even if there's some spare time. Use it to study... That's pretty much it." Lucas declared, putting his bags down in Ninten's room upstairs.
"Aww, we can't play even for a little while?" Ness whined, flopping down on the extra bed they got out.
"Ness, this is serious. Do you want to fail and start the grade all over again?"
"No, but YOU'RE taking this too seriously. Just relax, it'll pass by."
Ninten was in the corner of the room, watching the two argue with each other. He sighed, having something he wanted to get off his chest, but didn't want to tell it now, and waited for the right moment.
It was now night time, and they finished studying for now. Lucas ordered to continue, but the two others didn't want to. As an alternative, the boys started chatting.
"Hey, what if we tell scary stories? I got a TON." Ness suggested. He absolutely loved horror. How it made your spine chill, your whole body tremble in fear and feeling your stomach turn. He lived for the thrill, always taking on bigger challenges.
"I'm not sure… We should really study." Lucas placed his head on his knees, slightly cringing, thinking of a way to change the subject. He hated anything that was scary. Everyone told him that he was a baby, not being able to endure anything too extreme, but he didn't care. He just couldn't stand it.
"Hey, that's a good idea." Ninten leaned back against the wall, and looked at Lucas, subtly giving a small smile, which the blonde gave back.
"Guys, if you're gonna stay here, there's something I have to tell you." He stepped in, sitting down in a chair.
Ness and Lucas looked at the raven. "Well, what is it?" The capped boy asked eagerly.
"I have a scary story… In fact, I live it." This caught their attention, even though Lucas wanted to back away.
"You see, everyone has nightmares. But I have one that I dream about every single night, and could have consequences if I don't dream it correctly."
"Okay, that last part's bull, but go on. " Ness smirked, waiting to hear the story.
"This dream is heritage… It gets passed on generation by generation."
Ninten's POV
I was at the hospital, seeing that my grandfather laid peacefully on a bed. My mother was talking to him, and finished, walking out to let me in. "Now listen, he isn't in good shape. He might be gone soon." She said, sorrow creeping in her voice. I gulped, walking inside his room, sitting in the chair next to him.
"Hi, grandpa."
"Hey there, kiddo." My grandfather lifted his arm up to ruffle my hair, using his remaining strength.
We discussed about how I was doing in school, what I wanted to be in the future, how he was like when he was little… All sorts of subjects you would discuss about with grandparents.
But, then he had a dreadful look in his eyes. "Listen, since I'm going to be gone soon, there's something I need to tell you before I pass on,"
I listened carefully, wondering what he could possibly say that hasn't been told before.
"In our family, there's a curse brought down generation by generation,"
This made me start to chuckle, but in a sad way. I thought that his mind was really fading away, and he started to make stuff up.
"This is something that you must not take lightly," He said in a serious tone, and picked up from where he left.
"What's passed down is a dream. Well, a nightmare, to be exact. At first, it seems that you're just in your bed, falling asleep. Then you hear cracking noises, but you ignore them, figuring it's just the house. But they start to get more and more frequent, and you want to get up to see what the problem is. As soon as you reach the door handle, you halt. You hear something else. A ringing sound. You slowly back away from the door, hearing footsteps, as if someone was climbing the stairs. They get heavier and heavier which each step, the ringing sound not disappearing. You get more and more frightened, backing away in the corner of the room. The door suddenly opens, revealing a human outline, but dressed with a cape surrounding its whole body, hiding its face. You panic, looking around, trying to find an exit, and the only option seems to be the window. You want to run towards it, but it feels as if your feet got stuck on the ground. You slowly try to make your escape, your speed decreasing with every footstep, with the thing behind following you."
I was terrified at how my grandfather told this... 'story'. I now seriously questioning his sanity.
"Then… what happens?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to now.
"There are two endings. If you succeed getting out of the window, you wake up, and the monster disappears."
"Monster?"
"You don't want to know what's underneath. So if you don't manage to get out, the monster escapes from the window, and kills someone. It seems as if it weren't that bad… But, the murder happens in real life. When you wake up the next morning, someone is killed, most likely in your own neighborhood, since the monster got out your window."
"I don't believe you." Even though a part of me did.
"Remember about five years ago three people got killed on my street? At that time, I was extremely sick. I failed to get out of the window. And just last week, someone across the hospital was murdered, because I couldn't wake up from my operation."
"…" I remembered the incident that happened some years ago, and my grandfather was truly sick. And last week's murder happened on the very same day he got operated.
"As soon as I die, the curse will be brought to you."
"What about mom? Why didn't she get it?"
"It seems as if only males get it… That's why when I had your mother, I hoped that she wouldn't get a boy, so it would end the cycle. If the one that ahs the nightmare is dead and there's no one to pass it down onto, then it ends."
I kept asking questions on how this would be possible, and questioning myself if I should believe it, or not.
Eventually, my grandfather passed away. The night he did, I got the nightmare. It was exactly how he described it. Everything seems so real, and if I fail, then someone dies.
"…" Ness was silent, wanting to just brush it off, knowing that Ninten was a practical joker, and that he just made this up.
Lucas tried to keep a straight face, but burst out laughing. "Do you really expect me to believe that!"
"It's not funny, it's true. Hell, if I don't succeed, the monster could kill you. I mean, we live in the same neighborhood. Remember the night the woman on the end of the street got killed? It was the night it got out before me."
Ness remembered that day, the day that everyone feared the most, feeling that they weren't safe enough. But he thought he heard somewhere that the killer was caught… Or was it someone else?
"Anyways, I think we should go to sleep. We got exams tomorrow, and I want to get up early in the morning to study some more." Lucas got up, climbing into bed. "And no more spooky stories." The blonde was scared about these types of stories, but this one, he just didn't seem to even get a bit terrified by it.
"Whatever you say. Just don't wake me up in the middle of the night." Ninten shut off the lights, getting into his own bed.
Ness was still awake when the others were asleep, fearing that the door could open at any second… That Ninten would fail to get out before the monster…
In the middle of the night, there was a whimpering that woke up two of the boys. Ness and Lucas looked at each other, and then went to Ninten, seeing that he had an expression of terror in his face. He was shaking, and seeming to fight something in his dream.
"Oh god, it's happening." The raven started to panic, though it didn't seem to affect the blonde. "This is stupid, just go back to sleep." He went back to bed, but the other didn't seem to budge.
This happened the next night, and the one after that one, and after that one. All the way up to the last night before the day of the exams.
This time, it seemed even worse. Ninten was now practically screaming, and Ness was even more terrified.
"Ness, aren't you supposed to be the tough guy that can now the difference between a real story and a fake one!" Lucas yelled, annoyed at the raven.
"Luke, someone's gonna die, aren't you in the least bit worried?!"
"Then why don't you call the cops?! Look, I'm gonna go downstairs to see if the monster is making himself cookies."
"D-Don't go!"
"Stop it. I'm gonna prove to you that this is just all something Ninten made up, and is probably recording right now." Lucas huffed, opening the door and closing it behind him.
Ness heard the blonde walk downstairs, but that's it.
"Lucas?"
He didn't hear any respond, so he went a little louder.
"Lucas!"
Instead of hearing the boy's voice, he heard a ringing sound.
"Oh no."
He then heard loud footsteps walking upstairs, getting closer and closer.
"No, no, no…" Ness was completely panicking, and started to look around, trying to find something that could help him, even trying to wake Ninten up.
"Wait, he said not to wake him up. But what do I do in this situation!?"
…
Ninten was trying his best not to laugh. Right now, he could imagine Lucas wearing the black blanket he got, along with some bells attached to his ankles, with a flashlight under head face, jumping on each stair. They planned this before the exams week, knowing that Ness couldn't resist the thrill of a frightening tale. 'This is gonna be the best prank ever!'
As he was expected it, the raven heard the door open, imagining the look on Ness' face. He then heard laughter, thinking that Lucas revealed himself.
But it wasn't Lucas' voice.
He heard something being hit, then a loud thump, as if someone falling limp on the ground.
Ninten was confused, so he shot up from the bed, with an expression of pure horror on his face. He was a body on the ground, and could clearly see the face… Or what was left of it. Blood was dripping everywhere, and some places got sunken in, with teared up flesh at other places. The face seemed to had the same expression as the raven's, dull blue eyes wide opened, mouth slightly agape.
Beside it, he could see Ness, with something in his hand. What he used to hit the 'monster'.
"Ninten! I got it! Now the monster won't ever bother you again!"