The Unknown Spirit
No one dared to venture into the abandoned remains of 13 Bentley Grove. They had all heard the gruesome tale of Emily James, the girl who risked her life for the unknown spirit...
In the very dark depths of the black forest lay a colossal, moss-covered tree, untouched for years and years. The Death Tree. Only the bravest of children could go anywhere near the terrifying tree. Everyone knows what happened at the very top; just looking at it brings back the memory of that one cold, lonely night. Who would have known what would happen?
Earlier that sunny, bright Saturday, the city council of Devon called a meeting together; they needed to talk about the darkest case the town had ever seen: an unknown mass-murderer. No one knew who it was; no one had seen it and survived. As the meeting wore on, it became more and more clear that the murderer wasn't going to stop anytime soon. So it was agreed; every person in the town had to be indoors every night by 9:00. Anyone who dared stay outside past 9:00 was putting their life at risk. Everyone went home and enjoyed their lovely Saturday. Everything was going great, until night fell upon Devon, growing closer to 9:00. But Emily wasn't at home at 8:30. She was somewhere else, outside in the dark night.
It was 8:30 and even though it was getting darker, Emily and her 3 friends were out playing games, far, far from home. Hopscotch, hand games and tag made for a long 20 minutes! At 8:50, Emily's friends said they should all go home so they could be back by 9:00, but Emily didn't want to go home. She wanted to play some more. So Emily's friends travelled back through the long forest and safely back to their houses. Time flew by for Emily; she was having great fun! But she grew weary of the darkness around her. She slowly realised what she had done and slowly she began to raise her watch to her face... it was 9:01. She froze on the spot for a minute and then shot off through the forest to race back home. Time was against her; she knew she was too late. But then it happened.
As she approached her house, she wildly banged on the door. But no one could hear her; all the doors and windows were soundproof as well as locked. Starting to breathe heavily, Emily ran to each of her neighbour's doors and knocked quickly, but no one would let her in for fear of the murderer. Barely able to stand simply from fear, she peered around in the black sky, looking for somewhere to go, until she saw the forest. It was a risk to go back in the pitch black, massive forest, but she knew this was all she could do. She sprinted back across the road and into the mass of tall trees. She glanced over bushes and shrubs to try and find the tallest tree and after a while, she found it: little did she know that it was the Death Tree. Still, she climbed unknowingly to what she thought was a safe height.
After a few minutes of thinking, Emily heard a rustle. She froze again, too scared to move. The rustling stopped and Emily thought she should at least look to see what it was. As she peered down, she saw nothing but a pair of glowing gold eyes. She sat bolt upright in the tree and thought, it won't get me. I'm just hallucinating. But a few seconds later, after composing herself, she heard a distant window shatter. She looked out of the tree and saw something crawling on the ground. The unknown creature had no legs! There was no way it could climb up the tree now! But she was wrong. It was holding two shards of broken glass in the air and suddenly stuck them into the tree. It started to climb, getting faster with every second. As it gained on her, she climbed right up to the top. But it was over. They both reached the top and with one blood-curdling scream, it was all over for her. Emily James was no more.
The next day was even brighter than before. Everyone woke up nice and refreshed, everyone besides Emily's family. They had hunted the house for her, rung every one of her friends' houses but no one had seen her since yesterday morning. They decided to have a search party out for her, but as soon as they left their house, there it was. The Death Tree. In the middle of the forest, surrounded by shrubs and other trees, was the tallest tree in the entire forest. At the bottom of the trunk, in a clump on the ground, lay Emily's cold, dead body. As more people started to see the search party and come towards the tree, more people worried. Finally, in disbelief, Emily's mother looked up and found it. Her head had been torn off and stuck into the top of the tree with one massive shard of broken glass. As every eye was directed at the top of the tree, more people saw the tragic truth. Written in deep red blood, all the way across her face, was the note: I was here. I will strike again.
