The Graveyard
The woman dashed down the hallway as quickly as she could, trying to avoid the gaze of the evil demon that was chasing after her.
"No! Keep away from me!" shrieked the terrified woman as we saw her through a first-person perspective of the monster.
The demon growled as a response, ready to devour its prey. Suddenly, the woman stumbled and fell on the floor. She whirled around and began crawling backwards with a horrified expression on her face.
The monster's shadow towered over her, and she screamed one final time… before the screen suddenly turned to static…
"Awwww, man!" groaned Mordecai and Rigby simultaneously. The two slackers had rented a horror film that evening. They were both in the mood for a little scare, but it looks like their party was over.
"Dude, this sucks!" uttered Rigby, hopping off the couch and approaching the DVD player. He pressed the eject button and checked the back of the disc. "Well, no wonder this thing's not working."
He held it up so Mordecai could see it.
"There's this big scratch on it." Mordecai stood up and said, "Aw, man. We wasted five bucks on a crappy horror movie that doesn't even work! Ugh!"
The blue jay rolled in his eyes and he grabbed the DVD from Rigby. He put back in its case and said, "Let's go return this stupid thing to the rental store and get our money back."
Mordecai and Rigby both marched to the store. Dusk was just starting to set in, and the streetlights were beginning to flicker on.
"Man, that movie blowed." Said Mordecai.
"Yeah," replied Rigby, snickering a little. "Did you see how crappy those special-effects were? Dude, I think I saw the zipper on that stupid actor's costume."
"I know, right? And that woman's screaming was so fake. I thought I saw her trying not to yawn at some parts, heh-heh!"
Both at them chuckled at that silly movie and its lukewarm acting. As stated earlier, both had wanted a little scare.
And as fate would have it, they both began trudging by a very grim, dismal graveyard.
The graves appeared dilapidated and worn by age and the grass and gardens appeared as if they had been unattended to for years. Trees without leaves hung over the graves, almost seeming like they were monsters in the shadows. The fence around the perimeter was old and the rusty entrance door was creaking loudly as it blew in a gentle breeze.
Mordecai noticed it and mischievously said, "Hey, Rigby." The raccoon turned to his friend as a response.
"Wanna check out this old graveyard?"
"What? No way! Why would we do that?"
"I've heard it's haunted," replied Mordecai, shifting body towards the entrance of the gravesite.
"So?"
"Sooooo…let's go see for ourselves!"
"Psssht," scoffed Rigby, crossing his slim, furry arms. "Nah. Ghosts don't exist. It'll probably be just a waste of time. Besides, we gotta return the movie."
"C'mon dude," replied the blue-jay, nudging Rigby with his elbow. "It's just for fun! We might see something creepy in there, like, a skeleton or a headless horseman or something."
Rigby gulped a little. Knowing Rigby, he wasn't very brave. He hated graveyards; they always gave him the creeps.
"Eh…I don't think that's a good idea, Mordecai."
"What's wrong?" Mordecai smiled deviously. "You scaaaaaared?"
"What? Yes! N-no! I mean, I don't know...maybe. Look, I just don't like graveyards, ok?"
"What's wrong with them?" asked Mordecai, peering back at the graveyard. "I mean, sure, they're full of dead guys, but so what? They're dead, they aren't coming back."
"Well, yeah…but…"
"We'll stay just for a few minutes, explore a little, and then we'll leave. That's all."
Rigby sighed and he lowered his head. "Ok, fine. But just for a few minutes."
"Yeah…yeah, sure. C'mon." Mordecai marched towards the entrance with his head up high, ready to encounter anything that came his way in there.
Rigby, on the other hand, was a bit hesitant. He walked in there slowly and with his head lowered. Entering an old, abandoned graveyard wasn't exactly his favorite pastime. But, at least Mordecai was with him…for now.
They both looked left to right, observing the spooky scenery. There were more than just tombstones and crosses. There were eerie statues of angelic beings and giant stone tablets with prayers engraved on them in Hebrew and Latin. The air smelled like moist dirt, and as they got in deeper, the sounds of the streets slowly seemed to die away and the only other sounds heard were their footsteps.
"Um…Mordecai?" Rigby's voice sounded meek and quiet.
"What?" asked Mordecai in his normal voice.
"You think we should head back now?"
"Chill out, dude. What's your hurry?"
"Well," answered Rigby, his eyes shifting left to right. "There's nothing here, man. Just a bunch of graves and trees and stuff."
"Hang on, Rigby. Just a little deeper." Rigby groaned as he followed his friend deeper into the boneyard.
Suddenly, Mordecai stopped. "Hey, what the…?" A thick, milky-white fog suddenly began enveloping the two groundskeepers. It was bizarre because it seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Where'd all this fog come from all of a sudden?" Rigby cried, looking left to right.
They both looked in all directions as the ghostly fog surrounded them and impaired their sense of direction.
"Dude, this is getting freaky!" uttered Rigby, a sense of dread now clearly in his voice.
"Yeah, let's get the 'H' outta here!" responded Mordecai. "But which way did we come from?"
Mordecai and Rigby glanced at each other nervously. It's true. The fog obscured the path from which they came. They were lost in an abandoned graveyard.
But suddenly, Rigby pointed at a direction and cried out, "Look, a light!"
Mordecai followed his buddy's paw and saw an orb of light with a shadowy figure in the distance. "Hey, you're right!" cried out Mordecai happily. "Someone's here! Let's see if they know the way out of here!"
The bird and the raccoon both scurried towards the light, eager to get out of this abysmal, saturnine cemetery.
Finally, both seemed to get out of the ghostly fog and screeched to a halt. And just like that, the orb of light and the mysterious figure had vanished.
Mordecai scratched his head in confusion, perplexed at what just happened. "What the? Dude, did you see where they…?" When the blue-jay turned to his right to see his buddy, he wasn't there. "…Rigby?"
The groundskeeper began looking in all directions, a sense of panic beginning to develop in the pit of his stomach.
"Dude, this isn't funny! Cut it out!" scolded Mordecai at an imaginary Rigby, hoping to hear his friend's laughter. But no, only the sound of his voice echoing off of the age-old tombstones.
Suddenly, right behind him, he heard fast footsteps. He turned his head half-way and peered behind his left shoulder. Rigby was running right up to him.
"Rigby! There you are!" Mordecai said, smiling to see his fellow groundskeeper. But, in that moment, Mordecai noticed something peculiar about Rigby.
He had a very large grin on his face. But it wasn't just a large grin. It was an enormous grin, and his eyes appeared wide and bloodshot.
And right when Mordecai noticed this, Rigby ran right past him.
"Rigby! Where are you going?" called out Mordecai.
Mordecai's eyes followed his furry friend and watching him, for some reason, run inside a large, stony mausoleum.
Mordecai arched his eyebrow, and was curious why his friend just seemed to run full speed into that creepy place.
He ran after him, and stopped at the entrance to observe the place from a safe distance. The mausoleum was decorated with destroyed statues and broken-down stone coffins covered with cobwebs and weeds. Windows were broken and the floors were cracked.
But where was Rigby? Mordecai was certain he had seen him run in here.
He stepped inside the old chapel and began slowly scanning the area. He took a few steps more, and then he heard something.
A weeping. A gentle weeping. The weeping of a young woman.
Mordecai stopped and held his breath to make sure he wasn't just hearing something. But no, he heard it, clear as day. Someone was in there crying softly.
"Rigby?" whispered Mordecai, "Rigby, you in here?"
The blue jay slowly tip-toed his way around the deserted mausoleum, when he saw her.
A young woman weeping in front of an old grave, possibly her father or lover. She had her back turned to Mordecai.
"Whoa," thought Mordecai as he saw this. "This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute".
With no other option, the groundskeeper began walking towards the weeping woman. What else could he do?
He stretched out his hand and quietly asked, "Um…excuse me. Ma'am?"
The woman, almost robotically, stopped weeping. She turned around quickly, and that was when he saw her face.
She was beautiful. She had sapphire-blue eyes and wavy brown hair. Interestingly, she wore a bizarre sort of dress, almost a toga of some sort. She had sandals on, and she wore a golden tiara.
But then, she quickly stood up and began running away.
"Hey, wait a minute!" called out Mordecai as he witnessed her running quickly down the dark, lonely hallway. Mordecai gave chase and noticed her take a left and vanish from sight. Mordecai followed in her footsteps and took a left as well, only to be led to a stairway that seemed to go downstairs into a pitch-black area.
Mustering up all the courage he could, Mordecai went downstairs. He had to find this lady, or Rigby, and find a way out of here. He was beginning to get very nervous.
He treaded slowly, making sure he didn't trip over any stairs or rocks. Finally, his bird foot touched non-elevated ground. Although it was dark, he could see some moonlight pouring in from a shattered window.
And then he heard something once again. It was that strange weeping. Once again, Mordecai slowly made his way through the darkness, curious to see just what was going on.
His eyes landed on the woman's back again. This time, she was crying in the middle of the room. Once again, she had her back turned in Mordecai's direction.
Without thinking twice, the blue jay walked forward, determined to get some answers from this woman and perhaps information as to where Rigby has gone off to.
But something made Mordecai stop for a second. Her gentle weeping suddenly grew to a more louder crying. And then, it grew to wails and screaming, and then hysterical shrieks.
It gave Mordecai the chills. Her screams shook the entire mausoleum, and it almost shattered Mordecai's ears.
Nevertheless, he slowly approached her again without saying a word. He extended his hand out as before, and just as he was going to ask her a question, she whirled around (although Mordecai wished she didn't) and she let out a horrifying scream.
She was no longer a beautiful woman. No.
Now she had a hideous face. It was the face of a horse, a hideous, mutilated horse. There were scars all over her horse face, and she had no eyeballs, just blood dripping out of empty eye sockets. She had a long, slithering forked tongue, and her hair was ragged and filthy.
"WHOA, HOLY CRAP!" cried out Mordecai as he stumbled backwards. The demon woman continued shrieking those horrible screams, and she stood up. She stretched out her hands towards Mordecai, beckoning him to come closer to her.
Mordecai crawled backwards in horror, gazing at the hideous monster that stood before him. He then stood up and sprinted out of there as fast as he could. Behind him, he could still hear the accursed screams and wails of the monster. He didn't dare turn around to see her chasing him.
Finally, when he got out of the mausoleum, he managed (though while still running) to turn around and see if that thing was chasing him. It wasn't.
Finally, after much running, he stopped to catch his breath. He put his feathery palm on a tree trunk and took deep breaths. He knew right away that what he saw in there would stay with him for the rest of his life. That woman's twisted horse face and her bizarre screeching. Did he imagine it? It wasn't chasing him, so what was it?
When Mordecai finally picked his head up, he didn't believe what he saw.
"…Rigby?" A large smile formed on Mordecai's face. Rigby was ok!
Rigby stood there, smiling casually, appearing as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Sup, Mordecai." replied Rigby, in a very relaxed, casual way.
"Dude, where've you been? Let's get out of here, dude! This is place is messed up!" Mordecai cried frantically, waving his wings in a humorous fashion.
"Sure, dude. Whatever you say."
Mordecai and Rigby both began walking slowly, hopefully in the direction from where they came. While walking, Mordecai began telling Rigby the disturbing thing he had seen. "Dude, you're not gonna believe what I saw!"
"What?"
"I saw this demon horse-lady thing! Man, she was hideous! At first, I thought she was this pretty chick, right? And then, all of a sudden, she has this ugly face and teeth and claws…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I swear!"
"Interesting…"
"What do you by tha-…" That's when it hit him. Mordecai, once again, noticed something peculiar about Rigby. He sounded very normal. But that was it. He sounded too normal. The last time he said something, he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And now he was…normal?
"Dude, I…I…are you…are you feeling ok?" questioned Mordecai, stopping him from walking any further by putting his arm out in front of him.
"Yeah. What do you mean?" asked Rigby innocently.
"I dunno, I just…let's get out of here, huh?"
"You need to relax, Mordecai. Everything's fine. It's just an old graveyard filled with dead guys, right?"
"Uh…y-yeah…yeah, you're right dude. C'mon, let's go." Mordecai took the lead. It was difficult navigating his way through this place now, especially since it was now nightfall.
Suddenly, that ghostly white fog mysteriously came back. "Uh-oh, it's this trippy fog again!" Mordecai's eyes flickered from left to right as he witnessed the fog engulfing them both once again.
"Dude, I think this fog means we're near the exit. Here, let's hold hands so we don't lose each other again, ok?"
"Sure, Mordecai…sure." Without looking at him, Mordecai grabbed Rigby's paw and he led them out of the unsettling fog.
"Oh man," said Mordecai, still clutching onto Rigby's paw and flicking off some sweat off of his forehead with his index finger. "We made it out of that fog."
He turned to look at Rigby, and he saw someone else. He saw a deranged, psychopathic-looking clown staring at him with an enormous smile on its face clutching his hand. It had two rows of razor-sharp teeth and pointed, large ears. It had no hair on its head (although there seemed to a large scar on the scalp that was sown shut) and glowing red eyes. The killer clown was holding a large butcher knife with some blood dripping off of it.
Mordecai screamed and instantly let go of its hand. The clown then began cackling a deranged laugh. It almost sounded like a human's laugh, but with more of a demonic tone.
The blue jay sprinted away from it as fast as possible again. And then suddenly, that horse-demon woman popped out from beneath the ground, shrieking that horrible screech like in the mausoleum.
Mordecai screeched to a halt and prepared to run in the opposite direction, when he saw that evil clown come lumbering towards him.
The screeching demon had her hands out towards him like before and the clown was giggling nefariously when suddenly…
He woke up…
Mordecai sat up as his eyes landed on the snowy, static television screen. He looked around for a moment, and saw that he was in his living room. He looked to his left and saw Rigby sound asleep right next to him.
"Aw, man…" whispered Mordecai to himself. "What a nightmare." He and Rigby must have fallen asleep when the movie glitched up. He stood up and he pushed the eject button on the DVD player. He pressed the "off" button on the television frame, when for a moment, just a brief moment, he thought he saw a ghostly white face on the screen staring at him. Mordecai shook his head and blinked, but nothing was there.
"Man," he said to himself, "I gotta stop watching so many crappy horror movies…"