*Chapter 1: From Normal to Horror*
"This guy creeps me out. We better get a big tip." A skinny mover said, carrying the box filled with books. His partner is by the truck, waiting for his friend to bring the box over to the trunk. He has a black beard.
"If you're that concerned, maybe not try to drop his stuff." He pointed out. But he spoke too soon when one of the manuscripts fell out of the box and land on the sidewalk, and the lock is snapped open. "Whoa, careful! What'd I say?"
"Sorry. It fell out." The skinny mover said. "And besides, the lock got busted before it fell out."
"Yeah, sure. Maybe the guy won't notice."
"Whatever, just finish packing up all this junk." The skinny mover said, picking up the book. "I'll head back up for the rest." He places the book back in the box and load it inside the trunk. The book had a title labeled, Night of the Living Dummy.
The truck of Sal's is driving down the dark highway, and there are no cars around at this hour. Pretty spooky. The movers are wondering why would a person hire the moving company so late. But, at the same time, the movers needed a job.
"So, what about that girl? Should I call her or not?" A skinny mover asked, wearing the hat backwards to have his blonde hair sticking out. His partner chuckled at him.
"The tollbooth operator? You ain't got a chance, man."
"Eh, it's probably for the best anyway." The mover in a passenger seat said, bringing his feet up on the dashboard. He turned to the driver who focuses on the road. "Say, you ever get creeped out by driving late at night like this?"
"Whattya mean?" A bearded mover asked.
"Oh, you know. It's late, everyone's asleep, so gotta be things slinking out of the shadows."
"This better not be about the Haunted Car again." A driver said, rolling his eyes. The blonde mover turned to him.
"It's real! I swear!" He told him.
Real, maybe. But not haunted." The bearded driver said. "Look, you can't scare me. You told me so many scary tales the last few-"
CRASH!
That alarmed the men. They pulled over fast and looked at each other all startled after hearing the loud noise. It came from the trunk of the van. So the two movers got out of the van, got their flashlights out and head over to the trunk.
"So? You gonna open it?" A bearded mover asked, facing his partner who stares at the door of the trunk.
"I ain't opening it." The skinny mover said, shaking his head.
"You're the one with the scary adventures, man. Just open it! We ain't got all night." The bearded mover said. The skinny blonde mover sighed and pull the trunk up and use his flashlight to see some boxes in place, but there are two boxes that have the books are now opened, and the books are scattered on the floor of the trunk. "See anything?" A bearded mover asked his partner.
"Just those books all over." The blonde mover replied. He raises a flashlight and spotted a small figure. "Whoa!"
"What is it?"
"Somebody's in here! I think it's a kid!" A skinny mover exclaimed. The bearded mover came up by his partner's side, using his own flashlight to see a figure. He got a better look at it. It's not a kid. The bearded let out a giggle.
"It's only a ventriloquist dummy." He said. The two stared at the dummy with relief. The dummy has dark brown painted, sculpted hair, wearing a suit with a red tie, and a fake red flower pinned on the suit, dress shoes, and on the dummy's face there are two marks. One on his nose, one on his chin. Then, the dummy moves his head towards the men, opening his brown eyes that are full of anger.
"Who're you calling, 'dummy', dummy?!" He rasped. The movers let out a scream and the door slams shut behind them. A shrill laughter is heard from the inside.
The next day...
The school bell rings, and the front doors burst open by the teens of the junior high school. In front of the school is a girl with black hair, brown eyes, wearing glasses, and wear a purple backpack. She is wearing a red and white striped shirt, a black wrist band, blue jeans, and black converse. The 12 in a half girl got her phone out and see the text from her mom, telling her that she and the father will be home late and her older brother will be home soon.
"Guess I'll text Chad to order us pizza since mom and dad not going to be home after work." She said to herself. Then, a 15 year old boy rushed over to the girl, gripping his own cell phone. He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, and wearing a blue backpack. He is wearing a white shirt with green stripes on the sleeves and chest, blue jeans, and white sneakers.
"Sorry, Melissa. I forgot my phone." The teenage boy said. "I left it in my locker."
"No surprise there, Drake." The girl replied. "Listen, mom and dad are going to be late, and Chad might be getting us dinner when he gets home." Drake nodded and walked off with his sister leading the way. They walk down the parking lot of the school and see the woods. They always take a shortcut through the woods to get home faster. Their mother didn't like the idea of them walking into the woods and afraid that they might get kidnapped or worse, but the teens convinced her that nobody will ever try to take them away or harm them since the woods is very close to the neighborhood.
"We got a house to ourselves. What should we do?" Drake asked. Before Melissa could answer, there is someone ahead of the road between the paths. The strange looking figure is watching them with glowing eyes. There's something off about the man. Melissa could've sworn she could see leaves on the man's head.
"H-hello?" Melissa called. "Are you injured?" The man didn't reply. Can he speak?
"Mel, we should go around the other way." Drake said, backing up slowly, watching the leaf head man. "He's watching us. Let's get out of here." Two siblings hear a leafy hiss, and the man is about to approach them. Melissa and Drake backed up, frightened. The plant man is about to attack.
