It was a summer storm in Castle City as the Snack Pack and their friends are staying indoors in Rose's apartment and to make it worse, their electricity went out. Rose brewed hot chocolate, poured them into mugs, placed marshmallows, and served them to her friends.
"Feeling comfy?" She asked as she served them hot chocolate.
"Thanks." Poppy responded.
"I'll light up the place." Branch sighed as he took out some saucers, placed candles on it and lit them up.
"I wonder how we could survive this storm?" Guy shivered.
"Usually, when we sit around the fire, we can do something fun without electricity, like scrap booking." Poppy suggested.
"We don't have light here." Violet warned her.
"Oh." Poppy sighed.
"I know, we could do something else like telling scary stories." DJ Suki interrupted.
The others agreed, so does Branch, who placed his hands into the pockets of his vest, touching something he stores in them.
"Who wants to go first?" Rose asked her friends.
"I got one, have you heard the story of the Wendigo?" Smidge started.
"The cannibalistic monster from Canada?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, a faun from Canada told me that story once, it didn't scare me but I hope it scares you all." Smidge said as she told the story to them.
There was a wealthy man who loved hunting. He decided to go on a trip to a remote part of northern Canada. It was a forsaken and desolate part of the country and few people ever ventured that far north. Even fewer went there to hunt. He traveled to a trading post and tried to find a guide. He asked around, but nobody he spoke to would agree to take him. They all said it was too dangerous.
Eventually, he was put in touch with a stocky Cajun man by the name of DeFago. The man seemed to know a lot about trapping, Indian-lore and how to survive in the wilderness and the hunter thought he would make an excellent guide. DeFago was badly in need of money and agreed to take the hunter out to the best hunting grounds.
They set out together, paddling down the river in a small canoe. When they reached their destination, the men set up camp near a large frozen lake. As far as the eye could see, the ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow. The hunter was enchanted by its beauty and he enjoyed the sense of freedom it gave him.
For three days they hunted on the icy plains, but they had nothing to show for it. Luckily, DeFago taught him how to break a hole in the ice and catch some fish, so they didn't go hungry. The hunter was glad he had chosen to bring a guide. He knew that the only thing that lay between him and starvation was DeFago.
The third night a windstorm came up. They lay in their tent listening to the wind howling and the trees whipping back and forth.
To see the storm better, the hunter opened the tent flap. What he saw startled him. There wasn't a breath of air. stirring, and the trees were standing perfectly still. Yet he could hear the wind howling. And the more he listened, the more it sounded as if it were calling DeFago's name.
"De-Faaaaaa-Goooooo!" it seemed to be calling. "De-Faaaaaa-Goooooo!"
"I must be losing my mind," the hunter thought.
When he closed the tent flap and turned around, he saw that DeFago had gotten out of his sleeping bag and was huddled in a corner of the tent, his head buried in his arms.
"What's wrong?" the hunter asked.
"It's nothing," DeFago said. "Just the wind playing tricks on your ears."
But the voice that carried on the wind continued to call his name. It sounded oddly seductive and sweeet and DeFago became more tense and nervous.
"De-Faaaaaa-Goooooo!" it called. De-Faaaaaa-Goooooo!
The Cajun man flew into a panic and jumped to his feet. His eyes were wild and he was trembling. He pulled back the flap of the tent and was about to get out when the hunter grabbed him by the arm.
"Where are you going?" the hunter shouted. "You can't leave me here alone. How will I…?"
Suddenly, he was interrupted by the tremendous roar of the wind, coming across the lake. The trees overhead shook with the force of it and the campfire flickered and threatened to go out. There was a tremendous rushing noise as something swept over the tent, almost lifting it off the ground.
DeFago was shaking with fear. All of a sudden, he broke loose and fled from the tent. The hunter watched as his guide ran off and was swallowed up by the darkness. The hunter could hear him screaming as he went. Over and over, he cried, "Oh, my fiery feet! My burning feet of fire!" Then his voice faded away into the night and the wind calmed down again.
At the first sign of daylight, the hunter followed DeFago's tracks in the snow. The trail led through the woods, down toward the lake and out onto the ice.
But soon he noticed something strange. The footprints DeFago had left became longer and longer. They were so long that no human being could have made them. It was as if something had helped him to hurry away. The hunter followed the tracks out to the middle of the lake, but there they disappeared. At first, he thought that DeFago had fallen through the ice, but there wasn't any hole. Then he thought that something had pulled him off the ice into the sky. But that made no sense.
As he stood wondering what had happened, the wind picked up again. Soon it was howling as it had the night before. Then he heard DeFago's voice again. It was coming from up above and he was screaming, "Oh, my fiery feet! My burning feet of fire!" But there was nothing to be seen.
Now the hunter wanted to leave that place as fast as he could. He went back to camp and packed. Then he left some food for DeFago, and he started out. Weeks later he reached the trading post and set about looking for DeFago. He asked around, but none of the people had seen him. He told them what he had witnessed, but nobody could explain what had happened to DeFago that night.
One old man took him aside and whispered, "Could it have been the Wendigo?"
"Wendigo?" repeated the hunter. "What's that?"
"They say it comes with the wind," said the old man. "It calls your name and tries to trick you. Once it has you in its clutches, it drags you along at great speed until your feet are burned away. Then it drags you some more and burns away more of you than that. They say it carries you into the sky, and drops you. That's the story I heard as a child, but it's an old Indian legend. Who knows if it's true…"
The following year, the hunter went back to the same area. He was buying supplies at the trading post again and asked about his old guide, DeFago. Nobody had seen hide nor hair of him.
As night fell, the hunter was sitting by the campfire. The darkness brought forth a strange figure of a man. He came in and sat far from the fire, where the light and the shadows mingled. The man had a blanket wrapped around him and his hood was pulled down so low that his face was hidden in shadow.
The hunter watched him for a while and thought there was something familiar about him.
"DeFago?" he asked. "Is that you?"
The stranger didn't answer.
"It is you, isn't it, Defago?"
But there is no answer. The hunter began to wonder if something was wrong, if the man needed help. But he couldn't see his face.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
No answer.
"DeFago, can you tell me what happened? Just a little, so that I can help you…"
From beneath his hood, the stranger muttered something. His voice was low and breathless.
"I seen that great big Wendigo thing," he whispered.
The hunter wanted to get a look at DeFago. He still wasn't sure if it was really him. He reached out and tugged at the man's hood. The hood fell back and the blanket dropped to the ground.
"Wendigo?" repeated the hunter. "What's that?"
"They say it comes with the wind," said the old man. "It calls your name and tries to trick you. Once it has you in its clutches, it drags you along at great speed until your feet are burned away. Then it drags you some more and burns away more of you than that. They say it carries you into the sky, and drops you. That's the story I heard as a child, but it's an old Indian legend. Who knows if it's true…"
The following year, the hunter went back to the same area. He was buying supplies at the trading post again and asked about his old guide, DeFago. Nobody had seen hide nor hair of him.
As night fell, the hunter was sitting by the campfire. The darkness brought forth a strange figure of a man. He came in and sat far from the fire, where the light and the shadows mingled. The man had a blanket wrapped around him and his hood was pulled down so low that his face was hidden in shadow. The hunter watched him for a while and thought there was something familiar about him.
"DeFago?" he asked. "Is that you?"
The stranger didn't answer.
"It is you, isn't it, Defago?"
But no answer.
The hunter began to wonder if something was wrong, if the man needed help. But he couldn't see his face.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
But there's no answer.
"DeFago, can you tell me what happened? Just a little, so that I can help you…"
From beneath his hood, the stranger muttered something. His voice was low and breathless.
"I seen that great big Wendigo thing," he whispered.
The hunter wanted to get a look at DeFago. He still wasn't sure if it was really him. He reached out and tugged at the man's hood. The hood fell back and the blanket dropped to the ground.
The hunter screamed in horror. There was nothing under the blanket but a pile of ashes.
After Smidge told her story, everybody was awed by how she told the story and it scared the heck out of Aspen Heitz.
"Wow, what does the wendigo look like?" Guy asked her.
"It's a deer-like monster." Smidge answered. "The monster looked ugly and foul smelling from eating people."
"Okay, let's see who's gonna scream when they hear my story." Guy smirked.
A couple was sleeping at the terrace of the house as it was a hot summer night and there was some electricity problem at the house. They got this house on rent for some time and one floor of that place was locked.
The man's wife was a cleanliness freak. That night she woke up with the noise of falling water. She thought that my grandpa was doing it while he was sleeping right beside her and she didn't notice. She went to the bathroom and saw the back of a man, thinking it was her husband, she yelled at him saying, "This isn't the time for cleaning, why don't you sleep and let me sleep too?" The guy turned back towards the woman but his face wasn't visible. The woman went close to him and he suddenly grabbed her hand. She screamed at once as the man had fangs (vampire like teeth), he has long horns on his head, and his eyes were black. The man came there at once as he heard his wife's scream and the entity disappeared. After that, nobody slept at the terrace.
Later the owner of the house told them that a Brahma-Rakshasa (Brahma-Rakshasa is the spirit of a dead Brahmin who has done evil things in his life) lives there and the floor is locked because of that. He also told them that the house was very old. Although even he didn't had any idea about the reason of the presence of that monstrosity in his house.
The woman also discovered that, she was pregnant and according to Hindu ideology, if a lady is pregnant, they are prone to get attacked by negative entities. She also heard from the neighbors that a man died here. She and her husband left the house in a month and everything was normal after that.
It is said that when somebody lives in that house, the brahma-rakshasa will strike again but who knows, it will come back to haunt the person who lives there. The person will see a man with fangs, black eyes, and horns who will...ATTACK YOU!
Aspen and Harper screamed upon hearing Guy's story but the others are so wowed.
"You sure know some scary stories from your homeland." Rose said.
"I know, my dad told me that story because he witnessed it." Guy bragged.
"My story will be scarier than ever, its about the yamamba, or a mountain hag." Satin said.
Once upon a time, a Buddhist priest was caught out in a storm but luckily passed by a lonely hut. A kind old woman invited him inside, welcoming him with food and a warm fire. As welcoming as she was, she gave the priest a strange warning: "No matter what, do not look in the back room."
Unable to overcome his curiosity, the priest failed to heed the old woman's warning. As soon as she stepped out to gather more firewood, the priest peeped through a crack in the door. To his horror, he discovered the room filled with half-eaten corpses. The priest realized that the old woman was a Yamamba, luring unsuspecting travelers into her home only to shred them to pieces for her next meal. He fled from the hut as fast as he could and never looked back.
People said that the yamamba lives up to this day and she will wait for an unsuspecting traveler for her next meal. If she does, she will shred them to pieces for her next meal.
It shivered only Aspen, Harper, and Cooper to the bone but the rest are still wowed by the story.
"Wendigos, rakshasas, and mountain hags sound quite scary." Poppy said.
"If you want a scary story, I'll tell you a cautionary tale about how early marriages always go wrong." Biggie said.
"I remember how Oiwa cursed her husband to insanity by haunting him to his death." Chenille said.
"Betrothals never go exactly as planned, especially if the man is a raving, homicidal maniac." Biggie smirked.
Long, long ago, there was a man who had fine town and country houses, gold and silver plate, embroidered furniture, and gilded coaches; but unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, which made him look so ugly and terrible, that there was not a woman or girl who did not run away from him. One of his neighbours, a lady of quality, had two daughters, who were perfectly beautiful. He proposed to marry one of them, leaving her to choose which of the two she would give him. Neither of them would have him; and they sent him from one to the other, not being able to make up their minds to marry a man who had a blue beard. What increased their distaste to him was, that he had had twelve wives already, and nobody knew what had become of them. The first was Martha, the second is Beatrice, the third is Agatha, the fourth is Prudence, the fifth is Stella, the sixth is Millicent, the seventh is Heidi, the eighth is Rosalie, the ninth is Olivia, the tenth is Jocasta, the eleventh is Eugenie, and the twelfth wife is Dorcas.
Blue Beard, in order to cultivate their acquaintance, took them, with their mother, three or four of their most intimate friends, and some young persons who resided in the neighbourhood, to one of his country homes, where they passed an entire week. Nothing was thought of but excursions, hunting and fishing, parties, balls, entertainments, collations; nobody went to bed; the whole night was spent in merry games. In short, all went off so well, that the oldest daughter began to find out that the beard of the master of the house was not as blue as it used to be, and that he was a very worthy man. Immediately upon their return to town the marriage took place. At the end of a month Blue Beard told his wife, Josephine, that he was obliged to take a journey, which would occupy six weeks at least, on a matter of great consequence; that he entreated she would amuse herself as much as she could during his absence; that she would invite her best friends, take them into the country with her if she pleased, and keep an excellent table everywhere.
"Here," said he to her, "are the keys of my two great store-rooms; these are those of the chests in which the gold and silver plate is kept, that is only used on particular occasions; these are the keys of the strong boxes in which I keep my money; these open the caskets that contain my jewels; and this is the pass-key of all the apartments. As for this little key, it is that of the closet at the end of the long gallery, on the ground floor. Open everything, and go everywhere except into that little closet, which I forbid you to enter, and I forbid you so strictly, that if you should venture to open the door, there is nothing that you may not have to dread from my anger!" She promised to observe implicitly all his directions, and after he had embraced her, he got on to his horse and set out on his journey.
The neighbours and friends of the young bride did not wait for her invitation, so eager were they to see all the treasures contained in the mansion, not having ventured to enter it while the husband was at home, so terrified were they at his blue beard. Behold them immediately running through all the rooms, closets, and wardrobes, each apartment exceeding the other in beauty and richness.
They ascended afterwards to the store-rooms, where they could not sufficiently admire the number and elegance of the tapestries, the beds, the sofas, the cabinets, the stands, the tables, and the mirrors in which they could see themselves from head to foot, and that had frames some of glass, some of silver, and some of gilt metal, more beautiful and magnificent than had ever been seen. They never ceased enlarging upon and envying the good fortune of their friend, who in the meanwhile was not in the least entertained by the sight of all these treasures, in consequence of her impatience to open the closet on the ground floor.
Her curiosity increased to such a degree that, without reflecting how rude it was to leave her company, she ran down a back staircase in such haste that twice or thrice she narrowly escaped breaking her neck. Arrived at the door of the closet, Josephine paused for a moment, bethinking herself of her husband's prohibition, and that some misfortune might befall her for her disobedience; but the temptation was so strong that she could not conquer it. She therefore took the little key and opened, tremblingly, the door of the closet. At first she could discern nothing, the windows being closed; after a short time she began to perceive that the floor was all covered with clotted blood, in which were reflected the dead bodies of several females suspended against the walls. She recognized these women, Martha, Beatrice, Agatha, Prudence, Stella, Millicent, Heidi, Rosalie, Olivia, Jocasta, Eugenie, and Dorcas. They were all the wives of Blue Beard, who had cut their throats one after the other. She was ready to die with fright, and the key of the closet, which she had withdrawn from the lock, fell from her hand.
After recovering her senses a little, she picked up the key, locked the door again, and went up to her chamber to compose herself; but she could not succeed, so greatly was she agitated. Having observed that the key of the closet was stained with blood, she wiped it two or three times, but the blood would not come off. In vain she washed it, and even scrubbed it with sand and freestone, the blood was still there, for the key was enchanted, and there were no means of cleaning it completely: when the blood was washed off one side, it came back on the other.
Bluebeard found out about this and resolved to kill her. A chase happened in the estate but her brothers, who sneaked into the estate, caught him and killed him on the spot. The poor wife was almost as dead as her husband, and had not strength to rise and embrace her brothers. It was found that Blue Beard had no heirs, and so his widow remained possessed of all his property. She had all the dead wives given a proper burial, demolished the estate to move to another one, employed part of it in marrying her younger sister to a young gentleman who had long loved her; another part, in buying captains' commissions for her two brothers, and with the rest she married herself to a very worthy man, who helped her forget the miserable time she had passed with Blue Beard.
As the story ends, it made Cooper, Guy Diamond, Aspen, and Harper quiver with fear but the rest are still not budged.
"Your story bites." Branch rolled his eyes as he took out a voodoo doll of an Aztec deity from his vest. It has dark brownish-grey skin with gold painted on the face, Aztec clothing and accessories with gold balls, and real feathers, jaguar spotted hands, jaguar-like ears on the sides of its head, one left foot with jaguar spots, and the right foot is replaced with a smoke-like cloud.
"Yeah, it was a warning that you can't marry someone you just met." Biggie said.
"My mom would disapprove of Creek if she's still alive." Poppy agreed.
"That's nothing, my scary story will take place in my family homeland in Mexico." Branch smirked at them. "I'll tell you a scary story about the Aztec god of the night, Tezcatlipoca."
"Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of the night?" Rose asked.
"Who was he?" Biggie shivered.
"He's a very sneaky deity and we do not want to see him in a bad mood." Branch said as he started his story while holding the doll.
There was once a foolish man who wanted to marry a maiden who see that he is loathsome, doesn't want to do anything with him. And the worst thing of all, he thinks he looks better and is smarter than Tezcatlipoca. The whole village praised him, except for the others, who know who he is: a coward. One night, she can't stand him and her father, who also hated him, had an idea. He told the foolish man a story.
"If you want to marry my daughter, I bet you can't grab the heart of the night axe." He said.
"Of course, I will do it." He bragged. "How will I get his heart?"
"If you're brave enough to get the cactus thorns from him, he'll give you luck but more will one if you hold your hand into his chest and grab his heart." The maiden's father answered.
"This will be easy." The man smirked as he set out for the woods.
And so, he waited in the woods so that he can win the heart of the maiden. He bragged, he said foolish things, and he kept on doing this until nighttime fell. Feeling that he was betrayed, the foolish man tried to find his way back to the village so that he can force the maiden to marry him but then, he saw a figure. He ran up to it, believing it to be his betrothed but instead, he came face to face with a headless man with an opening in his chest, holding an axe. The man became frozen with fear as he saw this strange being. He began to run away but the monster continues to follow him. Before he could return to the village, the monster sneaked behind him and...
"Slash! And his head was chopped off by the axe!" Branch scared them. "The foolish man's head was stored in the creature's chest cavity and the night axe vanished into the woods."
It made everybody shiver when they heard the story.
"Did it really happened?" Cooper quivered.
"It couldn't have, could it?" Biggie shivered in response.
"I dunno." Branch continued the story. "The next day, everybody ran to the edge of the village, only to see the man's headless body. Upon seeing it, they realize that the man they praised is nothing but a bad person and they learned it is not good to brag against the gods. Of course, they didn't see Tezcatlipoca laughing nearby from the trees but the maiden saw him smirking at the dead body before returning to his home in the heavens. So, if anyone tries to mess with the Aztec gods, they will be either decapitated, flayed, killed in combat, or...
"RIP OUT THEIR HEARTS!" Rose screeched.
Everybody screamed when Rose scared them with the illusion of the night axe that she made with her magic. He and Rose laughed at the sight of the rest of the Snack Pack's scared faces that he finally scared them all.
"We did it!" Branch squealed.
"Best scary story ever!" Rose agreed.
"That was made up? It didn't happen at all?" DJ Suki asked them.
"What about the doll you brought in?" Violet added.
"The story itself was made up by my uncle to scare my younger cousins to behave." Branch said. "And I got this doll from my grandma as a reminder of her, I had a bunch of these at my bunker."
"Now I know what story is my favorite." Poppy said until the lights came back on. "Oh, the lights are back."
"Good thing we had fun together, even in the dark." Rose said.
They looked out at the window as the gray clouds dissipate and the sun returns into the sky.