Ok, Chapter Two is finished. I hope to get Chapter Three done soon. In the meantime I would appreciate feedback. Insults and criticism is encouraged.
Enjoy.
Chapter Two:
In The Depths Of Skeleton Lake.
Gregory was standing aside, watching the two kids in a suspicious manner. They were talking quietly to themselves, both wore matching grins that made Gregory nervous.
After a while they broke their conversation and walked towards him. As they got near, he recoiled.
"You know…" He started. "I think I have more I need to do then I thought….maybe I can wait and see the town later." Gregory said cautiously…knowing that such an argument would not work…but thought it did not hurt to try. He started to back up as he said it.
The two kids looked at each other, and their grins widened…if that was even possible.
"Nonsense." The boy said, and to Gregory's horror they each got on either side of him and picked him by his upper arms. They began walking down the street in this manner.
"We said we'd give you a tour of the town and we will." The boy continued, his voice filled with cruel amusement.
"Yeah, we always keep our word." They exchanged a look Gregory couldn't see before turning the corner. Gregory began to get a little miffed. He could already tell he wasn't going to like this place.
"Let me down!" He said, while shaking free of their grip. Right after he got free they grabbed him again and shoved him forward.
"Now now now…no need to get upset. Is that any way to treat a friendly neighbor trying to welcome you into town?" The boy said, feigning innocence. The girl giggled. Gregory felt a dropping feeling in his stomach. He really wanted to go back home…his old home…back where he had lived but twenty hours before.
"Hey, Violet, why don't we show him the lake by the old Pumpkin House. I'll bet he'd really like that." The boy said to the girl…who it could only be assumed was named Violet.
Violet nodded and fixed Gregory with a wicked look. Gregory's lips tightened as he could only imagine what seeing the lake may result to. A few things came to mind.
"That'll be our first stop, we'll make sure you get a real good look." The girl said while giving him a shove. As they pulled forward Gregory's struggle was interrupted.
"Well, I see you guys can't make friends with anyone without forcing them to be near you." Someone said behind them. Gregory saw the boy's face change out of the corner of his eye. He let Gregory go, leaving him to be held only by his sister and turned towards the direction the voice was coming from.
"We told you already Justin, your not allowed to come within thirty feet of us or we'll take it upon ourselves to curse your soul and fill your pathetic life with misery and woe. Don't you ever listen." Gregory managed to turn in the girls grip, which was still plenty strong enough even with the absence of her brother. He saw a small thin boy with neatly combed back hair, wearing the sort of clothes that kids wore in a private school. He looked very tiny and wimpy next to the bigger boy with the bright red hair.
"You let out my dads tires again Edward. I'm sick of being late to school because of you…I had to take the bus." The boys face grew ugly with anger and obvious hatred.
"Aww…poor little Justy wusty. Had to take the bus with all of the nasty little kids. Just because your dorky father owns the town doesn't make you better then us you know." Edward said, for a moment his mocking face was changed into something that looked almost human…then that was gone. Violet shifted beside Gregory.
"In fact Justin, by all rights we hate you a lot more then anyone else in town." She said. The small boy appeared to have ignored her.
"I'm warning you two to stay away from our house. I have friends in high places. I'll see to it that your so beat up so bad that you can't walk for weeks." Justin said, his voice taking on a dangerous and snooty quality that could only be achieved by kids who did in fact think they were better then everyone else. Edward snorted with laughter.
"Pretty big talk for someone who gets their shoes stolen and their homework shredded and their house egged every weak."
"Yeah, and we wont even mention the all of the times you've been shoved in your locker and had your personal stuff hung in high places where everyone can see them."
"Places you can't reach." Edward and Violet exchanged looks and burst out laughing again. Justin looked as though his head were about to explode. Gregory, being used to getting bullied pitied him a little. He also had a mind to mentally warn the boy about appearing too angry, or emotional…it only delighted bullies. He watched the boy , fascinated as his face turned a bright shade of red.
"The only reason those things happen to me is because of you guys." He said though gritted teeth.
"Aw come on, we cant take all of the credit." Edward said.
"Yea, don't be so modest Justin…almost everyone in town hates you." Violet said.
Justin blew up. Or rather his face got another shade brighter and then he rushed stupidly towards Edward who looked surprised for a moment. He ran into him, flailing his arms and hitting Edward with only one lucky shot. After a moment Edward's momentary alarm faded and he struck back, sending the boy crashing to the ground.
Edward wiped at his mouth, which was bleeding but a little.
"That was a mistake King. Violet, I think we should take Justin with our new friend. I'd bet in all his time in this town he's never been over to Skeleton Lake." Justin seamed to regain himself.
"It's King Lake now you putrid piece of scummy rubbish." The thin boy yelled.
Edward pulled Justin up to his feet from his collar. Justin had regained some of his fiery look returning, and his eyes filling once more with rage…this didn't last as Edward began dragging him in the direction that they had been going ing. Where this exactly led to, Gregory was still not sure.
Suddenly, Justin's look filled with a strange terror.
"We're not actually going down there!" Justin yelled, his voice now sounding rather womanish.
"that's what we said Justy, I'm telling ya, you really need to pay attention more often." Edward said pleasantly, ignoring the cut in his lip, which thanks to the heat had begun to bleed a little over his pointed chin.
Gregory was now quite sure what was about to happen. As this realization dawned on him he began to struggle lightly. Violets grip on him only increased.
"Be patient now Gregory, we'll be there soon enough…show some self control." Violet said with a bitter note of laughter. Justin had begun struggling desperately. Gregory thought it was sort of odd how the boy was suddenly filled with panic.
"We can't go down there…are you freaks mad! WE CAN'T ACTUALLY GO DOWN THERE!" Justin's voice had taken on a shrill quality. It made Gregory's head hurt.
"LET GO! HELP! HELLLLLP!"
As this last scream rang in his ears Gregory decided he couldn't take it anymore. He was already sure that an unpleasant surprise was waiting for him at the end of this lovely stroll. Justin's panicked state was not helping.
"Will you shut up!" He yelled, surprising the boy out of his fit. Justin looked at him as though he hadn't known he had been there the whole time. Violet laughed a little.
"You have no right to tell me to shut up!" Justin screamed, his eyes still moving wildly ahead of him.
"What do you know Justin, you don't even get respect from people who are as dorky as you are." Edward said. "We're almost there. Stop struggling." Justin made an attempt to duck out of Edwards grip, but only managed to get out half way before Edward grabbed him roughly around the neck.
"Ack! You'll pay for this Wayward! You'll be so sorry!"
"What are you going to do, run to your daddy?" Edward mocked.
"A lot of good that'll do you…we could beat him up too." Violet added with a harsh laugh.
They neared the place where the old car Gregory had seen earlier turned, and from a good twenty feet away he could see an ancient looking wooden bridge. Across it's surface, boards and splinters stuck out randomly, making it the sort of place Gregory wouldn't cross even on a dare. The water below looked dark and murky, there was a mist rising from it, that made Gregory think of the old fashioned horror movies where cheesy looking swamp monsters jumped out at unsuspecting travelers and pulled them into it's lonely deep. Now he joined Justin in a harsher struggle.
For a moment he thought he had managed to escape the girls grip. She was in the middle of saying something and had not been paying much attention to him.
"There's an interesting story that goes along with Skeleton Lake…they say if you get caught in it's depths, the spirits of the dead come from the deep and-" She gasped in surprise as Gregory slipped under her arms, he started to make a run for it, but Violet lunged out and hit him hard in the back. He fell to the ground and once again felt two small but oddly strong hands grab his upper arms.
"Nice try Greg, almost got away, I was worried for a second. Come on now, wouldn't want to deprive the spirits of fresh meat." They got to the bridge, and with a few nudges from the two kids, who Gregory decided were twice as worse as most of the bullies who had tormented him throughout the years they reached the center. Gregory was vaguely aware of a sharp pain in his palm where he had been grasping the side of the bridge.
"Any last words?" Edward asked while dipping Justin over the side, who was throwing a fit. Gregory gritted his teeth, now struggling as hard as he could. He hated water, he had always made a lousy swimmer. When his father had tried to teach him how he had only managed to get as far as a dog paddle before his dad finally decided to give up. Whenever he went to the pool with other kids he avoided the deep end…mostly to avoid further torment from his peers.
"No? Well then have a nice swim." Gregory closed his eyes and waited for miserable feeling of the cold water stealing his breath from him. When it didn't come he opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. Because he couldn't see Violet, who was directly behind him, he looked sideways towards Edward.
The boy was staring upward with wide eyes. His eyes looked wary, which Gregory found did not suit his wicked and laughing countenance. Gregory followed his gaze to a large house that towered over the bridge like a great black crow marking the dead. Gregory looked about to see what the boy was so frightened of but couldn't find anything. All he could see was the giant domicile standing at the end of town like a great eyesore.
He started to look back at the boy but his eyes flashed back to the house as a window lit up. There were tons of windows across the face of the giant manor marking the many rooms that must have filled it from top to bottom. Gregory watched in amazement as all of the windows lit up one after another, as though they were timed to do so automatically, though Gregory had never heard of such a thing. He wondered vaguely how anyone could get to all of those windows quick enough to turn them all on so quickly. He didn't think anyone could.
"Cripes Edward." Violet said, her voice slightly breathless.
"Let's get out of here." Edward said, his voice quite a bit more calm then the look plastered on his face. Gregory rose his brow, examining the windows, they were all lit now. He felt a shudder go up his spine. Beside him Justin was crying. Violet, who had let Gregory go met his gaze for a moment, before turning towards her brother.
"Come on Edward!" Edward nodded, he looked quickly at Justin, who was still in his clutches, before, to Gregory's astonishment, pushing him over the side of the bridge. Violet turned and started running back across the wooded surface of the viaduct, not paying Gregory a second thought. Just as he thought he might get off the hook, Edward ran towards him. Gregory tried to dodge him and avoid the dark water. He didn't manage it. He felt a hard shove against his chest and soon the cool air around him became icy water waking up all of his senses, and pushing against him painfully. Through the haze he could see the boys dark shadow retreating.
After a confused moment he began to struggle to get to the surface.
At one point, although the experience would be repressed by him quite desperately he could have sworn he felt something grabbing at his leg. This struck a momentary panic in his breast before whatever it was fell away and he was able to break through the veil of water into the depleting light of dusk. He gasped for air and struggled his way towards land.
Gregory heard a choking sound beside him as someone grabbed at his shirt. Yelling he turned and whacked whoever it had been only to find he had struck the other boy hard in the face. The boy fell away yelping in pain. Gregory reached the rock and dying greenery beside the bridge and pulled himself out of the water.
He looked back to see where Justin was. He was struggling a few feet away from him holding the place where Gregory had hit him and screaming loudly.
"Ow! You broke my nose your dense skin head!" The boy yelled. Gregory, although very annoyed by the harsh shrieking, of which he wouldn't have thought possible from such a small boy grasped for him and pulled him out with a grunt. The boy struggled a little more before realizing he wasn't in the water anymore.
Gregory took a deep breath of the fresh evening air, letting it out in a relieved sigh. He was freezing, but he had gotten out of the lake, and that was really all that mattered. A light fell on his face, sending a sharp pain through his eyes and causing him to turn away and close them.
"Who's down there?" A deep voice called from up the rocky hill that led down to the two boys, who stared up at the sound of the voice. Gregory squinted trying to make out the large shadow looming over them.
"Stop shining your flashlight on them Frank, I'm sure the headlights are bright enough for them to see."
"I'm not trying to let them see us…I'm trying to see them. I don't want to attract those awful Wayward kids." The man responded. Gregory heard an impatient sound from the woman, and the man lowered the flashlight.
"Who's down there?" The woman cried. Gregory was roughly shoved aside as Justin struggled his way to stand in front of him.
"I order you to get me out of here right THIS INSTANT!" The boy screamed. Gregory flinched and covered his ears.
"Justin King? Is that you? What are you doing out here?" The woman asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Just get me out!"
The larger of the two shadows began down the hill, as the figure got closer Gregory could see it was a man of considerable girth. He had a small mustache, and wide suspicious eyes. He saw Justin and looked him up and down, as though making sure it was him. His eyes then fell on Greg. They narrowed.
"I aint never seen you before. Who are you and what are you doing down here with Jeff King's son?"
Before Gregory could answer the woman shouted down at them.
"Oh stop it Frank, they look frozen and scared to death, just get them up here." Frank gave them a sharp look then grabbed there shoulders and began up the hill.
"Come on then, we'll get this sorted out when we reach the top." He said. As they came up over the small hill Gregory saw the woman more clearly. She about matched the mans girth, but looked far less severe. Although her eyes had a stern look about them.
"Hello Justin." She said as the smaller boy reached the top and pulled away from the man.
"I want to go home, take me home now!" The boy said rudely. Gregory felt the mans grip leave him. The woman smiled at Justin despite his outburst.
"Of course dear." She said. Her eyes fell on Gregory. She looked at him for a moment, as though she were trying to place a face or solve a puzzle.
"You're new in town aren't you? You just moved in to the old McGovern place?"
Gregory, who had no idea who the place belonged to before they moved in nodded anyway. The woman smiled.
"I think I know what happened. Come along, let's get you kids home."
Gregory said a quick thanks. Beside him Justin said something under his breath that Gregory just barely caught. It sounded like ' About time.' Justin followed the woman, who was walking at a quick pace.
Gregory stood where he was for a moment, and cast a brief look behind him, towards the manor which shadow seamed to fall everywhere, swallowing up everything in its path. It was dark again, showing no sign of ever being lit.
"Say it's haunted you know. Filled with the spirit of Hector Skellington. He used to own this town. Before he disappeared." Frank said, his voice taking on that morbid quality of story tellers spinning a yarn of catastrophe and misfortune.
Gregory looked up at the man curiously.
"Skellington?" He asked softly, finding this last name quite unfortunate…and once again wondering what sort of town he had just moved into.
"Yup, all gone now. All of them. Hectors dead, his sons dead, his grandsons vanished without a trace. The house is owned by some big shot now who goes off on business trips constantly and only returns to make sure it hasn't fallen into disrepair. Doesn't even talk to the rest of town, and definitely doesn't belong here. Thinks he's too good for us I imagine. Even King is more of a town member then he is. And King is just about as opposite of the rest of us as anyone could be. Turns my blood warm." As he said this an alarming and fiery look lit up his face. For a moment, with the shadow of dusk falling upon them, the darkness made the man look as though he were wearing a mask. Gregory felt an unsettling feeling fall over him. As though he were talking to someone else. Someone who was only pretending to be the man he had just met.
Frank continued, turning his face and breaking the illusion. "
Hector would have hated it, hated that such a whining pipsqueak got his town instead of his family, hated that some square big shot got his house, hated it all. I hate it all." Frank came out of an angry daze and then upon seeing Gregory's face, which was that of genuine fear, softened a bit..
"But," He started. "Nothing we can do about it now. Come on, lets get you back to your house and make sure your parents know not to let you go out and mess around with Edward and Violet Wayward again. I imagine that is what happened. I don't need to be told I'm right, just move along." Gregory nodded and began to follow the man, casting one more brief look at the dark house, as he did he heard the mans words echo across his mind, like fleeting feet falling away into a pool of darkness.
'All dead. 'Haunted.' 'Vanished without a trace.'
"Skellington.'
Gregory shivered as the last of the sun fell away beneath the horizon, giving way to the world of shadows.
Hmmm I hope I didn't give Hectors last name away too soon. I was planning to sort of leave that out till much later in the story. Oh well. It's done. I imagine by now anyone reading this has a good idea of who everyone is. Thank you for reading this story. I would like to say again that it is a bit different from my others so if I get off track or start writing real badly I'd appreciate it if you criticize me (As harshly as desired.) To get me back on track.
Thanks again for the feedback.
