Vial of Black Ink - From Dusk til Dawn
She sat in front of the fire on a log, waiting patiently with her legs crossed for him to start the story.
Barty came back to the fire, having retrieved a fallen branch and placed the end of it into the fire. He retracted his arm once the flames started to cling to the dry wood, but she could tell from the dark coloring near the base where he held it was water-logged. "On a night much like this one," he began, winking at her when she rolled her eyes at his supposed 'clever tactic' for not saying the usual.
"Clear skies and a warm burning fire, the night was filled with laughter that had turned into screams not long after. For this story starts during a friendly game of hide-and-seek between a group of friends that had gone out camping that very night. It had started out fine, until the spirit of the cursed forest appeared to take part. You see, it didn't like its forest being disturbed by the children and they didn't head the town's warnings of the forest being haunted. The friends didn't believe in such tales until that night, when the spirit turned them into statues with a touch. As a constant reminder to those that entered its forest and the consequences of doing such a foolish thing. So that the children were eternally playing their little game, trapped alive, imprisoned in stone, unable to cry out."
"I'll give you points for originality," Hermione told him when he was finished with his tale. "But not so much when it comes to the scare-"
Barty threw the burning branch into the fire, racing around the fire to reach her, a hand swiping at the empty space above the log she had fallen off backwards. "Start hiding before the spirit finds you!" he called as she jumped to her feet and took off into the surrounding trees, laughing as Barty ran after her, playing the part of the spirit in his tale.
Prompt: 58. From Dusk til Dawn