Fast

October 18, 2024

The wind from the car racing past me almost knocked me over. I hadn’t seen them as I was running from The Man in Black. I am fully convinced that is who is behind me. Why did I decide to go to Gen’s house so late? Why didn’t I think about when I would have to walk back in the darkness? There had been rumors going around for weeks of The Man in Black that was haunting the woods on the outskirts of town. This was nothing new, there were always ghost stories about the woods on the outskirts of town. There has been since before Gran was born, and she is just about one hundred years old. But this time, it was different. Girls were going missing and all of them near Gen’s house and around my age. I feel silly for thinking I would be safe from this and I would be able to visit her house, right next to the forrest. My mom had told me that she didn’t want me to visit her earlier this week, but I did it anyway, because Gen’s mom won’t let her leave the house at any hour.

The Man in Black has scared the moms in the town than it has really scared any of us. The first girl that was taken was actually from another town over, so we didn’t think that it was going to be a deal here. The second girl, whose body was found - with a pair of stab wounds on her neck, along with a smattering of bruises and broken bones- a week after she went missing. Her name was Chelsea Green and I had always really liked her. The third and fourth girls were twins, and I had Algebra with both of them, and while I didn’t like them, I didn’t love that their bodies showed up on a riverbed before anyone even noticed that they were missing. They had almost identical wounds to Chelsea. That was when it started to feel real, but being a silly teenager, I didn’t feel like he would actually come after me. Boy was I wrong.

My lungs burned as I dodged between houses, knocking on every door, hoping that one would open for me. I try desperately to keep my breathing deep and silent, but there is nothing I can do to quiet the wheezing as I stop for a moment to catch my breath. There is no one out tonight. Not a soul. Why was there no one to be seen? I see a kitchen light go off a couple houses over and creep toward their back door. I know this house, this is Chelsea’s old house! They would let me in if I told them I was being chased by Chelsea’s killer! They had to!

“Mrs. Green! Mrs. Green! Please, my name is Sarah Miller, and I was a classmate of Chelsea. Please let me in, The Man in Black is chasing me! He was right behind me, please please let me in!” I talk as quietly as I can, in hopes that he cannot hear very well, but that Chelseas mom can. “please please please.” I whisper under my breath as I hear someone walking toward the door on the inside.

“That is a very unkind joke, Miss Sarah Miller, you know what he did to my sweet Chelsea. I will not be opening this door up for you.” It had been halloween the week before, and she had gotten a lot of trick or treaters coming to her house dressed up, tastelessly if I do say so myself, as The Man in Black. It had sent her into a fit of tears and she had not come out of her house since.

“No, Mrs. Green, I am so sorry that everyone has been so unkind. He is really following me! Please let me in! Please please please, Mrs. Green!” or at least, that is what I would have said if I hadn’t been grabbed two seconds before. There was a hand on my mouth and an arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled away from the doorway before I even had the thought to scream.

Next thing I know, I am waking up in a cave. It is cold and damp and musky and I can feel the whole of it settling into the back of my lungs. I do what I can to not move, in case he is close enough to see me, and try to absorb what I am able to see. There is little to no light in the cave, but I can hear a dripping somewhere over my left shoulder. I wiggle around my fingers and toes to see if there is any pain or discomfort- I remember that he did a lot of bone breaking on both Chelsea and the twins, and I want to test if that has begun yet. My right arm aches, but other than that, I feel pretty whole. A wave of relief crashes over me, even thought this is a pretty small victory at this point.

Feeling a little bit too confident, I try to sit up, only to be greeted by an excruciating headache, and the inability to move. I look down at myself, and I have been tied up like a cocoon. Four years before, in 6th grade, my class had done a unit on metamorphosis and had spent almost an entire semester taking care of this squishy little caterpillar so that it would turn into a butterfly. Sadly, there was a window that was left open one night and the caterpillar froze inside her cocoon and she never hatched. I figure that I am going to be just like that caterpillar - I will never be allowed to hatch. I had so many plans for after high school. I wanted to go to UCLA for my undergrad and then head over to Columbia for my masters. I am not sure how I decided on these schools, but that was my plan, no matter how unpractical it was. I wanted to fall in love, specifically with Josh Turner who was in band with me, and get married and have exactly three kids. Three is my favorite number. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three…

A shuffling sound comes from the corner of the cave, and I am shaken out of the trance I am trying to keep myself in to keep myself calm. I need to stay level headed if I am going to be the first girl to get away from The Man in Black. My heart plummets into my stomach and I whip my head toward the sound, knowing full well I won’t be able to see anything anyway.

“Hello? Mr. Man in Black?” what possesses me to try to get him to talk to me, I am not sure. I am pretty sure this is how most people in horror movies end up dying. That or their screaming. But honestly, I have only ever seen one horror movie before, and it was at Gen’s house and I couldn’t sleep for a week. So I am not really sure what you are supposed to do in these situations. “Hello? Where are we?” I speak into the void. As far as I know, he is very interested in girls my age, so I try to sound, either older or younger than I am, which as you can imagine, doesn’t really work.

“We are in my cave.” Comes a cold and inky voice from the corner, but rather than a mans voice, this one sounds oddly feminine. “Thank you for being here today, sweetie.” She has a subtle lisp and I desperately try to make mental notes so that, if I break free, I can give the police all the information. I still haven’t decided if I think I will live and make it out, or if I am going to just accept my fait and allow this to be my time.

“And what are we doing in your cave?” I ask, trying to steady my voice the best I can. I can feel the fear bubbling up and coming out in my voice, but I speak as slowly and clearly as I can in hopes that she mistakes it for confidence. She does not.

“Why do you think, sweetie?” She hisses with a hint of laughter in her tone. She is much closer to me than she was the last time she spoke and it startles me and, involuntarily, I jump and do what I can to scoot away from where the voice is coming from. I hear her chuckle and can feel the warmth of breath coming from over my shoulder. “You didn’t struggle nearly as much as the other girls did. I am a little sad about it, sweetie, I was really looking forward to a nice long chassssse.” I try to keep my breaths deep, but can feel my heart rate hastening. It is almost deafening with its incessant beating in my ears. “Such a strong and heathy heart, I could hear you from a mile away, I couldn’t give you up simply because you weren’t very fun.”

For a brief moment I forget myself and feel an angry blush redden my cheeks. “I am, too, fun!” and instantly regret it. Who do I think I am? Arguing with a murder about whether or not I am going to be a fun person to kill. “You cannot live up to the stereotype of redheads, Sarah. You must keep your temper at bay.” My mother often says.

The Woman in Black has a chuckle that sends shivers down my spine and I can feel her brushing the hair away from my neck. Why did Chelsea have so many broken bones? Did that happen during the chase or maybe even after she died? I have so many questions going through my head as I shift away from her touch.

“Wait, wait, wait. I thought you were a man.” I know she can tell I am stalling, but even a second more could allow me time to figure out if there is a way out of these ties. I wiggle around in spite of the pain in my right arm and try to break myself free from the tightly wrapped rope.

“Well, that is all you know, now isn't it, sweetie? Dracula is the most famous of us all, and, even though there are some bits and pieces missing in his story, he is all you really know, isn’t he?”

“What do you mean, Dracula? Are you saying you’re a vampire?” Curiosity is overwhelming me more than fear and I have to ask her more questions. “Because Vampires aren’t real.”

“Aren’t we?” There is a flick of a match against the cave wall, and a flame that blooms to life on the tip of a long tapered candle and she brings the flame close to her, and staring back at me is a gaunt, face of moonlight white with garnet red lips and eyes without irises. Before I am even able to gasp, I feel her mouth on my neck and and overwhelming cold wash over me. My vision, haven just gotten it back by the light of the candle, grows fuzzy around the edges and fades to black.

Man In Black Strikes again

November 20, 2024

Sarah Miller, 16, found dead yesterday evening outside of her home. She had been missing since Monday after visiting a friend’s home in the evening of November 18th. Genevieve Martin, Millers friend, said that she left her home around 8pm in hopes to get home before her mother noticed that she was gone. Miller was to give Martin a call as soon as she made it back to her house, but Martin never received the call. It was not until the next morning when Miller did not show up to class that anyone grew worried. Miller’s mother, Linda Andrews, is under investigation for child neglect. If you know anything, please reach out at the non-emergency line 834.993.5554