“It’s a quarter past eleven now, guys. It's getting too late. How much longer we gonna keep playing the same game over and over again for?"
Joey’s fixated concentration was not swayed one bit. In fact, for the last fifteen minutes or so, him and his little brother had been duking it out on-screen as their two bulked up miniature avatars danced around before them. Kick followed by punch followed by kick again. An endless repetition of bloodied pixelated violence against each other until either boy caved in through physical exhaustion or complete brain fatigue. Daryl and Adam moaned with impatience as Kevin had lost again for the umpteenth time.
”Come on, now. Give us the controller here. You've had way too many attempts already.” Squealed Adam who was met with a playful scowl from the youngest member of the foursome.
”I nearly had him there!” He exclaimed. ”Just one more try. Please!”
”Goddamn it, you two. Haven’t you been paying attention to a word I’ve been saying all this damn time!” Bellowed Daryl, shocking the argumentative trio back into focus at his booming words. ”I gotta make tracks home soon. And I’ve already told you what my mother can be like if I’m out past curfew.”
Joey stared back at him bearing something of a half-smirk. ”Oh, looky looky. His dear old sweet mama wouldn’t want our fourteen-year-old little Daryl out in the woods all by himself. What with all those pedos and rapists out there looking for some tasty fresh meat to feast on. Am I right?” The other two burst into laughter to which Daryl just shook his head in frustration.
”I don’t give a shit what you guys think. Either we finished up tonight with a game we “all” want to play or I’m outta here.”
“Sure! Go home, man!” Replied Adam sitting next to him on the living room’s dry leather couch. ”I mean, when are you gonna grow your own set of man-balls, eh? Don’t you think you’re old enough to take care of yourself without that grumbling old bitch always on your case.”
”That’s my mum you’re talking about, faggot!” Hissed Daryl, ready to lunge at him at the next oppotune moment. ”Alright, alright. Enough bullshit guys. Daryl’s right.” Joey interrupted as he rose up from the comfort of his velvet ass-cushion in front of their sixty inch Hi-Def television set. ”If he really wants to play something different, let’s listen to him for a change.” At his side, feeble whines of dissatisfaction echoed back from Kevin. Joey paid it no mind.
”Finally some common sense prevails.” Daryl remarked with a triumphant grin. ”You two been hogging on that thing for God knows how long. So what we playing? A little Call of Duty perhaps? Or maybe picking up from our last save game of Grand Theft Auto.”
By this point, Joey had nestled himself in-between the two boys with Adam shuffling his narrow behind along to make more room. ”No, Daryl. That’s boring shit. No, I thought of something much more interesting than any of that boring crap.” Kevin moved in closer with a look of curiosity on his mildly reddened acned face.
”What are you talking about?” Daryl asked.
”Well, mum ain’t getting back for over an hour still. She and dad always talk shit for ages down at the Henderson’s. So seeing as we got the time and it's Halloween and all, why don’t we walk you home instead.” Joey continued to glare at Daryl which caused him even more discomfort than earlier.
”Right… I see… Well, that’s fine by me.” He responded in a monotonous tone. ”But may I ask… Why?”
”Well, to check up on whether you completed the task or not. Why else?”
At this point, the three boys looked at each other in wonderment while Joey gave them all a complimentary nod before proceeding. ”I was thinking tonight we actually carry out what we’ve been talking about for years but never actually went ahead with. I’m talking about one of us going up and touching “Old Screaming Hag.” Silence fell upon the broad, spacious lounge as Daryl and Adam opened their eyes in astonishment. All except little Kevin. ”What’s a “Old Screaming Hag”?” He asked with all of the innocence of an inquisitive little twelve year old boy.
”I didn’t want to tell you until I felt the time was right.” Replied Joey, turning towards his bewildered brother. “But seeing as you should be old to handle the truth, I will.” Daryl opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by Adam putting an index finger to his lips from the far end of the sofa. ”You know Lakesmeed Road just after The Earl Grey pub, right?” Kevin nodded his head in confirmation. ”Well, the large tree at the end of that close. The one with the huge overhanging branches.” He looked at Joey with a expression of dumbfounded confusion. ”Basically, the creepy one! You got it now?” He nodded rapidly as Joey rolled his eyes but decided to continue anyway.
”So, as I was saying. “Old Screaming Hag”. There aren’t many trees out there bearing their own personalized name tag. All except for this one. Because there’s a reason why it’s called what it is. The story goes that a couple used to live in The Earl Grey long before it ever opened it’s doors to the numerous patrons who regularly visit there. It used to be just an ordinary house. And they lived there happily for many years. Well, that was till one day when the wife came home to find her husband cheating with her own best friend. As you can imagine, she went nuts. She screamed and raged at her friend, hurling death threats and throwing shoes at them both, until even her husband was scared shitless of what she might do next.”
Daryl and Adam listened without saying a word, quite enjoying Joey’s retelling of this old folktale that they themselves were only too aware of.
”Well, after the dust settled and everybody regained their composure, his wife eventually forgave him and they resumed with the happy life they had once led prior to the unfortunate incident. However, she had since lost her confidence and sunk into a deep depression, mostly kept hidden away from her now reformed husband. She thought her looks, her body, her very presence was something to be ridiculed and laughed at. Whenever she'd gaze at herself in the mirror, her reflection returned that of a snarling, hideous demon, jeering and mocking at her spiralling plight. As the weeks went by, she eventually got worse and worse whilst still keeping it a well-guarded secret from all who knew her. The husband came home one evening to the cries and shrieks of his wife within the house. He rushed to the main entrance but the door crashed open and out fled his wife, flailing her arms with searing hot flames engulfing her into a fiery ball of death. Her screams caused a few nearby passers-by to scuttle over and cry out in distress at the horrifying scene. She raced up the road in agony before crumpling to the ground right at the foot of that very same tree. Her scorched remains lay in a small charred circle where she died a most painful and brutal demise. Two of those eye witnesses actually claim to have heard her laughing hysterically as her blackened flesh cindered up into the sky. It must have been a terrifying ordeal to watch.”
Young Kevin stood there, mouth agape, but ready and willing to hear more. ”Leave him alone.” Muttered Daryl. ”He’s just a kid. You’ll give him nightmares for weeks with your make-believe bullshit.”
”No!” Barked Kevin in protest. ”I can take it. I’m more mature than you think I am.” Joey smiled at his kid brother, then at Daryl. “See? I taught the little man well. And anyways, I thought you’d need a little recap of events seeing as how tonight is gonna be all about you.”
He faced his little brother once more. ”But I ain’t finished yet, Kev. As the worst was still yet to come…”
(To be continued...)
Oh man, a little Halloween treat from @ezzy! Great stuff so far, wonder what you came up for all of us this time. You are quite the master at horror, so I am preparing to be scared, haha.
Had to sneak a quick one out before SteemFest, eh? Well, I got like a 7+ hour drive, then 11 hr flight, then 4 hour layover, then a 2.5 hr flight to Lisbon. Leaving in about 11 hours or so. :D
Hey my bro! Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, I thought I'd throw out a little something in honour of the upcoming dark, yet festive day, lol! Much appreciate your kind word. :)
Wow, you got some serious travelling ahead of you! I hope you get enough rest before you start as I expect the fest to be pretty full-on. But I'm also sure we'll have an awesome time out there too. How crazy that we are finally gonna meet in person. Can't wait, buddy. Have a safe trip and I'll be seeing you in a few hours time! :)
Whoa! Awesome job yet again, @ezzy. A master of so many arts of writing. This is really eerie stuff! You set the scene very well as just a few kids larking about until something sinister is about to happen. I'm not sure what it is yet but I'm very intrigued to find out. Look forward to the next part soon. Hope you don't mind me asking where is the next part to Hellbent? I been waiting too long, lol.
Hey there, @myb! Thank you for the great comments! I'll be concluding this one tomorrow so hope you like the final payoff. And yes, as to Hellbent. I needed to make some minor adjustments to the story as well as find time to write the next chapter. Things have been a little hectic lately but I will be resuming the next part shortly. Thanks for all your support. Bless you, my bro. :)
Ahh! I missed reading your horror stories! And what a time to be posting them. I guess you could call this season a sort of anniversary of our friendship haha! Around this time last year is when we first regularly commented on each other's posts, if I remember correctly.
This was a nice tale! Way to set the board. I thought that art imitates life when they were playing video games at the start haha! I'm glad you chose to hold off on the action until the second part. It was a great way to flesh out everything on here, with one of your longest single dialogues no less! The kids made me think of Stranger Things for some reason. It would be interesting to see what would happen on their quest! Great work, brother!
Hey brother! Yes, pretty much a year. In fact if I remember correctly, I was at the airport and replying to you just before boarding my flight! Great memories and something I treasure, man.
Thanks for your input on this story. Yes, I had a few influences for this one. One of them being a "Stranger Things" kinda theme running in the background. And yes, the narrative told from Joey was pretty long. But as you can imagine, this all leads somewhere! :)
Bless you, man, for stopping by. I've only a few hours left until leaving for the this year's Steemfest so will update you on everything when I get back.:)
Haha! So, even though I will never be able to attend Steemfest, it seems that it would forever be tied into our origin story after all. I have part two on queue, looking forward to reading it soon.
Have a safe flight, brother!
Spooky stuff. I'm awaiting the next installment, feeling a great sense of foreboding and worry. This reminds me of perhaps the most infamous horror story here in Hawaii. The Hanging Tree.
From Honolulu Magazine:
The story involves a young couple, a large, old tree, and a tapping sound on the roof of the car.
The couple had parked under the tree late one night and when deciding to go home, the car would not start. The boy decided to go and get help, leaving the girl alone inside the car. She waited a long time. It was windy and the long branches of the tree could be heard scraping against the car’s roof. Eventually, the girl fell asleep to be awakened in the morning by policemen surrounding the vehicle. They asked her to get out and walked her away from the car, telling her to not look back. She told them what had happened, but curiosity made her turn towards the car… she saw her boyfriend hanging upside down from the branches of the tree. His torso was sliced open and his fingertips were scraping the roof of the car as his body swayed in the wind. It was not the tree that she had heard scratching the roof of the car that night.
Hey buddy! Thanks for the kind words! And the story you mentioned and were kind enough to paste is one I'm very familiar with as it chilled me to the bone! That premise has in a great one indeed to set the tone for a real scarefest, lol.
Bless, man. Next part up tomorrow. :)
good post @ezzy my friend
I have been missing out big time i must follow you to stay updated.
Fantastic post @ezzy!
Nice one, @mweich. Hope you are keeping well. :)
I've got a good deal of your posts to read through. :)Thanks @ezzy, I'm doing alright. :)
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so cool! really enjoyed this! well done, mate!;)
Great stuff! Even if I read part 2 first by mistake ;-)
Interesting story!
If you like to read about travels and circus life please welcome to my friends @annamur