The Curse of Millers Lake

 Callie walked down the foggy streets alone, she needed quiet after the bonfire. The smoke still felt like it was billowing through her lungs every time she took a breath. She could just faintly still hear the kids from her class behind her, but as she walked the sounds of their voices faded until there was nothing but the sound of the wind.

The streetlights flickered as she walked. Usually she would have waited to walk home with someone, but there were so many people that she just needed to get away. She needed to be alone. As she walked, the wind seemed to pick up more and more, whipping around her. She zipped up her jacket and tightened her arms across her chest. It was only a twenty minute walk home but now it felt like she would never get there.

The flickering lights suddenly went out as she passed, leaving the only light, that of the moon as it peeked through the clouds and fog. She pulled out her phone and shook on the flashlight, holding it out at the ground in front of her so she could see where she was going. She shivered as her fingers, exposed to the cold, started to go numb, but without the flashlight she would have been in almost total darkness. She turned down the road that led up to her house, just a few more blocks and she would be home in the warmth of her bed.

The trees around her seemed taller tonight, as if they were stretching to block the light from reaching her, as if they were twisting and bending to cover the sky. She felt the wind on her back grow colder and a chill ran down her spine. Something felt off. She felt as if there was someone behind her.

She turned her head quickly, glancing back down the dark road, shining her light behind her. But there was nothing, no one behind her, no one anywhere. "Get a grip." She hissed at herself as she turned back around and started walking faster down the road. She couldn't shake the feeling of someone behind her. Every gust of wind, every crack of branch from within the forest, felt like there was someone just out of sight. She kept turning her head to look behind her, kept stopping to shine the flashlight into the darkness.

All she could think now was to just get home. Just get home.

She started again at more of a jog, trying her best to not trip over anything that could be laying in the road, hoping that when she came out the other side of the trees the lights in the houses on her street would be on and she would feel safe. She regretted not asking someone to walk home with her, at the least she regretted not staying at the bonfire. But she just wanted to get home. She was so tired and so done with being around people. She wanted to be alone in her room, curled up on her bed, scrolling through videos on her phone.

She debated for a moment, calling someone, talking to them as she finished the trek home, but that would mean she had to turn off the flashlight and right now that was the only thing making her feel safe.

The trees rustled in the wind. The hooting of owls and the chirping of birds seemed to return to what she hadn't noticed was an almost too quiet night. The sudden sounds startled her but gave her a sense that she wasn't alone. She didn't know if that was a good feeling at the moment. Her phone screen flashed on with a 5% battery warning. "Shit." She'd forgotten that it was almost dead, another reason she had wanted to head home.

She was almost there though, she could see the end of the trees, just barely. Leaves crunched around her making her stop in her tracks. Either she had imagined it, or there was something in the trees around her. She shined the light into the forest on either side, trying to spot anything that would have made the noise. Her heart raced, blood rushed through her ears, her numb hands started to tremble.

She turned around, facing where she had just come from, and held the light out. "This isn't funny. I know you're there!" She called out into the darkness. She really hoped that there was nothing really there. That no one decided to play a prank on her. That no one was following her. The leaves crunched again, the low hanging branches rustled, and out of the forest ran a deer across the street behind her. She let out the breath she had been holding and shook her head, turning back around to face the exit to the trees. It was close enough that she could start to make out the houses just beyond the tree line.

The wind was picking up as she continued to walk, at a brisk pace now that she knew the sound was just a deer. That she knew that she was alone.

She pointed her phone flashlight back at the ground in front of her, illuminating the cracks in the pavement and the twigs she would have tripped on if she hadn't seen them. The sounds of the forest felt calming to her as they wrapped around her, the owls, the birds, the rustling of leaves in the wind. The moonlight seemed to disappear again as the clouds moved in front of the moon. She shivered in the strong gusts of wind, tucking her free arm around her chest, trying to warm herself any way she could. She was so close to the street. So close to home.

The first house was visible fully now, it's lights out all except for one bedroom window on the second floor. She could just barely see shadows moving around the room through the thin curtains. It was just the street lights that were out then, not everything. That gave her some comfort.

The pitter patter of footsteps behind her made her freeze. She slowly turned around, the light shaking with the force of her trembling hand. Something moved through the darkness. Something she couldn't see. As the flashlight illuminated the area around her again she saw nothing, no one. She shook her head, annoyed at herself with how jumpy she was being.

The light of the moon returned through the clouds, peeked through the trees, and illuminated more of the area around her than her flashlight could. She looked down at her feet, her shadow seemed distorted in the light, wider than it should have. Then, as she let out a sigh, the shadow at her feet moved, separating itself from her shadow. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Her stomach clenched. Her heart pounded.

Slowly she started to turn around. She could see it as she turned, not daring to look up. She could see it's feet. High brown boots, caked in what looked like black mud. Ripped black pants, frayed at the seams, falling in tatters over the boots. Slowly she trailed her eyes up to look at it. It was standing so close, only inches from her, but all she could feel was the wind as it seemed to encircle them. Its shirt was tattered and dirty, a once white fabric now spotted with black and brown. It's fingers, nearly transparently white, bony, long, with sharp nails cracked and speckled with dirt.

She could feel tears of fear start to drip down her cheeks as she turned her head up to look at their face. But as she got to the collar of the shirt she could see the neck, as white as the fingers but dripping with dried blood, and at the top of the neck, there was no head. She opened her mouth to scream but the hand grabbed her throat. She was frozen with fear as the other hand gently trailed it's fingers over her face as if studying her features. It trailed her nose, her cheeks, her eye brows, and laced its fingers through her hair.

She could no longer feel the wind but she could see it whipping around them. The hand suddenly let go of her neck, it's nails scratching the skin as it did, leaving thin trails of blood dripping onto the collar of her shirt. She reached up and touched her neck, still frozen in place, staring at the figure in front of her. Then suddenly the wind stopped and the headless figure disappeared with it.

Callie ran as fast as she could towards the edge of the trees and towards the lit houses. Her mind was racing as she ran, unsure of what happened but not brave enough to turn around again. It seemed to take her no time to make it to her house where she unlocked the door with shaking hands and hurried inside, slamming it behind her. She leaned against the now locked door and felt relief flood her. The house was warm and bright, the lights still on, waiting for her to get home. She dropped her phone onto the carpet next to her and relaxed her shoulders. She had made it home, she was safe.

As she stood up straight again and pushed herself off the door, she turned to make sure that the door really was locked and then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her heart raced again, pounding so hard it was as if it was trying to escape from her chest. Slowly, she looked into the mirror. Instinctively she reached up to her face, feeling her cheeks, her hair, her still wet with blood neck. It was there, she could feel it, but as she stared at herself in the mirror all she saw, was her neck, bloody and alone. Her jacket was gone and that white shirt was all she saw in the reflection.

The lights flickered and quickly extinguished, drenching her in total darkness once more.