You Have To Choose

chapter 6

When I arrived, I climbed the ladder, and the boys were already waiting for me.

"Hey," they all said as I sat on the floor.

"Hey," I muttered, still staring at the ground.

I tried with all my might not to regret sneaking out, but I still felt slightly guilty.

Everyone went back to their conversations, but I felt someone sit beside me.

"Are you okay?" Yeah-Yeah asked me softly.

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah. Yeah, I'm good!" I gave a large smile, attempting to mask the massive guilt I felt.

Forget about it, I told myself, tapping my hands on the floor.

We all talked for a long time, then Benny turned towards me.

"Your parents must be really chill, I mean letting you come to a campout with a bunch of guys," he said with a laugh.

I felt my eyes widen slightly, but I quickly composed myself. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, and suddenly, I felt as if I was on a stage in front of millions of people, the spotlight singularly on me.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah. They're pretty cool," I said, and surprisingly, it fooled them.

I sighed in relief as they all moved on to a new topic of conversation.

"Shh, are you trying to wake it up?" Squints exclaimed frustratedly at all of us.

Everyone became quiet, and Squints began his story.

"The legend of the beast goes back a long time...before any of us could even pick up a baseball. Back to a place called Mertle's acres. It all started about, mmm, twenty years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Mertle's Acres junkyard. So Mr. Mertle, the guy that used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him whole sides of beef...and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. And the pup was grateful. And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into the beast. And he grew big, and he grew mean...so he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind, to kill everyone that broke in. And he did, and he liked it, a lot! The beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine. But after a while, the police started getting calls from people about all the missing thieves, the ones the Beast had killed. It added up to about 120-173 guys. It's true. No one ever found a single body. Not one. Some people say they all got away, but we all know what really happened. The beast ate them. He ate them bones and all. The beast was too good at his guard dog job, so the police said he had to be retired. My grandpa, Squidman Palledorous was police chief back then. He ordered Mr. Mertle to turn his backyard into a fortress...and chain up the beast and put him under the house...where he couldn't get out and eat children and stuff. That's where he's been for 20 years, and that's where he'll be for the rest of his life. Because when Mr. Mertle asked the cops how long he had to keep the beast chained up like a slave, they said until forever. For-ev-er. For-ev-er. And so, the beast sits under that lean-to, dreaming of a time where he can break the chain and get out, dreaming o a time where he can chase and kill again," Squints finished his story and looked around at the horrified faces of the boys, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah right," I muttered, rolling my eyes, causing all the boys to turn around towards me, "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. There's no way."

"Look out the window then," Squints muttered as the other boys watched me closely.

I glanced slowly out the window, trying to hide the fact that my heart was beating rapidly.

I carefully leaned my head out the window, looking into the yard that was so mysteriously terrifying to all of us.

I heard loud growling and watched as two humongous paws poked out from the large lean-to.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed backing up.

"Believe us now?" Benny asked, raising his eyebrows with a little grin.