13 - The first victim

Cover made by: Tsubame

Sotry collabirated with: Roxanna

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13

She used to not believe in ghost stories. “Stop being silly” she would say. “its all nonsence”. Of course it was! There is no such thing as ghosts, was there? Natalie certainly didn’t think so. She was a very bright girl, Natalie. She would always be seen reading a book which where covered in facts and information. She didn’t believe in anything paranormal. Until, ofcourse, it was to late. This is how it happened.

The moon shone silver, lighting up the street. Trees casted shadows. It was pitch black.

Natalie had a firm grip on the steering wheel, being careful to avoid the Animals seeking shelter across the road. A storm began and Natalies petrol started to run out. Her hands where cold from the journey from the shopping mall to her car. The cracked skin began to blister as she struggled to keep a grip. Natalie jumped. A sign appeared on the screen behind her wheel. ‘low petrol’.

“Its only the wind, Natalie” she muttered to herself reassuringly “nothing to be afraid of!”

Her car began to slow. Natalie pushed the drive pedal harder, but still the car began to slow. Her hands began to shiver.

“No no no!” pleaded Natalie, a worried sound in her voice. Of course, anyone would know that a car can not hear anything, so it slowed to a stop. Natalie was alone in the coldness of the night. The red brake lights flashed. She checked her phone. No signal. The wind howled outside. Her mind began to play tricks on her. She saw strange shaped in the woods near by. As she peered closer she could see a small house, a candle light through one of its windows. She sighed with relief as she swung open the car door. She struggled with the wind as she ran towards the house. ‘Inn’ she read. The sign above the door was covered in a thick, red liquid of some sort. It creeked and it swung from side to side as the wind rocked it like a pendulum on an old grandfather clock. Natalie ignored it and wandered forward. She knocked on the door. Suprisingly it squeaked open.

“Hello?” Natalie called politely. “is anyone here?”

“yes.” Said an old woman. Natalie did not notice her when she first looked into the room.She had thin white wires on her head and her eyes looked misty and coluorless. Her skin was wrinkled and freckled. There was a single candle on the floor in the middle of the room and There was a small wooden desk in the corner where the old woman stood. There was no decorations or furniture in sight.

Natalie walked forward towards the desk. “I…”

“Number  13”  Mumbled the woman. She seemed to be looking through Natalie rather than at her.

“Pardon?”  Questioned Natalie.

“Number 13” repeated the woman, handing her a key. Natalie took it respectfully. The old woman looked down and continued to tap the desk, almost in a trance.

“How much?” she asked. No answer. “How much?” she repeated. Prehaps the woman did not hear her.

The old woman looked up, only to look back down at her brown desk. She left a few notes on the counter and wandered down the thin corridor to the left of the desk. There seemed to be no rooms. Just wall, and again, no decorations or furniture. Like the entrance, there wereas broken, bare floorboards and plain white walls splattered with brown. Natalie looked up to the ceiling. There it was again, the red liquid, dripping onto the floor.

She looked ahead to see a single door with the number ‘13’ engraved on the door. She sighed. “At last!” she smiled and unlocked the door. But as she went to turn the door handle she realized there was none. Instead just a hole where it should have been. She took her hand out from the hole and looked at it. Again, a red liquid appeared on her hand. She smelt it. It had an almost metalic scent to it. “blood” she whispered, shaking. She looked back down at the hole. The blood ran down the door, staining it red. Natalie squealed, pushing the door open and slamming it shut. A sudden chill ran up her spine and she turned around. A blank room, no bed, no furniture. Only a candle. At this moment, she did not care and went towards the bathroom. She was relieved to find that the bathroom  had everything in it. A toilet, a bath (complete with a shower curtain) , a sink, but the walls were once again splattered with blood. Natalie did not care, she was too intrested in getting into the warm shower.

She spun round, taking her hair out of her ponytail and letting it hang loose around her shoulders. She pulled back the curtain and SCREAMED! There she saw a boy, looking up at her, paralized like a picture. His hair dripping wet and his face as white as snow. His lips where blue.

That was the last we saw of dear little Natalie. 

The police went searching for Natalie. They found no house. No forest. No boy.  Just an empty car.