homichlophobia

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Where I'm from, we brave the weather. Nothing short of six feet of snow keeps the populous indoors. Sometimes not even then. It's only when we haven't been gently eased into the cold, that its bitter bite settles into our bones. When the temperature drops suddenly, the white fog rolls in off the surrounding hills and looms heavy through the valley. Most of the people around here still avoid it like the plague. The stories on why have been circulated and regurgitated for over a century here. For the town's youth, that's all they were. Stories. So even though it was a night just like this, the air frigid with billowing wisps of white, we had much better things to do.

At night in the vacant streets, any unseen spot would seem a safe place to party. But there were a few of us that knew better. We remained cautious of the over zealous police and stuck to the outskirts. The country road we loitered on looked so bleak in the dim crescent moonlight. In one direction sat the old city cemetery no one really visited. Its iron gates always lay open, extending an unanswered invitation. I stared at the gravel path we came in on. Watched it slowly fade, swallowed by the gloom of a winter night. A pair of fingers snapped in front of my face and the laughter, the bumping music, that cold rushed back to my ears in a cresting wave.

"Earth to Cassandra!" Charlie joked, "Are we losing you?"

"No I--" stopping myself short, I hid a mischievous grin. "I swear...I just saw something."

Kaitlyn giddily latched on to me, eager for a scare, "Where?"

"Oh God, here we go again." I elicited a low chuckle from Jared.

His oh-so subtle eye rolling always made me laugh, "Over there, in the cemetery and I'm serious."

"Since when?" He smiled and walked off to his car, returning hand in hand with his new girlfriend.

"Yeah. Since When?" Charlie walked over, giving me a knowing grin.

'Shut it, Upchuck!' I mouthed back.

Kaitlyn, already fast friends, grabbed Tiffany and ran her over to me. "Cass said she just saw something in the cemetery! Wanna go check it out?"

"Oh, let's!" Her big blue eyes went ultra-wide. She clapped her hands together and let out a sarcastic groan. "That's how people die in the movies, Kait."

"Good thing this isn't the movies, right? Grab your camera Kait." I uncrossed my arms and stepped off towards the gates.

Charlie and Kaitlyn flanked my sides as we entered with our smiles and flashlights gleaming. Short behind us were the love birds, whisper-arguing about being here in the first place. She's not interested in cheap thrills, but he coaxed her along with an abundance of charm. I smiled even wider at the thought of them both getting freaked out. We tip-toed deeper into the wooded common area. Trees and uniform gravestones lined our path, not one remarkable or distinguished from the other. Not until we came to the line. The place where newer generations built on top the past. I've seen it before. A month ago I started researching for a history report here, but I was expressly warned not stay too long in the origin section. We crossed over the end of paved blacktop onto the beginning of cobblestones. Our uneven steps echoed, remnants of fallen leaves the cobbles had managed to trap crunched into brown dust.

"Creepy." Charlie murmured, jabbing me with his elbow and flashing light over hundred year old engravings.

"I know! Look at these super old headstones, and they...they're really all kids?" Kait lunged ahead of us, referring to my research. She giddily snapped photos and touched everything she saw.

"Wait...what?" Tiffany stopped dead in her tracks.

"Yep." I tried to just skim over the tale for her sake, "These are all the kids that died in the first settlement. A 'sickness' rolled through and wiped them out. They built this part of cemetery specifically for them."

"So cool!" Kait gasped, pulling Charlie closer.

"You told me you've been here before, why did you never mention that?" Tiffany spoke up behind us, skeptical of her morbid enthusiasm.

"Oh it's just an old story, Tiff. Plus, I've only ever been here in the daytime!" Kait exalted, "And never this far in. I mean, I don't even hear our music anymore."

We all turned our heads back the way we came, no one else realizing it had gone so quiet or that our headlight beams were failing to reach us through the building fog.

"Oh yeah, I guess not." Jared brushed it off and gave his jacket to his shivering girlfriend.

"Should we go back?' She asked him.

Kaitlyn was having not of it. She weaseled her way in between them, "Oh no, I don't think so. Safety in numbers right?"

"Yeah, Tiff." Charlie mocked, and pulled an arm around Tiffany's free side.

The three laughed together like old friends. I looked back to Jared who watched them with a contented smile.

"That's good to see, right?" I slowed my stride to walk with him.

"Yeah," his smile faded. "I just...wish she'd warm up to everyone."

"Easier said than done. We're all old friends here, just give her time and-"

"Thanks Cass," Jared beamed at me. His sandy shag hid piercing eyes that creased up with laughter. "But, you're not making it any easier on yourself."

"What-" I hit his arm, "-do you mean?"

"This for one," I tensed up as he motioned to the darkness surrounding us. "Is this one of your pranks?"

"There's nothing up my sleeves," I surrendered my palms as proof and shook my head.

"Really? Dark, foggy night. Still dead silence. Seems right up your alley."

"Well now I honestly wished I had something planned."

"Like that time on the farm when the tractors 'mysteriously' started on their own?"

"What? They did though!"

"Sure. Or what about that other time you had us all convinced things were moving in the abandoned house? I swear, Charlie shit his pants that night."

"Yeah, not cool man!" Charlie shouted from the clique.

"Eww! Get off me!" Kaitlyn pushed him away.

He growled back and took chase, "Oh--that's it!"

"Ahh! Get back!" She squealed, using Tiffany as a shield.

"Nope. You're a goner!" Charlie jumped to catch her, but Kaitlyn evaded his clutches and bounded off into the haze.

Their laughter filled the air but in within a few fast steps, we couldn't see them. We crept closer to the center of the cemetery hoping to catch up. Undulating and encompassing, the fog just felt different here. No breeze, but the air itself felt like an onslaught. It kicked up and swirled around our legs with each step. The far distance once outlined with trees and shadows had morphed into dense swirling clouds.

"Hey, guys!" I called out, "Don't wander off!"

"Well that's just great." Tiffany remarked under her breath.

Jared cupped her shoulders, "Relax, they're probably just screwing with us."

"How is like, no one here scared of a cemetery?" She asked, flailing her arms.

Jared looked to me first, his face telling me not to dare answer. He knew whatever I said would probably scare her even more.

"Come on, it's not so bad." He started, "Think of it this way, when you are brought up on other tales-"

"When you are consistently told of worse things to be scared of-" I added.

"Shut it, Cass." He deadpanned, making me laugh and try to explain myself better.

"No...I mean," turning towards Tiffany, "like where you're from, what were the urban legends your grandparents told?"

She crossed her arms and looked between us. "I don't know, stupid things like the Jersey Devil. But that shit isn't real."

"It was real enough to someone once. Real enough to have the story retold through generations, right?" I tried to rationalize it.

"I guess so--"

"So it's hard for us to be afraid of some old trees and headstones." I ended the conversation as I felt a creeping sensation around my arm.

At first, it was like a feather flicking at my wrist. Then a quick tug at my sleeve. I heard quiet shuffling behind me, but kept pace with the couple still trudging along. Tempted to catch Charlie who was surely wanting to get back at me, I turned my head slowly. I caught a glimpse of a hesitating figure near Jared and stifled a grin. Looking the other way, I was genuinely startled when it was Tiffany that screamed.

"What the hell was that?" She shrieked.

"What was what?" Jared held onto her, "What happened?"

"Something literally just grabbed my arm, I felt it!"

"Hold on," he soothed. "I'm sure it's just Charlie."

I laughed aloud, "See? Worse things to be scared of."

"Cass, just shut up. This isn't funny anymore."

"Whoa. I was just saying-"

"Well don't. Stop telling her what to be scared of when-"

"When all you should fear is the fog!" Charlie came rushing in on us, short on breath and shouting a saying of old.

He cracked himself up, doubling over at our no doubt ridiculous expressions of horror. I admittedly jumped at the sight of him too, but Jared and Tiffany were shocked to the ground.

"You should really see your faces." Ever inept at reading the mood, Charlie made things worse. It was apparently something we had in common.

Jared jumped up and grabbed him by the collar. Looking like throwing a fist was going to be his first reaction, I stood in front Charlie. My hands instinctively held his down because Charlie will never turn down a fight, even if it's with his best friend.

"Hey man, I'm sorry." Charlie kept close behind me, "We were just having a little fun."

"She put you up to this?" Jared asked, still not looking me in the eye.

With a gruff, this got Charlie to shield me. "It was actually just me and Kait, but you believe whatever you want."

"Hold on," I whirled around and saw nothing but the dark path laid out ahead and behind.

"No, we're done here." Jared brushed past us with Tiffany, almost stepping completely out of sight.

"Where's Kaitlyn?" I abruptly asked everyone.

They all stopped and looked in their vicinity. I shined my flashlight around, coming up with nothing but thickets of air.

"Charlie, where is she?" I flashed the light on his face.

"Ugh stop blinding me, will you?"

"Where is she?" Jared's voice echoed in the air.

"Kait!" Tiffany clutched him and called out to her.

"Charlie, I swear to God-"

"She was just right behind Cass she...she was supposed to grab her!"

He watched for me to confirm it, but I never saw her. I was about to reply, but a bright flash stunned me silent. The group held on to each other. An uncomfortable moment passed as the wind whistled above the trees. Another flash. The ground beneath us lit up. Not too far off, it illuminated a clear crosscut through the grass.

"That's got to be her camera," I thought aloud.

"Yeah, see? She's just off taking pictures." Charlie tried to lighten the heavy tension.

"Well let's get her and get the hell out of here." Tiffany shook as she spoke.

They collectively stepped into the grass, waiting for another flash to guide them through the haze.

"We should really stay on the path though." I warned, head tilted down at the cobblestones that somehow felt safer.

"You can't possibly have cold feet now, Cass." Jared's disparaging look angered me.

So with the flashlights Charlie and I had, we reluctantly lit the way. He shined his light at the ground while mine pointed straight ahead into nothing. When Kait's camera clicked close by, what it was focused on came into view. A small, darkened headstone with deeply engraved lettering shone in the darkness. The patch of grass where the camera lay splayed dagger like shadows out across the stone. Each flash mesmerized me and I stared at the name in a silenced wonder.

"What the hell," Charlie picked the camera up and shut off the programed timer. "Where is she?"

Jared came up to me, holding my shoulders square. "Cass? What is this?"

"It's...nothing."

"Cass--"

"It's just...weird. That is her headstone."

"Who's?" Tiffany asked hastily.

"Claudia ...Claudia Faust." I remarked, not able take my eyes off of it.

Jared let me go and took the flashlight from my hand to inspect it himself.

"So? What's weird about that?" Charlie muttered as he crouched near it too.

I shivered with chills. They intensified exponentially by my unbridled imagination, "She was the first documented child to be buried here. The first one that died in the fog. I...I've never been able to find it."

"Wha--what do you mean she died in the fog?" Tiffany squeaked.

"Like I said, worse things."

Charlie lit up my face, then Jared's. He knew the cautionary tales as well as we did, even if he didn't want to admit it. "Jesus. You mean...all those old stories were true?"

"Of course not, don't be stupid." Jared told him off.

Tiffany impatiently stamped her foot, "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Calm down, honey. Okay?"

"Damn it, Jared!" She had had enough.

"Okay. So it goes something like the settlers here came up with a story to keep their wandering kids indoors. The fog can swallow the town for days or weeks at a time." He offered, but it did nothing to relax her.

"But what about all these kids that died?" She prodded, motioning to the littered gravestones that were fading out of sight.

"I guess a bunch of them died from an illness after a lingering fog cycle. That's it." Jared became agitated and blunt.

"More like half the population of the town. Why do you think this part of the cemetery is so big?" I asked while noticing the walls of white in between us. Waist high and building, the thickness of it almost suppressing.

"Is that why you couldn't find this one headstone before?" Charlie flashed back towards it, but the clouds ate his light.

"What the--"

"Where is it?" Jared blurted, waving his arms out to where he had just been investigating.

A guileless laughter rolled through the air. We could only hope Kait had outdone herself. That she was finally the one tricking us. But the sound amplified and circled around our tight huddle. We could track its path as the laughing strangely morphed into a fortified, overhanging rumble. The ground itself shook underfoot, reverberating its resonance. This was not Kait. Our legs screamed to run while something else told them to keep stock-still.

"You guys," Tiffany pointed a wary finger. "Is that Kait?"

A listless shadow emerged on the edge of my perception. Just far enough to be concealed and close enough to give me pause.

"Kaitlyn, if that's you--" Jared cautioned.

But this was not Kait. Its movements were displaced and small. Each step it seemed to take towards us, came a noise from behind. Advancing footfall that was mismatched to the figure in front staggering closer. Our heads and flashlights swiveled. I moved the beam slowly and sliced through the mist.

"Whoa." Charlie exclaimed, doing the same.

With each pass of light, the shadow figure splintered. The formation disintegrated before reappearing somewhere else.

"This is crazy." I managed to gasp and finally take a step back.

Charlie and I looked to each other and nodded. He gave his flashlight to Jared and held up Kait's camera.

"Shine your light on it." He instructed us.