Creepypastas

The Trail

"Authors Note: This is a short story from an anthology that I a cooperativly doing with other writers. Please enjoy this story I wrote, and sorry for the length.

The Trail 

Chapter 1 

7:30 PM the clock in front of Ralph reed. He sighed and leaned back from the computer; he had had enough of the internet for one night, and took the precaution of turning that same computer off, just to be on the safe side. He then stood up from his office chair, and strode to the other side of his room, staring off to the street where his house sat. Seven houses in all, including his, all on just one side of the street. On the other side of the street was a small lake, or river, which reflected the lights of the houses, making it look like atlantics itself had settled under that water.

It was well past just getting dark by that point, causing all the houses to glow with the lights from within. It looked like something out of a Christmas movie, all of the houses with their lights burning with a florescent glow on a dark and cold night. It managed to put him into a holiday spirit, made him want to go downstairs and tune in to some Christmas movies on the TV.

But he was also lonely, and wanted some kind of company for the long night. His parents were out on the town, hitting all of the clubs and partying their asses off. Something he would have preferred to do, unfortunately no car and no job made that impossible. Instead, he looked to the left, down his street to the house on the far side. All the way on the other end of the street sat his friend's house. Paul was his name, and a loyal friend he was.

Ralph picked up the phone, and called over to the house, knowing that since the lights were on, it was more than likely that his friend would be home. He quickly dialed the number before looking back out the window, eyeing up the house.

Ring,

Ring,

Ring,

"Hello?" Asked a newly matured voice. 

"Paul!" Ralph exclaimed as he began pacing his room. "How's it going pal?"

"Good." Paul said, clearly not as excited as Ralph felt. "How's your winter break?"

"Still waiting for the snow... So hey, I was wondering something-"

"We all usually do."

"You wanna hang out?"

The question seemed to have a heavier impact than it should have had. There was a momentary uncomfortable silence. Ralph almost asked if Paul was still there, but the silence was oppressive, forcing him to keep it. Instead of opening his mouth, he picked up a baseball from his desk and began rolling it around in his hand. "Look... about that..." Paul began, but let his voice trail off.

"What about that?" Ralph asked, letting a hint of anger trickle into his voice, and hoped Paul would pick up on it.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I can't hang out tonight." Ralph then heard Paul licking his lips. "I'm going to be up all night cramming for the mid-term."

Ralph sighed, knowingly. He knew he should be studying too, but he had never been the type to study. "Alright, I'm sorry." Ralph apologized, knowing he had been slightly out of line. "Maybe tomorrow, would you be open for that?"

"Your parents go out a lot don't they?" He asked, having already figured out why Ralph had called in the first place. "Silly question, yeah, we'll hang out tomorrow; I'm just going to get the last bit of studying out of the way. Sorry I couldn't hang out today."

"It's fine." Ralph lied as he turned away from the window. He then threw the baseball out of his room, and watched as it tumbled down the hallway. "It's totally fine."