The Haunting Of Mistmarsh Playground

Haunted Playground

I stood beside an abandoned playground, there was no wind, and no one was in sight for as far as the eye could see. I didn't know what exactly I was waiting for, but I did know that one of my friends had messaged me and told me to wait in this spot. They said I wouldn't regret it.

Now, I'm not so sure. Though there was no wind and the air was warm, I kept getting chills. Every so often I would look over my shoulder to make sure that I was alone. So far, I had been waiting for half an hour, and nothing had happened. I shuffled my feet around in the dirt and decided not to wait by standing, I cautiously walked over towards the bench that was to one side of the swings.

The Mistmarsh Playground had been abandoned ever since some lady's daughter had somehow gotten killed here. The girl's name was Luella, and her favourite area in the playground was the swings. Some people would say that when they were walking past the playground they could hear a little girl asking to be supervised when she was on the swings. A couple of years ago, I knew two boys had come here to see if it was actually as haunted as people say. They had set up a small camp and stayed the night, but they left before sunrise. Whatever had happened that night, they refused to speak of it.

I got another cold chill and suddenly felt like I wasn't alone anymore. I looked around, but I couldn't see anyone or anything. Once I turned my head back straight, that's when things started to get weird.

I could faintly hear a child murmuring from somewhere to my right, I shrugged lightly and kept turning the ring on my finger. I heard the rocks crunching as though someone was walking towards me, I turned my head and caught a flash of hazy movement, but then it was gone. I shook my head and then put it between my knees. Then I heard the child's voice again, but this time it was right beside me. I jumped off the bench and looked around wildly.

"Can you come and watch me on the swings? Mama says that I can't be on the swings without supervision," The girl whispered, her voice echoing around me. I turned in a 360°, no one was around me. Not even the leaves on the trees and bushes were moving.

Then my hand felt like it had dipped into a freezer. "Come on... don't afraid of me, I won't hurt you,". The coldness on my hand tugged me towards the swingset.

"Stand here," the voice half hissed. I stayed where the voice told me to be, but only out of fear, I was actually frozen in place. The girl's voice had placed me right behind the swings, in the position that most people would be in to push the swings.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I called, turning my head to the left and right.

"That doesn't matter... Push the swing for me please," 

I carefully reached forward and wrapped my hands around the chains on the side of the swing. I shoved the swing forward, and I could hear a faint and joyful 'Whee' noise. I pushed the swing as it went past, and then 'Whee' got a little louder.

"Luella, is this you on the swing?" I asked, holding my breath. There was no response, "Luella? Can you show me that this is you?" I tilted my head a little to listen.  Still no response.

Suddenly, the rocks in front of the swing drug back, as though someone's feet have dragged through them. I jumped backwards. The swing stopped swinging, and then all of the noises around me stopped. The air felt almost suffocating, the silence building pressure on my ears.

"Did I tell you to stop pushing the swing?" there was anger in the voice. I looked around wildly, the voice had come from all around me. 

"N-no..." I stuttered. I felt a cold invisible force grip my arms. A gust of wind hit me and pushed me backwards. I fell onto the rocks, tiny ones stabbing the palms of my hands. The breath was knocked out of me, I struggled to get it back. The rocks shuffled, creating a circle around me. 

"You disobeyed me... You disobeyed Luella... And now you will pay the price," she whispered menacingly.

I screamed as I felt my hair being yanked backwards, pulling my head with it. I waved my hands around, as though to get rid of a swarm of pesky flies. There was nothing actually around me, but I tried to get away no matter what. A blinding white light appeared in front of my eyes, blocking my vision, and then it left as soon as it had come. A roar of anger and fear escaped from my mouth, it echoed all around the playground. The wind died down, and my hair fell, cascading over my shoulders.

I looked down at the ground and saw that all of the rocks around me had blown away. There were no rocks around me for about 2 meters. There was no wind, everything had stopped, the swings weren't moving either. I called out to Luella, unsure of what happened.

"Luella? Luella?! Hello? Anyone?!" I called, my voice reverberating everywhere. The only noise was my own voice echoing back at me. I turned towards the empty road on the other side of the playground, calculation how long it would take to run back home.

A whispering voice reached my ears, saying the same word over and over again: "Stay," then multiple children's voices started joining in, some male and some female, all of them were chanting the same word. Their voices were coming from all directions, even underneath the slide that was next to the swingset.

"No," my voice quavered, I turned in a circle, as each voice took turns changing its position. The chanting got louder, and the wind started picking up again, "No!" my voice was stronger this time. Rocks started flying everywhere, hitting and missing me. Both big and small rocks grazed the sides of my face, creating small scratches. I cried out in pain as a sharp rock struck my arm, leaving a deep cut. "NO!" I yelled, and nothing happened. The voices kept getting louder and louder, filling my head and blocking out my own thoughts. I collapsed onto the ground, covering my ears with the palms of my hands.

"Nereida!" A voice called to me. My ears were ringing, but there were no other noises. "Nereida?!" the voice was closer now, sounding concerned. I felt warm hands clasp my shoulders, gently lifting me up. "Nereida, come on, cooperate with me, please! I have to get you out of here," I lifted my head and looked at them, my sight was blurry, so all I could see was their outline. I blinked several times to try and clear my visions, but it only helped a little bit.

They led me away from the playground, leading me with a comforting hand on my shoulder. As I stumbled along I kept checking behind my shoulder, to try and make sure that there was nothing following us. I saw a flash of movement as I turned my head, but I figured that it was just a trick of the light. After a couple of seconds, I heard a high-pitched children's scream coming from the way we came. I knew exactly what it was. I didn't know who it was that had saved me but by the sounds of their voice, I figured that it was one of my friends' siblings, and they were scared. "What was that," they asked.

"Something that I have to deal with," I muttered.

"No! I came all of this way to get you out of there, you're not going back,"

"I have to,"

"No, you don't. If you go, then I know that you won't come back,"

"I'll come back, I promise. But before I go, can you promise me something?"

"Sure, but it depends on what it is,"

"When I say run, then I want you to run as fast as you can, away from here, okay?"

"Yeah," they whimpered. The scream came again, but closer and angrier this time. They tapped my arm, and I held up four fingers and started counting down. Four, three, two, one.

"RUN!" I yelled, they turned and ran as fast as they could towards town, while I ran back towards the playground. The voices screamed in my head as I got closer, willing me to give up and surrender. I acquiesced, falling to my knees once again, but I spread my arms wide this time. I knew now that if this worked, then the haunted playground's spirits wouldn't bother my friends or family.

The voices chattered excitedly as if preparing a surprise birthday party. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, accepting the presence of the spirits. I could feel the coldness of their gaze as they closed in around me. I briefly opened my eyes and saw the darkness closing in on me, I let go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to fight. I could feel my soul lifting into the air, I had promised that I would come back, and I will, just not the same as I was before. Somewhere inside me, I was just a scared sixteen-year-old, but also somewhere else inside me, I knew that this was the only way. Say hi to the misses, I thought to myself, smiling as I departed this world.