Short Story Swirl

A Walk in the Cemetery (Suspense)

The cemetery was eerily quite as Eli strolled through, leaves crunching under his feet as he went. The moon shone brightly overhead, making the gravestones glimmer in its light. Somewhere in the trees next to the cemetery, an owl hooted, the noise somehow adding to the unease the silent brought.

Eli looked around wearily, his shovel balanced precariously on his shoulder. He hated this job, it always gave him the creeps, being in the cemetery this late. It was the only job he could find, though, after his good-for-nothing brother refused to pay him back on time. Eli had lent him a loan, a fairly large one at that, but his brother fell through, leaving Eli scrambling for anything to pay his rent that month.

It's been three months since then, and Eli has yet to hear from his brother. He frowned as he walked, his thoughts brewing inside his head. Since then, he's been stuck here as a cemetery guard dog, just barely scraping by. Normally, the loan wouldn't have even made a dent in his everyday life, if not for his ass of a boss firing him a week before Eli's brother came begging.

A soft scraping sound brought Eli from his thoughts, and he looked out across the gravestones. The full moon made it easy for him to see in the nearly empty field, hundreds of shadows cast by the stones all scattered about. Despite that, Eli squinted his eyes anyway, straining to see against the shadows. He lowered his shovel in front of him, ready in case some teenager decided to jump out and get the best of him.

"Who's there?" He called, his voice firm as it echoed across the field. He's only been here three months, and since then has encountered twice as many vandals. Stupid kids, he thought as he shook his head.

Suddenly, one of the shadows started to move, shaking at first, then growing taller than any gravestone in the cemetery. Eli's eyes widened as he watched the figure grow; 6 feet, 7 feet, 8 feet, until finally, it stopped. Eli stared in horror at the creature standing in the middle of a sea of gravestones. This was no teenager.

It had no features other than two yellow, glowing dots where Eli assumed it's face was. Everything else was simply black, like it was made from the shadows themselves. The creature raised it's hand, it's fingers impossibly long, ending with leathal-looking points. Slowly, it began to wave, and Eli felt like it's glowing eyes were piercing his soul.

Despite everything in him telling him to run, Eli couldn't move, sweat slowing dripping it's way down the side of his face. The shovel he held between him and the creature felt utterly useless. For some reason, the only thing Eli could think about was how this was all his jerk brother's fault.

Just as slowly as it raised, the creatures hand lowered back to its side. With what Eli could only describe as a twisted attempt at a smile, the creature turned it's back to him and began walking. Within moments, it crossed the field of gravestones, moving at an incredibly fast pace. It disappeared into the darkness of the woods without a sound, leaving Eli alone in the cemetery.

It was a long time before Eli could muster the courage to move, but when he did, he ran as fast as he could back to the office. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he slammed the door behind him and slumped against the door, the shovel clanging loudly as it dropped from his hands. He was so terrified he barely realized he was still holding it. After a moment, he managed to compose himself and stood up.

What should he do now? He has no idea what that creature was or where it came from. Should he call someone? No, no one would believe him anyway. What if it comes back? A chill ran down Eli's spine at the thought. He decided that he would take whatever repremanding he got and stayed in the office.

The remainder of the night went by excruciatingly slow, Eli jumping at every sound he heard, terrified that the creature would come back. As the first rays of dawn peaked over the horizon, Eli was almost in tears. He breathed a sigh of relief as the sky gradually lightened, his terror from the previous night melting away.

When the sky was light enough, Eli gathered all of his remaining courage and stepped out of the office. The field lay as empty as ever, morning dew glistening on the headstones scattered about. He walked out into the cemetary, weaving his way around the stones, hesitantly making his way to the stone the creature had appeared in front of.

From the back, the stone looked completely normal, untouched except for what nature has already done. As Eli circled the stone, however, he noticed that the front was a completely different story. Long scratches traveled from the top of the headstone all the way to the bottom, the concrete cracking and chipping around them. Eli was surprised that the headstone didn't collapse, but before he could ponder it any more, something else caught his eye.

Although the scratches made it hard to read, it was still there. Sweat began to form on Eli's forehead and his hands began to shake.

Whoever was buried in this plot, whoever attracted that creature, had the same name and birthday as his brother.