Echo of the Dead

Saturday, 8:01pm 

Michael and four of his friends wandered around the streets of New York. Laughing and chatting, they pushed each other around the sidewalks, provoking glares from other passerby. The boys didn’t mind, though. It was a wonderful night and nothing was going to ruin it.

Michael paused in front of a dark alley. “You guys go on ahead, okay?” He told his friends. “I’ll catch up.” He stared into the alley. No one was there, but he could have sworn he heard a voice…

Tuesday, 8:01pm

Catherine tried in vain to get her tube of lipstick open. It was Prom Night, and her date was already here, waiting for her downstairs. “Please!” She begged the lipstick. “I’m going to be late!” Finally, with a mighty jerk, the cap popped off. Catherine smiled and began applying her lipstick.

“CATHERINE!” Her date’s terrified voice came from downstairs, making her smear red lipstick over her cheek.”

“Tom!?” She cried, searching frantically for a napkin. “What’s wrong?!”

“Oh, good,” Tom replied, sounding much calmer. “You’re OK. You were up there for a while, so I got a little worried.” He paused. “Hey, can you come down here for a second? I want to show you something.”

Catherine frowned. “Right now? But I have lipstick all over my face.”

“Lipstick?” Tom sounded confused for a second. “It’s OK! I don’t mind! Just come quick, it’s urgent.”

Catherine gave up looking for a napkin. “Alright, I’m coming…”

Thursday, 8:01 

“If your parents catch us, we’re dead!”

Diana grinned. “We’ll be fine. They think I’m still asleep. Besides, they won’t come this far into the forest anyway, at least not at night.”

James-her best friend- laughed. “Whatever you say, Di.” He looked around. They were in a dense forest with huge, leafy green and yellow trees. It was hard to see much color at night, though. “So, you said the old house was that way?”

“James!” Giggling, Diana shoved him. “It is not that old! We saw it being built, remember?”

James shrugged. “It’s haunted, right? That’s more or less the same thing. They say that a couple of kids died there. Cassie and Thomas, or something like that.”

Diana gave him a look. “That was a few days ago, bonehead! Besides, you shouldn’t joke about stuff like that.”

“Fine, fine,” he muttered. He was silent for a moment. “Want to race? To the haunted house, I mean?”

“Okay,” Diana agreed. “You’re on!” They stood side by side. “Ready, Set-“

James took off before she could finish.

“You cheater!” She cried, running after him. Diana raced for a little bit, though she couldn’t catch up. She flopped to the ground. “Okay….James…I give…up. You win,” she panted. “Can we….walk the rest…of the….way?” She paused and looked around, trying to catch her breath. “James?”

He wasn’t there.

“James, this isn’t funny.” Diana’s breath caught in her  throat. She heard someone yelling up ahead, but it was too far to make out, and she doubted she could stand up, much less run to help. The yelling stopped. A few seconds passed. She tried to peer into the forest, but it was dark. The leaves were blocking the moonlight. She heard leaves crunching behind her. She whipped around, but nothing was there. Diana began to feel uneasy, even scared. That story that had caused such an uproar a few days ago flashed through her mind.

Up ahead, James laughed, making her jump. “Come here! I want to show you something.”

Diana nearly sobbed with relief at hearing his voice. “I would,” she answered, “but I’m a little….tired. I can barely walk.”

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “Well, I’ll just have to come over there, then.”

Diana waited, but she didn’t see anyone. Using a tree for support, she unsteadily got to her feet. Then there was a searing pain at the back of her neck, like someone was dragging a hot knife across it, and everything went  away.

 Saturday, 8:05pm

    Michael took a cautious step forward. “Hello?” He called. His voice echoed off of the close walls, giving an eerie sound effect, and he shivered.

“Over here!” A girlish voice answered him enthusiastically from deep inside the alley.

Michaels eyes widened. “Linda?” It was his crush from school! He couldn’t believe it. “Is that you?” He took another step forward.

“Of course!” Linda laughed. “Now come over here. I want to show you something.”

Michael all but ran down the alleyway. He stopped when he reached a large wall. “Yes?” he asked eagerly. He waited, the frowned. “Where are you? I can’t find you….”

“I’m right here!” Linda insisted, then laughed again. At least, Michael thought it was a laugh. It sounded like dry leaves being crushed. “I’m here….right behind you.”

Michael turned slowly, confused. Then he saw it. A shadow melted out of the darkness and took form. It was large, its shoulder taller than he was, with a black, sleek, greyhound-like body. Unfortunately, that was about as normal as it got. The shadow had six long, skeletal legs ending in talons with three claws each. It was hard to tell, but it looked like there were two long, waving tails attached to its rear end. There were countless huge, gleaming, razor-sharp teeth jutting out of its mouth. Worst of all were its four eyes, which were large, white, pupiless, and made Michael feel dizzy and nauseated just by looking at them. He opened his mouth to scream, but one of the whiplike bony tails snaked around with a sharp CRAACK! There was a burning pain in his mouth, and he gagged, the remains of his tongue falling to the ground.

“Now, we can’t have that, can we?” The Monster scolded in Linda’s voice. “I’m not done with you yet. You can’t just go around calling your friends to come help you! That would be cheating.”

Michael was frozen in his spot, the pain forgotten. His thoughts were blurry, like he’d been drinking. He managed to string together a few words, though. …That’s….Not…Linda….

The Monster almost seemed to smile. “No, I’m not,” It agreed, like it had read his mind. “Your girlfriend is dead.” It reared up on its back legs and spread the other four wide, opening its mouth and displaying the fearsome teeth. “Good game,” it hissed, and lunged at him, wrapping its arms around him in a strange hug. It ripped open the back of Michaels neck with its claws, and let him fall to the ground. The last thing he saw was the Monster licking its black talons.

Tuesday, 8:05pm

Catherine hurried down the stairs, trying to simultaneously not fall over in her heels and wipe the lipstick off of her face with part of her dress. No matter what her date said, she was not going to be seen as a mess, even at home.

The house was strangely quiet. “Tom?” She called.

“In the living room!” He answered. “Come quick!”

Catherine hurried over, wondering what could be so important. “Tom? What is- AAHHHH!”

Tom was sprawled out on the floor facedown. Dark blood coated the back of his shirt, and it was now dripping on the carpet. Around him were large red three-toed footprints and streaks across the couch and chairs. Tears clouded Catherine’s vision, and she tried to blink them away. He parents were going to ground her for life! She didn’t kill Tom, but it that’s what it looks like to someone who wasn’t there. The police were going to get involved-she couldn’t go to prison! She was supposed to be Prom queen! The prettiest girl in the state! She finally let herself cry, not caring that it was going to ruin her makeup. She was a mess right now anyway, and there might be time to reapply it later. Her life was ruined! There wasn’t even any time to clean up the blood-not that it mattered. She knew for a fact that blood stains almost everything you can stain, especially clothing.

Catherine heard leaves crunching behind her, and she froze. It wasn’t usually a sound you heard in a house, but there was no mistaking it.

“What’s wrong, Catherine?” Tom’s voice mocked her from behind. “Shocked?”

She made a whimpering noise in the back of her throat.

“Come on, turn around,” the voice prodded. “Like I said, I want to show you something.” There was the leaf-crunching noise again.

Catherine shook her head tightly, terrified.

Something roughly grabbed her and spun her around. She found herself face-to-face with four strangely hypnotic eyes and a mouthful of large fangs. “Hehehe…I don’t exactly look like Tom, do I.”

Catherine shook her head, crying. “P-please don’t kill me!” She begged.

The Thing seemed to grin. “Crying doesn’t work on me,” It told her proudly, before standing up on its back legs and spreading its arms wide.

 It has six legs, Catherine realized with a sinking feeling. ''Just like a bug. I hate bugs. They all want nothing more than to eat you alive…. ''

“Good game,” the Thing hissed, and grabbed her. She struggled, but she couldn’t free herself. It reached around and sliced open her neck. She went limp, and fell to the floor, staining more carpet.

Thursday, 8:05

Diana woke slowly. Where am I? She thought blearily, then remembered with a start. The forest! She and James were….they were….racing? But then something went wrong….

She tried to get up, but her legs wouldn’t move. Actually, weirdly enough, it almost seemed like….

Eventually, the world came into focus again. It took a second to realize what she was seeing. There was a lot of red-that’s for sure. But when she looked across her body, her legs were missing. So was half of her torso. And one of her arms. It should’ve hurt, but all she felt was a dull throbbing.

“You’re alive?” James asked from somewhere above her. He sounded truly surprised.

“James…” she croaked. “What’s going on?”

James sighed. “You haven’t figured it out? Oh, I don’t think you can see me from here. I should probably fix that.”

What stepped into view wasn’t James at all, but a huge black six-legged creature with very large teeth, two tails, and four very strange eyes. “Yeah, I’m not your friend. He’s dead. Like you should be. Aw, and I already started eating you and everything…”

“Who are you?” Diana cried. “What have you done to James?”

The creature seemed to grin. “Since you’re going to die anyway, I am called Echo. I think you can figure out why.” It narrowed its eyes. “Di! Run! Get help! No….NO!!!! RUN, DIANA! RUN AWAY!” It screeched in James’ voice. The terror in her best friend’s voice broke her heart. The horrible creature clacked its teeth together, making a sound like leaves crunching. “Yes, I rather like this voice, though I will lose it when I kill you. At least I will get yours, right?” Echo made the sound again, almost like it was laughing at her.

Diana wanted to cry. “Why…?” She choked out. “Why?”

Echo stood right over her and looked into her eyes, making her feel dizzy. “Why?” It purred. “You little humans have your games, and I have mine. Good game, Diana.” That was the last thing Diana heard before its jaws closed over her face.

Unknown Date

Echo watched its next target carefully as it read something on its…..what was that called again? Computer? Compute? Yes, a ‘compute’. It didn’t know why they called it that, though. Computer sounded much better, much smoother. But that wasn’t important, unless the human was on it again tomorrow when the moon took over the sky. Then it might be a little different. Echo studied it for a bit longer, then turned and slid quietly away, moving like a spider. There was a lot to do before the Game. He had to find out names, find out plans, learn voices, kill a human here or there… Echo was sure he had time, but only if he didn’t get distracted. The human had better be prepared, too. They always lost at this game, for some reason. It was simple, really. Whoever dies first is the loser. Funny, Echo didn’t even know the humans’ voice. But by tomorrow night, it would. Yes, by tomorrow night, it will know all about them.

-TheDarkShadowWatcher