Tales of Adventure: Finalist #1

By International Mastermind

“And the head rolled to Amy's feet.”

I yawned. Not because it was midnight, but because everyone’s “scary stories” were very boring. I was sitting with Emily, Cathy, and Gwen in Emily's room, on Emily's birthday.

“Gwen,” said Emily. “That story was so not scary.” I silently agreed.

“Oh, yeah?” Asked Gwen. “Let's hear you tell a better one.” I leaned back and listened to Emily begin.

“So when we moved here last year on my birthday, I moved my stuff into the room down the hall. But the first night I started hearing these noises. Like little girls giggling. But I am an only child, so I got all freaked and, um, moved in here.” She blushed. “I haven't heard anything since.” Emily sat back, her eyes daring them to criticize. I must have fallen asleep then, because the last thing I remember was my friends giggling.

“Uh,” I grunted as I sat up in my sleeping bag. I glanced around the room. All of my friends were sitting up, looking tired.

“What time is it?” asked Cathy, sleepily.

“It's one in the morning!” said Gwen. I had no idea what had woken us up. The house was silent. Emily told us all to go back to sleep, and soon we could hear her snores.

“Did you hear that?” asked Cathy.

“We can all hear Emily snoring.” I said. Suddenly I heard a soft laugh.

“That!” Yelled Cathy.

“Shut up!” Gwen hissed.

I grabbed a flashlight. “Let's go.”

Cathy, Gwen and I tiptoed down the hallway. “This is so stupid, Sylvie.” Gwen whispered to me. “I can't believe that you even remembered Emily's stupid story,” she grumbled. She silenced as we heard another giggle. I ignored her insults. When we reached the door at the end of the hall, Cathy moaned.

“What's wrong, Cat?” I asked. “Oh, nothing. I'll come.” she said. The handle squeaked as I turned it. The room behind the door was bare, except for an old torn couch.

Gwen walked up and kicked it. “Can we go now?” she asked from behind the couch. She started to walk around the couch. “Ow!” she almost yelled. Her use of four lettered words was very creative. “I stubbed my stupid toe.”

I walked up to Gwen, and looked down. Gwen had hurt herself on a loose floorboard. Gwen was pouting on the couch, and Cathy still cowered in the doorway.

I called Cathy over. “Check that out,” I said. She reached out a hand and jiggled the board until it popped out. Now Gwen was also crouched around it.

Cathy reached into the hole, and then drew back. “Eyeuuw,” she said. “Cobwebs.” I thrust my hand in. Ick. She was right, there were sticky strings clinging to my arm. I could feel a spider crawling over my fingers. Suddenly I felt something hard and cold. I pulled it out for everyone to see. Whatever it was, it was covered in dirt and grime.

“We better go wash that thing off.” Gwen said.

We ran it under hot water for awhile. “Hot water kills bacteria,” said health conscious Cathy. Soon the pile of dirt in my hand turned into a silver locket. Gwen grabbed it, she had always been intrigued with anything that sparkled. She slipped it over her head, and broke into a fit of giggles.

“Um, Gwen?” asked Cathy, waving her hand in front of the girls face.

Gwen raised her hands above her head and pulled the necklace off. Her giggling ceased, and her face twisted into a grimace. “No fair!” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Wasn't my fault,” I said.

Cathy cleared her throat. “Um, shouldn't we open it?” Cathy tried to reglue her fake nail back in place, while I gave a try at prying the latch open.

“Where'd you guys go?” asked someone behind me. I swiveled around. Emily leaned on the bathtub, rubbing her eye.

“We found this,” I said holding up the locket. “You try to open it, Cathy's nail fell off, and my fingers are about to.” She held the locket firmly, and pulled. It cracked open easily in her hands. A giggle, so much louder and sharper than the others, rang out. The air before us was a little bit misty, but that might have been my imagination. But I'm almost sure of what we heard next.

“Hello girls!” said a high, girlish voice. I could swear that something else was being said, but we were all screaming so loudly that I couldn't be sure.

We sat at the breakfast table in the morning, eating pancakes. “I got that locket for my birthday,” said Emily. “The same day that we moved here!” We had figured out that the locket had belonged to Emily's grandma, and before that, her grandmas sister, who had died of a plague when she was seven. None of us had slept that night, with a ghost loose in the house.

“Thanks for coming to my party,” said Emily, grinning. “Thanks for having me!” I said, grinning back. I was almost across the street when someone called my name. I turned back to wave, and saw a little redheaded girl in an old fashioned dress, waving at me. I turned back, and smiled. I knew what scary story I would be telling at my next sleepover.