They didn’t mean to leave him there. The whole thing had just been a joke, a stupid bet made by a bunch of fifteen year olds and now they knew it has gone too far. And they didn’t mean to watch him go off on his own and then leave running.

            “Hey Zelo, have you heard the story of the undead?”

            “The undead?” Of all the boys, he was the newest to the neighborhood and they all knew he was desperate to fit in.

            “Yea, you know. The cemetery at the border of time? They say that if you’re buried there, chances are you’ve been wrongly killed and so you never exactly rest easy. So then there are magical powers that turn you into the undead so at any given chance, you can get your revenge.”

            “Oh. Does that happen?” They grinned, hearing the slight tremor in his voice. So he could be scared by supernatural myths.

            The oldest boy shrugged and looked at Zelo with a serious expression. “There’s even been records of a zombie apocalypse once. But they also say that those who can get past the cemetery just once will be safe from harm. Come on. This is what we do every time we get someone new. All the rest of us have done it before.”

            “A-all of you?” Zelo looked around at the group of six boys nervously and they all simultaneously nodded their heads.

            “Yeah,” the head of them added, “Jinyoung here just did it like six months ago. Didn’t you?” Jinyoung nodded, a quick jerk of his head to confirm. “Now it’s up to you to be immune as well.”

            “Am I supposed to go in there?” Again, the boys nodded in affirmation. “Alone?” The terror on Zelo’s face made them even more serious.

            “Yes. You must. That’s the only way to be sure that you’re brave enough.”

            Zelo laughed nervously, not wanting to look bad in front of his friends. “Well, what do I have to do?”

            “There’s the headquarters, to put it simply. There was the woman who was gruesomely murdered by her husband because he wanted to marry the new maid girl. It seems like he chopped her up while she was sleeping and then drained her blood down the tub. Legend says he left a piece of her finger so if you put together all the pieces, you still find something missing. She’s the one that started this. Apparently her husband was found through a meat mincer. He was a butcher. And the part that was missing was his eyeball. The mistress was tied to the bed he killed her in and somehow bled to death. Her tomb is right in the center, near the angel fountain. If you look carefully at the angel, you’ll see that it’s missing an eye. If you’re able to stick a pebble there and come out without her realizing, or without any of the other spirits, then you’re good.”

            Zelo’s mouth fell open and he looked at the rest of them. “And you all did it?”

            “Of course. Are you doubting us?” There was a threatening tone to the leader’s voice by now and Zelo shook his head.

            “Of course not. I’m just, wow, that’s amazing. So should I do it now?”

            “Better now than never. Give your phone to Jinyoung. This is because the spirits hate anything radioactive and they can detect you easier.” The boy hesitated but did it when the older boy cleared his throat.

            The leader took a deep breath and clapped a hand solemnly on his shoulder. “You can do this. The brotherhood is waiting, and we have faith in you.”

            The younger boy nodded nervously and cast a glance at them before walking in. Once he was out of sight, the boy turned and smirked at his following. “Now we’ll just wait. He’ll probably stay in all day looking for that angel statue.”

            There was a piercing scream from the distance and they jumped before brushing it away. It could have just been a bird’s call carried by the wind. The boys huddled together and tried not to look into the graveyard too often. They waited twenty minutes until they saw a tall figure coming back. “No way. He didn’t already realize we lied, did he?”

            When they caught a glimpse of what was coming at them, they screamed and ran.

***

            Zelo walked into the cemetery and was immediately surrounded by silence and darkness. He had bent down to pick up a pebble, something small enough to fit a statue, he figured. Holding the stone in his hand like a talisman, he continued walking.

            He found the statue soon enough but was horrified to find that there was a rotting smell in the air. The scent of decaying flesh was pungent and he found himself unwilling to walk in further. Suddenly, there was a hand that burst from the ground and he had tried to run only to find that another hand was holding his ankle tightly.

            Zelo tried to fight, he screamed once and then his terror stopped all noise from coming out from his vocal chords. Before him was a woman, strung together loosely by sinews of muscle. Her face was slack and he glanced at her hand. She was missing the top half of her pinky.

            He tried to twist away but within seconds, her horrid breath was in his face and all he saw was the bones in .

***

            What they saw was something twisted, horrendous. The flesh on his face was ripped apart on one half and his eye sockets were bleeding as dark pupils glared out from them. His mouth, what was left of it, was twisted and the gashes were bleeding with blood that wasn’t fresh but rather dark as if contaminated. The leader was caught. Zelo ran fast. But the others got away and when they informed the police, nobody believed them.

            There was no record of a Zelo who had moved, and there was no more record of the leader either. “I’m sorry kids. This isn’t Halloween. Save the stories for another time.” The chief told them gruffly.

            But in Jinyoung’s hands still clutched the phone they had taken away from Zelo, even though now the screen was cracked and nobody could trace the number. 

keke just something that's been on my mind for a while