A Single Night

“What's the matter? Scared of the dark?” Freddy Shaw shouted from somewhere behind me. His goons started laughing like maniacs.

“We’re not scared!” Tim shouts beside me, though I’m not sure if he’s shouting at them or the creepy graveyard in front of us. Tim gripped his hands into fists and stood up straight to look tough but I can see his hands shaking. He marched forward as if being pulled by marionette strings and threw open the large black gate. It creaked and for a second I was sure that my parents could hear it from four blocks away. I remembered the traffic around town square when Freddy and his goons forced Tim and I to walk to the graveyard and realized it was stupid to think that. Tim turned back to me, never losing his confident expression. I knew it was only because Freddy could see it. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he says, “Come on, or they’ll never stop messing with us.” His voice is shaking.

“I-I don’t know,” I stutter, glancing back at the street not far behind us. I could make a run for it, I know that I’m faster than them. But I can't leave Tim here alone. He’s skinny as a stick and can’t run more than a few feet before needing to stop to catch his breath. I’ve seen him do it in gym class. I can’t leave him out here by himself, especially not with Freddy. I have a bad feeling that if I leave, the next time I see Tim will be in a body bag. I took a deep breath and stepped through the gate. It felt like stepping into another world, especially with the sun starting to set. I glance around at the gravestones, lined up with short pathways between them, an old mausoleum, and the even older oak tree that looks ready to fall over at any second. The chill of night settled on my skin and gave me goosebumps.

I felt hands on my back and I was suddenly shoved into Tim. We toppled to the ground. Maniac laughter rang out over the clang of metal. Tim and I untangled ourselves and got to our feet, turning to find Freddy and the two idiots standing on the other side of the now closed gates. Freddy wound a chain through the bars and snapped a padlock on them. I rushed forward, grabbing the chain and trying in vain to rip it off.

“What are you doing? Let us out!” I shout. They were laughing too hard to respond. I thrust my hands through the bars but they moved back out of my reach.

“Let us out!” Tim shouts, shaking the gate. Freddy straightened and reached into his pocket for something. His grin faltered. He searched his other pocket but still came up empty-handed.

“Freddy?” one of the idiots--Tony--says.

Freddy broke out into a monstrous grin. “I left the key at my house!” They burst into more laughter as the absolute dread of what he had done came over me and Tim.

“We’re trapped in here!” Tim screams. His head snapped to the left and right, eyes wide as he realized that the sun was almost below the treeline.

When Freddy stopped laughing for long enough to catch his breath, he said, “You’ve heard the rumors about this place, right?”

“What rumors?” I ask, glancing at Tim who’s gone white as a sheet.

“That’s right, you're new in town,” Freddy says mockingly as if that wasn’t something I already knew. Man, this guy is annoying. If I hadn’t seen them dragging Tim in this direction, I never would have followed them. And I never would have gotten caught. I don’t know why I followed them, I don’t even know Tim. I’ve seen him around school and I’ve heard what Freddy says about him, that’s it.

“Let me spell it out for you,” Freddy says condescendingly. “This is no ordinary graveyard, this one is…”--He glances back at his friends, who are nervously looking up at the setting sun.--“special.”

I scoff. “It's a graveyard. It’s where you bury dead people, there’s nothing special about it.” I rattled the gate but the chain held firm.

“Not this one. This is where the vampire sleeps.” Tim squeaked in fear. He threw himself at the gate, shaking it madly.

“LET ME OUT!” he screamed. Freddy leaped back then the three of them took off, heading for the road. Tim didn’t stop screaming, begging for someone to come help them. I grabbed his shoulders and tore him from the gate. He stumbled and fell on his butt.

“Stop screaming,” I snapped. “You're only going to get a sore throat. They’re not coming back and there’s no one around. We’re stuck.”

“They… they have to come back with the key. Right?” He looked up at me as if asking if he was going to survive the night. I’m used to people depending on me, I have three little sisters, but they’ve never looked at me like that. I called on all my big brother instincts and plastered on a reassuring smile. I knelt down so we were face to face.

“It’s okay, we’ll get out of here. I hate to say this but, they’re not coming back tonight. Maybe not tomorrow, either.” He squeaked, his nails digging into the dirt but I kept going. “But that’s okay, we don’t need them. We can get out on our own.”

“How? The gate is the only way out and it’s getting dark. When the sun goes down…” He nervously glanced in the direction of the mausoleum but it was so dark that I could only see the faint outline of it.

“Is this about the vampire that Freddy mentioned?” He nods but doesn’t look at me, his eyes had become fixated on the sun, only a few rays filtering through the trees now. “Tell me about it.”

He swallowed. “Wh-when the sun goes down… he-he comes out of the crypt, to feed.”

“A vampire lives in there?” He nods again and I can’t help but think about Harmony, the youngest. She’s terrified of the dark and insists on sleeping with the lights on. When she’s scared, she always looks up at me like Tim is doing right now. He’s terrified. “Tim, vampires don’t exist.” Something moved in the direction of the mausoleum and my head snapped towards it.

“Yes, he does,” Tim whispers.

I shake my head. “No, it’s just the wind. We’re okay.”

“Do you feel the wind?” he asks. I paused for a moment and realized there was none, not a hair on Tim’s head was moving.

“Then it’s a squirrel,” I said dismissively. “If you want, I can go check it out.” I started to stand but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the ground.

“Are you crazy?” he hissed. “He’ll kill you!” I got back up to my knees from where Tim had forced me to faceplant into the dirt. I squint at Tim but I can barely make out his face. It’s too dark, the sun has disappeared. If only I had brought my backpack, I have flashlights in there in case of a power outage at school. But all I have is a pack of bubblegum, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, and a paperclip.

Bubblegum…

I reached into my pocket with my free hand as Tim was still clutching my right arm and pulled out the bubblegum. I pulled out a stick and offered it to him.

“Bubblegum? What’s that supposed to do?”

“Hopefully get you to let go of my arm before I lose circulation.” He let go and took the gum from me, careful to unwrap it quietly as if the vampire could hear it but not his screeching from moments before. I take a piece of bubblegum for myself. Tim moved to sit beside me and grabbed my arm again but his grip was much looser. It might have been to see if I was still there or because he’s terrified, I can’t tell. In the dead silence, everything felt loud. Leaves skittered over the ground and, for a moment, my brain was convinced that it was nails on the stone paths. Tim certainly is. I shook it off, reminding myself that we’re alone.

We’re trapped in this graveyard and I need to find a way out before my parents find out that I snuck out my window. I’ve seen this graveyard before, it’s at the edge of town so I don’t see it much but I got lost on the way to school once and walked by here. In the daylight, it’s nothing special. A black fence wraps around it and, Tim’s right, the gate is the only entrance or exit. It’s too high for us to climb over and I doubt that we can dig our way out. Either way, Tim will be terrified that we’re making too much noise. We need a light, some way to see what we’re looking at.

I thought back to that month that I spent in Boy Scouts. I couldn’t stay long because my family moves around a lot for my Dad’s job. I’ve never stayed in one place for an entire year before. Lucky me that he got a promotion and won’t be moving anymore. Now I’ve got to deal with Freddy Shaw for the rest of my life. This is going to be an absolute nightmare.

Thing Logan, think. I can use what I have with me, like always. I’ve gotten good at being something the internet calls a minimalist, unlike Jade, who needs a stuffed animal for every house we’ve lived at. To be fair, Mom started the tradition when she was a baby and now Jade can’t give it up. I thought about what I have on me again. Three sticks of bubblegum, a paperclip that I’m about to bend in a million different directions just for something to do, hand sanitizer, and… nothing. I have the clothes on my back and-

My necklace!

Mom gave it to me when I first started Boy Scouts. It’s made of flint and the chain is steel! I would hug my Mom if she was here right now. Then I would demand that she find us a way out.

“Tim, I have an idea. Do you see any big sticks lying around?” I ask quietly, almost nervous to break the silence that had fallen over us.

“N-No. Why?” he whispers just as quietly.

I reach up and pull out my necklace that I keep tucked away in my shirt. “I have a way to get us some light. I need a big stick and dried leaves. Stay here, I’m going to go find some.” I started to stand but his grip tightened on my arm.

“Don’t leave me here, Logan!” he hissed in panic. “He’ll find me!” Tim leaned in so close that I could see the whites of his eyes. At least my eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness. But with the darkness, it had gotten really cold. The fire is even more important now. For a moment I wondered how he knew my name then figured he had heard it in school.

“Then come with me.” After a pause, I stand up and Tim follows my lead, refusing to let go of my arm. I’m fine with that, it’s better if we don’t get separated. We crept through the darkness, our feet finding plenty of dry leaves but I can’t find a stick. I’m not afraid of the dark but try spending a night in a dead silent graveyard with a guy that insists something is hiding in the shadows, ready to leap out and kill us. It puts you on edge.

Tim stumbled over something, grabbing my shoulders to keep from falling over. It didn’t work and we both went tumbling to the ground. I landed on my stomach with Tim on top of me and something jamming itself into my belly button. Tim rolled off me and whispered an apology. I got to my knees and searched around in the dark for what I had fallen on… a stick!

I opened up the hand sanitizer and dumped it all over one end of the stick, hoping beyond hope that I didn’t ruin the one stick in this stupid graveyard. I’m done bumping into graves. I gathered up a small pile of leaves and took off my necklace, all the while assuring Tim that I know what I’m doing. I took the flint off the chain then held one end of it in my teeth and the other between my knee and the ground. It took fourteen strikes before the leaves finally caught but there were plenty of sparks. I blew on them, starting the flame. I held the sanitizer end of the stick in the fire and waited. It felt like forever before it finally caught. I held up the new torch, stamping out the leaves in case it wanted to spread to somewhere else.

Tim stared at me with wide eyes as I held the torch up for him to see. “Where did you learn how to do that?”

I shrug nonchalantly. “Boy Scouts.” I earned that merit badge. I slipped on my necklace and stood up. Perfect, the hand sanitizer was burning but the fire hadn’t reached the rest of the stick yet. It would be a while before it burns off my hands. Tim and I moved a little closer to the heat as we looked around. With the help of the light, we could now see that we had passed about a dozen sticks on the way to this little one.

Tim screeched and jumped back. I turned to see what had scared him and screamed, stumbling back and falling on my butt. I grabbed the torch from where I had dropped it and held it up high, staring up at the mausoleum. The torch made the shadows flicker along the dark grey stone, making the building look alive. There are no windows, just a large wooden door that was hanging open on damaged hinges.

Tim squeaked, “He’s awake! He broke the door open!”

No, vampires aren’t real, I reminded myself. I felt stupid that I even needed reminding. If I’m going to survive the night here then I need to get Tim to realize that there are no such things as vampires. I got to my feet and marched towards the mausoleum. I glanced back at Tim, who watched in horror. I tightened my grip on the torch, ready to burn anything alive that tried to attack me. I threw open the door, squeezing my eyes shut and waiting for something to grab me.

One… two… three… Nothing.

I pried open my eyes and held up the torch to look inside. Nothing. An alter-looking coffin stood in the center of the mausoleum, sealed up. I heard something move behind me and look back as Tim slowly walks up to me, peering into the crypt.

“There’s nothing here,” he whispers.

“I told you, there’s no such thing as vampires.” Tim relaxed for the first time in what has definitely been hours.

“There’s no vampire,” he says. Tim pushed the door closed. “Thanks, Logan.” I was about to say your welcome when I caught a flash of something metal nearby in the torchlight. I walked over to it and grinned.

“Tim,” I call out, hefting the shovel from where it had been set by a recently-dug grave. “I think I just found a way out!” The two of us rushed back to the gate. It must have taken us ten minutes to find it because we had gotten so completely lost in the dark and the fence seemed to go on forever. When we reach it, we’re out of breath and panting. When we could breathe, I handed Tim the torch and took up the shovel. With all my strength, I brought it down on the chain with a great clang as I missed and hit the gate. It shuttered and shook but grudgingly remanded in place. I swung again, this time hitting the chain dead on and slicing it apart.

“Yes!” I shout. Tim actually whopped. I dropped the shovel and scrambled to pull the chain off the gate, flinging it open and running out onto the abandoned road. Tim and I screamed and laughed for the next five minutes before we got our heads on right.

“I’ve got to get home. My parents must be worried sick,” Tim says.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get back before they check on me and see I snuck out.” His eyes went wide.

“You snuck out! Why?”

“I saw Freddy pushing you around so I tried to follow you. It didn’t work out too well.”

Now he grins. “I say it did. So, which way’s your house?”

“Uh… Hanson street. 3761.” I glance around. The city looks completely different in the darkness and I don’t have my phone for GPS.

“Lost?” he guessed. I nod. “I know where your house is. I’ll walk you.”

“Are you sure? You have to get home, too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Anything for a friend.”

Friend. I don’t think I’ve ever had a real friend before. We move around so much that it’s impossible to form that kind of bond. I never thought I could make a friend in a single night. Maybe staying in one place won’t be such a bad thing after all. Tim dropped the torch on the road and ground it under his sneaker, effectively putting it out. He threw his arm over my shoulder and we walked towards the city lights.