Cemetery Scare

“I think they’re all idiots. We don’t have to do this you know.” Lola Sypes huddled closer to the boy next to her, trying to protect herself from the darkness and cold of the October night. 

“I know we don’t have to, but I don’t want everyone to think we’re scaredy cats.” Eric knew that his friends would be impressed when he returned to them tomorrow morning, after spending the night in the graveyard. 

An hour ago, Lola and Eric were just two people at a Halloween party. One of Eric’s friends had the bright idea to play truth or dare. It was pretty innocent at first, but the dares got more and more intense. Lola’s friend ended up running out into traffic then running back real fast, and one of Eric’s friends jumped into their pool from the high rooftop. The final dare of the night was that Lola had to spend the night in Poplar Cemetery. Lola didn’t want to go alone, so the others ended up voting that Eric had to go too. 

“Are you cold?” Eric noticed Lola shivering beside him.

“A little,” she replied.

Eric took off his sweatshirt and offered it to the girl. She took it and smiled shyly at him.

“Are you sure you won’t be too cold without it?” She asked.

After Eric assured her that he was fine, they found a place to sit next to a grove of trees. They leaned their backs against the rough bark of a tree with a large trunk, so they could sit next to each other. The trees provided some protection from the cold and wind, but the eeriness of the darkness scared the two very much. An owl hooted and Lola grabbed Eric’s hand. They sat there awkwardly for a minute, then Lola released his hand quickly. They sat in silence for a while, but Eric spoke up.

“Neither of us are going to get much sleep tonight,” Eric said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“I think the party was starting to get a little out of hand,” Lola added, “I’m almost glad we left.”

“I think everyone was just trying to impress each other,” Eric shrugged.

“What are we doing? Who are we trying to impress?” Lola asked him. He didn’t answer so she continued, “If they make us do things that we don’t want to, they aren’t very good friends.”

Eric nodded, “Maybe not, but they can also be really fun.”

“I guess. Do you know what time it is?”

Eric pulled out his phone and answered, “Nearly 10:30.”

They stopped talking and listened to the whistling of the wind in the trees and the chirping of crickets. Lola shivered again and Eric looked over at her. He hesitated then slowly put his arm around her shoulder. She tensed up at first, but then accepted the warmth coming from him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Lola was trying to relax, but she was still shivering intensely. 

“Why don’t we find somewhere that might be warmer?” Eric suggested. 

“That sounds good to me,” Lola agreed. Eric stood up and reached down to grab her hand and help her up. They walked side-by-side through the graveyard, looking for some sort of shed or other type of shelter. 

“What about that?” Eric pointed to a large mausoleum standing alone in the middle of the cemetery. 

“Do you think there is anything inside there?” Lola said fearfully. She could imagine a large tomb with decomposing bodies inside. She didn’t want to share that small building with anyone else, especially dead people. 

“Maybe we could find a maintenance shed or something around here.” They kept walking for a little while until they saw what they were looking for. There was a broken down, little shed standing lopsided beside another grove of trees. The pair slowly walked up to the precarious building and Eric pushed open the door. The small room had some shovels and buckets in a corner, as well as some other supplies in another corner. Eric pushed through some moth-eaten blankets and moldy coats in a little box and pulled a couple of each out. 

“I hope you don’t mind using these?” Eric held up the old blankets.

They made the decision to go back and check out the mausoleum after Lola decided that she didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in such a rickety building. They found the mausoleum again and slowly walked up to it. Eric was about to push open the door, when they heard faint voices from coming inside. After pressing their ears to the door they came to the conclusion that it was not only voices, but singing and music too. 

300 years we have waited,

They will meet the end that they are fated,

We’ll return the trouble that they gave us,

And cut their tongues out if they fuss,

Burn them to the stake,

Drown them in the bottom of the lake,

We will find a rightful choice,

To take away their life and voice!

The end of this song was met with a chorus of cackles and Lola and Eric stared at each other with fear in their eyes. They backed away from the door and Eric and Lola walked to the back of the building. They saw a thin window about 8 feet off the ground. They came to a silent agreement and within a minute Lola was sitting on top of Eric’s shoulders peering into the window. What she saw amazed her.

There was a circle of people, both men and women, dressed in long black capes. They were dancing around each other. They still appeared to be singing, but Lola was having trouble making out the words. She gestured for Eric to let her back down. When her feet touched the ground again, she sat down. She realized she was sweating, despite the cold air. 

“What did you see?” Eric asked.

“I don’t really know. There was a group of people. They were dressed kind of like witches or something,” Lola stopped to catch her breath before continuing, “We can't stay here Eric!”

“Why don’t we go to my house and watch a movie?” Eric suggested, “Like you said earlier, who are we trying to impress? If our ‘friends’ from the party are making us do something that we are uncomfortable with, they aren’t friends at all.”

Lola smiled at Eric and stood up. Suddenly, they heard the sound of the door opening from the other side of the mausoleum. They began running as fast as they could out of the cemetery. They didn’t stop until they reached the front door of Eric’s house. They caught their breath and walked inside, both thinking how this will always be a Halloween to remember.