Blood Cemetery

Well, Halloween was cancelled 2 weeks ago in our small New Hampshire town. This Covid 19 crisis was taking all the enjoyment out of the holidays. I don't want to even think about Thanksgiving and especially Christmas. My mother says I was being selfish and if we do not follow the guidelines then we won't have a life to enjoy anything. Blah, blah, blah I hear as I walk away. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and my best friend Soosie too. We cannot let it slip by and not celebrate it, and no, not by ordering a pizza and watching a bunch of scary movies on TV, as my mother suggests. Soosie comes over and we decide to think of something really spooky to do. We google scary things around town and besides boring stuff we see something about 'Blood Cemetery' it is really called Pine Hill Cemetery, in Hollis. I have heard the stories of this place but never been there. The ghost of Abel Blood haunts it. Supposedly Abel's gravestone changes at night so the finger on the stone points down instead of heavenward. It says it is closed dusk till dawn, and the police patrol regularly especially at Halloween. We decide to drive by it anyway, I call Soosie and we make plans for the next night, Halloween. Our parents already think we are sleeping at each other's house, so our secret plan can not be deterred by our meddling parents.

  I fill my backpack with snacks, drinks, a flashlight, fill my gas tank and make sure my phone has a full charge just in case we get lost on the dark unlit back roads. I'm the most cautious of the 2 of us. If Soosie was in charge we would be stuck in a ditch in the unholy darkness, right in front of Blood Cemetery. I shiver at that thought.

 I tell my mom "I'm leaving" she waves bye never looking up from her phone. I feel slightly guilty lying to her, but more excited about the fun and scary night ahead for Soosie and I. So I text Soosie, "On my way" and back out of my driveway and the song 'Thriller' comes on and I laugh out loud. I wonder if we will see any zombies come out of the graves. Soosie is already outside waiting for me when I pull in her driveway. I just love her purple curly hair she must of dyed it today for she had her natural red hair yesterday. She is tall and skinny as opposed to me. I'm short and fun sized, my stupid brother says. But I hate my too straight brown hair. The door opens and we both start talking and laughing about our Halloween adventure.

  Wow, pitch black is a great adjective to describe this night. As we approach our destination the fog gets thicker, where did that come from. My hands tighten around the steering wheel as I listen to Waze direct us not to our deaths I hope. Soosie is oblivious to our surroundings, thinking all this is so cool. "You have reached you destination on the right "Waze whispers. I pull over onto the leave covered grass and we try to see thru the fog that seems to arise from the graves. Soosie puts down her window like that will make a difference. We squint and the fog magically thins out and we see the old crooked grave stones. Now that we are here I think we are both afraid to get out. Soosie senses my fear and locks her door, forgetting her window is half way down. Soosie turns to me pretending she is glad we are here, I ask her "wanna get out, we came all this way? It's suppose to be spooky." She answers bravely "It's just the fog that makes it so spooky." I reply "and the dead people," as we open our doors slowly, and try to walk quietly into the den of the dead. I hand a flashlight to Soosie and we feel a little braver. We are not alone for an owl spooks us. We look around with our high powered flashlights and spot him high up on a long thin leafless branch, he stares back at us. We keep scanning our surroundings, there are lots of trees and nothing else. Not a light of any kind for as far as we can see. It starts to lightly mist and it gives the air a smell of the woods just beyond this graveyard.

  We are starting to feel a little at ease and start taking selfies with the gravestones as our backdrop. There is some very old gravestones here, as we search for Abel Bloods grave. I hope we are not disrespecting the dead, we decide to turn off our flashlights and enjoy the natural environment we are in, but we hold onto each other for comfort. Just then we see a light in the distance and then hear the sound of a truck. We duck down instinctively, I say "someone had the same idea as us, unless the police have a truck." Soosie nods and we wait very quietly to see if they drive by or stop. They stop and we slowly raise our heads above the grave stone we ducked behind. I tell Soosie be quiet for we don't know who they are or what they are up to. She nods as she squeezes a tight grip on my arm.

 As we watch we see 2 people, male voices we know, but not what they are saying, for we are too far away. The rain is coming down in a steady stream, but we stay where we are waiting and watching. Soosie says she feels like we are on a stake-out, obviously excited by the events. Not me, I am wary of what they are doing here. We keep watching and one of them opens the back gate of the truck, they grabs shovels and start digging. "Are they grave robbing?" asks Soosie. We watch which seemed liked a long time and we are soaked to the bone, but we are not leaving till we see what they are up to. Just then they stop and one of them jumps into the bed of the truck. He is doing something we can't see, I grab my phone and open camera and zoom in, I see the other man grab something and it must be heavy for the other man jumps out of the truck. I relay what is happening to Soosie, she grabs her phone to see it too. Just then an arm falls out of it's encasement. We can't look away even though we are traumafied. A word I just read in a book, describes this scene exactly. We continue watching when they uncover their secret, a dead body. It seems a woman by her long hair. Just then Soosie takes a picture, her flash is on and the flash of light attracts the attention of these 2 grave diggers and probably murderers too.. They look our way, "What have you done Soosie, run." We get up as fast as we can and start running for the car, too afraid to see if they are giving chase. I can here Soosie behind me crying and I reach for her hand. As we see my car I reach for my car keys and I can't find them. I stop backtrack a bit, but it is so dark and everything is wet. I look up and I can see 2 figures getting closer, I turn on my flashlight to see my lost keys or it is certain death for us. Soosie is screaming by now wanting to know what I am doing. As I bend down searching, I look up and see the shovel aiming for my head.

  I wake up with such a headache, Soosie shaking me asking "you ok?" I realize I am home in my room, "what are we doing tonight for Halloween Jenny, Blood Cemetery still?" I instantly reply, "no Soosie, let's stay in and order a pizza and watch scary movies." She looks confused, I tell her you are not going to believe the dream I just had. She smiles and we live another day by listening to my mother.