The Urban Legends and Horror Contest

I am entering it here, because my upgrade expires tonight, and I can't afford to lengthen it, so I have to post the story as the message...Thanks!

The Ghost of Kayscreek

Sharon shook her head at the look on her best friend's face.
"They said she looked like what?"
"They told me that it was a woman and she was wearing clothes like the pioneers, like - you know - the long dress and hair under a bonnet type thing."
"What a joke!" Sharon laughed, sitting down on a rock.
She and her friend Kathy were in her back yard, enjoying what was most likely the last day of fall. It was a gorgeous day, the leaves softly falling, the sun still warm, and a light cool breeze blowing. Her friend clenched her jaw, the muscles moving under the skin. Obviously she didn't think it was a joke.
"Okay, Kathy, come on! Why are you so into this?"
Her friend glanced around the empty yard to confirm that no one was listening to their conversation.
"I've never seen Mark so upset, Sharon! He was shaking!"
Sharon rolled her eyes and pulled a pack of gum out of her pocket. "Mark is highly dramatic, Kathy. You know he always goes over board." She offered her friend a piece of gum, and she took one, her hand slightly shaking.
"Look," she said, pupping the gum in her mouth, "why has this upset you? Mark is always trying to pull your leg over something."
Kathy sat down on the edge of a lawn chair. "It wasn't just Mark. It was his friends Jason and Chris."
Sharon mulled that thought over for a moment, studying her friend. Tall, lean with long brown hair, clear green eyes and a complexion she had long been jealous over, they had known each other since kindergarten when both had started school in the same class. Now they were inseparable, better than sisters. Usually, Kathy wasn't lulled into a joke by her brother Mark, or upset about things he tried to tell her. This was the first time she'd seen her like this. Apparently her brother had run into her room last night, shaking and almost hysterical, babbling some story about a woman/ghost floating down in the hollow behind their house.
"I think he's heard too much about the hollow." Sharon finally said with a sigh. "I mean, especially with Halloween tomorrow, he's just a little jittery. Everyone has heard the story about the woman being killed down there."
Kathy shrugged half heartedly. "I don't know. I've never seen him like this. He still won't go outside."
Sharon raised her eyebrows and chewed her gum.
"Did he tell your mom?"
"No, he's afraid, since he wasn't supposed to be down there. You know the rule."
Sharon grinned, yeah, she knew the rules. All the parents around the hollow had gotten together and decided none of the kids were allowed down in there. Just because there was this old grave with a large stone cross. It was so stupid.
"Well, I guess there's nothing to do about it, why are you so worked up?"
"Well, he wants me to go down there with him today, so he can prove it to me."
Sharon sat up straight and stared at her friend. "You have got to be kidding, right? He brakes the rules so you're gonna break them? Why do you want to do that?"
"I didn't say I was gonna!" she said, her lips pulling into a tight line that told Sharon she was going to be stubborn about this.
"Yes you are, I can tell! What are you thinking?"
Karen sighed and folded her arms, looking away. "I feel responsible," she finally admitted. "I was telling them all about the story last night, and dared them to go."
Sharon shook her head. She was so amazed by her friend she couldn't say anything for a few minutes. Kathy had never done anything like this before.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" she muttered, running a hand through her own short black hair.
Kathy sighed and stood up to start pacing. "I told him I would go back with him this afternoon, when it's still daylight. I'm not totally stupid."
Sharon chewed on her lip, her gum forgotten. "I'm going with you." she announced, her gaze on her friend.
Kathy spun around to gaze at her, a hopefull expression on her face. "You will? Oh you're the best!" She bounded forward and threw her arms around Sharon, startling her and making her laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'm wonderful! Let me go, you're gonna crush me!" She just hoped none of the stories were true, or she was gonna wish she'd never agreed.

Later, about an hour after they talked, they all met back at Kathy's back yard. She was talking encouragingly to her younger brother, Mark, who had brought along his pal Jason.
"Hey guys! Ready to go ghost hunting?"
Kathy rolled her eyes and Mark went pale.
"That's not funny, Sharon!"
"Not even, man," Jason added, his dark brown eyes wide in his tanned face.
Sharon giggled. "You guys crack me up! Come on, lets get going before it gets dark, or you're really gonna get scared."
It only took about 10 minutes to hike down into the back yard where the trail went down into the hollow.

The story went that there was a couple that had moved into the hollow when the Pioneers had settled the area. The man had been some kind of banker back east, and figured he could make it as a farmer. The wife had been some young debutante, and decided she loved him enough to follow him anywhere. Finally after two years of backbreaking labor, the man had snapped, chased his terrified wife around with an ax, finally killing her, chopping her up and burying her in back of the house. He had put up a large stone cross on her grave. The woman's name had been Kay, and it was called KaysCross. Apparently afterward, he wandered the hollow until his neighbors found him on his plough horse, mumbling and covering in dirt and blood, the ax still covered in blood hanging from his hands. The hollow had been called creek hollow, for the creek that ran through it, but after the incident, it was changed to Kayscreek.
The husband claimed some wild animal had come and attacked his wife, mutilating her beyond recognition, and he had chased it off with the ax. No one seemed to believe him, although that became the official story.
When Sharon's family had moved into the neighborhood, the stories abounded, until the parents had all gotten together and banned the hollow from play for all the children. There was no sense feeding the frenzy, they had figured. Now they were heading down there, flashlights in hand just in case, and Sharon was excited. She'd never had the chance to make it down, her spouting of the rules having just been an excuse. They wouldn't have prevented her from going had she really wanted to see - she was so excited she was almost hyper.
"We got to about here last night," Mark said, his voice hushed. Jason was standing so close they might have been joined at the hip, and Sharon found it all too funny.
Kathy took a shaky breath. "Okay, lets go."
The day was still bright and sunny, although the hollow tended to be shady because of all the trees. It didn't look in the least threatening or scary, to Sharon, but Mark and Jason were still crowding each other.
The path was worn and old and mostly grown over, but you could tell it had been an old wagon road, and Sharon found herself wondering about the young couple that had ventured to live here. There was no where to farm, so he must have worked somewhere up where the houses were, and she pondered how he had gone up and down this road every day.
Suddenly Kathy reach over and grabbed Sharon's arm. "Are you cold?"
Sharon looked at her strangely. "No, not real.." Then she realized she was - very cold. The sun wasn't as strong, and things seemed as if in twilight. She wished she'd brought her jacket now. She realized Mark and Jason had been prepared, each of them with a good sweatshirt on, hoods over their heads.
"Well, we're almost there," she finished lamely. "Then we can go back an have hot chocolate."
"Sounds good," Kathy said faintly.
They started walking a little slower and Sharon took a deep breath. It seemed like all the animals had went to sleep - there was no sound except the crunch of their feet on the leaves. It was as if they had been transported back in time, and they half expected to see a wagon come down the road toward them.
"Did you get this far last night?" Kathy asked her brother, and he glanced at Jason, who shook his head, his eyes even larger than before, making him look almost like an owl.
"No," he squeaked. "Not even."
"There, ya see!" Sharon said, feeling relieved, while at the same time a little disappointed. "nothing to worry about. You guys were a little too over active in your imaginations -"
Suddenly there was a blood curling scream from up a head, and the birds that had been silent now all took flight as Mark and Jason both screamed and bolted back the way they'd come.
"Mark!" Kathy cried, turning to try and grab him, and Sharon tried to catch Jason, but both of them were gone before the girls could reach them.
"Great!" Sharon muttered, folding her arms tightly against her chest. "What do you think made that sound?"
Kathy shook her head, her eyes showing fear and her face white. "I - I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to know," she whispered, her breath actually creating puffs in the air. Sharon couldn't believe how cold it had gotten. And the clouds - they hadn't been there before! It had been a perfectly clear day!
"Can we go back now? Mark and Jason are long gone!"
Sharon sighed and looked ahead. "Do you really want to know what is going on, or do you want to cave?"
Kathy groaned, and looked back at where her brother had gone. "I hate when you say that!"
Sharon shrugged, a half smile on her face. "You know you want to go on."
Kathy sighed and folded her arms around herself tightly as Sharon. "Fine. Let's hurry so we can get out of here. I don't care if it was just a cat or something, I don't like it."
Sharon nodded as they started down the path again. "I don't either."
They had gone a total of 5 or 6 yards when there was another scream, this one definitely sounding human. The girls gasped and grabbed each other, holding tight to each other's arms.
"It's just a cougar or something," Sharon whispered, her voice tight. It was the only animal she could remember sounded like a human when it screamed.
"G-great! A - a cougar!" Kathy's voice was full of sarcasm, but the effect was lost in her terror and teeth chattering.
"We're almost there!" Sharon was trying to convince herself as well as comfort her friend. It wasn't working.
"Remind me again why w-we're here?" Kathy's voice came to her, her hands cold and tight around Sharon's arm.
"We were trying to h-help M-Mark, you're b-brother, r-remember?"
Suddenly there was a shadow on the path ahead of them, looking as if it was moving faster than the clouds. Both girls stopped in their tracks, staring as the shadow passed through the trees and came into view. It was a woman! They were so relieved.
"Oh! Are we glad to see you! There's somekind of wild animal - " Sharon's voice stopped as they realized the woman was not touching the ground.
It looked as if she was trailing blood behind her, her clothing was that of the pioneer style, and a bonnet was hanging from her head. Her white skin was gray white, and her eyes were dark orbs that pierced at them.
She opened her bloodless lips and they heard the same scream they'd heard before.
Sharon thought she was going to wet her pants, she'd never been so terrified in her life. She glanced behind her to see if they could get away before the woman was right in front of them, realizing both of them were frozen to the spot.
"Run!" The ghostly figure screamed at them. "Or he'll get you too! He's mad, mad I tell you!"
Sharon had no voice, she could barely breath.
"Who is?" she whispered, doubting the ghost would hear them.
"My husband!" She wailed, and promptly went past them, shedding more cold in her wake.
The two girls sank to the ground, Kathy now crying, sobbing almost hysterically as they watched the ghost fade from view. "I want m-my dad!" she wailed, her voice cracking.
"I do too!" Sharon managed to get out, feeling frozen, unable to decide what to do. "B-but your brother didn't s-say anything about the h-husband, did h-he?"
Kathy shook her head violently, almost as if in hope. "N-no, he didn't!" She lurched to her feet as the sound of a horse galloping reached their ears.
"Oh no!" Sharon screamed as they turned to see a ghostly horse with a large man on top bearing down on them.
"Kay!" He yelled, the tone full of psychotic anger. "Kay, come back here, I've got something for you!"
The girls watched as the man raised his hand, and the sudden lightning flashed on the silver of the ax head.
"Kathy!" Sharon screamed, throwing her arms over her head, knowing that ax was heading right at her head.
"Sharon! Run!" Kathy grabbed her friend, suddenly galvanized into action. She hauled Sharon to her feet, and the two of them stumbled to the side of the path, out of the way of the galloping horse.
The man kept yelling as he went past, and the cold was almost more than they could bear.
"Kay! Kay, wait for me!"
The two girls huddled in the shadows, feeling the cold rain as it started down, and watching the flash of lightning as it crashed around them, wondering if they were ever be warm again.

Mark and Jason reached the back porch of the house, laughing hysterically.
"Can you believe they fell for it?" Mark chuckled, collapsing into a lawn chair. "I will remember the looks on their faces forever."
Jason joined in the laughter as he settled down onto a chair next to his friend. "That was great! They never suspected! How did you get the scream out so real?"
Mark grinned, pulling out a little box with a red button he proceeded to push. It emitted a loud earsplitting scream that sent shivers down their spine.
Both boys laughed until they fell off the chair, and then slowly climbed back on.
"I wonder how long it will take them to get back up here?" Jason said with a sigh.
Mark shrugged. "Probably not long, and man are they going to be telling me a story. Let's go get some hot chocolate!"
"Right on!" Jason jumped up to join him and just then a ghostly figure floated up over the ravine from the hollow to their yard, and it emitted a loud spine tingling scream.
"Oh man!" Mark screamed, falling back on Jason as they tried to escape the figure that came right at them.
"Run!" she said, her voice high and wailing. "Run before he gets you!"

Mark and Jason managed to untangle and get into the house before another breath, and stood with their backs against the door, chests heaving. They looked at each other, terror in their eyes.
"What about Sharon and Kathy?" Mark gasped, realizing what was going on.
Jason shook his head mutely, and then dashed upstairs before saying another word.
"Mom! Mom! Kathy is down in the hollow!!"


spazmom
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