The Accursed Cemetery

         T.C. asked Ms. Antony if Justin was going on the trip. The third grade teacher looked around and shrugged. “He doesn’t know that we are leaving early. I was hoping that he would make it on time, that everyone would be able to come.” Her lips curled into a slight smile. Justin had had to leave school earlier in the day due to stomach problems.

         With the third grade class loaded on the bus for the field trip, Ms. Antony gave one last look to see if anyone was missing (besides Justin). With a sigh, she boarded the bus and let the driver know it was time to head out.

         The class sang songs along the way to the cemetery. It was Halloween you know. What better place to tell ghost stories. The students wanted to tell stories along the way, but their teacher would not let them. It would diminish the excitement at the graveyard, around the campfire.

         The trip was relatively short and soon the bus entered the gates of the cemetery. The children at the back of the bus watched as the gates slowly closed behind them.

         The bus came to a halt in front of a mausoleum. It was old and gray with dark vines growing along the sides and in and out of large cracks in the cement structure. Gargoyles with large wings and hideously grotesque faces stooped over the two front corners of the crypt. Theirs claws were formed into the stone roof making the gargoyles appear as if ready to pounce any who would approach. Many of the students steered well clear of the building.

         As the kids made their way off the bus, a dense fog began to roll into the cemetery. The temperature began to drop as darkness spread across the entire area. Ms Antony made a good size fire pit, and soon after, a crackling fire blazed. The heat stopped most of the shivering of the students, however, not all shivering was from the cold. A few kids looked back at the mausoleum behind them. The flickering flames cast shadows upon the crypt and gargoyles giving off the impression that the creatures were alive and moving.

         Ms. Antony stood and looked at her students. As if they were back in class again, the children stopped talking and moving around and directed their attention directly on her.
“We are going to tell a story.” She began in moderately loud voice. “I will start, and each of you will add to the story as we go around the fire. When it comes back to me, I will finish it.”

         Ms. Antony sat back down. Her demeanor changed. She looked very serious as she looked around at each of her students. Her voice lowered to just above a whisper.

         In the quiet moment before the story began, an owl could be heard hooting in the trees behind the class. All the kids jumped and a few screamed. The slight breeze rustled the leaves on the ground just outside the rim of light from the fire. It also whistled as it blew across the cracks in the walls of the crypt. It was a perfect setting for a spooky story.

         Ms. Antony began very softly. The students had to lean in to hear what she was saying. Sidney and Kelsey were hugging each other, whether to keep warm or for protection, only they knew. “It was thirty years ago to the day. On a night just like this one, a class similar to ours here came to this very spot to tell ghost stories. The fire was located right here, but something happened that night.” Ms. Antony looked over to Tommy. “ Tommy, it’s your turn to add to the story.”

         After thinking for a moment, Tommy added his portion to the story. “Before they could begin telling stories, the students heard a strange noise. A thump and scraping sound echoed from behind the crypt.”

         A few heads turned from this class, half expecting to hear the same noise right at that moment. Tommy looked to Kelsea.

         Kelsea took over, and Ms. Antony could tell that their story was taking on its own momentum. “An old man came out from behind the building. The whole class was scared. As he entered the rim of light from the campfire, the children could finally see what was making the strange noises.”

         Kelsea looked to Sidney. Sidney paused for a few seconds. Then she smiled, as she knew what she was going to add. “The old man was the caretaker of the cemetery grounds. In one hand, a pickaxe was being drug behind him along the cement path. That was the scraping sound. The thumping came from a shovel that the man was using as a walking stick.”

         Paige’s turn came next. She looked around before beginning and saw that all her classmates’ eyes were focused directly on her. “The old man spoke in a ragged, raspy voice. ‘What’re ya doing ‘ere? He asked. ‘Don’ ya know its no’ safe to be ‘ere ‘specially tonigh’. Strange creatures’ll be out. You’re not safe. Ya should leave now!’ With that, he glared at the kids for a moment, and then hobbled away. The students listened as the thumping and scraping faded away, swallowed up by the dark and fog.”

         Paige turned to Daniel. He was looking straight into the fire. He jumped when Michael sitting next to him nudged him. Daniel had not realized that it was his turn.

         Ms. Antony thought that the story might slip here because Daniel took so long to get going; however the tale continued Just as before.
“The whole class was very scared now, much as we are now.” Daniel started, looking around as his classmates. He could see the fear in their eyes. “They wanted very much to leave the cemetery and return to the safety of their homes. Their teacher, whom was also very afraid of the old man, put out their fire. She gathered all the kids near her. They had not ridden in a bus since the school was nearby. They walked. Luckily the teacher had a flashlight with her. She had all the kids hold hands, and she led them toward the gates of the cemetery.”

         Daniel stopped at that moment and shivered visibly. He had obviously scared himself with his portion of the story. He looked over at Michael who smiled at knowing what he was going to add would surely scare his class, never mind the one in the story.

         “The class had to walk for almost a quarter of a mile just to reach the gates of the cemetery. As soon as the teacher’s flashlight shown on the gates, a terrible scene began to take place. The gates started to close very slowly. The class, including the teacher, was very worried. It did not look as if they were going to make it out in time before the gates shut. The teacher hurried the class as fast as they could go while still holding hands. She felt that if they were to run, some of the students would be separated from the rest of the group.

         “As they neared the gates though, it was apparent that they would be shut before they got there. The teacher stopped just as the gates closed. The click from the locking mechanism seemed extremely loud in the acute darkness. The teacher gave an effort to try and open the gates, with no luck. There is no luck on a night like this, and with such luck, the flashlight went out.” Michael took a deep breath when he finished. He was pleased with his part of the story.

         Now, it was Kyle’s turn. “The teacher hoped that there was another gate that the class could escape through. She brought the class together in a big bunch and talked to them very softly. She thought that talking loudly might wake the dead.” Michael laughed loudly at Kyle’s last sentence. Kyle was unable to finish his part of the story. Meghan screamed and jumped up. She ran to Ms. Antony and pointed to the side of the crypt. The whole class looked to where she was pointing and fell silent.

         A white bony hand slid around the front edge of the mausoleum. It was glowing very bright white. All the other kids hopped up and moved around the fire to stand behind Ms. Antony. A rattling noise could be heard from that area also. Slowly the noise began to grow louder and louder. The bones of the hand began to extend. Everyone stood frozen to his or her spots. Some even seemed to be holding their breath. Soon an arm was showing, then a shoulder. Next, the torso rounded the corner. The skull popped out quickly and everyone screamed. The skeleton was in full view now and began walking toward the fire’s light. The rattling of the bones was growing steadily louder as the living dead approached.

         T.C. was the first to notice that there was something strange going on. Then Megan M. noticed too. As the skeleton came closer to the light, they could both see an outline of a person in black. The skeleton was a costume. The glowing was from the light of their own fire. T.C. and Megan yelled this out together pointing. They still didn’t know who was behind the costume, so everyone remained in their place.

         One of the bony hands reached up and the fingers curled around some fabric above the skull. The skeleton bent over and pulled off the mask. When it righted itself, the head of Mrs. Schafer was in full view. The scene was pretty funny when you think about it now. Mrs. Schafer’s head with body of skeleton, but at the time none of the kids was laughing.

         Mrs. Schafer smiled. Her speech was broken by bouts of coughed sniggers. “You should’ve seen the looks on all your faces.” She started to laugh again. “I wish I had a video camera to capture the whole scene.”

         Ms. Antony smiled now. “You could not have come at a better time. Our story was starting to get really tense. It was the perfect moment to pop out.”

         Rachael looked at Ms. Antony. Her face showed more than a hint of anger in it. “You knew about this!” She exclaimed. “How could you do that to us?” The rest of the class nodded their agreement.

         “A little bit of adrenaline never hurt anyone.” Answered Ms. Antony. “It is good to get the blood pumping from a good scare once in a while.

         “Now if everyone has calmed down a bit. We should return to our places so that we can continue our story. I thought it was going along well.” She looked over to Mrs. Schafer and added. “Shall we catch you up from the beginning?”

         “I could hear everything from the side of the building.” Mrs. Schafer said. “Everything except when you started. You talked very softly. I gathered what you had said by what all have added to it.”

         The class returned to where they had been sitting. They were still visibly shaken by the scare that their teachers had planned for them. Ms. Antony promised them that neither herself nor Mrs. Schafer would scare them again. She did add however, “Who knows what the spirits might do?” She smiled at the class. Mrs. Schafer sniggered a little. None of the others around the fire so much as cracked a smile.

         The teacher sat down and looked over to Kyle. “Are you ready to continue or were you done?”

         Kyle replied. “I still have a little more. If there are no more interruptions.” He said the last looking over at Mrs. Schafer.

         “I have already promised that there are no more ‘creepies’ out there from us.” She smiled even more broadly as she noticed a few shivers from the students.

         Kyle decided that he would repeat a little of what he had added to the story to get them back on track. “The teacher hoped that there was another gate that the class could escape through. She brought the class together in a big bunch and talked to them very softly. She thought that talking loudly might wake the dead.” No one laughed this time. “The teacher said. “We must stay together. I don’t know what is going on. I know we are all scared. This is what I want us to do.” She told the class that they were to all hold hands very tightly. They were going to walk in a line. Each student would need to know who was holding his or her hand on either side of him or her. She called out the names of each student that was there. She was glad everyone answered. The class started off heading along the wall. The students were holding tightly to each others’ hands.”

         Kyle had finished his part. Now it was Mikayla’s turn. “They had been walking only for a short time when there was a scream from a little girl from the back of the line.” The teacher stopped the line. Some of the students ran into each other because they did not see that the person in front of them had stopped. They were all looking back in the direction of the scream. “Steven is gone!” a girl yelled from the back. “I had his glove held real tight. Something yanked him right out of it. I still have the glove.” The teacher told the child next to her, Jessica, to stay put. She went to the back of the line counting heads as she went. Some kids screamed at her touch. They did not know she was there. “14” She counted. There was definitely one missing. Another scream! From the other end this time. “What is going on?” wondered the teacher. She was starting to panic now. In the distance a thumping and scraping could be heard again. A faint light was seen far off in -.”

         WHAAMMMM! Mikayla had her part cut short. The door to the crypt slammed open. The entire class screamed, including both the teachers. The students looked at the crypt then at Ms. Antony.

         “Don’t look at me she.” She stated as the students looked angrier now. She looked to Mrs. Schafer who shook her head at the unasked question. The teachers had nothing to do with the scare this time. She added as an afterthought, “Everyone hold hands and stay near the fire.” Everyone did as they were told. No one was going anywhere.

         Megan C. saw it first and pointed toward the door. Ms. Antony stood up to get a better look. All heads were fixed on the door. A greenish colored smoked wisped its way out of the crypt. It spread across the ground in a slow roll. It seemed almost alive as it moved slowly along. It didn’t spread out in an even manner. The low cloud headed directly for the campfire and the awaiting class of third graders.
As the cloud rolled along, it started to pick up speed. The closer to the fire it came, the faster it seemed to go.

         Before anyone could react to it, the fog engulfed the first of the group around the fire. Megan, Megan, Meghan, Mikayla and Mandi slumped over as if asleep. As it spread around the fire T.C, Kyle, Michael and Daniel were the next to go down. Paige tried to get up and run, but after only three steps, she too went down. Sidney, Tommy, Kelsea and Rachael were the last of students to go down. MS. Antony watched in horror as her fellow teacher slumped into an immediate slumber. Ms. Antony decided to try and run for it. She felt that that would be the only way she could save her friend and her students. She got a little farther than Paige when the low fog gathered around her ankles. She seemed to be it dragging along. The cloud was holding onto her. She tripped, and the fog rolled over her. As unconsciousness swept over her, her mind drifting away, a thought came to her. She thought that she could hear something. It sounded as though it were a thumping and scraping sound. Ms. Antony then passed on into a deep sleep. The fog engulfed the bus. The driver fell asleep in her seat.


         Justin awoke with a start. He had had a terrible nightmare, but could not remember what had happened. He was sweating profusely, and his pulse was racing. He got up to get a drink of water from the bathroom. Noticing the clock on the wall, Justin saw that he was mere minutes from the time his mom would wake him up. He decided to go downstairs and watch a little TV.

         Justin’s mom found him downstairs. She made him get ready for school. He then remembered that his class went on the field trip the night before. He had had to leave school early the day before due to a stomach ache. Justin and his mom tried to get some medicine for his stomach and return in time to catch the bus for the trip, but he was too late. The class had left earlier than expected. His mom decided that it was better that he didn’t go anyway, in case his stomach hurt him again. Justin was upset at her decision.

         He didn’t know how lucky that decision was until he returned to school that morning.
After eating breakfast, Justin made his bed and got dressed. He was ready to walk out the door, when his mom told him that it was still a little early. Justin told her that he wanted to be at the school early to talk to his friends and see how the field trip went. She ended up letting him go. It was only two blocks to the school.

         Before he even entered the parking lot, Justin knew that something was wrong. Several police cars were parked in the lot and many people in suits were walking around. Justin wondered what was happening, but continued on his way to the school door he would enter when it was time. He waited for only a minute or two when a man in a suit approached him.

         “What are you doing here?” The man asked in a deep voice.

         Justin thought this a very odd question, since he was a little kid and this was a school. All the same, he stated the obvious. “I am waiting for school to start. This is my classroom, here.” He pointed to the room directly in front of the two of them.

         The man looked down at Justin. At least, Justin thought he was looking at him, since the dark sunglasses, prevented Justin from seeing his eyes. “Don’t you know the school is closed for today?”

         Justin shook his head in confusion. “I don’t understand –.”

         The man cut him off. “There has been an accident. School is closed.” The man paused for a moment. “Do you need someone to call your parents?”

         Justin replied without really thinking about it. “No, I walk to school.” Then he looked up to the man. So many questions were going through his mind, but he only asked one. “Who are you?”

         The man smiled now at the boy in front of him. “You’re a smart boy, aren’t you?” He said. “It is good that you asked that question before leaving. Without knowing for sure that what you are hearing is true. My name is Special Agent Thomas, FBI.”

         Justin looked surprised. “FBI.” He said.

         The agent took this to be a question. “Yes, FBI. Now if you would please return to your home. We would appreciate it. You will get a call when you can return to the school.”

         All Justin could say was ok. He walked off without looking at anything but the ground. He was almost to the crosswalk when he finally heard the voices coming from behind him. Justin turned toward the commotion. He still had many questions going through his brain. So many, in fact, that he didn’t recognize that Mr. Selle, the Principal, was running toward him yelling his name. It took a few seconds for Justin to realize what Mr. Selle wanted.

         “Justin Ripley.” Mr. Selle was yelling.

         “Hello, Mr. Selle.” Justin answered with a wave.

         “Hold on Justin. Don’t leave just yet.” The principal caught Justin’s shoulder and steered him toward the school. As they walked, He asked Justin a couple of questions. “You are in Ms. Antony’s class, right?”

         Justin nodded. “Yes.” He wanted to ask a question of his own, but Mr. Selle cut him off.

         “Weren’t you in school yesterday?” When Justin nodded, he continued. “Did you go on the field trip last night?”

         “No.” Justin replied. “I went home right after lunch. My stomach was hurting me. I tried to get back in time, but my mom and I were too late. We were told that the bus left early.” Justin looked up to Mr. Selle. He was shaking his head in frustration. “Mr. Selle, What is going on?”

         The principal slowed his walk. Justin had to stop a wait for him at one point. Mr. Selle was debating whether to tell Justin or not. After a long moment, Mr. Selle decided to tell the boy. “Your class did not come home last night after the field trip.”

         Justin looked at him as if waiting for the punch line to the joke. When none came, Justin felt his heart and stomach drop. He felt like he was going to be sick.

         Mr. Selle did not take notice. He continued on. “Everything that they brought to school yesterday for the trip was still around a smoldering campfire this morning. No one was found. A crime scene has been set up at the cemetery, but no clues have been found.”

         Justin had never felt such a loss before. His stomach hurt him more now then it ever could’ve the day before. “They just disappeared?” He asked.

         Mr. Selle nodded. Two men in suits followed the principal and Justin into the school’s main entrance. They proceeded to Mr. Selle’s office. Justin sat down in the chair offered him in front of the principal’s desk. Mr. Selle sat in his own chair. The two men in suits remained standing.

         “Justin,” Mr. Selle started. “These men are going to ask you some questions. Please answer them as best you can.”

         Justin nodded his agreement, and the questioning began. First one, then another of the men bombarded Justin with questions about the previous day. Justin answered all of them the best he could. Some he did not know the answers to. He told them so. Justin started to feel that he was answering the same questions over and over. He felt that the men were trying to catch him in a lie, but Justin never lied.

         After what seemed days, Justin was allowed to leave the office. Mr. Selle told him to go get some lunch from the cafeteria. He told Justin that he would call down there to let them know Justin was coming. They would give him a free lunch.

         Justin entered the cafeteria. He didn’t know how hungry he was until that moment. He could’ve eaten a cow. He never made it far enough to drink some milk. It started as a faint glow, and then proceeded to solidify in front of his eyes. His classmates stood in front of him. They appeared not to see him though. They were dirty and green covered. Their hands were raised as if searching for something. Justin thought that they looked like they were mimes performing the ‘stuck behind a glass wall routine’.

         Justin did not have time to react. The scene disappeared from his sight almost as quickly as it had come. He did not know if he should tell anybody. He didn’t know if he believed it himself.

         No longer hungry, Justin left the cafeteria. As He made his way back toward the office, another apparition appeared in front of him in the hall. This one frightened him. Mrs. Schafer was standing in front of him now. At least, Justin thought it was Mrs. Schafer. It was Mrs. Schafer’s head, but the body was that of a skeleton.

         Once again, Justin had no time to react. Mrs. Bass, Justin’s second grade teacher, came around the corner and screamed. Justin turned to look at her and she fainted straight away. Justin looked back. The apparition vanished. The FBI agents from Mr. Selle’s office came around the corner to see Justin standing near Mrs. Bass. Mrs. Bass recovered almost immediately. She told the men what she saw. Justin told them that that was what he had seen too.

         The men took Justin back to the principal’s office. Justin told everyone present about the two ghostly scenes he had witnessed. He did not think that the adults believed him.

         “I think,” Justin blurted out in a moment of silence, “that someone or something was trying to let us, no me, it let me know that they are still alive and are in need of help.” The men disregarded Justin’s statement as childhood fantasy. Justin was positive that the visions were meant for him.

         When the men were done with the inquisition, they let Justin go home. He ran all the way. He opened the door and found that his dad was already awake. He was glad of this. Justin’s dad normally worked graveyard shift and slept throughout the day. Today, however, was the start of his father’s weekend. Justin thought that it was perfect.

         Justin told his parents what had happened at school that day. Both were upset that the school had not called or informed them of what had happened. Justin told them how Mr. Selle thought that he was also lost, and that may have accounted for him not to call.

         Justin pleaded his case with his parents. He told them of the visions he saw and that Mrs. Bass had seen the one in the hall also. His parents found it hard to believe at any rate, but they knew that Justin did not lie. He was, however, prone to jump to conclusions.

         Justin asked his parents to go to the cemetery and look for his classmates. His mom made a firm no of it. Justin’s dad was a little more lenient in this type of area. When his mother had returned to her business, he pulled Justin aside and told him that they would go after his mom and sister went to bed that night.
“Do not say anything to either of them.” His father demanded of Justin. “We will both be in trouble.”

         Later that evening, Justin heard his mom go to bed. He got up and went downstairs. His dad was watching some sports on TV. Justin’s dad held a finger over his mouth to keep Justin quiet. After a little while Justin and his father snuck out of the house.

         They made their way to the graveyard. The gates to the cemetery were locked, as expected since this was a crime scene. Justin begged his dad to continue, he had to find out what happened to his classmates. His dad gave in and they searched for another way into the cemetery.
Each of them had a flashlight. They started to walk along the perimeter, and after only a short while, the pair came upon a tree next to the wall of the cemetery. Justin’s dad believed that the two of them would be able to climb the tree and jump to the other side. The only problem, how would they get out again? Neither of them thought of this until it was too late. Justin’s dad helped Justin into the tree, and then he climbed into it. Next, Justin’s dad dropped down off a limb that hung over the wall of the cemetery. Justin jumped off the branch into his father’s waiting arms. This was something they had practice since Justin was very little.

         “How are we going to get back?” Justin’s dad asked. He was looking around and back up at the wall. It was a good ten feet tall, with no place to grab hold and climb. “I hope we can find something to use to get out of here.” He said pointing to the wall. Justin could only shrug his shoulders.

         The night was cool and dark. The clouds covered all the stars, but were extremely high. The cemetery was clear enough that the flashlights revealed a peaceful cemetery. It probably would’ve seemed even soothing, if not for the fact that Justin and his dad were there at night and looking for clues for Justin’s class that went missing the night before.

         Justin and his dad walked toward a glow in the direction of the middle of the cemetery. As they approached, the scene opened up before them. The glow that the two were following was lights that were set up around the scene of the disappearance. No one was there at that time, which was what they wanted since the two were now trespassing and possibly upsetting a crime scene.

         The pair remained outside the roped off area. They could see where the police had marked certain spots in the ground, for what purpose, Justin and His father could only guess. Justin could see that the scene was littered with things from his classmates. A blanket that Paige had brought to class the day before was lying on the ground exactly where she had placed it. Backpacks, wrappers and snack bags were lying about the fire pit, the fire long since had stopped smoking. To Justin, it appeared as if his class had disappeared from the very spot in which they sat.

         The bus had remained in its spot not far from the scene. Justin and his dad went check it out. “Do you see the footprints?” His dad asked. “They are in one direction only, toward the circle of the fire.”

         The two walked back over to the fire pit. They found flag marks for footprints that led away from the fire. The flags stopped not too far away, and Justin could make out a disturbance in the leaves that indicated a spot where someone had fallen. Another set of flags was set from the crypt corner to the fir pit. These were also in one direction only, toward the fire. Justin’s dad pointed out how there were no footprints leading away from the fire. This settled it in Justin’s mind. His class had disappeared. His dad could find no argument to prove him wrong, even though he didn’t believe it himself.

         Justin’s dad pointed over to one of the light stands around the border of the crime scene. Justin looked to where his father pointed and noticed a ladder was leaning against it. Justin smiled and relaxed a little as he realized that they had a way to get out of the graveyard.
At that moment, a noise echoed from behind the mausoleum. Justin ran to his father’s arms. His dad held him tight. The sound came again. It was a loud thump with a softer scraping sound. Then again it sounded. It was neither louder nor softer than the last one.

         “Who’s there?” Justin’s dad called. But there was no answer. The sound came again.
Justin took his fathers hand and looked pleadingly into his eyes. He wanted to leave for home right then. His dad just looked at him and smiled. Justin knew what that look meant. They were going to find out what the noise was.

         Slowly, very slowly, the two made their way toward the side of the crypt. Justin’s dad pointed to the gargoyles on the roof. “Do you what those are for?” He asked of Justin. Justin shook his head, afraid of speaking. “It was said, in medieval times, that gargoyles protected buildings from evil spirits. The gargoyles on this crypt were probably put here to protect the spirits within from evil.” He looked at his son. “But that is only myth.”

         Justin looked up at the gargoyles. He didn’t think they looked too scary. He was also looking at them with the bright lights blaring just yards away.

         They continued their trek along the side of the crypt. The sounds were getting louder. Also, soft mumbling could be heard. No discernable words could be made out, but there was someone definitely zomeone speaking behind the building.

         His dad placed his hand over Justin’s chest, silently telling him to stay where he was. They were at the rear corner of the crypt now. Justin watched as his dad stepped out to see behind the crypt. He watched his father’s eyes as they searched the area. He squinted trying to see in the darkness behind the crypt. Finally, he turned his flashlight on. Not even a second later, Justin’s dad jumped backward three feet. Justin jumped too, just because he rarely saw his father startled. After a moment, his dad motioned for Justin to come over and see what was there. Justin was afraid, but He knew that his father would not put him in harm’s way.

         Justin peeked around the corner. He saw a cloaked figure with a hood concealing his face. A pickaxe swung above his head to the ground making a thumping noise. Then, he dragged the pick along making the scraping noise. The scraping noise at this distance sent shivers up Justin’s spine. The sound was similar to someone dragging his or her fingernails across a chalkboard. A shovel lay closely behind him at his feet.

         Justin looked to his father and pointed to the feet of the person. Justin’s dad nodded. He had noticed that the pickaxe made no score in the ground. As the pickaxe came down again, Justin could see that about half protruded from the ground, yet the ground appeared not to have yielded to it. When the pick arose, the ground was just as solid as before.

         The cloaked figure did not falter as Justin’s father shown his light upon him. Justin could just barely hear the words the person was saying. It sounded as if it were a man.

         “I tol’ ‘em I did.” He said over and over again. Every once in a while he would add, “If’n they’d a jus’ lef’ the keys…” His mumbling trailed off from here, and then he would start over again.

         Justin moved back to stand next to his dad. His dad cleared his throat as if to get the attention of the cloaked man. The man seemed not to have heard him. He tried again, much louder this time. Still, no response.

         He looked down to Justin and shrugged. He looked back to the man and spoke, rather loudly. “Excuse me.”

         The man’s head turned toward the pair. The rest of his body remained in the same position, axe repeating its plummet to the unspoiled earth. The light from the flashlight would not penetrate the cowl of the man’s hood. Neither of them could see his face.

         The man spoke in the same flat tone as before. “I tol’ ‘em I did.” He said again. “No place fo’ young folk. If’n I jus’ had the keys…” But he stopped there. He turned back to his fruitless task.

         “What young folk?” Justin’s dad asked. “What are the keys for?”

         The hood turned back to the pair once again. “Keys to the fron’ gates, o’ course.” Replied the man. “I coulda let them folk out so long ago if’n I had them keys.”

         Before the head turned to its task again, Justin’s dad spoke again. “Do you know anything about the children from last night?”

         The cowl slowly nodded. “Tried to help ‘em, I did. Too, late. The two littlins’ got to ‘em firs’.”

         “Did you call the pol-?” Justin’s dad could not finish, before the man broke in again.
“Littlins’ put ‘em in a safe place.” He said. “Grotesque’s guardin’ ‘em now.”

         The man returned to his task again. This time he said something different. “Tol’ ‘em I did. Strange creatures abou’ on Halloween. Stories come true. Steven an’ Jessica saved ‘em this time.”

         Justin and his dad looked at each other. Neither knew exactly what to say. When they turned back, the man was gone. The pair looked in all directions. Justin’s dad even went to look around the other side of the building. Justin was right on his heels. They didn’t expect to find him. Sure enough, the man had disappeared completely. No tools were about, but Justin could still hear a faint sound. A thumping and scraping noise. He had his father stop for a second so that he could listen. There it was again. A sound similar to the man’s only much fainter was coming from behind the building.

         As the two approached the area where the man was digging, the ground broke free and a glowing hand reached up. It grabbed at Justin as he walked past it. Justin screamed and kicked at it while trying to move away. Justin’s dad pulled him away from the hand. The two looked at it for only a moment when it slid back underground.

         Justin didn’t want to go near the hole in the ground. His dad got up and went over to shine a light in it. A faint voice could be heard coming up from the hole. Justin thought that he recognized it.

         He stood and went over to the hole. He looked in. He was sure he knew that voice. It was his teacher’s, Ms. Antony. As Justin looked down his eyes were able to focus somewhat. The hole was coated with a light green light.

         “Ms. Antony!” Justin yelled down the hole. “It’s me, Justin Ripley.”
He could hear a faint reply as he placed his ear to the hole. “Justin, is there anyone with you?”

         He turned back to the hole. “My dad is with me.” He replied.

         “There is a staircase and door down here, but it is locked.” Ms. Antony returned.

         Justin repeated what was told to him to his father. Justin’s dad yelled down the hole. “Can you point me in the direction of the door?”

         Justin and his dad leaned back as the hand thrust through the hole again. Justin could see the glowing green that covered his teacher’s hand. It was the same stuff that was down in the hole. She reached out and pointed. The direction she pointed was toward the building behind them, the mausoleum.

         She pulled her hand back into the opening. Justin’s dad yelled back down it for them to hold tight. He asked if everyone was ok. Ms. Antony yelled back that they were hungry and dirty, but otherwise all right.

         His dad yelled for them to hold tight. He and Justin would see to their rescue. Justin’s dad went to use his cell phone to call for the police and rescue squads, but his cell was out of its service area. He could get no signal to call out. It seemed odd, since they were not very far from the city.

         Signal or not, the two decided to try and get the people to safety.

         They headed for the door to the Mausoleum. As they rounded the front corner, a thought dawned on Justin’s father.

         “The gargoyles.” He said excitedly, looking to Justin. Justin didn’t understand.
His dad pointed to the roof. “Gargoyles are also called grotesques.” Still Justin just shrugged his confusion. “The man said that the grotesques were protecting them. The must have been put in the crypt to save them. From what? I do not know.” He added frowning.

         The door was locked. The lock that was on the door so old and rusted, Justin’s dad wondered if it had been opened in fifty years. The two were starting to wonder how the class had been set inside. They looked around for something to break the lock with. Other than taking apart the lights at the crime scene, they could only find a large rock to try and force the lock.

         It took several swings and a couple of bloody knuckles before the lock finally gave way. It fell with a clunk to the stone steps.

         Justin’s dad pulled Justin behind him a proceeded to open the door. It took some effort to get it started, but at the slightest movement, it swung open with only a slight creak. The father and son shined their flashlights into the crypt. Only a stone tomb could be seen in the center of the room. There were no other doors than the one they were standing in. An inch of dust lay on the floor. It seemed to have not been disturbed in several decades.

         The two wondered if they were in the right place. His dad told Justin to wait in the light while he went to the crevice to talk to Ms. Antony, but Justin did not want to be alone for any amount of time. So, the pair went back to the hole in the ground. Justin’s dad yelled down and asked Ms. Antony to give him a best guess at the distance to the door that locked them in. She left for a few seconds and returned saying that she counted twenty-three paces from the hole to the door. He told her to hold tight again and that they were working on it. He did not tell her that he could not call anyone. There was no use in frightening the group anymore than they already were.

         His dad moved to the side of the building and counted twenty-three paces. This put him almost directly with the center of the crypt. “It has to be in there.” He said to Justin, and the two went back inside the crypt.

         After searching for what seemed like an hour, but was probably only twenty minutes, Justin’s dad looked toward the tomb. “I think we need to open it.” He said looking to Justin.
Justin shook his head. “I’m not touching it.” He exclaimed. “Not like I could move it anyway.” The top of the tomb was made of about three inch concrete. It had hand holes on both side and both ends, but the two knew that Justin was not strong enough to move such a load.

         “Maybe I can slide it a little.” His dad said looking to his son for confidence.

         “Yeah, right.” Justin replied.

         “Thanks.” Mr. Ripley returned with a wry smile. “Time to take apart a light. Won’t need the crime scene anymore now that we found them.”
Justin nodded and the two went outside the crypt and into the lighted area. Mr. Ripley removed the base and lamp from a portable light that was close by. He yanked the cord out. This left him with a pole that was fairly heavy and about five feet long. He tossed it lightly into the air. He nodded to Justin that it may just work and they went back inside the crypt.

         With one end under a hand hole and the other firmly in his grasp, Justin’s dad lifted the lid of the tomb. It took every ounce of effort to get the lid to move, but it slid slowly to the side. A dust cloud flew into the air as the seal broke. The smell was not very friendly to the father and son, but they were determined to get the class out.

         “You look first.” His dad said to Justin smiling. Justin shook his head and backed away. “I was only kidding.”

         Justin’s dad stepped up to the triangular hole that the moving of the lid had made. He shined the light into the tomb and screamed really loud. Justin ran so quickly out of the crypt that he made the dust fly. He could hear his father laughing when he stopped outside in the light. Justin came back in to the crypt with a sour look upon his face. His dad was trying hard not to start laughing again.

         “That was not funny.” Justin tried to be serious, but he was soon smiling also. His dad was known in the family for playing tricks and scaring everybody.

         “There’s nothing here.” His dad said, after about a minute. Justin hesitated. “No, really.”

         He shined the light into the bottom and Justin could see that it was truly empty.

         His dad used the pole and pushed the lid away farther. At the other end of the tomb was a knob sticking out slightly. Justin’s dad grabbed it and it turned easily. The bottom of the tomb moved down a little, then slid out of the way. A flashlight revealed a secret staircase leading down a little to a door. Justin remained out of the tomb (in case the bottom were to shut, he could open it). His father dropped into it and proceeded to the door. The door had only a sliding latch on it, which He slid free and opened the door.

         Justin could hear his classmates’ yells of delight at seeing his dad. He could see him usher the kids, teachers and bus driver up the short stairs to the tomb. Justin helped them out of the tomb and told them to go out to the lit area. All the captives were dirty and quite a few had the green glowing stuff on them. Justin’s dad was the last one out. He asked Ms. Antony if there was anyone else in there, but she informed him that they were all out.

         They all decided to leave the crypt and tomb open for inspection by the police. Justin’s dad thought that it would be difficult to explain the lack of footprints in the dusty room.

         Everyone gathered his or her things from the scene. The bus was quickly loaded. They were about to start off, when Justin and his dad remembered that the gates were locked. The adults decided that it would be safer to stay put near the lights and remain on the bus.

         The kids broke out any food items that were left in his or her bags. Some had to share with the others. Justin had brought some too, without his father’s knowing, and shared it with some of his classmates.

         Justin’s dad and Ms. Antony stepped off the bus and went near the fire pit. Justin knew what they were going to talk about, and thought it best not to let anyone know so as to not frighten them.

         “Can you tell me what happened?” Justin’s dad asked.

         Ms. Antony paused for a moment before speaking. She was looking at where the fire had been “We were telling a story… then the door opened. And this smoke came out, and we fell asleep. When we woke up, we were underground. We had no flashlights or food, but there was some natural phosphorescent light down there. We could see a little. I found a sharp rock and stared to dig.” She looked up at him now. “How long were we down there?”

         “A day.” Mr. Ripley replied.

         “That’s all?” She returned shaking her head. He could see tears well up in her eyes. “It felt like so much longer.”

         “I’m sorry.” He said. Then a thought came to him. “Did you say that the door opened?”

         She nodded and pointed to the mausoleum. “Slammed open and scared the heebee jeebees out of us all.”

         Now it was Justin’s dad who shook his head. He walked over and picked up the lock that he had broken off. “I broke this off with a rock.” He said to her. “This was rusted and seized. It hasn’t been opened in quite a long time.”

         Ms. Antony’s mouth opened slightly. She looked confused. Before she could say anything, Justin’s dad continued. “That’s not all. We, Justin and I, saw this old man with a pickaxe and shovel digging right above where your hand popped out of the ground. He told us that you were guarded by the gargoyles in the mausoleum.”
Ms. Antony started to mutter. “Thumping and scraping –“

         “Yeah. That’s what we heard too.” He interrupted her.

         She shook her head. “No, it was in the story that we were making up. One of the kids, I think it was Kelsea, who said that a man, the caretaker here had a shovel and pickaxe making a thumping and scraping noise.” She looked into his eyes now. “But it was just a made up story.”

         “He disappeared right before your hand came up.” Justin’s dad returned. “Gone without a trace. Right in front of us.”

         “But, he was in the story.” She pleaded with him. Ms. Antony was about to start telling the story that had been made up around the campfire, when she was suddenly interrupted.

         “I wouldn’ go telling tha’.” Came a voice from behind the two. They jumped and turned around. The old man was standing in front of them now. His pickaxe and shovel were nowhere to be seen. He was pointing directly at the pair when he spoke again. “No mo’ stories to be tol’ ‘ere. There be magic of the dead ‘ere.”

         Ms. Antony and Mr. Ripley looked at each other and back at the old man.

         The man continued on. “Magic ‘ere to make stories come alive.”

         He glowered at the two of them. “Be ‘ow I got ‘ere.” He was now looking at Ms. Antony specifically. “The littlins’ tried to stop the story afore monsters came out. Be why they hid you with them grotesques.”

         Ms. Antony looked to Mr. Ripley. He cocked his head toward the crypt. Then he shook his head as if to say ‘I’ll tell you later.’ Ms. Antony looked back at the man. “What monsters are you talking about?” She asked the strange man.
“Dunno.” He replied. “Ne’er got to tha’ poin’ o’ the story.” Ms. Antony was now thoroughly confused.

         “If’n I ‘ad ‘em keys, you’s all could leave this place.” He said to Ms. Antony purposely.

         Justin’s dad cut in. “You mean the keys for the gates?” The old man nodded and looked to Ms. Antony again.

         “What?” she asked. “I don’t have any keys for the gates.”

         Justin now spoke up from behind the group. All but the old man jumped and turned toward him. “I think he means that you need to add to the story that he has the keys to the gates and opened it for us to leave.”

         “That’s ridiculous!” Ms. Antony exclaimed. “It was just a story.”

         Justin replied, “A story told on Halloween, in a graveyard, with a man who only came to life because of a story that was made up. What could it hurt?” He smiled at his teacher.

         “All right.” She said. “But when it doesn’t work, we are going to get on that bus and ram the gates and get out of here.”

         She paused for a moment trying to remember how the story had transpired. Then she spoke. “The groundskeeper came to the rescue of the children and their teacher.” As she spoke the next words, her eyes widened as she watched the old man perform exactly as she said it. “He pulled the keys from his left front pocket and dangled them in front of the teacher.”

         She stopped the story then. “But how?” was all she could say.

         “Magic.” Was all the man said.

         Then he nodded for her to continue.

         She started again. “He was able to open the gates. The teacher and students were able to leave. They went to their homes never wanting to return to the cemetery again.”

         With that said, the old man smiled and headed toward the gates. He stopped by the bus and watched, as it was loaded and ready to leave.
As Ms. Antony boarded, the old man grabbed her by the arm and whispered softly to her. As she pulled away, the old man disappeared.

         The bus lurched forward and everyone clapped. The gates were open as they approached. They remained open after they had left.

         Justin’s dad leaned over to Ms. Antony. “What did he say to you?”

         “What if we are all part of someone else’s story?” She said sadly.

         “You never know.” Justin’s dad returned. “I just wonder how we are going to explain this when we get back.”

         Ms. Antony smiled then. ‘It sure would make one heck of a story.’ She thought.