Midnight Shadows: A Haunted Camp's Dark Secret

observing every detail. The sound of footsteps made him look around. He saw the members of the blue team; there were three of them and they were heading toward Jasim, flexing their h

h other, Ahmer said "Don't panic, let's go back the way we have come, maybe we missed a division between aisles." They ran along and found the fork. At the mouth of the division, they saw shadows, but before they could stop running, they hurled into two people who were just coming out of the mouth of another aisle they collided and fell at their backs. They stood up and saw that it was Saad and Adil. The four of them got up and asked at the same time "What happened? Where did you get lost?" Ahmer asked and Yousuf explained, "I do not know, all I remember now is that it was foggy and I was following you one second and the next second you were not there." Adil asked, "Did you hear someone weeping?" He stopped and said, "Oh my..." Saad, Ahmer, and Yousuf stared at him, Adil was squinting with round eyes down the aisles of junk, the same one that Saad, and he had come from. Others turned around and found a speck of light shining there. The next second, their faces turned white as a chill air began flowing out of the aisle ruffling their hair. *****They stepped back and their feet slipped over a long thin squashy thing that felt like an arm. The next second they were sprawled at their backs and as they were about to scurry back to their feet. They looked at each other and screamed but stopped. Saad said, "I am sorry, Ahmer but...well...can't you feel it?" Ahmer stared at his three friends who were looking at him in horror. He felt his face. It was wet, he touched it, then looked at his fingers, and felt his eyes widening as he saw blood glistening there. "What the..?" he stopped and the four of them looked down as something passed closer to their faces while tumbling down to the floor. They screamed; a bleeding arm was trembling at their feet. Second later, a shadow flitted across them all and the room became eerily dark for a minute. It was as if someone had blocked a window. They huddled closer together, shook violently as wailing grew louder, and sounded as though it was coming from around the corner. They edged ahead nervously making sure to step around the quavering arm. They then poked around the broken cupboard that was kept at the end of this aisle and felt their mouths dropping open. A child was sitting at an upturned broken footstool and shaking with grief. Adil, Saad, Ahmer, and Yousuf stiffened up. They were about to return around when with a screwing-like sound, as though a decayed body was being twisted by large hands, the child's neck turned about and stared them straight in the eye. *****The scream never left them because their brains had numbed off. The next second their legs became rooted at the spot as a shrilling voice began saying, "Please stop it, don't do it please.........., and then a bloodcurdling scream that seemed to echo around the room and go on forever. The boys covered their ears but froze when the light from candles, which began to hiss and ignite around the walls, fell at the child's face the eyes on which had turned red like slits of fire now and its mouth has gaped into a lopsided leer. They shrieked in terror, stumbled back around the cupboard, and leaned back at it to breathe and try to make sense of direction. They barely got their senses back when to their horror the sound of heavy footsteps dragging across the floor fell at their ears. They looked up and felt colour draining from their faces an outline was shuffling towards them from the end of the aisle. As they stepped back, keeping their eyes tacked at the shadow, they hit the cupboard, and it began to teeter. As they looked around in horror feeling dreadful at what they had done, the child's neck swooped around it saying loudly, "NOW LOOK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" *****With their hands on their ears, they did not know what to do and to their horror, they realised that they had forgotten direction too. Without the sense of it, they backed away and then turning about sprinted around an aisle and then looked around behind them, The next second, however, with a bang they heaved into something and fell back. They looked up feeling dizzy but found their jaws dropping open. A flickering profile stood near their feet and the wall, it was looking down at them. They crawled back and all the while kept their faces facing the outline. They screamed as they noticed it growing larger and wider and they pushed their bodies as further back as their legs boosted them. However, they felt the blood draining from their faces and their spines turned cold as a long, thin, and smutty item touched their hands and their backs slapped into a cold steel wall. Flexed up, they gulped, turned around, and felt their heart rate growing faster the moment their eyes found a slimy creature staring at them, were they having a nightmare? The creature was brown-tinged with grey and oh, my they felt appalled as they noticed it pulsating slightly but repeatedly. Presently, it twitched and the brown turned into red they stepped back in panic but then sighed when they saw that it was only the infamous large sedan. It had corroded with time and lost its original colour, which had been replaced with a brown and red tinge. As they watched it amazed, they became aware that the dark silhouette that they had seen earlier was only the vehicle's reflection swollen up by the candlelight. They inhaled and exhaled deeply but broke it up midway when something clinked from somewhere nearby them, it sounded as though a can had fallen to the ground. *****Saad, Adil, Ahmer, and Yousuf looked sideways down the long thin aisle for a moment they peered, and the next second their faces turned white. Someone was walking creepily toward them along the aisle. Ahmer stammered, "What...what is that?" As though to answer his question the shade lurched into candlelight and the figure was thrown in sharp relief. Their throats became too tight to make a sound and they felt their legs nailing into the floor. A headless body with its feet fitted the wrong way around was scurrying towards them. As the body got closer, they noted bubbles flying out of the neck as though something was trying to pop up out of it. Without looking at each other, they got hold of their hands and as they turned about, they heard growling sounds from behind them. Nonetheless, as they turned around the corner they fell backwards. They said, "What now...Oh no." They had bounded into another form that just stood there blocking the way across the aisle. In their fear, they did not realise that it was the same cupboard that they had knocked on earlier, however, without thinking they got up, and then keeping their heads turned low, they ducked around the form and then began running the only way that looked clear. The next second, they began to feel several punches pummelling their bodies in several places. *****Covering their heads they hurried forward, they felt that the entire aisle was teetering and junk was dislodging from it, up ahead they saw an old shelf doddering and then toppling into another aisle. They skidded to a stop, as they saw that their way forward was blocked now. Ahmer said, "Oh no, oh no..." Adil said, "Ahmer please be quiet or they shall hear us." Saad who had been desperately looking around said, "Look" and they saw a niche, it was dark, they hurried beneath it; supposing the darkness would cover them and praying that their talking had not attracted the attention of the ghoul or the headless body. They had just sat down and held their composure when a pan rolled toward them as though it had been kicked or pushed toward them. They looked at it and then glanced up, The child stood about ten feet away from them surveying them out of large red eyes. Anger seemed to be filling the kid's face now as it stood looking down at them imperiously. They were sure that he must be a ghoul because otherwise, it was impossible to walk on long feet or see out of large red eyes. They looked past the child at the sound of lugging feet coming from nearby and they noticed two things. One, a body followed a foot that had stepped into their view. Second, their hearts leaped as they saw the staircase behind the slanting cupboard. *****Next second, a head, the back of which was facing them, stepped in between the staircase and them and blocked their view. The back of the head was scratched as though someone had run the head up and down a raw and hard surface. Next second, they felt that the room was turning icy cold as a sound just like wind whistling through a tunnel was filling the room now and Saad and Adil hugged each other saying, "It was pleasant meeting you Ahmer and Yousuf, see you soon....." his goodbye was cut off. A heavy voice, unlike any child's voice they have ever heard, filled the room, "You dare to enter our abode without even a Wazzoo and what is more, you have messed it up too." Distinctly they then remembered that they had not done Wazzoo they marvelled at Jasim even though he did it regularly. In a quivering voice, Saad said, "I am sorry about the mess..." The next second, he felt his voice stuttering as the child began moving toward them slowly and out of the corner of their eyes they saw the body, raising an arm, which was ending in talons closing in upon them from the other side. Saad lowered his eyes in shame and closed them but then someone grabbed his hand and his scream seemed to go on and reverberate around the room. The hand holding his began running toward the cupboard, They ran past it, and Saad had no idea where the hand was leading him or to whom it belonged. All he cared that he must get him away from the angry child trying to corner him. He forced his mind to run, he heard the click of the door opening, and the next second he tripped out into the corridor of their rooms. Wheezing, they looked around and found themselves alone. They looked at each other and breathed deeply. Nevertheless, they curled their necks sharply as quick breathing sounded nearby them and they saw three pairs of white faces, with round ey