You're in luck that Wednesday is the new moon, the time the spell said to "harvest soil from a field of souls." That and the fact there's a large cemetery just a couple miles from the clubhouse. Plus you had a friend in middle school that you used to go and watch the machinery dig the graves. They always moved the dirt to a lot in the back so there was nothing to disturb the funeral. And the back entrance is off a side lane where you can back up your truck and shovel it in unnoticed. All the other ingredients are similar to the things you got for the masks and are easy to acquire, although they pretty much emptied your savings. The new video game will have to wait.
"Fucking rain!" Caleb curses as you both shovel the heavy muck into the truck. "Why do we have to take it exactly at midnight?"
"'Cause it says so."
"Yeah. Right. Fucking ingredient."
There's a distant roll of thunder. You both pause to catch your breath and the rain stops. You glance up and can already see stars between passing clouds. It's like it only rains over you while you work.
"Fucking creepy, too, dude," Caleb states what you're thinking.
You nod before you hear a sound of sloshing mud several times in a row, and you both jump.
"Fucking A. What was that? Footsteps?"
You both look and see the mud in the truck crawling out over the tailgate, dropping in a slap back onto the ground. Caleb panics taking his shovel and hits the pile of mud on the ground. His actions infect you to do the same, but you stop after the second smack sends splatter all over the two of you. Caleb screams staring at the slime sliding down his body and speedily tries to push it off dancing in a panic. You half laugh with fear before realizing how stupid it is and he looks. Then the laugh becomes real.
"Fucking fuck, dude what's so fucking funny?" Caleb cries as he watches you bent over in hysterics.
Shaking your head as you look at him, you chuckle and point, "Fucking you, fuckhead, and the fucking muck people."
He gives you an angry stare at the same time a loud rumble of thunder crashes in the distance, runs over the trees and drops upon you. This causes both of you to jump again, but Caleb tags it quickly.
"Fucking thunder. I bet it's because you called them muck people."
Another beat of thunder, and you snip back, "Now each of us has been cursed for saying it."
He lifts his shovel and starts to swing it, but the initial momentum shifts his foot enough in the slippery ground that it sends him on his back into a puddle.
"FUCKING SHOVEL!"
You help him up stifling another chuckle. "Let's get the rest in the truck and get out of here before ..."
A flash of light illuminates grotesque shadows of mounds of dirt, bushes, and equipment like sentinels surrounding you. Another on top of it creates the illusion they are moving. You shiver as a sharp breeze rushes by with a whistle, and there's another "slop slop" of marching mud men. The rain then pelts down hard stinging you both. Grabbing the shovels, in no time you have the truck full with tailgate closed and step on the accelerator to get the fuck out of there.
* * *
"Fuckin' place. Why did I have to get out and push? It's your fucking truck and your fucking book and you got it fucking stuck," Caleb growls as you finally sped towards the school after an hour of wiggling to get out of the cemetery's maintenance lot.
Another flash of light and deep rumble breaks immediately after his last word making you both wide-eyed and shaking.
"Don't curse the book," you half chide and half believe with more than a bit of fear. "You were already covered in the mud people's skin. I figured they'd think you were one of them and help push it out, not drag you down in the muck again."
"Fuckin fucking fuck."
* * *
Fortunately, there are some extra clothes at the clubhouse, so you change once the mud is inside. The rain stopped and most of the water had settled out as you drove back, but lugging the dirt with buckets takes so much time you only dump it on the floor before needing to leave for home so you're not caught.
* * *
You're so tired and sore the next day that you consider skipping school. Unfortunately, you have two exams and also want to keep up with Lisa in hope she'll drop Geoff and you can try again. The first period exam goes well since you took plenty of pain killers plus it was your best subject. By fourth period though, you are really dragging, and it takes all your will just to fall into the chair next to Lisa. You sit looking disheveled with red eyes.
"Late night of studies?" she jokes knowing you never stay up to "study."
Unthinking you barely are able to mumble, "Yeah," as you put your head in your hands, eyes now closed.
"Was it World of Warcraft or something scary in a graveyard."
Your head is throbbing and spinning with images of last night and not really processing her question. You repeat the one thing she said that fits in.
"Graveyard. Muddy, wet, graveyard."
"Will, I sometimes wonder if you'll ever grow up. It's the one thing that I kept hoping for last summer."
"And I thought I was just annoying." you groan without thinking still head in hands.
"You are rather complex in your ability to annoy, Will Prescott," she snips back.
"Working on that old book is what's annoying," you let out before you realize it.
"What book? Is that why you asked me about the old Latin?"
Seeing you've opened a door you shouldn't but not wanting to lie to Lisa, you look up and explain, "Yeah. It's ah, ... a history project I'm trying to solve. Beyond school work."
"Now that's more mature, Will. I knew you had a talent beyond annoying people. I admire you for taking on something like that. Let me know if I can help further, ... on the book that is, not digging up graveyards."
She winks, and you smile almost chuckling that she doesn't know how close that is. The warmth from her comment also grows inside as you watch her each little movement pulling out pen and pencil for the test. Unfortunately, that feeling is doused as the bell rings sending pounding vibrations echoing in your head continuing for a good minute after it stops.
* * *
At lunch you sit with Caleb and Keith nursing a pita with who-knows-what inside. You've added enough mustard and ketchup that if it had flavor you wouldn't taste it anyway. One thing you've learned about school: not to taste food as it comes off the line. Today, though, it's strange. The food is easing your headache. Maybe you should have had something besides pain pills for breakfast.
"Prescott, you look like shit today. What happened?" Tilley asks elbowing you and starting those vibrations again. He hasn't seen you all morning since you only share afternoon classes with him.
Being more careful now to make sure nothing slips, you just grunt. Again you scan the cafeteria seeing Lisa and Geoff still talking together, and you savagely rip another bite from the mystery wrap.
What does Lisa possibly see in him, and why can't she be more interested in you? Then you think about her offer to help, how annoying and immature she mentioned you are, and that she admires you for working an outside project as long as she didn't have to dig up graveyards. You chuckle at that again just at the wrong moment and choke on some of the strange filling.
"Dude, you OK?" Keith looks over and dodges the small yellow green blob that your cough shoots down the table, then you cough twice more before swilling your soda.
"Curse of the mud people," Caleb jokes, and you give him a shocked and concerned stare as Tilley picks up on it.
"Oh, you spent last night in the graveyard? Digging up graves is how you solve that. Can't just wander around in a storm or you'll get sucked up by the people underground, huh?"
You and Caleb are dumbfounded. He seems to know exactly you did last night or close to it. You both stare at him in silence mouths half open. He chomps down and as he chews glances back and forth between you two until he gets a confused look and swallows.
"What you never made it that far before? Damn! It's a hell of a level to beat. I immediately saved so I'll never have to go back."
You both breathe a sigh of relief and realize it's that new game everyone's playing. You actually got past the graveyard the first night and only stopped at level twelve because you've too involved with the book.
"I bet that's what Lisa thought you were playing." you think. You look over to see Geoff has left her alone and is walking out while a couple of her friends join her. If only you knew what is inside her head. "No. Skip that idea."
You look back at Keith, cheeks puffed with food like a chipmunk as he chews. You wonder if you should let him in. It would have helped with three last night. Caleb is looking at him and then turns his gaze to you. Your eyes meet. Obviously he's pondering the same.
  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2024 Wordsmitty ✍️ (UN: wordsmitty at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Seuzz has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author