The Neighbor's Wrath

The sun was starting to set on the horizon, creating a beautiful crimson glow as it reflected off of the clouds.  Thirteen-year-old Jacob and his eleven-year-old sister, Julie, were laughing as they threw their Frisbee across the yard, seeing who could throw it best.  It was Jacob’s turn, and he grinned at his sister as he prepared to chuck the Frisbee across the yard.

“Get ready, Julie!  See if you can catch this!” 

He threw the Frisbee with a grunt, and it flew high into the air above their heads.  He watched in delight as his sister darted around, trying desperately to find the best place to catch it.

Julie watched as the Frisbee slowly drifted towards the ground, and raced towards the fence where it appeared to be headed.  She almost had it, but was a few inches too short to snatch it out of the air.  Before she had another chance, a sudden gust of wind propelled the Frisbee into the neighboring yard.  Both children halted, and their smiles immediately disappeared.

  “Oh, no!” Julie groaned, a horrified look on her face.  “Look what you did!”

Jacob shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.  “Sorry…it was an accident.  But it’s not that big a deal.  We can just sneak over there and grab it.”

Julie shook her head, her eyes bulging.  “No way!  I’m not going over there!”

"What are you so afraid of?”  Jacob asked, folding his arms across his chest.  “Nobody’s going to care if we go over there and grab our Frisbee.”

“Haven’t you seen her?” Julie whispered in fear, referring to their next door neighbor, Marie.  “She scares me.  Sometimes I see her just staring at me from one of the windows in her house.”  She shivered.  “And the kids at school say she eats children, and has pet spiders, and all kinds of creepy things.”

Jacob snorted. “You’re just a Scaredy Cat.  And why do you believe what the kids at school are saying?  They’re just trying to scare you.  Come on, we’re going to get your Frisbee back right now.”

Tears started to fall from Julie’s eyes as she tried to stop her brother.  “No, Jacob!  I’m not going over there!”

Jacob rolled his eyes.  “You don’t have to come if you’re really that scared, but I’m going to go get it.  It’s my fault, anyways, since I threw it.”

Julie bit her lip, and glanced down at her shoes.  “I’m not a Scaredy Cat.  I’ll come with you, okay?”

The first stars were starting to appear in the deepening blue sky as they reached the gate to their neighbor’s backyard.  Jacob hesitated before he grasped the gate handle. But he didn’t want to appear weak to his sister after giving her such a hard time. So he pulled the gate open in one fell swoop, the hinges groaning in protest.

They walked as quietly as possible, and began their search for the Frisbee among the giant weeds and uncut grass.  They had journeyed deep into the backyard when Julie finally found the Frisbee. 

“Jacob, I have it, now let’s go, please,” she whispered desperately.

He nodded, relieved.  He turned and took a step back towards the gate, when  blinding pain shot through his foot and up his leg. 

He let out a small shout of pain as he fell to the ground.  His sister raced back to his side, her eyes wide as she asked worriedly, “Are you okay?  What happened?”

Tears started welling up in his eyes when he looked down at his foot.  A long, rusty nail protruded from the bottom of his foot and sandal, which was quickly becoming soaked in blood.  “I stepped on a nail,” he hissed through his teeth.  He tried to pull it out, but was blinded with pain and nearly collapsed. 

Jacob gritted his teeth, and told his sister as calmly as he could, “I need your help to get me out of here.  I can’t get the nail out; I can’t walk on this foot.”

  Julie nodded and started to help Jacob to his feet. They stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the back door creak open. They turned toward it, their eyes widened in fear.

  There, standing in the doorway, was their neighbor, Marie.  It was difficult to make out her features in the dark, but they could feel her glare as she started towards them.

They struggled to hop away, when her cold, bony hands clamped down on their shoulders.  They wanted to scream, but their throats were so dry they couldn’t. 

“Well, what have we here?  Another couple of trespassers, hm?” She hissed angrily.  “What are you up to?  Spying on me for your little friends, I’ll bet.”

“N-no, we just came to get our Frisbee…” Jacob managed to get out.

  Marie smiled slightly when she saw Jacob’s foot.  “And you stepped on a nail.  I’ll just have to get that out for you, now won’t I?”

  She started herding them towards her back door as Jacob stammered out, “It’s fine, really.  I can get home and take care of it…”

Her fingernails dug into their shoulders, and they let out tiny cries of pain.  “I’m afraid I must take care of both of you now before you do anything else stupid.”

She was surprisingly strong, and shoved them through her back door and into her kitchen with ease.  Jacob glanced down at his bloody foot, and was surprised to see how much blood had already spilled onto the kitchen floor from his wound. 

Until he realized it was more than just his own blood. 

Julie must have come to the same realization, because she let out a terrified scream.  Jacob could no longer hide his own fear when he saw Marie grab a bloody knife off the counter and turn towards them with a feral smile.

“Don’t worry,” she cackled, “I’ll take good care of you, just like the other children who trespassed on my property.” 

Laughing maniacally, she raised her knife.

Jacob and Julie screamed. 

  Word Count: 997