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An original Horror Palace Scary Story.

 Episode 1 – He Creeped Me Out 

“Oh my God!  I’m going to miss you so much!”  Sarah wraps her arms tightly around her friend’s neck and makes humming sounds as she shakes her back and forth.

“Sarah!” Janine laughs, wiggling out of the embrace.  “I’m only gone for a couple weeks.”

“Stop reminding me!”

Janine holds Sarah at arm’s length and makes her promise not to freak out while she is gone, and to make sure no one dates her beau Jeremy Withrow during her absence.  “Don’t let any of the Alpha Phi sluts get around him while I’m gone.  ‘Kay?”

“You got it!” Sarah promises.

As Janine gets into her car, she returns Sarah’s wave, and blows her a friendly kiss.

Sarah stands on the lawn of the apartment complex and watches her best friend drive away.

This is the last time they will ever see each other.

◊◊◊

“Janine!”

As she slides out of her car, Janine gives a half-hearted, “Hi, Mom.”

“Ho-ney,” she says, drawing out both syllables.  “You look so nice.  Is that a new sweater?”

“Yeah, do you like it?”

“Oh, it’s so nice.  I don’t know how you have time to shop for such nice things, being busy with school and all.”

“Mom,” Janine says, seeing though her mother’s thin veil, “I’m sorry that I don’t call.  I am busy, really, I am.”

“Too busy to reply to my texts?”

Janine only gets out “Mo…”, before her mother interrupts,

“Oh let’s not fight.  It’s been all gloomy around here for a couple weeks now.”

What? Is something wrong with dad?”

“No, I wanted to tell you in person, so please brace yourself.”  Janine is about to break into tears, please mom what’s going on?  Tell me!”

“Well, I know you really liked Buddy and had a crush on him.”

“Buddy?  Mom, he was just our neighbor boy.  Sure we were friends, but I never had a crush on him.  Besides, he was kinda a weirdo and creeped me out sometimes.”

“What a thing to say!  Don’t let his poor parents hear you talk like that.”

“Why?

“Buddy had an accident.  He fell out of a tree.”

Did he break his neck?” Janine asks, not really caring.

“He died, honey.  When he fell out of the tree, Buddy struck a branch and landed on his head and broke his neck.  Honey, he’s dead.  He died instantly.”

Dead?

After it sunk in that Buddy was really dead, Janine began thinking back to the last time her and Buddy had talked.  It was in the woods, just outside their street.  As Janine made her last walk thru the woods, before going off to college, Buddy followed her into the woods.  When he caught up with her he wanted to know the chances of them ever getting together.

For years he had hinted that the two of them would make the perfect couple.  Janine wouldn’t go for it though.  She had reached that level of high school stardom which was gratifying and precarious simultaneously.  Janine had no plans on losing her status, and dating a strange recluse like Buddy would have been the makings of her social death.  Sure they played well as kids, some said they were inseparable through elementary, but by junior high Janine was developing physically along with her social prowess, while Buddy was only becoming more peculiar.

But then as his last ditch effort at their last encounter, Buddy had put his whole self on the line, declaring himself only for her.  In her refusal, Janine had been firm and to make it sink in, a little cold with Buddy.  At the time she felt her actions may put an end to his obsession.  Instead he just stood there, the woods around them, head twitching, tears welling up in his sad eyes.  He looked up at the branches they had climbed together countless times.  Then lowered his reddened eyes at Janine, and moved in briskly to kiss her.  She had pushed him away and declared that she never wanted him to do anything like that again and maybe they should keep away from each other.

A cold collection of final words.  Janine regretted them now, and tried fighting of feeling too guilty.  Buddy was dead, she was sad, but to help fight off the bad feelings, she told herself he was also a creep who by all appearances was approaching the rank of stalker.  Sure she was saddened by his death, and felt bad for his parents who were always extremely nice to her, but in an odd semi-delightful way, Janine was relieved.  One less thing to stress about during her visits home.

“Sad,” is all she says to her mother.

◊◊◊

That night, as Janine lays in her old room texting Sarah, a rattle sounds at her window.  The sound reminds her of how Buddy used to throw pebbles at the glass to get her to look outside, and then he would hide in the bushes and laugh.  It never really annoyed as a kid because Buddy wouldn’t overdo it and he always made funny faces that made her laugh.

The sound comes again, and after a pause, it comes again.  It is the sound of a small stone tinkling off the glass.  She gets up to investigate, feeling slightly childish, and pulls the curtain aside.  The world outside is dark save for a soft glow coming from the driveway.  She scans the yard and convinces herself that it must be a bird or something.  As she completes her scan, she looks back to the driveway.  The glow is the inside dome light of her car.  Realizing that she just didn’t get the door closed, she tosses a robe on and heads outside.  Janine walks directly to car, opens the driver’s door just far enough to bang it closed, and turns back to the house.

“Hello, Janine.”

The voice is cold and cynical.  She looks in the direction of the sound and sees the shape of a person standing in the darker shadows of the garage.  Slowly the person moves into partial light, and the pit of her stomach convulses…

“Buddy?”

(Episode 2)