Ghoulishly Yours

This story you are about to read is anything but totally truly true. Legends, lore, and horror stories are forever being written by authors from various walks of life.

This just happens to be one of my tales.

Although it is being created with the intention of bringing some fright into your life, bear in mind that some of the events which shall transpire are first hand accounts of stories that have actually occurred.

Therefore, you ask me, how then can it not be true? My reply: "It's all in the mind…and where else will you find a larger volume of terror, or a better trickster than the overactive imagination?"

Last night I dreamt I had returned to the house once again. It's large gate and wooden doors beckoned me to come closer, while the moonlight played upon the stained glass windows casting shadows that resembled the saddened faces of unhappy lives lived so long ago.

I knew that I should turn around and tear myself from the horror, but I could not…they, no he, would not allow me to. It was the alluring eyes and sinister smile that made my left foot fall before my right until I had reached the front of the house. I wondered how he had expected me to come through the door, when, being as I was dreaming, could not secure my hand around the latch.

But then, like all dreamers, I was possessed with the supernatural ability to pass through the door like a ghost and found myself on the other side.

The spider webs through the hallway brushed against my skin like hundreds of tenacious fingers, wanting something human to grasp. In my mind I longed to push them away, but as I was sleeping, I was unable to do so and instead willed their contact with my arms away…and thus they did.

I followed the high whistling of voices in the distance, but as soon as I drew closer, they seemed to travel further away from where I was. I wondered as my anxious heart began to give away, how far he would make me travel. Would I ever know if there was an end with the long, narrow walkways, or should I be forced to pace through this empty house alone, forever?

And then, the moonlight faded, as if a dark hand had covered the sky. I could no longer see my way through the winding rooms and stairs, so I sat down and prayed that light would soon reappear in the sky.

I shall not remember all of the events that transpired that night. I just know that I shall always reminisce about how his face haunted me as none other. It was darker than a tomb that night, and his face glowed of green fury. When I dare to close my eyes, I still see him peering out the window below me, singing softly a sad, melancholy tune to the sky. I know that he awaits me in a forbidden fury before, in my sleep, I reach out to touch him, his odd shaped hand grasping on to mine.

And then as always, I awake…

Lou curled her knees up against her chest and clutched tightly to her legs…the note not leaving her hand for an instant and her nails dug into the paper. It brought chills to her spine to think that someone had experienced such an occurrence. She had always believed that scary stories were something to be told around a campfire…but never truly happened.

"What do you make of it?" Jimmy asked Kid, who sat opposite him…also experiencing the same uneasiness.

Kid stirred the logs in the fire and shivered as it crackled and sent sparks flying in different directions. He felt foolish for feeling so jumpy. "It sounds like this woman was just having a hard time with her imagination."

"I don't know, it sounds so…creepy," Lou whispered, glancing at the even flowing penmanship once again. "She was obviously afraid of something."

"Well," Jimmy began, taking it away from her, "I think we better give it to Teaspoon. He'll know what to do with it."

Louise leaned back on her saddle and stretched her legs out, tucking her letter back into her pocket. "Poor thing, she sounds terrified. I wish I knew how to help her."

Kid scolded her thoughts before she finished, "Now, Lou…don't go doing anything foolish. That old house hasn't been touched in years. No sense in anyone stirring up trouble now."

She smirked. "Doesn't it at least hold a little curiosity for you boys?"

Holding his head up with his hands, Jimmy turned his head to look at her. "Enough to tell me to stay away."

"Jimmy's right. We should give it to Teaspoon. He's probably had lots of experience with this sort of thing. No sense in us getting all fired up when it's probably just somebody's idea of a joke," Kid rationalized, not completely believing his own logic…if that's what one could call it.

Lou took a deep breath and covered her legs with the blanket in her bedroll. She closed her eyes and turned her face towards the warm fire. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm too tired to think about it anyway. Goodnight, boys."

"Goodnight," they both replied, rolling over onto their sides in an attempt to find some comfort on the rocky ground.

Louise awoke with a terrifying start as a deafening scream sliced through the air. She reached for her gun and whipped it from the holster. Her finger clicked back the hammer and aimed for the noise in the darkness.

The last ambers from the fire were slowly dying, leaving nothing but a small speck of light in the blackened void of the night. She strained to focus her eyes as she scanned the shadows, searching for any sign of movement.

Her eyes darted to Jimmy and Kid who were in a dead sleep, and had not stirred an inch. The pounding of her heart echoed in her ears and she reached out to touch Jimmy's foot. But then, she took a deep breath to control her overreacting emotions, realizing how foolish it was to wake the boys up at the first sound. Maybe it had been in her mind anyway…

Convincing herself that she was a mature girl that could handle it, she laid back down on her bed. The wind rustled through the trees, tossing the fall leaves across the ground, and once again, she jumped. Grabbing her blanket, she crossed the campsite in two strides and placed herself securely between Kid and Jimmy. It wasn't as if she was in any less danger there than she was a few feet away, it was more the security of knowing that if any sort of monster attacked their camp, "it" would grab one of the boys first.

"A headless horseman," Noah stated sarcastically, "Teaspoon, you gotta stop believing that we're going to fall for such things! We are mature men here that no better than to go falling for some mumbo jumbo about people riding around on their horses holding their heads under their arm."

Buck smiled and thought back on the many stories that his tribe had told. None of them, even in their strangest moments had compared with the one that their stationmaster was telling. "It is a little far-fetched, Teaspoon."

Motioning towards his comrades, Cody added, "As much as I hate to agree with either of them right now, I have to say they're right." He sneered after saying it, recently losing a bet to both men and making an extra run as a result.

Teaspoon tossed his arms up and placed the book back on the table. "I'm just telling it like it says right there. Some folks believe it, some don't. I spose as long as you don't go snooping in cemeteries, you'll be all right."

The thought made them all curl their lips in disgust. Who would chose to go playing in a gravesite full of the buried remains of criminals throughout the territory. Aside from being pointless, it would just be downright spooky.

"Well, I ain't planning on doing anything so foolish. Not even if there were three hundred dollars buried there…much less one. It just don't make sense no matter how you look at it," Noah sighed, slapping his hands on his legs and standing up. "But headless people or not, I'm going to get some rest. You can stay up and scare yourselves till the dawn comes."

Not long after, the other boys went to bed and blew out the last candle. Cody pulled his covers up to his chin while his eyes darted around the room. He had never noticed how many shadows danced across the walls, or the many sounds the wind would make as it blew outside of the window. Each tiny little utterance seemed to be a threat to him, and he tried to swallow over his dry throat.

Suddenly, a loud crack burst through the air and Cody looked out the window in time to see a tree branch fall to the ground. The wind howled, and before he knew what he was doing, he struck a match and lit the small lantern on the night stand. Buck and Noah were already asleep, peacefully content, and Cody felt hostile that they too weren't even just a little frightened by the stories and sounds.

As it was, he could not get the visions of dead people riding horses, and blood sucking monsters out of his mind. So how was it that they could so easily dismiss those tales and go on as if the horror of the world did not exist?

After checking his gun, he sat up in his bed and picked up a book, knowing it was going to be a very long night…a very long night indeed.

The chilling autumn air whisked through the trees and Kid half-knowingly felt the cold bite of frost on his arms. With his eyes closed, and his body numb with exhaustion, he reached over to pull his blankets tightly around his chest.

His senses immediately kicked into action when he felt the figure of another being nearly pressed against his body. The covers that he had owned the night before were now gone and wrapped around a form that had also stolen the bedroll he was resting on.

Kid rolled over, not completely sure what to expect. The figure was warmly covered from head to toe, and was scrunched up into a round ball. Carefully he searched for a face in the early morning dusk, and pulled back the blanket. Lou's rustled static charged hair appeared in a tangled mass before him. Without examining any further for a face, Kid laughed softly in frustration and surprise before he laid back down. He had to admit that she was quite gifted with the ability to steal his blanket and bedroll without him even knowing it. Although he wasn't sure if that was a talent to be proud of.

Sighing, Kid pulled his jacket closer around himself and ever so slowly found his way back into the still world of dreamers…

"Come on Cody, it's time to get up," Rachel shook his shoulder and took the book from his white knuckled hands.

He groaned and rolled over, groping for the covers that had fallen off the edge of his bed. "Leave me alone, I just got to sleep."

She laughed, "No, it's morning already. You went to sleep hours ago."

Rolling over with lightning speed, Cody glared at her face to face. He was angry that he hadn't slept due to some stupid story, and cranky that anyone would dare disturb him on this dreadful morning. "Look, I didn't get to sleep until the sun came up, so if you'll just kindly leave me alone the world will be a happier place."

Buck and Noah looked at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. Cody had been playing a strong "big boy" through the entire night. But now that truth be told, he was just as terrified of the stories as Teaspoon had hoped they all would be.

"Cody, vampires sleep during the day and are up all night." Buck turned to his friend, and winked for some backup. "And, Noah, if I remember correctly, didn't Teaspoon say that when they bite your neck, you become one?"

Noah scratched his chin and Rachel watched them with some amusement. "Hmm. You know, I think you're right. In fact didn't he say that they would grow fangs too?" The two men finished walking out of the bunkhouse carrying on the conversation until they slammed the door and leaned on each other for support as they choked on their own humor.

Rachel was not far behind them as she closed the blinds to allow Billy to get the sleep that he needed.

Once the door latched shut, Cody's eyes widened as far as possible and he jumped out of bed. "I have to stay awake. I have to stay awake!" he panicked. "If I was bitten, I can still stop it." Cody looked at his hands as if he would begin a metamorphosis and counted his fingers just to make sure that they were all there.

Dashing over to the mirror and wash basin, he let his hands run over his face, relieved that he had not started to grown a beard. "Wait, vampires don't grow beards…werewolves do," he reminded himself to some relief. Cody smiled at his reflection and ran his finger over his teeth to make sure that none had gotten any sharper than they were supposed to.

What if they were right? What if he was turning into a vampire? Could it be stopped, or would he go around sucking blood and killing everyone in Rock Creek until it was a whole town of dead people walking around with pumpkins for heads? Cody tried to keep all of the scary stories that he had heard in his life straight, but they mixed and garbled into one…which was more terrifying that the original versions.

He sank down into the rocking chair and closed his eyes. If he were going to change, he'd pack up and leave town. He couldn't endanger the lives of everyone at the station.

But for now, he knew that the only thing he could do would be to force himself to stay awake all day, and wait.

Kid awoke to the sun beaming down on his face, warming his skin despite the crisp air. He stretched his arms up towards the sky and massaged his shoulder. It had been too many years since he'd slept on hard ground without at least some padding.

The thought of the early morning events made him smile and look over at where Lou had been a few hours before.

Kid turned over to her, "hey, it's…" he was startled to see that she was not there, and that his bedroll and blanket had been perfectly rolled and folded…with no sign of Lou at all. But that did not concern him too much, as he assumed she probably just went for a walk or something of the sort.

Shaking his shoulder, Kid aroused Jimmy whose head was covered by his hat. "Hey, Jimmy."

"Huh?" he grunted, still asleep. "Sure, if that's what you want."

Kid had known Jimmy long enough to figure out when he was talking in his sleep. "JIMMY," he said harshly, "wake up, come on…you can't sleep the day away."

Jimmy came somewhat to his senses and rolled over, "Is it morning already?"

"Yep. And it's time to get a move on."

Groaning and sitting up with his eyes shut, Jimmy smacked his lips together and fell backwards onto his bedroll. "I can't do it, Kid." He covered his face and tried desperately to get back to sleep.

Kid grabbed his arm and pulled him up to his feet in a swift movement. Jimmy lost his balance for a second and then steadied himself. He stared at his friend through blurry vision.

"Did you see where Lou went?" Kid asked, ignoring the dangerous looks from Hickok.

He yawned and scratched his head. "She was over there."

"Over where?" Kid looked in the direction Jimmy pointed, "No, she was there earlier." he motioned to the ground beneath his feet. "I mean where did she go from here."

"Kid, how could she be here if she was there?" he snapped without intending to. Making him think at such an early time of the day was just plain venomous.

"I'm not asking you to tell me where she WAS, I'm asking you to tell me where she IS." Kid grew impatient by the minute. He wanted a simple answer to a simple question…did Jimmy or did Jimmy not know where she was?

It was quite alarming how well Jimmy and Kid understood each other, and the scariest part was that they didn't even see their conversation as being a bit on the confusing side. "I don't know where she is, Kid. I thought you did. I mean it's not like she could travel from here to there and then get lost."

"If I did I wouldn't be asking! Forget it, sleeping beauty, let's just find her," Kid gave in to his exasperation and began to pack his belongings.

"Lou!" Kid called out as they rode slowly through the forested area.

"Lou!" Jimmy repeated, peering off in the opposite direction.

"Lou, you out here?" Kid said, glancing behind at their previous trail.

"Lou, you out here?" Jimmy hollered out.

Kid stopped and glared at his friend, "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Well it should be obvious, Kid, I'm looking for Lou," Jimmy responded.

"Can't you do it some other way? All you're doing is echoing me. Frankly, Jimmy, if I were Lou, I wouldn't respond either!"

"Fine, whatever you say," Jimmy tossed his hands up and they continued on. "Lou, where are you?"

"Lou, you out here?"

"Lou, where are you?"

"Lou, you out here?"

"Lou where are you?"

"Lou, you out here?"

"Wait, stop," Jimmy said suddenly.

Kid instinctively whispered and almost expected to be attacked by some strange monster. "What?" Somehow he had the sneaking suspicion that they were being watched.

"Did you hear that?" Jimmy placed his hand on his gun and leaned forward in his saddle. A still silence followed and both of the boys felt rather foolish for being so edgy. "Hmm, I guess it was nothing," he stated, tried to sound convincing.

The woods became thicker, and although it should have been a cloudy morning, it began to feel very much like midnight. Light barely penetrated through the trees, and the little that did was cast into shadows across their path. Morning fog seemed to rise up out of the ground in a sweltering mist.

"It was…a…nice of Rachel to pack us some things to eat," Jimmy's voice sounded as tense as it were.

"Yeah," Kid swallowed over his fright. "I liked the b…b…bread myself."

"It's really good with b…b…butter too," Jimmy added.

Then without warning, a loud crack shot out in the distance that sent them both two feet out of the saddle. A shrill scream and a persistent wailing that emanated from everywhere and nowhere at once followed it.

They jumped down from their horses and took off through the trees and away from the trail. Jimmy took a step and his foot crunched down on something that did not sound like the usual twig or a leaf one came across in the woods. He bent down and felt his way through the darkness, lifting the object into the dim light.

Jimmy scanned the worn paper and faint writing…recognizing it immediately as the letter that Lou had been reading to them the night before…

Lou curled her legs up and held on to her knees with a death grip. The fire that they had started the night before was beginning to die down, but she did not make any attempt to rekindle it. Chills captured her body…chills that would not go away. She had only been away from the camp for a few minutes and Jimmy and Kid had disappeared, taking Lightning with them.

Tracks from their horses showed her the direction that they had headed, although Lou knew it wouldn't be wise to follow them into the darkness without a light of any sort. The only logical thing she could think to do was wait. Jimmy and Kid had left behind their blankets, so surely they would be coming back for them.

"Kid, look at this," Jimmy frowned, handing the letter to his friend. They both examined it and then glared back at each other.

"Come on, let's go back and get the rest of our things. I have a feeling we're in over our heads on this one," Kid whispered as he turned back and mounted his horse.

The two men rode side by side, constantly peering back over their shoulders, waiting for another scream.

Lou rose to her feet at the sound of hoof beats approaching. Tow figures emerged with the rising sun at their backs, and she smiled

Never had she truly believed that they would leave her, but despite her common reasoning, she couldn't help but to doubt their return.

"Lou?" they questioned in sync.

"Why did you boys go off and leave me? I hadn't been gone but a few minutes. I got a little bit turned around in the woods, and when I came back, everything was gone," she stated, allowing some of her irritation to seep out.

Jimmy and Kid looked at each other, now feeling exceptionally half-witted about leaving her behind in such a state of alarm. They stammered for a weak excuse, but knew that if they tried to concoct a story, it wouldn't sound very convincing. So, they stuck to the truth.

"We didn't see you, and since your blankets were all folded, I knew that you had gotten up," Kid said humbly. "And I guess we were just jumpy after last night." He grinned broadly, "Obviously you were too, the way you mashed between the two of us for protection."

She shrugged meekly, and waited for Jimmy to say something, but he just glared downward and smiled sheepishly. "Well, since you put it that way I guess you're right. Why don't we call it even and just start thinking about getting home."

"Sounds good to me." Jimmy eagerly mounted his horse…more than ready to get back into an area where you could actually see beyond the masses of trees in the forest. Not to mention open spaces that allowed your senses to span all around, enabling you to see an approaching attacker.

Kid and Lou followed suit, the latter saddling her horse as quickly as possible. "You little blanket and bedroll thief, you," Kid teased as he brushed past her.

She turned around and stopped him, sincerely confused. "What blanket?"

"This morning. I woke up and you'd stolen my blanket AND my bedroll. That takes talent, Lou," he smiled.

Her face flushed a sickening white, and he questioned her health instantly, "Lou, what's wrong?"

Slowly she studied his face, her eyes boring into his…allowing him to see that she wasn't kidding. "Kid, I didn't take your blanket or bedroll. I moved over closer to the fire late last night, and then very early this morning I went after some strange noises I heard. I didn't come back until later…and you were covered and comfortable."

His mouth nearly fell from his face, and he too joined her in a mutual pale skinned complexion. "That wasn't you?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Then who was it?" he asked himself softly.

"I don't know, Kid, but it looks like we had company."

"Screaming? In the woods?" Teaspoon questioned the three eager faces that stood above him. He tilted his hat back up on his head and wrinkled his brow. Silently he doubted the sanity of the three youngin's that worked at his station, and figured that they'd probably been letting their imaginations get the best of them once again.

"That's what it sounded like, we all heard it," Jimmy emphasized.

The Marshal interlaced his fingers and laid his hands on his stomach. "So what are you suggesting we do about it?"

Lou pushed between Jimmy and Kid to rest her palms on his desk. "Let us go back. We need to find out what that is, or who it is. It might be someone in trouble."

Teaspoon shook his head at the thought of all of them venturing out on another one of their many crazy chases. He wondered if their childish fantasies or yearning for the thrill for adventure would ever end.

Until then, though, he just knew that he was going to have to manage it as well as he could. "Well, they did say that we'd be getting some temporary riders for two days. I spose that I could arrange for you boys, and girl, to have some time off. But that don't mean…"

"Thanks, Teaspoon!" came a chorus before they all rushed towards the door, trampling over each other on the way.

Teaspoon cringed as the three amigos hustled out of the room and slammed into the wall, nearly breaking his glass-paneled door. He shook his head and reached over for his cup of coffee. "Kids."

To Be Continued...Chapter Three