So this was a spur of the moment type thing. I had a conversation last night with a friend, and listened to a song he sent me. This is the creation of such madness :p

The Life and Death of one Night

The August air filled my lungs as I left my house for the night. My perception of life was always most full at this time, when my thoughts weren’t clouded by the over-bearing sun. I went out like any other night, listening to my songs as I strolled down the road. My feet stepped to the beat of my up-tune music. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap* I threw a small pebble at the window of my friend Ryan like I’d do any other night at this time. He climbed out his window, looking like a monkey, being a pro at sneaking out now.

“You ready Ryan?” I questioned him, staring him in the eyes.

“You wouldn’t let me back out, even if I wanted to”

“That’s right. No backing out now!” I laughed at him, then tugged his shoulder as we synced up our music.

We stepped in sync, looking more odd than cool; but we didn’t care, we felt as cool as possible. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap* After listening to the same song ten times, we ended up at Shannon’s house. Her window was open, so I just unplugged my headphones and let the music play.

“Hey guys! I’m coming down, just give me a minute!” She was much clumsier while sneaking out than either of us, but she never managed to hurt herself, even though both of us had before. I’ve broken a few fingers, and Ryan has broken a foot, both of us from falling out our windows. She’s never gotten a scratch though. Probably more cautious than us, not that we cared.

“So Shannon, are you ready to go?” My voice quizzing her, ever so smoothly.

“Of course I’m ready; I was the one that suggested we do this.” Her eyes gazed over Ryan’s body quickly, making him blush, just like every other time she’d done it.

“Urr, let’s just do this.” Ryan jumped ahead of the group.

Like before, we synced up music, than stepped in tune with each other. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap* Our steps grew more confident as we walked to our destination. We’d heard stories, but never checked the place out before now. I figured that we should make one last stop for the night before we get the show on the road. Like before, I threw small pebbles at the window of the last member to our posse. Grant didn’t always come out with us, but I needed to give it a try tonight.

“Grant... you there?” I whispered as loud as I could, trying to feel stealthy.

“Umm, yeah, why? Do you guys have any plans for the night?” He looked up at us from his basement room.

“You know it, so jump out of that room and join us. We need everyone tonight for what we’re about to do, trust me” I smiled at him and put my hand out.

“You guys know if I get caught that I’ll be in trouble... but I guess tonight won’t hurt too much, since my parents said that they’re sleeping in tomorrow.”

“Good Grant, now grab my hand and we’ll be off”

He reached up, and I pulled him out. He was by far the shiest one out of the group of us, but we loved him for it. Once we all started heading down the road, we realized what we were getting into, even with our music making us feel stronger. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap* Taking our steps together didn’t stop us from missing a beat every now and again, as the mood shifted from bright and cheery to a dull treading and trudging forward against our better judgement. The trail that led into the woods was right in front of us, just waiting to be crossed.

“Alright guys, no turning back.” I reached for Grant and Shannon’s hands “We can do this, no reason to be afraid, it’s just rumours.”

As they all turned to look at me, Ryan grabbed Shannon’s free hand and began to blush, then tugged her into the woods, making myself and Grant get tugged along too. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap* Each stop took us further from the streetlights and closer to the small marsh in the woods. It took a while to get there, weaving in and out of trees once we had to get off the path. Each of us had a flashlight, matches and extra batteries in case anything went wrong.

“Alright guys, I’ll grab the stuff since we’re at the edge of the bog now.” I said in a braver tone than I felt.

A pair of blankets, some candles and the board, were all that I had room to carry in my bag. I had hoped that Grant or Shannon would have brought extra food for me, since Ryan wouldn’t have enough, no matter how much he brought. My heart jumped when my music stopped playing, but then I pulled it out and saw that my mp3 was dead. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

“Did anyone else here that?” My skin crawled from hearing that same beat from the woods.

A solid “No” was all I got, in unison from them.

“Okay then. Anyway, Grant, get over here and set up the board while I light the candles.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.” His voice shook like a leaf in the wind. I’m surprised mine didn’t too.

Shannon and Ryan sat down on the blanket across from myself and Grant, and Ryan began eating as soon as he sat. *tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

“Hey guys... my iPod just died on me.” Shannon cringed as she saw a black screen. “I was charging it all day, to make sure that I’d have it on the way out.”

“What if... there is no way out, Shannon” Ryan turned to her with a blank face.

“Shut up, Ryan.” She retorted swiftly. “Just keep stuffing your face.”
Grant giggled at them, then looked at me as he placed the board in front of us, waiting for the candles to be placed around it. *Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap,*

“Hmmm, strange, my iPod died too.” Ryan stared at the blank screen, with dim candle light illuminating the backing.

“Alright, that’s fine. As long as we have the flashlights for when we need to leave after this, I don’t care much what other electronics go out.” I said as Grant tugged on the back of my shirt, pulling me down onto the blanket.

“So guys... are you all ready for this?” I placed my hand on the board, waiting for everyone to do the same.

“Yeah, I’m in.” Ryan reached for it first.

“Okay. As spooky as this is, I’m in.” Shannon placed her fingers on it next.

“Yup, let’s do this.” Grant placed his hand on it.

As the air slowed to a crawl around us, we could hear the wild in its symphony of the night. Owls off at the distance, crickets chirping, bats squeaking as they search for bugs, frogs croaking in the bog and other noises we just didn’t know enough about to distinguish.

“Is there anyone with us tonight?” Shannon started us off with the questions. I reached my hand behind me and grabbed Grant’s hand. I could feel him shaking beside me.

Right away, our hands moved along the board. It slid with ease over all the letters, up to the top right corner. “Yes”. As soon as I saw, I reached back into my bag and pulled out paper and pencil. I wanted to record everything that was about to happen. It was going to be amazing and awesome, no matter what.

“What’s your name?”

The letters started flying. “C-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E”

“Why are you here?”

Nothing was written for a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Then, out of nowhere, it spelled something out. “D-A-N-C-E”

We were all confused by this, not sure what to make of that.

“Why were you dancing out here?”

“G-E-T-O-U-T”

We all froze when this was said, except Shannon wanted more.

“Why do we have to leave?”

“S-H-E-I-S-M-I-N-E”

“Guys... I don’t feel safe. Can we please leave?” Grant said, tearing up.

*Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

“Grant... does your mp3 have any charge left?” I said, sitting stiff.

He looked at me, then down at his mp3, then back up at me. “No, it doesn’t.”

“L-E-A-V-E”

“Guys... please, let’s go.” Grant grabbed onto me tight and started crying.

“Shannon, we need to stop this, right now.” I grabbed her hand from the board. “Let’s go!”

“But... there’s so much I want to know.” She looked up at me with a lifeless stare.

*Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

“I think the flashlights are out.” I flicked it, but no light.

*Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

“Why can I hear our song?” Ryan finally spoke after minutes of being silent.

“Shannon, let’s just go. Forget about the ghosts, let’s go!” I threw the candles into the bog and grabbed the board from her, shoving it into my bag. I could hear something all around us. An echo of our song kept ringing, but the tune of it kept changing. All that was the same was the beat behind the horrifying sound. I grabbed Grant’s hand with my left, and the blanket in my right, and then ran. The noises got louder and louder. *Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap*

The noises stopped and I could see my way out of the woods. Grant was still behind me, but I didn’t know where Shannon and Ryan were. I walked with Grant to the entrance of the woods, and waited. We sat there until the sun rose, but there wasn’t even a sound. I reached into my pocket for my mp3, and it had a full charge. I listened to that song, and there was nothing wrong with it.