Haunted By Death

• Claudia Field, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2011

‘So Kelly would you like to tell us what happened, slowly... just tell us what you remember.’
He instructed me, I sat us straight slowly and looked around at the seeing mostly black, I knew what they wanted and I had what they needed.
I flashed back to the night and began to speak “In three nights it fell apart,” I started.
“We were just going camping and when, after we set up we went for a walk to get to know the area...

“Kelly, I think we have a problem” Emmett asks looking straight where my eyes also travelled. I stared at the abandoned cottage and a shiver coiled up my spine.
“We should go,” Jullian said looking at me with a gaze of worry.
“Let’s go and look what’s inside,” Carey said curiously. Looking for trouble at every turn.’

“What happened next?” the man asks, I twitch afraid of remembering. But I continued anyway.

‘We walked slowly through door and it creaked, I held Emmett’s hand tightly.
As soon as we walked through the door we saw it a skeleton. It had a disgusting stench and it still had some muscle and blood on it.’

“Ahhh....” I scream and a man tightens the chains.
“I’m sorry Kelly but you have to try,” he says. He sat at the end of the room and I couldn’t see his face.

‘We ran away and Emmett tripped breaking his ankle, when we made it back to camp we huffed and puffed and otherwise were silent until the sun went down. We were quiet all night and none of us slept. In the morning when we woke we looked around and our surroundings were foreign, I shuttered when I saw the ghost of a monster. It laughed silently and I was suddenly terrified. I wrapped my arms around Emmett and sobbed. Jullian and Carey were gone. Just gone.
“We have to leave,” Jess said. But we couldn’t leave, Emmett was hurt and I would not leave him.
Ella came out of the tent her eye rolled completely into the back of her head.
“I’ll kill you” she said but I could tell it wasn’t her. “I’ll kill you all,” her voice screeched in laughter. Then she burst into flames.’

“No, Ella no,” I screamed so loud my throat hurt.
“Kelly its okay,” the man said calmingly.

‘In the night we heard Jullian and Carey screaming. No-one was brave enough to go outside though.
I stepped outside and saw my brother’s dead body drenched in blood on the ground in front of our tent. So then there was three...Emmett, Jason and me.
In the night we heard the laughter and ran. Anywhere.
I had to leave Emmett... and I lost Jason...’


“Gone,” I moaned in terror seeing the image in my head. “Gone...” a single tear streamed down my face and I saw the face of my holder. He was death all over.
“I told you I’d kill you all,” it laughed...