Good Night

Thriller Stories | Sep 24, 2014 | 4 min read
128 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Bethlehem New Hampshire was a great place for a kid to grow up and walking through the early morning woods on the way to the bus stop was something Jeremy Heath always enjoyed, Maybe it was the mystery of why his mother and grandmother warned him not to or because he enjoyed the cool crisp air and the smell of the pines. This cut five minutes off of his boring walk up the main road and he always enjoyed sprinting through the old abandoned Peckham property where the "soul snatcher" once haunted as his Gram would say. "Stay out of those woods or I will whip your Hyde raw" Gram often scolded. Jeremy had a nicely worn path and as soon as he was within forty feet of the old barn he would sprint through the field and always look back to see if anyone were there chasing him (of course no one was ever there). The story was that way back when Old Man Peckham went mad, He chopped up has wife and two boys then threw the body parts down the old stone well with a pitchfork….Then the old man disappeared and was never seen again. No remains were ever found but the spirits still haunt the property….again "as the legend goes"

Today he did not feel like running and took his time walking through the field. The warm sun felt good on his face and he was quite proud of himself for not being afraid and running like a "sissy" he thought to himself. The majestic old farm house stood up on a small hill to his left and with its old dilapidated roof and paint was quite the sight. Jeremy could image in his mind's eye of this place back in the day with laundry on the old clothes line, Old Man Peckham working the fields with his boys and Ms. Peckham beating the dirt out of the carpets up on the farmer's porch before going back into the house to the slam of the old screen door. Then, coming back to reality he noticed the glint of something shiny on the ground in front of him. Bending over and picking up the item he could not quite tell what he had in his hand, brushing the dirt off of the item he was amazed to see it was an old silver dollar dated 1885.

Looking down he could see the edge of another so he started kicking with his foot and another showed through the packed dirt. When Jeremy took count he had 24 of the old silver coins. The dread of missing the bus partially overpowered the thrill of his new found treasure so he threw them into his backpack and ran for the wood line making it to the bus stop in the nick of time. The day at school was flying by when at lunch Jeremy set his backpack on the cafeteria floor and one of the dirty old coins rolled out and hit his friend's foot. "What is that" said Billy Barnes? Billy and Jeremy had been best friend for years and if there were one person that could keep a secret it was him. "That's one of the old coins I found this morning" said Jeremy in a hush voice. Where? "Down at the old Peckham place". Billy's face turned white and his mouth hung open in disbelief. "Are you telling me that you found coins on the Peckham property" questioned Bill? "Yup, 24 of em in all" Swiping the coin from Billy's grasp as he walked by Gabriel said "thanks loser, I always wanted a silver dollar" "HEY", Give it back shouted Billy as he jumped up from the lunch room table. Gabriel was the school bully and had just moved here from New York, Cocky and arrogant were just a few fine traits that describe Gabriel. Billy and Gabriel were now nose to nose and the cafeteria grew quiet. "whatca gonna do amout it Gabriel sneered" Here looser said Gabriel as he tossed the coin back and walked away. Billy sat back down and slid the coin to Jeremy . Lunch was over and back to class they went.

Walking through the field Jeremy felt something grab his shoe almost tripping him. He looked back in horror to see a skeletal hand with rotting flesh reach from the earth, slowly then a head and shoulders pulled through and finally the whole rotten corpse stood there before him. Worms crawled in and out of its rotten eyeballs and Jeremy was frozen with fear. "Return my treasure or you too will find the bottom of my well" the corpse screeched. It dragged one foot behind as it crept closer to Jeremy, Trying to scream but not making a sound now Jeremy could feel the cold breath and smell the rotten figure. It reached out with a bony hand around his neck and then……Jeremy woke up from the nightmare with the sheets wet with his perspiration, His heart was pounding and when he regained his composure he looked at his backpack on the floor and remembered the coins.

The next morning Jeremy mad a bee line to the old field on the Peckham property. He placed all but one of the coins back in their proper spot before covering the hole with dirt and hightailed it to the bus. That day at lunch Jeremy walked by his normal seat with Billy and right up to Gabriel. "What do you want looser" barked Gabriel. Jeremy held out his hand to Gabriel with the one coin he did not return "A piece offering" said Jeremy. Gabriel snatched the coin from his hand and without a thanks said "now get out of here before I change my mind and thrash you"…..Have a good night's sleep Jeremy thought to himself.

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