Into the Darkness

Thriller Stories | Nov 20, 2011 | 6 min read
32 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
"C'mon bro we're gonna be late for the goddamn party," said Jake impatiently. I told him he'd have to wait until I finished putting my hair up.

It was October thirtieth, the day before Halloween. Jake and I were invited to Katy Mathew's Halloween costume party. Kathy Mathews was the sexiest and most popular girl in school. All the girls wanted to be her, and all the guys wanted to bed her…if ya catch my drift.

This was going to be the party of all parties. Every popular kid in school was gonna be there. Although I didn't really show it, I was just as excited as Jake to go to this party. This was my chance to get close to Katy, and Jake's chance to fulfill his dream of getting drunk and fucked all in one night.

After I was all done doing my hair I walked down my steps to meet Jake who was sitting on my living room couch acting like he owned the place, as usual.

"It's about time dickwad!" Jake said in a friendly yet offending tone. Jake had a way of insulting people in a kind and friendly tone. He thought that if he used such a tone, the person he was offending wouldn't even notice, and even if they did, they couldn't call him out on it. It's a load of bullshit if you ask me. An insult is an insult, and no matter how you say it, it's still offensive!

"Yes Jake. I'm ready," I said in a very relaxed voice.

As we approached the front door and were about to leave, I remembered something. "Umm Jake?" I said.

"What?" Jake replied. "Neither one of us have a drivers license. How the fuck are we gonna get to this party?"

As I said this, a strange grin fell upon Jakes face. It was a grin I knew all too well. It was the very same grin he used to get right before he would come up with some idiotic plan that always ended up getting us in major trouble.

An example of this was the time Jake thought it would be fun to set dog shit on fire on someone's step. You're probably thinking to yourself that a lot of kids have done that without getting caught. Well a lot of kids wouldn't pick the police captains house which just happened to have security cameras outside of it. Rather than getting a good laugh and a fun time, Jake's little plan got us a night in jail and a beating from our parents.

Now his grin widened and even though I had no idea of what he was about to say, I braced myself for it.

"Who cares about licenses? I'm not gonna let a little piece of plastic keep me from getting laid! Besides, it's not illegal unless you get caught. I used to sneak out with my dad's car all the time. I can get us there and back in one piece. Cross my heart and hope to be laid!"

As those words passed, from his mouth to my ears, I just knew this was gonna end badly. After all, have any of Jakes plans ever had a positive outcome? Even though it was against my better judgment and I knew there would be consequences, I couldn't say no to my best friend. So we hopped in my dad's blood red 67' corvette, and away we went.

By the time we left, it was about 7:30. The party didn't start until 10:00, so we had about two and a half hours to drive to a house that from my house only takes an hour. With Jake behind the wheel, I was happy we had the extra time.

"I know a shortcut that'll get us there a lot faster," Jake said confidently. I wanted to say no so badly, but I knew that no matter how many times I said it, it wouldn't change Jake's mind.

"Ok. What's the shortcut?" I asked. Jake began to smile.

"If we drive down the old dirt road in Devil's Woods, we'll get there ten times faster than we will if we take the normal way." He said this with such confidence and determination that I could do nothing but nod my head in agreement.

After only a few seconds after that nod, I started feeling regret. "Devil's Woods," is a strip of forest that is said to be the home of Satan himself. Many local legends and folklore are based around it. One of the most infamous stories of Devil's Woods is one that tells of a little boy named Gabriel.

Gabriel was nine years old and lived in this town many years ago. As the story goes, one summer afternoon Gabriel and his friends were playing a game of baseball at McBrady Park which was located right at the edge of the woods. One of Gabriel's friends hit the ball so hard that it went flying into the woods. Gabriel, who was playing outfielder at the time, started walking towards the woods. His friends told him to forget about it and that "it's only a ball," but being that it was their only ball, Gabriel was determined to find it.

As Gabriel took his first steps into the forest the first thing he noticed was that it was very dark and the atmosphere was very different than it was in the park. The dense trees and bushes blocked out almost all the sunlight making it impossible for Gabriel to see anything, yet alone find a ball the size of his fist. But Gabriel, being young and foolish continued his search. As he reached what he thought was the center of the woods, he saw a woman sitting on a fallen tree trunk holding the ball he'd been searching for. He approached her in a very calm and collected manner.

"Mam, you're a life saver! You see, my friend hit that ball into these woods by mistake and I've been looking for it for about an hour now." Gabriel said very excitedly. Gabriel's happy attitude didn't seem to phase the woman at all, and she remained silent. The woman's silence angered Gabriel, and he began to yell.

"Have it your way!" Gabriel screamed. And as he reached to grab the ball out of the woman's hand, the woman ripped his tongue right out of his mouth and began licking it as if she were savoring a perfectly cooked steak.

Then as Gabriel lay face up in a pool of his own blood, the woman stood over him and in a overly calm voice said, "Children my boy, are meant to be seen and not heard." No one knows what happened to Gabriel. Some say he escaped, and others say his spirit still wanders the woods, tongue-less, and his body still longing to be found.

"A load of bullshit if you ask me," Jake laughed. He seemed unmoved by the story although I could tell by the look on his face that he was a little creeped out.

We drove on and soon reached Devil's Woods. As we drove through the woods, it was so dark that our headlights didn't help at all. The road, from what we could see of it, seemed endless.

We passed hundreds and hundreds of trees, and they all looked the same. We were so deep in the forest that even Jake grew a little weary.

"Dude, I think we're lost," Jake said kind of nervously.

I looked at him with a look of agreement. As if things couldn't get any worse, the gas tank was almost empty. This was just our luck. Lost in a haunted forest, surrounded by total darkness, in a car with no gas.

"All I wanted to do was get to the party faster, and now we're not gonna get there at all," Jake whimpered.

I tried to ease his sorrow by telling him that the party probably sucks anyway, but he and I both knew, that that wasn't true.  Hours passed and the darkness only grew.  I fell asleep hoping that when I'd wake up in the morning, we'd be able to at least see where we were. At around midnight Jake woke me up, it was so dark outside, that I couldn't even see him right in front of me.

"I hear something outside bro," Jake said in a trembling whisper.

As I opened the car door and got out of the car, I heard something too. It sounded sort of like a moan. Jake got out of the car and stood beside me, his body trembling. I grabbed my flashlight and turned it on, shining it in front of us. The light didn't even put a dent in the darkness.

Then, we heard a woman's voice. It sounded raspy and as though it was getting closer and closer. "Gabriel…." Jake held on to me very tightly. He was obviously terrified, as was I. "Gabriel….."

"Holy fuck dude we're gonna die!" screamed Jake.

"Gabriel……" then, before I could even attempt to calm Jake down, he was ripped from my arms. I could hear his body being dragged through the woods. I could hear him screaming, "Help me! Help me! Help me!" I was paralyzed by fear. Then, the screaming stopped.

The woods became as quiet as a library. No more rustling of leaves, no more anything. Just quiet. Even now, there is not a day that goes by when I don't remember that day. The day I lost my best friend. The day I was paralyzed by fear. The day Jake was taken….Into the darkness…..

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Reviews

Crazy Nov 25, 2011

James thats a good one man..

Amit Nov 22, 2011

One of the interesting story i have read.

Barbara Nov 22, 2011

Well written Jim except for the f-notes. Next time make it scarier.

Soniya Nov 21, 2011

Nice story.. indeed your title is very catchy...

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