Ch. 4: Awaken

Outside of town, not too far from the nearest exit, an old cemetery sit within a patch of dried woodland. An old, rusted fence surrounds the property. However, the large gate is opened slightly, perhaps due to someone that sneaked inside. Many tombstones and small monuments are seen within, all different shapes and sizes for each individual who were buried here. Some are lesser known and some who were wealthy or influential during their tome alive. Walking around in complete fog and pure moonlight, a grave watcher is seen, walking around, carrying a flashlight and a shovel in case of any disturbed grave sites that were violated by grave robbers. But what he didn't know, tonight is special. A group of mischievous, daredevils sneak in without being spotted by him. The group consist of a small clique of college students on a winter break. Their main objective is to find a certain place within the ancient cemetery. They giggle as they quietly trek through the cemetery only to come across a sort of large structure. Its structure takes after the Gothic outlook and gargoyle statues are seen on the four corners of the roof. A stone door is in place with a large handle and lock. One of the students step up and set down her pack and start searching inside until she takes out a hairpin. She has a pale complexion to her skin. She is wearing a beanie with a light coat and jeans. Her blonde hair stretch to her waist. One of the students keep a lookout for the grave watcher. He is dressed in black sport pants and a red sweater. He is also appearing to be wearing glasses. After a few minutes, she is able to unlock the heavily placed door. She tries to push, but she can't push it open with her strength. She called out to another young man to help her out. He is wearing a sort of letterman jacket that is blue and gray with some football logos on the shoulders, hinting he played football. He assist her, pushing it, until a loud creak is heard, giving them hope, but it may also alert the grave watcher. Soon, the other that is on lookout goes to help and soon, they succeeded. They silently cheer until they heard footsteps coming their way. They alerted the grave watcher. They all head inside and close the door. They all release a sigh of relief. They look around to find themselves in a rather large room despite how it look on the outside. Nothing but empty space, no catacombs or stone coffins are seen. Soon, the jock stands straight up.

"Alright people." The young man said to his small group. "Now that we found the place, let's get searching."

"Umm, guys? Are...... are you sure it's ok to be here? It's too nasty and humid here." The last member observe and whine. A young woman who appears to be a bit younger than the others. Her brownish red hair is in a bun and her brown eyes dash around in the darkness until the other students takes out their flashlights.

"Come on, Nina, you're always against this kind of thing." The blonde respond to the girl called Nina. "We are just passing through to see if this so called, "legend" is the real deal."

"Who knows? We'll never know what we find here." The other young man added. He adjust his glasses and flash around. "This tomb looks to be older than the graveyard, perhaps before there was...."

"Ah, ah, ah, Josh." The jock, Mike, interrupted the one called Josh. "I am not going to have a lecture during winter break."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get down to business." The blonde said before walking off towards what seems to be an entrance ahead. The others soon follow behind. They enter the doorway to reveal a stairway heading downward towards darkness. They descend down the stairs. The rock walls feels cold to the touch, even with gloves. Sounds of water droplets falling and hitting the ground is heard. Soon, after a few minutes, they reach the bottom, finding themselves in yet, another large tomb. However, large meat hooks are hanging above them on both sides of the room. Even more creepy, remains of human skeletons litter the floor, whatever meat they had rotted away in time or scavenged by rats or bugs. Even worse, a hangman's noose is swinging just above them. At the other end, another doorway is in sight.

"This place is starting to give me the chills." The blonde stated, rubbing her hands together.

"Can't blame you, Michelle. I even start to feel uncomfortable here. But we can't chicken out just yet." The jock responded. Nina shakes her head.

"Whatever. I can't take it anymore. I'm going back up. You all can finish without me." Nina confesses as she walks back up the stairs. As soon she left, they snicker.

"Wuss."

"Scaredy Cat."

"Coward."

They soon burst out laughing until Josh look over to the doorway to find in a brief moment, a tall, hooded figure moving away from the door.

"What's wrong, Josh?" The athlete, Mike, asked.

"I swore I thought I saw someone moving away. Must be the darkness playing tricks on me. Anyway, let's check it out."

They all agree and continue forward, entering the doorway. They find themselves in a smaller room. In the middle of it, a large metallic coffin is seen. Josh and Mike goes up to the coffin and look at each other and nod. They go to pry at it until it open with a loud creaking sound. Inside are a bunch of sharp spikes stained with dried blood. Josh and look around the empty casket and room, but nothing is seen. Mike was stepping back towards the entrance they came in, unaware that this is the last time they will see Mike again.

"Well, I guess we proved that the legend is nothing but a bedtime horror story, right, Mike? Mike?" Michelle asked Mike, but the jock is nowhere to be seen. They shake their heads. He couldn't possibly get far. Michelle gets out of the room.

"I swear, Mike. If you try to scare me, I'm gonna....... OH MY GOD! MIKE!"

Josh rush out the room to where Michelle is, who is on the floor, covering her mouth, her shocked eyes running with tears and staring at something.

"Michelle, what's wrong? What...."

Before he could finish, he look up to where Michelle is looking. What he saw, horrified him to his very core, down to his soul. Hanging from the same noose, hangs Mike. His lifeless body slightly swings about, hinting it is very recent. Josh gather his train of thought and look back at the crying and shocked Michelle.

"We need to get out. We need to get to Nina and get the hell out of here."

"O-ok. Let's...."

Her skin becomes more pale than before and cover her mouth once again, trying so hard not to scream.

"Michelle, what's going on now?"

She point and mouth, "There's something behind you. There's  someone behind you. Don't look back, just come to me."

He was confused about this until he felt a very freezing breeze breathing down on his neck, giving him severe chills down his spine. Behind Josh, stands a giant of a man who looks to be over seven feet. A black executioner hood covers his head and face, revealing only his left eye, which is pale with a white pupil. He is wearing a long, black coat with his left sleeve torn off, revealing his slight muscular arm, but some scars are seen. A pair of black rubber gloves outfitted on both his hands. Black heavy boots are also seen. A black, slightly ripped up shirt with matching trousers are seen as well. In his left hand, a noose. Michelle thought the mysterious figure must be blind, so she signal Josh to move quietly away from him. He slightly nod and slowly stepping away, little by little. Then, the figure suddenly grab Josh by the back of his throat and quickly dragging him back inside the small room, slamming the door shut, proving her wrong, very wrong. The muffled sounds of Josh screaming is heard from the other side, prompting Michelle to get up and head up the stairs. The screams then turns into choking sounds and struggling until only silence is heard. The door towards the little room crack open to reveal the hanging shadow of Josh's body and the looming shadow of the figure. Michelle finally reaches the top after falling a few times from feeling so much fear. She sees Nina sitting on the steps in front of the door.

"Nina, thank goodness you're okay. We need to go. Now."

Nina look up to see Michelle. "Michelle, what happened? Where's Mike and Josh?"

"They're dead. That thing killed them. Hurry! Open the...."

Before she could finish, a large, gloved hand grabs her leg and drag her back down into the darknesss, screaming. Terrified, Nina desperately tries to open the heavy door, but it won't budge. She continues until something opens it from the other side. It was the watcher. She scramble out and quickly urge him to shut it.

"What are you kids doing here? You're trespassing on private property." The watcher said. She look up at him and plead with him.

"Please, you got to get me out of here. Something killed my friends in there. Something...."

"Wait...... wait.... does it wears a hood?" He asked her. She nod in response. His face whiten and his tired eyes spring to life.

"Go, go. You must warn the town. I'll stall it long enough for you to get away. Go!"

She did not hesitate and head for the gate immediately. Once she is out the gates, screaming is heard behind her. Terror stricken, she continues running until she is out of sight of the graveyard, not daring to look back once.

Standing outside the gates, the same hooded figure is seen, clutching his noose. He look down at it and growl, sounding very raspy and dead. He slowly walk down the dirt road, heading for the town of Petlya Palacha. The Hooded Hangman has returned from the dead.

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