How To Tell A Ghost Story

It was the last weekend before graduation.

They did what most teenagers do. Sam’s family had a lake house that they rarely used. Her parents didn’t even question why she wanted the keys they were too busy with other things.

And so the six of them went up there to celebrate the end of high school.

The cabin was three hours away. They left later then they meant to and it was darker than they were used to in the city.

This of course did not stop them from raiding the cabin’s liquor cabinet. Each of them grabbing a bottle of something different. They brought stacks of red solo cups and cans of pop which made up the majority of their sustenance for the weekend. Perhaps it was best that there were no adults to watch 17 year old whiskey get mixed with Mountain Dew.

They stumbled out of the back door and walked the hundred yards to the beach where despite their growing collective inebriation one of them managed to start a fire in the pit.

The water lapped pleasantly against the shore and the stars shone over head. But, the orange glow of the fire made for a spookier atmosphere than any of them intended.

Which of course meant that it was the opportune time for the young boys to try and scare the young girls in a immature display of machismo that their hormone addled minds concocted as a way to get laid.

And so the first boy tried to tell a story. He spoke about a crazed man who killed a group of people in town.

It received a tepid response.

One of the young women tried her hand. She told them about how the lake house was actually haunted and after staying in the cabin people went insane and one of them would quietly go crazy and slowly kill the rest of them off. She made up a news report of a similar thing happening.

It got a better reaction. But still no one was really scared.

Each of them tried to tell a scary story but all of their attempts fell flat. It seems like no one would be scared that evening.

Until a voice spoke from just outside the fire’s reach.

“You call those ghost stories?” a gravelly voiced ask and a man walked closer. He had bloodshot grey eyes. Grey like the lake on a cloudy day. His beard was a tangle of wiry hairs and his skin worn and weathered from years outside.

No one knew where the man came from. They assumed he was one of the neighbors.They had seen an old house down the road with a candle in the window.

“Those are the worst stories I’ve even heard,” his voice harsh and raspy, “They wouldn’t scare a toddler.”

He didn’t move from where he was.

“Besides no need to make up things with what’s happened in these waters.”

That got their attention.

“Have you heard of Abigail Bates?”

The teenagers are shook their heads.

“She was about your age. Her parents let her stay here by herself while they ran back to the city. They would be back in the morning. They thought everything would be fine.”

He paused letting the kids hang on his words.

“They were very, very wrong. That night Abigail was watching TV like any other summer night. She didn’t hear anyone come in through the back door. In fact, she didn’t know anything was wrong until these tough, strong hands grabbed her and dragged her out of the house. She tried to scream but he held her mouth closed.

“She struggled against him but it was no use. No one was coming to help. Her family could still see the tracks in the sand where she was dragged into the water.

The old man paused.

“They never found her body though.”

They kids could barely believe what they were hearing.

They were so entranced by the story they didn’t even hear the girl walk out the water. She was dripping water onto the sand.

The teenagers around the fire screamed when they finally saw her.

The man could only laugh.

“See kids,” he said, “The first rule of telling a ghost story is…”

None of them could believe what they were seeing. They woman’s grey body and wet hair and the mean look on her face. They were all sure it was Abigail the woman from the story.

She started to laugh as she saw how frightened they were.

The man continued, “First you need a ghost.”