The Re-occurrence

Somewhere in the dark, there is a figure that stands tall, motionless, quiet. Yet, in the midst of its presence is a re-occurrence. A deeply dreaful re-occurrence.

"Taylor? Is that you!"

"Yeah."

"Okay, okay, good. Come with me this way." Penny grabbed Taylor’s arm and began to lead him to where she believed the exit was. Their breathing was heavy, bodies tired — exhausted.

Penny’s breathing grew heavier.

"Penny? You alright?"

Her breathing into heaving into growling. Taylor’s breathing into heaving into screaming.

The dead of Night swallowed them both whole. Nothing left but cold.

A dark figure stood at the mouth of it all.

FIVR YEARS LATER

The bell rang, unleashing Ms. Temah's students. Everything seemed to fly around the classroom in a hurry to go home. Ms. Temah, shouting over the slamming books and the clamour of students, reminded them of their assignment that week.

“Two. Thousand. Words. People!”

The classroom was empty and clear as if nothing had occurred that day. Ms. Temah sat in her chair with the weight of the world on her chest. She looked out the window, and all she could see were the same black clouds she had seen five years previously.

Dread sunk her heart down into her gut.

The dead of night. A voice buzzed within her. Her entire body turned to goosebumps. She tried to shake it off her shoulders, but it wouldn’t shake.

“Ms. Temah?” A small lanky boy from her class stood awkwardly at her desk.

“YES?!” She jolted from her daymare.

“S-s-s-orry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I know it’s after school hours, but I just wanted to ask you a quick question.”

Sweat leaked from Ms. Temah’s pores.

Dead of Night. Dead of night. DEAD OF NIGHT. Louder and louder, it came from the back of her head to the front and out of her mouth like pungent bile.

“The Dead of Night!! It’s here! It’s here!!”

Heavy breathing turned into heaving, into growling.

That poor student stood breathing, then heaving, then screaming.

The dead of Night swallowed them whole.

On the other side of the classroom door stood a figure, dark and alone.

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Author's Note

As a kid, I really loved R.L. Stine, Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark, Adobe Angels, and so much more. This story was a homage to some of the tales my friends and I would tell each other around Halloween time.

We would always see how we could one-up each other with creepiness. One of our friends got our whole class to believe that a ghost haunted the bathroom near the principal's office (it was the only bathroom that seemed to have squeaky pipes).

Fun Fact: During the editing of this story, I nearly jumped straight out of my desk chair to the sound of my neighbour coming home from work. Needless to say, I was invested in this one. Hope you enjoyed it!

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What are some scary stories you heard in school amongst classmates? What were some scary stories that impacted your childhood? Did you avoid certain places or bathrooms (lol)?

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