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The Scare Shop

A Place Where All Your Fears Come True

By Shelly BartleyPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
1
Photograph By: Tom Roberts

Maria and her friends had heard about a shop where the owners scare their customers. They were at a bar one night not too far from their college. A middle-aged man came over to their table and pulled up a chair to sit down. A younger man who Maria recognized from school was with him. She had just seen the young man here and there, but she did not know him. He pulled up a chair next to the other man.

The middle-aged man ordered them another round of drinks. He introduced himself as Marco. The other man that was with him he called Jimmy. Marco asked them about a place that they were planning on going to see this weekend. Marco told them that it was a shop that scared people. He tried to find out if any of them had heard of it. Adrianna just shrugged her shoulders at him. Julia agreed with Adrianna. Denise made a crooked side smile at Maria. Maria told them that they had not heard of it. Another man walked up to slide himself in next to Maria. His name was Mavin and, he was trying to talk them into going to the scare shop. Mavin gave Maria a big gorgeous smile. She was not going to let her guard fully down at the same time.

Denise took nothing from anyone at all. If you were her friend, she had your back no matter what. She had a boyishly short hair cut with brown eyes. Adrianna wore tiny glasses that fit the frame of her perfect face. She was beautifully flawless and one of the smartest people at the school. Julia was a model and an artist. She was smart and good at everything that she did. Mavin handed Maria a piece of paper with his number on it. All the other women stood up to go. Marco lightly punched Mavin's arm to get his attention. Mavin looked over to see that all the women were standing up waiting on Maria. He had her blocked from getting out of the seat. He moved out so that Maria could get out. She could hear Mavin say goodbye to her as she opened the door and went out. The other women finally made it out to join her. Denise wrapped her arm around Maria's shoulder with a smile on her face.

They all lived in a house off-campus. When they got back to the house, they discussed everything with their other friends. Michael was always down for things like this. Michael was a regular guy, but he loved to work out. Michael was also a joker with everybody. When it came to school and other stuff, he took them seriously. He got the things done that he needed to get done, but he also enjoyed life. Elizabeth spent her time in her science classes. She did not go to the same school as the others, but her school was also in the area. Elizabeth got all good grades and still enjoyed life with her boyfriend, Michael. They all agreed that they were going to go with Mavin and the others to the scare shop.

Maria phoned Mavin the next day to let him know that they would all go with them. Maria got the address from Mavin so that they could meet them there. He asked her if she would go out for coffee with him sometime. She said yes and that they would set up a time when to meet at the scare house. They said their goodbyes then got off the phone. Before they knew the weekend was on them and it was the day that they were to go to the scare house. Maria phoned Mavin to find out what time they were going to leave. They were all going to meet outside of the shop at 8 P.M. Outside of the shop, Mavin and the other guys were all gathered. They were waiting when Maria and the others walked up. They all lined up outside the door. The doors opened up right at 8 P.M. on the dot. A woman who looked like she was in her late sixties opened the door. She was, wearing a vampire costume with half of her face melting off. She pointed the men to the left door and the women to the right door. Mavin gave Maria a wide-eyed look and then shrugged his shoulders. He bowed to her, then smiled as he waved to her. All of the men went through the door on the left. Maria and the other women all walked through their door to see a cart just inside. They all climbed in to sit in their seats.

The lights went out for a little over ten minutes. Maria could hear scraping sounds all around them. Along with the scraping sounds, there would be little sparkles of light as if someone were sharpening a knife on a machine. When the lights came back on, a woman wearing a white and red doll mask was standing in front of the cart. She had a ruby-red tattered dress with red-faded shoes. She bowed to them, then stepped to the right side of the cart. Another young woman appeared in the same spot that the other young woman had first been. Her dress was black, with a bluebird for a mask. She bowed to them, then stepped off to the left side of the cart. The ride started, and they began to move. Maria could see the two young women behind them were both just standing and watching them. They both waved to Maria while the cart went through the next doors.

At the first stage, their cart stopped where they were waiting on the door to open. The seats locked them in. Maria looked at all of her friends to see that they could not move or get loose. The door opened to show Jimmy tied to a table. There was a group of people all seated around him like at a dinner table. The people began to tear at Jimmy while he screamed. Maria and all the girls were trying to get loose to help him. It was no point in trying there, was no way to escape to help. They could still hear Jimmy as the cart moved to the next door. A man in a gorilla mask walked out of the door behind Marco. He flipped Marco's chair back and walked over to a can of liquid. He picked up the can of liquid holding it with both hands. The man walked back over to the chair, where Marco is securely tied up. He was standing on the side of the chair. The can gets lifted above Marco's head when it with the liquid pouring into Marco's mouth. The man walked over to pull a sheet off of several more cans that were just like the one that he poured into Marco's mouth. He picked up another can then walked forward to look at Maria and the other women. He bowed to them and then walked back to Marco to repeat what he had done with the other can. The man in the gorilla mask stopped after the third can. Marco's chair got pulled back into the wall behind him. The door shut, the ride began to move again.

The next-door opened up to show Michael. Elizabeth began screaming his name while trying again to get loose. She was shaking her head. A woman wearing a witches costume popped up from behind him. He was in an up position hanging from the ceiling. She let out a high-pitched giggle while she was walking over to a switch. The moment that she flipped the switch, Michael's arms and legs got pulled in different directions. The witch turned the switch off and walked over to Michael. She began to make carvings on his face and arms. Once she finished, she walked back to turn around and look at Elizabeth shaking her head no. The witch gave her a thumbs down as a curtain fell around them. Elizabeth had passed out by this time. The ride had come to a stop. The two young women at the start of the ride came out from the sides of the ride. They had followed them the entire time. After they reached where Elizabeth passed out, they let her free. They picked her up and began to carry her away. Maria and the other women were yelling for Elizabeth.

A very tall man stood in front of the ride staring at them. This man was wearing a suit and gold mask that looked like a hockey mask. He walked around a few times then stopped to look at directly at Adrianna. He walked over to stand next to her. He stepped back with his finger pointed at her while shaking his head yes at the door behind them. The lights went out again while the cart began to shake. Julia and Adrianna were screaming as loud as they could. The lights came back to show that both Adrianna and Julia were gone. Maria looked next to her to see that Denise was also gone. She was the only one left in the cart.

Behind this door was a statue of Elizabeth. The eyes began to move when the two women that came out at the beginning of the ride came out. They showed Maria that Elizabeth got covered in wax. When the curtains behind the next door spread, both Julia and Adrianna got secured up on different walls. The man in the suit and the hockey mask came out with a tall woman in a sparkling dress. She was also wearing a hockey mask. The man and woman carried both Adrianna and Julia behind the curtains. After a little time, the curtains opened up on both sides. Adrianna got turned into a stitched together doll while Julia turned into a plastic doll covered.

The cart moved to another door that opened up to show Mavin. Mavin was standing staring at her with a big smile on his face. The door behind him opened up to show the two women from the beginning of the ride carrying Denise out. They sat Denise in a metal chair in the middle of the room. Mavin pointed up toward the ceiling, where Maria looked to see the spikes pointing out. Mavin pulled out a chair for him to sit and watch. He was sitting next to a switch that he pulled. The ceiling began lowering toward Denise. Just as the spikes got part of the way, she woke up to see what was happening. She kept trying to get away but could not. The pointed end was just above Denise, curtains closed. After a few minutes, Maria heard Denise scream. Maria was now let loose. She climbed out of the ride to run. The lights went off, and she could not see where she was going. When the lights came back on, she got surrounded when the lights were off. Maria noticed a loose pipe inside of the cart. She slammed it against Mavin's head then shoved past the others. Maria was trying to open the door when she heard a familiar voice.

Denise yelled at her trying to explain that it was just a joke. Maria could hear what she was saying at all. She was way too shaken to hear anything. Maria was still trying to get out of the door. If anyone got near to her, she would hit them with the pipe that she still had in her hand. When the police and the ambulance showed up, Maria had taken everyone out except for Denise. Denise was hiding on the floor. She kept saying it was just a joke over and over again. Maria picked up one of the doll masks. She placed it on her face, then walked out the side door.

fiction
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About the Creator

Shelly Bartley

From a very young age, I have always written anything from poetry to books. Enjoy painting and other arts. Have written a few songs and short stories to.

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