Story time

Published June 29, 2013

A spooky, scary story

It all started when the car broke down. It was past midnight, and torrents of rain fell from the sky. Annoyed, Taylor got out and ran for cover. He was in Galveston, a seemingly deserted town. He saw an inn and ran towards it. If he had read the name of this inn, he might have not done so. It was very dark inside. The floorboards creaked loudly in the silence. Taylor wringed his hat dry and stepped to the counter. He rang the bell. It jingled so loudly that he himself jumped. No one came out. He sat on a moth-eaten chair, and then got up hurriedly because it was covered with sticky cobwebs. Thinking that the place was deserted, he was about to leave when a door creaked opened and a figure entered. It was an old man, with a long, thin face, a crooked back and sunken, yellow eyes. He gripped an old lantern with veined, knobbly hands. A few wiry strands of silvery hair fell to his shoulders. “Would you like a room to stay in?” he croaked huskily. After he had gotten over the man’s vampiric appearance, Taylor stuttered, “Yes, please. I would like to stay the night. And... er… a meal would be nice, too. ” “That would be two pounds. I will send Lucifer up with your meal.” Taylor had just taken out his wallet when the door jingled and another customer came in. He was a tall, ghostly figure; clad in a long, sweeping cloak and a hood. Taylor tried to make out his face, but it remained a shadow. Feeling sure that there was something wrong about the whole business, Taylor trudged upstairs to Room 13. He put his hand on the doorknob but withdrew it quickly; there was something dark and wet on it. He opened the door then wiped his hand on his black coat. If he had seen what that dark and wet thing was, he would have rushed headlong downstairs into the rain and ran for his dear life. Taylor looked around his room. It was large, with a bathroom and a four-poster bed. The walls were entirely black. Draperies on the walls were a creepy purple. The room was lit by candles omitting a faint, reddish glow. He went to the bathroom for a quick wash. He was feeling very sleepy now, and his eyes were barely opening. He had just stumbled into bed when there was a knock at the door. Taylor remembered his meal and grouchily got out of bed. “Come in!” The door opened so hard that it crashed against the wall. The large silhouette of a hairy, upright creature showed against the dim light as it stood in the doorway. Paralysed with fright, Taylor managed to let out a squeak. The hairy creature stepped forward into the light. Looking closely, Taylor saw that it was actually a huge, bulky man; covered entirely with hair which looked like fur. He had a nose which looked like a snout and teeth that looked like those of a dog’s. He kept licking his mouth with a red tongue. In fact, it looked suspiciously like a half-man half-wolf. He was holding a tray with a covered plate in it. “Your meal,” he growled. Unable to breathe, Taylor silently prayed to God that his suspicions were wrong; that this was not a werewolf. He took the tray, shut the door and turned the key to lock it. He did not want any midnight visitors. Taylor took the lid off the plate. A dozen dead slugs were lying in the plate, covered in oozing slime. Taylor ran to the window and threw the tray outside. Getting more frightened by the second, he flung himself into bed. Sometime later, he woke up with a stabbing pain in his head. He was having nightmares. The sooner he got out of this place the better. He shifted his position in his bed, and felt something cold and hard against him. “Um… would you mind giving me some more space?” said a hollow voice. Taylor bolted upright and looked to his right. It was a life-sized skeleton, tucked with him in bed. Taylor screamed. Yelling, he kicked the skeleton onto the floor and jumped out of the window. Lucky he landed on the flower beds, or he would have joined the staff at The Banshee Towers Inn!

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