What Happened That Midnight, chapter four excerpt. Feedback appreciated.
2024.11.27 06:30 Cta501 What Happened That Midnight, chapter four excerpt. Feedback appreciated.
Chapter Four: In Creighton Hall
“You—you didn’t shut those gates did you, Jason?” Austin asked, in a shaken voice.
“Now why do you think I would I be so stupid as to do that?” Jason answered. “Of course I didn’t do it! They just—just shut themselves, like that, I’m telling you.”
“More magic,” Travis muttered.
“Well, let’s see if we can open them again!” said Austin, rushing to the closed gates and pushing on them, furiously. When that did no good, he began banging on them over and over. Jason feared briefly that he might be suffering a nervous breakdown. But again, as earlier today, the gates were immovable. At last he collapsed on the floor, exhausted.
“Well!” said Travis. “There’s a nice turn of events.”
“We should never have come to this place!” Austin said. “We should never have—“
“Oh, for crying out loud, will you give me a break,” said Jason. He was also feeling unsettled, to say the least, over what had just taken place, but he certainly wasn’t going to let on. “Let’s not any of us over-react. We came here for one reason, and only one reason: to find Jacob Morris. And as far as what happened with those gates, I admit, I can’t explain it. But if you ask me we should be worried about finding him right now. We can start worrying about how to get out of here later.”
“Just great, Jason, let’s wander blindly further into—into what? We have no idea what we might find further inside this castle,” said Austin. “We could wind up in an even worse situation than the one we’re in now. We don’t know how many other doors we might have closing—and locking—on us.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Jason said.
“Face it, friends, we’re in over our heads,” said Austin. “I was against coming to this Castle in the first place, but I was willing to go alone with you two. But it’s different now. Now that we’ve seen that there really is something… well, magical to it. Something dangerous, if you ask me. We’ve got to call the police.”
He sprang to his feet and began nervously pacing before the closed gates. Jason could see he was sweating heavily, and his hands were twitching.
“Call the police?” said Jason. “I was telling you earlier why we can’t do that. The minute we do, we become the number one suspects in the murder of Jacob Morris. And don’t forget, we have our bikes parked right next to Jacob’s right now, which makes us look even more suspicious! I’m just saying. Everybody’ll think we did away with him, then hid his dead body somewhere. Believe me.”
“So what?” Austin shrugged. “So we might go to prison. Fine! I’d rather go to prison than stay in Creighton Hall, where we’re certain to DIE in no time.” He turned suddenly to Travis. “Do you have your cell phone with you? I left mine home, which I’m kicking myself for now.”
“My phone is right here in my pocket,” said Travis. “But I don’t know if I should—“
“Oh, come on, come on, Travis, can’t you see it’s the only way for us to get out of here alive?”
“And there’s another thing I’d like to say to you,” Jason broke in. “Do you realize how pathetic people will think we look if they find out we came all the way to this old castle and then wouldn’t go further in because we got scared s—-less?”
“Who cares what they think?” Austin said. “We’re talking about the difference between living and dying, here, and if you don’t mind I’d—ow!”
He broke off and ducked, raising both arms up over his head as something big and winged swept down upon him from above, so fast that it appeared as hardly more than a dark blur. A second or two later it was gone. Austin stood back up, grimacing and rubbing the top of his head.
“What happened to you?” Jason and Travis said at the same time.
“Bitten—I got bitten!” Austin said, staring up at the ceiling warily. “Some bird, I guess—agh! Here it is again!” He practically leapt to one side as the creature came back toward him for a second time, vainly swatting at the air with his hands. Then it was gone again, just like that.
“It’s a bat!” Travis said. “More than one, actually.” He was pointing his flashlight up toward the ceiling, where could be seen a handful of black shapes whirring to and fro. Maybe a dozen of them or two, Jason thought.
“They’re way bigger than any bats I’ve ever seen before,” he said, gulping. “They’re like—like giant bats. It’s crazy.”
“Are you hurt badly?” Travis said.
“Not really,” Austin said. “It only nipped me, right at the top of my head. I was able to shake it off, but….”
“There’s more of them coming! Take cover!” Jason cried out as now not just one, but several of the bats swooped down toward them at once, as if in a formation. All three boys dove to the floor, hands over their heads. The bats passed over, missing them by only a few inches.
Jason rolled over on his side.
“Listen up!” he said. “We’ve only got once choice now, fellows. We’ve got to go through that door up ahead of us. It’s the only way out of here.”
“Through the door?” said Austin. “But that’ll take us further into this blasted castle. Couldn’t we—well—-“
“Good grief, Austin, can’t you see there’s nothing else we can do?” Jason was fast losing any patience. “Can’t you see? For the last time, it’s either that or stay here and get eaten alive!”
“Something sure seems to have set these bats off, I can tell you that much!” Travis said. He was again shining his flashlight up above, where the multitude of them could be seen circling the ceiling. “I don’t know what, though. Anyhow, they clearly don’t want us around.”
Right at that moment the bats swept down at the three boys again, more of them than ever before. Again, the boys flattened themselves on the floor, hands over heads.
Jason cried out as he felt suddenly a sharp pain at the back of his neck. A bat had landed on his shoulders and was sinking its teeth in. He tried to raise his arm to brush it off, but found that his arm couldn’t move. He couldn’t move. The pain was getting stronger by the second, an icy, fiery pain. He knew that he was fast slipping away from consciousness. Distantly, he could hear the voices of his two friends calling out, “Look, look, one of these varmints has got Jason by the neck. Quick! We’ve got to shake it off. Off, you devil!”
Jason rolled over face-up, feeling more dead than alive. He barely glimpsed, above him, a huge bat lifting its’ wings back up to the darkness of the ceiling. He clutched the back of his neck, feeling the cold, wet touch of blood. Not too much of it, though, for which he was fortunate.
Travis was shaking him by the shoulder. “Jason! How are you? Are you alive?”
Jason muttered something incomprehensible before saying in a clearer voice, “Yeah, I—I guess I am.”
Travis sounded much relieved. “All right, well, let’s get a move on. Can you get up?”
“Should be able to…”
With that Jason struggled to his feet, still feeling dizzy, his head swimming. Everything around him looked blurry, out of focus. He saw Travis running to the door opposite them and fumbling with its’ handle, while behind, Austin was swearing loudly at the bats.
“Don’t tell me this door’s funky, too?” Jason said, or began to say—for at that moment it swung wide open before them. On the other side could be seen, dimly, a corridor stretching ahead. Into this the three of them scrambled, even as the bats swarmed furiously down at them one last time. Travis slammed the door shut, then sank to the floor. He looked utterly spent.
“Are we lucky to be out of there!” he said, mopping his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Yeah,” Austin said, “the question is, now what are we supposed to do?”
“Why don’t we follow this hallway, wherever it leads to?” Jason said. He was beginning to feel steady on his feet again. “That’s what I was suggesting we should do a few minutes ago. Right before we got—well, interrupted.”
“And I’m saying I’m still against it,” Austin said obstinately.
“Oh, come on, Austin, will you quit your arguing?” Travis broke in. “Listen up, I’ve got an idea. What if we all three of us agree to one hour—one hour, and not any longer—of going through the whole castle, upstairs, downstairs, looking for Jacob. If we haven’t found him by the end of that time, we’ll call the police. Sound fair?”
“One hour,” Jason grunted. He doubted that would be anywhere close to enough time, considering the size of Creighton Hall.
“One hour,” Austin repeated, scratching his head. “Well….”
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2024.11.27 06:30 Over-Investment-1547 "I like your hair" or "You have nive hair"?
The other day I woke up, and I man approached me on the subway (I'm a guy); he told me I had a nice jacket. I thanked him and he got back to his seat. However, I didn't feel anything. I had just received a compliment, and I felt nothing.
Today, on the contrary, another man approached me (Once again: I'm a guy), and he told me that HE LIKED my jacket. This time, I felt happy and satisfied.
Which made me wonder why? I had just received to almost identical compliments, but only one of them made me happy.
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When complementkng someone, don't state facts. Inform her about YOUR feelings.
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