Annie Torn was really looking forward to today. Her parents had been still amazed that their almost adult daughter was still enjoying it. "Instead of finally having a boyfriend, you still go begging alone," always said her mum with a smile. This year's Halloween was dated on Friday.
Annie was a loner. She had never created profile on any social network. She didn't care that almost everyone had it. She seemed it as totally useless. Annie just didn't understand what the others see on that. She even didn't have her own computer. Whenever she needed something to do for school, she used her parent's one. She kept wondering why someone had to be connected there practically all the time. She would definitely not like that. Annie spent her free time mostly in the local library. She could be there permanently. Sometimes she even didn't borrow anything at all and just walked through the shelves full of books. She always took a few of that and sat with them. She loved history, especially the Queen Victoria era.
But today the library was closed. As always on Halloween. Annie already got to used it. Ever since she first went trick-or-treating with her father as a five-year-old girl, she went regularly every year. And everytime she had a different costume. For that reason she always visited Mr. Rippley's Funny Shop. She didn't like masks, she preferred to make her make up by her own. And then she spent a few hours in bathroom to properly set up. She loved it, utterly adore it! After that she felt to be completely different person. That was the reason why she cared so much about it.
She was used to walk alone. She had almost no friends but she didn't mind it. Especially not on Halloween. She had her own world. And it perfectly suited her.
This year she chose zombie. Because she wanted to be perfect at it, she had been in the bathroom for over three hours. Her parents had tried to talk out of that several time before but always with a failure. It could be said that she became addicted to it.
First a thin layer of make up, then gradually ad more. Apply gently and slowly. Trace eyes mines. Cover eyebrows. Don't forget about the neck. Annie also bought a few packages of fake blood this year. She always wanted to look as believable as possible. She was true perfectionist about that.
...
It was the highest time to go. She still tried to walk in properly creeping way in front of the mirror for a while. Annie opened the door and walked into cold dark. Grinning pumpkins were glowing all around there, the girl also noticed groups of carollers in the distance. She still didn't know where to go first. It was just a small town so it really didn't matter. So she thought of going to the local cemetery at first and decided there. It was about a quarter of an hour from the house.
Even during the day the cemetery looked pretty scary. Now, of course, much more. The entrance was made by huge decorated gate, one of its wing was still open. There were two torsos on each sides. A statue of a raven was placed on each concrete pillar of the fence. But some of them were already falling off. And the town just didn't have money for repair and throwing out. About two weeks ago, an old gravedigger died and the new one didn't really care about the cemetery. So the most people cherished the graves of their loved ones by themselves. Even so, many of them were unmaintained and covered with moss and other weeds.
The new gravedigger's name was Crayton. Nobody knew his first name. He was greyish old man, a grumbler, and when he very rarely spoke, he alway roared because he was completely deaf in one ear and could hear little on the other. No one had ever seen him outside the graveyard, not even to go buy food or other stuff. Many people considered him as crazy weirdo. The small children were afraid of him and nothing could forced them to stop at the cemetery. Crayton also had his own world.
Annie often went for a small walk after school and usually always stayed at the graveyard gate. But she had seen Crayton perhaps just only once.
He was there today. He was digging a new grave because the pharmacist Willis' wive died in the morning. He always digged twice, then stabbed the showel into the ground and leant against it, then pulled a flask from his breast pocket and drank. Annie was looking at him from the distance for a while even she didn't know why. Suddendly something strange happened. She didn't really get what was that. He was still digging and all of a sudden he just disappeared. Only the showel stayed stabbed. He who digs a pit for others falls in himself, mindlessly thought Annie. She was still starring, mouth wide opened and she just was unable to move. She wanted to scream but the vocal cords didn't listen.
"Mr. Crayton!" she shouted after a while and ran to the fresh grave.
"Mr..." the words stuck in her throat. The hole was empty. She really didn't understand that. After all, he was there a moment ago. He couldn't just vanish like in the wonderland. Then she thought that he maybe went to his little dilapitated shed. She took the door handle but it was locked. Annie knocked and called for a several time but without any respond. She looked to the room though a small window. There was a dimness inside. The tiny table and chair with one shorter leg was placed in the center of the room. There was a small cupboard in the corner. But no one was there.
Suddenly there was heard sound of tinkle. It just the showel fell down and struck on alongside tombstone. Annie was pretty scared. She called Crayton's name once again and then she slowly walked out. She thought that she should tell someone about it. Even though they would consider her as a fool. But there was nothing normal about that.
She was just walking next to fresh grave when suddenly something caught her leg. She turned rashly and quickly and what she saw it completely took her breath away. A skeletal hand held her firmly out of a dug hole. All at once the second tremendous hand emerged from the dirt and both of them began to slowly pull the girl into the grave. Annie was highly screaming, her eyes were popping out of her sockets, trying to free herself from fixed grip. But there was absolutely nothing she could do about that. And then some kind of octopus-like shaggy tentacles gradually came out from the grave and started to tightly wrap her body. The girl fell down to the hole. She was still laying there, tied up with skeletal hands, tucked in a soil till its wrist. Annie raised her head but at the same moment the other tentacle appeared and began to choke her unbearably. The girl tried to catch her breath with gasping.
Suddenly she heard a whistling from above. But she didn't see anything. And then abruptly Crayton occured there, with the showel leant on his shoulder. He grunted some old worn-out song. He was standing there on the edge of the grave and just looking at her. Then he smiled. No, it wasn't smile at all. Annie had never seen anything scarier and nastier like this. It reminded her one depiction of Satan which she had accidentally seen in the library. Crayton's eyes fiery glowed. He started whistling once again. He took the showel in his hands and began to scoop up the dirt with it. Annie wanted to shout but she simply couldn't. She was still trapped in the grip of awful tentacles and skeletal hands. She tried to free herself but with absolutely no success. She felt how the first spray of clay hit her on the face. She tried helplessly to kick and thrash her hands. The second spray struck her chest. She shook her head just as Crayton threw another batch of soil at her.
...
In a few minutes later the cemetery was completely calm and quiet.
The End
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