The moon hovered high in the inky sky, casting a ghostly glow over the cobblestone street. A solitary streetlamp flickered erratically, its light barely piercing the thick veil of darkness. The crunch of gravel underfoot grew louder as Bianca approached the iron gates of the graveyard, separating the world of the living from the realm of the dead.
“You’re not really going through with this, are you?” read a text message of her best friend.
Bianca glanced at her phone screen, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “You bet,” she replied. “I’m going live on Instagram right now.”
The challenge had gone viral—snapping selfies or taking videos with the most famous grave marker at the local cemetery. Some were historical figures, while others were local celebrities or tragic heroes. It was macabre, sure, but like many other influencers, Bianca was willing to do anything for likes. And the gravestone she had in mind was surely going to create a storm online.
The blonde girl pushed the gates open, the rusty hinges groaning in protest. The cemetery was eerily quiet except for the occasional hoot of an owl and the distant murmur of a night breeze playing through the leaves. The headstones stood like silent sentinels, their inscriptions long faded by the relentless march of time.
Her heart raced as she weaved through the tombstones, the names and dates a blur under the artificial light of her phone.
Her stop was a few rows deep into the cemetery, where the graves grew more ornate and the air grew thicker with the scent of decaying flowers. Finally, she found the grave she was looking for: ‘Theodore Cleaver’. He had been a notorious serial killer, his story a gruesome chapter in the town’s history.
The stark whiteness of her skin contrasted with the dark shadow of the tombstone, creating a dramatic backdrop for her live stream. She leaned in, pouted her lips, and showed the world her achievement. The flash illuminated the inscription ‘Rest in pieces’ etched onto the stone, and the people watching her live stream went crazy.
Suddenly, however, the serenity of the night was shattered by a distant cackle, sending a chill down her back. The sound grew closer, and Bianca swore to her followers that she heard the rustle of fabric against the leaves. She spun around, her eyes searching the darkness beyond the reach of the flickering streetlamp.
The shadows grew restless, twisting and contorting into eerie shapes. Then, a figure emerged from the gloom, its silhouette a twisted parody of a human form. Long, bony arms reached out. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent hunger, and it began to shuffle towards her with a jerky, unnatural gait.
Bianca’s breath caught in her throat. Her hand trembled as she clutched her phone, trying to show the world the abomination appearing before her, but her surroundings where too dark and foggy. The creature was unlike anything she had ever seen—a monstrous amalgamation of decayed flesh and sharpened bone.
With a burst of adrenaline, Bianca sprinted through the graveyard, trying to get out quickly. In her escape, her smartphone slipped from her trembling hand, clattering to the ground.
For a split second, she thought about leaving it behind, continuing her desperate dash towards the gates. But the siren call of her digital life was too strong. She skidded to a halt, her sneakers screeching against the stone path. She glanced around, but there was no sight of the creature in the thick fog.
She dashed back to where her phone lay, the blue light from the screen pulsing like a beacon in the darkness. As she bent to retrieve it, she noticed the the creature’s reflecting off the screen. It was behind her, closer than she had ever dared to imagine.
She screamed, her voice piercing the quiet of the night. Before she could move, the ghoul grabbed her tight. She wasn’t going to get a second chance to get away.
