The Withered Hand

An eerie silence surrounded the old cemetery. The wind did not even dare to blow through the dead branches of the trees. The night was still, no clouds obscuring the light from the full moon up above. It seemed this night would be perfect for their plan.

They sat down in a circle of four, all shrouded in black, in an empty patch of land not too far from the rows of tombstones. They set up a circle in the dirt placing a five pointed star in the center. They all joined hands and said their chant as the star began to glow.

They all looked around and saw that nothing had happened. Disappointment filled their faces, their leader gave a frustrated growl. The four packed up their things and headed off toward the exist.

Unknown to them, their spell had worked. It had worked all too well. In a nearby grave, with a cracked tombstone, the dirt began to stir. A withered hand emerged from the turning dirt, as a cloud moved over the only light offered from the moon.

Evie sat on her bed. She was your typical teenage girl, phone in one hand, nail polish brush in the other, as she talked away to a friend and placed the final coat on already deep red toes. Her long dark strands were pulled into a pony tail, her scrunchie matching the light grey and pink sweat suit she wore. A smile spread across her dark, full lips, as she giggled a reply to the party on the phone, "Jeremy! No way!" A small hesitate as she giggled again, "There is no way Amanda did that. NO!" Her eyes grew wider as proof had obviously been given. "I gotta go. I have to meet the guys... No you can't come with... I mean it Jeremy... You know how they are... I love you too... Adios." She placed the receiver on the cradle and slipped off the bed, walking over to her closet.

As she rummaged through the many shirts she owned, a light scratching at her window sounded. She canted her head as she slowly stepped away from the closet, turning her head to the window where the sound came from.

Much to her surprise, there was nothing there. Just the endless acres of land her family owned. Something outside seemed to catch her eye. She opened the window and leaned out a bit to see if she could identify what was down below. "Just a stupid cat", she thought with a shrug. She let out a relieved sigh and moved back into her room. Just as she was about to close the window, a withered hand appeared and grabbed her pulling her out. She let out a terrified scream as she fell those three stories to the ground below.

News of Evie's death traveled fast. The whole town knew what happened, though none knew exactly how. Even the police and the coroner were at a loss as to how a girl as bright as Evie had been, could have just fallen out of her bedroom window.

Matthew sat in his house, the oldest of the bunch at eighteen. He was clad all in black, even his lipstick and nail polish matched. His shoulder length natural black hair laid upon his shirt as his deep blue eyes looked to the other two.

Cassie was in tears, her blue mascara trailing down her pale, freckled face. Her light green eyes looked to Matthew for an answer, as her hands ran through her curly platinum mop.

Alex sat crossed legged, there in body, but his mind elsewhere. He ran an olive hand through his spiked up brown hair. His tongue ring clicking against his teeth. He arched a pierced brow to Cassie, then to Matthew as he too did not know what to say to this news.

Matthew broke their uncomfortable silence. His voice was deep and concerned. "What happened to Evie..It's not normal. We all know she didn't just FALL out of her window. How many times have we all sat on that roof ledge, none of us have so much as stumbled. No, Evie was murdered. I think I know how." The other two looked to him questioningly. Surely Matthew couldn't be right. Who would have wanted Evie dead?

Alex was always one to speak his mind, "Matt; There's no way Evie was murdered. Everyone in this town loved her." Matthew shook his head. "Not everyone my friend..." He replied almost knowingly. Brows were arched as Cassie and Alex looked to Matthew. "I happen to know Jeremy didn't love her." Matthew stated. "what?! Matt, Jeremy loved the very ground she walked on" Cassie protested. Matthew growled, "No he didn't! He only loved the money Evie had. Don't you find it strange that right after Evie's father lost his job, Evie dies?" "I-I guess that does seem a bit off..." Cassie admitted sadly. Matthew looked to Alex and the two nodded to each other.

Inside the school locker room, a tall sandy haired boy stood before his locker in nothing more than a pair of jockey's. Sorrow filled those large brown depths as he looked to a picture of Evie hanging on the inside of his locker door.

The locker door slammed shut with a loud bang. Matthew stood beside the boy a malicious smirk on his black painted lips. The sandy haired boy jumped and looked for an escape route, but as he turned in the other direction he was met by Alex who wore the same smirk.

"Well, well Jeremy, How is life treating you now that Evie gone?" Alex asked, his voice low and ominous. "Wha-what are you talking about Alex?" Jeremy answered scared out of his wits now. "We know you killed her...We'd like to know why." Matthew replied in a low growled voice. "What?! Are you insane?! I would never hurt Evie, Matt you know that. How could you accuse me of killing her?!" Jeremy snapped, outraged.

Matthew slammed Jeremy up against the row of lockers. "You listen to me, and you listen good boy. If I find out you killed Evie... You will be very, VERY sorry. Do you understand me?" Jeremy gave a wide-eyed nod of his head as Matthew released him. He watched as Matthew and Alex then turned and walked away.

That night, back at Matthew's house, the three again met. All had agreed that it wasn't Jeremy that had killed Evie. "Then who?" Alex asked with a sigh. " M-maybe...We did." Cassie piped up. Matthew and Alex both looked at her. "I mean, what if the spell worked? What if it was something we conjured?" She thought out loud. "You were there Cassie.. We didn't conjure anything. The spell failed." Matthew pointed out . "We must have done something wrong. If whatever we conjured did kill Evie...It will be after us next." Cassie pointed out. The three looked at each other solemnly.

For days Matthew, Cassie, and Alex did their best to keep their spirits up. They tried undoing the spell they had done what seemed so long ago, but to no avail. They knew their day was coming, that soon they would face what they created.

That time w as closer then they thought. Alex and Cassie arrived at Matthew's house. Much to their surprise, the front door was wide open. It had been a month since they had started all this. They stepped inside knowing something was terribly wrong. The door slammed shut behind them. Cassie jumped, grabbing Alex's arm as she screamed in terror, her eyes falling on Matthew's body dangling from the door stop. "Oh shit!" Alex stated in shock as his own eyes fell upon his fallen friend. "We have to get out of here!" Cassie stated as she ran for the back door, Alex following close behind.

Alex couldn't keep up, he was grabbed from behind. A withered hand came to cover his mouth, stifling his cries of pain as his blood splattered on the walls in large spurts. A soft thud was heard throughout the house as Alex's body fell to the floor, sprawling in an unnatural angle.

Cassie reached the back door and tried to pull it open, and failed. "Alex help me get the door open!" She said frantically. After a few minutes of getting no answer, she whispered softly, "Alex..." She turned around slowly and let out a blood curdling scream.

An eerie silence surrounded the old cemetery. The wind did not even dare to blow through the dead branches of the trees. The night was still, no clouds obscuring the light from the full moon up above, as the withered hand slowly sank back into the ground from where it had come from.