Graveyard Diaries #5: Vampires Are Not Your Friends
Mitch and his friends lived on the edges of each one Mitch liked autumn Many of the leaves had already fallen but there were a lot of reds and yellows on the trees Mitch kicked through some leaf piles on the dirt path He heard someone running through the leaves behind him He turned to look It was the new girl Hi Mitch she called Hi he said Um It’s Mercy she said Did you forget my name already No Mitch said I just couldn’t remember it Isn’t that the same as forgetting Mitch kicked at the leaves I guess Mercy laughed I was out running I love to run This cemetery seems like a good place to do it Yeah Mitch said It’s peaceful No cars Lots of birds and rabbits 8
Is it always peaceful she asked There must be ghosts Aren’t they in every graveyard Mitch nodded Of course he said Mitch had seen some strange things in this cemetery Ghosts and other spirits All four graveyards were haunted Mitch and his friends often got together to talk about scary things they’d come across They called their group the Zombie Hunters They’d had some battles with evil spirits Mitch pointed toward a group of old gravestones under a big dark tree See those he said One night I was coming through here on my bike It was about ten o’clock I looked over there and got the scare of my life Four ghosts were dancing on the graves I could see them clearly Did they see you I don’t think so Mitch said I was only eight and I’d never seen a ghost 9
before And here were four of them They were singing and À oating and howling Cool It didn’t seem cool at the time Mitch said I didn’t come near this place at night for months But you do now Mercy said Come out at night Sure All the time Mitch folded his arms and looked around That was nothing I see scarier stuff now Sounds scary enough Mercy said Why were you out here so late when you were eight years old Mitch shrugged We were having a sleepover at my friend Barry’s house I didn’t feel good So I came home Mercy smiled I guess you wished you’d stayed at Barry’s she said I guess Mitch said But I would have seen a ghost sometime or another There are lots of them around here When Mercy smiled Mitch noticed that 10
she had some odd teeth The front four looked ne but the next ones were bigger than normal They looked sharp Mercy saw Mitch looking She shut her mouth tight Then she said I’m going to get braces next year Oh Mitch looked down at the ground He was sorry to have stared The dentist says they’ll be okay Mercy said I’d love to come out here with you some night and see the spooks You never know when you’ll see one Mitch said It’s not a show I know Mercy said But don’t forget what’s coming this Friday Halloween I’ll bet there will be lots of ghosts then That’s the night Mitch said It’s the one night of the year when you’re almost certain to see them Mercy smiled again Please come out here with me then she said My parents would never let me out here alone And I 11
