MicroHorror

Jennifer crouched behind a large tombstone and hugged it like it was some enormous teddy bear. She gripped her paintball rifle tightly and slowly peeked around the corner of the tombstone. It was a moonlit night, but she still couldn’t spot Matt.

The paintball battle had carried Jennifer and Matt from the Hampshire Woods into the Elmsgrove Cemetery. The Cemetery was strictly off-limits to any game playing. Mr. Henderson, the caretaker, made sure of that. But here she was… fighting the best paintball player in town in the creepy Elmsgrove Cemetery.

Two paintballs whizzed by Jennifer’s right ear, just missing her. Time to move. Jennifer glanced around and spotted a sinister-looking moss-covered crypt not far to her right. She stood up and sprinted for the crypt. She arrived winded, but unscathed. The game was still on.

Jennifer leaned against the cool wall of the crypt and tried to catch her breath. Where was Matt? She waited. She listened. Gathering her courage she looked around the corner and scanned the graveyard. No Matt, but she did have a better idea of where he might be after that close call back at the tombstone. Her breath was still rapid and her protective goggles were beginning to fog up.

“Hi.”

Jennifer’s heart leapt into her throat as she spun around. Immediately a shovel smashed into her head and her face became an instant mass of searing pain. For a moment she saw stars, then blackness as she crumpled to the ground.

Jennifer woke up in excruciating pain. She was on her back with her hands bound behind her. Her mouth had been duct taped. She was extremely thirsty and knew the sticky wetness she felt on her face was blood.

Through blurred vision Jennifer saw that she was on a dirt floor. The room was lit by a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. She thought she could hear muffled sounds coming from the ceiling above her, but her ears were buzzing and her head was so foggy she couldn’t be sure what the sounds were.

Jennifer’s mind slowly floated back to consciousness and now she was sure that she could hear heavy footsteps getting closer…

Closer…

Closer…

Jennifer looked up and her eyes grew wide with terror. Above her stood Mr. Henderson, leering down at her with his unnaturally pale, moonlike face. But that wasn’t why she was so terrified. It was what he held in his hands that caused her to shake violently with fear. In a clear bloody plastic garbage bag was Matt–chopped and bagged.

Jennifer screamed, but the duct tape muffled her scream to a murmur. Henderson frowned and dropped the bag of Matt next to her head. She desperately tried to squirm away from the gruesome sight, but Mr. Henderson’s boot pressed onto her chest. She couldn’t move.

He bent down close to Jennifer’s face. She could feel his breath against her ear. “Time for the game to end,” he whispered. Her eyes were as huge as saucers now. “You can’t play in the garden of the dead and desecrate their eternal resting place with a silly game.” He pressed down harder on her chest. “Your friend has already joined the souls of this sacred place and now it’s your turn, honey.”

Henderson reached into his back pocket and pulled out a clear plastic garbage bag and let it drop to the floor. Jennifer tried to wiggle away and began to sob uncontrollably. Through her blurry, tear-filled eyes she could just make out Mr. Henderson turning away from her. Then Jennifer heard a chainsaw roar to life.