Ghost Stories
LokiLLoki, Year 18 (Winter)
Robert Sauique couldn't wait to share some of the stuff he had been reading with the others. He had been looking forward to this all week and he was ready. He mentally went over the things he was going to tell the other kids about as he made his way through the corridor toward the meeting place. He had tried to tell his dad about the book he had been reading, but he had really been too busy to pay too much attention. He knew, though, that these stories would really impress the other kids.
Every Friday evening, a bunch of the kids had gotten into the habit of meeting in a half-empty storage room just to hang out, away from the watchful eyes of the many parents in closed quarters. They didn't do much; they just sat around and talked, and Friday was a good time to come, because a lot of the adults got together to socialize as well. The storage room was kind of a combination club house and rec room, and most of the new generation came there when they could.
Several kids were already there when Robert arrived, sitting in groups, talking, and a few were playing games. Nothing they wouldn't do or couldn't do at home; it was just that it was more fun to do it here.
"Hey, Chris, hey, Djemila." Robert waved at the two who were deeply absorbed in conversation and barely looked up.
Robert sat down with the biggest group. There were a lot of kids of all different ages, but Robert was happy to see that a lot of the older ones were here tonight. He was one of the youngest kids at Dover, except for Salvatore Verdeschi. He looked around the storage room and was pleased to see that the lighting was about right for his stories. He listened with half an ear to the conversation going on around him as he went over the checklist the book had given for telling a good scary story.
The lights are dim, he thought. That's rule number one. Remember, he reminded himself, make it sound like it really happened to you or to someone you know. That's supposed to make it more scary. And you have to make it seem like it could really happen again.
"Hey, you guys," he said to the assembled group, deciding he was ready. "Did you know that today is an Earth holiday called Halloween? It's the day the spirits of the dead walk again." He was pleased that his low, intoning voice had gotten their attention.
His brother spoke up. "Shut up, Robert. When you're dead, you're dead. That's it. The dead don't get up and run around." Ken rolled his eyes in disgust.
Robert looked his brother in the eye and rattled off the quote that he had memorized. "'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'" Ken shook his head at his younger brother and walked away.
"Let me tell you about something that happened to my mom back on Earth."
The group gathered around, and Robert began his story. "This one night, my mom was sleeping, and this bat flew in her window...."
"What's a bat?" Becky Collins asked.
"It's an animal with wings, but it's not a bird," Layla Habibi informed her.
"Anyway, this bat flew in her window and it changed into a man, right in front of her!"
"Like Salvatore's mum can do?"
"No, it's different. Anyway, it changed into a man, and he said his name was Dracula, and that he was a vampire, and he was going to suck her blood."
"Eeww. Disgusting!" Michael Osgood made retching noises.
"And he said that he could come back the next night and suck her blood, and then the third time he sucked her blood, she would be a vampire, too, and they would fly off together."
"Why would your mom let him do that?" Salvatore asked. Robert was very surprised to see the younger boy there; usually he was in the presence of his overprotective mother.
"Well, it wasn't like she had a choice. I mean, he was really scary and all." Robert was disappointed; his story was not having the desired effect. "Anyway, the only thing that a vampire can eat is blood." He thought his story was done, then he remembered one of the critical elements. "Oh, and, it could happen to any one of you on here on Loki...." He pointed to them and said this in what he hoped was a scary voice.
"I don't think so, Robert." Basma Habibi said to the group, "There are only plants on Loki, no animals, so therefore there couldn't be any bats."
"Yeah, and I just can't see some crazy guy walking around, wanting to suck our blood." Louisa Martinez screwed her face into a grimace and made buck-toothed biting and sucking motions. Everyone in the crowd laughed.
Robert was disappointed. The kids were all laughing at him, and he thought they would be scared. He decided to risk trying another one.
"Well, my dad told me about this neighbor he had on Earth. He had been bitten by this wolf one night, and he turned into a wolf, too."
"That sounds like something Salvatore's mum could do."
Robert rolled his eyes. Everyone thought Maya was so cool. "Anyway, every full moon, he would turn into a wolf and go running around, eating people and tearing their arms and legs off."
"What's a full moon?" one of the younger kids asked.
Helena Vincent explained, "When the moon used to orbit Earth, the moon looked different at different times of the month. Sometimes you couldn't see it at all, sometimes it looked like just a sliver, and sometimes you could see the whole thing. That was a full moon."
"Anyway," Robert said, tired of all of these interruptions, "you guys will have to be extra careful on Loki during the full moon, because a werewolf could get you."
"That is so goofy," Pedro said, surprising Robert who hadn't seen him join the group. "The moon orbits the sun here, not the planet, so there wouldn't be a full moon. And, once again, a werewolf could not survive on Loki during the bad seasons anyway." He shook his head at the group and said authoritatively, "There are no such thing as werewolves or vampires. And the dead don't walk, not on Halloween or any other day."
Robert shrunk into himself and reddened to the roots of his dark hair. Pedro always made him feel stupid and inadequate. There was something about the older boy that was so confident, so self assured that made Robert feel like nothing inside. He didn't know why Pedro was even here tonight; lately he had been hanging around with the adults a lot more. He was an apprentice in Medical, and he thought he knew everything. Of course, mused Robert, he did know an awful lot.
"Now, I can tell you a true scary story," Pedro continued, addressing the group. "Commander Koenig himself told me this really happened, and I believe him. One time, when they were still traveling through space, they went down to this icy planet. You wouldn't have thought anything could survive there, but, much to their surprise, they found inhabitants! They were survivors of a lost space exploration team that had ended up there, and they had named their planet Ultima Thule." Robert listened to the story, rapt in spite of himself. Pedro's story was much more interesting than his own, and he bet that it was true.
".... and then, when they got on the Eagle to come back to Alpha, as soon as they got out of the atmosphere, the man turned into a skeleton." The group gasped, and Robert gasped, right along with them. "And the worst part of it was," Pedro continued, lowering his voice into that scary tone Robert had been trying for, "he was holding Dr. Koenig's hand when it happened!"
More gasps this time from the group. Robert quietly got up and left the store room to return to his family's quarters. He decided that he would have to find some other way to impress the group; Pedro certainly had him beaten in the area of scary stories.
Created: October 99 - Updated: October 99