Fiction

"QuadraPeople," by Brantley Roark

Imaginary Friend by Bostyn Steinmetz

Almost every child has an imaginary friend, like Beth. Four-year-old Beth loved to draw, play, and hang out with her imaginary friend Jeffrey. Beth said that he had glasses with tiny frames. He had a mustache, and he also wore an orange suit. When Beth told her parents what Jeffrey looked like, they were not sure why she was so specific about his looks. Most four year old's don’t even know what a suit is. But Beth did, and she also believed everything she was told, even by her imaginary friend Jeffrey.

Beth’s parents noticed something odd in Beth's actions. She was always very tired, and she didn't talk that much. Her parents always heard her talking, but they thought maybe she was talking in her sleep or talking to Jeffery. One night Beth screamed, “Mommy Dad” and her parents ran to her room and she said somebody was trying to hurt her but when they got in there nobody was there. Beth's parents started paying more attention to her, and by that I don't mean they watched her every move, they just paid more attention to her actions and the way she would talk. She was not as happy and she was not as playful as usual.

Beth’s parents looked around her room and found a couple things that were drawings of Beth and Jeffrey that were quite violent for a four year old. In one of the drawings Jeffrey was holding a knife with blood and the other Beth was laying in a puddle of blood with her insides hanging out. Beth's parents were very confused, but they had a plan. They were going to go in her room when she starts talking and listen to what she is talking about and if they felt like it they were going to go in her room. They have not gone in her room because Beth requested that they don't. It began to get late and that is normally the time that Beth’s parents went to bed and right about ten minutes after they normally goot to bed they heard talking. So they went upstairs to Beth’s closed door and listened in, and not only did they hear Beth but they also heard a man's voice, they could not help but go into her room. When they walked in they saw a man in an orange jail suit with tiny glasses and a thin mustache. Beth’s parents asked him who he was.

“I'm Jeffrey, Jeffrey Dohmer,” he said.

The parents looked at Beth and she looked very scared. Beth wanted Jeffrey to get out of the house but every time she asked him to, he would threaten to shoot her, but her parents were in the room so she thought it would be okay, but when she asked Jeffrey shot and killed Beth and her parents and ate their remains and their family and Jeffrey were never seen again. The police have tried to find him but they themselves are even scared, but whatever you do and wherever you go, be careful he might be your new imaginary friend.

The Train by Paisley Mahon

It was just the woods. I was with my sister, Max and our friend, Hadley. We were trying to find an abandoned train that might have some valuables. The train was hijacked 3 years ago and it crashed into the woods. The strange thing was that their bodies were never found. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay in the comfort of our home.

But we went anyway, not looking back to see if someone, or something was following us. “Guys are you sure that this is where the train is?” “Duh, of course Oliver, stop being such a worry wart.” Said Hadley laughing. “Yeah sis.” agreed Max. “Ugh, No cellphone service.” Grumbles Hadley. “Oh, we’re here!” Says Hadley looking straight ahead. The train was very rusty and we had to smash the windows open because the doors were lodged shut.

Once inside we looked around to see dried blood all over the walls and seats. “Gory much?” Joked Hadley. While Hadley and Max joked around I started looking in some small compartments. So far I’d only found some broken watches, ripped shirts, and a couple coins. That's when I heard a shriek and I ran to see what happened but it was just Hadley holding a spider above Max’s face. “Ugh, you guys.” I grumble, shaking my head.

Just then Hadley bumped into Max who elbowed something that sounded like a bunch of toy blocks being dumped out of a box. We looked at each other and went to see what it was. It was a skeleton with rotting flesh on it, that fell out of a overhead compartment. Suddenly a high pitched shrieking noise filled the room, and it got very windy. Soon once it stopped we were in a long, creepy, and dark hallway, with wallpaper peeling off the walls. “Look what you guys got us all into!” I yelled at them.

“Us? You didn’t even wanna come!!” screamed Hadley right back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement, a dark shadow. “Uh guys?” I tried to say, but Hadley was still coming back at me. But the shadow was too fast for any of us to react. It swooped up Hadley and ran off.

As the shadow ran we could hear Hadley’s screams and cries, but soon enough there was no noise and she was gone. “HADLEY!!!” Screamed Max, crying. I was on the verge of tears, but I had to comfort her. “Hey, calm down. It’s probably Hadley pulling a prank on us.” I said, helping her stand. I knew what I had seen but I had to lie or she wouldn’t get up to look for her.

As we walk down the hallway, we pass doors. I don’t know what’s behind them but Max checks. I’m pretty sure it’s dead bodies. Soon enough we reach the end of the hallway, where one last door remains. I go up to open it, and my hand shakes as I’m turning the knob. But I open it because I hear muffled talking that sounds like Hadley’s voice.

I turn the knob slowly so I don’t make noise in case that shadow thing is there. Once the door is open, we see Hadley!! “HADLEY!!!” Shouts Max crying and making a lot of noise. Hadley is motioning the cut it out sign, but it’s too late. The shadow jumps down from somewhere with a knife. Hadley starts crying and the shadow stabs her, blood splattering everywhere. She’s coughing up blood, and crying.

I think Max yells something but I don’t hear. I want to scream and cry but for some reason I can’t. Max grabs my arm as a bunch of eyes with nothing in them but white show up. As we run, I see nothing but Hadley’s dead body. Soon enough we escape, just as the sun is rising, and we didn’t turn back, we knew what had happened.

We don’t know what happened. People say she just went missing without a trace, because a missing persons report was filed. We knew the truth, but no one believed us. Me and Max hope she’s still alive, and healthy. But we’ll never know. All I can say is, Be careful of your surroundings, you never know if someone or something is after you.

"Untitled,"

by Haylie Young

Zambezi Falls

by Ava Northway

My mom, my dad, my sister, and I were going to Big Surf for my 12th birthday party. I was so excited, but I wasn’t excited that I had to go down Zambezi Falls. My Dad always makes me go down Zambezi Falls so I can overcome my fear. But I don’t really think that will happen. I asked my Dad “Why do we have to go down Zambezi Falls first?”

He said, “So we can just get it over with.”

I said, "Okay.” When we got to Big Surf I asked my Dad “Can we warm up in the wave pool first?” I was stalling.

My Dad said, “That’s fine. But we are not staying here for an hour.”

I said, “Okay.” Then 5 minutes later we got out of the wave pool. I knew it was time.

When we got over to Zambezi Falls my heart thumped like the beat of a drum. I begged my dad, saying I didn’t want to do this and please don’t make me. But like all dads he didn’t listen. As my mom and I were going up the stairs I told her I didn’t want to do this and can we go, but she said we have to keep going up the stairs.

When we got up there we stalled and when someone got up there we told them they could go. Then a line started to appear. When that guy was done I knew it was time to go down Zambezi Falls.

My mom and I got in the raft and sadly I had to be in the front so it was extra scary. When we were both on the raft, the lady said all of the safety things and let us go. When she let us go we went airborne. My mom and I both screamed. I got a glimpse of my dad and saw him laughing. I thought to myself What a Jerk. Why did he make me do this? See if he was on this raft with me he would be screaming too. When we went back onto the slide we went all the way up to the top of the other side of the slide. We screamed. We thought we were going to fall off the slide. When we were almost done with the ride, and we were at the bottom, it actually started to be fun. I was a little sad when the ride was over, because when you get to the bottom, it’s actually fun and the thrill of the ride is really what makes the ride fun.

But when we put our raft away I thought if I didn’t go on Zambezi Falls I would probably regret it forever.

There once was a girl named Ellie Jones. She was your typical 13 year old. Ellie was very athletic. She played softball, volleyball, and she ran for the track team. But her favorite sport was basketball. She was good at it too. Ellie was easily the best on the Thomas Jefferson 7th grade team. Ellie was pretty popular. She was the kind of person that everyone was friends with. She was always pretty busy. She always had some practice, game or tournament.

This night was like no other from 6:00-8:00. Her mom dropped her off, she works night shifts so she can't pick her up usually. So she always rode the night bus.

She was waiting outside after basketball. The cool fall air felt good because she was super hot from practice. The bus finally comes and picks her up. Usually she and her friend ride together but tonight she was alone. There was a new bus driver this night. She sat down and got on her phone. She knew she wouldn't miss her stop because she always was sure to look up when the bus stopped.

Ellie was always on the bus for about 30 minutes so when she looked at the time she was very confused because it read 9:00. She wasn't that worried because, after all, it was a new bus driver. But she still called her mom to tell her that she would probably be home a little later. Her mom texted her back because she was too busy to call. Her mom said to ask the bus driver just in case he didn't know where her stop was. So she did. “Are we close to my stop?” she said. He didn't reply. He looked kind of old so she thought his hearing just wasn't that great but as she looked at him more he had this ghostly glow to him.

It was about 9:30 at this point and it was dark. She just blamed her eyes. She had a feeling that something bad was gonna happen, but everyone always told her that she was too paranoid. So she just let it slide.

At 10:00, in a panic, she called her mom crying to tell her what was going on. Her mom picked up and told her to calm down and that she would call the school. She took a couple deep breaths and that kinda calmed her nerves. Her mom hung up to call the school. As she was calling the school, Ellie went back on her phone to keep her mind off things. Her favorite pastime is watching TikTok videos so that's what she did. She was exhausted from practice but that was the least of her worries. Her mom called her again screaming saying, “This isn't funny Ellie! How did you get home?” Ellie was super confused because she was on the bus, so she just asked her mom, “What the heck are you even talking about?” Her mom then replied, “They told me that they sent an email out to all the parents that there was no night bus tonight!” Ellie screamed and dropped her phone because the bus driver started walking towards her. Something she didn't notice before was that the bus driver was covered in blood and had a tire mark on his chest. She started looking around and realized that there were tons of ghosts that looked like they had been in a car accident. She screamed in terror. Ellie Jones was never seen again. But they say if you are riding the bus too late at night you can still hear her screams.

The Bus

by Rylinn Tellman