Fear of the Uninvited

him, but it’s either now or never. He grabbed the door handle, unlocked the door and swung it open. No one. There was a tap on his shoulders. Kyle quickly used one of his knives and stabbed at whatever was behind him. He heard a loud scream, he leaped forward and stepped outside, he turned around and gasped. Standing in front of him was none other than the old man from the bookshop.

  “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me that you were the one stealing food from my party a year ago!” Kyle felt furious and completely forgot that the old man was in pain, he had stabbed him in the arm. “First my party, and now my house! Just what do you want?” Kyle said as he pointed both knives at the old man. The old man just smiled and charged toward him. Kyle pushed the old man aside and ran upstairs to look for the book. ‘Whatever the book says, becomes reality. So if I write on it…’ Kyle thought and grabbed a pen; he flipped to the end of the book and saw that there were empty pages. Suddenly the old man banged the bedroom door open. Kyle wrote, “The old man trips and falls.” To his surprise, he really did fall, but tried to get up again. Kyle felt sorry for the old man. He did not want to hurt him. He started writing again, “The old man leaves the house.” Kyle looked up and saw that he was gone. He quickly went to his window and saw the old man walking outside of the house. Kyle was relieved, but he had to make sure that nothing bad would happen to anyone else, so he wrote, “The old man makes his way back to the bookshop and doesn’t bother anyone else again.”

  Kyle realized that the book was by far the strongest weapon he ever had.

  My Teacher’s Grave

  “Young lady, are you awake yet? You’re going to be late for school!”

  Aria opened her eyes slightly and shot upright from bed. She completely forgot that her school started today. She held her breath, what if everyone in the school didn’t like her? She thought for a moment and then quickly pushed off the blankets and got dressed.

  “I’m coming down, mom!” Aria ran down the stairs and saw her mother standing next to the breakfast table with her hands on her hips.

  “You’re late!” She said in an angry voice. “On your first day!”

  “I’m sorry, okay? I can’t help it! I’m used to the holidays.” Aria said and sat down to eat her breakfast.

  “That’s no excuse, young lady! Now hurry up!”

  Aria didn’t pay much attention to her mother. She worried more about school and wondered what everybody might be like. After she finished breakfast, she quickly went to the bathroom. Aria’s mother watched as she went and soon became impatient again when she took five minutes in there. Finally she came out of the bathroom and started putting on her shoes.

  “Do you know how long the ride to school is? Fifteen minutes!” Aria listened to her mother when she said that and got in the car.

  “Mom?”

  She sighed. “What is it?”

  “Do you think the people are nice there?”

  “Are you really worried about that? You’ll be fine! It’s just school not the end of the world.” Aria’s mother said in an annoyed voice. “I’m sure you will make lots of friends.”

  Aria brightened up. She started thinking about how she should act in school to get friends. Maybe if she acted happy and nice she could earn their respect.

  “Alright, we’re here. Now remember; go to the office first, tell them whom you are and they will guide you what to do next. Have fun!” Said Aria’s mother.

  Aria opened the car door and slipped outside. “Bye, mom!”

  “Goodbye!” Her mother said and drove away.

  Aria walked into the school, there were many other students but they just stared at her. ‘Am I the only new student?’ She thought as she walked around the school trying to look for the office. A teacher walked by her.

  “May I help you, Aria?” The teacher said and smiled.

  Aria stared, ‘How did she know my name?’ She thought and nodded. “I’m looking for the office.” She looked at her nametag. It said ‘Ashley Randella’

  “Just walk to the end of the hall, the turn right. There is a sign on the door.” Miss Randella said and started walking in the other direction, she turned her head to Aria. “It was nice meeting you.” She smiled and disappeared into a classroom.

  Aria looked for a moment and rushed to the office worried that she was late. She knocked on the office door.

  “Come in!” Said a voice. Aria opened the door and saw a middle aged woman who was sitting in her desk. “You are Aria Universe, am I right?” Aria nodded. “Alright, Miss Universe. Here is your schedule. Once you are out of the office, turn to your right and walk into the first classroom you see, do I make myself clear?” Aria nodded again and headed out.

  “Thank you.” She said and closed the door. ‘The office lady really did seem to be in a hurry.’ She thought and walked to her classroom. She knocked on the door then opened it. She was surprised when she saw Miss Randella teaching the class.

  “Welcome! Class, this is our new student. Aria Universe. Please make her feel welcome.” Miss Randella smiled at Aria and led her to her seat. “This is your seat. Please make yourself comfortable.”

  “Thank you, Miss Randella.” Aria said. She smiled. ‘She’s very nice.’ She thought and sat down. She realized that there were people staring at her. Mostly the girls, she smiled at them and waved a bit but they just turned around and faced to the front of the class.

  “Class, you are dismissed for break.” Miss Randella said and left the classroom. The others followed and went to the cafeteria. Aria wanted friends but whenever she went near some people they just frowned moved away.

  “Is something wrong, Miss Universe?” Miss Randella was standing next to Aria.

  She felt relieved. “No one wants to be my friend.” Aria felt sad and wanted to go home, where her mother could comfort her.

  “It’s quite normal. You might find the people in this school rather shy to talk to new students, even the teachers. It takes time.” Miss Randella’s words sounded convincing to Aria.

  “I see, but you’re not shy?” Aria looked over at her.

  “Not at all, I find it silly to be shy, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah.”

  The rest of the day went fast and school was over before she knew it. Aria’s mother came to pick her up. She opened the door for Aria and let her climb into the car.

  “How was school, honey?” She asked.

  “Good.” Aria lied and put on her seatbelt. Her mother began driving very fast. “Mom, why are you driving so fast?”

  “It’s going to rain soon, and you know how people drive when that happens, very slow, causing a traffic jam. We don’t want to end up in one of those now, do we?” She said and drove even faster. Aria looked outside the window. There was Miss Randella. She wanted to wave but then saw her turn into a forest. ‘Is that where she lives?’ Aria thought as her mother parked the car in front of their house.

  “What are you looking at? We’re home.” Aria looked up at her mother when she said that.

  “Right.” She climbed out of the car and looked to the forest again. “Mom, can I go for a short walk?”

  “It’s going to rain, are you sure?”

  “I’ll be quick, I just need to go see something.”

  “Alright then, hurry.” Aria’s mother said and went into the house.

  Aria ran to the forest. ‘Ugh…who would live inside here?’ She thought in horror. She ran inside, but apart from trees, there was nothing. It got darker as she went deeper into the woods. Then she saw a cemetery. She walked in. ‘Wait…There is no house here. Maybe Miss Randella is just visiting a grave.’ Just then she saw a grave. R.I.P. Ashley Randella, 1804-1830. Aria gasped. Suddenly she saw Miss Randella walk into the cemetery. Aria tried to hide behind another grave but it was too late.

  “Miss Universe, what are you doing here?” She asked. Aria stood up.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. What are you doing here? Are you visiting your great grandmother’s gr
ave?” Aria’s legs began to tremble.

  Miss Randella just smiled. “No, I live here.” She said and grabbed Aria’s arm. She tried to break free but the grip was too strong. “I made a house for you yesterday too. I knew that there was going to be a new student in the school so I made one for you.”

  “A house? You mean a grave! Are you going to kill me? I didn’t do anything wrong!” Aria said as she tried to kick herself out of Miss Randella’s grasp.

  “Do you want to know the real reason why the students and teacher don’t get along with you?”

  “Why? I want to know!”

  “Every new student in the school has disappeared, and the one who did that was me. You can see all the houses of the new students that joined since 1830.” Miss Randella pointed to what looked like over 100 graves. She pushed Aria into her’s. She screamed and tried to climb out, cursing at herself for being such a busybody and wanting to know everything all the time. “You’re not getting out!” Miss Randella said and kicked her back into the grave. Aria’s head hit the side of the grave and she passed out.

  “Let the curse begin!” Miss Randella said once she finished filling up the hole. It started to rain, and lightning hit the grave. She smiled and went into her own grave.

  Aria woke up. ‘Yuck it stinks in here! Where am I?’ She thought and then remembered. She hit the dirt out of the way and looked around, ‘Where is Miss Randella?’ She thought, and then patted the dirt off her clothes. ‘Oh no! My mom!’ She said and rushed home. She