"A Few Hours: Ritual Gone Wrong"

“Hear these words, hear me cry.

Spirit from the other side.

Come to me, I summon thee.

Cross now the great divide.”

Paige recited while she kneeled down in front of a small fire she started in the oldest section of Riverside Park Cemetery. It was Halloween night and the moon was full, a perfect evening to summon spirits from the afterlife. A thick fog roamed through the gravestones and tall unkempt grass that was scattered atop the various burial plots.

“Come to me…” Paige summoned as she raised her arms into the smoke that arose from the flames and burning wood.

“Join me, here in this existence.” She commands sternly.

The wind began to increase as it blew through the trees and fallen leaves. Goosebumps sprouted on Paige’s arms as she felt the cold breeze brush across the back of her neck.

“Leeeaaaveee heeerreeee……” A soft breathy whisper entered the air underneath the rushing winds.

“Who said that?!” Paige asked as she turned around quickly. The wind died down to an eerily quiet level while only the sound of the crackling fire could be heard.

“Who’s there?” Paige asks, but to no response. Her eyes quickly scanned the spooky cemetery hoping that maybe one of her friends was playing a practical joke on her, but she could see nothing. Paige turned back around to the fire and was startled by the image of a young, but decrepit woman standing on the opposite side of the fire.

“Huh!?” Paige gasped in fear. The woman stood in an awkward pose wearing a thin dress that seemed to sway eerily in the wind. Her skin was extremely pale with several bruises and markings scattered throughout.

“Who..? Who are you?” Paige asked the woman, but she just stood there, silent. Paige started to stand in an attempt to move toward the woman, but in an instant, the woman lunged at Paige and revealed her horrifying face from behind the long hair that had been draped in front of her face.

“AHHHHHH!!!!” Paige screams in fear as she quickly collapses to the ground....

...Several hours later, Paige begins to stir as she awakens from the unconscious state. She opens her eyes to find that she has been taken to a cold and very dark place that resembles a mausoleum. Paige starts to move but quickly realizes that her freedom is restricted. Her arms have been secured tightly behind her back and a large, thick leather panel has been strapped over her lips and mouth, silencing her completely.

“Mmmm, mmm mpph.” Paige mutters from behind her gag as she tries to release herself from her bindings, but it is no use. Someone, or something, has restrained her far too securely. She tries to scuff across the floor and is quickly greeted by the woman from the cemetery. Paige’s eyes widen in fear as the woman begins to slowly approach Paige.

“MMMMMMMMMMM!!!” Paige tries to scream into her muzzled mouth, but her efforts are too useless against the specter’s curse.