Part 14

David had been to the Hill before, but only once, when group of older boys had coaxed him to the top with teases and dares. Once there, they'd stared down at the cemetery as the sun set... David watching with increasing terror for the ghosts the older boys said would appear.

No ghosts had appeared, but one of the boys had shoved David from behind without warning, causing him to-

1) Almost fall do his death and,

2) Wet his pants.

The trip back down the trail was full of jokes and laughter, none of which was shared by David.

David's SECOND trip to the top of the Hill was a lot quieter, and much more terrifying. No one had managed to convince him that there WEREN'T any ghosts in the cemetery, and that said ghosts DIDN'T gather at the summit to watch the town when the sun set, or that they HADN'T, over their years of death, developed a yearning for curious-young-boy flesh.

Therefore, in David's mind, it must all be true. The fact that he didn't see any ravenous apparitions once he'd started up made it worse. They were obviously invisible.

Which meant he didn't stand a chance.

He'd been quite brave when he'd first started. He'd snuck out of the house and off the farm with hardly a thought about where he was going and what could happen when he got there. But as he got closer the urge to turn around and return home grew stronger.

Ahh, but there would be no magic.

Magic had a cost. That's what he'd heard anyway. And if his was to walk up to the top of the Hill at night... alone... he'd do it. Just this once. Maybe. But he reserved the right to be scared; the voice never said anything about not being scared.

David focused on the voice and the magic it promised. It kept his feet moving eastward.. past the neighboring farms with their dark windows nervously stirring animals... past the empty (but recently traveled) roads that lead into town... past the wide trail that led to the open cemetery gate... and onto the narrower trail that led up the side of the Hill.

He started up after only a brief pause... the impetus to move was spurred by the realization that he was actually CLOSER to the cemetery there than he would be once he reached the top.

The trail... and everything else... was dark, but it was easy to find and keep. The voyage to the top was slow and lonely... and increasingly terrifying as the cemetery stretched into view and the omnipresent silence became a hiding place for creeping monstrosities of the boy-eating variety.

At the top, David halted. He looked back the way he'd come. The trail and his tracks were clearly visible in the moonlight. ...so easy... so inviting...

But not yet.

"Okay," he whispered. "Now what?"