Daunting howl

Chapter One

There is no fear greater than the one we imagine. Shadows can sneak into our senses and attempt startling us but unless we give them the authority to overwhelm our thoughts they will remain as they are; nothing.

If you would ask me what I fear most, you would surely end up being amazed as most people do by the response I offer them. There is nothing I fear more than nothing.

"Nothing..." I mumbled as my vision got blurred while gazing at the corner of the classroom.

"What?" A boy sitting next to me asked.

"Nothing." I cleared my throat. "I said nothing." I got back to scrambling on my notebook.

The class ended faster than I expected and I stood up ready to leave when Marty stopped me.

"Gina!" I turned around.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking... Maybe you and I could go for a walk. I can walk you home if you'd like. I know you live far from school and it's dark..." He was scratching the back of his head while speaking, showing that he was insecure and if he knew me at all he would know I hate insecure people more than anything.

"Thank you. But it's not that far away." I turned around when he suddenly grabbed my elbow to prevent me from leaving.

"But Gina..." I looked down at the hand he was still holding me with and he looked down at it too with fear and regret as if he wasn't sure if touching me was a good idea. He stepped away from me. "Please. I only ask to get to know you."

"You do know me." I mumbled after a period of silence.

"No, the actual you. You never allow anyone to come near you but I know that there is something mysterious underneath the surface."

I stopped facing the door wishing to escape and turned to face him. He looked intimidated.

"There is nothing underneath this surface. Nothing."

Then I saw in his eyes that he had given up and I was relieved by that while getting out through the door.

The reason why I have hinted to Marty once that my house was far away from school was that there was not a single house in between. Only an old graveyard by which I would pass every day, no matter if it was dark outside or not.

It didn't scare me, not as much as the thought of being alone with Marty and him falling in love with me did. I would never want to hurt him in that way.

When I caught sight of the tall trees and the wall that was noticeable from miles away I knew I was near and closed my eyes for a second to try and be unaware of my surroundings.

As I was passing I often struggled not to look at it but this time I heard a noise and my heart jumped. I wished I haven't turned down Marty's offer.

When I looked around to explore where the sound came from I saw that the gates were open which soothed my brain since at least the sound was easily explainable but then another thought increased my heart rate. The gates were never open at night. And I saw nobody that could've opened them.

I looked down and started walking even faster than before. The cold wind blowing in my face because I was walking against it did not annoy me at all as long as it permitted me to move forward and escape quickly.

Suddenly the church bell ringed for only once. I was assuring myself that it was just the wind blowing as I walked ahead. For me the only fearsome part was that the church was relatively aged and deserted and nobody has heard that bell ring for decades.

I peeked at the watch on my hand and saw that the hands fell down at the number six and they stopped working. The watch is old as well, it was just a matter of time when it would stop working.