It was around one in the morning. The moon seemed to be missing. It was dark and scary and fog was everywhere. One lone man was walking down the street carrying a shovel. The man was wearing a long trench coat and his head was down. The shovel had wet blood on the end. A snapping of a twig made the man’s head shoot up. The man’s face was badly deformed. Half of his face was burned off. His eyes were dark red and horrifying. He opened his mouth as if he was going to snarl. Half of his teeth were missing and the ones that were there were yellow and black. He looked straight where the snapping noise came from. He started running towards the area with the shovel raised.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Jack woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He turned it off and sat up. His body was covered in sweat. It was the third time he had that dream. It always ended with the man coming at him with the shovel. He shook his head and stood up. He grabbed his towel and went to the bathroom. He turned the hot water on and started his shower. He was done five minutes later. He put clean clothes on and went downstairs.
He walked into the kitchen and picked up an apple. He grabbed his school books and headed outside. His buddies were in front of the house in Michael’s jeep. Michael was Jack’s best friend. They have known each other since kindergarten. He got in the back seat of the jeep and they headed towards school.
The school day was boring. The only thing that kept Jack excited for the day was that after school, Clary, the most popular girl in school, was throwing a party. Jack and his friends were invited. When the bell rang for the end of the school day Jack and his friends met up by the jeep. They all rode around town until it was time for the party.
The party was just like every usual high school party. The parents weren’t at the house. The music was turned up way too loud. Beer was being passed around. Where the jocks got the beer, Jack would never know. He only knew that they always seemed to have it. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. Jack spotted Mark, another one of his buddies, off kissing a girl in the far corner. At around one in the morning the party ended.
Jack, Mark, and Michael all got in the jeep and Michael started driving away. Jack was too drunk to notice the night was missing its moon. It was also foggy outside and Michael was having trouble seeing. Michael turned a corner and went into the fog. Since he was drunk he didn’t have the sense to turn the headlights on. He lost control of the car. The car went down the street and into a nearby tree.
Jack looked around. The airbags popped out. Michael looked back at Jack. He had a cut on his head but otherwise was fine. Mark, though, was a different story. Mark was in the back of the car and in his drunken mind he forgot to put his seatbelt on. He had crashed into the windshield. His head was bloody and his arms were cut up. If Jack didn’t know any better he would say that Mark was dead.
“Mark, buddy, get up.” Michael said.
When Mark didn’t respond Michael got frantic. “Come on buddy, you need to wake up!”
He was now shaking Mark. He turned Mark around so his face was facing them. Jack almost screamed. Mark’s face was very badly cut up. He didn’t even look like Mark anymore. His eyes were blank and he wasn’t breathing. Michael started shaking.
“We have to get out of here, Jack.” Michael said getting out of the car. “We will be in big trouble if the police found us.”
We will be in bigger trouble if we leave then if we stay. Jack thought, but got out of the car with Michael. The whole crash seemed to sober them up. They walked away from the car and started heading down the road into the fog. Jack was afraid. One of his friends was dead in a car and he was just leaving him there as if he didn’t know. There was a loud sound, a sound like a shovel hitting something hard. Jack froze and turned around.
“What was that?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know,” Jack said.
“Well then shouldn’t we find out?” Michael said.
Jack’s eyes widened. “No!” he whispered.
“Oh, stop being a big baby.” Michael said. “I’m going to find out what made that sound.”
Michael turned around and walked back towards the car where the noise came from. Jack stared where Michael previously was. It was obvious that Michael still had a drunken mind. Otherwise he would know not to head towards a mysterious sound in the middle of the night. Jack was stuck between following Michael and running down the street. He didn’t have time to decide. There was a scream and a loud clunk. Jack knew that Michael was dead. He didn’t know how, he just knew and he knew that his dream he had that morning was coming true.
The form of a person came down from the fog. He was carrying the same shovel from the dream. The shovel had wet blood on it. Jack stepped back and cracked a twig. The man looked up. The horrible face from his dream was even more horrifying in person. The face was clearer. The burn marks had destroyed the skin and you could see the flesh and the eyes. Oh those horrible eyes. There was no pupil just the red color of the iris. Jacks breathing quickened as the man started walking and then running towards him. The man had the shovel at the ready to strike. Jack turned around and ran.
He was running into the woods. The man with the shovel was hot on his heals. Jack’s foot caught on a tree branch and he fell on the ground. He felt a shot of pain up his body as his leg snapped. The man with the shovel must have heard because he smiled an evil smile making sure to show his rotten yellow teeth and stopped running. He slowly started walking up towards Jack. Jack wanted to scream but he could make no sound. Tears threatened to fall down his cheeks as he wondered how painfully his death was going to be.
The man was now ten feet away,
five feet,







four feet,







three feet,







two feet,
and finally he was standing right above Jack. He lifted the shovel and was going to strike it down on Jack’s chest. But the shovel never went down. A pair of bloody arms grabbed the shovel. The man turned around and Jack saw that the pair of bloody arms belonged to Mark. He was alive! The man and Mark struggled to get control of the shovel. Jack started to see dots of black in his vision. He was starting to pass out because of the pain in his leg.
Jack bit his lip and drew blood. It hurt but it brought him back to being fully awake. The man had gotten full control of the shovel and was swinging it furiously at Mark. Mark was dodging each blow. Sooner or later though, Mark is going to get hit. Jack thought.
While the man was preoccupied with Mark, Jack stood up. He almost fell as he put weight on his right leg. It was definitely broken. He struggled forward. His foot nudged a stick…a sharp thick stick. He bent down and picked it up. The stick was sturdy enough where it wouldn’t break easily. Jack inched forward slowly and raised the stick. As the man took another swing at Mark Jack thrust the stick at the man’s back. The stick broke through the man’s skin. The man screamed and dropped the shovel. Jack pushed the stick in further.
The man howled and dropped to his knees. Jack pushed in the stick until it was sticking out the other side. The man fell down dead. Jack limped over to a nearby tree and puked. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. Mark walked up behind him and grabbed his arm. He set Jack on the ground in sitting position with Jack’s right leg laying straight. He got out his cell phone and called 911. Jack passed out and knew no more.

***
When Jack woke up, he was in a hospital bed. He looked around. Mark was sitting in the bed next to him. Jack went to sit up and noticed that his foot was bandaged up. He looked at Mark and was about to ask what happened when he realized that Mark was already talking.
“After you passed out, the police came and took us to the hospital. Once I was bandaged up, they questioned me. I told them all I knew. They will be in here any moment to question you.”
“What about Michael?” Jack asked.
“He’s dead. When I woke up after the accident, I exited the car and went to look for you. I found Michael’s body down the road. It was stabbed up. I saw the back of the man and heard you running so I followed.”
“Oh.” Jack said sadly.
“Don’t worry, Jack.” Mark said. “We are safe. The man is dead.”
Jack took Mark’s words into count but couldn’t shake off the feeling that they weren’t safe and that sooner or later the man would be back to finish what he started.