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A pitch black void stared back at Noelle. Every blink, it crept closer toward the doorstep, threatening to enter her home. The only light that kept it at bay was the flashlight in her hand. Dim, barely able to keep it back. But the batteries were in the kitchen drawer, and she'd already risked enough just coming this far. To turn back, even one step, would make her lose all strength.
Her throat swallowed.
Her knees shook and trembled
She shut her eyes tight.
Even then, the night was darker.
"(It's not that scary)," she told herself. Flashes of the shadow creeping up her doorway burst in her mind. "(No! No, c'mon. That's not real)," she confided.
The shadows grew closer to her hooves.
She fought her nerves to remain still.
The shadows inched up her ankles.
She covered her face.
The shadows covered her hocks.
She tore her hands from her face.
The full moon was now brightening the atmosphere, no longer obscured by the clouds in the sky. She also found that her eyes had adjusted nicely to the darkness. With a relieved sigh, she rested her hand over her heart, and set off into the night. She left the door cracked, knowing all too well that her mother would hear the door closing no matter how quiet she tried to be.
Once free, she couldn't help but smile at the way the flowerbeds looked under the moonlight. She spun around, taking in how different everything looked from the daytime. A whole new world, and one she wasn't quite so scared of with the moon brightening her path. The air blew, brushing through her fur, between her antlers. The ground felt cool between her hooves, refreshing almost.
Free.
She took off in a sprint down the driveway, all smiles, and hopeful now. "Please still be there, please still be there," she prayed. The gate came into view. She couldn't stop herself and practically flung herself into the bars. She couldn't help but laugh for some unknown reason. She peered through the bars. "Susie? Susie, are you still here?" Silence responded. She tucked her hair back. "Susie?" she asked once more. Her chest fell when she was met with more silence. Shoulder's slumping, she rested her forehead against the gate. The clouds threatened to cover the moonlight. She couldn't see anything, the land behind those bars was barren of any cute purple monster.
"Noelle."
“EEK- !”
Two hands quickly slapped over Noelle’s mouth. “Shh, don't wanna wake the neighborhood!”
Immediately Noelle recognized the voice. She mumbled Susie's name before quickly turning. The hand fell away, and before her was Susie. The purple monster was in the same clothes she always wore. The only difference was the smile she now near constantly now. "How did you- ?"
Susie shrugged, "I just climbed."
Noelle's eyes widened, "But there are no footholds!"
"I just grabbed the top and pulled myself over."
Noelle blanked in astonishment.
"It's not hard. I'll show you. Then you do it." Susie walked up to the edge of the gate, bent their legs, then jumped up. Her hands gripped the top bar and she hoisted herself up, throwing one leg over, and sat on the gate. "See? Easy." Susie offered her hand.
Noelle stared, dumbfounded, "Wow, you're amaz- I MEAN TH- THAT! That was amazing!" She flushed as she stumbled over words. Even talking was a feat when Susie was near. She took Susie’s hand and was swiftly pulled up. She blushed as she stared at their interlocked hands.
Susie waved a hand in front of her face. “You good?” She asked.
“Oh! Uhm, yep! So, how… how do we get down?”
“I’ll jump down and I can catch you if you want.”
Noelle’s face erupted in bright pink. “CA- CATCH ME??”
“Uh… yeah? Unless you don't–”
“NO! NO! YES! I mean, sure! Catch me!”
“Alright, gimme a sec,” She dropped off the gate and held open her arms. “I gotcha.”
Noelle closed her eyes...
"Noelle, it's okay! Jump!"
The summer heat beat down on her spotted fur. It would still be many years before her spots began to fade.
"Ugh. Don't be a scaredy-cat. Kris jumped in. If they can do it, you can."
The pool seemed so deep and her arm-floats hadn't earned her trust yet. Of course Kris had jumped in. They were much braver than she was.
"Noelle," her sister smiled.
She wished she could remember what the rest of her looked like.
"It's okay, I know you're scared. I got you." The water rippled as her sister swam closer and opened her arms. "I won't let anything happen to you."
Noelle inched toward the pool and shut her eyes.
"You got it, Noelle.
Jump."
She felt Susie’s arms around her in a second.
"There you go!" Susie praised. "I knew you got it!"
The two walked in silence for a moment, the only sound was of their footsteps on the asphalt. Noelle was the first to speak. “It’s… almost creepy right now, huh?”
Susie chuckled, “Eh. I'm not scared of the dark. Anyone out there that wants to hurt us will have to go through me!” She puffed out her chest.
Noelle giggled, “It's the perfect setting for scary stories, you know?”
“Scary stories?” Susie raised an eyebrow. “You like scary stuff?”
Noelle blushed, “well, yeah, a little bit. Do you know any stories?”
Susie thought for a moment, “A scary story? Well… I guess I have this one.” They straightened their back, rolled their shoulders then faced Noelle. “Okay, so once there was a little kid, they were playing at a park with their parents when they heard their mom say it was time to go. They begged to go down the slide again. The mom was like, ‘okay, one more time.’ So the kid goes down the slide and then dashes up the stairs to go down the slide again. The mom doesn't seem that upset so the kid goes down the slide. The mom calls the kid and the kid ignores the mom. The mom goes to the end of the slide to catch the kid, but when the kid comes down…”
Noelle waited for Susie to continue.
“…”
Noelle’s eyebrows twitched in confusion. “What happened to the–”
“AAAGGHH!!” Susie screamed, bearing their teeth.
“Eek!” Noelle jumped back.
“That's when the mom screamed! Because the only thing on the slide was D U S T.”
Noelle grasped her chest. She could hear her SOUL pounding. "That was not a scary story," Noelle huffed. "You jumpscared me! That doesn't count!"
"Aw, c'mon." Susie nudged her elbow. "You tell one then."
"Me?" Noelle squeaked. "Uh… Well," she glanced at Susie, who was looking at her expectantly.
"I know one," December exclaimed.
Asriel grimaced. "Don't make it gory, okay? Kris and Noelle are too young for your scary stores."
"Oh, c'mon! A little gore never killed no one," she blew off the comment. "The story goes," she began. "One night, a group of kids- just like us- were camping outside their parent's house. They were just in their backyard, right? So, nothing could happen. They spent the night roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores. The summer nights were nice and there was a nice, cool breeze. The kids got tired quickly and crawled into their tent. All tucked in nicely and ready for sleep. An hour passed. Then another.
Then, there was a noise outside the tent.
Only one child heard it. The youngest.
"Hello?" she whispered against the tent."
Everyone, including Asriel was leaning in. The firepit between the others and December crackled.
She made her voice deep and gravely.
"Hello," the voice replied.
"Who are you? What are you doing in our backyard?"
"Lost," the voice replied. "Will you help me, child?"
The youngest didn't know what to do. This was a stranger, right? But, the Angel always says to 'Help thy fellows that seek aid.' So, she wanted to help, of course. Anything to please the Angel.
"I will help," she replied. "What can I do?"
"What a kind girl," the voice grew closer to the tent. "All you need to do… is open. your. tent."
"I can't," said the girl. "The others are sleeping and I'll wake them."
The voice lowered into a sad, baritone. "Oh…" it sounded like it could cry. "I see…" The voice grew quiet for several seconds before it suddenly sprang back, much, much closer to the little girl. Almost right beside her head. It spoke quick, "How about I grant you a wish? Anything you want. And in return, you open the tent. Deal?"
"A wish," she thought. "I could wish for anything…"
"A wish," the voice continued. "Comes with a price. Can you pay it?"
The girl nodded, now very excited. "Oh, yes," she said. "My parents have lots of money."
The voice merely laughed, "What is your wish, child?"
The girl looked around the tent and thought. Then, her eyes lit up. "I want to be the coolest. The smartest. Just like D͝e̴̵̵̦̲̱͓͓̜͎̪̲͉͚͖͈͎̖͕ͦ͗͊̌ͪ͐ͥ͐̀̈͒̌̉͒͌ͥ͆ͦ̏̉̿̓̒͜͢͟͝͞c̵̺͚̲̮̹̑ͭ͒̓ͫ̓ͤ̌͋͑͒́̋̕_̙̻̋̃͜͡e̢̢͍̜̗͔͙̖̘̦͓̦̦̩̲͕̣̣͈̽̄ͥ̓̏̆ͫ̈̄̃̓ͨ͛ͫ̐ͫ̀͐̽̕͢͟͠͞͞m̸̧̠̦͙̬̺͖̹̯͙͇ͬͥͭ́ͧ̋͒͘̚͟b͕̺͈͗́ͫ͛͞e̴̺̟͕̠ͦ̀̅͟͝͠ŗ̷̨̡̛̯̪̦̞̝͍̟͍̮̅ͩ̄̋ͦ́͂͆ͯ͡ͅ"
The voice hummed. "I can do that. Now, open the tent and I'll grant your wish."
The little girl stood and carefully made her way to the entrance. All the while, the outside of the tent shuffled beside her. She was stealthy and nimble, stepping over bodies with ease. When she got to the entrance, she grasped the zipper and pulled it down. There was a pressure against the tent- hand prints pushing against it. Heavy breathing. She continued to open the tent-"
"December-" Asriel interrupted.
"- but nothing was there when the door flapped open. She stared out into the night, frowning and confused. She turned around-"
"December!"
"And a man with no eyes and holes for hands was smiling over her s̵̙̖͔͍̖̦͉̩̣͇̋̌͂ͨ̈̊̍ͩ̒ͫ̂͊ͦ͊ͧ̄̐ͣ̕̚͟͢į̸̧͈͔̠͖̣̹̥̥̜̞̟̙͗̿̿ͧ̐͒͂͑̌͐̀̇͗͘͡͡ş̛͚̭̘̤̼͎̪̙̦̠̞͐̀̍ͫͥͣ͂ͧͪ̿̍̉͆ͪ̾͒͑ͅt̲̼ͣ̇̓̍_̨̡̡̝̭̣͍̟͚̱͙͎̣̇̐͗̆́̀ͧ̓ͭ̎ͥ̓̍ͩ͟͡ę̼̥̤̼̘͇͙̬̬̪͎̪̝̝̣̪̩̰̈́͂͒̍ͭ́ͦ̅ͤ͑̏̽̾̇͛͗͂̇̐͑̋ͩ̿̈͟r̢̤̜͔͖͓̼̥̖͇̰͉̖̍ͣ̇̿̊̐ͣͨ͆̔̍ͯ͒̃̂̄ͪ̍̐̕͜͡͠͡ and black blood leaked from his empty sockets into hers! It dripped down her eyes and into her mouth, choking-"
"December, that's enough!" Asriel yelled. She blinked, as if suddenly gaining awareness. Kris and Noelle were cowering in Ariel's lap. Noelle had her hands over her ears, the white of her tail stood straight up in fright. "That's enough scary stories for tonight. Let's… Let's just head inside."
"Holy shit," Susie shuddered. "That gave me shivers. Where'd you hear a story like that?"
Noelle tilted her head, "I can't remember, honestly. Maybe it was some kind of creepypasta I read once?"
“That's kinda cool. If you're into those sorts of things, I guess,” Susie knocked into Noelle’s shoulder playfully. “Anyway, what d’ya wanna do?”
“Me?" Noelle raised her eyebrows. "You're the one who wanted to meet up! I thought you had a plan?”
“Oh, shoot. You're right. We could go to the creek in the forest. I used to go there a lot when I was a kid.”
“Sure, that sounds fun.”
Noelle followed Susie through the trees, Susie held Noelle’s hand to help her over a few logs and branches. “Watch out, spider web,” Susie pointed and Noelle ducked, covering her antlers. Noelle could feel the leaves crunch beneath her hoofs and she wondered how a little Susie was able to find this place. Noelle’s mom never let her go near the forest because it was so muddy and gross. Luckily her dad would take her on trails every so often, back before… before he was sick.
"So, uh… Not that I'm complaining or anything, but… Why did you want to hang out in the middle of the night on a school night?"
Susie paused, "Uh…" She scratched the back of her neck. "I just wanted to hang out, really." Something about her tone said she wasn't telling the complete truth. Before Noelle could ask more, Susie announced, “This is it." Noelle may have lived here her entire life, but she could never recall seeing this part of the creek. Or maybe it just looked different because it was dark. A fallen tree made a nice bridge, though Noelle didn't think she'd be crossing any waters tonight. A few fireflies danced on top of the water and surrounding areas, allowing brief moments of clearer visibility.
Noelle felt Susie take her wrist, "C'mon." She led her to the fallen tree and the two sat on it, Noelle's hooves grazed the cold water below.
"So... uhm, come here often?" Noelle blushed.
Susie blinked, "What do you- oh. OH!" Susie threw their head back for one big laugh.
Noelle's face erupted in a deep blush as her lips pressed together, trying to hide the smile that was creeping onto her face. Of course Susie would think a stupid pick up line like that would be funny.
Susie shook her head, slowly stopping her laughter. "Man, that was a good one. Funny and smart, you got it all, huh?"
"I'm not that smart, " Noelle shied away.
"Pssh, 'I'm not that smart'", Susie mocked, making their voice high and pitchy.
"Hey!" Noelle laughed, "I don't sound like that!"
"'I don't sound like that!'" Susie repeated.
Noelle rolled her eyes and kicked her hoofs in the water. "I... I guess I am smart. But I don't feel smart, you know?” She sighed and pulled her hoofs from the water. “It feels like a skill I never wanted, something I didn’t work for. N- Not to say I don't study! O- Or work for my grades, I just- oh no, I didn't mean to dump this on you, I'm sorry.” She covered her face in embarrassment.
“Hey,” she felt Susie’s hand pull her hand down. “You're not dumping anything on me. Just say what you want and get it done with.”
Noelle blinked then nodded. “I guess… what I'm trying to say is... you know when you get a video game? And you spend hours leveling up your character and then when you beat the game you feel so accomplished because you finished something you put hours into. And you just feel so... proud. Because you did that. Because it was something you consciously worked for and achieved. I don't feel that way about being ‘smart’. Someone like Berdly... puts in so much effort for his grades because he wants that. He wants to be the smartest and he puts in the effort to be. I'm just... lucky. It makes me feel like a fraud sometimes, you know?”
Susie stared at the water, “Wow. That's deep.”
Noelle laughed, “That's all you have to say?” She lightly shoved Susie’s arm.
“Pssh, I ain't got anything more to say. I think...”
Noelle waited for them to continue. “Yes...?”
Susie leaned back on their hands and looked at Noelle. “I think you're stressed over nothing.”
Noelle’s eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean?”
“I mean you're worried about all this stuff when all that matters is what you think, right?” Susie looked down at the water again and threw a piece of bark at the creek. “Just, like... I don't know, focus on doing that stuff that makes you happy. Grades aren't really a big thing.”
Noelle knew Susie’s words held some truth. She should spend more time doing things she actually enjoys. Not just things she thinks others would want her to enjoy. Mainly her mother. And if her grades slip a little... then whatever! The world won't end because she gets a B on a test.
"You should break something.” Susie leaned back and snapped a twig from the tree. "Here. Break it.”
"Break it?"
"Break it."
Noelle took the twig in her hands and snapped it easily. "Uhm... now what?"
"Throw it, throw it like you're mad. Like you're throwing it at someone's face!" Susie took one of the twigs and chucked it as hard as she could. "There! Just like that!"
"O- Oh, okay, uhm..." Noelle raised her arm, clenching the twig and-
Splat.
The twig hit the water.
The two stared at the twig as it gradually sunk.
"You gotta throw it by the tip. To make it go far."
"Oh."
"Hey, no worries! Plenty of twigs left, " to prove her point, Susie reached behind Noelle and snapped off another twig. This time, Noelle's twig made some distance.
The two talked for hours on that log. Even though it wasn't comfortable and their butts and back hurt. It wasn't until the very first glimpse of sunlight that they had realized just how long they had been out. And even though Noelle was worried about the possibility of getting in trouble, she laughed the entire time as they raced back to her home. With her hair disheveled and a few leaves sticking in it, the two arrived at her gate. Hurriedly, Susie helped pick what she could out of Noelle's hair.
"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God- " Noelle repeated, though she had a smile plastered on her face.
"Shh, shush, I almost got the last leaf out."
"Why are you shushing me? We're outside?"
"I don't know! SHHHHH!!"
The two tried to hold in their laughter.
"Okay, I'm done, it's done. Go on before you get in trouble." Susie turned to dash away before they would be seen.
Noelle grabbed Susie's wrist. "Hey, wait, uhm, th- thanks again, Susie, for- uhm, the night, it was really fun! We should do it again."
Susie smiled big, her sharp teeth gleaming. "Yeah, of course, any time."
Noelle wished she could've taken picture of Susie in that moment. The sun rising, the way it bounced off Susie's scales, her smile, her everything... yet with time-limited, Noelle would at least have that image engraved in her mind. They hurriedly rushed goodbyes and Susie ran off, her tail wagging.
Noelle was faced with only one problem before she was home-free. “Wait... how am I supposed to get over this without their help?”