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Description
   We were all hanging out in Pete's basement watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" like always, the weekend before Halloween.  "Should I put Freddy in?" Joe asked.
   "No, let's go out and do something....like go out on the docks! It's always creepy there!" Holly jumped with enthusiasm like a kid going costume shopping.
   "I don't know, I don't like it out there; fishermen go missing all the time." I looked at her like she was crazy.
   "Let's just go check it out and then we'll go grab a bite to eat afterwards. Sound good?" Pete suggested.  So we all piled in Pete's car and were on our way towards a great adventure!

   We arrived at the docks close to midnight in Pete's beat up old Volkswagen.  As we all poured out of the rusty machine, I took notice of our queer surroundings.  The brisk wind blew past us, brining with it a slight mist from the lake that dampened our faces.  There were barely any lamp posts; one could fall off the dock and not even know it until he/she had plunged into the ice cold water below.  Off in the distance I could see the glow of the city in its magnificence and wondered if I would see it again past this point.  There was a fog spead across the lake that sent shivers up my spine, causing goosebumps to raise on my arms.  I folded them against my body and continued to survey the scene in front of me.  At first, I couldn't see a damn thing. But as we moved closer, a shadow emerged from the fog.  It was a gigantic ship, almost like the Titanic herself, risen up from a watery grave.  There was an old wooden ramp leading up to the side of the ship and a woman in a midnight black dress was waiting with an old fashioned lantern clutched in her hand.  I jumped when Joe whispered close to my ear, "Talk about creepy."  All of us stood still, petrified with a rising fear coming from the pits of our stomachs.  Holly was the first to move; she turned her pale, freckled face toward us and grinned.  With a wink she turned back and headed up the ramp.  The rest of us reluctantly followed.

   "Welcome! Welcome!" the strange lady boomed. "I will be your guide this evening."  She smiled, her red lips curving upwards, exposing a bit of sharp, white teeth.  "At least for a little while."  She turned and walked through a nearby doorway.  We slowly followed one by one, stumbling slightly as the ship rocked with the waves.  The woman lead us into a dark room that was dimly lit with a few candles here and there.  My nostrils flared as a musky smell reeked throughout the room.  "During this journey you will be lead through several rooms.  Unfortunately for you, I am not at liberty to say what will be in those rooms."  Her shrill laugh echoed in the room and was whisked away down a pitch black corridor we would soon enter.

   Down the narrow hall we went, in a tight cluster, afraid a ghoul would pop out of some hidden crevace and pull us, shrieking, into its torchure chamber.  The woman in front disappered suddenly. "Hey!" Holly quavered, "Slow down, we can't keep up!"  But the only response we got was that same echoing laughter.  It continued to ring in our ears, causing our hearts to race as we scrambled as fast as we could to find an end to the darkness.  Finally we broke through a door and into a spacious room.  From the dim light I could see that there was no furniture, save an old grand piano and a stool.  There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but no light shone from it.  Cobwebs hung delicately from it and dust clung to everything...except the piano.  It had a sleek black gloss that emphasized the beautiful, subtle curves of it's hood.  We moved closer to it as a unit at first.  Finally I built up the courage to step out of our cluster and stand by the piano.  There was music resting on it.  It was stained yellow with age and a corner of it broke off when I turned the page.  I looked down at the old ivory keys: there was something on them.  Slowly, I bent closer to identify the little droplets and smudges.  My eyes widened as I realized the dark splotches were dried blood.  My face went pale and my hands grew clammy.  What was this place?  All around us a cool breeze stirred through the room, bringing with it a faint whisper: "Death is on the way..." Suddenly the piano ran into me, knocking me backwards onto the floor.  I didn't get up, my limbs had become Jello and couldn't support me if I tried to stand.  Pete came forward and helped me up.
   "Are you okay?" he asked.  I looked into his concerned eyes.
   "Th-There's bl-blood..blood on the k-keys!" I stammered.  There was a loud clang that came from the piano.  Then it began to play by itself: a horrible diminished cadence that made my ears throb with pain.  We ran toward another door that hadn't been there before, to escape the horrible music.  Little did we know that we were headed into a dark stairwell.  Joe was the first one to go blundering down the stairs.  One minute he was right in front of me, the next he was gone.  But before I heard his scream, I went tumbling down the stairs too.  The others followed in the same fashion.

   Pain was all I felt as my face hit a cold metalic surface; the only sounds to be heard were the faint echoes of our screams and the new sounds of groans escaping our throats.  My mind grew fuzzy and I was stranded somewhere between sleep and consciousness.  I was only aware of cold, clammy hands dragging me across smooth and rough terrain.  My limbs were numb and I was shivering.  A loud, haunting horn droned through the night and startled me to full consciousness.  My eyes flew open and I sat up, aware now that I was still alive.  The others were awake too and as we took in our surroundings, we realized we were back in the first room we had entered on our strange and terrifying journey.

   We left quickly, our shaky legs barely able to carry our own weight, and hurried to Pete's car.  Once safely in the car, I passed out completely.  I woke up when the car stopped, but when my eyelids opened, the darkness seeped into my being.  I was still on the ship...cold, alone, and frightened.  That shrill laugh pierced my senses and the woman in black appeared out of the darkness before me.  "Thought you could escape, did you?"  More laughter followed from her throat and I realized that I had been chained down; a prisoner kept in a terrifying cellar.  I didn't see the man behind me; didn't even know someone else was there until a rough piece of cloth was forced over my head.  His strong arms grabbed me and I screamed as I tried to put up a fight.
   "Alex! Alex wake up!"  I opened my eyes to see Pete's face hovering just inches away from mine.  Somehow, we were back in his basement.  I looked around and realized everyone was staring at me.  Joe was standing by the TV with a movie in his hand.
   "Should I put Freddy in?" he asked.  I looked at Pete, confusion swirling around in my head.
   "No, let's go out and do something....like go out on the docks! It's always creepy out there!" Holly smiled.  A long, torturing shiver crawled lazily up my spine; as if Death's bony fingers were inching their way towards me.
   "No!" I yelped.  "No...n-no...no!!"  My head shook violently and my breathing sped up to a rapid, frantic pace.  I was shaking all over as I waved my hands in front of my face.  The others tried to calm me down, but to no avail.  Finally, my eyes fluttered closed and darkness consumed me.
   I faintly heard Pete say, "Let's just watch Freddy."

Description
   We were all hanging out in Pete's basement watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" like always, the weekend before Halloween.  "Should I put Freddy in?" Joe asked.
   "No, let's go out and do something....like go out on the docks! It's always creepy there!" Holly jumped with enthusiasm like a kid going costume shopping.
   "I don't know, I don't like it out there; fishermen go missing all the time." I looked at her like she was crazy.
   "Let's just go check it out and then we'll go grab a bite to eat afterwards. Sound good?" Pete suggested.  So we all piled in Pete's car and were on our way towards a great adventure!

   We arrived at the docks close to midnight in Pete's beat up old Volkswagen.  As we all poured out of the rusty machine, I took notice of our queer surroundings.  The brisk wind blew past us, brining with it a slight mist from the lake that dampened our faces.  There were barely any lamp posts; one could fall off the dock and not even know it until he/she had plunged into the ice cold water below.  Off in the distance I could see the glow of the city in its magnificence and wondered if I would see it again past this point.  There was a fog spead across the lake that sent shivers up my spine, causing goosebumps to raise on my arms.  I folded them against my body and continued to survey the scene in front of me.  At first, I couldn't see a damn thing. But as we moved closer, a shadow emerged from the fog.  It was a gigantic ship, almost like the Titanic herself, risen up from a watery grave.  There was an old wooden ramp leading up to the side of the ship and a woman in a midnight black dress was waiting with an old fashioned lantern clutched in her hand.  I jumped when Joe whispered close to my ear, "Talk about creepy."  All of us stood still, petrified with a rising fear coming from the pits of our stomachs.  Holly was the first to move; she turned her pale, freckled face toward us and grinned.  With a wink she turned back and headed up the ramp.  The rest of us reluctantly followed.

   "Welcome! Welcome!" the strange lady boomed. "I will be your guide this evening."  She smiled, her red lips curving upwards, exposing a bit of sharp, white teeth.  "At least for a little while."  She turned and walked through a nearby doorway.  We slowly followed one by one, stumbling slightly as the ship rocked with the waves.  The woman lead us into a dark room that was dimly lit with a few candles here and there.  My nostrils flared as a musky smell reeked throughout the room.  "During this journey you will be lead through several rooms.  Unfortunately for you, I am not at liberty to say what will be in those rooms."  Her shrill laugh echoed in the room and was whisked away down a pitch black corridor we would soon enter.

   Down the narrow hall we went, in a tight cluster, afraid a ghoul would pop out of some hidden crevace and pull us, shrieking, into its torchure chamber.  The woman in front disappered suddenly. "Hey!" Holly quavered, "Slow down, we can't keep up!"  But the only response we got was that same echoing laughter.  It continued to ring in our ears, causing our hearts to race as we scrambled as fast as we could to find an end to the darkness.  Finally we broke through a door and into a spacious room.  From the dim light I could see that there was no furniture, save an old grand piano and a stool.  There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but no light shone from it.  Cobwebs hung delicately from it and dust clung to everything...except the piano.  It had a sleek black gloss that emphasized the beautiful, subtle curves of it's hood.  We moved closer to it as a unit at first.  Finally I built up the courage to step out of our cluster and stand by the piano.  There was music resting on it.  It was stained yellow with age and a corner of it broke off when I turned the page.  I looked down at the old ivory keys: there was something on them.  Slowly, I bent closer to identify the little droplets and smudges.  My eyes widened as I realized the dark splotches were dried blood.  My face went pale and my hands grew clammy.  What was this place?  All around us a cool breeze stirred through the room, bringing with it a faint whisper: "Death is on the way..." Suddenly the piano ran into me, knocking me backwards onto the floor.  I didn't get up, my limbs had become Jello and couldn't support me if I tried to stand.  Pete came forward and helped me up.
   "Are you okay?" he asked.  I looked into his concerned eyes.
   "Th-There's bl-blood..blood on the k-keys!" I stammered.  There was a loud clang that came from the piano.  Then it began to play by itself: a horrible diminished cadence that made my ears throb with pain.  We ran toward another door that hadn't been there before, to escape the horrible music.  Little did we know that we were headed into a dark stairwell.  Joe was the first one to go blundering down the stairs.  One minute he was right in front of me, the next he was gone.  But before I heard his scream, I went tumbling down the stairs too.  The others followed in the same fashion.

   Pain was all I felt as my face hit a cold metalic surface; the only sounds to be heard were the faint echoes of our screams and the new sounds of groans escaping our throats.  My mind grew fuzzy and I was stranded somewhere between sleep and consciousness.  I was only aware of cold, clammy hands dragging me across smooth and rough terrain.  My limbs were numb and I was shivering.  A loud, haunting horn droned through the night and startled me to full consciousness.  My eyes flew open and I sat up, aware now that I was still alive.  The others were awake too and as we took in our surroundings, we realized we were back in the first room we had entered on our strange and terrifying journey.

   We left quickly, our shaky legs barely able to carry our own weight, and hurried to Pete's car.  Once safely in the car, I passed out completely.  I woke up when the car stopped, but when my eyelids opened, the darkness seeped into my being.  I was still on the ship...cold, alone, and frightened.  That shrill laugh pierced my senses and the woman in black appeared out of the darkness before me.  "Thought you could escape, did you?"  More laughter followed from her throat and I realized that I had been chained down; a prisoner kept in a terrifying cellar.  I didn't see the man behind me; didn't even know someone else was there until a rough piece of cloth was forced over my head.  His strong arms grabbed me and I screamed as I tried to put up a fight.
   "Alex! Alex wake up!"  I opened my eyes to see Pete's face hovering just inches away from mine.  Somehow, we were back in his basement.  I looked around and realized everyone was staring at me.  Joe was standing by the TV with a movie in his hand.
   "Should I put Freddy in?" he asked.  I looked at Pete, confusion swirling around in my head.
   "No, let's go out and do something....like go out on the docks! It's always creepy out there!" Holly smiled.  A long, torturing shiver crawled lazily up my spine; as if Death's bony fingers were inching their way towards me.
   "No!" I yelped.  "No...n-no...no!!"  My head shook violently and my breathing sped up to a rapid, frantic pace.  I was shaking all over as I waved my hands in front of my face.  The others tried to calm me down, but to no avail.  Finally, my eyes fluttered closed and darkness consumed me.
   I faintly heard Pete say, "Let's just watch Freddy."