"Hey Tom, why don't you tell us a ghost story?" said Jimmy, trying to warm his hands at the campfire. He didn't really trust Tom. They had found him in the woods, wandering, completely lost, a few hours prior. Their cell phones didn't get reception here, and they had no means of leaving(their parents would pick them up tomorrow) so they decided to let him stay with them for the night.
"Yeah Tom, I'm not really good at that kinda thing," agreed Mike. He shifted on the rough log he had chosen to sit on. He half-wished that they had chosen to go with his little sister and mom trick-or-treating instead of going on the Halloween camping trip at Lake Kalakaua. Erica might annoy him, but at least home was warm and not at all frightening. Something felt off about these woods they were camped in. He rubbed his silver cross necklace. His grandma had told him it was made of pure silver. Rubbing it always comforted him.
"Fine," said the lanky figure on the far left. The firelight illuminated his thin, pale face. His eyes almost seemed to glow. Add to that the fact that he was dressed all in black and had close cropped black hair, made him downright creepy. And then he began to talk, in the frightening, low whisper he reserved for ghost stories. It was hypnotizing.
"In the late 1700s, there was a boy who was drowned in a lake shore far from home. His name was Daniel Cooper, and he was only 13. Nobody investigated the case, because he'd been born on a Halloween, on a Friday. At that time, of course, superstition was at its' all-time high, so everyone in the small villa he lived in assumed he'd dabbled in witchcraft and so, didn't care about him. The constable said it was an accidental drowning, and everyone let it go without another thought. The next Halloween, however, Cooper took matters into his own hands, desperate to bring the people who drowned him to justice. He finally gathered the strength to speak to the people. He told them who his killers were. However, the townsfolk, still being superstitious, hailed the murderers as heroes for killing a demon. This infuriated Cooper. He again spoke to them, Halloween the next year. This time, he warned them to serve justice, or he would reap his revenge. Being frightened, the people went to the local priest. He promised them that he would protect them from Cooper, and told them not to obey him. They believed him. The local "witch hunters", the people who had killed Cooper, were now being avoided largely. They became rather sick of this. The next Halloween, Cooper swore to take his revenge on his murderers, and all the people who had let them get away. By this time, he had grown very strong. He caused plagues, droughts, and famines to come to the town all year. Finally, on the next Halloween, the desperate townsfolk pleaded and begged for Cooper to make it stop. They took the murderers and publicly executed them. But Cooper, who had developed an evil side, continued with the natural disasters anyway. Finally, the priest took action. He banished Cooper, and for almost 100 years Cooper remained dormant, unable to do anything. But then, some foolish girl who had got it in her head that she was a witch, tried to summon Cooper. She failed, but she cut herself on the knife she was using. A single drop of blood fell. This gave Cooper all his power back. He then became corrupted and hungry for power.He killed the girl and took her blood. This continued for years, until finally Cooper realized what he had been doing. He controlled himself. He took blood only once a year, on Halloween, simply to keep himself alive. But slowly, as the fertile soil the village was built on transformed into harsh mountain and woods terrain. It was unfit to live on anymore, so the residents moved away, and Cooper's power began to fade. Years later, it is rumored that he still remains."
Mike shivered, but Jimmy cheered.
"That was, without doubt, the best ghost story I've ever heard! What do you think, Mike?" Jimmy said
"It...was ok," Mike said. The ghost story had really spooked him.
"Oh. Are you scared, bro? Come on. You're scared of a ghost story? You have to look at your little sister Erica's face every day, a task that would reduce most people to whimpering in a corner, but we come across a moderately scary ghost story and you shiver?" Jimmy said
"It was really frightening," Michael said, shaking his head.
"Just remember it's not real, Mike," said Jimmy
"Oh no, this one's real," said Tom.
"Pfft. Sure," said Jimmy disbelievingly.
"It's true," said Tom. Mike tried to elbow Jimmy to stop, but Jimmy wouldn't back down.
"Uh-huh. How would you know?" Jimmy asked.
"Because I'm Daniel Cooper," growled Tom. Then he disappeared.
The next morning, when Jimmy's and Mike's parents came to pick them up, all they found at their campsite was a silver cross necklace, covered with blood.
