The Riley gang was the best group of boys in town, in ten-year-old Collin White’s opinion. Led by Will Riley, the fifth-grade boys were well-known for their many escapades that most other boys could never dream of doing; they broke the rules, skipped their classes, and climbed the forbidden fences surrounding the school-grounds on a daily basis. It was almost every schoolboy’s desire to join the Rileys, and Collin was no exception; he would truly give anything to join the gang, if only to have that much fun every day.
Therefore, he was simultaneously shocked and ecstatic when he found the note within his desk before class one certain school-day.
“Read it!” his best friend Terry urged, while the other boys in the class gathered round and looked on with shining eyes. “What does it say?”
With trembling fingers, Collin unfolded the scrappy little piece of paper and his voice rang clear as he read the badly-spelled chicken-scratch aloud, and this is exactly what it said:
‘Meet: old house @ Denn St. Wensday evening. No one with u. We’ll b waiting’
“It really is the note!” a third-grader sighed with envy. The famous (or infamous) note was the only official invitation the Riley gang ever gave out to potential recruits, and to receive one was considered the highest honor amongst the boys. Collin practically swelled with pride, but surprisingly enough, Terry didn’t seem all that enthusiastic now that the note had been read.
“It doesn’t seem all that safe,” Terry cautioned. “Don’cha know that old house is supposed to be haunted?”
Oh yeah, that’s true. His enthusiasm dimmed a bit as he recalled that particular bit of information, but he drew himself up straight, determined not to let anyone get in the way of this opportunity of a lifetime.
“That’s just a story meant to keep us from going there,” he retorted, pushing his own apprehensions away. “Only babies would believe in that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, what are you, a baby?” a voice jeered from the back of the crowd.
Laughter resounded, and soon the chant of “Terry’s a baby!” resounded through the classroom, leaving poor Terry nearly in tears.
“Well, fine!” his best friend spat, stomping off towards his own desk. “You can go there and get in trouble. See if I care!” With a humph, he plopped down in his seat, drew out his workbook and promptly buried his nose within its pages, making sure to show everyone that he didn’t care about the note.
Collin watched him turn away with the slightest tinge of guilt stirring in his stomach, but before he could do anything else the teacher walked through the door, reprimanding them all for making such a ruckus. He slipped into his chair and brought out his homework, creating the perfect illusion of an obedient student, though internally he was already planning how he’d be able to slip away from his parents when Wednesday evening came.
-:-
The days dragged on and it was nearly painful for him to sit through all his lessons, but at last the day arrived. The moment the dismissal bell rang, Collin shot out the door, his school-papers flying. He didn't hear the offended squawk of the teacher as her 'model student' fled, nor did he notice the heated glare Terry shot in his direction; he was focused solely on getting to Denn Street before the sun went down.
He reached his home swiftly, and after entering and placing his bags on the couch, he said loudly, "I'll be going to a friend's house to, uh, study for a test we'll have tomorrow."
"Why can't you review your notes at home?" the voice of his mother wafted faintly from the kitchen. The smell of dinner was in the air.
"It's going to be a big test!" Collin snapped, his voice coming out harsher than he intended. Trying to ignore the feelings of remorse bubbling up inside him, he seized his coat and hurried out the door, ignoring his mother’s confusion.
He crept along the streets, ducking behind walls and cars whenever people happened to pass by. He wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to be so secretive, but he kept this cycle until he reached the end of the block at Denn Street. By then the sun was already starting to sink beneath the horizon, and he was soon hurrying into the front yard of the infamous Mary Manor.
Mary Manor had been grand and beautiful many years ago, till one year the Mary family had unexpectedly packed and left without a word of explanation. They had abandoned the mansion to the mercy of the seasons, and the hands of time had long-since molded the handsome villa into a ruin. Now as Collin stood before the manor, he could see the rotted porch of the house sagging down as if exhausted, the broken window-frames bare of glass; and standing in the overgrown garden was a group of silent fifth-grade boys dressed in black, all looking at Collin with solemn eyes.
Collin's heart skipped a beat, and not out of fear. Those boys were of the Riley gang, he was sure of it! Sure enough, the tallest of the boys stepped towards him, a yellow flashlight gripped tightly in one hand. It was Will Riley.
"Hello, recruit," he greeted in a low, raspy voice, extending the flashlight handle-first towards Collin. He took it hesitantly, blinking owlishly up at his elder. Will continued talking as if he didn't notice Collin’s confusion. "You're here for your initiation, aren't you?"
"Y-yes," Collin couldn't keep the awe out of his voice. Something that looked like amusement flashed across Will's face before the leader schooled his features once more.
"Alright, then." Will pointed up at a window that belonged to some room on the second floor. "See that? For your initiation, what I want you to do is find a way into the second-last bedroom on the upper floor."
That sounded surprisingly easy to Collin. Sure, it was an old house and all, but it still certainly had to have some semblance of being structurally sound and finding the second-last bedroom on the upper floor of a house was child’s play compared to what he had heard about the supposed difficulty of the initiation.
"That’s not all, though," he started at the sound of the gang-leader's voice. "We want you to find one more thing. Rumour has it that there's treasure in that very room, lots and lots of treasure. If you can bring back evidence of that treasure, we'll let you into our group."
It still sounded pretty simple to the young boy. With a final nod and grin, the ten-year-old clicked on the flashlight and gave Will and the others a cheery wave before picking his way up the rickety porch and forcing the door open. Only after Collin had disappeared into the darkness did a mischievous grin begin to spread over Will’s features.
"So... is he going to find anything up there?" one of the gang members asked a trifle nervously.
"Of course not," Will answered, now chortling at the effectiveness of his own practical joke. "He'll be high-tailing it out of there within ten minutes,"
"But what about the treasure?" another boy demanded. "Why aren’t we looking for it with’im?"
"It’s only a story and doesn't exist," Will snapped at him. "No more real than all that haunted house silliness that's been going around,"
He turned, making it clear that they were all leaving. "Come on, let's go. We need to ditch now before he realizes he’s been pranked."
-:-
Collin was extremely grateful that Will had given him a flashlight. He could only see a few feet in front of him with the little LED light on and dreaded to think how dark it would be otherwise. He walked prudently, hopping over little holes and ducking beneath the dusty cobwebs that were slung liberally over the walls; he didn't even flinch when something that might've been a snake slithered swiftly in front of him into the shadows. Determination spurred him on, and he refused to let anything, not even the oppressive darkness, deter him from his initiation.
He had passed several rooms already and was searching for the staircase when he realized that he could hear a queer sound, a sort of detached, uneven tap, tap, tap that moved when he moved, stopped when he stopped; and the odd noise was coming from behind him. He fancied that he nearly heard Terry’s voice ringing in his ears: Don’t you know that old house is supposed to be haunted?
His blood ran cold. Collin whipped around, and the beam of the flashlight waved around crazily for a few moments before settling on the source of the tapping; a small, black-feathered bird that cocked its head innocently at him when he shined the light in its face. Collin's racing heart relaxed as he smiled at the little bird, mentally scolding himself for having been so paranoid. Birds lived in abandoned houses all the time so it wasn’t abnormal to see this fledgling around, though Collin couldn't quite pinpoint what type of bird this was. It was black like a crow, but something about the shape of the beak and the intelligent glint in its eye said otherwise; perhaps it was a hybrid of some sort. Shrugging off his questions, Collin turned around and continued walking as the bird hopped on after him.
After a few more minutes of groping in the dark, the beam of his flashlight finally fell upon a very old, beaten staircase that wound its way up onto the precarious second floor somewhere high up in the darkness. At last! He started towards it, but his foot accidently collided with something small and soft and that something flew upwards in a flutter of ragged feathers. Startled, he turned around and saw not one bird, not two birds, but five of the same species of black bird he had seen earlier, standing before him. The black fledgling that had been following him originally stood in the middle of the small group, not looking quite as innocent anymore, while the four other birds, far larger than the first, simply stared at him with unblinking eyes. Uneasiness shot through him and he quickly headed back to the staircase and bounded up the steps two at a time. The five birds hopped swiftly after him, practically stepping on his heels despite his feeble attempts to shoo them off.
I'm sure they're just curious about me, he reassured himself, trying to ignore the eeriness of the whole thing.
Droppings liberally littered the upper storey’s floorboards, and he could hear the flutter of wings overhead in the ceiling-beams. Collin deduced that this was probably where the majority of the fowl species lived, though the only birds he did see in the shadows all looked like the same black-feathered species. The young boy averted his eyes from them, trying to ignore the fact that all the birds he could see in the area seemed to all be congregating towards him.
They’re just curious, he thought again as his hands shook, making the flashlight beam bounce up and down crazily. The second-last bedroom couldn’t be too far away, now.
He prodded a door further down the hallway open to find an empty closet and a nestful of three baby crow-like birds wailing on one shelf. They stopped their cries immediately at the sight of Collin, and one by one bounded out of their nest and toddled up to him, spindly legs quivering. He normally would’ve found it rather cute, but this time he recoiled and practically ran to the next door, cold sweat running down his face. Was that hunger he could see in their gazes?
When he glanced behind him, he gasped aloud to find what had to be fifty or so birds all crowded behind him, following him, either flying or hopping along on the floor and squishing each other in order to fit in the narrow hallway. And they were all completely silent; not a single squawk, peep or cry emerged from any of their beaks.
Screw everything, Collin thought desperately, beginning to run. This isn’t natural, none of it!
He fled into the nearest room in sight, and once he had confirmed that there were no birds within, he practically leaped through the threshold and slammed the door shut. He quickly identified a broken writing-desk nearby and shoved the piece of furniture against the door as a temporary reinforcement. It wasn’t a moment too soon, for immediately afterwards it seemed that a great weight suddenly rammed against the entrance, the force of it not unlike the hit of a battering ram. He staggered backwards and fell supine on the floor, stunned, as three more great blows rained upon the entryway; little pieces of the doorframe fell out and Collin considered it a miracle that the entire wall didn’t collapse altogether. After a few more hits, however, the heavy slamming faded away and was replaced by weaker, yet more persistent blows that made the door vibrate.
Collin picked himself up from the floor and shone his light around the room. It seemed that he was in a bedroom of some sort, and there were no visible gaps or openings that any of the birds could get through. Only after he ensured everything was safe did he curl up into a little ball in the corner and begin crying, fat tears rolling down his cheeks; he had long-forgotten about the initiation and the Riley gang and wished only to go home, far away from this old, broken-down house with its maleficent fowl tenants.
He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, but he had soon cried himself out, and exhausted, he simply stared listlessly ahead of him, hearing the tapping on the door grow increasingly impatient. Only after a long while did he realize exactly what he was staring at.
The four-poster in the bedroom certainly must’ve been quite handsome when the Mary family had still lived within the house, but that wasn’t caught his eye; no, it was the large, slightly open wooden chest that sat at the head of the bed right where the pillows would normally be. Collin abruptly scrambled to his feet, and grabbing his flashlight, he hurried over to the bedside. When the light whizzed across the wooden chest’s opening, the faintest glint of gold flashed brightly up at him, and in one fluid movement, he threw back the lid and shone his light inside.
A pile of outdated, glittering coins smiled up at him.
With hands no longer trembling just out of fear, Collin reached out and grabbed hold of one of the coins, tentatively pulling it out of the chest. It was surprisingly heavy and slipped almost immediately out through his fingers, tumbling back upon its mates with a clear ping! All memories of the initiation flooded back to him and he felt himself grinning like a fool. I'm going to join the Riley gang!
He didn’t register at all that small splinters were beginning to splinter and fall off the door, creating a hole as hundreds of busy beaks pecked away at the wood.
He held the flashlight between his teeth as he began counting the coins, slipping them one by one into his pockets. There were ten of the Rileys, right? If I get one for each of them, that’ll be enough evidence of the treasure. In his excitement, however, he accidentally knocked back the covers of the bed, and a cloud of dust rose in his face. He scrunched his eyes shut and coughed, waving the dust away.
When he finally managed to crack his eyes open, what met his gaze made his heart drop to his stomach.
A skeleton, a human skeleton, lay prone atop the bed, one hand stretched out for the wooden chest and its face still twisted in a grimace of pain, looking scarily alike the model skeleton structures that he studied in science class. Staring at the very real body with wide eyes, he was unconsciously reminded of the time he had seen the bones of a dead fish washed up on the shore of a beach, bleaching in the sun. Both that fish and this human’s remains had been picked clean –
– as if by birds.
With a cold jolt, Collin realized the implications of that comparison, but he couldn’t bring himself to move as he gazed at the gruesome scene. Studying the body longer, he realized that there was evidence of the remains of multiple people beneath those covers.
A loud, splintering crash suddenly resounded through the walls and jerked him out of his reverie as his head snapped up towards the door. The birds were all pouring in through the hole they had created, and they were the last things Collin saw when they all lunged towards him as one, talons bared and beaks wide open and hungry. They engulfed him in a wave of black feathers as they tore through flesh and muscle till they pecked at bone, with their terrible, terrible eyes staring directly into his frightened blue ones –
-:-
Terry stood wringing his hands nervously before the porch of the Mary Manor with the Riley gang. Collin had disappeared into the mansion three days ago and had never re-emerged, and while the police were questioning others about the missing boy, the Riley gang had decided to undo their cruel prank and go into the manor to investigate. Terry had volunteered to help once he had heard of the gang’s venture – he had been Collin’s best friend, after all.
“Everyone have a flashlight?” Will Riley called, looking over his crew. They all nodded, and their leader turned towards the mansion door.
“Then let’s go.”
One by one, the boys trickled into the manor, shining their flashlights into the darkness.
And in the ceiling-beams above, the birds were watching.553Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDcYrNxkpl
