Ten-year-old Collin White had always admired the fifth-grade Riley gang at school, and is therefore ecstatic when he gets the chance to go through the "initiation" to join them. Little does he know what a mistake he's making.​

This is cross-posted from my account on Fictionpress, and is just a thing I wrote for an English assignment on horror stories back in eighth grade. Upon rereading it, I decided I liked it and submitted it to that year's Scholastic competition. I didn't make it past Nationals, but it was exceedingly fun to write all the same.

I don't really know where I got the initial idea to write this, though I do remember I derived inspiration from the crebain in The Lord of the Rings. (mild LOTR spoilers ahead) They're basically large, scary, crow-like birds that act as spies for the enemy. (end mild spoilers) I remember I initially set out to write something that was more psychologically horrifying then flat-out gore and violence, and though I'm not too sure if I managed to accomplish that, I still like the end product. 

Thanks for reading!

- Nearing Midnight