Free Tales From the Swollen Corpse by Sam Williams Page B

witches.”
     
    “You like that sort a thing?”
     
    “I sure do. My favorite show is Dr. Cadaver’s midnight movie and I have a stack of horror comics as big as a house.”
     
    With a long pale arm the redheaded boy rested a stack of books on the table. He looked around with a cautiousness Dan found silly.
     
    “You want to see a real witch?” He said smirking mischievously.
     
    “Um sure.”
     
    “Follow me.”
     
    Dan stood, leaving his tattered backpack and the old book on the table. He followed the odd young man, half expecting what he wanted to show him. They walked out of the main hall towards the front entrance. The lobby resembled a foyer you might think of finding in a turn of the century mansion. Its walls were filled with historical pictures of the area. A glass case in the center displayed a local kindergarten class’s tiny paper turkeys.
     
    On one side a dark wooden stair case led to a single upstairs room. The stairs were roped off and the room at the top had always enticed Dan’s imagination. It was visible outside as a tower with a Moorish style dome on top. Just as Dan thought, it was the picture that hung on the wall just below the staircase he’d been brought to see.
     
    It was the picture of an elderly Agnes Parks hanging just below a picture of her parents. She was the only child of Jackson and Elizabeth Parks and the last of the Parks family to live in the building before it had been donated. She never married nor had any children. Local lore had begun about her even before her death. She had a well deserved reputation with her contemporaries for being mean spirited. But it was the rumors of witchcraft that would immortalize her for generations of the town’s children.
     
    Dan had often wondered if the picture alone wasn’t responsible for the legends. It gave him the creeps. An old unsmiling (as was common with portraits of the time) woman with black eyes. It was that those calculating and disapproving eyes seemed to follow you that really got to Dan.
     
    “Old lady Parks.” Dan said as if he were referring to an old acquaintance.
     
    “Oh, you know of her?”
     
    “What kid doesn’t? They say she took kids for sacrifices to the devil. She would take them down to the basement and they were never seen again. Some say their bodies are buried in the gardens in the back.”
     
    “It’s all true.”
     
    With a puzzled expression on his face, Dan looked at the tall gangly boy. “How do you know?”
     
    “Because she’s still here. I am sure you’ve heard too, that she haunts the place. I help lock up sometimes and can get the keys. I’ve snuck back in here late a few times. I’ve seen her.”
     
    Dan thought his knew friend was a bit off. He wasn’t sure if the kid was just trying to impress him. He did seem to be quite serious about all of it. The thought of seeing a real ghost, let alone a witch, thrilled him greatly.
     
    “You want to see her?”
     
    Dan felt like he had read his mind. “Yeah I would.”
     
    “Can you get back here tonight about eleven thirty?”
     
    Dan felt excitement build, along with nervousness in his belly. He thought about if he could pull it off. He had snuck out before. He might be pushing the time depending on when his mom went to bed, but he figured he could do it. He nodded.
     
    “Sure, I’ll be here.”
     
    His friend looked at the clock on the wall and started to rock back and forth on his heels as if he had a large amount of work to get back to.
     
    “Okay, be here at eleven-thirty sharp. Knock on the front door and I’ll let you in…oh, and don’t be seen.”
     
    With that, the redheaded young man started to sprint away.
     
    “Hey, what’s your name by the way?” Dan asked, trying to be quiet but still be heard. The boy stopped before turning the corner.
     
    “It’s Josh, you’re Dan right?”
     
    “Yeah.”
     
    “Nice to meet you Dan.” Josh walked around the corner and was gone.
     
    Dan looked back