Enter Night

By Richard Schiver

A night of celebration turns to terror as a group of friends seek refuge in an abandoned farmhouse and come face to face with their worst nightmares.
For there are places even the ghosts of the dead fear. Where nightmares wander the hallways of our dreams, and not every story ends with a happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Schiver
• Release date: Dec 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301724833

Richard Schiver

Richard is the author of eight novels, three novellas, and a collection of short stories. He is a member in good standing of the Horror Writers Association, and the Maryland Writers Association. During his life he has played a series of roles, husband, father, son, and lover, but his favorite by far is grandfather. He and his wife of twenty plus years have raised four children and helped raise eight grandchildren. They provide a secure home to a yellow lab named Max. His wife, Dena, has experienced firsthand the exasperation of living with a writer whose mind tends to wander at the most inappropriate times. Yet she manages to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. Richard can be found online at: Facebook: http://www.facebook/RichardSchiver Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/richard-schiver Written in Blood is Richard's personal blog where he shares his writing, and whatever else might strike his fancy. https://rschiver.blogspot.com/ He can be contacted directly at [e-mail] and would be delighted to hear from you.

Book preview

A Novella

by

Richard Schiver

Abis Books

Author Richard Schiver

Copyright © 2012 Richard Schiver

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

No portion of this story may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the express written consent of the author and publisher

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the Author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to Actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

A throbbing bass beat filled the interior of the crowded SUV as it chased its headlights along a twisting, winding, road bordered on both sides by dense forest . Roy was driving, one hand tapping the steering wheel in time with the music, while with his other he tilted back the bottle of beer to drain its contents.

Melissa, his girlfriend, sat in the passenger’s seat smoking a joint. Roy dropped the empty bottle to the floor and reached for the joint. Melissa held it just beyond his grasp.

Gimme that, Roy said.

Say please, Melissa teased.

In the row of seats behind them, Zack and Deanna sat with their heads together as Zack played a game on a PSP.

They’re gonna get you, Melissa said as he leaned into his attempt to avoid the incoming rounds.

Zack looked up and snatched the joint from Melissa, who spun around in her seat.

Hey, asshole, gimme that.

Finders keepers, Zack said as he took a hit from the joint, and then passed it to Deanna.

Deanna giggled as she took a hit.

Come on, don’t hog the weed, Melissa said.

With a smirk, Deanna turned around and offered the joint to Connor, who sat in the last row of seats next to his girlfriend, Barbara.

Connor, ya want a hit? Deanna asked.

Connor leaned forward and took the roach. Sitting back, he took a deep hit and held it in. He offered the joint to Barbara but she turned away. Suddenly she jumped back with a startled cry.

What’s wrong? Connor said.

A spider, get it please, she said, pointing at the tiny arachnid crouching on the arm rest. Connor reached over and squashed it under his thumb.

Nothing to be afraid of.

I hate spiders, they give me the creeps, Barbara said with a shudder.

Connor offered her the joint. Ya sure you don’t want some?

She shook her head as she settled back into her seat. You should know better, she said.

Connor shrugged as he took another hit and passed the joint back to Deanna.

Somebody hand me a beer, Roy shouted over the music. Zack dug into the cooler on the floor between his feet.

Melissa spotted movement in the forest to their left. A white smudge that flashed between the trees as it got closer. She watched it, aware that it was heading in their direction. Glancing at Roy, she noticed that he was looking away from the road.

Look at the road dammit.

The object became a woman who was frantically clawing her way through the brush, her head turned to look back over her shoulder, her gaze fixed on the forest behind her. Melissa barely had time to wonder what she was doing in the middle of nowhere before she stumbled onto the pavement in front of them.

Look out, Melissa screamed as the woman vanished beneath the edge of the hood.

Fuck! Roy shouted as he grabbed the wheel with both hands and slammed on the brakes. Everyone was thrown forward. Barbara screamed in the back. Melissa struck her head on the dash.

There was a thump as the SUV lurched once, twice, as the sound of something rolling under the vehicle came from beneath their feet.

They came to a halt, everyone yelling at once.

Roy buckled, and then unbuckled his seat belt. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, he shouted as he opened the door and slipped from behind the wheel. The headlights illuminated a narrow ribbon of asphalt that vanished into the black depths of the forest pressing in on all sides.

Roy walked around the front of the SUV as he assessed the damage. A bloody handprint marred the surface of the hood, the grill was cracked, and the front bumper was bent.

Melissa came around from the passenger’s side with her hand pressed against her forehead.

Are you crazy? Why weren’t you watching the road?

Shut up, dammit, just shut the fuck up, Roy said as he stepped back to survey the damage. I’m fucking dead. My dad’s gonna kill me.

Accidents happen, Melissa said.

Roy shook his head. He’s gonna kill me, he told me not to take the van tonight.

But you said… Melissa managed to say before Roy cut her off.

I know what I said, dammit. I lied, okay.

Melissa shook her head. She and Roy had been together since childhood. All of them had. They’d grown up on the same street, had gone to the same schools. Every summer the six of them would hang out together. There had been a few others who had come and gone. But in the end the six of them had remained as one.

Through thick and thin, both good times and bad, nothing that happened had broken them apart. Most of them, at one time or another, dated other people. But in the end they always returned to the group. Evenly divided between boys and girls, it