The entrance to the tunnel was his only way out. He couldn't go back through the main entrance because it was locked, and couldn't climb over the fence because of the razor wire on top of it. He wouldn't be able to dig under the fence without them hearing him.

Mike's parents had told him not to go to the other side of the cemetery but his friends were going and he didn't want to be left out of the fun they were going to have. His parents were fearful of him going out at night because of the young boys who kept going missing in the town. He was shaking as he stood at the entrance to the tunnel, he was the only one of his friends who had made it out alive.

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When he started his evening he thought they were going to have some ghostly fun, he thought they would tell stories around a fire they would make at the back of the cemetery where the forest is - but when they arrived they found a group of gangsters shouting at each other. His friends saw that they were busy with an initiation ceremony where one of the incoming gang members was supposed to kill the young boy they had abducted. One of his friends made a noise and they started running after them. He ran into a rocky area and then saw an open grave that had been dug for someone who was going to be buried. He jumped into it and hid in the hole. He heard his friends screaming for help and then everything went quiet. The gangsters carried on with the initiation and took the life of the young boy. Mike was trying to cry quietly, trying to catch his breath and just breathe without anyone hearing him.

The weather began to change and a storm came over.

Above image by Pixabay user: ELG21

He was so scared that he forgot how cold he was until it started to rain. He began to shiver and knew he had to get out of the hole and get home. As he lifted his head he saw one of the gang members and recognized him as a boy who had dropped out of school who used to bully him when he was in primary school. He waited for them to leave and saw them go through the tunnel. It was his only way out to get to safety, but what if they were still in the tunnel when he came through? He looked at his watch and saw it was 23:04, he couldn't stay where he was because he would freeze during the night.

He waited until 1 am and then decided it was time for him to leave. The rain had let up but the temperature had dropped and his fingers were numb.

Above and lead image by Pixabay user: ToNic-Pics

He wished that the lights in the tunnel were out so that people couldn't see him, but he had no choice. He walked as quickly as he could without making too much noise, he was thankful for the dripping water which muffled the sound of his footsteps. He walked closer towards the exit and then he saw a flame light up in the darkness. It was one of the gangsters lighting up a cigarette.

Above image by Pixabay user: StockSnap

Or was it? He couldn't see anyone else, he began to go slowly towards the exit of the tunnel while trying to stay in the darkness. Every step made him more fearful and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Then he recognized the man, it was one of the people his Dad worked with. He shouted out to him, "James! Help! JAMES!!" the man turned around in shock and nearly dropped his cigarette.

"What are you doing here kid? Do you know what time it is?"

He explained everything to James.

"That's quite a story young man. But it's just a story, your friends weren't out and they aren't missing."

"They were out! We were out together! I ran and hid, I heard them scream for help!"

He got into the car with James in disbelief and sat in silence as the night lights of the city shone across the roads. He began to feel uneasy and as if he shouldn't have gotten into the car with James.

"Why were you out at this time of the morning?"

The man looked ahead with an emotionless expression on his face and continued to drive. The young boy realized that they were going the wrong way, "Where are we going? This isn't the way home."

"We aren't going home."

To be continued 🤩

@Eybyoung Thank you for sharing this prompt generator with all of us! This is what inspired this post...

Above image source is a screenshot from: https://www.squibler.io/random-prompt-generator

Time for work!

I wanted to write more but I need to get ready for work and the day 😄