Out of all places to move to for their new job, Chester was the worst one my parents have picked yet. Nobody ever came outside and it was constantly raining. The hills ran for miles on end. So, it wasn't very likely that'd you'd have a neighbor within walking distance. I usually stuck in my room reading books that I found at the coffee shop. That was just about the only thing between my house and the school. I'd go in there every morning at 6:30 am before I got to the school. I just ordered a black coffee, that summarized my life here. I never joined any clubs at school and barely talked to anyone unless I had to ask them a question. I knew I wouldn't have to be here long though, my parents usually shifted to wherever the business was, and that was never longer than a couple years. So, I figured, why even bother trying to make friends if I know I'll have to leave anyway.

My name is Ana Butler, 17 years old, high school student, and skilled introvert. I normally read these kind of stories on websites around Halloween, but this is real life. I was the kind of kid that liked the dark side of stories, I appreciated the secrets behind certain movies with a hidden deeper meaning. Now I can't even tell ghost stories around the campfire because of what happened to me. I won't even leave the house unless someone else is around me. What happened to me was never recorded in any newspaper, mostly because the story was unbelievable and no evidence could be proven. So, since you won't find it anywhere else, let me tell you myself.

That day started out with my usual trip to the coffee shop, I stopped in to get my drink and drove the rest of the way to school. I was always the first one to the parking lot. I stayed in the car and listened to the local radio broadcast. They were having a podcast about the science of ouija boards. They were debating what was actually real and what was a myth.

"The mere idea of this game excited teenagers and young adults across the nation. It is such a great idea that they want it to be true. The thought that they could communicate with spirits was something that had always been dreamed of." one broadcaster said.

"In my personal experience, I have tried this game alone and with friends. In both, I've had some sort of communication. At first, I thought it was my friends moving it to scare me, then I tried it on my own in the same spot and I couldn't believe what was happening. There was no explanation as to why it was moving, there was nobody else with me..." replied the co-broadcaster.

I didn't believe that stuff. I never believed in any of the supernatural. My family wasn't religious. It wasn't anything we believed or didn't believe, it was just a matter of we never saw the need for it in our lives. We were always on the move going new places, so we never had time to celebrate any holidays. No family or friends to spend them with either. These were just some of the consequences to never settling down anywhere. I guess the only positive thing about it was that it was kind of like traveling the world, only, we were going to all the wrong places.

By time 7:30 came, I was ready to drag on through the day. The school had under 200 students, so everyone knew pretty much everyone. Except me, of course. I was like their foreign exchange student. I never talked to any of the other kids. I just enjoyed my coffee and sipped little enough to make it through Ecology, World History, English, and Algebra. That was all I had to do, then I could go home for dinner, read, then go to sleep. It's crazy how comfortable I got with this cycle knowing that it wouldn't be very long anyway. Every place I went, somehow nothing seemed to change.

Today, in World History, we were talking about McCarthyism. It seemed like one of those crazy fandoms after a good movie comes out, they can only use phrases from that movie. Everyone was scared of each other, accusing their neighbors of being communist. Which seemed to me like a stupid reason to put someone in jail for life. Everyone was so intrigued by it though. They thought that this man was being patriotic by putting innocent people in jail. For the first time, I wanted to say something in class, but then I realized nothing I sized would change this small town's opinion. They thought that anyone not from their town wasn't equal to them.

On my way out of class was when things started feeling strange. When I left the class, I was the first one out of the room, normally, people left me in the dust. They kind of just looked at me until I got to the door, then they got up and walked to their lockers. The rest of the day I felt like I was being watched. Normally, I could go through a whole school day without anyone batting an eye at me. Somehow, I was now being stalked. I never saw anyone actually look at me but, the way people passed me in the hall just felt different.

I was so thrown off by everything that had happened that day that I went straight home instead of stopping at the bookstore to check out what new poetry they had. Which was odd for me, I was a reading junkie. I used reading to escape my problems which could have helped today. Actually, nothing went the way it normally goes. My parents weren't even home by five. I tried not to think about it too much though. I just went outside to lay on the hammock. I watched the sky for a while that night. I even remember falling asleep for what I thought would be a nap. But, this time the birds wouldn't be waking me up in the morning.

I woke up and couldn't see a thing, it was a cloudy night. It was also a little windy, the hammock was shaking back and forth. I tried pushing my self up to roll out of the hammock. It wouldn't budge, I was still stuck under the blanket. Perhaps it was caught onto the rope. I pushed up again, it felt like I was tied down. Then, I hit the ground with a thud, still tied up like a cocoon. I heard the leaves rustling around me, someone was there. As I lied there longer, the crowd kept sounding bigger and bigger. I was afraid to say anything because I thought they might figure out I was there.

I recognized the varsity basketball player's voice "What do you want to do with her first?"

"Are you here to help me?"

That was the last thing I'd say that night because immediately after that someone came from behind me and tied a washcloth around my mouth. The more I struggled, the more he pulled on the end of the cloth. I kept squirming until the edges of my lips had tore apart. Blood kept pouring into my mouth and I had to swallow it.

I lied face down in the dirt for a couple more minutes. I could hear at least five different voices. They were all wearing masks though, I couldn't see who it was. I'm sure there were more people there though. It was all people I knew, a couple basketball players, one cheerleader, two student council members, and a yearbook editor. I couldn't really tell what they were saying though. I just knew that they were talking about. The longer I sat there, I started to realize some stings in my legs. I felt several tingles going up my leg, then I looked at the rock next to me. There was mound covered in fire ants. I shook everything that I could to get them off of me. One of the kids thought I was trying to escape though and tipped over the candle next to me. The hot wax scorched my back. Then, he stomped on my lower back to make sure I wasn't untying the knot.

"She's still here" he said

"So, Ana, do you believe in a God?"

"No" I replied, barely making enough noise over trying to deal with the burn on my back.

"Why not?"

"I don't know"

"Don't you think he could help you right now?"

"I guess so"

"Well, first, you have to believe in the power that he has."

"I'm not sure if thats going to..."

"Get her up!"

A couple of other boys pulled me up by the shoulder, "Will that help me?"

"Of course, nothing is greater than the mercy of God"

"I believe in God"

"That's not going to get you out of this though."

"Wait!" I shouted

" You just have to hope that he will end this soon enough for you"

He walked over to me and lifted my feet up. I was now being carried somewhere and was terrified of what would come next. What scared me even more is that they were chanting somethng that I couldn't understand. It sounded Latin.

Sit laus Deo

Sit laus Deo

Sit laus Deo

The chant kept getting louder and louder like they were reaching the finishing line. Then, I saw what appeared to be candles on top of glass. Then I heard splashing as the kids carried me into a lake. I thought they were going to drown me. I tried to talk them out of killing me, but they just kept chanting. They lowered me into the water and untied me. It was only about half a foot of water, but I was packed in by the sand with just my head sticking out. The ripples of the waves kept splashing against my face. They surrounded me in what sounded like another prayer in Latin. They ended the prayer with 'Amen'. After that, they all kneeled down by their candles and blew them out. They walked away. I was stuck in the sand spitting out my blood and lake water. Then, not more than an hour later, it started to rain, hard. The water level kept rising and I could take fewer breaths.

Then, the sun rose in what appeared to be the figure of God. I had never been more thankful in my life. The rain slowed down and the sand was soft enough for me to dig my way out. I ran back to tell the police what had happened to me, except, I wasn't in the same town, or state. Nobody knew me. When I came to think about it, I don't even remember what the lake looked like last night. I had them call my parents, but they replied that my parents have been gone for over five years now and I've been missing. I told him the names of the kids that took me. They all died in a car crash the same day.