sorry for the  periods around the word Clark and the major gaps between paragraphs. Seem that when I copy stuff from word it does this.



A horror story by Ryan Bucek

The Tunnel

Chapter 1 – Reflection

Mirrors are a funny thing. They reflect our outer appearance, but we only choose to see what is visible and no further. It all depends on how you look at yourself that determines who you see.

There is only two ways you can look at your reflection. There is your appearance and then there is the side only you can see. The question of who you really are. This goes much deeper then what’s on the outside. You have to look into the eyes of your reflection.

After doing this you’ll be faced with even more questions.

Who are you?

Who are you to other people?

Then those final questions that sum it all up.

Is the person you think you are and the person others see you as, all one in the same?

If not then which version of yourself is the real you?

I happen to ask myself this every morning before leaving my room. No matter how hard I try I can never manage to answer those final questions.

The Embry that my family and friends know is the mask that I put on every time I turn my back to that mirror. After I leave my bedroom, my sanctuary, I turn into a completely different person. The person I loathe and hate.

The smell of bacon and eggs overwhelm me as I take two steps at a time down the winding staircase. My Dad has to be the best cook that I know. He is the only cook that I know.

“Caroline!” He calls. “Hurry up and eat before Natalie gets here!”

I hate my real name. Not that it’s bad but because I think too hard on what my friends would think of such an old fashioned name. My middle name is as good as any.

“Too late Mr. H!” A musical tone comes riveting through the halls of my house.

That’s Natalie, my best friend and current ride to school. I turn the corner into the kitchen to find my Dad by the stove, Natalie sitting at the table, and her younger brother standing in the back doorway of my house.

“Are you going to close that door anytime soon, ..Clark..?” My Dad smirks.

“Oh, sorry Mr. Hail,” He stumbles, closing the door almost immediately.

My kitchen looks so beautiful in the mornings. The sun shines right through the screen door as to make the kitchen a kind of golden color.

I take a seat beside my best friend as my Dad sits my food down in front of me. This gives me a perfect view of the backyard. I remember when I was younger, sitting out in the yard and pretended that the view was of someplace else. Some place quite with rivers and mountains.

..Clark.. takes a seat across from us, blocking my view. He stares me down making it very difficult to eat. He is doing it on purpose. ..Clark.. had been doing that for the past ten years ever since his sis and I started hanging out.

“Stop that or you’ll be walking to school,” Natalie scolds, giving him a face that a mother might give her son.

“She knows I’m only kidding,” He snaps back.

I stand up to kiss my Dad goodbye before the fight can escalate.

“You’re not going to eat?” He asks.  

“I forgot that I have to get to English early for extra credit,” I wave back to him.

I feel bad for leaving a perfectly good meal to waste. It is either that or my Dad having to listen to Nat and Clark fight. I think it would be best to spare him the agony.

Natalie owns a yellow Volkswagen which makes if very hard to cram into. After awhile I had gotten use to it.

“Shotgun” ..Clark.. calls, already at the car.

“Freshmen sit in back” I smirk, opening the passenger door for him.

He crams into the back with only a few comments on how men should ride in front.

“This isn’t fair!” ..Clark.. whines. “When I’m a sophomore, you two will have already graduated.

“Yeah, and you’ll have your own ride so shut up!” Natalie snaps turning up the radio.

I love their bickering with one another. It always makes me smile.

I can’t help but look over at Natalie every time the wind blows her hair in every which direction. She is Golden. Natalie looks more like a super model then a student at ....Washington.. ..Heights.. ..High School..... I wish my hair were any other color then brown. Heck, even my eyes are brown.

Natalie has blue eyes…..

I don’t have to turn around to see that ..Clark.. is staring at me. I can see him in the mirror.

“You might want to put those eyeballs back in your head lover boy,” Natalie teases.

She notices everything.

The tiny yellow car fit right into the parking spot we park in every morning. It looks almost as if you can fit another tiny car right into the same spot.

“Embry, when are you going to get your own car?” ..Clark.. asks, trying his best to squeeze through the little space between him and the front seat.

..Clark.. kind of looks like that one doctor off that funny MD show. I forget the name of it.

“Let me give you a hand,” I sigh.

He doesn’t take my hand but rather pushes a little too hard and falls shoulder first onto the pavement.

“I’m good!” He yells, jumping to his feet almost immediately, looking around to see if anybody saw him.

“I’ll get a car when you stop acting like such a dweeb,” I laugh, picking up his book bag.

“Good!” He snaps, snatching his bag.

He walks off alone toward his group of friends across the lot.

“You know you can’t live without Embry!” Natalie calls.

..Clark.. ignores her. This is going to be a long day.

Everyday is the same. We get to school. Jake Macarthur hits on me right after terrorizing Toby the school mascot, and then Veronica “Prom Queen” Phillips defends him as if she is some sort of predator protecting her prey.

Those two are the oddest couple that I had ever seen. The most stuck up girl who thinks she is better then everyone else ending up with the biggest jerk in school. I know that sounds like your typical teen movie scenario. Jake isn’t the star football player jerk type….more of the big, bad bully with tattoos and piercings.

Almost all of my classes are a nightmare. I have to always travel back to my locker to switch out textbooks and every time I did Jake would be waiting there like some homesick puppy.

“You want to come over this weekend,” He asks almost every time.

I would have to decline making up some odd excuse. I am running out of ideas.

My favorite class has to be history. Mr. Harold is a very chill teacher. Plus, it’s the only class Natalie and I have together. Mr. Harold will joke with the class half of the time or talk with his wife on the phone. We pretty much go without any lectures which gives us more time to chat afterwards.

I sit outside at the tables with all my friends during lunch. I’m pretty sure Natalie and I are the only girls to actually eat at lunch out of our group. We aren’t afraid to eat in front of people. The truth is that I don’t really like my friends. Natalie began hanging around that group so naturally I followed.

I go through all my core classes followed by getting together with the student committee to get Prom situated. The only downside to being on the committee is that Veronica is there. She is always competing with me as if I am after Jake. He gives me one ride home and she flips out. Any idea I have about prom she totally disagrees with.

I’m more then relieved once I get home.

As soon as my bedroom door shuts behind me I can be myself again. I pull out my diary and begin to write about my day. I know I should have stopped after Junior High like all the other girls but I like it.

I feel like myself as I fill those blank pages.

That’s how everyday goes. Things are boring…I need more…

The sweet scent of mashed potatoes and cream corn overwhelm me as I sit down at the table for dinner. Before I can indulge myself my phone vibrates in my pocket. My Mom doesn’t like when I text at the table so I sneak it under,  peering at it through the clear glass.

Natalie: Hey Girl going 2 meet him tonite!

Me: him?

Natalie: That guy I told u bout

I am really confused now. I begin to text her back but my Mom snaps at me.

I hurry through dinner and take two steps at a time up to my bedroom.

I wait…

Me: U there?

By the second hour I am out like a lamp….exhausted…worried….

The dream I have that night is the only one that I will never forget.

The clouds are grey, the clouds threatening with mighty claps of thunder. I peer down to see that I am much shorter then I am. I am wearing my Sunday school dress I wore when I was a child. I stand on the old ....Church.. ..House.. ..Bridge..... Natalie and I love that place.

The skips of rope hitting wood catches my attention. It is Natalie jumping rope across from me. I would call her Goldie locks when we were children. Her golden hair was always tied with two red ribbons.

“Embry,” She smiles. “Play with me!”

A sinking feeling hits my stomach like a ton of rocks. Something is wrong. I try to call out to her as she climbs the bridge railing. No sounds will escape my mouth. Natalie begins to tie the rope into a noose. I am trying so desperately to run to her. The more I try the farther I get away from her. Natalie has the rope around her neck now.

She begins to laugh…

“Embry, let’s play hide and go peek!”

I only scream muffled sounds…

“Just follow the tunnel!”

With those final words she leaps!

I wake up screaming and crying into my pillow. My Mother’s arms are already around me. She is sobbing.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs.

“What?” I ask, pulling away from her.

She can’t even look me in the eyes.

“Natalie,” She sobs again. “Honey she hung herself!”

My mother’s warm embrace finds me again as I sit frozen in shock. My phone is still in my hand. Natalie has messaged me back.

tHe tunnel

The tunnEl

The tunneL

The tunneL

Find me in the Tunnel