Young Writers Society

Well i'm new here so i figured i'd put this up, it's a story i wrote a while back. I found it again yesterday and i just thought i'd stick it up here and see what people think of it!

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Under the bridge

Under the bridge was dark and damp, cold and wet, empty and hostile. It went over a fast flowing river, and underneath apart from the water was only two slumps of dirty land. During the day nobody went there, during the night nobody went there. Or at least everyone liked to think nobody went there, for the people who did go their where the type of people other people liked to pretend didn’t exist in their homely little town. These people were ruthless arrogant young hooligans in the eyes of the law biding polite citizens of the town.

Under the bridge was were they went, but only at night. During the day they where in school, well the ones who hadn’t already flunked out. The ones who had where out bagging groceries or inside squeezing mustard packets for lack of anything else to do. At least that’s what the law biding citizens assumed they were doing. Of course by now you’ve realized that the people who go under the bridge are of course teenagers. Not all the teenagers, only the ones who had ‘passed over to the dark side’.

Under the bridge at night was never visited by any sane person. Even the routes that went near the bridge were scarcely used. Nobody even wanted to know the evil deeds done under the bridge at night, for tales told that they were so nasty the fear and disgust of seeing these vile goings ons would be enough to make your heart stop, but those were just the tales. And most of the respectable townspeople didn’t care for tales, these stories where told by obnoxious old men to their equally obnoxious grandchildren, who would retell them to their friends. All the while the grandmothers and mothers scolding the grandfathers for telling these stories and reassuring their children they were not the case.

You may think normally people don’t talk about what teenagers get up too at night especially not as stories for ones grandchild, and you would say that teenagers aren’t that bad. You might also say that all this seems a bit silly for a small town to make such a big deal of what their teenagers are up to, but there is something different about these kids. Something satanic, sinister, evil and unsettling. The regular stuff, drugs, smoking, kissing, fondling, it was all there, but there was more. Something demonic about these children that everyone tried to ignore.

Penny hadn’t been in her small hometown for 5 years, she has been living in Spain working in the Costa del Sol since she moved there after school. Her parents have come to visit her in Spain but now for the first time in five years she has returned home. She was greatly tanned from all the time she spends in the sun, and she had stunningly gorgeous long naturally blonde hair. She wore a blue denim mini skirt and a blue shirt, with the top and bottom two buttons un-done. Since her flight arrived in at 3:00 in the morning and her parents where quite old by now, they couldn’t possibly pick her up at this time so Penny was forced to find her own transport. She waited outside the airport along with many others waiting for a taxi, until she finally got one at 3:30am. The driver got out and helped her load her cases into the boot of the taxi.

“Thanks” she said with a smile showing her gleaming white teeth. He opened the door for her and watched her lustfully as she got in. He then got in the car himself and started up the car.

“Where to?” he asked timidly.

“High hill park” she replied after a short silence in which she struggled to remember the name of her childhood street. She was never around much as a kid, normally she was at work with her older sister, who was the oldest child of penny’s 6-child family. Penny’s sister Connie had been the oldest, and was 16 when Penny, the youngest of the 6, was born. There were four boys in between the two girls, the youngest of the boys, Marc, who was only one year older than penny, making him 24 liked to go ‘under the bridge’ at night.

“You from around here?’ the driver asked.

“Not anymore, I haven’t been here in 5 years”

“So you visiting your folks or something?” he asked.

“Yeah, my mums to sick to visit me now, she has lung cancer”

“Sorry to hear that” replied the driver.

“That’s ok,” replied Penny.

“Damn it” said the driver suddenly as he turned the car.

“What’s wrong” Penny asked nervously as she began to notice that the driver had quickly broken out into heavy sweat.

He was silent for a second before gulping and answering the question.

“Not much, it’s just, that roads closed, so we got to go over the bridge,” he said. And then like a bullet entering her body all the memories of the tales of under the bridge came right back to her.

“You don’t believe those silly stories do you?” she asked.

“I wish I didn’t, and I wouldn’t if it wasn’t for what happened…” he started, but stopped. He was unable to keep talking, a lump had developed in his throat, and he was sweating like a pig. His fear made Penny uneasy.

“My brother” gawked the taxi man. “He was taking this road, over the bridge. And then, we never saw him again for two weeks” he gasped out before having another mild panic attack. “We found,” he said before more gasps. “His body, under the bridge”.

Suddenly the taxi driver pulled the car to a halt and looked out the windscreen, the bridge was in sight. It was nothing scary, just an ordinary old bridge, and not a very big bridge. The taxi driver put his foot on the pedal and at about 25 miles per hour moved across the bridge, but he was stopped before he got very far at all. Penny watched out the window wide eyed as the taxi driver pulled the cab to a stop for the teenage intruder standing in the middle of the bridge.

“What are you doing?” screamed Penny now equally scared “Drive”

“What? You want me to run over the kid?” screamed the Taxi driver.

“I don’t care, get us out of here, reverse” screamed Penny.

Suddenly their attention was caught by a glimpse of moonlight bouncing of a blade and into their eyes. They turned to see the young boy who had stopped them, looking to be about 19 years old. He was tall and dressed entirely in black. Black, baggy jeans and a black hooded top. No logo, just plain black. He held in his hand a machete and was fiddling with it in his hands. In panic the taxi driver reached into the glove compartment in front of Penny’s seat and pulled out a gun, he held it closely on his lap. Penny smiled with a slight relief but when she remembered the intensity of the situation her smile quickly disappeared.

“Just reverse” said Penny harshly.

“But he’ll kill us”

“You have a gun don’t you?”

“I’m not going to kill the kid,” argued the taxi driver.

“Just reverse god damn it” shouted Penny impatiently. The taxi driver did as he was told and slowly started to reverse the cab, as he did the hooligan in front moved closer towards them. Suddenly the taxi driver was forced to stop by the appearance of 3 more teenagers behind the cab.

“What are you doing?” she snapped again, annoyed by the taxi drivers persistent stopping.

“I don’t want to kill anybody,” he repeated.

“Well I will so give me the damn gun” she said eyeing the gun on his lap, he slowly passed it over to her, still trying to keep it out of sight of the hooligans on either side of the car. Suddenly one of the three from behind the car made his way slowly towards the driver’s door. The taxi driver was breathing incredibly heavily, and was ready to collapse in fear. The teenager didn’t rush in approaching the car, but he slowly walked at a steady pace until he got by the door. Penny looked at him with fear in her eyes while the taxi driver hid his head beneath his arms and tried to wish himself somewhere else. Penny wasn’t ready to take risks, and she quickly raised the gun, still in the car. The teenager kept his face hidden by his hood and the darkness around them all, but he noticed the gun and moved his eyes to follow its actions. He didn’t move or show any sign of fear. Penny didn’t waste anymore time.

BAMN. She shot. The glass Shattered. The taxi driver screamed loudly as glass fell around him. The teenager had disappeared.

“What the hell?” gasped Penny as she looked around for their attacker. They had all disappeared, the ones in front the ones behind, they where all gone.

“DRIVE” yelled Penny upon noticing the possibility of a clean get away, but it wasn’t going to be that simple at all. The nervous wreck of a taxi driver tried to pull himself together long enough to drive off the bridge, but he stumbled and rather than turn the keys dropped them out and to the floor instead. “PICK THEM UP” yelled penny as the nervous taxi driver searched the glass crammed floor for the keys.

“Shit” he said as he cut himself, and again when he cut himself the second time. Finally he got the keys and jammed them into the car, turned them and slammed his foot down on the pedal, but the car didn’t move.

“What the hell” shouted Penny as nothing happened? “Try again”. He did and once again the wheels didn’t turn. “There flat” said the taxi driver. Suddenly the taxi driver’s door was swung open with so much force that it was pulled off its hinges, and the door dropped into the river under the bridge. The culprit pulled the taxi driver out of the car and hauled him over the bridge onto the muddy bank by the water. It happened so quickly that up until this point Penny was frozen in fear, but she quickly snapped herself together and opened her door. She got out and began shooting at the teenager who had just thrown the taxi driver under the bridge. He walked around from the car and towards Penny, who was miraculously missing the teenager every time. She looked down at her hand holding the gun, it was perfectly aligned to hit him right in the chest, but just before she fired her hand jerked away from no control of her own. She kept moving back while trying to shoot him, and he continually advanced menacingly towards her. She backed up by the edge of the bridge and glared at him in fear. Then she turned to the car, where she noticed there were more of them pushing the car towards the other side of the bridge, she watched as the lifted it slightly and pushed it off the edge of the bridge. It dropped quickly and made a giant splash as it crashed into the lake below. Penny glanced back to the guy who was heading towards her. He was closer and had a menacing look on his face, he smiled as he roughly grabbed her and shook her fiercely before pushing her off the side of the bridge so she landed on the muddy slope by the river.

Luckily the others didn’t notice her at first, they where all too bust huddled together doing something, all of them where hunched over something. About 18 or 20 of them. A few others weren’t with them hunched over whatever it was, some others where tending to the car, pulling it up from the river onto the muddy slope. Penny wasn’t about to lie around in the muck until they noticed her so she slowly turned away from the bridge and started pulling herself along the muddy slope, but her get away was soon foiled when the teenager who had pushed her down jumped from the bridge and landed perfectly on two feet on the muddy slope. She didn’t hear him, because his landing was so gentle, accurate and precise. But he could see her trying to crawl away, he laughed at her attempt, loud enough for her to hear and turn round. He walked briskly towards her, grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. He then put his arm tightly around her neck and walked with her, at first she tried to resist by kicking and flailing her legs around in the air, but as he tightened his grip on her neck she soon realized she had no other choice but to obey what she was inevitably going to be forced to do. He hauled her over to the others.

“We have another one,” he said menacingly.

The others turned away from what they were previously occupying themselves with and swarmed around this new thing. Penny was pushed to the ground, and swarmed around by the many hostile teenagers. She didn’t get a glimpse of what they were previously amusing themselves with because of all the bodies swarming at her. At first all they did was examine her, they looked her up and down and began to drool. She could see their faces now, well some of them. They all looked like regular teenagers except they had their faces painted, blacks and whites and unusual designs. Mainly around their eyes and mouths. They started whispering amongst themselves in a completely different language. Penny was frightened, she tried to look through their legs and see what they had previously amused themselves with, and she wanted to die when she saw it. In fact what she saw was so frightening she threw up right there and then, on the black boots of these unusual menacing kids. What she saw was what was left of the taxi driver. Tears filled her eyes and she tried to get to her feet and run but she was quickly pushed right back down.

She kicked and screamed and wailed and punched and bit but it was useless they held her down, and started hitting her back. They were ruthless and showed no mercy, they hit her all over, and they bruised her legs, her face, her neck, and her arms. Everything. She stopped struggling when she was too weak to possibly try anything again; she lay on the ground in pain, before she remembers the gun. But to her dismay she had dropped it when she was thrown of the bridge.

“She’s a feisty one isn’t she” said one of the teenagers as they gazed down on her.

“Stop,” said a sudden voice, it was one of the teenagers who had dealed with the car.

“We cannot harm this one, she has my blood” Their where loud gasps from them as they looked down at her and back up at the speaker. Penny wearily tried to get a good look at her savior, and when she did she instantly recognized him. It was her brother Mark.

“If we cannot harm her, and she is of your family, then she must become one of us, there is no other way. She cannot leave after seeing these things her eyes have seen this night, under the bridge”

“I am aware of the situation,” said Mark stepping closer. “Move away, I shall do it”. The others obeyed and quickly stepped aside for Mark to make Penny one of them, he kneeled down beside her. She was too wary from the beating to do anything.

“Well sister how was Spain? I’m sorry I have to do this too you, you where enjoying your life weren’t you? None of us enjoy life, except of course at night. At night everything is better, but are kind, we cannot sleep and must live the day as well. It’s awful, but you’ll learn all about it pretty quickly, unfortunately for you. And me, when I became what I am, in the same way you did, by accidentally stumbling upon this place, I said that I should never wish this on anybody, this awful fate you are about to endure. But now I have no choice other than to do on to you this hell which many years ago was dealt on to me”

“You don’t have to” coughed Penny along with some blood. “Please”

“You have seen what no living man must see, you must become one of us Penny, I’m sorry”

With that he knelt in to her as if to bite her, his eyes closed, his mouth opened and two fangs shot out from his gums, but Penny didn’t sit there and wait to be bitten, she punched him in the face.

“ARGH” he screamed. Quickly despite wounds Penny got up and made a dash for it.

“Kill her,” shouted one of them.

“No she must not die,” shouted Mark. But it was too late as all the Teenagers had already darted towards her, and some were hovering. Their vampires said Penny to herself, realizing there was no other explanation. What she had seen of the taxi driver, there was no blood, he had been sucked dry. Quickly she rolled forward and grabbed her gun, she held it with two hands and ruthlessly fired at all the vampires that flew and ran towards her. The last time he had deflected her bullets, but there was no time for them now, and too many. Some were hit, and they fell. Blast after Blast Penny stood still firing bullet after bullet until the slope was riddled with vampires, lying in pools of blood.

“We will not die from your foolish mortal bullets” said one as he hissed at her.

“It takes more than this to bring us down for good,” said another. But penny didn’t care; she only wanted to get away. Until she noticed walking through the floor of vampire bodies, her own brother.

“You can’t do this too us! We must not be discovered, I’m your brother bitch, protect me” Penny shook her head, and raised her gun.

“I’m sorry brother”, and with that she clicked the trigger, but no bullet came from it. Her brother smiled. “Out of bullets are we?”

She didn’t care; she threw the gun at him and ran along the muddy slope by the river, far from the bridge. But he followed, flying after her at full speed. She kept running until the slope came to an end by a tunnel where the water disappeared, and some steps up to a sidewalk. Before she could get up her brother grabbed her legs and tried to pull her along the ground but she tightly grabbed the railing and resisted him. She kicked and screamed but he continued to pull at her. She kicked him back and then shoved him with all her might into the river, then ran off into the night.

The next morning she woke up in her old room at her old home. She was woken by a knock on the door. She stretched her arms and sat up in her bed whilst wiping her eyes.

“Come in” she said wearily.

“Hello darling” said the old woman who slowly entered, delighted to see her child again. Penny did her best to hide her bruises.

“Hey mum”. She smiled, but soon her smile was flipped right upside down when Mark entered, his face wasn’t pale and drawn on anymore and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, he looked like a regular person.

“What’s the matter dear, you look you just saw a ghost”

“Not quite” replied Penny as her brother gave her a cold smile

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i think i was 14 when i wrote this!