(Login Hawk_The_Slayer) Forum Owner Posted Nov 16, 2006 3:10 PM
A gentle wind was blowing the fallen leaves down the concrete street when an old woman stepped onto the well worn wooden planks of her front porch.
There was a large pumpkin shaped bowl full of candy in her hands to prepare for the throng of trick or treaters that were about to come.
Her back popped loudly as she sat down in her antique rocking chair as she sat the bowl of candy down on a small tv tray.
She fished a wooden match out of her pocket to light the Jack-O-Lantern with.
She loved All Hallows Eve, as it was always her favorite holiday.
She Pulled the pumpkin from its resting place at the feet of the rocker & then she lit the match and the small candle inside.
She then lifted a slightly gnarled hand to pull out the hairpins that secured her long silver hair into a well tended bun.
She then began putting all the pins into her left hand and used her right hand to free her hair until it flowed down her shoulders and down her back.
Even though the daylight wasn't completely gone, the moon was rising in the evening sky.
Her brows knit as she saw the blood red streak already forming across the face of the moon.
"Blood on the moon means death follows soon" she said absently to herself as she rose to gather white candles to bedeck the porch with.
Next to the bowl of candy sat a small intricately carved box with her cards in it.
Parents often lingered to get their cards read & she was more than happy to oblidge them for a small price.
Now, as she had done for as many years as she could remember, after the small children had gone home to their safe beds, she would tell town lore to the older children and adults who sat at her feet to hear her tales of days gone by.
How she loved to tell them of the history of Athens, especially the urban legends & if she could throw a good scare into them, all the better & this year would be no different.
Soon the small children began to arrive to get their sugary treats & the evening became a blur of Powerpuff Girls, Jason Hockey Masks and oddly enough, a boy dressed up as the Pink PowerRanger, to which she just couldn't help but laugh at him.
Soon enough they waned down and then the teenagers and the college boys dressed as cheerleaders began to arrive with their dates in tow & they began to cluster at the large elm tree at the street end of her walkway.
She motioned them to her porch and offered them cokes & soon there were 20 adults, teenagers and college kids, just waiting to be regailed and hopefully scared by the old woman.
She cleared her throat to signal she was about to begin and the group fell silent.
"Well, what shall we do this year?" She asked with one eyebrow cocked.
"Do Monkey Road!" piped one boy
"No, do Fuller Park!" piped another
"Everyone here knows that Athens lies in The Buckle of The Baptist Belt, but how many of you know its roots are anchored in Witchery over 2 centuries old?
Over these 200 years it has been layered with generation upon generation of witchcraft that has left many marks upon our city & a curse that has yet to be lifted.
Over time there has come to be 5 stone markers that form an aerial view marking the points of a pentagram.
The stones are unlike any rock found anywhere near Athens and are a mystery in and of themselves.
(The Virgin Rock????? - Your Host)
Though Penecostal and Baptist Churches line our streets, Magic and Witchery prevails & Fuller Park bears one of these stones and it has been said that the Fullers themselves laid it there with their own hands.
The stone in Fuller Park marks the entrance to The Tunnels that run underground connecting the points of The Pentagram.
The Fullers originally built the park for the wealthy citizens to enjoy and even installed monkey cages to amuse the rich.
It is said that the Fullers haunt the park to this day, disgusted with the way the park has fallen to disarray and neglect.
Their labor of love forsaken by the future generations.
So they walk the park as spectors and will not rest until the park has been restored to its former glory.
It is also said that when the moon is rising full, like tonight, you can hear the freed monkeys running wild and screeching for the Fullers to feed them.
You can hear them, but never see them."
"What you dont hear about are the tunnels and the horrific incident that they housed & how in the early 40's, a small band of religious zealots forced a group of people that were known to be witches into the tunnel and locked them in the tunnels to perish of starvation.
Once they were dead they returned to cleanse the tunnels by fire, but what they didnt know, was that not all of the coven were contained inside the tunnels.
Three men remained outside the tunnels and were unsuspected of their witchery.
These men were very prominent in society, for One was a Truant Officer, One a Masonite and another was a well known Carpenter & these men were incensed by the treachery of these "Men of God".
They grouped together and began compiling research on evocation and worked the rest of their natural lives digging up arcane rituals.
They passed this all down to the next generation until in the early 80's it came down to a young man named Todd Talbert.
He finished the work the men had started and came up with the end rite to be performed.
Todd Talbert was a handsome popular man of 20 who had a steady job as a groundskeeper at the Athens Country Club.
He was also well known as a Devout Satanist.
He took magic to its darkest places & in 1982, Todd performed the ritual in his workshed at the Country Club.
An eerie red glow oozed between the slats of the makeshift door to the workshop & One by one he drew out the souls of the poor perished people of the tunnels and greeted them with a sneering smile.
He set them forth to punish the ancestors of those responsible for their deaths, many of whom didn't even know what their forefathers had done & One by one the ancestors died or were commited to the local nut house."
"One week later, on Halloween, Todd Talbert was killed in a car wreck on monkey road.
The passenger in the car was thrown clear through the passenger side window."
The old lady finished her story & it was then that a movement by The Old Elm Tree caught her eye.
"Todd, is that you?" she called out
"Of course it is Mother, who else?" a voice replied from behind the group.