Julie Mazur. Illustrations by Derrick Williams

Transcription

1 Julie Mazur Illustrations by Derrick Williams i

2 Urban Legends Table of Contents Introduction v Watch Your Fingers What You Can t See Can Hurt You Man s Best Friend Resurrection Mary The Hare Dryer The Dumped Diver iii

3 Trail of Paper The clock read 2:00 A.M. when Allison finally shut her books. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. It was final exam week 11

4 and the library was open all night. Her boyfriend Dave sat next to her, reading intently. She motioned for him to follow her into the hallway where they could talk. I m beat, she said. Are you ready to head back to the dorm? Dave shook his head. His exam was tomorrow and he still felt far from ready. It looked to be an allnighter. He offered to walk her home and then come back. Allison laughed. Are you nuts? she teased. You need all the time you can get. Don t worry, I ll be fine. Dave looked at his watch. He really did 12

5 need the time to study. But the recent string of local murders made him nervous about her walking alone. Allison poked him and laughed again. Seriously, she said, you worry too much. I ll be fine! Now get back in there and ace that exam tomorrow. She gathered her things and gave him a quick kiss before hurrying out. After the bright lights of the library, the darkness of the street closed in around her. The small country campus was beautiful in the daytime. But as a city girl, she d never gotten used to the pitch black of night. Allison held her books tightly and walked quickly down the empty street. Her footsteps echoed through the silence. 13

6 Suddenly, something rustled behind her. Allison s muscles tensed. She looked over her shoulder and saw a man walking quietly a few yards away. He was tall and unshaven, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The hood hung over his face and hid it from view. Allison quickly crossed the street. She slowed her pace until the man passed her. Allison s thoughts drifted to the recent murders on campus. It was all anyone had talked about for weeks. Two students, both 14

7 females, had been stabbed in their dorm rooms. The police were still searching for clues and had yet to find a suspect. Allison hugged her books closer to her chest. She shivered, feeling a chill in the warm spring air. She watched the man as he walked along the other side of the street. He didn t look like a student, but seemed too young and rough-looking to be a professor. As she watched him, she felt her foot catch on something. She lurched forward, reaching out to catch her balance. Her shoelace had become tangled in her other shoe. She dropped her books and knelt down to retie it. As she stood, she noticed with alarm that the man had disappeared. 15

8 She looked around nervously. There was no sign of him anywhere. Allison started walking again, this time more quickly. Where has he gone? she wondered. She looked back over her shoulder. Nothing. Ten minutes later, she reached the familiar lights of her dorm. She sighed with relief as the front door clicked behind her. She would never walk at night alone again, she promised herself. She trudged to her room and quietly pushed the door open. The room was dark. She heard her roommate Jill breathing softly across the room. Allison stumbled to her bed and 16

9 switched on her bedside lamp. There was a pop as the light bulb flashed and burned out. The room was so dark it was impossible to see. She groped around for her pajamas. Don t forget to buy light bulbs tomorrow, she reminded herself as she fell gratefully into bed. The room was like a tomb, dark and quiet. Allison thought again about the man on the street. A chill ran through her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Suddenly, she heard something move across the floor. It was right next to her, but she couldn t see a thing. Her heart skipped a beat. Jill? she whispered. Is that you? There was no response. She lay still, listening carefully. It 17

10 must have been my imagination, she thought. She closed her eyes. The sound came again. Allison s eyes popped open. Jill? she said, louder this time. Still no response. She sat up, her heart thumping. She switched on her bedside lamp. The room remained dark and she remembered the burned-out bulb. She thought about going to turn on the overhead light, but felt frozen in her bed. The third time, the noise came from Jill s bed. It was a rustling and then a repeated thumping. Then silence. Allison stared into the darkness. Jill, are you awake? she asked, loudly this time. 18

11 Silence. Jill is probably just moving in her sleep, she told herself. She listened for another minute, then lay back down. After several more minutes of silence, she felt herself drift off to sleep. Hours later, sunlight streamed in through the window. Allison stretched, her eyes focusing slowly. The clock read 9:00 A.M. Jill was still sleeping. But something was odd. There was a strange dripping noise. Allison looked down at the ground. A red puddle had formed beneath Jill s bed. It was blood. Allison gasped and rushed over to the bed. Jill! she cried. Are you okay? She pulled back the sheet and screamed. Jill was covered in knife wounds. She was dead. 19

12 As Allison stood there, frozen to the spot, she noticed writing on the back of the door. It was a message written in lipstick. In scratchy, uneven letters, it read, Aren t you glad you didn t turn on the light? 20