(SSSC) The Joy of Swimming Pools

The anticipation was palpable.

Kyle Samples had been waiting for installation of his in-ground pool for six months now. Today was finally the day he had been longing for all these weeks. The work crew had arrived just after dawn and began to dig. He had pulled himself out of bed just after 5 o’clock, unable to sleep. Everything had gone exactly as planned up until about thirty minutes ago; up until the crew had hit something while digging. One of the workmen had yelled up to Kyle to come and see something; something “amazing”.

Ideas filled Kyle’s head about what they could have possibly found. Could it be some sort of buried treasure, or dinosaur fossils? It seemed silly now, but just about anything would have been better than what he had seen. The workman had been digging the pool when he hit a metallic object; after further digging, it was revealed to Kyle that there was a large steel coffin buried in his backyard. The crew had told Kyle not to touch it, that they were going to get an archeologist they knew to inspect it.

Naturally, Kyle did not listen.

As soon as the crew had left, Kyle climbed down into the hole. He ran his hand over the cold steel surface of the coffin. It was fairly plain, save for a small engraving on the center of the top. The engraving featured a strange symbol unlike any he had ever seen. It also featured a single word which Kyle was also unfamiliar with.

The inscription simply read, “Leraje”.

As he ran his hand over the mysterious word, the coffin suddenly became very cold, as if it were a large ice cube. Just as instantaneously as it had become cold, it became incredibly hot, forcing Kyle to throw his hand in the air in pain. It was then that Kyle had made the decision to open the coffin, it was then everything had fallen apart.

The coffin had opened amazingly easy. Not knowing what to expect inside, Kyle was still taken back by what he saw. Lying inside the large steel coffin was a faded green outfit, and a large bow. Upon further inspection, Kyle noticed that the bow appeared to be fashioned out of bone, and tightened with what appeared to be hair of some kind. Just as Kyle had begun to reach for the bow, a mighty wind blew out from the coffin, knocking him on his back. The sky immediately darkened a terrible shade of grey. Kyle sprung up quickly and stared in horror at the coffin. To his surprise, the clothing and bow were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly a deep guttural growl emerged from all around him.

“I am Leraje, Marquis of Hell. Thirty shall rise with the moon.”

Feeling a horror unlike any he had imagined, Kyle raced into his house and slammed the door behind him.

This is where he had been, for several minutes now; his heart racing a million miles per hour. He had heard no other words or sounds since he came inside. His home was deathly quiet, except for the sound of his grandfather clock.

Tick…tock….tick…tock…ti…

It took Kyle a moment to realize that his clock had suddenly stopped. In fact, upon review, all noise had seemed to cease. He could not even hear his own breathing. Attempting to speak, Kyle came to the chilling conclusion that not even his own voice was audible. In a panic he jumped to his feet. As he stood he noticed a dark figure standing on the other side of the door.

Peering through the glass was tall, thin man who Kyle immediately associated with Robin Hood. He was dressed in a dark green outfit, and was holding a bow with a quiver thrown over his shoulder. Everything about him seemed normal enough until Kyle saw his eyes. They were a dark grey color, and seemed to swirl and move like the clouds in a thunderstorm. The man slowly grinned and reached his hand to open the door.

At that very instant some strange feeling came over Kyle, and he began to move backwards away from the door. With no control over what he was doing, he slowly backed into the center of the room and sat down.

The strange man opened the door to Kyle’s house and slowly entered. Smiling, the man opened his mouth to speak.

“Thirty shall rise with the moon”, he said.

Recognizing that low growl, Kyle’s mind fell into madness. His mind was suddenly filled with the most terrible images and thoughts he had ever known. He saw unimaginable scenes of torture and murder. He seemed to feel everything he was seeing, and his entire body convulsed in pain.

Crying out, Kyle screamed; “Who are you, what do you want”?

Laughing, the man spoke again.

“I am Leraje, Marquis of Hell, commander of thirty legions of demons; bringer of battle and conflict. I have come to claim this realm.”

Paralyzed, Kyle could only stare and gape at the demon. Suddenly the man began to laugh hysterically. As he tried to figure out what was going on, Kyle suddenly heard his clock begin working again.

It chimed 9 times.

Turning his head, Kyle looked out the window in terror. Peering over the horizon was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen.

The moon was beginning to rise.

Wonderful! I could not read fast enough to reach the bitter end. Ah the bar has been set with the rising moon AWOOOOOOOO!!!
Power to the Players!

Originally posted by antar
Wonderful! I could not read fast enough to reach the bitter end. Ah the bar has been set with the rising moon AWOOOOOOOO!!!
Power to the Players!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm hoping to get a better one up in a few days. I was so excited to get a story up yesterday, I just kind of threw that one together real quick.

Great imagery in this one Nyk and it really grabbed my attention.

Great job!

Originally posted by elaine
Great imagery in this one Nyk and it really grabbed my attention.

Great job!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate the feedback. Theres actually a little bit of research I put into this one as well. Google Leraje and see for yourself.

This one was a lot of fun, I'm hoping to get at least one more up before the deadline too.

I actually liked this story better than your Pumpkin Carver story, but they are both quite different.

This is the type of story I like to read when I'm alone in a badly lit room. Very nicely done

Hey guys.

Just thought I'd bump this and my other story up so that you could read the submissions from last year.

I'm not writing for this years contest but I still thought I'd re share my stories.