A horror fan since childhood, a geek by nature, and a jokester by heart, Ian believes Entertainment, no matter what form it takes, combined with laughter, is the best medicine to combat life's challenges. His favourite movies amongst many others are Aliens, The Thing, LOTR, and Star Wars.
He is a father and is currently living in Melbourne, Australia with his partner, son, two stepdaughters and 4 cats, which is enough of a horror story on its own.
He has a short story soon to be published in the upcoming Halloweenthology: Trick 'Or Treat edition.
You can follow his exploits on Facebook at Ian Gielen - Author
CEMETERY SHUFFLE
by
Ian Gielen
“Talk about a graveyard shift”, Jules snickered, pointing out the distant caretaker in the cemetery. Milton glanced at the figure and rolled his eyes, blowing a puff of smoke from his almost-finished cigarette in Jules' face in annoyance.
“Where the hell are they? They should have been here by now.”
Milton and Jules had parked in the cemetery parking lot on the outskirts of the small town of Haywood as they waited for their suppliers to return. Cole and Jimmy had robbed the local museum and grabbed a precious Egyptian necklace that was supposedly worth millions. That was at least according to an excited Cole who had found it stashed in the museum storeroom, presumably awaiting to be put into the display of the already presented Egyptian artifacts. The heist went smoothly, almost too smoothly. The pair reported no encounters with guards despite Jimmy accidentally stumbled into and smashed an alarmed glass cabinet.
They set a meeting at the cemetery at 1 a.m. to swap the necklace for cash. The briefcases were safely stored in the car trunk they were leaning against. Cole and Jimmy were an hour later than their meeting time, unusual for them, but had happened once or twice in the past.
“This better be worth it.”
“It will be, trust me,” Jules replied placatingly. “These guys haven’t let us down yet. They might be goofballs, but they get the job done.”
Milton grunted, “I’m going to take a piss. Be back in a minute.”
“Take your time. I’ll yell out when they arrive.”
Milton walked off into the cemetery, as Jules shook his head. Milton was always impatient. He might be a grumpy bastard, but he was second to none when it came to offloading their treasures to their rich clientele.
Minutes swept by with no sign of Milton. Jules shifted uneasily as he glanced at his watch, sending yet another unanswered message to Cole and Jimmy.
A sudden distant scream abruptly pierced through the silence of the night, causing Jules to fumble and drop his phone with a thud, the screen cracking on impact.
“Shit”, Jules said, picking it up, thumbing the power button in desperation. Giving up, the phone unresponsive, he slipped it into his pocket and drew his gun from its hidden holster beneath his jacket.
With caution, he headed toward the screams’ origin. After a few minutes, he paused, straining his ears to hear anything beyond the pounding of his own heart.
“Milton?” He called out, “Are you out here?”
The light of the full moon swiftly dissipated as it fell behind the cover of clouds. Withdrawing his penlight from his pocket, he flicked it on, sweeping it around him.
The light fell on the form of a crumpled body, just barely visible beyond a row of headstones.
Gripping the gun tightly, he approached cautiously; the light revealing splashes of blood on a nearby headstone.
Crouching down, he turned the body over and instantly scrambled backward in horror. It was Jimmy. His left arm had been ripped off, the stump still dripping blood and seeping into the damp earth. His face was rent by deep scratches, strips of flesh hanging off, a hint of bone beneath gleaming in the light’s reflection.
“What the hell?” Jules muttered in horror, staggering to his feet.
Trying to regain his composure, he swept the flashlight around again and noticed a blood trail heading toward the dirt road and a car parked at the curb. It was Cole’s. The passenger side door was open with dents and blood spatters plainly visible. Something yellowish caught his eye on the ground beneath the door. Crouching down to inspect it, he picked it up. The material was crumbly, dust falling from it as he rolled it between his fingers, the smell of rot and decay assaulting his senses.
Dropping it to the ground in disgust, he directed the penlight beam into the car. There was no visible sign of disturbance, besides an open jewelry box lying empty on the driver's side seat.
“Son of a bitch,” Jules said, slamming his fist onto the bonnet of the car.
“This must be Milton’s doing. He must’ve decided to go solo and ditch me. It ain’t gonna be that easy,” he uttered under his breath furiously.
Another blood trail at the rear of the car caught his eye, this one heading deeper into the older section of the cemetery towards the crypts.
A bright yellowish glow from one of them soon caught his attention.
“Aha, got you.”
Reaching the entrance, he immediately froze, terror overcoming his senses.
The glow of lit candles revealed a grotesque, hunched form. The chamber contained scattered stone plinths, each one adorned with glistening jewels and carved idols. Carved hieroglyphs covered every inch of the walls. The figure had its back turned to Jules, leaning over to place the stolen necklace on the decrepit figure lying in the open coffin before it.
Jules let out an inadvertent gasp, instantly alerting the creature to his presence. It whirled towards him, flakes of flimsy material that wrapped around its body shedding as it did so, the otherworldly glow of its yellow eyes the only thing visible in its otherwise covered face.
Jules stood stunned, unable to bring his body to move as it rushed toward him soundlessly, a passenger in an unwilling vessel as it tore into him. The last vision as he struck the ground was of Milton’s body lying in a heap beside him.
Outside, the glow visible from the crypt disappeared just as the shuffling form of the caretaker appeared at the entrance. His eyes rested on the forms of the eviscerated Milton and Jules. The chamber was otherwise empty besides the coffin in the center.
“Oh great, as if I wasn’t buried in work already”, he cackled to himself in amusement, whistling as he loaded the bodies onto his wheelbarrow, the glow of dawn approaching as he did so. Another graveyard shift complete.