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A Night In The Park One night I was walking through Central Park when these bats flew out and started attacking me. hairylarry posted on 2018-04-10 at 18:18 Central Time. - link to this story -

At least I think they were attacking me but then I as I spun around to run I realized there was this tall dark figure right behind me. vivian 2018-04-10 at 18:22 Central Time.

He was actually directing the bats flight as they circled all around me without ever landing or touching me. I pulled out a whistle and let it screech. The bats flew everywhere, running into each other, the tall dark man, and me. I covered my head thinking, "Not every experiment is a good experiment." I quickly put the whistle back in my pocket. hairylarry 2018-04-10 at 18:59 Central Time.

The bats immediately started clustering around the man and as I watched incredulously they seemed to meld into his body and became lost in his form. He turned toward me pointing a long stick in my direction. All the hairs on my body stood to attention and I shivered as he used the stick to motion me forward toward him. vivian 2018-04-10 at 19:41 Central Time.

My feet moved of their own accord. I was compelled to approach the tall dark figure. As I got closer I could see that his cloak wasn't cloth. It was all bats clinging to him. I reached into my pocket and got my whistle. I blew it hard, covering my face with my arms. I don't think he was ready for that. hairylarry 2018-04-12 at 15:08 Central Time.

The sudden shrill sound seemed to irritate the bats and they rose in a rush of wings completely obscuring the figure they had clung to. I knew it was my only chance and I made a dash for it. I ran keeping my eyes peeled for a safe hiding place but nothing looked promising. I knew the park closed at 1 a.m. and that it was only a short time till the park would be empty. Then it flashed in my memory that the castle was closed for restoration. Maybe I could find a place that I could crawl into and hide til morning. Moments later I heard a sound that could only be bats. Lots of bats. This strengthened my determination and I headed for the castle. It was either that or get the hell out of Dodge and the second option wasn't looking promising. vivian 2018-05-03 at 18:57 Central Time.

I took a shortcut through a brushy area, ran alongside the castle, quickly turned in front and right through the door. The bats followed me in but they didn't bother me. They just flew up towards the ceiling and disappeared in the gray gloom. As my eyes adjusted I took a fright. Thousands of bats hung from the ceiling. Very quietly I turned to exit but there, standing outside the door, was a tall dark figure. I'm not sure it was the same guy but I wasn't taking any chances. I crept back into the castle looking for a place to hide. hairylarry 2018-05-23 at 07:31 Central Time.

There were several tarp covered pallets sitting around the entrance hall but they offered little protection or hiding possibilities. I tried to remember the layout of the castle but my memory was pretty sketchy since I had only been there once or twice. As I crouched behind one of the pallets it struck me that the entryway was wide open. Neither the park staff nor the renovators would have left the castle open for anyone to just walk in.It was probable the figure lurking outside had something to do with it. The cold creepy tingling up my spine reminded me I needed better cover. I glanced at the staircase that led up to another level and wondered if that would be a good choice. Would higher be better or would lower be better? Was lower an option? Bats fly, so higher was iffy and bats like dark caves so maybe lower was iffy as well. A movement at the entrance brought the bats into flight again and in panic I fled down a hallway to escape. vivian 2018-05-23 at 10:09 Central Time.

I was running so fast I nearly missed it. A hand, reaching out from one of the castle doorways. It grabbed me by the shirt and began to pull me into the room. I resisted, at first, already scared out of my wits and in survival mode. Then I heard the voice. And recognized it. I let myself get pulled into the room. Dogtrax 2018-05-28 at 09:23 Central Time.

"Are you an idiot?" Abriello Galante muttered. "Follow me and don't make a sound." He grabbed my arm and pulled me deeper into the room. I heard the sound of bat wings as we stepped through a doorway that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I breathed a quick sigh of relief as it closed behind us. I started to ask a question only to have Abriel slap a hand over my open mouth. He shook his head no and then began to tap on the walls very softly. The floor suddenly shuddered and I felt the sensation you get when an elevator jerks into motion. I knew we were traveling upward by the way my knees bent as we moved. Again I wanted to ask questions but this time I didn't attempt to open my mouth. When the upward movement jerked to a stop I lost my balance and threw my hands out to steady myself on a wall only to be pushed down to the floor. "Don't touch the walls." Abriel hissed. "One wrong move and we are done. Just sit here on the floor and wait for daylight." vivian 2018-05-31 at 14:23 Central Time.

"Can we talk?" I whispered. Abriel nodded, "Should be safe enough if we keep quiet. We aren't really in the castle anymore." It just poured out of me. "What are you doing here? And what about that weird guy with the bats? I've never seen anything like that in my life. If we're not in the castle where are we? I thought you were just a teacher at the community college." Abriel was my teacher for creative writing last term. If this had happened back then I would have had something to write about. "Slow down", he said. I can't answer all your questions at once. And I'm not sure I know all the answers either. But at night the castle can be extremely dangerous. The remodel is just a way to shut it down until we get it figured out. The door isn't supposed to be open. Other than that I don't know much. Except this isn't the first night I've been trapped in here." "Well, who was that weird guy with the bats?", I asked. "Let's just say he has a spectral nature." hairylarry 2018-05-31 at 14:50 Central Time.

"Spectral?" I queried. "Well that's not a lot of help as far as I'm concerned. What's that even mean?" "Well Leo, according to Webster it means ghostly, but let me just add that it also means something that perturbs the mind." he answered. "Does your mind feel perturbed?" "My mind feels anger, fear and disbelief and if that's perturbed, then yes, I am feeling perturbed." I responded. "I want this to be nothing more than a bad, a very bad, dream that I'm going to wake up from any moment." "I wish I could reassure you, but I can't." he said. "As soon as the sun is up we can escape the castle for long enough to make a plan before we come back to put an end to this." "Come back!" I shouted. "Are you out of your mind? If I get away from here I am never ever coming back." Abriel raised an eyebrow and then turned his back on me and said, "I won't try to force you, but I thought you, of all people, would have more grit." I had no intention of caving. I hoped. vivian 2018-05-31 at 16:02 Central Time.

Abriel didn't really have much more to say and I wasn't at all sure that I had any grit. We couldn't lean against the walls for whatever horrible reason Abriel couldn't explain to me and it was uncomfortable sitting in the middle of the room so we lay down and eventually fell asleep. I don't usually remember my dreams but I was being swarmed by bats when I woke up to see Abriel standing at the window watching the sun rise over Central Park. There were no bats. I was oh so glad to see the sunshine. Abriel shushed me and said, "We can't really talk here. Let's go get some coffee in a very public place. That ought to be safe enough." By then I knew better than to question him so I just followed him down the stairs and through the park. After a few blocks he led us to a coffee shop with outside tables, we ordered and sat down waiting on our coffee. Maybe now I would get some answers. Or at least some coffee. hairylarry 2018-06-04 at 21:03 Central Time.

I was nervous even in the bright light and my eyes constantly darted around as we sat there waiting for our coffee. "Relax." Abriel said quietly. "We're safe for the moment." The waitress who brought our decanter of coffee and two cups smiled brightly at us as she sat them on our table. "Would you like anything else?" she asked. As I was about to say no Abriel spoke up, "Would you by any chance have a map of the park we could see?" he asked. "Of course" she responded. "We are swamped though so it might be quicker if you just stepped into the lobby and picked one up." Abriel nodded, "That's great." he said. When she walked away he asked,"You okay?" I nodded my head trying to appear calm. "I'm going to go get a map and I want you to sit here, drink your coffee and wait for me. Can you do that? When I nodded again he stood up and left. vivian 2018-06-06 at 17:34 Central Time.

He had only been gone a few minutes when a tall dark figure approached. I drank my coffee, nervously, trying not to look at him but then he sat down in Abriel's chair. I only spilled a little coffee in my lap as I looked up. Abriel was right, he had a spectral nature. His skin was luminescent and since he wasn't covered in bats I could see right through it into nothing. He did have bats peeking out from his pockets and behind his collar. Believe me, I was freaking out. He spoke so slowly and in such a low tone I could hardly make out the words. "I saw you in the park. You thought you could escape. You will never be safe again. The bats have your number." and he droned on. I saw Abriel creeping up behind him but I didn't look at Abriel. I looked straight into the spectre's face as if I were hypnotized when Abriel picked up a chair and swung straight for his head. Just as the chair was about to hit him the spectre turned and looked straight at it. The chair passed right through him. hairylarry 2018-06-09 at 19:17 Central Time.

This scared the bejeebers out of me. A man was sitting across from me and he seemed to be immune to physical attack. So where did that leave me or should I say us since Abriel was potentially in more immediate danger than me. Surprisingly Abriel did not seem to be all that concerned. He brought out a small box from his pocket and clicked a switch on it. The image across from me began to distort and develop odd waving lines. "He's around here somewhere." Abriel muttered and he has to be close by. He whirled around and focused his little box on nearby tables. Two tables away a man appeared amid gasps from those sitting nearby. He rose and bowed and then disappeared as applause erupted among the diners. A guy at the next table yelled bravo! I've never seen such a great trick before. How did you do that? "Trade secret." Abriel replied. "Let's get out of here now." he threw some cash on the table and led the way to a door that opened out onto a wide paved pathway. vivian 2018-06-12 at 11:48 Central Time.

We hurried down the path but I was gasping out of astonishment more than for breath. "What was that? What just happened?" "He wasn't really at the table with you." Abriel replied. "You can think of it as a hologram or as astral projection, the result is the same, he looks like he's there but he's not." "He was over at that other table. That was really him. And that disappearing act, he does that. I don't know how." "In the day he's weak but I hate to have him following us." Abriel continued. "I think we need some distance between us and the park. This is a new development, I've got to think about it." My knees were still shaking but I bucked up. "We could go to my place." "No, we don't want him following you there. Let's get on a bus and ride." We walked to a bus stop and waited eyes peeled. I didn't want to see him but I didn't want him sneaking up on us either. hairylarry 2018-06-22 at 09:56 Central Time.

"A Night In The Park" started by hairylarry. All stories are licensed Creative Commons-Attribution. You can attribute the writers like this. These writers contributed to "A Night In The Park" on Collab - Dogtrax, hairylarry, vivian