Fiction Challenge #3:
Night of the Haunted Fortress
by Law2

"This was the best haunted house ever, I just know it," said Sea Urchin.

"Too bad we're behind schedule," said Liberty Lad. "If you hadn't spent so much time putting on your makeup we would be down now. The kids are already here."

"Stop worrying," assured Sea Urchin, "Order said he would tell them a ghost story and then they would come to the Haunted Fortress."

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"I was the first black police officer in Patriot City and there weren't many citizens that were happy with my being on the force. In fact the chief assigned me a desk jobs to protect me from the racist citizens of Patriot City. But I wanted a beat. I was convinced that I could hold my own against any prejudice people and prove that a black man was an asset to the police force. I was so determined to prove myself that it led to the break up of my long time relationship with my fiancée, Tabitha." Order drifted off and paused for a moment remembering his lost love.

"Anyway, on this particular day, the Halloween, I was the acting correctional officer for the Patriot City jail. I was sitting at my desk bored out of my mind when two officers brought a man in. He was rather thin, blonde hair, fair skin, and perhaps five-feet and seven inches tall. I would never have paid him any attention if it weren't for his strange behavior. He was happy. I had never seen a man that was happy to be put in jail. In fact he thanked the officers that brought him to his cell. At first I thought he was drunk.

"Is that man drunk?" I asked, "Looks like he's getting an early start, I didn't expect to see any drunks until later tonight."

"Boy, " said one of the officers, "don't concern yourself too much with that loon. He's here for disturbing the peace. Seems he wanted to be in jail."

"What?"

"You heard right, that fool was running up and down the streets causing all kinds of ruckus. He was throwing rocks in windows, yelling at people, and making a general spectacle of himself." Just then the chief rushed into the room.

"Samson!" He was frantic. "I need to speak to you right away." I jumped to attention.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?"

"You're going to be taking over the southeast beat tonight."

"Me?" I was surprised. The day I had been dreaming of had come and I was caught completely off guard.

"Yes you! Now I'm going to be honest with you. If it were up to me you'd be doing desk jobs until I retired or I believed it was safe to have you walking the streets without causing a commotion. But this request comes straight from the Mayors' office. Apparently, Martin Luther King Junior and his SCLC have been complaining about the lack of colored cops in Patriot City. In fact, he's upstairs now."

"Martin Luther King, here!" I was shocked. I didn't even wait to be excused. I ran upstairs to meet him. It remains one of the greatest moments of my life. He said exactly what I needed to hear and even thanked me for being pioneer. I thought that the reason the chief had assigned me a beat was because of pressure from King, but I was wrong.

That morning there had been a murder in the southeast district. The body was badly maimed. It was so bad that it frightened the officer working the beat so much that he refused to return to work until he was reassigned or transferred. I didn't find this out until later on that day. However, I wasn't going to let it stop me. At long last I had been given a beat and I was going to do my best to prove that should have given it to me all along, even if it killed me.

I had to finish my shift as a correctional officer and then get some rest before starting the night beat. Things were proceeding along uneventful, as usual. That is until some officers went to release that man that was brought in on disturbing the peace. The officers opened his cell and told him he was free to go and he refused to leave.

"Noooo!" He screamed. "I won't go! There is a murderer loose. You have to leave me here. It's the only safe place!" The officers dragged him out kicking and screaming. I found out later on that he too had seen the body of murder victim.

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That night it was very cold and foggy. I bundled up in my police coat and made sure my hat was tight on my head. I had gloves on my hands. I was prepared for any number of problems from the citizens, instead many of them seemed to be relived to see me. In fact, I was asked by one woman to accompany her some neighborhood children while they went trick or treating. She didn't want the children to miss out on Halloween just because some lunatic was unlawful the night before. At first I thought that she believed that I was in blackface, but she made some comments about me being a great credit to my people that let me knew what I was. She even thought that it was cruel that the force would assign me the beat given the events of the previous night. I assured her that I was comfortable with the situation.

The children were getting a great deal of candy. It seemed that everyone was in a very giving mood, everyone except on woman. Her house was on a lot by itself. It was very small and we might have passed it completely if one little girl hadn't insisted on going.

"I want to go to that house," she said.

"Its too spooky," said several of the children.

"Officer Samson will protect us. Won't you officer Samson?"

"Its my duty, little lady," I responded. An old gipsy woman lived in the house and she wasn't happy at all that we had disturbed her.

"Trick or treat," said the children. The old woman opened the door.

"Go away! Leave me alone or I put a curse on all of you," she said. The children cringed with fear and drew nearer to me. "Boooo!"

"Lets go kids, we don't need anything from this mean old hag. She's just lonely and depressed," said the lady that had asked me to tag along. The children were running over each other to get out of there. I was the last one to leave.

"You," cried the old woman. I turned around to see what she wanted. "You must bring order."

"What are you talking about?"

"The evil, you must bring order." I had no idea what she was talking about. She ran into her house and returned with a silver pendent. "You must take."

"No ma'am Im not allowed to accept such gifts."

"You must take. The evil must be stopped." Just then I heard something unmistakable. It pierced my ears like a dagger. It was blood-curdling scream of...death. The old woman thrust

"Go home now," I told the children and I ran towards the cry.

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I found a man lying on the ground with bloody face. It appeared as if something had racked across his face. He was still alive, but unconscious. He reeked of an unnatural smell. I could only assume that he was the source of the scream. I withdrew my gun and proceeded cautiously. The darkness and fog were my enemies. The moonlight and streetlights provided little penetration. While walking I became aware of my own breathing, it was heavy. I heard a loud crash. I twisted my body towards it and gasped loudly. My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest. It was an alley cat knocking over some trashcans in search of a meal. I began to breathe a sigh of relief when out of nowhere a large form was upon me.

It smelled just like the unconscious man. It moved toward me with great speed. I fired at it rapidly. My shots only seemed to annoy it. It let out a loud holler. I swear every hair on my body stood at attention. I knew I was a goner. It continued to press on toward me. I had emptied my gun. I tried to run, but it was too late. It knocked me to the ground. I rolled over and stared into a snout. Its mouth was wide open, its teeth razor sharp, and its eyes blood red. I was paralyzed with fear and it screamed loudly in my face. Just when I thought it was all over I saw a glimmer on the ground. It was the silver pendent. Somehow the old woman managed to sneak it on me. It reached for it out of desperation. I thrust it into the beast's eye. It jumped off me and moved about, slashing wildly. It let out several screams and disappeared into the night.

To this day I am not sure what that thing was. Some say it was a werewolf and that if it survived it will be back to take vengeance upon me. I was never able to find the old woman. Her home was abandoned and there was no record of her ever living there. And just last night I noticed a strange man with an eye patch roaming the streets. " The children that had been listening to Order's tale with rapt attention jumped when the door to the waiting room opened.

"Is anyone ready for the Haunted Fortress," said Sea Urchin. There was no response.