The Onyx Hitchhiker

The wind was howling and the teenagers all sat around the warm fire. They were all at camp for a weekend.

"Is everyone ready for a scary story?" Asked the camp counselor.

"Scary stories are lame." Muttered Julie.

Callie snickered underneath her breath. She and Julie always thought scary stories were stupid and they didn't get scared the way that most people did. They were attending camp with their other two friends, Ryan and Ken.

"Well this story is true." Sandy, the counselor answered back. She was determined to scare the group of four. They had been stuck up all weekend and kept pranking all the other campers.

Callie shook her head and laughed. "Well if you can scare us, maybe everyone will believe that the story is true, otherwise it'll just be regarded as you trying to frighten us."

Sandy rolled her eyes and took a breath. "I don't know why you guys have to act like you are the only four at camp, there are other people here and they enjoy this. If you are just going to spoil everyone's fun then you can just go back to your cabin and wait till tomorrow morning to go home."

"Scary stories are just pretend. Normally, the good guys win in the end, when that doesn't happen all the time. Not to mention, almost everything that happens in the stories are normally fake and have absolutely zero chance of ever being real." Ryan said.

"Maybe if you give it a shot, you'll change your mind. Not every scary story is packed full of fake events and horror movies are just stupid 90% of the time." Sandy replied.

Julie shrugged, "I'm just saying, I've heard your stories before and they just aren't scary. Maybe you should try harder."

"Maybe you should just shut up and let us hear the story, just because you are a robot and don't have any real senses or emotions doesn't mean that we don't want to hear. You have ruined camp for us and spoiled our fun all weekend and now its the last night. So let us enjoy the story and if you don't like it you can go back to your cabin." Rebecca, a camper said.

"Well said Rebecca." Sandy chuckled.

"Fine, let's hear this so called "true story" and see who is shaking at the end of it." Ken replied.

The wind whipped around furiously, blowing all the campers hair around their face. The fire loudly crackled as if it was preparing for the horror ahead. The trees made long and twisted shadows on the ground.

Sandy passed out marshmallows as she was finally about to begin her story. Every camper put the marshmallows on a stick and stuck them over the fire so they could toast.

"Is everyone ready for the story?" Sandy asked.

"Yes." All the campers said in unison, all except the group of four. They were all pretty excited.

The group of four was sure that the story would not scare them. Most things didn't scare them. It would take a lot to put fear inside them.

"It all began on a night like this, in a town that was surrounded by supernatural lure..." Sandy began.

"The town of Sunset, Vermont. It is best known for the legend of The Onyx hitchhiker."

"Wait, a hitchhiker? I surely thought you were going to say ghost or witch." Callie remarked.

"Well you were wrong, now can I get back to the story?" Sandy asked.

Callie nodded, for once eager to hear more since the first set of information was a surprise to her and wasn't what was typically told.

"The legend goes that the onyx hitchhiker was a wonderful man, he had a loving wife and a supportive family. He was even on his way to a very successful career as the owner of the Hillside companies, which made everything in Sunset. One day he stopped at a stand in the middle of the highway to get his wife some flowers. When he got back to his car it wouldn't start, so he had to hitchhike to get back to his house. Sadly, when he arrived home, he found a chilling sight." Sandy went on.

"His wife laid in the living room with her neck sliced and pools of blood all around her. He dropped to his knees and cried. His cries were so loud that his neighbors came over in alarm. The police were called and everyone in town showed up. Unfortunately, the killer was never caught. The town tried to come together, they tried to be there for him."

"No comfort was good enough, nothing they did was good enough. The hitchhiker fell into despair, he wore black all the time. He forever visited his wife's grave, sometimes he was even found sleeping next to it. As time passed on, he lost his way. He constantly wondered the streets until one day his life was tragically cut short by a drunk driver. As he died he smiled. After that the town of Sunset was never quite the same, the town and the residents constantly mourned. To this day, anyone who drives past the place on the highway where he stopped to get flowers, they claim they see him and if they stop, he will haunt them. The ones who tend to talk about his shadow, disappear shortly after they see him."

As Sandy concluded her story, most of the campers had shocked expressions on their faces. Some of them also looked scared. Most of the campers had bought the story as being true.

"So why is he called the Onyx Hitchhiker?" Julie asked.

"Because when people see his shadow, before he appears, there is always a hue of black fog. At least that is what I'm told." Sandy explained.

"And tell me, how is this story true?" Asked Ken.

"It is a legend in my hometown, I'm from Sunset, Vermont. I have seen pictures that show the town as a sunny, happy place. If you go there now, there is just a sorrow that lays over the land." Sandy answered.

"It's a good story, but I don't know how true it is." Ryan said.

Sandy shrugged, "either way I shared the story."

"Well, thank you for a final story." Said Julie.

"Well, now it's time to turn in for the night. I'll see you guys next year." Sandy said.

All the campers got up and started to head for their cabins. Julie, Callie, Ryan, and Ken walked slowly toward their cabins so they could talk.

"Do you really think that story is true?" Asked Callie.

"No, but it was pretty interesting." Answered Ken.

"I say, when we get back, we plan a trip for next weekend to go to this town. I wanna check out this place." Ryan said.

"Oh, that sounds perfect, maybe we can meet this 'Onyx Hitchhiker'." Julie finished in a mocking tone.

The group of four laughed and finally arrived at their cabins. Ryan and Ken went to the left to their cabin and Julie and Callie went to the right toward theirs. As the groups of two went into their cabins they thought about the story. None of them thought it was true, nothing in the story seemed real. There were just some things that weren't real, like ghost hitchhikers.

Each of the friends tucked into their beds and snuggled in. Almost sure the other campers were scared out of their minds, wondering if the hitchhiker was going to come to get them. The group of four knew better though, they knew that the so called legend was fake. Plus, even if it was real, nothing scared them.