Moonlight glinted on the chain stretching from post to post across the laneway. The metal “Keep Out” sign clanked as the chain was jostled by the six shadow figures. The night was still, save for the crunch of gravel underfoot and a quickly muffled, nervous giggle. Not even a breeze stirred the leaves of the surrounding trees.
By the time the gravel gave way to dirt, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore could be heard.
“I don’t know about this Butch, maybe we should go back.”
“Don’t wimp out on us now, Lisa. It’s just a little further.” Butch pulled her along behind him, the trembling in her hand having nothing to do with the chill in the sea air and everything to do with an innate fear of the dark.
“We should have at least brought a flashlight with us, man,” Jay said.
“What do we need a flashlight for? There’s a full moon tonight,” Butch told him.
“Yeah, where’s your sense of adventure?” Tiffany giggled, and clutched at Danny’s arm as she stumbled over a rock in the path. She’d obviously started the party early, as was her habit.
“Do you know what they call the moon that rises this time of the year? The Bone Moon.”
“C’mon Ashleigh, don’t start that mystic shit tonight,” Jay begged. He tightened his grip on the cooler he and Danny were carrying between them. A hard enough job without Tiffany clinging to Danny – ghost stories would just make her cling worse.
“Fine! But just remember I tried to warn you.” Ashleigh tossed her hair back and moved ahead on the path so she was directly behind Butch and Lisa. Jay just sighed in exasperation.
“Chill you guys,” Butch said. “We’re almost there.”
The trees thinned out completely and they found themselves at the top of a cliff.
“Watch your step now,” Butch said, and led the way downwards.
The rocks gave way to a fine, white sand. The moon cast more than enough light to see the empty crates Butch had dragged down earlier in the day to use for seating. He’d also gathered a respectable pile of firewood and dug a fire pit.
“Danny, you want to start the fire while Jay and I break out the beer?” Butch had just had his birthday, which took all the fun out of going on a beer run.
The driftwood was dry and caught fire easily. Jay handed Butch a beer and took his place in the semi circle around the fire pit, looking out over the ocean. “This is great, man,” he said. “The perfect way to celebrate the end of the summer.”
“I’m cold,” Lisa whined. She wasn’t really, but she didn’t like it when Butch’s attention wandered away from her for too long.
Butch put his arm around her. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll keep you warm.”
“We’re not going to get into trouble for being here, are we?”
“Stop being such a drag, Lisa,” Tiffany told her. “No one ever comes here, so no one’s going to catch us.”
“I wonder why,” Danny said. “This place is great – nice and secluded, and just look at all that beach.”
“I think I can answer that, young fella,” a voice called out of the dark, startling the six trespassers.
“Jesus! Give a warning next time, would you?” Butch snapped. “Who the hell are you?”
An old man stepped closer to the fire. His face was lined and his bristly beard was white. The clothes he wore had definitely seen better days, as had the leather boots on his feet.
“Name’s Henry. I was beach combing down thataways earlier today and fell asleep when I went to take a break. Just on my way home. Sorry to have disturbed you.”
“Wait, Henry,” Danny called as the old man shambled past them and into the dark again. “You said you could tell us why no one comes here. Why don’t you join us for a beer, maybe tell us the story?”
“Well, I suppose a beer or two couldn’t hurt,” Henry said, shuffling back over. Jay and Danny made space between them for him to sit down and Butch handed him a beer. The girls looked at each other and Lisa shrugged.
Henry took a swig of his beer and then started his story. “Well, it would have been about fifty years ago this happened.” he glanced up at the moon and back down again. “Would have been fifty years ago exactly, on the night of the Bone Moon.”
“See?” Ashleigh dug her elbow into Jay’s ribs. “I told you it was the Bone Moon tonight.”
“Quiet,” he told her, earning a scowl from her. Lisa shivered and huddled closer to Butch, which suited Butch just fine.
“This was a popular spot back then, especially with the teenagers wanting to have a little privacy, if you get my drift.”
Butch tightened his hold on Lisa and grinned.
“There was this group of teenagers, not much younger than you lot, who decided to spend the night on the beach, celebrating the end of summer or some such nonsense. Next morning, the first ones arriving on the beach found what was left of them.”
“What was left of them?” Ashleigh asked, no longer as enthralled with being right.
“There was the bones of one of the boys, all tied up nice and neat with some twine, but all that was left of the others was their skulls.”
“Oh my God,” Tiffany said, inching closer to Danny. “What happened to them?”
Henry shrugged. “No one knows. There was no footprints, no blood, nothing. Not even a sign of a struggle. Just the tied up bones and skulls. But . . .” his voice trailed off.
“But what?” Danny asked.
“There was this legend . . .”
“What legend?” Lisa asked, fascinated in spite of herself.
“This here,” Henry gestured in a wide arc around them, “is called Imp’s Cove, ‘cause there was said to be an imp bound to it. You know what an imp is, one of the devil’s minions. Every fifty years, under the light of the Bone Moon, the imp needs to feed.”
“And they think it ate those people?” Tiffany asked, eyes wide in the moonlight. “All of them?”
“Bones and all,” Henry nodded. “Except for the skulls. You’d be mighty hungry too if you only ate once every fifty years.”
“Yuck! That story is just creepy – if it’s even true,” Ashleigh said with a shiver.
“But why didn’t he eat the bones of the last one,” Danny asked. “Why leave the bones all tied up?”
“The imp feeds on fear just as much as he feeds on flesh,” Henry said, looking at each one of them in turn. “He ties up the strongest of the lot, ‘cause their fear is the richest, and lets them watch while he feasts on the others. Then he sucks the fear filled flesh off the bones.”
“I don’t get it,” Butch said. He took a long pull on his bottle of beer. “Why wouldn’t the others just run away?”
“They couldn’t,” Henry said, the moonlight reflecting off his eyes. At least Butch thought it was the moonlight. But the moon was behind the old man.
There was no sound from the others. Butch tried to move his head to look at them, but it was like he was frozen in place. Horrified understanding filled him as Henry’s form began to elongate, to morph into something inhuman, something with slick, grey/green skin.
“It’s all right if you want to scream,” the creature said in Henry’s voice. “There’s no one else to hear, and I quite enjoy a little music with my dinner.”
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