Enthusiasm and vigor filled Woodbury High’s halls, as the Eagles were yearning for their first state championship by the end of tonight’s game.
The final bell sounded, and all of the students dashed down the hall to the game bus like children on Christmas morning. The students boarded the bright yellow bus, anticipating a night they would never forget.
Steven Post woke up the next morning exhausted but wasn’t really sure why. He had a vague memory of last night and everything seemed like a blur.
Steven arrived at the bus stop a few minutes early and noticed something peculiar. There was not a soul at the bus stop besides him, and everything seemed utterly quiet. He could hear the rustling of leaves through the thick morning dew.
Then in the distance, Steven heard a distinct voice, vaguely familiar and approaching rapidly. It began as a dull whisper, but suddenly he could hear his friend Josh Gallo’s voice behind him. Steven could barely make out his faint words.
“Don’t return to Woodbury,” moaned the voice behind him. “Don’t return.”
Steven quickly turned around to discover just the concrete of the sidewalk beneath him. In the brisk morning air, Steven could hear the screeching wheels of the bus stopping for another student a street behind him.
Then the bright yellow of the bus appeared. The same bright yellow of the game bus he rode the day before. Steven approached the bus cautiously, fearing what would be inside. The doors opened and Steven tiptoed up the stairs. Nothing, the bus was empty. There were no students, not even a driver.
The door abruptly closed. Terror flowed through Steven’s body as the bus veered into the misty morning light.