Scary Stories 4 \\ #Wattys2018

Piper

First, the neighborhood cats will go missing. When they start appearing again nailed to the doors of their homes it's time to send anyone younger than 15 away; that means out of the entire town. Even the one's close to 16, SEND THEM AWAY. Give them silver or iron. Chains, scissors, a charm, whatever you can find and tell them not to remove them from their body. When the last cat reappears the blight will begin.

Second, salt the doors, windows and the chimney. People forget about the chimney, don't forget them. An added measure is to nail the windows shut and bolt the doors, don't replace this with the salting, do both. Cover the windows, don't leave it to just curtains, and cover the glass up so you can't see in or out.

Third, after the sun goes down, you're not to leave the house for anything. Don't make a sound. Pretend no one is home. They will go away after a while to another house.

You'll hear children outside, they will be crying for you. You'll hear familiar voices of children you sent away. They will bang on the door, calling for you to let them in; "I'm cold." "Why don't you love me?" No matter how hard they cry, DON'T LET THEM IN.

Moments before dawn you will hear a pipe, the voices will turn to screaming. This is the most critical time to not do anything because they will be screaming for you.

There is no telling how long it goes on for. The longest has been three months. They will always become agitated the longer the blight goes on. They'll start calling you names, swearing, and start sharing dark secrets about you and your neighbors. But one night it won't happen, the children don't appear. DON'T DISCARD ANYTHING, DO NOT CLEAN. It is a trick; they will come back double the numbers for a final night.

One last thing. They say the voices you don't recognize are children that died in the crib, their young spirits come back to find their parents. They say they are the most angry. I hope you have nothing that belonged to them, like their blankets or clothes or toys or God forbid the crib itself. Burn them.