When it comes to movies, I am not a fan of anything horror. I don't like being scared and I hate blood, guts and gore. But, interestingly, I like writing elements of horror. The excerpt that you are about to read is from my story 'Horror Protection Program', and it's about where all the horror figures go once they're done with their movies and the woman that protects them. I hope you enjoy.

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Chapter One

Sheryl yawned as she began to change out of her work uniform and go home for the night. It was twelve-thirty in the morning and she wanted to finally leave. She should have left at midnight, but three last-minute customers had come in and since the person that was supposed to relieve her hadn’t shown up yet, she had to wait until they had all left. Sheryl needed to have a talk with her manager about these night shifts he’d been sticking her with. Yawning again, she swung her backpack over her shoulder and turned off the light in the girl’s section of the employee changing area.

She caught something in the corner of her eye and turned the light back on. Looking around the room and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Sheryl shook her head and turned the light off again. Still, something made her pause. She slowly turned back and almost jumped out of her skin.

There was a person standing across from her by the lockers.

Sheryl quickly turned the light back on. There was nobody there. She completely faced the seemingly empty room. Taking shallow breaths, she flipped the light switch. The shadowy person was still there, staring at her. When the light came back, the person seemed to vanish. She was about to flip the switch again when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Sheryl whirled around to see a woman standing behind her, smiling.

“Hi, how are you?” the woman asked. “I’m here to relieve you for the night. Sorry I’m so late, I’m new, I’m still getting used to things around here. You will not believe how hard it is to find a convenience store in a place you’re not familiar with.”

The woman giggled as Sheryl stared at her. She must have been new because everyone knew where the convenience store was…then again, Specsville was slightly bigger than most small towns. Sheryl opened her mouth to speak but the woman cut her off.

“Anyway, I imagen you’re tired and probably starting to see things due to lack of proper sleep, so…”

At this, the woman firmly gripped her shoulders and began to walk her out of the store.

“…why don’t you go out to your car and get yourself home, eh? Get a good night’s sleep and start fresh in the morning, okay? Okay, buh-bye.”

The woman gently pushed Sheryl out into the crisp air of the night, causing her to stumble a bit. She turned back slightly and saw the woman leaning against the doorframe, smiling and waving. After a few moments, Sheryl shook her head and walked to her car. She put the keys in the ignition and drove away from the store. Her mind wandered to the person she’d seen in the changing room but quickly put it out of her mind. Maybe she was sleep-deprived.

She definitely needed to change her work hours.

***

Selma waited until the car was out of view before dropping the cheerful act.

“I would kill her if she wasn’t dead, I would kill her if she wasn’t dead,” she mumbled angrily to herself, stomping back to the employee changing area. “I would happily go to jail for her death, but I can’t because she’s already dead.”

She ran a hand through her short brown hair in frustration and adjusted her glasses before taking a step into the room.

“Okay, the blond woman flipped the switch…three times, so on four she should be right in front of me.”

She turned the light off and there her charge was, standing only a few inches away. The disheveled little girl let out a small gasp and took a step backward. Selma let a thin, unimpressed smile grace her features before speaking.

“What are you doing, Diana?” she asked curtly.

The girl made as if to answer but Selma held up her hand.

“No, you know what? I know what you’re doing. You’re breaking the rules. Again.”

Diana lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers. Selma let out a frustrated sigh.

“We can’t do this here. I’m going to turn on the light, and you’re going to get your butt in the truck, and I’m going to lecture you on the way back to the neighborhood. Got it?”

After Diana nodded, Selma took a deep breath and flipped the switch. She waited for a few seconds and then turned the light back off. Diana was nowhere in sight. With a sharp nod of satisfaction, Selma turned and walked out of the store. The person that was supposed to be working the rest of the night shift would be on his way by now, and she didn’t want to be here when he finally showed up. Something told her that he would be nothing less than frantic after being a little more than a half-hour late. She knew this because she’d shot a sleeping dart into his neck two hours before.

This reminded her to make a little less potent of a sleeping mixture next time.

Walking over to her truck, she was pleased to see Diana sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window. She climbed into the truck and started the engine. Before she pulled out of the small parking lot, Selma gave Diana a thick blanket from the backseat.

“Here, use this to hide from the light until we get out of town,” she said.

Diana took the blanket and wrapped it around herself entirely, her eyes the only part of her visible. They drove through the small town in silence, not looking at each other. When they left the town and were a few miles onto a road lined with woods, Selma took a deep breath and began to talk.

“This is the fifth time this month, Diana. We’ve talked about this; you’re not supposed to go out of the neighborhood after dark! You don’t know who could be out there; you don’t know what they could do to you! Did you even stop and think about how I would feel when I found your bed empty?”

Selma stopped and took another deep breath after realizing that her voice was close to being too loud. Diana glanced at her.

“I’m not going to yell at you, I’m not that kind of caretaker,” she reassured both Diana and herself. “But I’m still very disappointed in you.”

Diana lowered her head and nodded solemnly. Selma looked at her for a moment, sighed, and looked back out onto the road.

“Look…I know your movie was recent and I know it did rather well and I know that you’re new to this whole ‘life after’ thing, but you can’t just leave whenever you want. Especially when you’re not supposed to. The rules are there for a reason, Diana. They keep you safe when I’m not there. But you must stay in the neighborhood. Okay?”

There was a moment of silence. Then Diana lifted her head and looked right at her.

“What do you keep us safe from?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Selma opened her mouth but only air came out. She bit her lip as she tried to think of an answer. There was no way she was going to give the direct answer; Diana still looked and acted like a child. Before she could speak, her cellphone rang. Selma nearly jumped out of her seat.

“I live in a neighborhood full of horror figures, and my ringtone scares me,” she muttered, pulling her phone from her pocket. “What a world.” She swiped the screen with her thumb and pressed her hone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. Did you find her yet?”

“Hey dude. Yeah, I found her; I’m bringing her back now.”

“Where was she this time? Northwood Pines?”

“No, next town over. The civilian was almost on four before I got there. It was a really close call this time.”

“Sounds like it. Well, I’ll open the gate when I see you.”

“Thanks dude, I owe you a huge one. And again, I’m really sorry for dragging you into this.”

“No problem. Just remember it’ll be someone else’s turn next time she does this.”

“Dude, there won’t be a next time.”

“Sure there won’t. See you soon.”

Selma ended the call and sighed, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes at Diana, who was still staring at her.

“That’s another thing you’re in trouble for; making me wake someone up in the dead of night so they can open the gate for us when we get back. Your antics always needlessly affect other people.”

“Who was it this time?” Diana asked.

“…Candyman.”

“The guy with the hook and the bees?”

Selma snorted.

“Yes, the guy with the hook and the bees.”

“…Cool.”

***

They arrived at the neighborhood around one forty-five, the truck lights shining on the tall black gate. Selma stopped and honked her horn. The gate unlocked with a click and moved out of the way to the left. She drove past it and when she was clear the gate closed and locked again. Candyman waved at her and she waved back before continuing into the neighborhood. Her house was a little ways in, but even with the neighborhood lights off she knew where it was.

After pulling into her driveway, Selma unbuckled her seatbelt and made to get out of her truck when Diana spoke.

“Um…Selma?”

Her caretaker turned to look at her.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I’ll try not to do it again.”

Selma sighed and lowered her shoulders in defeat.

“Hang on,” she said, getting out of the truck. She walked around the front and opened the passenger door. Holding out her arms, Selma said in a soft voice, “Come here sweetie.”

Diana untangled herself from the blanket and went into her caretaker’s arms, hugging her tight and resting her head on her shoulder. Selma held her as she closed and locked her truck before walking up to the house. She stopped at the steps leading up to the front porch.

“We’ll talk about this more tomorrow night, okay?”

The child nodded into her shoulder.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

She went up to the front door and unlocked it. When she stepped inside, a low growl came from the living room. Selma looked over and saw the dog lying on the couch, staring at her.

“Oh, hush, Cujo, it’s just me,” she whispered.

Walking quietly over to the door that led to the basement, she gently set Diana down and opened the door. They descended the stairs and when they reached the bottom Diana went over to her bed and climbed into it. Selma tucked her in and kissed her forehead. After waiting a few minutes for Diana to fall asleep, she went back up the stairs and slowly closed the door. She yawned and ran her hand through her hair. Then she went back to the front door and locked it.

Suddenly the TV in the living room clicked on. Selma turned around and put her hands on her hips.

“Sadako? What are you doing up?”

The little girl with long black hair that covered her face placed her hands on the inside screen and tilted her head.

“Oh, did I wake you, honey? I’m sorry. I was just bringing Diana home. Again.”

Sadako removed her hands but kept her head tilted.

“Go back to sleep, hon. You can ask her about it tomorrow if she wants to talk.”

With that, Sadako disappeared and the TV clicked off. Selma yawned again and headed upstairs. She hoped to get at least some sleep tonight. Tomorrow was going to be busy.