The Dead Shall Walk again- Chapter 1

The scene cues in on an open field with tall grass dancing in the wind’s breeze. There’s a small sloping hill just beyond the field. As the camera begins to zoom in, we see a group of 5 girls holding hands and dancing slowly in a circle. The closer we get, we can hear the girls singing some eerie nursery rhyme as they dance around.

“See the leaves falling to the ground, See them falling all around, on the cemetery mound.”

The wind seems to whistle to the tune of this rhyme as they repeat that verse again.

“See the leaves falling to the ground, see them falling all around, on the cemetery mound.”

On closer inspection, the girls seem to have a grayish hue about them, almost as if they are transparent themselves. The camera begins to roll up and pan over the view of the hill. In the distance, we can see the ominous structure known as Waverly Hills Sanitarium. The wind begins to pick up, seemingly blowing the camera in the direction of the Sanitarium. The voices of the little girls carries on with the wind as they sing the next verse.

“The dead lay all around me, we all together lay.”

Thunder faintly rolls in the distance as they sing this part. Day begins to turn to night as the girls keep singing this old rhyme.

“A tisket a tasket the Scarecrow’s out his casket.”

Finally, we are on the grounds of the sanitarium. Vehicles are beginning to leave, as the camera finally focuses in on a small group of teenagers being led into the building by a tour guide.

“Turn out the lights and lock the doors, praying that he passes.”

One of the girls of the group turns around suddenly, thinking that she heard some children singing. She waits and listens, then realizes that the group has went on inside without her. She catches up to the group just as the tour guide is speaking.

Tour Guide: “Well, we appreciate you wanting to stay here for a night at the sanitarium. Hopefully, you will be like the many others before you to stay and have some type of paranormal experience that you will all remember for the rest of your lives. There are a few warnings we give to each group however. First and foremost, we ask that you please refrain from going out on the ledges of the buildings. As this is a very old structure, the ledges may crumble and a fatality, if not death, may occur.
Secondly, we ask that you do not vandalize the building. If anything has been tampered with upon our inspection the next day, you will be billed for damages withheld.
And finally, the door inside the infamous Death Tunnel is locked. Please let it remain that way. The sewers and what have you, beyond that door are in very poor condition and we want to avoid as many accidents as possible. There are hundreds of rooms and places in this old building for you to have fun chasing the paranormal rather than risking your lives in those old tunnels.
That being said, I want to wish you luck in your findings and hope you have a great stay. Should anything happen, the guard’s station is right outside the main entrance, here are some maps to help you on your way should anything happen. Good luck.”

The tour guide gives the group a bow and opens the door to leave and finally exits. The group of teenagers smile at one another and start laughing.

Girl 1: “What a tool!”

She begins mocking the tour guide’s instructions as the rest of the group laughs along with her. A faint breeze blows through the windows that have long been void of window panes and glass. With that wind a soft whisper blows in.

[color=cyan]“He’s watching.”[/cyan]

One of the girls shudder.

[Girl 2: “Did anyone hear that?”
Boy 1: “Hear what?”
Girl 2: “That voice?”
Boy 1: “We haven’t even started checking this place out and you’re already scared shitless.”
Girl 2: “I’m serious!! It sounded like a little girl’s voice.”
[color:c669=dark blue]Boy 2: “Really? And what did she say?”
[color=indigo]Girl 2: “It said, ‘He’s watching’.”'/color'
[color:c669=dark blue]Boy 2: “Who’s watching? The Scarecrow?”

The entire group starts busting out laughing.

Girl 2: “Guys that’s not funny. I really did hear a voice. But that Scarecrow stuff isn’t real.”
Girl 1: “It might be…who knows. That’s why we brought the stuff with us.”

The girl and the two boys begin taking items out of their backpacks. Candles, chalk, string, and other items that would appear to be used for some sort of ritual. The camera fades on this scene as the group begins to venture further into the building.

The camera cues back in on the girls dancing in the circle, they continue singing as if the camera never left them.

“He’s got his scythe and walks at night through his evil garden.”

The camera begins to move once again, this time around the back of the building. As it nears the building, a small graveyard appears. The camera zooms in on the graveyard and surveys the area. It lands upon the opening of what is widely known as the Death Tunnel. Slowly the camera ventures towards this tunnel.

[color=cyan]“Don’t stay out late or he will take you for his next harvest.”[/cyan]

The camera keeps going through the tunnel for what seems like an eternity. It finally stops at an old wooden door that is secured by several chains and a huge pad lock. The camera zooms in, looking through the pad lock and revealing, yet another tunnel.
Down the tunnel we go, faster and faster. We pass by rat infested sewers, cobwebbed ceilings, and abandoned sewer pump stations. It seems we go on for an eternity, yet again, until the camera stops on another wooden door. This one however, is bolted shut.

“Down you go, down you float, through the tunnel’s maze.
He takes you there, to his lair, his crops you are to raise.”

The camera goes through the keyhole for this door as well, but this time the room is barely lit. The scene switches back to the group of teenagers who have positioned themselves in what would seem a ritual circle in the middle of a large room.

Girl 1: Ok, we have everything set up in the right positions. The scythes are drawn at the 3 o clock and 6 o clock positions. Light the candles.

The boys start lighting the candles as thunder booms loudly above. They all jump or shriek from this.

Boy 1: Let’s get this shit over with, I’m bored already.

They each hold hands and begin singing a familiar rhyme written on a piece of paper for each to read.

[color=blue]“A tisket a tasket the scarecrows out his casket. Turn out the lights and lock the door, praying that he passes.”[color]

Thunder booms again, and the groups jumps another time. But they keep repeating that rhyme over and over again. The camera switches back to the dark room. Which now has a small filtering of light pouring through a hole in the floor. The light shines on a grim sight indeed. A large chair, a throne of sorts, sits in the middle of the room. A massive skeletal figure sits upon this throne.
Again the camera switches scenes back to the group. This time, one of the boys breaks from the circle to grab a knife. He runs the blade over his hand and holds it over a small pin-like hole in the floor. The blood begins to drip from his hand.

[color:c669=dark blue]Boy 2: With the blood of the wicked and the impure, to the Scarecrow I give to walk the night once more.

He waits for a second and nothing happens. Second guessing himself, he reads the paper again. Shrugging his shoulders, he grabs a bandage from one of the backpacks an covers the wound from the knife.

[color:c669=dark blue]Boy 2: Well, I feel dumb.

The entire group sits patiently awaiting anything to happen after their ritual. The camera switches back below.

The echoes of the teenage group’s incantations can be heard far below in this prison like room. The camera watches as the blood drips down, ever so slowly onto the skeleton. The skeleton’s maw is position in such a way that the blood falls directly into the mouth of the cadaver. The chanting stops just as thunder booms louder than the previous times. The skeleton’s jaw moves, and slowly closes.

“Fear the reaper.”

The small girl’s voice is heard as the camera switches back to the teenage group, who has now ventured to the Death Tunnel. They reach the wooden door that has been chained shut, and each takes a turn glancing at the other in mischievous curiosity. One of the boys brings out a pair of bolt cutters from his bag. The last image of this group is the chain falling to the floor with the lock cut.
The camera switches back to the scene below, where the corpse has slowly begun to reanimate and take on the appearance of Crimson Skull. Once the skeletal structure is covered by the sinews of muscle and tissue, it begins to move. He begins to slowly stand, unsteady on the newly reanimated legs at first, but quickly remembers how to walk again. The reanimated Crimson Skull walks out of the light for a few moments, then, comes back into the view adorning the mask and clothing that he is trademarked for.

The camera fades to a line at the bottom of the screen that says 3 months later. It cues in again on skull sitting upon his chair.

He takes in a deep breath and exhales very slowly. He cocks his head to the side, in a curious pose as if something caught his attention. He begins sniffing the air, as if to catch the scent of something. He finally finds what he was searching for and chuckles softly.
“It has been far too long. Too long since I have walked the mortal plane. What you have just witnessed was the first chapter in the story that has brought me here to you this day. But it seems I have been reawakened. For what reason, I do not know.”
Skull sniffs the air once more.

“Curiously though, I can sense that an old nemesis still lives. One Johnny Stylez. His blood has been shed by many hands countless times. His blood has stained my knuckles countless times as well. It is a scent that is not uncommon to me.”

He chuckles again as he stands up and begins to walk towards the door.

“We have shed each other’s blood on numerous continents. We’ve had many battles in the past. And ultimately, it was I who finished Johnny Styles for good.”

Skull stops for a second, looks the ground, and shakes his head in disappointment slowly.

“I thought you would have known better than to come out of the retirement that I placed you in. SBK has pervaded the world with his endless verbal cess-pooling again, yet the people praise him.
Have I been brought back to once again become the wicked redeemer of man? The harbinger of fate? Or have I simply been brought back to finish Johnny Styles once and for all. I’ve came close to it, several times thus far. Each time, I have taken pity upon him, for when he begged for mercy I had at least thought he would refrain from continuing his arrogant and pervasive ways. I stand corrected here today.
How do I know that he is set in his old ways without even seeing or hearing about him, yet? Because I know Johnny Styles perhaps even better than he knows his own self. If the scent of his blood is still fresh upon the air, then that means he still continues to perform in the ring. And if he continues to perform in the ring, then I know for certain he has not changed. Perhaps in my absence he regained the courage to wrestle again. Because without me around to keep him in constant check, there was no one to try and stop him.
One would believe that once you were taken to hell and back and giving the merciless beating that I gave him, nearly costing him his own life that he wouldn’t even think about returning to the ring. I know now that he has “retired” once more. But I know Styles is just waiting for the next chance to stand in the lime light again.
He has robbed me of my pride. He has taken from me the joy in knowing that I broke the man known as Johnny Styles. I was there for the beginning of his career, and I was the end. At least years ago I was. But I will have my redemption soon enough. It won’t take long to pull him back out of hiding. Very soon I will track down the coward and finish what I set out to do years ago.
But first, there is a minor speed bump in the road ahead. And by that I mean Tom Sykes.
I do apologize Tom, if my actions did seem kind of brash last week. But you see, in my years of experience, an example is needed to be made early on in a new start in a new place. For me, you are that example.
In case you are confused, the example is this: Pick off the bottom to the top. Start with the worst and make your way to the best.
You are merely the first stop on my list that will eventually take me where I need to go. From what I can see from you prior career endeavors, I can see that you are a thrill seeker. Performing stunts on a motor bike, and agreeing if not asking for a match against the one and only Crimson Skull are on completely different levels. At least on your motor bike, you are somewhat in control of your fate. Facing off against me, is a grave mistake.
Most would assume that after my several years in hiatus that I would be a bit rusty inside the ring. Oh, but trust me dear Tommy, my resolve has never been better.
Nothing can stop me from reaching my goal. I do feel sorry for you being the first stop on my resurrected path. It is sad though that you have only had a few matches in wrestling as you say, and in one of your first few matches you will be facing off against the Crimson King himself. Don’t worry about when you lose though, boy. Many have stood before me in the past, countless have fallen by my hands. You won’t be the last one here in this federation that will fall before, but sadly…You must be the first example. Maybe it has been too long, maybe the world has forgotten. But it won’t be very long at all before all mankind will once again bow before the king.
And most importantly they will once again…Fear the Reaper.”

Skull sniffs the air one last time and starts chuckling again, this time slower and more maniacal. The camera zooms in as it fades on the mask of Crimson Skull.