The boys had never taken on such a large responsibility before. They we're out in the sticks for hours walking through the corn fields and open gravel roads. They made sure to pick a night when the moon was almost full. They wanted to be able to see without flashlights for as long as possible. They begun the walk from their car as soon as the sun began to set, but now the moon was right above their heads.

The boys called themselves a gang, but with only four members they were far from menacing. They had been friends for most of their young lives. Most nights you could find them playing board games and drinking pop. If they felt adventurous they would sneak to one of their families liquor cabinets and take a bottle. Teenage boys did things like that every day, but this night was a whole new experience for them. None of them had any clue what they were getting into, but when Johnny had an idea they followed it now matter how crazy it sounded. That's what friends are for right?

Johnny was the groups leader in a way. They viewed each other as equals, but something about Johnny made the others hang on his every word. He strode confidently by the others to take the lead while looking at his map. Following close behind was Rick. He was a short stocky kid with a high pitched voice. Johnny found his loyalty endearing and made sure to stand by his side since they were kids. The other boys in the group were twins named Harry and Barry. They were not identical twins, they were fraternal. This meant while Harry was a tall thin kid, Barry was the opposite. He was tall, but he was built like a football player. The last person staggering along behind the others was Johnny's younger brother Timmy, whom was only along for the ride because Johnny had to babysit.

“Hey Johnny do you think we'll actually find this place? Who did you hear about this from anyways?” Barry said shivering a bit.

“You should have brought a thicker coat Barry, otherwise you wouldn't be so worried about it. Just enjoy the beautiful night.” Johnny replied.

“I'm also quite curious of how you heard this.” Rick said.

“Guys, I promise this is going to be worth our time. I got the map weeks before someone told me the story behind it. That's why I trust its the truth.” Johnny said. He was the only one who knew the whole story behind why they were walking in this field, and he intended to keep in that way no matter how persistent the other boys were about asking him questions.

“Look I found the map in my attic with a place marked 'Witch.' Under the map was a small hand written note I couldn't make out. I took it to a librarian after I realized I had no way of figuring out what it said. She turned out to be of little help so I went digging through some books.”

“Jeez I never thought I'd hear about you reading. That's got to be bullshit man!” Harry said cutting Johnny's sentence off.

“Let me finish damn it. I wasn't reading; I was researching. I figured out it was written in Latin.”

“Why does every spooky thing have to been written in Latin?” Rick said.

“He's got a good point” Barry said.

“Let me finish or I'm not gonna tell you anything else. Okay, so I got a lady to translate it for me. She asked me why I needed that specific sentence translated. I told her about the map, and she immediately changed her expression. She told me if I came here I would either be granted my greatest wish or my worst nightmare. She also said the only reason my family would have that map was if the witch cursed us for being thieves. She wouldn't even tell me what the translation was she just asked me to leave. I figure she probably made all that cursed stuff up, but maybe we'll find something cool out here.” Johnny finished.

“Or we'll find our worst nightmare. I don't like those odds Johnny. Why didn't you tell us this would be risky?” Rick said.

“It's not. The girl looked like some goth college student. She was just trying to scare me so I wouldn't come out here.” Johnny said.

“We'll if I don't see a witch after all this walking I'm going to be pissed.” Barry said.

“Calm down Barry. We'll see something I'm sure of it.” Johnny smirked.

They walked along in silence for while, taking in the nature before Timmy ran forward to Johnny and grabbed onto his pants tugging at them.

“Stop it kid! What happened did the witch try to grab you?” Johnny chuckled while pulling Timmy's grasp off him.

“No! No! I saw someone Johnny. I swear I'm not trying to fool you.” Timmy said while trying to catch his breath.

“I did think I heard something in the cornfield man.” Harry said from the back of the group.

“I heard something too, but I think it was just a cat.” Barry said.

“You guys need your hearing checked. Why would a cat be all the way out here?” Johnny retorted.

“You know cats eat mice right? Well I'm sure these fields have tons of mice scurrying through them. That would actually be the most logical answer.” Rick said.

“Okay, jeez get off my ass guys. Well its a cat then; ya see Timmy?”Johnny said. He patted Timmy on the shoulder in a comforting manner.

“It wasn't no cat Johnny. Why the hell are we going out here anyways?” Timmy retorted.

The cornstalks to their right began to rustle loudly as if something was running toward them.

“What is that guys? That's not a damn cat Johnny!” Harry said while beginning to run. Harry had unusually long legs which helped him run much quicker than the other boys. Johnny picked up Timmy, and booked it toward Harry. The others boys followed closely behind.

They ran until they couldn't feel their feet anymore. That's when they saw it. The house they had walked all that way for was right in front of them. All of their jaws dropped in unison. The house was truly something out of a nightmare. Boarded up windows, half the exterior was burnt, the door and windows had vines and herbs growing all along them, the door was falling off its hinges, and graffiti was visible on the less charred walls. They were so baffled by the house actually being there that they almost forgot they were being followed. All except Timmy who was screaming and crying hysterically into Johnny's chest.

“Go! We need to go!” Timmy cried. The boys all snapped out of the confusion but had no where to go.

“We can't go back toward the car, that's where the creature is.” Harry said.

“The house is looking like our only option.” Barry said shakily.

“No way! I'm not going in there.” Rick said turning to look at any possible exit.

“Just run!” Timmy screamed.

“Maybe the creature is gone now? We could just go back toward the road. If we see the creature again we'll just run back to the car as fast as we can.”

“What if we can't outrun it?” Barry said.

“We did it once didn't we?” Harry said.

They all looked around in desperation one more time. That's when they heard it. The door fell completely off its hinges and crashed to the porch steps below. They turned back to find a beautiful young woman in long flowing black robes. She was chanting something with her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Timmy looked up to see what they stopped again for, only to start crying ten times harder.

“Johnny run! Please!” Timmy said. He had been screaming so much his voice became hoarse. They boys did as Timmy said and went back down the initial path without question. The ran, but grew tired once they neared the exit of the cornfield.

“We're almost out to the road. I have to stop for a second. I cant breathe.” Rick said.

“Me too” Barry said.

They slowed down to a walk, but kept moving. Johnny was going to let Timmy down but he was latched on tight to Johnny's neck.

“Why aren't we running?” Timmy whined.

“We can't run forever kid. Plus we're almost of here, That thing probably is long gone by now.” Harry said.

They got to the edge of the corn field and all breathed a sigh of relief. The car was within sight and they were home free. That's when they heard it. It was like a large wolf or a banshee with a howl that made their skin crawl. They didn't waste time speaking they just ran. They got the car quickly and turned it on. Johnny sped out of there with Timmy still in his lap.

Once they made it back to Johnny's house the boys all grabbed a pop and sat down at the kitchen table. They shared collective glances of horror and astonishment, except for Johnny who had a smile spread across his face.

“I got you Timmy!” Johnny said.

“What?” Timmy looked up confused.

“I planned everything. The witch was the goth librarian I met. Her boyfriend was the creature chasing us in the cornfield. Her and her friends go out to that abandoned house to explore all the time. I paid them twenty bucks to scare you.” Johnny said getting down to eye level with him.

“Next time you'll think twice before you steal the money out of my wallet kid.” He smiled. The boys eyes were stuck on Johnny as Timmy stormed out of the room. Johnny sat down where Timmy was before laughing.

“You guys are seriously good friends for helping me teach him a lesson. Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about the plan. I had to have your reactions be real or else Timmy would have known something was up” Johnny said sipping his drink.

“Can you at least give an idea next time so I don't almost piss myself?” Harry said breathing a sigh of relief.

“Wait?” Rick questioned. “ There is still one thing you didn't explain. What was that noise we heard when we were almost to the car?”

Johnny's face grew pale.

“I have no idea what that was, but it wasn't the kids I hired to scare us.”