In the clay county region of Indiana there is a town called Brazil where a legend haunts the local cemetery, a legend that brings many curious people all year round. It lies on a sloping hill that is roadside and dates back to the 1860's, that's the oldest headstone that can be found here. The cemetery itself isn't the main subject of the legend, it is actually a number of uphill steep steps, 100 to be exact and this is how it got it's name - 100 steps cemetery.
It's said that at midnight if you walk up the visibly fading steps and count each one as you pass until you reach the top to number 100 and then turn around you will be greeted by the ghost of the first ever caretaker of the cemetery. He then will show you a vision of your death and tell you to walk back down the steps. If you count the same number of steps as you did going up then the vision would come true but if you happened to count a different number then you were one of the lucky ones and the prophecy was indeed false.
Of course as the legend spread around, people got the idea to avoid the steps completely when going to the top of the slope but this idea wasn't as smart as the people thought it was. They didn't get away without being punished for their wise actions, as anyone who got to the top without using the steps were pushed to the ground by an invisible force and clawed at. Leaving them with a red hand mark on their backs known as "the mark of the devil".
Walter Cox worked as the towns local librarian, a job in which he dedicated the majority of his time too. He was never married nor did he want to be. He led an easy life which revolved all around his library and in the evenings he didn't stray too far outside of his comfort one either, by watching quiz shows and reading stories from his favorite horror blogger. Always with a crossword in hand and glasses falling off the bridge of his nose as he awkwardly interacted with you, he, Walter was a man the locals liked but also had a sense of pity for.
His world came crashing down one night as he made his way over to the DVD rental shop. Walking around the isles looking for his nights entertainment he could hear and noticed two fire trucks fly past the window, followed by numerous police cars. Walter walked to the door of the shop and could see smoke coming in the direction of his library just over the row of houses in front. He began to panic intensely, dropping all that he carried before running over to the library as if he was an athletic sprinter.
What he had feared had become the reality of the situation. There it was up in flames with the roof after caving in. He could not understand how his happened, he only locked up a couple of hours ago and everything was fine. As the fire was being attended too he sat on a step corner sobbing into his hands for a couple of hours, this was all he knew in life, all he wanted and in one moment his happiness had been stolen from him. His sadness was soon replaced with despair and a sense of worthlessness. He remembered the blog post he read a few weeks ago which was about the legend of the cemetery in his town which was just a ten minute walk away. He abruptly jumped up and briskly walked in that direction.
As he reached the cemetery a strong wind started blowing, followed by heavy rain with Walter standing at the end of the steps looking up to the top of them. He put one foot out and stepped onto the first step, he didn't know what he wanted but he just wanted to feel something. Every step was longed out and filled with racing thoughts. The rain was dripping from his head, onto his glasses and then falling to the ground he continuously stared at. Each drop sounded like a rock being thrown into the ocean as he was nearing the top of steep hill; "87,88,89,90" he counted out loudly while panting for air.
As he reached the top he stood with his hands on hips, trying to gather his breath back. "Now what .......NOW WHAT!!!!" he shouted out while tears began falling from his eyes once more, forming a bubble of water with the rain on his face. Everything went silent for a few moments, even his thoughts, but then noise started filtering back through starting with the gong of the towns large tower clock as it hit midnight. He turned around to be greeted by a cloudy figure that glided his way only to form the outline of a tall man standing upright in front of him.
The ghostly figure put his hand on top of Walters head showing him a vision. What Walter seen terrified him so much that he could not talk respond but only gaze at the cloudy ghost in a terror-stricken manner. The figure then leaned in and whispered into Walters ear "Walk down the way you came up and if you count the same number of steps as you did coming up then this vision will come true but if you get to a different number then you will be freed from the claws of this prophecy, but remember don't forget to count". Walter began to walk down while looking back at the ghost as it was becoming more transparent and fading with each step he took down. "68,67,66,65" The anxious feeling of whats ahead was in full flow causing his heart to beat rapidly and sweat was rushing out through his glands as if he had just competed in a high intensity sports match.
Nearing the bottom he glanced down at the steps ahead but couldn't tell if there were 11 or 10 left. This would either make 100 in total or 101, but he didn't want to know he just kept walking with his head raised up looking at the dark sky in hope.
"97,98,99,100" he stopped for a minute knowing that this next step would be the most important one he ever took. Fingers crossed he reached his right leg out but was met by a drop, there was another step. The vision was gonna come through, he could feel the temperature rise and the noise of laughter enclose on him.
His hand fell and face smacked on his library desk counter. He opened his eyes and jumped up all startled, people were gathered around him laughing and recording him as he talked in his sleep and was drooling all over the desk. He shouted at them to leave and ran behind them locking the front doors. He slumped to the ground, half in happiness that his beloved library was still intact but half in shock as that dream felt so realistic.
Later that night he walked by the DVD rental shop that he went into in his dream, he didn't enter but just stared at it from the outside feeling like this happened before. Over his left shoulder he seen a fire truck speed past, followed by another and numerous police cars. "No way, no no no no no no" he got all frantic and panicky, not knowing whether to go or not but of course he went anyway. It was like his dream, the library was indeed on fire but this time he wasn't gonna sit and cry, he was gonna try redeem some of his most important collections inside before it was too late.
He managed to sneak around the back of the building to where there was a hidden entrance not visible to passer's by. The fire was on the right hand side of the building and all he had to to do was get to his office which was on the left and retrieve his collections of work. He got to the office and managed to get his work out, but just as he was about to go back out the hidden door the roof caved in, trapping him in the fire fueled rubble.
He lay there thinking of that so called dream he had and as the fire started to engulf him and his screams rang out he thought about the vision he had. That frightening vision he was shown maybe wasn't as he thought it was. He saw himself burning to death in what he thought was the firey pitts of hell but in fact maybe the prophecy had come true and his death was foreshadowed in the place where he loved and cherished. His remains were taken and laid to rest at 100 steps cemetery.
His world came crashing down one night as he made his way over to the DVD rental shop. Walking around the isles looking for his nights entertainment he could hear and noticed two fire trucks fly past the window, followed by numerous police cars. Walter walked to the door of the shop and could see smoke coming in the direction of his library just over the row of houses in front. He began to panic intensely, dropping all that he carried before running over to the library as if he was an athletic sprinter.
What he had feared had become the reality of the situation. There it was up in flames with the roof after caving in. He could not understand how his happened, he only locked up a couple of hours ago and everything was fine. As the fire was being attended too he sat on a step corner sobbing into his hands for a couple of hours, this was all he knew in life, all he wanted and in one moment his happiness had been stolen from him. His sadness was soon replaced with despair and a sense of worthlessness. He remembered the blog post he read a few weeks ago which was about the legend of the cemetery in his town which was just a ten minute walk away. He abruptly jumped up and briskly walked in that direction.
As he reached the cemetery a strong wind started blowing, followed by heavy rain with Walter standing at the end of the steps looking up to the top of them. He put one foot out and stepped onto the first step, he didn't know what he wanted but he just wanted to feel something. Every step was longed out and filled with racing thoughts. The rain was dripping from his head, onto his glasses and then falling to the ground he continuously stared at. Each drop sounded like a rock being thrown into the ocean as he was nearing the top of steep hill; "87,88,89,90" he counted out loudly while panting for air.
As he reached the top he stood with his hands on hips, trying to gather his breath back. "Now what .......NOW WHAT!!!!" he shouted out while tears began falling from his eyes once more, forming a bubble of water with the rain on his face. Everything went silent for a few moments, even his thoughts, but then noise started filtering back through starting with the gong of the towns large tower clock as it hit midnight. He turned around to be greeted by a cloudy figure that glided his way only to form the outline of a tall man standing upright in front of him.
The ghostly figure put his hand on top of Walters head showing him a vision. What Walter seen terrified him so much that he could not talk respond but only gaze at the cloudy ghost in a terror-stricken manner. The figure then leaned in and whispered into Walters ear "Walk down the way you came up and if you count the same number of steps as you did coming up then this vision will come true but if you get to a different number then you will be freed from the claws of this prophecy, but remember don't forget to count". Walter began to walk down while looking back at the ghost as it was becoming more transparent and fading with each step he took down. "68,67,66,65" The anxious feeling of whats ahead was in full flow causing his heart to beat rapidly and sweat was rushing out through his glands as if he had just competed in a high intensity sports match.
Nearing the bottom he glanced down at the steps ahead but couldn't tell if there were 11 or 10 left. This would either make 100 in total or 101, but he didn't want to know he just kept walking with his head raised up looking at the dark sky in hope.
"97,98,99,100" he stopped for a minute knowing that this next step would be the most important one he ever took. Fingers crossed he reached his right leg out but was met by a drop, there was another step. The vision was gonna come through, he could feel the temperature rise and the noise of laughter enclose on him.
His hand fell and face smacked on his library desk counter. He opened his eyes and jumped up all startled, people were gathered around him laughing and recording him as he talked in his sleep and was drooling all over the desk. He shouted at them to leave and ran behind them locking the front doors. He slumped to the ground, half in happiness that his beloved library was still intact but half in shock as that dream felt so realistic.
Later that night he walked by the DVD rental shop that he went into in his dream, he didn't enter but just stared at it from the outside feeling like this happened before. Over his left shoulder he seen a fire truck speed past, followed by another and numerous police cars. "No way, no no no no no no" he got all frantic and panicky, not knowing whether to go or not but of course he went anyway. It was like his dream, the library was indeed on fire but this time he wasn't gonna sit and cry, he was gonna try redeem some of his most important collections inside before it was too late.
He managed to sneak around the back of the building to where there was a hidden entrance not visible to passer's by. The fire was on the right hand side of the building and all he had to to do was get to his office which was on the left and retrieve his collections of work. He got to the office and managed to get his work out, but just as he was about to go back out the hidden door the roof caved in, trapping him in the fire fueled rubble.
He lay there thinking of that so called dream he had and as the fire started to engulf him and his screams rang out he thought about the vision he had. That frightening vision he was shown maybe wasn't as he thought it was. He saw himself burning to death in what he thought was the firey pitts of hell but in fact maybe the prophecy had come true and his death was foreshadowed in the place where he loved and cherished. His remains were taken and laid to rest at 100 steps cemetery.
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