THE GREEN STONE

The forest loomed before us, its towering trees like skeletal fingers reaching for the sky. My friends and I, a group of twelve eager students, had decided to take a break from school and have a picnic in the woods. We arrived at an old, abandoned temple, its crumbling stones covered in ivy and moss. The air was thick with the scent of decay and rot.As we set up our tents, the atmosphere was electric with excitement. We spent the day lounging by the river, swimming, and laughing. But as night began to fall, the forest grew darker, the shadows twisting and writhing like living things.On the second day, some of us decided to explore the temple. Doreen and I were hesitant, but we were outvoted. As we stepped inside, the air grew colder, the silence oppressive. We saw scary statues with glowing eyes, and signs on the walls that seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy.Deeper in the temple, we found a room with a sparkling green stone at its center. I warned everyone not to touch it, but my words fell on deaf ears. As we gazed at the stone in awe, I felt a creeping sense of dread.The next day, we left the forest, but the memory of the temple lingered. As we drove away, the temple doors creaked open and shut, the sound echoing through the trees like a sinister laugh. We were followed by a shadow, its presence felt but not seen.When we returned to school, we were met with a horrific sight. Samuel and Suzy lay dead in the school hall, their bodies cold and stiff. A message scrawled on the floor read: "I need my green stone." We were shocked, afraid, and confused.As the days passed, more of our friends died, each with the same message left behind. Matilda and Robby were found dead, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. The killer seemed to be always one step ahead, always watching and waiting.Dora, Doreen, Kenny, Sarah, Peter, and I decided to stick together, to find a way to stop the killer. We were a tight-knit group, bound by our fear and determination.One night, we hid in my room, our hearts pounding in unison. But the shadow found us, its presence filling the room with an unspeakable horror. It spoke in a voice that was both ancient and evil, saying, "Give me my green stone."Dora tried to run, but the shadow caught her, its darkness enveloping her like a shroud. She screamed, her voice cut short as the shadow killed her.I turned to my friends, my eyes blazing with anger and fear. "Who took the green stone?" I demanded.Kenny smiled, his eyes glinting with a malevolent light. "I did," he said, his voice dripping with pride.As Kenny brought out the green stone, the shadow quickly entered his body, possessing him. He killed Peter and Sarah, his eyes black as coal, his skin gray as stone.I knew I had to act fast. I took the stone from Kenny's hand and smashed it on the floor. The shadow let out a deafening scream as it was forced out of Kenny's body.We used our phone torches to shine light on the shadow, banishing it back to the depths of hell. But as the shadow disappeared, Kenny's body slumped to the floor, dead.Only Doreen and I were left, our hearts heavy with grief. We clung to each other, our love and friendship the only things that kept us sane.As we stood there, holding each other, I realized that I had fallen deeply in love with Doreen. She was my rock, my shelter, my safe haven.In the days that followed, we struggled to come to terms with what had happened. We were haunted by nightmares, our minds reeling with the horror we had experienced.But as we stood together, facing the darkness that had threatened to consume us, I knew that our love would conquer all. We would rebuild our lives, we would heal, and we would move on.Doreen and I are still together, our love growing stronger with each passing day. We never forgot our friends, never forgot the horror we experienced. But we never let it define us either.We moved on, built new lives, but never forgot the lessons we learned in that temple. And we never forgot the love we shared, the love that saved us from the clutches of evil.Years later, we returned to the temple, our hearts heavy with nostalgia. We stood before the ruins, our hands clasped together, our eyes closed in remembrance.We remembered our friends, our laughter, our tears. We remembered the horror we faced, the love that saved us... And we knew that our love would endure, a flame that would burn bright despite the darkness that had threatened to consume us.As we stood there, the wind rustling through the trees, I turned to Doreen and took her hand. We walked together, our footsteps echoing through the silence, as we made our way back to our lives.But the memory of that temple, of the horror we experienced, would stay with us forever. It was a reminder of the darkness that lurked in the world, but also of the power of love and friendship to overcome even the most unspeakable evil.We knew that we would never forget our friends. The end.