“Miss Mary Mac-Mac-Mac
All dressed in black-black-black
She has a knife-knife-knife
Stabbed in her back-back-back

She cannot breath-breath-breath
She cannot cry-cry-cry
And so she begs-begs-begs
She begs to die-die-die

Now she will walk-walk-walk
Right down those stairs-stairs-stairs
And you will be-be-be
So unaware-ware-ware

Now she will take-take-take
That rusty knife-knife-knife
And she will kill-kill-kill
You out of spite-spite-spite

Cuz now you’ve sung-sung-sung
Her little rhyme-rhyme-rhyme
And now you’ve run-run-run
All out of time-time-time”

Lisa and Zoe finished the creepy hand game rhyme. It hadn’t been the twins’ idea, their older sister said that if they didn’t sing it they’d never be considered real big girls. Now, though? The two were regretting even entering the house on Loson Creek Hill. They stood in the main entry hall, glancing around nervously, flinching at every creek. The circular hall was dimly lit, each shadow looking like a terrible monster about to do something awful to them. The spiral staircase opposite them looked menacing and distorted, almost like a snake about to come alive and eat them. The girls both felt a chill run down their spines, Zoe looked at her sister and gasped, “Did you see that?” Lisa, ever timid and quiet, shook her head violently. All of a sudden they heard, “And now I’m here-here-here
To have some fun-fun-fun
Let’s count to ten-ten-ten
The game’s begun-gun-gun.”
“Delia that isn’t funny!” both shouted, voices quivering. The laugh of a girl not much older than them echoed throughout the entire building. Delia was three years older than them, and her laugh wasn’t nearly and horrible. Or maybe it was and they just couldn’t remember. “TEN! Ready or not, Lisa and Zoe, here I come.” They screamed as a darkness took over the entire building, blinding them and leaving them defenseless.

***


Delia swore that she heard the twins calling her name. She jumped down from her perch in one of the dying trees that was on the front law. As she landed, she heard identical shrieks echoing from the house and rolling down the hill. Her eyes widened in fear. “LISA! ZOE!” she banged on the door, it opened silently. Before the ten year old were her two younger sisters, eyes glazed over and blood seeping from the backs of their identical blue dresses. It was all she could do to try to escape the house. Just as she reached the door, it slammed closed. No matter how many times Delia pulled or pushed on it, it wouldn’t give. Suddenly she heard the same voice her sisters had, laughing as she sang, “Now I am free-free-free
And you are trapped-trapped-trapped
I won’t stop-stop-stop
Till I slice your back-back-back”
Delia whimpered in fear. She felt herself losing control of her body. She was being pushed down by an unseen force; all she felt was fear, fear of the inevitable. A dark shadow rushed at her and she felt something, a rusty knife being plunged into her back. Before Delia blacked out she heard,
“And now our game-game-game
Has reached its end-end-end
And it was real-real-real
Was not pretend-tend-tend.”
***
What had felt like only hours later, Delia awoke, holding the rusty knife that had killed her, the body of a young girl at her feet.