Dreaming With The Dead : Part-1

The thick growth of trees blocked away most of the sunlight, and all you could see ahead was leaves, branches and more leaves. Creepers wound themselves on any surface they found; you couldn't dare to stand there for long in the fear that you too would be engulfed. Out of the ground rose shrubs and graves, alike if you saw abundance. A thick carpet of moss spread over the forest floor and on the graves, obscuring the names. Some headstones were cracked, as if gnawed at by the remnants of the graves beneath.
And through the eerie mist and silence pierced the high-pitch laughter of a group of friends walking past the graveyard, oblivious of the atmosphere within.

"Oh, everyone knows you're lying!" said Penny, still chuckling over the 'truth' answer Natalie had given.
"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Natalie, as usual her voice sing-song and accented, and flicked her hair out of her face.
"OA!" Hannah exclaimed, "Over-Acting!!!" and began laughing. Everyone followed, shouting, "OA!" as Natalie shook her head. They walked on.

With their major test over, Emma & Leah had got together with their bunch of friends - Beth, Donna, Amy, Hannah, Penny and Natalie - and planned a trip of their colony. As they were walking, Leah had struck upon the idea of playing "truth or dare" - a new application on Emma's phone that she'd taken from her cousin. After an interesting and 'untruthful' round of the game with Natalie on the answering side, it was time for another round. Emma tapped on the 'play' button and, after a whiff of tense air, witnessed the popping up of a familiar name on her screen:
"Emma, it's your turn."

Emma held up her phone for others to see.

"Hmmmmm," said Donna and Beth in their usual smirky way.

"Woohoo!" Natalie exclaimed and started clapping.

Leah raised an eyebrow at her and then looked at Emma, "Go on, choose something!"

Emma held her finger on top of the screen and did a quick inky-pinky-ponky in her head.

"yep, my pinky wants a DARE," she thought to herself, stopping at the top of the option in gleaming red letters - "DARE". She tapped on it and Penny announced, "She's chosen DARE!" There was another round of 'hmmmmm's and 'woohoo's followed by claps and then the task popped up on the screen:
"Spend at least fifteen minutes in the nearest dangerous place."
Emma stared at the task for what seemed like ages and as soon as she comprehended the exact meaning of the gleaming red words on the screen, she gulped hard.
"You bloody traitor! How I wish I could throw you away somewhere!" she muttered at the phone.
Leah snatched the phone from Emma's hands and read the task aloud.
"And that means..." Penny whispered in a dramatic way.
"The Graveyard," Hannah thought aloud.
There was a familiar sound of hands clasping to the mouth and everyone turned to look at Natalie. Except Leah. She was looking at Emma with an immensely intense expression. Emma looked back at her and nodded.
"I'm in."
"You sure?" Leah asked, now with an air of a concerned elder sister about her.
"Yep!" Emma said, a bit excited about the task. Heads turned back to her.
"Go on, baby! Give us some thrill!" Hannah said, thumping Emma on her back.
"So guys, I'm gonna go in and spend an amazing fifteen minutes with the dashing dead. Watch me!" Emma said, now making cool and funny hand gestures. Leah couldn't help noticing the slight tremble in Emma's voice. But this is what Emma had wanted all along. Ever since her brother, Adrian, had told her about his visits to the graveyard, she had wanted to get in there, probably shake hands with a dead man or shake a leg with two. There was a short walk, which Emma covered in a couple of steps, that would land her right in front of the gate of the graveyard. She turned around to see all her friends giving her a "thumbs-up", and Leah's face a bit contorted.

Emma turned around to face the gate of the creepy graveyard. It was the most uninviting gate Emma had ever seen in her seventeen years of 'life' (if it could be called that). Slowly, she moved towards the graveyard, all set for the adventure that awaited her inside. Leah saw the perfect figure of her best friend climbing the gutter-barrier, crossing it and moving towards the gate. Emma stumbled a bit and Leah instinctively took a step forward. But Emma regained balance and so Leah backed off.

Emma slowly caught hold of the rusted iron handle of the gate and gave it a slight push. It was as if she had awoken the gate-ghost which shook violently with a loud, creaking noise. Emma was sure that if the gate fell off, it would make a noise loud enough to awaken the dead. So carefully, she caught hold of the gate and placed it aside.
"I never touched it," she mumbled. She dusted off her hands and stood in front of the entry, looking uo at the tall, dark figures of the banyan trees with their roots dangling from all sides in an oddly creepy manner. They looked like large, black replicas of Medusa. Emma felt a chill run down her spine. At that precise moment, she was suddenly haunted by the urge to turn around and run away from the terrible place. But, she didn't budge. She wasn't sure why she couldn't back off - either it was her strong determination, the fact that she'd been waiting for this all the while; or it was simply because she was having cold feet. Literally.

Leah watched Emma standing in front of the gate for four whole minutes and then she saw her stepping in. Emma's first two steps were uncertain but she took her next steps quickly. Leah knew how much Emma had wanted to go in. She silently prayed as she watched Emma's figure getting smaller and smaller with every passing second and finally, she disappeared in the shadows. Emma was gone.