THE SCREAMING
SKULL
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark | Horror stories, short stories , scary stories, suspense, thrill
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2023
Sophia and her little brother, the baby Nicolas, spent a few days of vacation with their grandmother. She had received permission to invite her great friend François, aged seven and a half like her. The three children enjoyed these wonderful days.
One evening, while they were playing in the living room, they heard a clock strike in the entrance hall.
- Grandma, said our friend, did you have your clock repaired?
- Yes, my darling, it has just been brought back to me fully restored. It cost me very dearly. But, come and see, the two big ones. The watchmaker discovered something quite strange there.
The two children left their games and rushed into the entrance hall. They sat down on a bench and looked at the large piece of furniture, the brass pendulum behind a narrow round window and the dial.
- You can see a small door, a shutter, in the middle of the dial, said the grandmother. It opens once a day, at three in the morning. A skull and crossbones, a skull the size of a plum, then appears and cries out three times. The case remains open for three minutes, then the skull emits its cry again, the reminder of the hour, before disappearing behind the closing shutter.
- Brilliant, rejoices François. I would like to watch this.
- You won't see it, resumed the old lady, because it happens at three o'clock in the morning. You will sleep at that time. So much the better, moreover, because the repairman warned me that during the three minutes which separate the two times three cries of the skull, anything can happen...
The two friends looked at each other in silence, intrigued.
After the evening meal, they went up to bed. They shared the same room. The grandmother had set up a cot on the carpet for her granddaughter's guest.
- François, you told me one day that your watch strikes the time, like an alarm clock, said Sophia.
- Yes.
- If you set it to three to five in the morning, we can get up and go see the screaming skull.
- Good idea!
- Doesn't it sound too loud? Nicolas, the baby, must not wake up.
- No, answered the boy, he will not hear it.
- Great.
- Tick, tic, tic, tic, tic.
François opened his eyes and called his friend. They got up and went down the stairs noiselessly. They sat down on the wooden bench in front of the big clock. It marked two fifty-eight.
Both children shivered. Barefoot on the tiles and just dressed in their pajamas, they were a little cold, but above all they wondered what was going to happen.
At exactly three o'clock, the shutter opened and a hideous skull appeared. She was the size of a plum. Immediately, she cried out three times.
- Hey... hey... hey...
A second later, our two friends heard neighing in the street, in front of the grandmother's house.
Sophia ran to open the front door.
Two gold carriages, each drawn by four white horses, stood there, stopped a few yards away. The first floor door opened. A lady dressed in a sumptuous evening dress called her.
- Sophia, come, I'll drive you to the party.
The girl hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the carriage.
- Can my boyfriend come with us?
- Of course, Prince Francis will borrow the second carriage.
Sophia climbed a wooden step then sat down on a leather armchair.
- Miss, you're not going to the ball dressed like that. Here, put on this dress sewn with gold and silver threads, put on these ballerina flats adorned with precious stones and put this tiara on your head.
Just then, the clock at Grandma's house rang the reminder. The three minutes had passed. The horrible death's-head let out its three cries again.
- Hey... hey... hey...
Our two friends found themselves sitting side by side on the bench, dressed in their pajamas. The shutter of the clock had just closed and the skull had disappeared.
- We dreamed, murmured Sophia.
- No, no, answered François, I'm awake and so are you.
They went back to their room very intrigued, but decided to repeat the experience next night, at three o'clock in the morning.
That night, like the previous time, they awoke to the sound of Francois' alarm clock at five minutes to three in the morning. They left their room quietly and went down the stairs barefoot, in pajamas. They sat down on the bench in front of the clock and waited.
At exactly three o'clock the shutter opened, the little skull appeared and uttered its mysterious cry.
- Hey... hey... hey...
Sophia ran to open the front door of her grandmother's house. The two golden carriages arrived, each drawn by four white horses. The girl rushed to the first while her boyfriend entered the second.
Again, the lady in the evening dress proposed to our friend to put on sumptuous princess clothes, while the coach was rolling at full speed towards an unknown destination.
He stopped in front of a palace whose lighted windows shone in the night.
- We are coming, miss.
Sophia entered a crowded hall. Everyone present looked great. The gentlemen were smiling in state clothes of the best taste. The ladies wore lavish dresses, embellished with jeweled brooches. Around their necks shimmered necklaces of rare pearls or rivers of priceless diamonds.
All this luxury was displayed in the light, in the eyes of our friends.
The party room seemed even more sumptuous to them. The thousand lights that illuminated it were reflected in the crystals of the chandeliers and created hundreds of rainbows.
An orchestra installed on a platform played Viennese waltzes which the male and female dancers interpreted while twirling with joy.
Our friend turned around. Her boyfriend had disappeared...
Suddenly a butler signaled to the musicians to stop. Then he announced in a loud voice:
- The King, the Queen, and Prince Francis!
The audience applauds. Our friend, who had just entered the party room, spotted Sophia in the crowd and walked towards her.
- You didn't tell me you were a prince, the little girl murmured.
- I am not a prince, replied the boy. This man, the king, is not my father. I've never seen him, but he thinks I'm his son. Come, I'll show you his crown.
The two children followed several corridors without meeting anyone. They entered a library stocked with thousands of probably very old books.
A round marquetry table occupied the center of the room. A showcase, placed above, contained a human skull, a real skull, on which a gold crown set with diamonds and midnight blue sapphires was placed.
- Wonderful! admired Sophia. I have never seen one like it.
François opened the window and placed the royal crown in the hands of his friend.
Just then, Grandma's clock rang the reminder. The horrible little skull uttered its awful cry three times.
- Hey... hey... hey...
The two friends found themselves sitting on the wooden bench in the hall, barefoot and in pajamas. The shutter had just closed.
But Sophia held the king's crown in her hand!
- We're not dreaming, since I have it between my fingers...
- You have to go and put it back in its place, affirmed François.
- You're right. We will do it next night. I can't wait to see this splendid castle and this marvelous ball to which we have been invited.
- Me, replied his friend, all that scares me a little.
The third night was mild and clear, illuminated by the near-full moon. The two friends woke up at five to three. They descended noiselessly and sat down in the hall in front of the clock with the shutter closed. They waited in silence.
The shutter opened and the hideous skull uttered its sinister cry three times.
- Hey... hey... hey...
The two children immediately found themselves in the palace library, in the exact place they had left yesterday. Sophia held the royal crown in her hand.
Francois opened the window door.
At the same time, a dozen armed guards, led by their leader, an imposing soldier, entered the room. They grabbed the girl.
- There's the thief! my captain. We catch her in the act.
- But no! cried our friend. I am not a thief. I was going to put the crown back in place.
- Liar! The crown disappeared for twenty-four hours. Take that kid to jail. Lock her in a dungeon, ordered the imposing captain of the guards.
The men grabbed Sophia roughly and led her away.
- François, come and free me! called the girl.
The boy followed the soldiers down the corridors and then down the darker and colder stairs.
The armed men threw Sophia into a dungeon. They closed the heavy iron door, barred with three strong bolts. One of the guards sat just ahead.
François approached it after waiting for the other members of the troop to move away.
- Guard, he said, I am Prince Francis. Open that door and let my friend out. She's not a thief.
- If I obey the prince, answered the man, I disobey the king. I can not.
- Then open the door and let me in.
- It is not forbidden.
The guard stood up and slid the three bolts. Francois entered. The soldier closed the door behind our friend.
- I'm coming to you, Sophia. But I can't deliver you, the man outside refuses to let you out.
At that moment, the skull shouted three times the recall in the hall of our friend's grandmother. The two children found themselves, as always, barefoot and in pajamas sitting on the wooden bench in front of the clock whose shutter had just closed.
- There's no point in you staying with me in the dungeon, said Sophia. Instead, go to the king and ask him to release me. Entirely caught up in their adventure, it wouldn't have occurred to them not to return to the spot to rectify the situation.
- What if he doesn't want to?
- He's the king. He commands in this strange place where we let ourselves be led every night. He thinks you're his son. He will listen to you.
The two children went back to bed.
They had put their fingers in the infernal gear of fear and horror, and dared not interrupt the process. That would be leaving Sophia in a dungeon, in a dream or in reality, the two children weren't even sure of that anymore.
When the fourth night, the skull of the clock let out its three cries, Sophia found herself at the bottom of the pitch-black dungeon. Francois was standing in the library. He ran towards the ballroom where the orchestra resumed its waltzes to the delight of the ladies and gentlemen who were dancing.
Our friend approached the king.
- Your majesty, ventured the boy shyly.
- Come on, my son, answered the king, do not call me that. Your Majesty, this is for others. You call me daddy.
- Dad, the boy continued hesitantly, you must give the order to release my friend. She's not a thief. The guards took her away just as she was putting the crown back on.
- Alas, my son, I cannot give this order.
- But you are the king!
- Yes, but someone else commands in this castle. Come, follow me, it's time you learned the whole truth about this place cursed for centuries.
The King and Francis left the Salle des Fêtes and descended the stairs leading to the courtyard of the palace.
- One day my son, you will succeed me. You must know all about the curse that reigns here. Misfortune comes from a skull in the dark cellar of the dark tower of our castle. It is what remains of a terrible witch who lived five hundred years ago and whom our ancestor, the king of the time, condemned to death and had burned in the courtyard, right here at the stake. The executioner tied the witch to the post erected in the middle with chains, then he lit the fire. She burned and gradually reduced to ashes, except her skull which remained in the flames without being consumed. He screamed for hours and hours. A blacksmith made an iron cage and locked it in the cellar of the dark tower where it dwells and shouts its orders at every full moon.
Francois and the man who called himself his father stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. The king took out a long iron key which he held attached to a string around his neck. He slipped it into the lock and turned it three times. He opened the door.
- Let's go down, he said.
But Francois suddenly found himself sitting next to his friend, on the bench in the grandmother's hall.
- Why don't you come to rescue me? asked Sophia. I'm waiting for you in the dark and I'm scared. It's not funny, you know.
- The king cannot give the order to free you.
- But anyway, he's the king. He commands.
- No, something has power over him. The skull of a witch burned five hundred years ago and locked away in a cellar. I'll go next night and talk to him.
At three o'clock in the morning, the two children sat down on the bench and heard the small skull of the grandmother's clock screeching. Sophia found herself in her sinister dungeon and François in the courtyard of the palace in the company of the king who thought he was her father.
It was the fifth night of anguish in a row for the two friends.
The king led François to the cellar. The boy was determined to speak to this witch skull and demand the immediate release of his friend.
- He will not speak tonight, predicted the king. The full moon occurs tomorrow. But I'll show it to you.
They entered an almost dark cellar. The king lit a torch attached to the wall.
Francois saw a wooden table, very thick, badly planed. Above was an iron cage, similar to that of a canary, but with much stronger bars. And in the middle was the skull, the real one, white except for the eye and nose holes, the mouth lined with sharp teeth. Horrible, terrifying.
Our friend reached out and poked a finger through the bars. His curiosity compelled him to do this. He wanted to touch this awful thing.
The skull let out a scream, then chattered its teeth several times. The boy, frightened, took a step back and quickly withdrew his finger, afraid of being bitten.
- He is alive!
- Yes, murmured the king.
- Can't we destroy it? asked our friend.
- Brave people have tried, many times, but each time, a tragedy has occurred. Soldiers tried to demolish it, but hailstones the size of apples, which came just as they crossed the yard, killed them. It was four hundred years ago.
François listened, impressed.
- One hundred years later, a blacksmith promised to smash the cursed skull under the weight of his heavy hammer. He was attacked by a swarm of hornets while passing the yard and died, injured by more than a hundred stings.
- How awful!
- Two hundred years ago, two brave ladies tried to burn this skull by setting it on fire. A violent storm suddenly appeared and struck them down. Finally, a hundred years ago, a magician risked making the horrible thing disappear. While he pronounced his magic formulas, he covered himself in an instant with a multitude of purulent boils and died of them an hour later.
Francois found himself seated next to his friend on the hall bench. The little skull had just, after the fateful three minutes, shouted three times the reminder of the hour.
- Hey... hey... hey...
The boy told his friend what the king had just told him.
- Tomorrow, under the full moon, said Sophia, you will talk to this awful skull and you will finally free me from this dungeon.
Our friend answered a barely audible "yes".
That night, he hardly slept, consumed by fear.
Sixth night. Five to three in the morning. François' watch rang.
The two friends, barefoot, in pajamas, half asleep, descended the stairs and sat down on the bench in the entrance hall.
Adventure no longer amused them. Sophia was going to find herself in this damp and dark dungeon that she now knew too well and François was apprehensive about trying to confront the skull which screams in the black cellar of the dark tower of the castle, both far from the sumptuous party seen arriving a few nights before.
The shutter of the grandmother's clock opened. The boy closed his eyes. The ugly little skull uttered its horrible cry three times.
- Hey... hey... hey...
François found himself in front of the heavy door leading to the cellar of the dark tower. The king accompanied him. The young boy would have preferred to stay with his friend Sophia who was languishing in the dungeon.
The king opened the cellar door.
The human skull sat locked in its cage on the wooden table.
The king slid open the shutter of a window carved into the wall and a ray of the full moon fell on the skull, which began to glow in the darkness.
The ugly head's jaws moved, teeth chattering, and the horrible sound of its scream echoed through the empty cellar.
- Clack, clack, clack ... What do you want?
- Give the order to release my friend. She's not a thief, asserted Francois.
- She took away the royal crown for twenty-four hours. It will therefore be burned tomorrow morning on a lit pyre in the courtyard of the castle. I depose the king who failed to keep this crown. You, my boy, you will light this pyre at dawn and when the girl has finished burning by your gesture, you will become the new king.
- But...
- There is no "but ". My orders are not discussed.
The skull was silent.
The king closed the shutter.
Moments later, the two children saw each other sitting on the bench in the grandmother's hall.
- So? asked Sophia.
- Tomorrow, at dawn, I have to light the stake on which you are going to die. Then I will become king.
- You're still not going to do that?
Francois did not answer. He was spellbound by the witch's skull. Sophia scrutinized her friend.
- I know how to stop all this, she said. Follow me.
The two children went down to the grandmother's cellar. The girl turned on the light, looked around, and grabbed a hammer and pliers. Then she switched off. They walked up the stairs in silence.
Sophia pushed a chair in front of the clock and manipulating the pliers, she managed to tear off the shutter that hid the little skull. He was right behind. She tore it from the disk it was stuck on and placed it on a slab in the hall.
She lifted the gavel.
- Be careful, warns François, it's dangerous!
- Less dangerous than burning tomorrow morning, replied her friend.
She slapped the ugly little skull, which shattered and crumbled into a small pile of white dust.
The noise woke Nicolas, who began to cry, rousing the grandmother from her sleep. She descended the stairs with the baby in her arms.
- Sophia! she says. What are you doing here with your friend? But, my word, you broke the shutter of the clock that I had just restored at great cost!
- I really had to, grandmother, answered the little girl. Abominable things were happening during the three minutes that separated the three cries of the skull. If I hadn't done that, tomorrow, at dawn, I would have burned at the stake...
- And me, added François, as if with regret, I would have become king...
Sophia looked at the boy in silence.
- But Francois! my best friend... wouldn't you like to do that?
No, of course not, he said, as if waking from a dream.
Sometimes the old mechanisms don't work and maybe it's on purpose... like here, before the good grandmother had the one on her clock repaired...