Treated Tricks

(4. Oct. 31st Friday Night)

They sent me home. I walked solemnly down the sidewalk, confused on what had just happened. I looked down at my bag, thoughts of the book burrowing more into my mind. 'Was I losing it?'

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, someone watching me. I looked around, children playing about. Halloween night and kids were out tricking and treating. Clearly, I would feel like I'm being watched out here, I was the only one not in costume. Even adults walked by in outfits. The normal promiscuous or adult humor, some gone all out. The costumes this year were really intricate, almost real.

I was studying the detail of a kid dressed up as a small dragon. He snarled under the mask, smoke would roll out of the nostrils. Scales shined brilliantly in the suns dying light. The kid ran off, chasing after a few others dressed like small dragons. One of the dragon kids separated to scare a child dressed as a ghost, with the holes cut out of the sheet. He followed behind her on all fours, chewing on the back of the sheet.

I had been distracted by the children I wasn't watching where I was going. I walked straight into a tall man, my head bumping against his chest. "I'm sorry." I began to apologize, yet he startled me. Jumping back I almost yelped. He was adorned in a silk black suit, with a long red tie that hung loosely off his thin frame. His face is what made me react, or the lack of. Indentions in the face to show where his eyes and nose would be. He jerked his head to one side, and I could almost sense a smile. "Very good costume, you had me scared." I complimented.

Before I could ask him how he can see with face mold like that, he ran off. Long thin legs stretching around me, and quick into a dart. Some kids had run by and he went after them. 'Must've been their dad.' I thought, continuing on my track.

With all the different goblins and scary things walking around, I lost track of heading home. Following after people with interesting costumes. Three brothers were dressed up as gnomes, with their tall red caps. Many ghost walking about, some seem to actually be floating. A big bear like creature with multiple eyes and razor sharp claws. I was fascinated with how much work people actually put in their outfits. I never got the chance to see them before, working on Halloween every year. 'I had forgotten how much fun this day was.'

I started to feel glum, with thought of not having anything to wear myself. I just felt like a creeper, the way I studied each costume that passed by. They were all so authentic, it was uncannily real... That's when the thought hit me. That exact bit, 'What if they were real?'

I spun around one-eighty, standing face to face with him again. The man with no face, 'Had he been following me?'

My heart began to race, and I could feel the sweat dripping off my brow. I was frozen with morbid curiosity. 'Was he going to hurt me?'

I'm swimming again, the dense air building up around me. Making it harder for me to take in any oxygen. My lungs felt on the verge of collapsing. All this just from the man's blank stare. My eyes felt heavy, as I tried to blink into focus, he disappeared.

I freaked. The only way I could put it. A disgruntled yelp sounded. I couldn't tell if it was from my own brief fright, or if someone else had noticed him too. "Fucking. Shit. Fuck."

I ran, I didn't know where too. I was miles off track from my apartment, and I hadn't a clue as to where I even was. I pushed past dressed figures, feeling bad for a few that got knocked down. A man yelling at me for running into his wife. I apparently didn't care too much, my feet had to move. 'I'm sure they would understand.'

I ran for several miles, making my way down the main roads and off into what seemed like the city park. The trees ominously stood in the aura of hallows eve. I on the other hand didn't mind the foreboding feeling I had entering the tree line. I wanted to be farthest away from, whatever that thing was as possible.

Ten minutes into the rustling leaves, and I had to breath. Crumbling to the foot of a tree, I coughed in deep breathes. Only other thought I had. 'I need to stop smoking.'

"Rawer!"

I fell back, trying to crawl away from the... masked child.

The young boy laughed into the air at the sight of an adult whimpering away. When he finished with his childish cackle, he stood over me.

I almost thumped him one, if I wasn't relieved to be alive. I made my way off the dirt, standing back on my feet. Here I could now see the child's mask in the moon's light. It was a full-face mask, with a weird insignia upon the forehead. There were no eyes, just a big red grin painted over where his own would be. That damn feeling. The boy cocked his head, telling that a person stood behind me.

I already knew who... what it was.

I could feel his presence piercing into my own. The air thick again, and my head getting fuzzy. My vision and hearing fading in and out. I struggled, trying to step forward out of it's mental grasp. I knew it's what was making me like this, I just had to...

My body fell to the ground again, right at the boy's feet. He looked down at me, giggling behind his mask. "Don't look..."

He cut out as I lost full consciousness.