2: Part One: Haunted House

Trick or Treat

Friday, October 31st. Around Eight O'clock.

"I think it's time we head back, Eva. It's getting late, and the last street already had houses with their lights turned off. Here better be the last one," I warn. My focus drifts to the poor overstuffed purple cat bag locked in the clutches of a dragon princess too stubborn to bring another bag to carry.

"But you promised we could stay out all night and get as much candy as we can carry."

I raise a brow, "Technically, I said we could stay up all night watching any movie and eating all the candy we want after we got home. And you should have taken my offer for me carrying another bag if you wanted more candy, you fool."

Eva makes the most dramatic eye roll I've ever seen, nearly tempting me to shove her into any nearby ditch. "Eventually, Eva, everyone is going to stop giving out candy, so there's no point in staying out all night. Unless, of course, you want a real wolf to snatch you up."

She scowls at me and says, "Wolves don't come into town. They know better."

"Oh? Have you talked to them about this?" I tease. She only flicks her tongue out at me in response.

"Even still, I can't control the whole neighborhood into giving out more candy until the sun comes up. Plus, you have enough candy to send yourself into an early grave eating all that sugar. Have fun having diabetes."

This time she snorts, "I eat more vegetables than you do, miss lard fish!"

"Hey!" I grab her by the scruff of her fluffy tail and tug, "Who are you calling lard fish, you damn cow!"

She growls fiercely, batting my hand away with the dull hand claws I made her, "I'm a dragon, not a cow! Cows aren't purple!"

"Drowned cows could be," I snicker, but she only puts distance in her steps, preventing me from grabbing ahold of her tail again.

"Halloween is the one night where I can eat whatever I want without consequences!"

This time I'm rolling my eyes, knowing exactly where this train wreck is heading, "Just don't come crying to me when you end up barfing all over your bed. And defiantly don't come crawling onto mine covered in barf. Now please just go get your candy before they shut off the lights."

"Fine. I'll be right back!" She replies sweetly before trotting off through the snow towards the last house bordering Main Street. Everything is a blur of shadows and hazy streetlights which makes keeping track of Eva a lot harder when she heads for a house by herself. Not like she's going to wander too far from me, but she's also my eyes and I don't really feel like walking back home in slow and carefully calculated steps. Most people look around at their environment when they walk, and then there's me who has a tendency to look strictly down at the ground while walking, even when I wear my glasses. I've twisted both ankles enough times as a kid for not paying attention so I can't help but keep my head down. I don't exactly enjoy hospital visits, not that I'll be seeing a doctor anytime soon anyway.

The front door opens with warm light drawing my attention like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. Two shadowy figures step out almost blurring together. I can only imagine an elderly couple looking down at my sister with a sweet wholesome smile as they hold out a big bowl of treats that Eva accepts eagerly like a starving little raccoon. I smirk to myself at that last part. Picturing Eva dressed as a dumpster panda instead of some weird bloated cow - I mean dragon - feels more accurate. An idea I may tease her about later tonight when she's home stuffing her face.

As I wait on the sidewalk for Eva to return, I hear a familiar group of knuckleheads shouting from across the road. Glancing over my shoulder, I can't see anything other than obscured shadowy figures walking here and there. They continue shouting and I follow it past one of the street lamps. I don't have to imagine a group of immature boys all huddling somewhere in the park to know who is causing such a ruckus. If it's who I think it is, then if there is one of them then there are at least five others not too far behind. And if I had to guess, they're most likely lurking behind one of the rusted metal slides. A typical hideout - or pathetic place to sulk and shout. Once they realize I'm paying attention to them, the whole group erupts into long howls and high pitch whistling. Of course they would respond even louder.

"Men, " I roll my eyes and bring my attention back to Eva. I have to squint some, which is annoying, but I can guess she's getting way more candy from the couple than necessary. Or maybe it's a larger person and not two people at all... I mumble a few curse words as I continue waiting. Eventually she'll be back, then we can leave and stuff our faces with candy. Knowing how much she has, I'm sure she's going to throw all that up by morning. Hell, I'm still in shock at just how much that purple cat bag can still carry without exploding. Maybe I should have brought a black garbage bag instead.

"Monster! Hey Odd Monster~!" The boys continue to holler. Any other day I would ignore them, but their constant raucous would probably wake the entire neighborhood if I didn't put an end to it. While Eva is still talking to the couple, I make a lazy dash across the street toward the park. Blurry shapes of other trick-or-treaters dressed in costumes I can't quite distinguish pass me by like shadows in an old film projector. I can make out just enough of my surroundings to know where I am going without tripping or walking into people, yet everything feels foreign without my glasses. I rarely take them off. But it is getting darker out, and I guess I didn't think this whole 'not wearing my glasses idea' thoroughly through. Once I pass the large oak trees, I try not to let the issue bother me, and I start walking at a steady pace again.

"What do you guys want now? Can't you see I'm busy?" I begin while crossing my arms at chest length.

Jared was dressed in nothing but black rags, with what looks to be a blurry slasher mask, lifted over his head. I hear him click his tongue, and of course he would be the first to speak. The boy never shuts up.

"First of all, little Monster," he points his grimy finger at me and continues, "you look hella sexy in that wolf costume. You should wear it more often, wolf girl."

My body impulsively recoils at both his tone and words. I probably shouldn't have gotten this close to them because I can still see that snobby crooked grin on his face even though blurry, and the sight is repulsive. I definitely should have at least carried my glasses on me. Too late now.

The idiot is sitting on the bottom end of the slide with his legs sprawled out, leaving his heavy boots planted in the snow like some drunken duck so worn he can't even sit properly. I can hear the weasels behind him smirking like damned fools struggling to smother their laughter, but they're not going to break me that easily. I refuse to let any of them get under my skin tonight.

Narrowing my eyes, I give him a nasty retort to fit a fierce glare, "Yea, and you'd pale boy look hella better with a bag over your head. Maybe even two just in case one slips."

"Burn!" The Snowden twins Jessie and Jamie exclaim almost in sync. They're both dressed as Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. The other boys give up on containing their laughter and join in. It's as if I slapped the smirk right off of the slasher boy's face. Good, I tell myself. The pale bastard's cheeks flush bright red in the flip of the switch. His lips curl between a grin and a snarl, but I imagine the smoke rushing out of his ears, wanting to take a good bite out of me. If he were a monster, that is.

"Good one, Shae!" Blonde's crow laugh is obnoxious enough to scare away the whole townsfolk, unlike his brother, Steve. I'm going to assume he's either at home or with his girlfriend right now, which was a good choice on his part. How they are even related, I probably never will understand. Ironically, Blonde's dressed as Eric Draven from The Crow. He must have died his hair black to fit the look too. How he managed to completely cripple Brandon Lee's gorgeous take on the character is astonishing. Then again, I am currently blind, so who knows if he pulled the look off.

"Shut up!" Jared snaps. Strict silence hushes over the group without a single response. Even I'm a bit lost for words. Someone certainly has got their panties in a twist.

A familiar voice draws my attention away from the park and back towards the oak trees. A blurry figure had just crossed the road heading towards us. The closer the figure gets, the more I'm able to recognize that it's Alex. He's not wearing a costume, but I'd know that horrid toxic green hoody anywhere, even from a distance being blind.

"Easy there, Jared. Don't let a little girl's words damage your insecurities. I'm sure there are plenty of girls out there who can stand looking at that godly face without a bag covering it." Alex taunts; a sly grin covers his face. I can almost hear the mischief behind his voice as he looks my way.

As if on cue, Jared lunges off the slide and rushes Alex in a matter of seconds, yelling, "You're dead, Larson!" But Alex is far quicker on his feet than Jared, as he dashes around the trees zig-zagging like a gazelle fleeing from a lion. When Jared slips on a patch of ice, Alex stops running to help him back on his feet.

"Fuck off," Jared huffs, slapping away Alex's outstretched hand before picking himself up, "I don't need your help."

Alex chuckles while wielding both hands in the air, "Understood loud and clear. Did you bring the stuff?"

"Yeah, I brought the stuff. We got it tucked under the slide."

"Smart place for it."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to need it back before my dad gets home. Did you bring yours?" Alex smiles and pats the left side of his chest coat pocket twice, nodding.

I raise both brows but can't fight off the growing curiosity making itself known on my face as both boys advance over to us. "What are they talking about?" I look to the twins first, but Alex already has an answer for me.

"We're going to check out a haunted house and hopefully trap whatever was making a ruckus inside."

"Really? You, Alex Larson, have been exploring a supposedly haunted house? The same Alex Larson who's terrified of literally every horror movie in existence and refuses to stand under a damn street light that starts flickering at night?"

He shrugs casually, "All fair points, but since I've made it this far without dying, I might as well keep going. We're all heading back just now, and who knows? Maybe we'll catch something dangerous."

I scoff at him, "Fascinating! That's tough talk coming from a little boy like you." Already I wish to take back every stupid remark that leaves my mouth. Suddenly everything feels too hot to breathe in. Why can't I act somewhat not lame around this boy? His smile alone drowns me in a sea of tension, where I can't help wanting to stick my head in the ground as a means of escape. It's worse, especially around the rest of the boys when they're constantly teasing one another, but it feels so different when it's just the two of us. Not like it used to be when I didn't have any of these weird moods toward Alex. I wish I could just flip a switch and stop feeling altogether at this point.

He sucks in a breath, then grins, "Why don't you come with us, Monster? I remember you telling me all the nights you've spent exploring abandoned buildings while the rest of us were asleep!" He grins challengingly. "If they were the houses on Brickfield Road, then you'd be an expert in that area, right?"

It's like my body is trying to burn itself from the inside out. "I, uh-"

"Yeah, come on, Monster." Jared cuts in, "Don't tell us you're suddenly scared now?"

"I'm not scared," I growl, but I only seem to be fueling Jared's mockery.

Before the idiot can rush any more comments out, Alex asks again, "Well? Want to come with us?"

"I can't," I sigh and grip my upper arm. "I made a promise to my sister that I wouldn't scare her, and that also includes you guys. And actually, I was just about to take Eva home after this house."

"Come on, can't you take her with us?" Jared asks.

"You and your little band of twits here would scare her," I tell him, clearly defending my point. Instead of being mature, Jared gasps while placing his hand over his heart, acting as if my words wounded him. Then he proceeds to stand by Alex, swing an arm over his shoulders, and nudge him to play along.

"No one's scaring anybody! Am I right, guys? Jessie? Jamie?"

"Right, man," Jessie says. His brother nods along with him.

"Max?" The younger boy dressed as a short Edward Scissorhands grins an awful set of crooked teeth but also nods. "How about you, Devin? No scares, right?"

Blondie answers swiftly, "That's what I heard."

"See! No scares. You got our word on it, Monster!"

"They won't scare Eva, Shae. I promise," Alex finishes and pats Jared's shoulder. "We'll just be looking around and checking the place out, that's all."

I glare at them, searching for the obvious catch to this 'brilliant' scheme of theirs. It's never been a conversation spoken out loud. But we've all kind of been playing this game since the beginning of high school. It starts as a text message from the last person previously targeted. And then someone else from the group is picked by their choosing. We pull anything from all-out hilarious pranks to scaring the living hell out of them, only to mess with that person for a day. Now that I'm thinking of it, I haven't received a message from the boys in a while. That would make me their new target. Fun, but I am surprised to see Alex taking the lead. He's not usually ahead of the crowd. Back when we used to hang out together, he was always shy and dorky. Time does change everything, I guess.

"Come on, Monster, it'll be fun! It's Alex's idea after all."

That takes me off guard, but it's still not enough to convince me that they're sincere. I could turn around right now, grab Eva and have us cut through the Snowden's yard to get home before nine. I'm sure Eva would agree to that. The sooner we are home, the better, and Eva will be spending the rest of the night stuffing her face with candy while watching Little Shop of Horrors with me. I hope, or else I'll have to sit through multiple episodes of Madeleine and the Lost Ember until the little beast passes out. Then again, if I don't come with them to check out this supposedly haunted house, the guys will probably just end up following me home, and who knows what else they have planned. If only I had a large dog with a deep bark to scare these idiots away.

I exhale slowly, remembering the last time I broke a promise with Eva. She called dad and told him I left her home alone while I went out drinking with a group of older kids from the university. Of course, that whole story was a damn lie, but it was enough to have dad call our aunt Mycilia who drove two and a half hours just to find out my sister had a fit while I locked myself in my room. Of course, I got yelled at the most for not looking after Eva, even though Mycilia knew the truth. That wasn't too long ago, and I'd rather not have a repeat of the girl who cried wolf. Eva did want to stay out longer, though, so maybe I can twist this a bit to my advantage.

"Alright, if I come along with you guys on this pointless adventure, no one is allowed to scare Eva. Else I will personally make sure you'll have trouble sleeping at night. Got it?"

Jared and the rest of the group grin and nod in agreement, "Yes, we got it. So, it's a deal then?"

I glance over at Alex waiting for his response, to which he gives me a nod also, "A deal's a deal."

"What deal?" Eva suddenly asks out of nowhere. I whip around in alarm, not realizing she had snuck up behind me. Her eyes search my face for answers while she finishes off the second bar to a KitKat.

I peer down at her questionably. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just long enough to know we're not going home yet." She eyes me suspiciously before catching a glimpse of Alex. Then it's as if the situation no longer mattered to her.

"Alex!" Eva exclaims. In seconds she maneuvers her way through the rest of the boys, nearly tackling poor Alex in the process. She giggles, now having both her arms wrapped tightly around his torso, and says, "I want to go with Alex!"

I look back at Alex without a hint of remorse, "That's part of the deal too. If I have to be dragged along into this, then you get to be dragged by an eight-year-old too."

He laughs wholeheartedly, "Fare enough. I don't mind being the one dragged around anyway."

"Ha-ha, yes!" Immediately grabbing Alex's hand, Eva tugs on him hard, "Come on, Alex, let's go!"

Alex flushes a deep red as Eva drags him down the path leading through the park. I have to cover my mouth with my palm to stop myself from laughing so hard as he struggles to keep up with her. They remind me of a kitten playing with a small ball of yarn sometimes. Alex being the yarn and Eva the short yet surprisingly strong kitten. The farther they get, the more they blend into the background. Jared grabs a sort of large black bag out from underneath the slide and motions for the group to follow. While Alex and Eva are on the other side of the street, and the boys behind us, I walk with Jared as we all head for the road. "So where is this supposedly haunted house at?"

"It's the abandoned grey house on Brickfield Road," he responds bluntly. "It was one of the houses left to rot for years near the woods. I thought Alex said you used to explore around there?"

I remember Brickfield Road being closed off because of the fires. Our mother was still here then and pregnant with Eva. I don't think anyone died in the fires, so I never thought about those houses being anything other than empty shells of the families that used to live there. I do remember imagining what it would be like to live on that road, though. It's a lot closer to the woods.

"I used to when I was younger. But I only explored around in the woods and not in any of the houses, so."

"You'd walk around in the woods at night? Why?"

I shrug, not wanting to vent all my problems to a boy with far lesser worries and more selfish actions, "I don't know. I just liked to. It used to clear my head a lot when I was younger." But I don't do much of that anymore.

"You're strange, Monster," Jared says without flinching an eye. Of course, he's not that interested.

"Maybe I am. At least I'm not boring," I smile. "So a haunted house, huh?" I return, trying to change the subject, "What makes you so sure any house on that street is haunted? That whole road has been closed off, so all those houses have been left to rot for years, not just one of your choosing."

The excitement returns to his eyes as he gloats over the preceding events I luckily missed out on, "Alright. Then explain why the six of us saw something moving around upstairs and peeking behind the boarded-up windows?"

"Don't forget that loud crash we heard too!" Blonde says quickly after moving a little closer to the right of me. He nearly falls flat on his face after skidding over an icy spot on the road. I give him another one of my glares as he straightens himself up from an almost-earned bruising. "Sorry," he utters softly.

"It could have been anything. Maybe the house is infested with raccoons or stray cats."

Jared shakes his head, "It was a lot bigger than any raccoon or cat I've ever seen scurrying away behind a building. And the way it was moving didn't exactly appear like an animal. It kind of looked like something or someone was hiding and checking to see if we were still there or maybe even watching us. All of us even heard things being moved around inside when we circled back!"

"Yeah, and for a moment, I swear I saw red eyes." One of the boys behind us adds.

"Ok, no one else saw red eyes, Max. I think you're exaggerating a bit." Jared says while forcing a laugh.

"It's true!" Max practically shouts while Jared and the rest mock him.

"You guys are so full of baloney," I mumbled sarcastically. "Did you even think to consider what you supposedly saw was just some homeless guy?" Jared just rolls his eyes. "And hey, isn't the whole house boarded up? If a person were inside, wouldn't they need a way to get in and out?"

"Oh, Alex and I found a way inside," Jared grins a little too much, making me leerier of his intentions. As he goes to lift the bag from beneath the slide to show me, he adds, "But we decided to head back to grab a few things."

"And what exactly is that?"

"A surprise," he says, not specifically clarifying my question. I narrow my eyes.

"Oh, come on, I'm just messing with you. There's no harm in carrying a bag full of treats. It's Halloween! Remember? We're just having some fun, so chill out, Monster." Jared says. Funny how I used that same excuse on my sister before coming out here.

I let out another sigh. "That doesn't make me feel any less suspicious, but fine."