~~~~
It was a Halloween I wish I could
forget. Five friends and I went from home to home to acquire candy. The last
stop on our list was the old Henderson house. A creepy, old home alone on a
hill. Rumors persisted that whichever child was brave enough to knock on their
door would be gifted a bountiful trove of candy. Rumor also had it that the
house was haunted and the owner was a goblin who ate children. The home was
decorated elaborately, so the home was not abandoned. However, our childish
minds tended to focus on the fanciful rumors than the mundane facts.
My oldest friend Ricky believed the
first rumor and desired the bounty of candy. Beyond that, however, he wanted to
prove he was the bravest kid on the block. The others and I resisted at first,
but we could never say no to Ricky. At the end of our night, we walked towards
the Henderson house, candy bags in hand and costumes on tight. We told
ourselves we would be rewarded greatly, that it would all be worth the scares.
The vast yard was filled with dozens
of decorations, which covered the full length of the hill up to the home.
Skeletons, bats, witches, and plastic graves lined the long, twisted driveway.
Several large trees loomed overhead, they blended together in the dark moonless
night. Not long into the walk one of my friend Charley tripped over a tree
root. He dropped his bag of candy and nearly slammed into asphalt. Ricky told
him to be more careful or his bag may rip open, and Charley apologized. We
turned back towards the house and continued our trek without a pause for
Charley to catch up.
Halfway there another friend,
Steven, got caught in a cobweb decoration and nearly fell. Ricky told him to
not be so clumsy like Charley and a few of us shared a chuckle. I waited for
Charley to make a comment, but he said nothing. I turned to ask him myself, but
I could not find him. I asked Ricky to do a headcount, he questioned why until
he realized there were now only four of us.
Steven got mad, he thought Charley
had planned to scare us. I looked back and could see Charley's candy bag
abandoned on the driveway where he dropped it earlier. Ricky said to forget
about him, and that if he wanted to play around it was less candy for him. I
wanted to protest, but the others had already fallen in line. We trudged on
forward, with Steven at the back.
At the end of the driveway, there
were more trees and a pathway to the house. The trees rustled in the breeze and
one friend, Bobby, asked if anyone else felt cold. Ricky said it would be fine,
we'd be back home soon away and asked Steven to back him up. Yet, Steven did
not respond, he too had gone, his candy bag discarded at the front of the
trees.
Now Ricky was angry and Bobby
concerned. I said nothing and my last friend Eric looked like he wanted to cry.
Ricky marched on forward intent on his candy, Eric followed with held back
tears. I reluctantly continued forward and Bobby lagged behind in his panic.
Ricky yelled at him for being so
slow, Bobby whimpered and agreed. We turned around to face the last stretch to
the door, then the leaves rustled again. The sound of a fallen bag echoed
passed us, we turned to see Bobby's arm disappear into the trees.
Eric started to cry, I was ready to
join him, Ricky just laughed. He proclaimed he's seen this before, his dad did
it all the time around Halloween. He said we'd all see them jump out the front
door and scare us. Eric was too busy with his tears to acknowledge him, and I
could generate no response. Ricky marched up to the door with confidence, I
followed to tell him how ridiculous he was. Eric remained behind in his tears.
As we reached the door Eric's cries were
silenced behind us. I looked back to see part of him yanked back into the field
of decorations. I moved back in his direction, but all that was left was his
candy bag. Ricky mocked me, he likely believed I had chickened out at the last
moment. Those were the last words he said to me as the door opened and two sets
of dark claws dragged him into the house.
I ran away, my scream of terror
filled the night. I didn't stop until I crashed into my own front door. I never
saw my friends again, and I warned everyone I knew to never go near that house.
Investigations were made, but nothing ever came of it. The owners weren't home
that day, they had simply left the decorations up.
~~~~
And they were never heard from again, the end. Hope you enjoyed this spooky Halloween tale, there's more to come so be ready for another story this Saturday.Until then, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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