I woke to the sound of a bicycle horn, a ha-honk ha-honk that seemed to echo around me. I blinked and lifted my head from the table, my head spinning and filled with fog. I tried to recollect where I was and how I got here, the pieces in my mind struggling to come together. I was trick-or-treating with my friends. We were only about an hour in, and then… nothing.
I tried to move, and found that I couldn’t. Each attempt was met with the sound of twisting rubber. I fought against it; the weight would stretch but ultimately keep me in place. I looked around the darkness of the room, my head swimming with confusion.
In front of me I heard a rip, followed by a squelching sound, like water hitting the floor. I tried to see it, but could only make out a little movement ahead. It sounded like someone was eating.
“Hello?” I called out hesitantly, wincing against the dark.
The squishing stopped, and I heard the heavy scuff of shoes across the floor. A light flicked on, and the brightness filled the room.
I was in what looked like a basement, and I was seated at a wooden table. Across from me was a teenager dressed as a pirate. I recognized them immediately; it was my friend Cody. That was it, I was out trick-or-treating with Cody and Amber, and we were walking down that cul-de-sac. The house at the end of the road had it’s lights off… and—
I gasped. Cody’s mouth was duct-taped, and there was a trickle of blood drying from a nasty bruise on the side of his head. He was slumped over, unconscious in his own chair. I moved to help him, and forgot that my arms were stuck. I looked down to see they were tied to the chair, a comical yet terrifying coil of inflated balloon wrapped around each wrist.
“Aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating?” A groan of a voice said from the corner of the room.
I looked to see a clown standing there, one hand on the light switch, the other covering his mouth. His hair was a poofy afro of blue and green, his make-up immaculate and shiny. His costume however, was stained red. He let his hand slowly fall from the light-switch, while keeping the other over his mouth. His eyes stared viciously.
“I’m sorry, whatever it was we did, I’m sorry—” I pleaded, racking my brain for the cause of all this. Slowly the details came back, the three of us going door-to-door, skipping our way to the last house at the end of the street. The lights were off, nobody was home.
“I asked you a question.” The clown said, moving closer. His hand was still covering his lips. Why was he covering them?
“Y-yes.” I answered. I had just turned seventeen, and Cody and Amber were a year older. It didn’t feel right, when I thought about it.
“Good. Honesty, I like that. Your friend wasn’t so honest. Now look at her.” The clown pointed to the head of the table.
A life-sized doll was seated there, a human replica of canvas and stitches. It looked like a girl with yarn hair and a ponytail, googly eyes in place of real ones, messy lipstick smudged on. A crude stitching ran around the doll’s neck, barely keeping the head from falling off. A stethoscope hung lazily on her shoulder, where I could see she was wearing a cheap nurse’s costume. Amber had been a nurse.
“Please, just let me go!” I said, straining against the balloon restraints. They stretched but they would not break.
The clown started to talk again, all the while keeping his hand up.
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll ask a simple question— a fun question, and if you get it right, I’ll let you go. Just some clownin’ around for the road. What do you say?” He asked, gesturing to my costume.
I looked down at the polka-dots and fluffy cuffs I was garbed in. The memories flooded back, the three of us skipping. Cody, a pirate. Amber, a nurse. I was a clown. We saw the house at the end of the street, the house with its lights off. It was Cody’s idea. We didn’t think anyone lived there. We hopped the fence to the backyard, keeping quiet as we approached the back door. It was Cody’s idea to break in.
“Help! Somebody HELP ME!” I yelled, my voice dry and scratched.
“Come on, now, I just wanna have some fun—” The clown said.
“HELP! HELP!” I continued.
“Just answer the question, Or. I’ll. Eat. Your. Insides!” The clown screamed from behind his hand, the veins in his eyes popping. His voice was much louder than mine, like he had swallowed a microphone.
I stopped shouting and started to cry.
“There, that’s much better,” The clown said, and waltzed over beside Cody. He stood next to him and crouched down so he was level with me. His hand never fell, “My name is Cotton the Clown. What is my favorite… holiday… treat?” He said, staring.
Beside him, Cody started to stir awake. It was then I saw the squiggly line drawn around his neck, like a child’s doodle in marker.
I thought of us breaking in through the back door with a rock and letting ourselves in. I wanted to go, but Cody and Amber insisted. The house looked abandoned, aside from the dust-covered dolls lining the walls. Each with googly eyes and stitched necks. I wanted to go but we heard the scream. It sounded like it came from the basement.
“Well? What’s my favorite holiday treat? Answer me.” The clown stared blankly from behind his hand.
I startled to mumble. Cody opened his eyes and started to panic, muffled screams from behind the duct tape.
“What’s that? I can’t hear youuuuuuuu.” Cotton’s eyes started to bleed and he winked, a ha-honk of a horn making me flinch.
“Cotton… candy?” I said, and the clown slammed his fists on the table. He uncovered his mouth and bared his teeth, teeth that were replaced by dozens of skittering fingers.
“THAT’S RIGHT. COTTON. CANDY.” The clown screamed, and without warning, grabbed Cody by the head and shoulder. With a horrifying rip, Cody’s neck split open as he screamed. A burst of fluffy pink exploded from his neck, sugary strands that the clown started to immediately feast upon. I screamed as Cody’s eyes rolled back, and the clown stared at me as each sentient finger grabbed at the cotton candy.
I woke up in the middle of the street, alone. It was dark out, the moon shining high above as I picked myself up. I looked around, each house long-closed up from trick-or-treating. Cody and Amber were nowhere to be found.
I heard a scream in the distance, and turned to look behind me. I was at the end of the cul-de-sac, in front of the abandoned house. The lights were off in every room in the house, all except the little one for the basement.
Standing in the window were two dolls, one dressed as a pirate, the other a nurse. They both reached for me, and the light went out.