Yes, Halloween the first thing that comes to our mind when we say that word is, bats, witches, black cats or even buckets full of candy. But when that word is spoken the first thing that comes to my mind was that one dreadful night that all began on October 31st.
I was 14 with three other friends all of them 15. We didn’t exactly come to trick or treat, unless your idea of trick or treating is scaring children and egging homes. We all planned to meet up with a group of four other boys from our school. They were all around 15-16, so I was planning to be the youngest one there.
My group of friends all met up at my house, we proceeded to leave into the misty cold streets at 8:00 then met up with the boys at 9:00. We didn’t exactly think out how our curfew would play into all this but, hey! That doesn’t matter when you’re with a group of friends who aren’t the best influences on you.
We all started down the streets with our very loud, unique group of 8 teenagers. We weren’t dressed for the occasion and we all seemed to have the clothing theme of black. Damn, we were the kids that a mom whispered to her toddler to not be like us. We looked like we were going to rob a 7/11 on the side of the highway.
Carried safely in the pocket of the youngest boy, named Alex, was a bag of eggs. Cold, untouched, throwable eggs. Yup, that was our idea of fun. So, here we are at a large black and brown house. The house had little to no decorations except one pitiful scarecrow in the front of the yard. The street was clear as one of the guys looked around making sure there were no witnesses. We didn’t even know the person that lived there but we sure knew what we were going to do. “Guys, we shouldn’t do this.” I murmur beginning to grip on my friend, Chloe’s, arm to pull her away from the bag of eggs.
“Stop being such a baby, Liv.” Chloe said, pulling her arm back in spite.
I gulped nothing was going to change their minds so all I could do was sit back and watch. Eggs were launched from our position, yellow liquid oozing down the front of the house, crack, crack, crack. My eyes watched and my brows furrowed in disapproval. There was a tap on my shoulder it was one of the boys. I looked up at him angrily, rage burning in my pupils. “Give it a try.” The boy handed me an egg and I scrunched my nose. I don’t know if it was purely the rage of what we were doing that made me swing my arm back or if it was that I wanted to be like them when I sent the egg darting through the air and splatting onto the front porch. Yet, there wasn’t a splat. The egg didn’t crack, oh thank god. I had done no damage.
“The egg didn’t splat.” The person I was probably most closest to in the group, Sam, said.
“Well, I’m not about to waste an egg.” One of the boys said and marched forward two other boys following.
Their feet touched the walk way and made their way up the stairs. I remember my ears rung as the lead boy bent down and grabbed the egg. The ringing grew louder as the door opened and pulled him inside. I could only see a silhouette of something in the doorway I couldn’t make out the creature. The two other boys screamed in terror as they tried to run. But whatever was inside the house pulled them back in sending their nails clawing against the floor as they tried to fight back. Their body disappeared into the doorway then went their arms and finally, their hands. That was the last I saw of them before the door slammed shut and they couldn’t escape from the horror they were about to experience.
I remember it was a flurry of screaming and panicked movements as me, my three other friends, and the one remaining boy darted down the street. Running from no apparent thing except the scene we had just witnessed. Our stomach was in our throats and we shook uncontrollably. We made our way back into the busy street and people eyed us suspiciously unsure why we were screaming and running. People swerved out of our paths and looked behind us. They definitely thought we were crazy, I felt the eyes on us but the fear and terror quickly blocked that out.
We reached my home and slammed the door open, and ran inside sending the door shut again with such a loud bang it probably rumbled the whole neighborhood. I panted my parents weren’t home probably at some halloween dinner. “Well?! We have to go back there!” The boy named Leo, said. We all eyed him like he had just said that pizza could fly.
“I’m never going back to that crazy damned house again!” Layla, one of the girls in the group, said.
I sided with Layla on that one but, Leo was right. We can’t just leave them there without at least making an attempt to save them.
“How about a majority vote?” Chloe said her voice still not fully recovered from the harsh terror that had just hit all of us.
We all seemed to agree on that as we nodded our head timidly. I raised my hand to go back and get the boys and so did Leo who was the only boy still with us. Layla and Chloe raised their hands for not going back and just hoping they somehow survived. Sam was going to be the deciding vote on what we did. Sam was usually pretty head on but this time her hand timidly went up and she uttered two words that couldn’t have been said any more fearfully. “Go back.” Well it was decided we were going back. Layla and Chloe gave Sam daggers from across the room while Leo patted Sam on the shoulder.
There we stood looking up at the terrifying house, parts of the eggs still oozing down the house. Leo went first clearly very devoted to his friends. Sam went next, I went after her, then Chloe. Layla stood back growling. Layla was selfish and whiny. I still have no idea why she’s in our friend group. Sam looked back at her, “Fine, stay out here. Just never deem yourself as a hero. Because you are the last thing that could be called a hero.” Sam hissed turning back to face the house. Layla and Sam had never exactly gotten along. Layla crossed her arms and stomped her way up behind me.
Leo shivered in the presence of the house and his fist met the door a small, knock knock. The door squeaked open and who stood in the door way was the last thing I expected. It was a man with black hair and he was dressed up in the stereotypical Dracula outfit. All of us squinted our eyes except for Layla who glared angrily the anger just growing larger and larger inside of her before it finally bubbled over the cauldron.
“See guys it was nothing! They probably just played some stupid prank on us. We can all go back home and forget about-“ She was cut off by the man in the door way.
Nothing could have prepared us for what the man said next. “Don’t you want to find where your friends are?” The man smiled a demented look forming in his eyes. “Or would you rather have them be hung up in my yard? The choice is yours.” The words completely changed the subject and were unexpected. The way he said them made them sound more like a threat than a question.
Leo was the first to nod and that was enough for the man who proceeded to drag us all into his house. I was too scared to say anything. I mean what could I say in this situation? I looked around remembering my surroundings. We walked through the living room a TV hoisted up on a brick fireplace with velvet red furniture for seating. He led us through his kitchen and paused. His long, white, slender fingers reached out from under his cape and opened the door to what looked like a pantry. It revealed a long, rough concrete staircase leading seemingly to the basement.
Chloe shook her head and began to run out of the kitchen flailing her arms. The man darted after her catching up to her. A crunch could be heard as Chloe’s mouth opened in a loud, shrill scream quickly being muffled by the man’s hand. It wasn’t a bone… I think. Maybe just a rough grip because there were no tears and it seemed her pain only lasted for a short amount of time. Chloe was dragged back fear in her face and I froze just following Leo’s lead down into the basement.
It was cold, I remember rubbing my shoulders for warmth staring at the back of Sam’s head. Sam was like an older sister to me and probably the only familiar face in that basement. My eyes widened in terror as I saw the three boys from earlier sat against a brick wall. They looked pale and malnourished after only an hour in the basement, I wonder what a lifetime could do. The Dracula man directed us to sit next to the boys.
I blinked and there it was, in front of me. It looked like a vampire red shiny eyes and long red stained fangs but its skin… Its skin looked like the moon’s craters but also the deep, dark abyss under your bed all at once. Scarier then the Bogeyman and seemingly more agile than a deer. I sat in its terrifying presence. I could hear Layla’s short panicked breaths, like she was being timed for how many breaths she could do in a second. The creature sauntered forward staring at us as if we were on showcase at a buffet. Like a child at a candy store choosing a lollipop. Which one of us he planned to eat first.
I reached into Sam’s pocket knowing she had a pocket knife in it somewhere. My movements were slow and lagging. I felt the cold pocket knife and slowly pulled it out of her pocket. I opened it behind my back and in a quick movement through it at the creature. It hit the creature’s leg and sent a scream out of its mouth.
I grabbed Sam’s hand and ran at full speed past the creature and up the staircase. A clang hit the ground, the pocket knife. It was only a short stall before the creature ran after us.”LIV!” Sam screamed as the creature grabbed her leg and began pulling her down the staircase its claws gripping through the cloth of her pants and into her flesh.
She kicked the creature exactly five times I remember it so vividly, pound, pound, pound, pound, pound. Then she was free and she ran up the staircase after me. The creature wobbled up the staircase after us leaving the rest of the group alone in the basement. Me and Sam ran like it was the last thing we’d ever do. I opened the front door and Sam slammed it behind us locking the creature in its home.
That was it, I had just escaped from whatever fate that may had awaited me if I hadn’t remembered Sam’s pocket knife or thrown even an inch off from the creature.
It’s been a few years now since that night. Everyday I’m so thankful for my life that I escaped from that horrifying creature. After years of therapy I’ve slowly gotten over that night but its still there. I’m still close with Sam but I’ll never know what happened to the rest of my group. I’ve never heard from them and I can only assume the worst. Fear never goes away but it gets better in time.