I planned a Halloween party for Saturday night. I’ve always loved October. It’s a shame I don’t drink or like pumpkin-flavored things. Recently I’ve sworn to get more into the spirit of the season. I got some of the best bad horror movies, decorations from the dollar store, and some of those pumpkin sugar cookies. I invited all my friends for a casual night to get into the Halloween spirit.
No one showed up. Which is understandable. We’re all adults with busy lives and all. I could eat ten boxes of cookies without getting sick of them. I did feel a little hurt when I saw posts of a handful of friends dressed up at a bar. I said they could drink but I wouldn’t. I shook it off telling myself I didn’t care. I was just going to be the guy watching horror movies alone the weekend before Halloween.
I didn’t do a totally lame thing like buying pumpkins to carve and a fleece frog onesie as a costume. I’m an adult like my friends who went to the bar to party.
I may have been a little bit bitter.
This small get-together was also meant to be a sort of housewarming. I finally got to the point in my life where I could afford rent and food. I got a small townhouse loving I no longer had roommates neglecting their chores or clogging the toilet. The fact I could afford all this was a miracle. I wonder if my friends thought I was showing off a little.
I almost didn’t feel like it, but I put on a movie after sunset. Watching a bad slasher wasn’t the same without friends. I tossed on Thirteen Ghosts because I remembered that scared me the last time I watched it. Turns out I was a big baby back then. Some of the short horror videos on YouTube were more frightening than any of the movies I’d picked out for the night. I considered going to bed early calling the entire thing a bust.
Then, someone showed up.
I heard something out in the backyard. Animals often got through the gate to go through my trash. Just small things like raccoons or possums. I started to put my food scraps out for them in a dish so they wouldn’t rip apart my trash. I know I should feed wild animals. They are going to get the food either way, it just saves me from cleaning up a torn bag in the morning. I liked taking photos of the nighttime visitors. They normally showed up later in the evening causing me to wonder just what was in the yard.
The glare of the light on the glass door kept me from seeing much. I opened the door a crack to peek outside. The sounds I assumed to be an animal got louder. I strained to hear. It was as if someone was whispering. Was it the neighbors in their yard? I didn’t see a soul outside. The mental image of someone peeking over the fence made the back of my neck prickle.
Something fell off the counter in the kitchen. I’m man enough to admit I screamed like a girl. My heart thudded hard against my chest, I thought someone had broken in and not that a box of cereal had fallen off the counter. I turned my back to the open door to look across the room to see what had fallen. My first floor was just an open space. I could see the kitchen area from where I stood by the back door. I confirmed it was just a box falling over then closed the door. Oddly enough, the whispering stopped.
No more scary movies for me that night.
Ok, one more. But Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a Halloween classic and not a movie that would add to my unnerved mental state.
I am also man enough to admit I kept all the lights on that night. I didn’t care about an increased electric bill. I would not like a shadow person to get me while I walked up the stairs in the dark, thank you very much. This is a normal and reasonable precaution.
As I watched a childhood classic, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. I needed a snack. Something to take my mind off things. I wisely invested in a chest freezer. It was cheaper to buy in bulk and freeze things later after all. It wasn’t smart keeping your chest freezer in the unfinished part of your basement for when you wanted ice cream.
I stood at the top of the stairs, my mind playing tricks on me. I flipped on the light before I even looked down into the basement fearing seeing the darkness staring back at me. I hadn’t put much down there. The sight of basement from the top of the stairs really looked like an abyss with the lights off.
An intrusive thought came to mind. That if I turned the light off to stare down something would stare back up at me. I scoffed at such a dumb idea. To prove myself wrong, I flicked off the light.
Surely, I was alone.
No one else here. Not at all.
A set of red eyes pierced through the abyss landing on my own.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
I flicked the light back on, my heart racing. I mentally cursed myself hating the fact one horror movie got me seeing things. To again, prove myself wrong I turned the light off.
Do you know those movies that kill off a character at the start to set the tone? I would have been one of those characters. Even the eyes in the dark seemed disappointed in my stupidity.
I was moving the moment they were. I heard a cackling laughter and heavy footsteps racing up the stairs. The front door was so close by. I felt something tear through the back of my costume. I didn’t have time to get outside. The two seconds unlocking the door meant my death. Instead, I ducked inside the small bathroom right beside my freedom. I slammed the door on a set of long dark fingers. I screamed trying to get the door fully closed. By sheer luck, the intruder pulled their fingers away so I could lock the door.
Whatever was on the other side banged against the wood, laughing in a raspy voice that made my skin crawl. The doorknob wiggled. I tightened my hands around it praying it would hold.
Finally, the noise died down. The thing was still out there. I was trapped. No cell phone, no food. Not even a window to crawl though. I knew whatever monster I now faced could break down the door. It was just playing with me.
“Why don’t you end this quickly? You don’t want to starve to death in there, do you?” The thing whispered on the other side of the door.
“I would die of thirst first.” I corrected.
Wait, there was a sink in here. I would starve to death. No wonder that monster cornered me so easily. I studied my ripped frog suit. Could it be fixed? This thing cost a lot of money after all.
“Why are you even here? No one ever said the place was haunted.” I asked.
I hoped that the longer I spoke with the monster the less frightening it would become. Exposure therapy and all that.
“Oh, I think you’re well aware of your past sins. This kind of pain was coming to you one way or another.”
The doorknob wiggled making a chill go down my back. Nope. This thing would be scary no matter how long I heard it speak.
But what sins is it talking about? I scanned my brain desperately trying to think of anything it was referring to. Sure, I did give a co-worker a little bit of a mean nickname. But never to his face and it was only after he was a dick to me for an entire year AND after he made such a huge mess, we needed to stay for overtime for a week to clean up. I also only tipped the door dash driver nine dollars in my last order instead of thirteen. What else?
“If you just admit to what you’ve done, I’ll be gentle when I eat your heart out while you’re still alive.” The voice whispered.
“I don’t think that’s possible but thank you for the offer.” I said, voice shaking a little.
A small sound came from behind the door. It was a mixture of a snort and an annoyed hiss.
What else have I done? Said I was going to donate to the local shelters, but I haven’t gotten to it yet? Was this because I didn’t have change for the man by the bus? Did I not tell a cashier to have a good day???
I’m not a perfect person, I’ll never say that. But I’ve never gone out of my way to hurt someone. If I somehow did, I’ll do my best to make it up to them. Maybe my easy-going personality made me a bit of a doormat. Huh. What a way to figure out why your friends didn’t care enough to show up for a party. I’m glad they didn’t so they wouldn’t have to deal with the monster that was losing patience with me.
“I don’t think you’ve earned an easy death. I was going to be kind. You won’t even consider my simple request. Tell me your sins. Explain to me why someone hated you enough to request my assistance.”
The voice got more intense with each word. The door shook causing me to cower as far away as possible. While I was on the floor shaking like a leaf, I realized I really needed to clean behind the toilet more often.
“I swear on my life, I have no idea what you’re talking about! Can’t you give me a little hint?” I begged tears starting to come to my eyes.
Don’t you dare judge me. I bet most of you would have the same reaction.
“A hint? Let me help jog your memory.”
The door stopped rattling for a long while. I almost thought it was over but this damn bastard has cheat codes or something. All at once the entire room shook. The lights flickered as deafening thumping noises overtook the small space. Slowly, a black mass appeared from out of the mirror. I uselessly tossed anything nearby which harmlessly bounced off the creature’s face.
It had long black hair that spilled down to the floor. Layers of a black lace veil covered the face, but two glowing eyes shone through. Long dark arms twisted out from the mirror, pulling the rest of the body forward.
I screamed and pressed myself hard against the wall. This couldn’t be happening. I might be able to accept it a little better If there was a reason I could understand as a motive for the attack.
The long sharp finger reached out, stopping inches away from my face.
“Now, little Ryan repent.”
I barely heard the words over the shaking and thudding. If I didn’t, I would have been dead.
“My name isn’t Ryan! It’s Pat!” I shouted.
I curled into a ball, my hands gripping my hood tight over my eyes to blind myself to the horrors I faced.
“Don’t lie to me you-”
“I have mail!” I shouted again sounding like a small child.
Slowly, the sounds and shaking started to die down. When I felt brave enough, I carefully peeked out. Nothing but an empty bathroom. Did I have a mental breakdown? I still felt the rip in my costume showing I must have done that to myself if I did break for some reason. I’d almost convinced myself that was what happened. I finally stood up when the bathroom door swung open. That monster stood on the other side, the lanky body dressed in a baggy black sweater and sweatpants he wasn’t wearing before.
I screamed.
For a few minutes.
“Are you-” He started to ask.
No, I wasn’t done. I screamed once more juuust in case.
“Anyway…” The creature started and lifted not only some mail but also my ID.
The jerk went through my wallet. I swear to God it he took my stamped coffee cards…
“Do you have an address for Ryan Thyme? I see some of his mail here, but it looks like you’re the only one who lives here.” The monster said, and he sounded…. normal.
He dropped the raspy scary voice. In my sheer terror before, I didn’t remember the person I bought who lived here before was named Ryan. I sometimes get his mail since he only recently moved out.
“Oh, yeah I do. He told me his new address to forward mail and such. Is he… Is he the guy you were supposed to kill?” I slowly asked.
“Well, all you humans look the same alright!” He stomped, getting extremely defensive very quickly.
“Wow, racist much.”
“I’ll gut you.”
He won that small argument. He backed up to let me out of the bathroom so I could find where I wrote Ryan’s address. I folded the paper aware of red eyes on my back. I didn’t want to hand over the info if that meant someone was going to die just to save my own skin.
“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” I said my hand started to shake.
“Brutally.” He confirmed.
I shook my head feeling sick with fear. If I was quick maybe I could eat the paper. Or do something to save another person’s life.
“If you must know he killed a family of four drunk driving but fled before the cops got to the scene.” The creature explained calmly.
“I guess Ryan’s Thyme is up…. Get it. Because his last name is…”
I let the joke die. I handed the paper to the monster more embarrassed than scared at that point. I expected my unwanted guest to leave but he hung around. It felt a bit surreal staring down at a nightmare casually standing in my kitchen.
“Listen… About the mix-up… This doesn’t really happen with me. If it gets back to my bosses, I’ll lose my monthly bonus. I have mouths to feed and all.” He awkwardly said.
“You have kids?” I replied horrified there was more of him.
“Cats.”
I should have guessed. He seemed like a cat person. I was just glad to be alive. I didn’t even know how to contact who he worked for. I needed to pretend as if I did in case he decided to take care of some loose ends.
“Do you really live alone? You have a lot of soda for one person.” He commented, his eyes directed to the counter.
I bought some bottles and extra snacks for the party that never happened. His question was because he was worried I had a roommate that might have heard what went down.
“I wanted to have a party but no one showed up.” I shrugged.
“Lame.”
He should have just killed me.
Besides that, fact, my life was still in danger. I needed him to believe I wasn’t going to tell his boss about his mix-up. If I made it as an exchange that may work. But what on Earth would I ever want from someone like him, so I didn’t snitch?
“In exchange for my silence… do you want to hang out?” I offered.
There was at least a full minute of silence between us.
“What?” He asked in a way that needed him to wind up for the one word.
“I got all these snacks! And all these movies lined up!” I defended myself.
“Do you got those pumpkin cookies?” He said as he turned the piece of paper around between his fingers.
“The Pillsbury sugar cookies?” I said not knowing if he meant those or some sort of pumpkin-flavored cookies.
“Those bitches.” Was the blunt reply.
I can’t believe those cookies were going to save my life. I nodded and the deal was made. Somehow, I had my party. A very awkward Halloween party but it still counted. Turns out the creature that looked like he belonged to a horror movie jumped at cheap moments while watching them. He also ate a lot even though he was so thin. I made six boxes of those cookies which he easily put away. I saw him eyeing the pumpkins which I was going to offer for him to carve if he wanted. Instead, he just ate them raw. I never saw what was under the dark veils that covered his face, but I saw he tore through a large pumpkin in two bites. The jagged teeth marks made me glad I sacrificed pumpkins to save my skin.
Near the end of the night, he looked ready to leave. With a stretch, he hovered by the front door.
“Are you going to hand out Halloween candy?” It was weird just how normal he sounded.
“Yeah, I don’t work that night.”
“Let me come over. I wanna scare some teens after I finish this job. I rarely get to do anything that isn’t disemboweling on Halloween.” He admitted.
“Horrifying mental image but ok.”
It wouldn’t kill me hanging out with him again.
Ok, maybe it might.
To my shock, he gave me a cellphone number to reach him. I realized then I never got his name.
“What do I call you? I mean, do you have a name like Red Eye Ripper?”
“Bryon. Red Eye Ripper was my father’s name.”
I let myself laugh over that one. If you couldn’t laugh with the inhuman monster that almost ripped you apart then who can you joke with? I let him leave with the plan to see each other at least one more time.
Sure, I didn’t sleep for forty-eight hours after the whole experience. And I know Bryon is off killing people, but it is nice to have a friend that you can hang out with on Halloween.
I might ask him if he could repair my frog costume or could pay me back for ripping it.
On second thought, I’ll just eat the cost.