Derrick never took the stories seriously. The creepy old house he moved into last month was just a quick stop for his family before moving on. But now that his friends have decided to throw a party in this place on Halloween night, bad things start...
A burst of purple and white lights swirls our of the sinkhole in my lawn, straight up into the sky. And excuse me if this sounds too corny, but the energy cuts through the clouds above like it's aiming for Heaven. The lights are- wait, they're screaming? Those aren't lights.
"Derek is that-" Bradlee whispers as we stare from the window.
"Tortured souls." I don't even believe what I'm saying.
The center of the sinkhole widens, then collapses completely. Then two bizarre, withered arms that look like long, thin tree branches emerge from the hole.
Staring ahead in horror, Veronica stammers. "What..the hell..is that?"
The tree-like arms then stretch out with a sickening creak and clawed hands with five long and slender fingers slam down into the ground outside of the hole. Before any of us can fully process what we are seeing, a head resembling a partially rotten pumpkin emerges.
The creature floats out of the hole, launches itself into the air, and lands on the ground like nothing I've ever seen. It takes a deep breath as split hoofed feet dig into the ground. Then, as the creature surveys its surroundings, a hideous laugh comes from the glowing pumpkin head. We all watch in horror as it waves one of its long arms over the ground and begins to speak. "Arise, my little ones."
Immediately after the creature utters these words, hands begin to dig out of the ground. Just like in some ridiculous horror movie, actual freaking zombies are clawing their way out from under my front yard! Flickers of light appear in and out of sight, like static in the air, from every direction until they form into...
"Ghosts." I mutter to myself.
"What?" Robbie looks at me in fearfully.
"The veil has been lifted, children," the creature says. "But I need my staff. The eye of Dagda will see that you all obey, and those who do not will fall at my feet." The creature moves to the largest tree in the courtyard. The branches reach to his fingertips, forming a single large staff in his hand. At the top, a dark purple orb materializes from his command.
"Guys, we gotta go," I continue. "Don't you all get it yet? The dead are rising. It's Halloween night, and we're standing in the middle of a graveyard. We need to get out of here, like right now!" I push past the crew behind me to check the other windows. "Hopefully there's an opening around the house, guys. Maybe we can get out the back."
"Come on, I don't believe in ghosts," Robbie smirks.
"That's great Rob," I reply irritated. "Go out there and explain that to the eight foot demon that just rose from the depths of God knows where!"
The people in my house are panicking at this point. Several children run upstairs and others look around for a place to escape. We all realize that we're stuck inside, with zombies rising all around the house. Ghosts flickering in and out of various areas, and a thick fog rolling in from the hills in the distance telling me we won't see much if we make it out. "If one of us goes out there, we're history for sure."
The creature raises his arms in a kind of greeting to the undead followers who have begun to surround him like some kind of evil messiah. His hands are outstretched to welcome them into the world, and through the clamor of voices in my home, even I can hear his words, and they send a shiver down our spines.
"My little ones, I welcome you all to join me on this magical night. It pleases me to be free from that accursed prison. I've been locked away for far too long, and now we must retake this world. Yes, my little ones we are the children of the night, and we shall walk the Earth forever. Because on this night, more than any other is our night.
My night. I am Halloween. I am Samhain. And from here on, Halloween shall never end."
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Bradlee is freaking out over here, and I don't blame him. He stumbles into the wall and window, drawing attention to us when we were all asleep as mice. Samhain shifts his gaze to the right, towards the house, and growls with an evil smile. "Ahhhh, I knew I recognized that pungent aroma. No wonder it still makes me sick after two millennia. The wretched stench of mortals".
"Samhain," I whisper to myself.
At this point Ace, who had been kneeling in terror by the door finally regains the use of his legs and stands up, making a mad dash through the door. In his desperation to escape, he runs right past some walking corpses and even jumps over some new hands emerging from the ground. Then Ace does some heroic tuck and roll to his car. "We're getting out of here right now!" He yells, flinging open the door to get in. But that's as far as he gets. Without warning, a large zombie reaches out with long, gnarled arms, then grabs Ace's head in a brutal grip.
It lifts Ace off the ground by his head and turns the terrified wrestling captain to face it. Samhain watches from a distance, saying nothing, but the zombie just stands there as if waiting for orders. Ace only has a split second to utter a few frightened whimpers before the creature that holds him in the air flips him over and smashes Ace's face through the driver's side window at lightning speed.
"He just killed Ace!" Tony screams.
"Oh my god!" Veronica follows.
To be honest, I can't tell if Ace is dead or just knocked out, we only see him fall to the ground from a distance with his head badly cut and disfigured. Add to that the neck wound Gina left him with earlier. There's no way Ace is getting up.
"I'm pretty sure we're next." Robbie says.
"No look," I reply. "It looks like the dead are going to leave us in peace. They aren't even paying attention to us. Check it out, guys!"
They walk away. The pumpkin-headed demon and his army of nasties reach the end of the driveway. There, with his back to the terrified kids in my house, he points straight ahead to the city in the far distance and gives his orders. "Go my children. We will take back this world, one town at a time if we have to! Take what you want, feed, bring me tribute."
At his command, the zombies creep out of my front yard and march into the bog. Samhain slowly follows them from the rear, leaving the rest of us to stare in disbelief.
"They're heading into town!" shouts Robbie as he runs to the door and watches the undead legion leave.
