House Of Horrors

Halloween on Maple St.

"These houses are ginormous!" Elliot gasps through his devil mask. The three of us stand on the corner of Hollows Drive and Maple Street overlooking a beautiful street full of big, elegant houses, each house more grand than the one next to it.

"They're bound to have king size bars here!" Elle exclaims excitedly. The gleaming sidewalks are overrun with kids in Halloween costumes, and each house is decorated with pumpkins and inflated monsters. Elliot and Elle exchange an excited look and nearly take off, but I grab hold of their shoulders before they dive into the madness.

"Woah, take it easy ruggrats. Breathe." I say.

"Emme!" Elle whines, giving me an anxious look.

"Let us go!" Elliot finishes turning around to face me, his red devil mask giving me that wicked smirk.

"Don't go nuts, you'll get your candy. Make sure you don't get lost." I say.

"Fine, can we go now?" Elliot asks and I nod, and release them. They take off in a brisk walk down Maple St. joining the mob of happy children. I adjust the tall black witch hat that is my costume and go after my little devil and vampire, following them up the steps to the first house. Elle and Elliot knock on the ornate door and bellow loudly when it swings open.

"Trick or Treat!" They nearly yell. The owner drops handfuls of king size candy into each of their yellowing pillow cases. Both siblings start to turn, but I give them a pointed look.

"Thank you!" They both chime then take off across the lawn to the next house. I rush after them, gripping the black witch hat so it doesn't fall off. It went on like this forever, house after house.

"We're making bank!" Elliot says, hungrily eyeing his lumpy pillow case.

"That is because everyone who lives here is rich." I say, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

"I wish we could live here." Elle says woefully. We actually tricked or treated here to check out the town since I'm house hunting. The lease of our studio apartment is almost up and we need a nice place to live, but this neighborhood is too nice.

"Really? I think Alaska would be cooler to live in." I say to get their minds off this beautiful street. Elle's blue eyes widen and Elliot even has to pull his mask off to gawk up at me.

"So you're saying we're gonna move to Alaska? That's so cool! Are we gonna have an igloo?!" Elliot exclaims with wide brown eyes. Oh boy... the situation I got myself into...

"Maybe." I say with a shrug and the pair excitedly start discussing ways to decorate an igloo. I swallow down my laughs, trying to ignore the pang of guilt in my chest... first they can't have a house on Maple St. now they can't have an igloo...

"Hey Emme, that's the last house." Elle states, pointing to the largest house of all at the very end of the street. Chills run up my back just looking at it. The Victorian house at the end of the blood sends chills up my spine. Itlooks like it should be in a horror movie. It is worn, but not falling apart. Every dusty window is dark and not one trick or treater is knocking on the door.

"Ugh... maybe we should skip that one." The nine and ten year old glare at me.

"What? It is the last one!" They argue at the same time. "Yeah, I know, but-" I start but get interrupted.

"What are you? A chicken?" Elliot taunts. "No, but-" I start but get cut off as Elle and Elliot start circling me and clucking loudly.

"Guys." I say, but all I hear is BECAK BECAK BECAK.

"Elle, Elliot." BECAK! BECAK!

"Fine!" I yell, giving in. The two cheer and rush for the house as I stomp after them. Walking towards the house I notice the closer we get the darker the street is. Once on the property I get chills, trying not to grab Elle's and Elliot's hands and drag them back to the other houses. Every step closer to the house I feel my body tense up and stiffen. This place is skety!

"Trick or treat!" The vampire and devil pound on the door. For five minutes nothing happens, not even the crickets click off annoyingly. The only thing I can hear is my breathing and Elle and Elliot wondering why no one is answering. Suddenly the door starts to slowly open, creaking loudly with every passing inch. My hands immediately grab my sister and brother by their hands, ready to drag them off this porch if I need to.

"Oh, hello." An elderly, wrinkled women with silver hair greets us, the entire house pitch black behind her. Oh, she's old. The poor upkeep of the propriety suddenly makes sense.

"Trick or treat!" The siblings happily sing.

"I like your costumes." The lady complements in no rush to get a candy bowl or anything.

"Thank you. I'm a vampire." Elle states, flashing her fake fangs proudly.

"And I'm the ruler of the underworld!" Elliot bellows, sliding his mask back on. The lady laughs at my little sister and brother, an insulting dry noise that leaves my skin crawling. "You two really think you're scary." The lady laughs as if it is the funniest thing in the world. Elle and Elliot exchange a look then look up at me, confused and hurt.

"Its Halloween, it is not like I can make them actual monsters. I think they're scary enough." I defend.

"Scary? Ha, you don't know what scary is even if it was staring you right in the face." The old woman scoffs. She points a frail, shaking finger at her dark yard, "My dead body on the front lawn is scary." She proudly says with a glint in her eye. I look from the dark yard to the women.

"Oh really?" I ask, letting go of my siblings and walk down the porch to the suppose dead body. "If it is really so scary then I should pee my pants." I say, softly kicking at a limp hand on the ground. My stomach drops... that is one freshly, bony body, to life like for a decoration. I take a better look at the dead body on the ground, a tall figure in a dark hoody and jeans lyes spread eagle in the dead grass. That face isn't plastic... I crotch next to the body, studying its face. The eyelashes are long and black and the nose is long covered in real skin... It's a person! The skin is pasty white and the boy isn't moving at all. With shaky hands I press two fingers to his neck and find no beat of life.

"Oh my god..." I breathe. He's dead. Suddenly the dead boy snaps his eyes open, red eyes glaring up at me. "Oh my god!" I gasp, reeling back in fear. A hand grabs my ankle, giving it a hard pull.

I scream till my throat hurts, falling on my butt. I hear Elliot and Elle scream and with my free leg I kick the suppose dead red eyed boy right in the face and take off up the porch. At the top of the porch that old lady is trying to drag my kids inside her dark house, making me run faster. Elle and Elliot grip on to the door frame for dear life with their little hands, crying and kicking. I pull at them while sending a kick at the old lady, only connecting with air and darkness.

"Go! Go!" I yell as we all run off the proprietary. The body that was dead a minute ago jumps at us, red eyes blazing in the dark.

"Don't let them get away!" A man's voice yells from the house. Without thinking I tackle the figure only making him stumble a little, feeling as if I just crashed into a mountain of hard rock. "Keep running!" I yell as Elle, Elliot and I run off the propriety.