The House On 23rd Street

1

Going to that party had been a waste of time. Mandy Carroll knew she wouldn't enjoy it, but she still went to please her friends. Every year when October 31st rolled around, Jeffrey and Brit always begged her to go with them to a friend's Halloween party; she had refused them every time. Until now.

Tired of their constant pleading, Mandy had agreed to go with them. And dressed stupidly as a vampire, too. She highly doubted vampires would expose this much skin and cleavage, and wear something as uncomfortable as this corset, if they were real. The dark reds and blacks, paired with the Victorian corset and choker, made the costume sexy, but it felt far from it. She huffed in frustration; why did she give in?

A gust of icy air blew down the street, knocking back the hood of her cloak and exposing her ears to the wind. She pulled the hood of the red, thin cloak back over her head and tugged it closer to her body. This was one of the reasons why she hated Halloween: it was always freaking cold. Mandy much preferred snuggled on her couch in baggy sweats and reading a book instead of freezing to death in a flimsy, sexy costume.

Now noticing the sudden silence, she stopped. Why couldn't she hear them talking and laughing anymore? Weren't they just with her?

She turned to look behind her and didn't see them; actually, the road and houses looked abnormally dark and abandoned.

"Brit? Jeffrey?" Silence answered her.

Damn pranksters; that was the main reason she hated this holiday. "Come on, guys; this isn't funny."

No one answered her again. Even though the street was lit fairly well with the orange streetlights, the darkness overpowered the light and made everything seem spooky.

Feeling irritated and a bit creeped out now, Mandy turned to head to her house. "I'm freezing; I'm heading home and leaving your asses in the cold. Bye." But her easy walk turned faster as the uneasiness pressed in on her more – the entire town felt empty. Somehow, she had ended up alone.

The hairs on her arms rose as something neared. Mandy's neck snapped around, but she didn't see anything in the darkness. Even though nothing was in sight, hidden eyes watched her. She saw a shadow move over by a house and she looked – thinking it could be Jeffrey trying to scare her. The shadow stopped and looked at her with golden eyes. It was a damn cat!

Mandy scoffed and turned back to the road – she usually wasn't this paranoid; she figured it was because of it being Halloween night and being 2 in the morning. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that something–

"BOO!" a figure yelled when they jumped out at her between two parked cars.

Mandy screamed and about fell down as she shied back. A familiar masculine laugh rumbled, followed by a feminine giggle.

"Jesus, Jeffrey! Were you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Dressed as a zombie with shredded, bloody clothes, discolored skin, and multiple cuts oozing fake blood, Jeffrey Nahant wiped tears from his eyes as he recovered from laughing.

"If it lightens you up a little, grandma, then yes."

She scowled at him – he loved to call her old even though she was only one year older than him and Brit at nineteen. "If I was that old, you would've killed me. Would you still laugh over a dead senior citizen?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yep."

Mandy looked over at the personified Day of the Dead senorita emerging from behind the car. As the makeup artist she was, Brittney Worthington had applied all of her makeup herself; she looked amazing completely painted as a skeleton with red roses in her long brown hair. Even though her dress was much shorter, she at least had bone-leggings covering her bare legs. She had even added touches of blood and contoured Mandy's cheekbones to make her look more like a vampire.

"I would've cried," she said.

"Thanks so much. I'm glad I have one friend who cares about me." Mandy shot daggers over at Jeffrey.

"Hey, I care about you; I know to respect my elders! At least you dressed your age as a 19th century vampire."

Mandy flipped him off as Brit pushed him. "Oh, stop it!"

She turned to her. "You look hot, Mandy! Victor was definitely checking you out; you should've danced with him when he asked you."

Mandy began walking for her house again. "Don't care; I'm not really into Victor."

Brit jogged up beside her. "You could've still flirted."

As the trio's chatterbox, Brit carried on a steady conversation. Fortunately, the other two didn't try to pull any more tricks as they headed for their street block. They passed by numerous houses with toilet paper blowing in the trees; Jeffrey tried to talk the girls into rolling his buddy's house, but they just ignored him.

Set back from the road was the abandoned house on 23rd Street. The building itself looked sad with rotting timbers, broken-out windows, completely faded paint, overgrown yard – it sagged on its own foundation. Kids had made-up stories about it being haunted but nothing suspicious had ever been seen there.

Jeffrey stopped at its sidewalk and admired the house for a second. He looked at Mandy with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I dare you to go in there."

She rolled her eyes. "Really? Are we twelve?"

"Scaredy cat."

"I don't see you going in there!"

Jeffrey snorted and headed for the house. "Are you coming?" he called over his shoulder.

"No. I'm headed home; you can be murdered."

He turned but continued to walk backward. "Excuses!"

"Jeffrey; stop. Let's go home," Brit begged.

"Chickens! Bok! Bok! Bok!" He flapped his arms as wings.

"I'm going to 'Bok' you!" Mandy growled as she ran at Jeffrey; with a triumphant grin, he turned and ran up the porch with Brit yelling behind them.

He opened the door when Mandy slammed into him; they fell to the floor. She tickled him in his sides, knowing exactly where her childhood friend was most ticklish. He squirmed in laughter under her.

"Alright, we've seen the place. Can we go now?" Brit asked, worry thick in her voice.

"No we haven't!" Jeffrey declared. "Don't you want to look around?"

"And see more broken furniture, dust, and cobwebs? No thank you," Mandy said.

"Dust and cobwebs? That's not very festive, is it?" a new voice said.