There was an ominous feel to the night, a smell of danger and the lingering hint of unseen horrors lurking in the shadows. Wind howled through trees and brought showers of yellow-orange leaves rustling down streets and through alleys, singing its mournful song into the night. Overhead, the sky was cloudless and black, speckled throughout with the bright glisten of stars, casting the town into a dim half-light of rust and filth that was never present during the daylight. These streets were accustomed to desolation in its purest form, the emptiness that only the most unloved of places could know. No souls walked these paths during the year, yet tonight, they were graced by the presence of life, vibrant and young. Laughter drifted in from distant revelry, unfamiliar and alien to these darkened streets, drowned out by the ringing of footsteps in the deep of the night. Too afraid to speak, yet too brave to admit this, a cadre of adventurers had come to test this darkest of places on this darkest of nights, summoning their courage only on the final hours of Halloween.
They ventured carefully, walking slowly down unfamiliar streets devoid of signs and cars, lit only by the dim red of cigarettes and the soft blue of cell-phone screens. It seemed a violation to speak, the breaking of some unwritten rule, and so none spoke. Instinctively, they moved closer together, seeking greater security against the unknown, and finding it only in themselves. They told themselves that there was no danger to be found in this place, beyond stumbling in the dark, yet in the back of their minds lurked their fears, irrational and unrelenting. This place was not safe, they felt, though they knew otherwise; a contradiction which added uncertainty to fear. Though they could see nothing in the darkness, they glanced about in search of danger, seeking threats among the ever-shifting shadows, always careful to appear at ease in front of their comrades. The weakest among them broke first, panicking in the silent darkness, his need for contact overwhelming his reverence for the malicious night.
“This place sure is creepy,” a hushed voice said from behind a blood-spattered hockey-mask, quiet words echoing in the utter silence. For a moment, there was no answer, as though they waited for the night to reply in their stead, but the dark gave only silence in return.
“It’s just a road,” a soldier scoffed, looking about disdainfully to show he was not afraid. “I don’t see what the big deal is.” As though in response to his question, somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.
“What was that?” a princess asked, pressing closer to her masked protector. The sound came again, and the soldier shrugged.
“It’s just a dog,” he said. “Sounds like a Chihuahua or something.”
“Maybe we should go back,” the masked killer suggested.
“What?” the soldier demanded, turning to his companion with a sneer. “You afraid of some little rat dog?”
“No,” the killer said defensively, his arm thrown around the princess’ shoulder. “I just think we should go back. There’s nothing down here.” The soldier gave him a disdainful look.
“You’re afraid,” he accused. “You’re afraid of some stupid little dog.”
“I said I wasn’t,” the killer said angrily. Another dog joined the first, a malignant yipping that dripped venom into the night. “This is stupid. Let’s go back to the party.”
“The party’s stupid,” countered the soldier. “They’re all a bunch of losers.” The killer shook his head in exasperation, knowing that victory was impossible.
“Whatever, man,” he said, motioning impatiently. “Let’s just go. Wherever it is we’re going.” The soldier led on, full of pride and triumph, guiding them farther into the darkness. The distant sounds of revelry slowly gave way to the baying of dogs, high-pitched imitations of some great mastiff that carried all of the malice and danger of that of wolves. It seemed that with every step their unseen numbers grew, as though some hidden army was amassing in the distance, until the only sound in the night was the sound of dogs.
“What’s going on?” the princess asked, fear clear in her voice and in the way she gripped the killer tightly. “Where did they all come from?” The killer held her close and tried to calm her, and now the soldier was casting about nervously, aware finally that something was not as it should have been.
“They’re just dogs,” he said, the bravado gone from his voice.
“Let’s go back,” the killer said again, stopping in the street. The soldier continued a few more steps before realizing that he no longer had a following. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do now.
“Okay,” he conceded finally, quickly taking the lead in the backward journey. “If you guys are too afraid, we’ll go back.” The pace quickened as they fled out of the darkness, pursued always by the ever-closer sound of an army of dogs.
The deadly glint of yellow eyes in the dark spurred them on faster, shadowy forms at the edge of the darkness stirring them to panic. The barking was all around them now, so close that they could feel dragon’s breath biting at their ankles.
A whimper came from the princess, a barely audible sound, and suddenly the hidden beasts struck. In an instant, there was an innumerable horde of tiny, hideous vermin charging forth from the darkness. A shriek resounded over their deafening barking, and, as one, the three brave souls began to run. At their heels followed the wave of malformed hellhounds, tiny legs propelling them at seemingly impossible speeds.
“Over there!” shouted the soldier, pointing to an intersection in the road just ahead and sprinting for it, pushing past his two companions. Panicked at being overtaken, they followed him away from their sure path out of the forsaken darkness, and farther into the unknown.
With no sense of where they were going, they fled down the length of the street, and the blood-mad dogs followed, never tiring even as their prey slowly weakened. With no energy left to spend on speech, the soldier said nothing as he led them around another turn, back towards their destination of familiarity. The princess stumbled and fell, the heel of her shoe catching on her dress, and the dogs were on her in an instant. The killer made as though to go back for her, but she was swallowed by the horde before he had fully stopped. A diminutive beast seized hold of his leg with razor teeth and he sent it sliding back with a kick before hurrying after the soldier.
An agonizing sprint brought the killer to his friend. The shock and terror shown clear on his face, and when the soldier looked back to find the princess missing, all thoughts of fatigue vanished, leaving only the need for escape. The incessant yipping never ceased, right on their heels, down a road that seemed to go on forever. In a desperate attempt to elude their pursuers, they turned onto another road, only to find more evil yellow eyes glowing hungrily in the darkness ahead. The killer skidded to a halt, but the soldier grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, leading him in a desperate sprint across a lawn of dead yellow grass and brittle orange leaves.
As they passed by the ancient-looking house, the two packs behind them merged into one, pouring across the yard in never-ending pursuit. A crash of wood brought the soldier spinning around mid-run, nearly stumbling as he saw a wave of the ugly monsters erupt from a door on the side of the house, knocking the killer from his feet in a wave of fur and teeth and blood. He reached out for his fallen friend even as his screams rang out over top the terrible barking, and he sprinted on in horror, leaving the killer to his fate.
Over a wooden picket fence and past another house in sheer terror, and the soldier finally caught sight of the familiar. He had somehow found his way back to reality, emerging from the darkness into the soft light of street-lamps and house lights. The baying of dogs gave way to the sounds of laughter and mirth, fading away impossibly fast. He staggered down the street in a daze, stumbling around a corner and nearly walking straight into a group of vampires. He brushed past them, wide-eyed and white-faced, and their eyes followed him as he lurched into an alley with a retching sound.
Vomit splattered on the alley floor, and the soldier stood there for a moment, clutching his stomach and fighting back tears, eyes shut tightly. They opened suddenly at the rattling of a garbage can nearby. He slowly straightened up, listening carefully for any sign of danger, but there was only silence and the far-off sounds of people. He turned to go when metal crashed behind him, and he spun around to see a wrinkle-faced monster lunging for his throat, sharp teeth glistening in the night.
