I had to write this for school, and we're having a sort of class competition: whoever's story is picked byt he Journalism II team will be featured on the website. So please help me out here! It had to be about Halloween, and it was supposed to be scary(ish). I'm not sure that I managed the scary part, but I'm thinking creepy and inhuman I have nailed. Anyway, enjoy and please tell me how I can make it better.
Mandy sighed, gazing longingly out the window. She brushed a cobweb out of her hair and traced her fingers along the dusty glass. She drew a person with Xs for eyes, lying dead. Halloween time always brought death to their town. This year though, Mandy wanted to take part. After all, when Séance turned fifteen, she was allowed to start causing havoc.
Séance strode into the basement, slamming the door against the wall. “Come on, Mandy. Aunt Viv says you can help with the preparations. And if you prove yourself useful, she just might let you haunt this year,” Séance said.
Many perked up at this. “Really? Man, I’ve been for this chance for five years!” Mandy said excitedly, climbing off the window seat.
“I know you have. So why not get going before Aunt Viv changes her mind,” Séance suggested, flipping her blond-streaked hair over her shoulder. She left the room with her typical flourish, her short gothic skirt twisting around her thighs.
Knowing full well that Aunt Viv would change her mind if given the chance, Mandy raced after her sister. She practically ran up the stairs, swinging around the wall and into the kitchen. “What can I do?” she said readily.
Aunt Viv turned from the counter where she was making her Halloween cookies, and faced Mandy. “I suppose Séance has already told you. I want you to prepare the house. Go outside and practice some of the things I’ve taught you,” she said. Aunt Viv was a deceptively pretty woman, who had more than her fair share of attitude. And much like Séance, she loved adding flourish and finesse in everything she did.
Mandy nodded and speed out of the kitchen. She’d been restricted from using her skills until the Halloween she turned fifteen. Unlike Séance, Mandy hadn’t used magic outside of lessons. But she wasn’t rusty, and she was so excited, she probably had more power in her than was safe.
As soon as she yanked open the front door, the icy wind hit her. She shivered and grabbed her coat off the rack by the door. When she left the house, she saw the rest of her town all making preparations for the coming holiday. Fletcher was inflating zombies, Marlin was controlling the spiders in the graveyard to weave webs thick and white, Kara was outside brewing up a storm of fog and peril, and Shana was playing with her wolves, preparing them for the night to come.
“Hey Mandy!” called Fletcher when he saw her. She waved at him and he waved back. They may have been a town that killed and haunted on Halloween, but they were close with each other. “You finally gonna play this year?” he asked, setting one of his zombies down on the yard. They were real zombies, creatures he kept locked up under his yard every other day of the year.
“If I’m useful. So I’ve gotta deck this place out for some serious spooking,” Mandy called. Fletcher saluted her and turned back to his zombies.
Mandy jogged out a little way into the yard and surveyed the house. It looked creepy naturally, with dead ivy crawling up the sides and blackened bricks that looked like they’d been burned. Dark gray smoke tripped out of the chimney.
Biting her upper lip in thought, Mandy moved her fingers at the trees. The branches shook their leaves to the ground and shuddered. She darkened the branches with a burst of magic and scattered spider webs and claw marks around the branches.
A black cat slunk across the yard and Mandy got a wicked idea. She grinned and crouched down on the grass. Clicking her tongue at the cat, Mandy enticed the creature over. She ran a hand over its thick black fur and wound her finger around its tail. “Welcome to the family, kitty. Is this your first haunt too?” she asked. Then, without warning, she tugged on its tail. It mewed, but slowly began to change form. It grew in size, its teeth elongating and sticking out like a saber tooth tiger. That’s what she modeled the cat after, and its claws grew wickedly sharp.
It growled up at the mid-afternoon sun, stretching to get used to its new form. It now looked almost exactly like a saber tooth tiger, but with jet black fur and glowing red eyes. “Stay,” Mandy instructed, ordering the cat to circle the trees. The cat growled in compliance and did as Mandy asked.
Her grin widened and she lifted her chin, proud of herself. Now, all she had to do was enchant the house to be even creepier and twice as deadly. Sure she could go old-school, with barbed-wire fences and sinkholes, but those didn’t seem interesting enough. Mandy wanted to do something no one else had done these past years.
Mandy suddenly knew what to do. She lifted her arms, palms facing the house, and began to think the charm, moving her fingers and hands in all the right motions. It wasn’t long before tiny fires poked up around the yard, burning orange, red, and bright green. She concentrated harder and bats formed from the chimney smoke.
Four bats screeched and circled the house, swooping down towards Mandy. She shooed them away with a wave of her hand and then worked harder. The bats began to break apart, splitting right down the middle and doubling their numbers. After they’d finished, they spread apart, circled the house once more, and shot off in different directions. Three of them came and perched upside down on the black branches of the tree.
Still not yet satisfied, Mandy tried to think of what she could add. Séance might summons some spirits if Mandy asked, but then again, Aunt Viv might think her incompetent if she couldn’t do it herself.
Mandy looked over to Fletcher, who was still inflating his zombies. They may have been real, but he couldn’t just let them wander loose the rest of the year. So he’d carefully removed everything inside the skin and canned it last year, waiting for next Halloween to come around. Though one zombie remained under the ground, and Mandy could hear his occasional moan. He’d eaten someone last year, and that wasn’t Fletcher’s fault, but he couldn’t let a crazed zombie out again.
She tried to focus on what she had to do, knowing full well that Aunt Viv wouldn’t let her out this Halloween if she couldn’t. She didn’t remember how to conjure spirits, but she could remember how to call trapped souls to her. At first, nothing happened. Mandy knew this wasn’t an easy spell, because spirits were beings that could fight back against the pull of the magic, but she also knew she had to do this.
Gradually though, a form shimmered in front of Mandy, slowly gaining some sort of shape. Though it could be more easily called fog than human, the way the misty form rippled and pooled and pulled itself back up, only to fall back again. However, after a few more seconds, the spirit materialized completely. It was a middle-aged man covered in smeared blood, missing an arm, and sporting a huge gash across his face.
He moaned and tried to swipe at Mandy with his stub of a hand, but she ducked. Squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin, Mandy looked into his pale eyes. “You are not to harm me. Until I release you, you are my servant,” she said. Trapped souls often pacified themselves, hoping that whoever called them would send them to the next life once they were done with them.
The spirit moaned again, and turned from Mandy. He walked towards her house, sinking ever lower in the earth as he went. By the time he reached the porch, he was wading through dirt. That was the problem with ghosts — they seeped into the dirt like water and it took a bit of effort to pull them back out unless they wanted to come.
One was never enough, so Mandy focused and tried to conjure another spirit or two. She hadn’t expected four to answer her summons, but she made the best of it.
A woman in an 1800’s style dress held a faded parasol above her head, her hair falling in messy curls around her face, some of it still stuck up in a bun. There was a slash across her throat from the knife that ended her life.
A little girl in a purple princess costume looked around, still clutching her pillowcase, partially filled with candy. Mud caked her dress and her face was pale, even for a ghost.
A man looked around, fingering the buttons on one of his coat sleeves. His hair was pulled back and he had a stubbly beard. But he was covered in claw marks, and one of his eyes was milky white from a scratch.
The final person was another man, this one old and haggard, with a vicious snarl on his lips. His nose was crooked and he was limping on a peg-leg. She recognized this man — he was the one Fletcher’s zombie had killed last Halloween. It only ate his leg below the hip, but the man bled out and died in a horrible, gut-wrenching way. Mandy had been unlucky enough to see it, but they just buried the man in the cemetery and Fletcher locked that zombie away for the next year.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Fletcher’s voice startled Mandy. She nodded, her focus on keeping the spirits from sinking into the ground and pulling up the first spirit. “He looks ticked,” Fletcher mused, scratching his chin.
“I wonder why,” Mandy relented. She thought she’d drained enough of her power to the spirits to keep them from sinking, so she turned to Fletcher. “What do you think?”
Fletcher took a moment to scrutinize her work. “I like the cat — it’s a nice touch,” he said at last.
“That’s it? What about the rest of it?” Mandy asked disbelievingly. Surely she hadn’t wasted all her time and energy.
“Oh, I like it, don’t get me wrong. I just can’t help but wonder if it has enough… pizzazz, for your aunt,” he said.
“What can I add?” She was nearing hysterics. She’d waited years to have a chance to show her stuff; if she failed now, Aunt Viv might not let her try again next year, and make her help with the cleanup again.
“I could loan you a zombie… wait, I got it!” Fletcher said, snapping his fingers. “Marlin!” he yelled, waving a hand wildly. “Can Mandy borrow some spiders? It’s gonna be her first haunt this year!”
Mandy blushed, knowing full well that it only might be her first year. If Aunt Viv didn’t approve, Mandy wouldn’t be haunting with the rest.
Marlin strode over on his long, boney legs, three spiders trailing behind him. They were oversized black widows, purple venom leaking from their fangs. Marlin was tall, with white hair and burn scars all up his arms. He tended the cemetery and kept spiders — though only huge, venomous ones. “Stox, Koz, and Sarg,” Marlin said, pointing to each of his spiders in turn. “They’ll obey you if you’re not too reckless.”
“Thanks Marlin.” Turning to Mandy, Fletcher’s eyes lit up. Marlin wandered back to the graveyard and Fletcher said, “Let’s get down to business.”
Mandy held her breath as her aunt inspected the outside of the house. Her fingers were cold and her cheeks laced with pink and blue, and Mandy hoped she’d passed the assessment. Fletcher was back in his yard, trying to control his zombies — which were acting like two year olds, chewing on their own fingers and wandering around aimlessly, staring at everything.
Aunt Viv seemed much more stoic than usual, assessing everything with a blank look. A bat perched on her shoulder underneath her witch’s hat, curled up against the cold. She reached up to run a finger along the bat’s spine, then turned to Mandy. “I suppose,” she said, “that you have passed. However, don’t get out of control. This is your first chance, and I do not want any accidental deaths this year. Séance killed on her first year, but that does not give you permission. If you do anything further than harm a human, you’ll realize just how cruel my punishment can be.”
Mandy tried to fight the grin that spread across her face, barely managing an almost straight face in front of her aunt. Sure there were restrictions, but she’d done it! She’d finally won one of her aunt’s games; she could finally haunt. “Thanks Aunt Viv! I won’t kill anyone if I can help it, I promise,” Mandy said gleefully.
“That’s all there is to it then. Just know that now, whatever you do on this night falls squarely on your shoulders. I may inflict punishment, but anything stupid you do, does not reflect myself or your sister,” Aunt Viv said. After a moment, a smile spread across her face. “But I am proud of you, Mandy. You’ll be a magnificent witch on Halloween night. Do remember not to get too carried away though.”
Mandy hugged her aunt and nodded. “I just didn’t want to seem incompetent,” she replied.
“Often times, competence hides itself in the little things,” Aunt Viv said. “But go on, now. Get ready for a night of horror and haunting you’ll never forget.”
Séance stuck her head into the basement. “What are you doing?” she asked, scowling at Mandy.
Mandy looked up and grinned. “I’ve got a surprise planned for tonight. It’s gonna be the best spook ever!” she said, tossing a blanket over the glasses she’d arranged in an pentagram shape. Black magic wasn’t usually Mandy’s avenue of success, so Séance got suspicious.
“What sort of surprise?” she asked.
“The kind that’ll be so spectacularly grotesque, no one will ever forget it,” Mandy said, grin still in place.
“Not likely. Just remember, this is your first year; don’t get carried away.”
Mandy found it odd how Aunt Viv had said the same thing, but she ignored it. She wasn’t going to let anyone ruin her perfect, spooky plan.
Fletcher clapped Mandy on the back, his grin half-crazed. “You survived the night, I’m impressed! And hey, I’m pretty sure we only had one or two casualties this year. I’d say that’s a record for having a newbie,” he said. His eyes were huge from adrenaline, screams and caffeine. Fletcher slung his arm over her shoulder and proudly said, “And my zombies didn’t eat anyone this year!”
Mandy laughed. “Yeah, neither did I. But the night’s not over yet. I’ve got a wicked scheme planned,” Mandy said. She was grinning ear to ear, knowing she’d leave an impression on everyone in town.
His eyebrows rose and his grin changed to a smirk. “What sort of ‘wicked scheme’?”
“The kind that’ll make this year unforgettable,” Mandy said. She ducked out from under his arm and added, “I’m gonna get it ready. Tonight’s gonna end with a bang.” With that, Mandy jogged towards Aunt Viv’s house, her mind wheeling with endless possibilities.
Mandy slipped onto the ground next to Séance as the meeting began. Mathias, the mayor, was just about to start speaking in front of the massive bon fire in the field out past most of the houses.
“Where have you been?” Séance hissed. “You almost screwed up big time.”
“Relax. I’m here, aren’t I? I was just putting the finishing touches on my grand exit,” Mandy said, her eyes twinkling in the light. Mandy glanced up at the trees and sky, smirking when Séance looked up.
“I told you not to get carried away,” she growled. After a moment, she added, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do. It’ll be great,” Mandy said.
Their conversation ended when the fire changed color, glowing bright red. Sparks flew from the flames and circled above the crowd. Mayor Mathias cleared his throat and everyone got quiet. “Let me start off by saying this was an amazing scare! I think it was our most haunting yet!” Everyone cheered, and Mandy’s grin widened. “We had only two casualties this year, both of whom are being taken care of by the ever-creepy Marlin Marsh.” Some people clapped, though everyone was more interested in what they knew was to come.
“We have an amazing feast prepared, but first, we have something far more interesting. This year was the first haunting of one of our own, Mandy Vonner. Mandy, come on up here,” Mayor Mathias said. He swept his hand across the crowd.
Mandy felt a blush touch her cheeks, bust she pushed herself up and fixed her shirt. She had on Aunt Viv’s witch’s hat and wore a brown jacket over her red V-neck shirt. Brown leather boots reached up to her knees, her jean shorts just above her knees. She smiled at the mayor and he put his arm around her shoulder.
“So how was your first haunt?” he asked.
“Ten times better than I’d ever imagined.” The crowd cheered again and the mayor squeezed Mandy’s shoulder.
“This year, our feast is in your honor! Have you anything to say to your comrades, now that you’re one of us?” Mayor Mathias asked.
“Actually, yes, I do have something I’d like to say,” Mandy said. She took a deep breath and announced to the whole crowd, “Since was my first haunt, I put together a little something to keep the fun going.”
All the trees light up then, fire exploding along cords laced in the branches. Dozens of bats shrieked and fled their trees, circling and swooping down into the crowd. Some of the bats exploded in puffs of colorful smoke, and others lit themselves on fire by barreling through the bon fire. Gleeful shrieks rose from the crowd as the panicked bats looped and corkscrewed in the air. It was a macabre sight, but the townspeople went crazy.
A witch dashed up and threw two handfuls of powder on the fire, causing it to change color from a golden-orange to a deep red, speckled with white-hot flames. The bats that weren’t on fire began to smoke and screech, wheeling wildly to escape their spontaneous combustion.
People all lurched from the crowd and circled the fire and Mandy, breaking out into a creepy dance, mostly with flailing limbs and cartwheels and flips. Fletcher did an impressive move of attempting to launch over the fire in a back flip. Of course, with his luck, he landed inside the inferno, rolling out seconds before he got burned up. No one seemed to mind, though; it was just another one of the crazy moves everyone loved to try.
Until the bats all burned up or exploded, their screeches still fading out, everyone danced and chanted and laughed and sung and attempted dangerous stunts around the fire.
But soon the chaos died down and everyone crowded back around the fire, faces flushed and breathing hard, smiling and laughing. Fletcher and Mandy were laughing and holding each other up. “Exploding bats? That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen!” Fletcher gasped. He raked his hair out of his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
Mandy toppled over and laughed with her head on his legs. “I have to admit, that was way more fun than I’d expected!”
Mayor Mathias called everyone’s attention a moment later by causing the fire to leap towards the sky and change to a violent shade of green. “That was quite fun, my dear Mandy. Now, onto the feast!” He swept a hand in front of the field and the promised feast appeared.
Tables covered in black fabric offered elegantly prepared food. In a bowl made from hand bones were freshly baked breads with different arrays of jams and spreads. Steaks ranged from raw to black, stacked up on welded rib-bones. Eyes bobbed in a pot of reddish soup. The rest of the feast was prepared in similar ways, everything equally grotesque.
The townspeople fell upon the feast, everyone chatting and taking whatever they wanted. The food would never run out, so everyone took as much as they pleased. Fletcher helped Mandy up and they talked the whole time, already scheming up what horrible things they’d do next year.
“This has been the best year ever,” Fletcher said, popping an eye from the soup into his mouth.
Mandy took a gulp of blood-red wine and let the metallic taste roll over her tongue. “Agreed.”
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