31 Harrowing Halloween Tales (part one) (tales 1-15)

*This story is under my folder “31 Halloween tales”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/topic/117842-my-character-designs-lt-33-3?start=240. I’m going to update this every day in October with a new Halloween tale. While not all of the tales are violent, some will be, so I’m rating it 16+. Anyway, enjoy!*

Tale One-And the wi-fi shines bright 

It had been a year since Miranda had completely destroyed her phone. Her parents didn’t know about Zaron, but it wasn’t like they would have believed her anyway.

They had gifted her with a new phone for her nineteenth birthday. She didn’t expect them to give it to her,  but she was grateful for it, nonetheless.

Even more so because her new phone was a regular normal phone, not a phone that could turn into an android that was madly obsessed with her.

Of course, that was what she thought. She only had her phone for a few months. She didn’t know it that well.

It was October. She was at her town’s local Fall Festival. Miranda brought her phone and no friends, because they were all busy and didn’t want to come with her. They were always too busy for her.

Miranda didn’t like it, but that was alright. She’d try to have fun regardless.

………………………………………………………………….

Well, the festival was starting to get too loud, the place too crowded, and Miranda didn’t have enough money to buy all of the snacks she wanted. She had a cupcake, a corn dog, and popcorn, but that still was not enough to satisfy her. Her legs were getting to be very tired, but she would not go home. Not until the end of the festival. She wanted to wait and see if she would have fun later on.

In the meantime, Miranda would be on her phone in the festival bathroom, scrolling through videos.

It was nice to have some time to herself, to have the phone glow invitingly in front of her. It felt like a safe space away from the judgement of the world and goodness, did she miss being on her phone. At least this time, it was a completely normal phone. She wouldn’t have to destroy it. She could keep it for as long as she wanted, until…until…

Her phone was glowing, brighter than it had before. And it was hot. Scalding hot. So hot that she had to drop it to stop the pain.

Right before Miranda’s very eyes, her phone began to twist and turn into something more humanoid and more anime-boy-like, with neon outlines of spiky hair and sharpened claws on a black silhouette, familiar eyes dripping with electric blue goo staring back at her…him. Zaron. The phone she thought she killed a year ago.

“mIrAnDa…I mIsSeD yOu! dID yOu mIsS mE?! dI-“

“Zaron?!! How-what-“

Zaron grinned, a blur of purple silhouetted in a manner of teeth:

“iT wAs RuDe oF yOu tO pUt mE iN wAtEr, bUt I fOrgiVe yOu. anD bEsiDeS,”

He glitched out of view. Miranda got up from the toilet lid seat she was sitting on and was about to leave, but then she felt long, electric-hot wires on her shoulder. A scream was about to rise out of her throat. Then she met Zaron’s eyes and it died.

“I aM tEcHnOlOgY. I cAnNot tRulY dIe.”

The bathroom floor began to feel like it was fading away fast, falling deep into the Earth. Miranda could not hold onto anything no matter how far her hands reached. No screams escaped her lips as she sank further and further…

“yOu aRe cOmiNg wItH mE.”

And a blinding burst of color sprinkled over her eyes.

Tale Two-Sometimes love cannot last

Asa was on his knees in the basement, scrubbing the blood off the floor. His wife, Mallow, had just finished murdering her latest victims with the help of their children, Scary and Pierce. It was Asa’s job to clean up the blood. At first, he was fine with it. Blood didn’t bother him at all. Hell, he killed people with Mallow before they had kids.

But after the children came along, the killing looked less like a game and more like Mallow had deep, burning hatred for humans. And even though she said that she loved him…what if she didn’t really? And what if her version of love was something that harmed him, something that completely destroyed him?

She was upstairs with the kids, boasting about their latest kills. Asa would leave. After he was done cleaning, he’d escape through the window. Asa never thought that he would ever want to run from her, but things had changed a lot since the kids came. He was going to leave and when he did, he wouldn’t ever come back.

There was just one more blood spot he’d need to clean. Asa wiped it off simply with one swipe. That was it! He didn’t have anything else to do.

Without further delay, Asa got up from the ground and ran up to the window, heart racing as his hands shakily reached for the windowsill. All he had to do was jump out. That was it.

The windowsill went up, letting in the afternoon light. Asa stuck his head out, making his way out the window, towards freedom, when-

Asa felt himself being pulled away, sharp claws digging deep into his abdomen. His heart raced with panic, because there was only one living being in the world he knew who could grasp onto him like that.

When he was farther away from the window, the claws let go to throw him on the wall, revealing Mallow in all of her marvelous morbidity. Blood dripped from her claws, her pink-red eyes glinted with a mischievous maliciousness.

“Is fatherhood getting to take its toll on you?” 

Mallow knelt down to Asa’s level, cocking her head to the side as her claws grazed his cheek.

“Don’t worry. We have time alone now. It’ll be just like old times.”

Her claws dug deep into his face. He could feel her tugging on his veins, knew that she would peel off the skin, just like she always did.

“I can’t blame you. It’s only human nature that you’d hate me after the kids. Now it can be us and the blood, just like before.”

A scream tore through his throat, but it wasn’t stronger than Mallow’s claws.

Already he could feel himself slipping away, her eyes the only clear thing he could see…

Tale Three-Friends always stick together 

Gabbie would have liked being a zombie more if it didn’t mean that she had to spend most of her days in the haunted house, scaring people during the Halloween season.

She was missing the ordinary, something that she never thought would happen until Eurania bit her. Scaring people to tears meant nothing without Kristen frightening them with her.

Not that Kristen would ever think about terrifying anybody. She wasn’t that kind of person. She liked the color pink, rom-coms, and collecting flowers. She shrunk away from the idea of being scared and scaring others. It was cruel to her.

But Gabbie wanted to scare people with her friend. Sure, Kristen probably wouldn’t like it, but she’d learn to. It wasn’t that bad anyway.

In fact, Gabbie was waiting for her behind a fake wall of graffiti. She was sure that Kristen’s parents would have pressured her into going, since they were so intent on her acting more like a “normal tween”. Personally, she didn’t understand why they cared so much, but she was counting on them forcing her so that Gabbie could make her a zombie.

Gabbie could not leave the haunted house. Eerie wouldn’t allow it. She wasn’t a natural monster like the clowns Scary and Pierce. She was turned into a monster and because of that, she did not have the freedom to go wherever she wanted.

So in between half-hearted jumpscares that the living thought was genuine because Gabbie’s moans and groans were quite the fright, she’d watch the faces. Though her vision was blurry with the old pink flesh that sometimes seeped into her eyes, she could still see.

An older teenage couple…a boy and his friends…a lone girl…wait…that was a rather obscene amount of pink she wore…could it be…

Gabbie leaned forward to get a closer look. She squinted her eyes, peeled off some of the flesh that was in the way, and could not deny that yes, it was Kristen, huddling her arms close to herself like the scaredy-cat she always was.

A smile crept up on her lips. As annoying as it was, sometimes Kristen’s fear was rather endearing. There was something sweet about how she screamed at zombies and shrunk away from vampires.

Kristen was getting closer to where Gabbie was. She didn’t have anyone else to accompany her, so nobody was around to protect Kristen from the horrors of the undead.

She was getting closer…closer…perfect! She was right next to the wall!

Gabbie reached out and grabbed Kristen, pulling her close and biting her neck, blood oozing into her mouth as she covered Kristen’s to stop her from screaming.

Even if her hand slipped up, no one would know. They would think that it was all part of the attraction.

It’d be a lot to teach her how to live her new unlife, but it wouldn’t be too hard. She’d get used to it.

That was how it was for Gabbie, anyway.

Tale Four-As the night grows dark

The demon girl was able to fight off Morgue more than Fiametta could, black and purple smoke curling from her claws and choking her deep into the abyss of what Fiametta imagined to be Hell, if it was where she was going.

Still, Fiametta channeled her rage into white curls of fog, fog that slashed and sliced Morgue’s skin. She didn’t want Morgue to know a moment of peace, after what she did to her.

When there was nothing but a solid cement ground where Morgue was and all was as silent as a cemetery should have been, Fiametta had to ask:

“Who are you and why are you here?”

The demon girl made a motion of cocking her head, then pulled off the white sheet she was wearing.

Her eyes were a dark, clouded red, black pupils like silts staring back at her. Her skin was as gray as the tombstones, and her black hair flowed in tangled knots around her bright purple dress. Her horns ended in sharpened points and her bony wings were of a darkened magenta.

“Nettie. My name is Nettie. I just came for Halloween candy. Then I saw you. What’s your name?”

Nettie took a step closer. Fiametta was beginning to feel the spark of panic that she used to feel when she was a genuine child. Nettie seemed nice, but why? It was too good to be true.

Or was it?

“I-why? Why do you want to know my name? You’re-not-“

Fiametta hated that she was stuttering so much. In front of a demon, no less. What if Nettie saw that as a weakness and hurt her? She did help, but…

In the dusky darkness of the cemetery, Fiametta didn’t know who or what to trust. She had already died, yet humans did not let her rest. They had their parties on the grounds of the dead and twisted any words of hers to what they wanted it to be instead. What if Nettie had something else in mind? What if she wasn’t really a child demon like she appeared?

“I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to help. Do you want to be friends?”

Friends? Fiametta never had any friends before, not even in life. So to hear that, even if it was from a demon, felt like her everything was finally being made right.

There was still that violent part of her that wanted to fight Nettie, that wanted to protect herself, but an even larger part of her, the one that did not get to come out often, wanted to get to know her. If Nettie ever tried to hurt her, then Fiametta wouldn’t hold back. She wasn’t weak. She’d never let herself be broken again.

But she was so tired of feeling alone.

“Yes.”

Nettie beamed, “Great! I’ll show you all the candies I got!”

She emptied her orange pumpkin bucket on the ground, multicolored candies scattered together. Fiametta knelt down, peering at them all. They looked different from the candies she collected on her last night alive, but something about the scent of the candies felt like home all the same.

Even though she couldn’t touch them, she would pretend that she could. There was no harm in doing so. The night was still growing dark and it was just the two of them.

Well, except for the other ghosts, of course. But they wouldn’t be a bother. And the music academy next door was starting up their violin symphony again.

She’d make sure to thank Nettie later. For the time being, she’d let the colors of the candies enchant her to a memory hazy but not forgotten.

Tale Five-It’s in plain sight 

There was once a young eighteen year old girl named Zelina who was living all alone in her own apartment, with her childhood toys and white vanity mirror to keep her company.

It was a big adjustment for her to move out and live on her own, but it was what she wanted. She couldn’t live with her parents anymore. Her friends would make fun of her and rightfully so. It wasn’t right for her to need them at the age she was in.

Though the movies did make living alone look significantly easier than she imagined it to be. Zelina had to pay for a means to live and college. Her parents helped but somehow it was not enough. Yes, she was grateful not to work, but college was different from her other schools. The assignments kept coming and coming, demanding her every care and attention. Her major in theater wanted her to pour her whole soul out, which she did, but the eye bags were getting darker and nobody tried to be her friend. It wasn’t fun.

Zelina envisioned her life of adulthood as having people to confide in, to share her hopes and fears with, to be the actress she believed she could be with enough determination.

But it didn’t feel like it was enough. Nothing felt like it was enough. The world wanted her to change, she was sure of it. She didn’t want it. It couldn’t happen. Her passion helped her smile for so long…she couldn’t just give it up.

So every day and night, she spoke to her reflection on the mirror. Zelina told her all of her fears about living on her own, her hatred of the idea of having to give up, and words she didn’t even know she’d say.

Zelina knew that her reflection was just that, a reflection. But when she was alone, nobody could judge.

For a brief moment of her time, she had a friend to confide in. That was something she wouldn’t trade the world for. Hell, the mirror was starting to become her whole world.

She would talk to it, day in and day out, until, one day-

Her reflection moved on its own. Zelina thought she imagined it blinked, but she still had an inner wariness within her, so she opened her mouth to ask it a question and its lips did not move with her. Now, Zelina would have screamed if it weren’t for:

“What are you worrying about? You’re perfect just the way you are!”

The voice came from her reflection. It sounded just like her own, but it had a slight distortion to it that sounded like a scratchy radio.

“Are you talking to me?” Zelina asked, uncertain on what to do or say.

“Who else would I be speaking to? Yes, it’s you. And you’re being ridiculous. All this negativity and for what? They’re not worth your time. Their opinions don’t matter. You are wonderful and if I have to tell you for all of eternity, then fine, I will.”

The reflection spoke with a hint of annoyance, but with earnestness. Her eyes were full of sincerity. Zelina didn’t know what to think. It scared her, yes, but it wasn’t too terrifying. She knew the face and the voice. It was somebody telling her that they loved her, that she was perfect. It wasn’t criticizing her or asking her to do more. It was just there for her.

It wasn’t every day that something like that happened.

“How are you…alive?” Zelina asked, for her curiosity was starting to overcome her fear.

The reflection smiled, seemingly pleased that Zelina wanted to talk to her.

“I’ve come alive from your own thoughts and feelings. You gave me life and now I have become my own person.”

“I…I did?”

“You did!” The reflection clapped her hands together after she said that. 

Zelina paused, thinking about it. She brought her reflection to life? That just…happened? 

“It doesn’t happen often with beings of my nature, so you should count yourself lucky. You have no idea how happy I am to be here.”

That was all fine and good, but did the reflection really want to be her friend? Or was it supposed to be her friend? How much of its-her-own person was the reflection, really?

Zelina didn’t want to worry about it, but still, the thoughts came.

“You can call me…Lavelle! Yes, that sounds nice. Now, why don’t we talk some more? You don’t have school today, so there’s plenty of time!” The reflection, propping one hand on her chin as if she wanted to listen.

The reflection must have gotten that name from her favorite lipstick brand, as that was what it was called. But Zelina thought that it was perfect for her.

She wasn’t going to say no to Lavelle, either. Only a truly foolish person would do that. It wasn’t that weird for her reflection to come alive. It was just a new friend.

Zelina always wanted a friend.

…………………………………………………………………

For a while, Zelina ran straight to her mirror in the beginning and end of her day, telling Lavelle every happiness and worry that she had, glad that there was someone who would listen.

No, Lavelle did more than listen. She agreed with everything Zelina said. Nobody ever did that. To have someone who saw her as doing something good with any choice she made was what made Zelina feel like she finally had someone in her life who would truly understand her, who wouldn’t misinterpret her or make her feel less than.

So that was that. Zelina had her mirror friend and the concerns of anyone else meant nothing to her. She could be as wondrously childlike as she pleased without anyone to shut her down, to restrain her. Nothing was better than the moments they shared together in the pink LED string light glow of her room.

“Zelina, come closer. I want to see your pretty makeup.” 

She froze. Wasn’t she close enough? If she did as Lavelle asked, then wouldn’t the mirror break? And Zelina didn’t want the mirror to shatter…

“It’s okay. It won’t break. Just trust me.”

Lavelle’s smile seemed genuine, like always. Only the dolls’ eyes were on Zelina and Lavelle waited on the other side. Lavelle, who had her brown eyes, her frizzy, black hair, her crooked teeth.

If her reflection could talk, then why would it lie? She had Zelina’s best interests at heart, always.

She leaned forward in her vanity chair and rested her head against the mirror. A coldness washed over her as she-wait-she couldn’t feel the vanity against her chest anymore-she was-falling?!

But as quickly as it happened, it stopped. Zelina felt arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, so tight that she almost couldn’t breathe and then, she dared to look up.

“The world does not understand or love you the way that I do. How can it when you are you?” Lavelle asked.

She held Zelina’s face with both of her hands, her brown eyes sparkling gently. Her mouth slightly quirked up into a smile, but it was not quite complete.

“I can help you. Just hold onto me and will we merge.”

Zelina blinked, startled out of her amazement.

“Merge?”

“We’ll become one shadow amongst the walls and take away anyone who insults our beauty.”

“What?” Zelina asked, for she did not yet understand.

Lavelle pulled her closer, so that they were merely inches apart. The room they were in was clear-colored, floating all around them like a thick liquid.

“We’ll come together and reveal ourselves to humans. If they shrink away, we’ll kill them.” She smiled.

In just a few seconds, Zelina’s vision went dark as she got closer to Lavelle, until she could see from Lavelle’s eyes. No. Not just Lavelle’s eyes.

Her eyes.

It was both uncomfortable and welcoming, not quite like wearing a suit, but seeing so much clearer than she could have ever imagined that it was almost blinding.

But like always, Zelina let Lavelle lead the way as they both spilled out into the real world, ready to take away anyone who had the nerve to be afraid of them.

Being oneself was accepted until it wasn’t the self that anyone wanted.

Tale Six-Treasures at sea

A little girl and her family went to the beach 

Two dolls she clutched, her only friends

She set them down on the sandy shores

Watching the waters with them

Dreaming of staying with them

There was another little girl on the beach

With plastic toys that floated in the soft waves

The girl with her dolls watched

She had never seen such a sight before

And she wanted her dolls to float too

So she grabbed them both and ran

Off to the ocean, she let them swim

Their hair sparkled with the rainbows of the sea

Their painted lips seemed to turn up in a smile

The little girl watched, delight in her eyes 

They were just like humans, out on the water!

The other girl began to pick up her toys

So she did too

But her fingers slipped with one

And away with the current it went

The little girl watched yet again

Tears pooling from her eyes

She couldn’t swim out to it

The ocean far too big

And she far too small

So her parents did what parents do

They brought her a replacement 

But it just wasn’t the same

The other one was lost in sea

Taken to the mermaids, they said

For a while that kept her content

Still, she waved at any water she passed

Safe in her family’s car

Longing to see her friend again

Even as she grew older 

And her belief in all things magic dimmed

She wanted nothing more than to see her again

To find her, no matter how she looked

On a moonless night 

In another vacation 

The girl, almost a woman

Who had never forgotten that doll

Never forgave that day

Jumped into the water

To reclaim her lost friend

She swam the best she could

Following the sparkles of the water

And the chime of the waves 

Further she went, she didn’t care if her doll had rot

A mermaid’s song was weaving through the air

Was it a dream or was it not?

The girl didn’t care, she’d prevail 

No more watching and waiting 

She’d swim as long as she could

Maybe she’d sink with her doll

Either way, they’d never part

Not now and never again 

Treasures at sea

Are not just jewels

You see!

Tale Seven-A daunting devotion 

Candy Necklace tapped his claws against the wall, watching Adam writhe in terror. He was asleep, dreaming of what Candy Necklace would do to him. Dreaming…but not quite.

For Candy Necklace had seen how Adam had looked at Aisling, how his eyes had lingered far too long on her.

Yes, he may have only been her friend, but he was human. He could talk to her whenever he wanted without worrying about what others would think of him. He could steal her away with his human charms.

Adam didn’t have to hide and wait and lurk. He didn’t have sharp teeth and claws that could frighten others away from him.

He was only human, but that was enough for Candy Necklace to want him dead.

The clown creeped closer to Adam’s bed, raising a claw and slashing his stomach. Blood seeped onto the green bedsheets and dripped out of his long white claws. He’d lick it off later.

The boy’s eyes shot open. Good. He had to be awake for it. He deserved to see what would happen to him.

And Candy Necklace didn’t wait for him to scream. He kept on slashing him apart until Adam stopped moving, until the red splattered all over the orange and black striped jumpsuit Candy Necklace had to wear at all times.

His back hurt from being bent over Adam’s bed, a side effect of being as tall as a stilt-walker. But the pain was worth it to see him thrash. Adam didn’t stand a chance.

A faint purple light rose from the boy’s corpse. Candy Necklace grasped it with his slender claws and slunk back into the darkness.

He’d leave the body but take the soul. Nobody would ever love Aisling the way he did.

………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………….

It wasn’t the Halloween season yet, but it would be when the day was done. The morning of September Thirtieth had just begun.

But just because it wasn’t Halloween didn’t mean that Candy Necklace would wait to torture Adam’s soul. He hated waiting! All the best things came from taking!

At the moment, he was using his magic to conjure up all sorts of nightmares for Adam and not just nightmares, but sparkling orange tentacle-things that choked him and threw him whichever way, making him feel alive no matter how dead he was.

Sure, Circe the Ringmaster could keep Candy Necklace locked and hungry until Halloween, but she could not contain his love. He thought that he’d never love again after Circe took him away from his Mom, but when Aisling crept into his life, he felt his heart beat faster than it ever did before, the strings of love bleeding into his lungs.

And he wasn’t going to let anyone come between them.

Tale Eight-Maggots, magic and morbidity 

It was a lovely dark and foggy night in the crisp chill of October. In a cobwebbed and broken-down house, hidden away from many humans, there sat Scary the clown in front of her pitch-black vanity, pulling the maggots away from in between her teeth.

Now, having maggots in her teeth wasn’t really a problem for the job she worked. Scary was, well, a scare actor, but it was nice to not feel the little things squirm in her teeth every second of her life.

She reached in with her one claws, pulling them out as quickly as she could. Scary wasn’t going to pull them one by one, the sky would darken in a few hours and she needed enough for her job!

But still, she wished that they wouldn’t move around so much and so fast, too! It was quite frustrating to have them slip from her claws, yet she only needed to grab a few more out…

“What are you going to do with those leftover maggots?”

Scary did not turn her head away from the mirror, her eyes moved on their own to face the orange-and-black clown that stood at her door, with her swiggly smile and cookie-like eyes, her witchly whimsical wife…

Spooky the Clown, the not-very-scary clown of Dahlia’s Halloween Fair, selling spelltacular cookies to all of the humans that visited.

But she never asked about the maggots, so hearing that was a bit of an oddity.

Attempting to yank out a particularly stuck maggot, Scary smiled as sweetly as she could, “I’ll feed em’ to the zombies.”

“I have a better use for em’. “ Spooky smiled.

She then walked up to Scary, her boots making little bell sounds as she did so. When her orange eyes were not that far from Scary’s white ones, she took the maggots from the petri dish and stuffed them in her skirt pocket.

“Flavor for the cookies!” Spooky declared, her eyes sparkling like the fake glitter she put on them.

Yes, she was a clown, so it was a given that she wouldn’t be serious, but she never lied. Yet there was no way that she would-

“You’re going to give the humans maggot cookies?” 

A grin crept on Scary’s face, incredulous and amused. Spooky had never given the humans cookies with creatures inside of them before. It was quite unlike her to want to poison the humans, too!

But Spooky laughed, a startling and shrill cackle and said:

“No, they’re not for the humans! They’re for me. As a little snack. To think of you while I’m on the job.”

Scary always had a smile on her face, it was hard for her to not smile, but that was one was much smaller and softer than the one she used to frighten humans. If Spooky noticed it, then she said nothing as she walked off. That was alright. She’d let Spooky know what she thought about taking the little worm-like animals later, because…

Spooky liked the maggots.

Tale Nine-What a way to end the night!

It was Clement’s first time at a Halloween party and he was not wearing a costume at all. He didn’t really feel like dressing and most of the other teens seemed to agree with that sentiment, except, there were some people who were wearing costumes.

Only a few. Clement didn’t care much for the holiday itself, not since he was in sixth grade. He only came because he wanted to see what it was that made the party sO imPOrTanT.

The music was ear-drum bleeding-no, brain-bleeding-loud and not a single person in the room knew a thing about personal space. Clement could not only feel but smell the yellowing mildew of sweat on his body. There was absolutely nothing exciting going on, aside from how everyone clawed at each other and screamed like they didn’t know how to have conversations.

He squeezed past the mounds of people, eager to get to the door, which seemed to get farther the more he walked. No, it was just the crowds that made it look like that. He was almost there-

A sharp, jagged pain jolted up his arm. His scream went dry in his throat as he looked in horror and disbelief at the person in the hairiest werewolf costume imaginable taking a bite out of his arm. Yes, there was committing to the bit and then being too committed.

Clement pulled his arm away from the offender and walked right out the door, all too glad to feel the cool air on his face.

And the person had managed to make him bleed! Lovely.

………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………..

A flash of fur in his face, but it was on his skin. All over him. He couldn’t tell what color it was, the moon was not bright enough, but it was dark and suffocating, so hot he could almost feel the blood in his bones…it wasn’t his blood…no, it couldn’t be…

What? Why wouldn’t it be his own blood? Who else could it…

The screams. Everybody was so loud, so frightened. They held onto him before they crumbled. 

There was a strange taste in his mouth. Like iron and…wax? He wasn’t sure, but it tasted like it wasn’t supposed to be there.

He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He needed to survive. If they were in his way then that was their problem, not his. He needed-

Clement stopped. He was cold. Freezing cold. He could feel the wind tearing at his skin, which couldn’t be possible, because he made sure to dress accordingly to the weather…but…his clothes…his clothes were in tatters, hanging loosely to his light brown skin that had vibrant, vivid streaks of warm blood dripping on him, snaking around his body like maggots waiting to make a home inside his flesh. It was too close. But it wasn’t him who was bleeding. He didn’t feel any cuts.

A sharp breath shattered from Clement’s throat when his eyes caught what lay beneath him. They were bodies of people he didn’t recognize, people he couldn’t recognize even if he tried to. Their flesh was torn and bleeding, opening up pink-red blemishes on the skin that once kept it stitched together.

He stood in the middle of the woods, the stones digging into his feet and the dirt seeping under his toenails. It seemed that the entire world wanted to crawl inside him and choke him.

Clement remembered bits and pieces. The fur that splintered from his bones, growing too fast. The blood that spilled between his teeth, he could still taste it. The broken screaming from people desperate enough to cling to him, to plead to him.

He took a step back. He had to. He had to think for a moment…if he could just piece it all together…but he was so cold…the fur had kept him warm, when it was there…and so did the blood…the blood…it was still on him!

He had to go home. He had to take a long, hot shower. He needed to get it all off.

Clement reached into a pocket that still stayed firmly attached to his jeans and grabbed his phone, turning on the flashlight mode. He didn’t remember how he got there, but he would try to find a way out.

And he hoped that no one would find out what he did.

Tale Ten-Empath

Her parents told Mischa that being an empath was good. That people liked someone who was an empath.

She was not quite sure if empaths were real. People were just people and she felt because she lived in drama. She had tried to get herself to calm down, to not be so emotional, but everything rose up inside her and choked her from within. Mischa could not explain it to anyone. There were no words that could describe it as vividly as she felt it.

And she was feeling it again, glancing at June every few seconds because she couldn’t look away from his amber eyes that had dark, shadowy rings surrounding them and his bandaged hands that he hid under the desk, the bandages white ropes around his bloody skin.

No, he did not fight anyone. June came to school every day with blood on his flesh. Nobody knew where it came from and nobody asked.

June lifted his head just slightly, his eyes meeting hers. He didn’t smile, his face gloomy like that of a ghost. Still, he kept his hands under the table.

Mischa sharply turned away, trying to focus on the gray words that grew and shrank on her lined white notebook page. She didn’t want to look at him. She didn’t want to think of kissing those cracked lips, of holding those gaunt hands. She didn’t want to. He did not love. He could not love. Looking at him, she couldn’t be more sure of it.

But that was just it. She couldn’t stop looking at him. Even turned away, her eyes still moved on their own, drawn to him.

They should not have been. But they were.

……………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………….

She could see every outline of every little thing in her room. It was completely dark, but she was awake long enough to see the details.

Mischa’s eyes felt like there was iron underneath them, weighing them down. She tried squeezing them shut and still, nothing happened.

He lurked through the night, leaving the bodies to color the grass. He went after them all. Yes, even the children and babies. The blood filled up the holes inside him, so thick and rich with life that he couldn’t keep all of it down.

She gripped the sheets, because she couldn’t run. June had a hold on her. Yes, it was June! She could see his face, feel his skin from inside, because she was connected to him, because she could see in his eyes…

He wanted fresh blood. He needed fresh blood. For centuries, June had lived as a young boy, never close to being the man he wanted to be. And he punished the world because of it. He wanted them all to stay eternally young and eternally in torment just as he did, except they didn’t get the justice of a body. They didn’t get to grow and change. They only got to suffer.

Tears welled in Mischa’s eyes, mixing with the blood that was popping from her veins. She still couldn’t run. She still couldn’t protect them.

It wasn’t like June was born that way, but he still made the choice. Something had hurt him and he didn’t have any room in his heart to ever love again.

She couldn’t scream. Her blood was popping out of her veins, she could hear it bursting in her ears. June had such lovely black hair, so soft and so curly, the ends stuck together and slick with blood, because of course they were. Everything about him was bloody. He couldn’t change that and he didn’t want to.

He couldn’t see her. She felt that he didn’t even know she was there, just as she felt disappointment burn under her fright when he didn’t notice her in class. He was harmful and he knew it, morbid and he liked it.

Maybe it was a speck of humanity, barely there at all, that Mischa could cling to. Maybe that was the reason she couldn’t take her eyes off him, no matter how hard she tried.

And as her body continued to tear at the mercy of her feelings, her strange, betraying, delightful feelings, she knew that no heaven nor hell waited for her.  There would be this understanding that would pour out from every broken part of her, until there was nothing left.

Mischa could already feel the nothingness creep in to choke.

Tale Eleven-Morbid child

Maribel lay on the couch, flipping through the channels. No, she didn’t want to watch horror movies. She just wanted to find her favorite cartoon from childhood. Everything on the TV was changed for the Halloween season, but she’d find the show on there. It was still up, she just had to keep looking for it.

Just one more click-

The melody of a soft, lilting bell like a dying flower swirled throughout the house. Someone was outside.

She sat up from the couch and walked up to the door, smoothing her hair in the process. Maribel didn’t expect anyone to come over.

Once there, she opened it and came face-to-face with a little girl, her black hair held together by something clear and sticky, dripping onto the ground. She wore a mud-stained teal pajama set and had toilet paper wrapped around her dirty and bloody feet. She shivered as if she were cold and her eyes…

Her eyes were pitch black. No sclera, no pupils. Just pure darkness. 

“Can I come in?” The little asked, her voice wispy like the dying autumn leaves.

Maribel supposed that she shouldn’t let the child in, for legends warned of some gruesome fate for anyone to let a black-eyed child into their home.

But then, she never understood why people were so afraid of black-eyed children. Yes, the black eyes were scary, but they were still only children. Just because they looked frightening didn’t mean that they were demons.

“Yes, of course!” Maribel beamed, opening the door wider for the little girl.

The little girl stood still, staring at Maribel as though she were stunned. Maribel still smiled and left the door open.

She walked inside, twirling her sickly hair as she did so. Maribel closed the door softly.

………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………….

“What’s your name? I’m Maribel.”

The little girl was feasting on a plate of scrambled eggs, hurriedly sticking the pieces in her mouth with a fork. Maribel thought that it’d be nice to get to know the poor creature more, that maybe they could be friends.

Others her age would say it was strange, but she didn’t mind. A potential friend could be found in anybody.

“It’s Fayette.” The little girl said between a mouth full of food.

“Hmm. Fayette. That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you!”

Fayette wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and used the other to unwrap the bandages on her feet, which were still bleeding. She watched the TV intently. Yes, Maribel could see her head turned towards the TV.

And the cartoons were on!

“You’re welcome. Now, Fayette,” Maribel took up a chair in front of her, hoping that she wasn’t bothering the child too much, “If you don’t mind me asking, what brings you here?”

Fayette froze. One of her hands was shaking a little, the egg bits falling off her fingernails. She didn’t use any utensils for her breakfast.

“I…I just…I just want somewhere to stay. I just want to be home.”

Fayette’s voice cracked a little like she was about to cry, but she didn’t. Maribel reached out and squeezed her hand gently. Fayette didn’t move.

“Are you lost?” Maribel asked softly.

“No. Not now.” Fayette shook her head.

Maribel smiled and let go of her hand. She had never raised any children herself, but she thought it’d be best to keep the child with her. She’d try her best, too.

“I’ll take you to the bathroom so you can go clean yourself. Come, I’ll show you. I’ll get you bandages for your feet too.”

Maribel got up. So did Fayette.

Fayette followed her to the bathroom, twirling a strand of her hair as she did so.

Tale Twelve-Strange and soft creatures 

The sun was coming up. The sky was orange and black, just like Halloween. Brixley watched the sun rise from clinging to the trunk of a tree.

One of her long, white bunny ears twitched. It was a year since she and her boyfriend, Fabian, turned into bunny-monster-human hybrids. She hadn’t gotten used to it. Her body felt like it was trying to kill her from the inside out, like it was punishing her for feasting on human flesh.

Not that she wanted to, anyway. But there was no other choice.

Fabian didn’t like many people, so he was gleeful to kill any human he saw. But he liked Brixley. He always hugged and kissed Brixley.

She loved it. She loved it all. She loved being held and told that she was pretty, even with flesh clinging onto her sharp teeth and her bunny ears drooping.

But she didn’t fully believe it. She knew that she was a monster and she wouldn’t rest until she found out what had made her that way.

Brixley let go of the tree trunk and ran.

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

Those poor little bunnies in that lab, dead with wires stuck to them. Why were they back there, at the petting zoo?

The petting zoo that she and Fabian went to late at night, the place where they were forever changed. Brixley didn’t know what kind of creature would take them all away like that…or why.

She ran. She didn’t really want to go anywhere yet. She knew that she would have to hunt soon. That was all she and Fabian did. They loved and they hunted and they never got to walk out in full daylight.

Like one of those macabre songs he liked to scream into a microphone when he was human.

If only what happened to them was just a song. Then Brixley could play it, rock out, and forget about the world temporarily. She could-

She stopped. There was something else in the woods. Something that was not Fabian nor any other animal.

It looked almost like a human, but its height was closer to that of a tree. Spider legs protruded from its back and it stood hunched, its claws curled as if to kill.

Brixley stood still, watching, waiting.

The creature slipped into the shadows and Brixley felt like she could run again.

Tale Thirteen-When you grow up

When you grow up

Something rather strange happens 

You lose touch

With that wish and wonder

Everything seems all dark and bleak

Not as bright as before

(The colors were more vivid, weren’t they?)

You swear that they were 

Every day goes by too fast for you to remember 

Time is lightning quick

So you’ll be ready for the coffin just in time

When you go to sleep at night

Dreams escape you

They used to let you stay

They used to let you wander their infinite halls

But one night

(You didn’t even notice)

When you were thirteen

Something slipped into your window

You left it open a crack to let in the fresh air

You didn’t believe in monsters like you used to

And that was your first mistake

For the monsters that chased you as a child

They do not want to kill you

That would be too easy

Not very rewarding

They wait until you’re thirteen

When you start to think you understand 

Then they come

They creep by your bed

They stretch out their claws

They reach into the emotional bindings of your heart and brain…

And then…

They steal your soul

It’s pearlescent and shimmering

Like rainbows in water

They store it in their dark cloaks

Where it will dim and rot

Then they disappear 

You wake up

You don’t notice anything different 

But the years go on

The magic has lost its luster 

You don’t even know, but…

You lost your soul

We all do

Can you hold on tight enough?

Can you push them away fast enough?

Maybe it will not matter

Maybe we all must

Lose our souls

Someday

Tale Fourteen-Nobody likes death

Darien heard a voice at school 

A woman who told him to “fear death not”

Death?

But why such an idea at such a young age?

He told his older sister, Lauriel, as soon as he got home 

“Nightmares, Darien. Nightmares.”

Could nightmares really be so?

If it happened in the daylight?

He wasn’t just hearing her voice in his dreams

He was hearing it in the school halls

His parents’ room upstairs 

In the outside, even

He could hear on Hallows’ Eve

But her voice didn’t scare him away from the old spooks 

It was if the day of despair and death

Protected him from that strange woman

Years went on

Darien never spoke of the woman again

He did marry

(His name was Soren)

And he never heard the woman’s voice

How lovely, then!

It was all a dream after all!

Isn’t it so convenient?

That she should leave when he grew?

And yet…

In the linings of Hallows’ Eve

The creaks of the floorboards 

The teeth of the creeps

Eyes of a ghost

She would wait 

She would snatch

She would stay

Darien would hear her again 

(Maybe even see her)

On one soul-melting day

Tale Fifteen-Feed on her flesh

Is it so bad to want it?

Her love’s not quite human

His teeth are more like chainsaws

He has to taste that rich blood

So decadent like chocolate 

And if she felt his teeth on her skin

Tearing her apart, limb by limb

Then swallowing the bits of tender tongue

She’d be nothing but bones

Even then

Those bones would be all gone

So would it be so criminal?

To satiate his needs?

She’d be closer than ever

She’d be apart of him 

In him

Be him

Forever

He may be a monster 

But a monster’s got to eat

Who is she to say no?

She’d love to make him complete 

For a gory end fascinates her so

Staying for love is not quite fun

There’s got to be more to it

More guts galore

For the hearts that beat in sync

That’s for sure