Halloween Night

It was dark that Halloween night. No moon, no stars - even the street lights looked as if they had dimmed themselves to fit the atmosphere around them. Hailey had never seen anything like it, not in all of her 16 years of trick or treating. 

The darkness wasn't the only thing that was off about that night. The thick fog surrounding the neighbourhood was also particularly ominous, hanging like a dark cloak across the sky and with it, the smell of rotting leaves that seemed like it had followed Hailey and her brother through the streets. 

Hailey was no scaredy-cat but she certainly wasn't unaware of her surroundings. Something was weirdly off about that night, and she knew it. 

She just didn't know how bad it was. 

It didn't matter anyway, she told herself. They had practically finished trick or treating the whole street and were approaching their own house pretty quickly. She assured herself it wouldn't be long until she was wrapped in a blanket and snoozing off into November's morning. 

However, when they had just reached the gate of their house, Hailey caught Dylan looking off into the distance with a sense of curiosity. Peeking over the head of her brother's dinosaur costume to see what the younger boy was looking at, she stopped in dread.

 The neighbour's house. 

The only house they hadn't trick or treated at. 

And by looking at the house, anyone would agree that Hailey had avoided the house for good reason. It was owned  by an old widow who never left the house - in fact, you wouldn't she was in there if not for the lights she put on at night. The neighbourhood had seemed disturbed by her presence since her arrival the year before and terrifying rumors had spread about her. 

The thought of knocking on the woman's door was enough to send anyone running. 

"Absolutely not, Dylan." Hailey spoke before Dylan could voice his idea.

"Why not?" Dylan turned to her, "It's just a house!"

 Hailey huffed like she had seen her mother do at the young boy. "Dylan you already have enough candy..."

"But it wouldn't hurt to have more." 

It could hurt. "Dylan I'm not going-"

"Because what?" Dylan teased back sassily, "Because you're a scaredy-cat?"

"I am not!"

"Are to!" Dylan giggled, poking his finger in her face, "Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat, Hailey is a scaredy cat!" 

"Dylan, I am not a scaredy cat!" 

"Are to!"

"I am not!"

"Are to!"

"I am not!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe we're here." Hailey groaned to herself as the two stood upon the porch of the widow's house. Dylan had obviously won with his teasing. 

Hailey turned to her brother with a scowl, "You knock, we get the candy, and we get out, got it?" She reiterated to him. The boy nodded as Hailey turned to face the door. "If she doesn't answer, we're leaving." 

She could already feel the chill down her spine as her brother knocked twice against the creaky wooden door. If he'd knocked any harder, the door would have likely came off it's hinges. 

They waited. Hailey counted the seconds. 

1, 2, 3, 4....

She was just about to leave when footsteps echoed throughout the house. Slow and heavy, they sounded as if the person inside the house was dragging themselves to the door. 

Hailey looked at Dylan and Dylan looked at Hailey. 

The braced for whatever would meet them as the door swung open. 

Within a moment the stench of musky moths surrounded both of the siblings and even evoked a cough from Hailey. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. An old woman leaning against a cane stood rather crookedly before them. Her eyes were beady and her lips hung low to her chin in a permanent frown. Her clothes looked almost as if they were a costume; raggedy and blank against her pale skin. 

Hailey couldn't even open her mouth to speak. 

Neither could Dylan. 

It seemed like an eternity of silence before he coughed up the line he had said to every neighbour they had met that night.

"Trick or...treat?" This time it sounded hesitant.

The woman looked over the both of them for several seconds, her eyebrows meeting over her nose as if she was suspicious of the two. "I don't have any candy." She said blankly. 

Hailey's hand immediately grasped hold of her brother's forearm, "That's okay," She feigned a polite smile as she turned to leave, "We'll just be going-"

"But I have something else for you." 

Hailey turned back to the woman, confusion dripping from her features as her mind reeled with assumptions on what it could be. Most of them were not pleasant. She dropped Dylan's arm reluctantly, however.  

The woman ignored Hailey and looked at Dylan as if she were studying him. "If you could have anything," her coarse voice croaked, "anything, you wanted...what would it be?" 

Dylan stuttered for a moment. He was not expecting that question. He was expecting maybe a, "I have some popsicles in the refrigerator, would you like some?" or, "do you like scones?" but this wasn't the question he had already come up with an answer for. 

"You're gonna give me a wish?" Dylan answered her question with a question. The woman just nodded. 

He sent a quick glance towards his sister as if to ask for permission before he blurted, "Dinosaur World." 

Hailey tried hissing out a, "No!" But it was too late. The idea of the creepy woman next door granting wishes sounded almost sinister to her, and she really didn't want her or her brother to have any part in it. 

But he'd already said it, of course.

The widow frowned slightly, "Dinosaur world?"

Dylan nodded eagerly, almost forgetting where he was at the mention of his favourite video game, "Yeah, I want a play station and a TV so I can play Dinosaur world forever and ever!" 

"I don't want to do any chores or homework!" He added dramatically, "I just want to finally be able to play Dinosaur world on my own play station every day, all day!" 

The widow's eyebrows lifted, "I see." She hummed momentarily in thought, "Wish granted, then."

"Wait, really?" Dylan asked, shocked. The woman simply nodded. 

Hailey didn't like the turn of the situation at all. Grasping her brother's arm again, she tried to drag him away from the woman. "Okay, well, we really need to be going-"

"But what about you?" Dylan wailed as she pulled on his arm, "Don't you want a wish?"

Hailey looked down at her brother and then at the woman. For a slip of a moment she swore there was a grin on her face. It was probably just her imagination, however. 

"No, No," Hailey tried to persuade the boy, "I'm pretty cold now. We have to get back." Try as she might, the boy wouldn't budge. 

"Come on," He urged as if he were totally sure the wish would happen, "it's better than candy!" 

Hailey stopped and sighed, assuring herself that it was just the woman's last ditch effort to avoid her house getting egged and that it wouldn't happen anyway. All she needed was to ask for something off the top of her head and they could go home. 

"Um, well..."

The woman peered at her through the gross beady eyes in her face, "Careful what you wish for." She advised, "You only have one wish, so make it wisely."  

Hailey rolled her eyes mentally. The woman was really playing along with it. 

"Well," Hailey finally said, "I suppose I want someone who'll always love me, no matter what." It was easy and basic. It would happen even if the woman wasn't legit. 

The woman nodded, "Good choice." 

But for some reason, Hailey felt like it wasn't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you made me go over there." Hailey hissed to her brother as the two placed their discarded dinosaur costumes in the closet in the laundry closet. 

"It wasn't even that bad." 

"It was!" Hailey insisted, "Did you see that woman's face?! She's freaky!" 

Dylan rolled his eyes, "Someone's scared of old frail ladies." 

Hailey walked over to the basement light and flicked it off, waiting for the younger boy to get to the stairs before she climbed them. "Dylan, she said she would give us wishes instead of candies. Who does that?" No one did. 

"It's Halloween, Hailey. People like being spooky. Besides," Dylan walked out of the darkness and into the light from the kitchen above the staircase, "It's probably fake anyway."

"You didn't sound like you believed it was fake." Hailey stepped up the staircase as Dylan followed.

"I hope its not fake." Dylan shot back, "I want my own PlayStation and Dinosaur World. Your wish was lame. Poor old Hailey wants someone to love her!" 

Hailey grumbled to herself as they reached the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hailey couldn't stop thinking about it that night. She tossed and turned in her bed but she just could not get the thought of the old woman out of her head. Every time she closed her eyes the woman's smile would appear in the darkness behind her eyelids. 

At one point she had even got out of bed and crept towards the window to where she could see the woman's second story window just across the way. She expected the woman to be there smiling at her, but she wasn't. It was just an empty room with the light on. 

It's all just your imagination. Hailey scolded herself as she stared up at the ceiling a while later. And after that, when she closed her eyes the neighbour didn't appear behind her eyelids anymore. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning of November the first was sunny and perfect - a wild contrast to the night beforehand. The birds tweeted just outside Hailey's window and the neighbourhood was alive with the sound of cars rumbling and lawn mowers mowing. Hailey's eyes opened slightly and as soon as they felt the sun's rays against them, they widened. 

It was morning, and she was okay. 

Sitting upwards in her bed, Hailey spared a glance at her neighbour's house - right in the window. She saw nothing but a curtain pulled over the glass. Sighing in relief, she pulled her feet across the bed and landed them on the floor. She stretched her arms wide over her bedsheet and pulled them in slowly. 

That's when she felt something against her hand. 

Perplexed, she looked down at her blue bed sheet to find some small white thing against it. Frowning, she reached out to pick it up between her fingers but she was stopped by the sound of her mother's voice, calling her from downstairs. 

Brushing the object off the bed, she proceeded to head out of her room and down towards her mother, who was in the kitchen. 

As soon as her mother saw her, her eyebrows flickered upwards, "Your hair looks wild today." She joked. 

"My hair always looks wild." Hailey returned with a laugh, "In fact, I just look wild in general." 

"Yes," Her mother returned, "And I'll always love you no matter what you look like." 

The sentence stopped Hailey in her tracks, but before she could comment on it her mother turned away to cook at the stove. Hailey felt weirded out by the coincidence. 

Walking past her mother she headed into the downstairs bathroom. Switching on the light, she was able to see her appearance in the mirror for the first time that morning. Her auburn hair was actually very wild. Of course, as she had said to her mother, it was always wild. She had naturally curly hair so it was always frizzy, no matter what she put in it. 

But this time it was different. 

It was like several parts of her hair had curled into fur balls on her scalp. Reaching her hand up as she stared at herself in the mirror, she pulled on one of the fur ball lumps on her head.

To her horror, it came out easily.

Her face went as pale as a ghost's in the mirror's reflection as she felt past the ball in her palm to the spot of hairless flesh on her head where it had been. Her eyes searched the ones in the reflection as if they would give her an answer. Her jaw dropped open at the severity of the situation and revealed something even worse.

For far back in her mouth, almost unnoticeable to the eye, was a gap.

A gap where a tooth had been. 

It couldn't be.

She knew she shouldn't have, but she dropped the ball of fluff on the ground and reached out into her mouth, where she grabbed hold of one of her front teeth. 

With little to no effort, the tooth fell from its place in her gum and clattered in the porcelain sink below her. 

Blood began to pour out of the hole and unto her lip. 

She screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dylan awoke as soon as he had heard the birds tweeting out the window. November had come, and with it it might have brought his wish. 

See, he was sure the old lady was just playing - and the notion was especially made clear by Hailey - but he just had that little teeny tiny weeny slither of hope that he would get what he asked for. 

He had been wanting the Dinosaur World game and a play station to play it on for months now. When he'd asked if he could have it for Christmas, his parent's said no, simply because of the fact that they didn't want him to become unhealthily attached to it. If the lady was actually going to grant his wish then they wouldn't have to buy him one. 

And they wouldn't be able to confiscate it either, because they didn't pay for it. 

Then, he could play it all day, every day. 

That thought was enough to launch Dylan upwards in his bed. He looked around the room, expecting to see that it was empty and that he had been pranked, but to his absolute surprise, there it stood. 

A TV, a PlayStation, and the DVD case to Dinosaur world. 

All placed neatly in front of him. 

Dylan rubbed his eyes as if he believed the image to be a hallucination. 

He was delighted to find that it was not. 

Hopping down from his bed, he crawled his way over to the set and marvelled at the sight of it. Without even hesitating, he switched it on and watched as the screen flickered to life. 

Shaky with surprise, Dylan placed his disk into the PlayStation and watched as the Dinosaurs appeared on the screen, along with the game's title. Quickly grasping the remote in his hands he pressed 'play' on the game title screen. 

He just couldn't believe it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hailey grew more and more terrified as her hand reached up to grab chunks of her fading hair from her head. Each time she pulled the hair would come out without pain and roll up in a curly auburn ball on her hand. She sobbed as she looked down at the mounds of beautiful hair discarded at her feet. 

"Hailey!" Her mother came rushing in, only to scream in horror herself as she stared at the image of her daughter that appeared before her.

"What did you do?!" Her mother screeched as she ran towards the girl and grasped hold of her forearms. She was worried that the girl might have accidentally used some sort of hair removal cream on her hair.

She was absolutely frightened when her daughter sobbed back that she had done nothing to her hair and showed her the teeth in the sink that used to be securely in her mouth. 

"Oh gosh, Hailey! How did this happen?!" Her mother implored for the answer. She was basically in tears herself. 

And that's when it hit the girl. 

The woman next door. The wishes.

Dylan.

"Dylan!" Hailey suddenly screamed, trying to yank herself from her mother's arms so she could find out about her younger brother. He could be dead, for all she knew. 

"Dylan?" Her mother was now even more horrified. "W-What's wrong with Dylan?!" It seemed as if one bad thing was piling on top of another.

Hailey pulled herself out of her mother's arms and began to run in the direction of her brother's room, shouting his name as her mother called for her to come back. Her feet could barely carry her fast enough as she made it up the stair case and to his bedroom door. 

Flinging it open, her eyes immediately scanned the room for sight of him. There was no sight of the boy.

But there was something that caught her eye. 

The TV and the PlayStation, just across from his orange dinosaur themed bed. Her heart sunk into her stomach, even further than what it had been before. 

Her mother came running into the room after her and stopped in her tracks when she saw the TV and play station in her son's room. 

"Hailey! What is going on?!" She screeched loudly now, hyperventilating in shock, "Where is Dylan?! W-why is there a TV in his room?!"

Hailey ignored her mother as she rummaged past the items and into her brother's closet, calling his name over and over.

 Fear made her blood run cold. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dylan could hear Hailey over all the commotion in the background. He was cold and scared. Loud stomps shook the ground beneath him.

He tried calling her name back as he watched her search for him - as he watched his mother whimper in worry.

But she couldn't hear him.

Because he was behind the TV screen. 

He was in the video game.

Forever. 

Just like he wanted.