Dearest Readers, 

Before venturing into this short story for the spooky season, heed these following trigger warnings: 

Mild Profanity & Vulgar Language 

Murder & Death 

Revenge Killing

Implied Sexual Assault 

SPIDERS 

Mentions of Suicide 

While the author tried to keep everything as minimal and PG as possible, for the sake of keeping this a soft horror and not a real one, there may still be sensitive content regardless. Reader discretion is advised. 

❝ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀʀᴀᴄʜɴᴏᴘʜᴏʙɪᴀ!❞

Chad Wright was the local heartthrob of his class in Hillcrest High School. With silky blond hair descending past the broad expanse of his shoulders and stellar blue eyes as bright as the sky, he had captured the attention of every teenager in the vicinity. His boyish charm was immaculate; his lopsided grins would widen with radiant pearly whites and his dimpled cheekbones were sharp enough to summon a squad of swooning cheerleaders in his wake.

He was the star quarterback of the varsity football team–the male lead of every girl's wet dream. Rumors had it that he'd be the next prom king, for he was everyone's favorite golden boy.

Even now, as he strolled through the bustling center of Hillcrest High in his signature swagger, his stark white Air Jordans gliding past the glossy floor tiles, several of his peers were drawn to his presence. They gravitated to him like a moth to light, their eyes latching onto him with lingering gazes.

"Yo, Chad!" greeted Jack Dalton, his best friend since last year. His head of sandy blond hair, cropped short with a textured fringe, peeked out from the crowd before fully emerging into view. "How's it hanging?"

In passing, they swapped fist bumps, standing tall and proud amid the student body as Hillcrest's most popular jock duo.

Wherever Chad went, Jack followed, ever his loyal hypeman and second-in-command.

"Good, good," chimed Chad's nonchalant reply, an automatic message rolling out. Even if he didn't mean it, even if it was a bit of a lie.

They walked and talked, their steps in sync with one another.

Chad tucked his hands in his pockets. "I was just about to skip Algebra. Maybe head to the mall 'cause it's better than listening to Mrs. Bismuth drone on about parabolas. Paraboras?" His teeth grinded together, vexed. "Whatever. My grade's still good enough to pass the class, so it won't matter if I miss today."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I'm kinda craving those cheesy Asian corn dogs from the mall's food court." Despite his laidback longing, the smile fixed across Jack's face shrank, a shift in tension seeping through. Then, he clapped a hand on top of Chad's shoulder, nearly whispering as he asked, "You sure you good? I know the party from last Saturday was wild, but you look like you're still hungover from it. It's Monday now, dude."

True to his observation, there was something amiss with Chad, and it had nothing to do with the aforementioned party.

An ounce of hesitation weighed on his tongue before he finally cracked. "If we're actually gonna talk, then ditch with me. Get yourself one of those stupid corn dogs so that you can shut up about it already."

"C'mon, they're not stupid–"

"Bro, seriously? Cheese inside of a corn dog?" Chad scoffed, wrinkling his nose up in visible distaste. "That's so gay. It should be American all the way."

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

Arriving at their town's one and only mall, in the middle of the day no less, brought forth a newfound sense of ease. Snippets of soft rock songs floated from a multitude of intercoms, an attempt at churning up an energetic ambiance, but the idle silence of minimal people traffic and tired store vendors still slipped through.

While they occupied one of the tables within the food court, a lone carousel ride stood from where they were seated, featuring no one and nothing. A handful of clunky, wooden horses out on display—impaled to the carousel via brass poles—were adorned in faded paint jobs that chipped away at the hooves and snouts. Their blank, crusty eyes bore into Chad, seemingly anticipating what was to come.

Waiting. Watching. Judging.

"You gonna tell me what's up?" Jack questioned, in between enthusiastic munches from his dumb non-American corn dog. As he turned his mouth to the side, a steamy streak of melted mozzarella followed, stretching past his chin.

"S'not a big deal." Chad rested a hand to his forehead. While stifling a yawn, he slouched forward. "Just been having trouble sleeping lately ever since Saturday's party."

"Trouble sleeping? As in nightmares?"

"Sure, like..." Chad squeezed his eyes shut, mulling the details over. He didn't think he should go into the specifics. Not here, not yet, so only a fragment of the truth slipped out. "I dunno, I guess I'm still bothered by the way things ended with Ashley."

Ashley was some dumb bimbo that he had the chance to hook up with last week. She was even dumber than the non-American corn dog that Jack was eating right now.

"Dude, at the rate you're going, you're gonna have every female hating you," Jack said, wiping his mouth of any disgusting crumbs. "What'd this one do to set you off?"

"She was just being such a tease." Chad brought the back of his hand to his lips, then gnawed away at the ridges of his white knuckles, his teeth sinking into clenched skin. He was frustrated as it was. "Like, are you gonna give me some or not? Don't leave me hanging with blue balls."

"Right."

"I'm Chad Wright. She was lucky to even have me and she fumbled."

"Better luck with the next one."

"Exactly."

Suddenly, they heard a sharp gasp escape. Speak of the devil—it was Ashley herself.

Runny mascara dripped from the shadows of her bloodshot eyes, streaking past her tanned cheeks in black rivulets. Her chestnut brown hair was fastened in a loose braid that limply flopped behind her back. A maroon sweater draped over her shoulders and drooped down her wrists, concealing her hands.

He remembered her with fewer layers on the night of the party. She'd been flaunting off her assets in a crop top and jean shorts, occupying his personal space with constant hair twirling and high-pitched giggling; at one point, she'd even egged him on with a few dances around his mansion.

"Chad?" she croaked, her brown eyes growing misty with tears at the sight of him.

"Ashley." Chad wanted to roll his own eyes back at her. Did she have to be so dramatic about everything? Girls were so sensitive. "Didn't think you'd be cutting class too."

"You– you hurt me." Her bottom lip quivered. "On the night of that party, you– I can't even..." Her words withered away, swallowed up by a terse silence.

"Don't be such a drama queen. You were the one who wanted to ruin a good time."

He remembered the heat from their lips, in between a flurry of hungry kisses, right before slamming her onto his coffee table and grabbing her by the neck. Because maybe he liked seeing the struggle. Maybe he liked hearing her surprise as she tried to scream, the light in her widened eyes flickering.

"I-I told you that I changed my mind." Her shoulders hunched together as she staggered back, shaking. "I told you no."

"Well, we both ended up disappointed, now did we?" He sighed. "If you're gonna cause a scene, just leave."

He remembered the way she incessantly squirmed until he reached satisfaction. He should've slipped a special little something in her beer—like he usually did—but she had been coming onto him first, so he didn't think he needed to. Big mistake.

"You're a monster," Ashley choked. More tears leaked through, adding to the wet mess that was her face. "I can't believe you."

"And you're making a big deal out of nothing."

A broken sob erupted from within before she quickly turned her back to them and stormed off. With his lips set in a stern line, Chad watched her run out with a deadpan expression.

What an awkward reunion. Out of all places, it just had to be here. That was the problem with living in a smaller town: inevitably, you bump into the ones you least expect.

"Wow..." A low whistle was included from Jack soon after, a light poke at the tension. "You weren't kidding about things not ending well between the two of you."

"Did you see how she looked? It's no wonder she shows up in my nightmares," Chad remarked.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

He did have nightmares about Ashley, but they weren't related to the way things had ended between them. That was only a fragment of the truth, for there was something more sinister underfoot.

Something that Chad still refused to acknowledge.

After tossing back a glass of water—and chasing down a few ZzzQuil tablets in the process—he rubbed out the tensions coiled within his shoulders, mentally bracing himself for what was to come. It'd been a few days since the nightmares had emerged into existence and he just wanted them to stop.

Frowning, he leaned further into his pillow, scrunched his eyes shut, and allowed the darkness to overtake his vision.

He was Chad Wright. And Chad Wright never feared anything. He always got what he wanted in the end, and he wasn't going to stop now.

Especially not over some dumb bimbo living rent free in his head.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

There Ashley stood, frozen in front of a lake. Sparse fog loomed overhead, draping over bare pines and skinny tree branches with a semi-cloudy veneer. Moonlight still peeped through the forest's clearing, casting a spotlight over the one thing that made her worth approaching: her body.

She was dressed in the same get up as last weekend, which was a crop top with thin spaghetti straps and jean shorts with frayed cuffs at the ends. Smirking, Chad reached forward, compelled to tear off those same clothes again. Compelled to hear her screams once more.

Because this was his dream. He was the one in control here—or so he claimed.

When Ashley obediently leaned in for a kiss, her pretty pink lips pursing together, Chad snatched up her waist and swooped in with some tongue. He'd show her what a real man felt like.

However, when he pulled back, he felt something crawling inside his mouth.

And it wasn't just her reciprocative tongue.

Immediately, he yanked back.

He gagged at the foreign intrusion before spitting out whatever had been in him. And as his saliva soaked the open palm of his left hand, his eyes went wide, bulging hard at what he saw.

Spiders.

Two black spiders, drenched in a pool of his spit, stared back at him.

A startled scream ripped past his mouth before he smashed his hand into the nearest tree trunk. He could feel the spiders crunch from the pressure of his palm against rough bark, their corpses furry and wet.

"You hurt me," Ashley said, her voice warped a few octaves lower. "You hurt me, so now I have to hurt you."

Black veins protruded from her forehead, webbed across newly blanched skin. The shadows underneath the crooks of her onyx eyes darkened, increasing in intensity. And when she opened her mouth once more, a row of sharp teeth peeked out, followed by an avalanche of spiders spilling forth.

Spiders, spiders, spiders.

They surged from her parted lips in a rapid-fire flood. They swarmed past her neck and raced down an arm that lurched forward in Chad's proximity.

He spun on his heels, already running. But no matter how far he went, he could feel them leaping onto his ankles. Scattering up his back, digging into his scalp—until he was drowning in them. Suffocating on them. Waves upon waves of spiders squirmed in his hair and seized every inch of his skin.

His choked screams were the last sound that echoed throughout the night.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

Chad woke up with a shrill ring in his ears, the fresh remnants of the nightmare hammered deep into his mind. Vivid fragments of Ashley's demonic face and the spiders were seared into the back of his eyes.

Even now, the phantom sensation of something crawling around in his throat persisted. But when he swallowed, there was nothing except for dry air.

He dropped his head in his hands.

This had to stop.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

A few days later, Chad and Jack were lounging around in the living room of the Wright Mansion, discussing their plans for the upcoming Halloween weekend. October was drawing to a close, making room for the usual trick-or-treat bullshit.

Personally, Chad outgrew that stale routine ever since freshman year. The only things he anticipated now were the parties of this season, all of which were loaded with zesty drinks to knock back and fresh girls to greet. Their skimpy excuses for Halloween costumes were the real sweet treats to indulge in.

In the following week, his parents had been out on a vacation in the Bahamas. Aside from a few housekeepers that would check in every now and again, they officially had the mansion all to themselves.

Because this was his place, and they always met up at his place whenever they wanted to hang, he was occupied in his usual purple velvet armchair. The cushions supported his back well and the arm covers fit just right. Meanwhile, Jack—being the plebe that he was—settled for the less impressive sofa across from him.

Frankly, every time Jack dropped by for a visit, Chad knew he was being charitable. He'd seen Jack's place once before. It was sad. Living a lower middle class lifestyle in such an ugly, one-story house? That must suck.

His mom never seemed to be around either, which was the only upside. Parental neglect was cool when it meant no adult supervision ever.

"So, like, you definitely have arachnophobia?" Jack said, after listening to the rest of what Chad had to say about his battle with insomnia. "That's what it sounds like to me."

"I've never been scared of spiders before," Chad quickly shot back, scowling. "But when you get nightmares about them scraping the insides of your throat, anyone would be freaked out."

"Then you just get these dreams for no reason? Recurring ones too? I dunno, man..."

"Ashley's a witch."

"Huh?"

"She's a witch," Chad concluded, bringing his hands together in a firm clap. "She has to be. That's the only explanation for how she's so involved. She's not special enough to dream about more than once."

"I thought you said she was a dumb bimbo."

"Well, she could be both. Those two aren't mutually exclusive things."

Jack snorted. "That seems like a stretch, don't you think?"

"Think about it. How else is she constantly in my nightmares? And almost every night this past week? Not a coincidence. She's gotta be doing some voodoo witchcraft to get back at me."

"I mean, if you really wanna find out, I heard she's trying to commit suicide on Halloween night." With a mock gag, Jack pretended to slit his throat, his tongue lolling out. "And y'know, the place that people usually go to for that is..."

Gruselig Forest.

Rumors had it that anyone who descended from the outskirts of their town and into Gruselig Forest never came back. Supposedly, a person went missing once every few years, as dark and mysterious forces were at work. However, that was just a stupid superstition at best. Chad never believed in stuff like that. But if what Jack found out was true...

"Dude, she hasn't even been to cheer practice lately," Jack continued. "Word gets around in our town. Last night, her mom found this note that she left behind, so she went to the police station and blabbed all about it. Nobody knows where she is right now and there's been a search party going around."

"First she tries to give me nightmares about spiders, and now she wants to erase the evidence?" Chad exclaimed, offended. He rolled his eyes. "She really is a drama queen. Trying to kill yourself is about the most emo thing you can do. As if she hasn't already downgraded enough."

"Tell me about it." Jack tilted his head back, reclining even further into the sofa. "But if she really is there, shouldn't we check to see? I mean, if she's supposed to be this witch who's responsible for all your spider-related nightmares, wouldn't you want her to reverse her curse on you?"

"First of all, none of these seem like facts, just assumptions. We don't know what she's actually gonna do. We don't even know what she's doing right now."

"Oh, c'mon, Chad! Your parents aren't home! We can do whatever we want. Why not explore the creepy woods?" Sarcasm oozed from Jack's every word, right before his voice dipped lower in tone. "But seriously, I think you might have to consider this if you wanna try to stop whatever you're going through. If she's truly involved in all of this, then you need to confront the problem at its roots. What if this curse that she's given you is a forever thing? It seems like it might be..."

"Seriously, have you seen horror movies?" Chad scoffed. "It's gonna be a no from me."

For a moment, Jack stared back at him in visible disbelief, but then he shrugged, quick to dismiss his rejection. "Oh, I get it. It's okay if you're scared."

"Scared? I just don't wanna do something so pointless."

"I mean, if you believe that Ashley is a witch, then you probably believe the rumors about Gruselig Forest too. I get it, they're kinda spooky. Good luck with the nightmares, dude."

"That's not what this is about–"

"Sure it's not."

"It's not." With a jolt, Chad shot up from his armchair and threw a finger at Jack. "I'll prove it to you. And if you're so eager to find out with me, then you can be my cameraman. We'll get me on video, make this another win under my name when I come back to town."

"Whatever you say goes." Sighing, Jack crossed his arms. "I just hope we live to see another day."

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

Leaves crunched underneath the soles of their sneakers as they ventured into the outskirts of town. Looming overhead, a canopy of trees greeted them, their gnarled branches swaying from side to side in an eerie wave. Harsh winds bit at their noses and whistled past their ears. Somewhere nearby, crickets wailed their ear-splitting cries.

The flashlight gripped in Chad's hand flicked from left to right, sweeping over the border of Gruselig Forest with a white-blue brightness. Knotted roots spiraled out from dry dirt, followed by blades of grass tall enough to brush against their calves.

Crap. Why was he here again?

"All right, you ready?" Jack asked, directing his phone's camera onto him. Its own beady, little flashlight cut into the side of his face like a blade. "And we're live!"

Oh. Right. Because he was Chad Wright.

And Chad Wright was never scared of anything. Not for long. Not ever again. He was tired of the fatigue, the headaches, the fucking spiders. Enough was enough. Even if Ashley wasn't here, just being able to make it back to town would be a stellar bragging right of its own.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

Discomfort itched at him.

He couldn't pinpoint what or why. It wasn't the goosebumps that had scattered up his arms from the cold autumn air. Or the glare of Jack's outdated phone constantly peering into his soul, determined to blind him to no end. It wasn't even the twig that he had almost tripped over earlier.

None of those bothered him, as annoying as they were.

What really bothered him was...

Familiarity.

For some reason, Gruselig Forest seemed familiar. It was almost as if he'd been here before, but that was impossible. It had to be.

This misplaced feeling... Maybe it scared him more than the nightmares.

Then, he heard something else that was also familiar. A feminine voice stabbed through his ears, resonating within his mind.

Ashley's voice.

"Chad," she whispered, the raspy undertones of his name a scratchy drawl. The weight of her disembodied voice felt like it was everywhere at once. "You hurt me."

Her words continued to echo, over and over again in that same haunting loop. And he knew what she was gonna say next. He knew because she always said the same phrase in every nightmare.

"You hurt me, so now I have to hurt you back."

Way to be original. It was a broken record with her. What would it take for her to finally leave his head?

"Shut up already!" he shouted, nearly hurling his flashlight into a random direction. The veins beneath his eyes throbbed and his pulse thundered. His teeth were clenched together so tight that they could shatter.

"Dude, who are you talking to?" Jack reeled back, the space between them increasing as he stepped away.

"You can't hear her?"

"I don't hear anything. No one else is here but us."

"No, she's here too," he insisted, his grip on the flashback trembling. "I heard her. She spoke to me, she's gotta be here."

"Uh, y'know what, maybe we should head back after all–"

Just then, a rustling sound dropped from the surrounding treetops. Branches rattled and the air around them went tight with a new layer of tension. Perhaps it had been another breeze passing by, but Chad swiftly swished his flashlight around, just in case. A frantic beam of white-blue light bounced around, back and forth.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing," Jack warned, as if his phone's light hadn't been tackling Chad's eyes earlier. "I'm not in the mood for a seizure, especially not out here."

"Ashley's here," Chad hissed. "I know she is."

As if waiting for her cue, her voice rang yet again, growing more infuriating by the second. "Chad," she called out, this time with haste. Bordering on impatience. "Watch your back. I'll make you pay." Her last sentence turned distorted, the pitch plummeting to a hideous husk.

Chad turned to his friend. "You seriously can't hear what she said just now?!"

"No!" Jack jerked a thumb behind him. His phone had already been pocketed away. "Can we just go? You're cool for making it this far, so you have nothing else to prove, right?"

Admittedly, Chad did sound crazy. And he was not crazy. He refused to be.

"Sure, whatever. Maybe this place is making me go insane."

As Chad followed after Jack, and they scrambled to retrace their steps, they staggered to a halt once they stumbled into a new scenery ahead. In between a clearing of trees, there was a lake. Its cool tides shimmered, thinly illuminated by the silver hues of a full moon. A veil of fog trickled in from the sides, introducing a chilling mist.

This wasn't just any lake, it was the lake—the lake Ashley would always be standing in front of. This was the spot where they'd meet, the backdrop of every hell he'd ever endured.

It had been in Gruselig Forest all along.

"Chad." Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his revelation. "Let's go."

Before he could react, a fresh wave of goosebumps seized him. It started from the shoulder that Jack had touched. He felt it brush the side of his neck next, then behind his ear. Instantly, his hand slapped whatever was there, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

But he was proven correct when a spider's corpse was revealed in the palm of his hand. His stomach churned. He would've thrown up by now, but horror paralyzed him in place upon witnessing what happened next.

A woman towered over Jack, appearing out of thin air. One moment, there was nothing but the darkness of Gruselig Forest. Then, in another moment, here she was, dropping in without even a hint of noise.

She stood behind Jack, staring down at the both of them with her beady crimson eyes—all eight of them. The top half of her body hosted a deceivingly elegant physique, with a smooth arc to her back and a lean stomach. Long, platinum blonde hair spilled over her pale face, trickling past the curves of her hips. Meanwhile, the lower half of her body was sprawled out with several spider legs, sharp ridges jutting out from dark exoskeleton joints.

Oblivious, Jack pointed at the dead spider in Chad's hand, as if that was their biggest concern. "Uh, was that on you just now?"

At that moment, Chad knew what he had to do.

He didn't know if the line between reality and the nightmares had finally broken. He didn't know if what he was seeing was real or not. All he knew was that, regardless of whether it was or wasn't, he was getting out of here alive.

So he pushed Jack into her.

He shot past his new human sacrifice, past the grotesque excuse for a woman, and ran.

And for a moment, just a moment, Chad wondered if he was the real monster here. Then, he cast the thought aside because there was no reason to think such pointless things.

What mattered was his survival. Once he was back, Jack would be remembered. He'd make sure of it.

As he hurled himself into what seemed like a familiar trail, his hopes of reaching the town still burning as bright as his flashback, he could hear her again.

Ashley.

Her voice sounded in his ears while he bolted past some trees, repeatedly calling out his name with verbal venom.

Suddenly, he heard a loud snap, right before an audible crack and pull. Before he realized it, he was yanked off the ground and hoisted high up, a web of rope squeezing together and cutting tight into his body.

Meanwhile, his flashlight fled from his grasp and clattered to the ground, joining the fallen autumn leaves.

Panic kicked in as he struggled against the trap. Every move he made chafed his skin and his limbs were bound, practically immobile.

"Happy Halloween, Chad."

With a painful twist of his head, Chad snapped his attention to the ground, his startled glare landing on Ashley.

The real Ashley. Not the one who had been incessantly yapping away in his head. This was Ashley in the flesh—the same one who dared to tell him such words.

"Witch!" he screamed. He violently thrashed around some more, almost bashing his head against the tree holding him hostage, but to no avail. "I knew you were involved! You and that spider freak!"

"That's not a nice thing to say about my new friend."

"You evil bitch!" Chad spat, seething with rage. Seeing red. "You planned this, didn't you?!"

"Wow, I can't believe you're finally right about something."

"Jack had to die because of you!"

Fortune must have finally decided to shine in his way because suddenly, Jack emerged into the scene.

Miraculously, he was still alive.

Labored pants shuddered through him as he rushed in. His short blond hair resembled a windblown nest. His blue eyes were wide at the sight of Ashley's presence and Chad's situation.

Lastly, a rusty ax was gripped in his hands, coated in dirt and grime. That must have been his key to survival, which meant that the spider woman was vanquished. Seemed like Chad wasn't the only one who got lucky.

Then, without even a second thought, Jack did as Chad expected and reacted to her schemes with a burst of distress.

"Ashley?" he exclaimed. "You're behind this? Guess Chad was right about your witch ass!"

Chad knew he'd understand. Jack always understood.

"Get her!" he goaded. "She's the one responsible for the freaky monster that was after us!"

With the ax in tow, Jack heaved it over his shoulders and swung at a shrieking Ashley.

Only to abruptly stop at the last second, the blade a mere few inches away from her neck.

Chad watched, appalled, as Ashley's screaming transformed into laughter. The fleeting fear she'd put up earlier melted away, revealing a twisted sense of amusement in its place.

Then, shortly after, Jack dropped his ax, allowing it to collapse near their feet, before doubling over and joining her. Their maniacal laughs coincided, increasing in intensity, ringing loud and clear throughout the air.

Before Chad could fully process what was happening, Jack cut himself short and drew in a sharp breath.

"Hey, dude." The grin on Jack's face widened. A demented look sparked his eyes as he looked up at him. "You really thought I was on your side, even after everything? I knew you were stupid, but wow... I mean, c'mon, I was the one who led you here." He shrugged, still grinning. "Guess that makes this easier for me. I've been wanting you dead since the day we met. Now I don't have to pretend anymore."

Chad's head spun. Everything blurred together, his entire world tilting on its axis. He was stunned speechless. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He would do all of the above if not for the shock coursing through him right now.

Jack and Ashley both gave each other meaningful nods before exchanging high-fives, their hands slapping together in unison.

All this time, they were in it together. The realization crashed into Chad like a hurtling comet.

Before he could accept his reality of being outnumbered, two versus one, he heard something climbing up the tree that held him captive.

No, not something—someone. He could hear the clunky motion of larger limbs scaling up the tree trunk behind him.

"Oh! I should finally introduce you to my mom," Jack said, throwing a hand up in a wave. "You met her earlier, but we never got a proper introduction. Say hi to Chad, Mom."

'Mom', the arachnid monstrosity from earlier, tilted her head out from her upside down position in the treetop before unleashing a hissy growl that reverberated throughout Gruselig Forest.

"Did I mention that I'm adopted?" Jack playfully added. "Because I am. And Mom needs to feed soon, so you're gonna be doing my family a big favor. You're quite literally her Halloween feast."

Chad wished his last moments had been memorable, but honestly, as he cursed and cried, as he screamed and sobbed, he was better off not remembering what it felt like to be in the jaws of Jack's mom.

Because that was all he amounted to: prey.

He was prey, tangled up in a webbed trap for a spider's enjoyment.

And that was how his story, as the local golden boy, ended.

₊𓆩༺🕷༻𓆪₊

While Mom ripped through Chad's innards from the treetop, Jack turned to Ashley and rested a hand on her shoulder. He knew watching Mom feed was never easy, even if the target totally deserved it.

"Hey, you'll be okay," he reassured. "It's over now. He can't hurt you anymore."

"Yeah." Ashley sniffled, tears budding from the corners of her eyes. "Um, thank you for letting your monster mom help me. I needed this."

"Of course, what are friends for? At least now, I can be prom king instead of Chad. I mostly wanted to kill him just for that, but helping you out was nice too."

She nodded, then smiled as she asked, "Wanna get Korean corn dogs with me tomorrow?"

Jack lit up, beaming. "I thought you'd never ask!"

There was a new golden boy in town now.

And his name was Jack Dalton. 

Thank you for reading about the real main characters: Jack and Ashley!

As you can see, Chad was clearly not the favored character lol

All images used for the banners and the cover do not belong to me, I am simply an editor who pieced them together. They all come from Pinterest. Credit is given where it's due. 

Interesting fact: Chad is on the cover, but Jack is the one who's covered in red in these banners. 

This was my first attempt at a soft and PG-ish horror short story, so please be gentle! I honestly wish I could've added a lot more bloodshed, gore, violence, and intensity behind this work, but this was a submission for a writing contest on another writing platform. And the restrictions I had to work with, to make it fit a particular word count while being as PG as possible, was difficult, to say the least.

Not that I am good at writing horror to begin with, so this was a nice way of dipping my toes into the genre! I typically write cheesy, fluffy stories.

So I hope that regardless of my inexperience, this was an enjoyable tale for the scary season! 🕷️ Go October! 🕷️

Lastly, shout out to Layla for being awesome! 

And a massive shout out to Furu for making the cover!! Thank you so much!