"Gary, you're next." Rance shoved a paper bull's tail into Gary's hand and turned him towards a life size poster of a bull.

"Don't be a spoilsport." Stella squeezed Gary's arm. She was dressed as the witch she claimed to be, in bits and pieces of a witch costume that covered the minimum. She was totally the hottest girl he'd ever seen in his 16 years.

He thrilled at her touch and shrugged while she tied the blindfold on. Rance pushed him in the direction of the poster, and he waved the tail around and pinned it.

"Good one," Rance said. He and Belle looked at each other and Rance nodded slightly.

Gary took the blindfold off. His pin was close to the tail marker, but another was a tad closer. "This one is closer."

"Don't worry, there's lots of prizes," said Rance, a too-hearty grin on his handsome face. The last partygoer stuck a tail on the bull. Gary won third place. Rance handed him a wiffleball set with a bright red plastic bat.

"Let's get some punch." He whispered, "Special punch."

Stella clung to Gary's arm. He felt her soft warmth against his side. He wondered why she'd asked him to take her to Rance's Halloween party. He knew it was a one-off after she and Rance argued. They'd reconciled, but Rance insisted Gary come to the party with Stella. "I can trust you with my girl for one night, Gary," Rance said, punching him hard in the arm "Besides," Rance said, "My dad had me ask his boss's daughter, Ugly Berry, and I can't stand her, or stand her up. You know." Gary nodded.

Rance had been a surprising star on the Junior Varsity team, more touchdowns than any other high school player in the state. This year, a sophomore on Varsity, he was a star. College scouts noticed him. Stella told him she'd gotten a $500 gift card and a gold neck chain from scouts as gifts when they learned she was his girlfriend.

He looked Rance over. He wore some sort of ancient Greek one-shouldered chiton, belted, and just covering his bottom. His muscles were visible. Six-inch curving horns sprouted from his headband.

Gary took a cup of red punch spiked with vodka from Rance and sat on the floor by Berry, Rance's official date. A kid strummed a guitar, and sang, in a pleasant tenor voice, sad songs of people who died or lost lovers .

He took the tiniest sip of his drink. He didn't like hard liquor.

Stella touched his hand, stroking her hard nails along his arm. He shivered. What does she want? He wondered.

"Finish your drink. And get me another," she said, kissing him lightly. He twitched. Rance wouldn't like that. She said, "Rance is in the kitchen, getting sandwiches. No one can see us in this corner. Besides, we have an agreement. Fun with others is OK." She kissed him again, sliding her tongue in his mouth. He kissed her back.

I'm dreaming, he thought, or maybe it's a nightmare. He stood up, took her cup and went to the refreshments. He poured his drink in a planter and refilled it with plain punch. He got a cup for Stella. Rance showed up and added vodka. A lot more in Gary's cup.

"Thanks, Rance." Gary was suddenly alert. Something was going to happen, but what? He piled sandwiches and snacks on a plate and returned to Stella. She ran her red, red lipstick over her lips, smacked them on a napkin, and checked her look in her cell camera. She patted the floor beside her, and Gary sat down. Rance sat on the other side of Berry and pulled her closer. The girl slipped her arm out of his grasp and took the cup he handed her.

Berry, short for Beryl, went to the Catholic girl's school. She was short, stocky, and plain, but alert, and, he thought, clever, from the little contact they'd had that evening. She wore a bag-of-jellybeans costume, small, inflated balloons in a large plastic bag over her torso. It did very little for her, although the small candy bowl hat was appealing.

Gary ate sandwiches, hoping to slow the effects of whatever liquor he already drunk. The guitarist sang on about a girl who'd lost her lover to the sea and waited forever by the shore. The party was a bore. Gary wanted to go home, but he was stuck spending the night at Rance's.

He got up, straightened his costume, basically his track outfit and JV letter jacket, and said, "It's near 11. Time to walk the girls home before the curfew."

Rance smiled. "We have plenty of time. Twenty minutes. Enough for one more punch." Stella giggled.

He and Rance went to the refreshments. Rance poured a little vodka in Stella's cup with the red, red lipstick marks. Gary said. "Last one."

Rance snickered. "Yeah. Last one." He filled Gary's cup halfway with vodka and topped it with punch.

"Rance, I'll be back in a minute. I want to say hi to Ted. We have a big track meet next week."

"Yeah, you sprinter. Should have gone out for football, man."

Gary shook his head. "I'm agile and wiry. Don't want to get crushed in football." He looked Rance over. "Not like you. You're built like a bull. Strong. Unstoppable." Rance was over six feet of bone and muscle. Broad shoulders, thick neck, muscular legs that the chiton showed off. "I remember when you were a skinny little kid. End of eighth grade you were 5'4" and 115 pounds. Dating Stella, the scrawniest girl in our class. First day of ninth grade her braces were off, and she was slender and bosomy and hot as a ghost pepper. Come football practice you were 5'10 and 175 pounds and still growing. Coach drooled over you."

Rance frowned. "We both wanted to change, and we'll do whatever it takes to keep it."

"Stella told me she'd cast a spell to make her the most beautiful and desirable girl and you a great athlete."

"She's had too much to drink. Don' t believe that kid stuff. We worked hard to get what we wanted." Rance flexed his biceps. "We're here to have a good time."

"Whatever you did worked, is all I'm saying."

"Stella's doing her magic tricks. Let's go watch."

"I'll follow," Gary said.

Rance returned to his spot. Gary dumped his and Stella's drink in a trash can. He got two plain punches, and another for Berry, and returned to the party, sitting by Rance. He handed Berry her cup, and she smiled. She had a nice smile.

"Bottoms up, bro."

The grandfather clock bonged 11 times. Teens mumbled and shuffled and prepared to leave. A few cars with a parent behind the wheel pulled up. Teens gathered coats and jackets and the Halloween prize bags Rance gave out as they left.

Berry stood up and wiggled out of the plastic bag of balloons. She was wearing green leggings and a green turtleneck, a color which suited her. She popped the balloons, stuffed the trash in the garbage and sighed. "That thing was hot. Your track costume looks more comfortable."

"It is," said Gary, slipping his wiffleball kit in his prize bag.

"Whoa," Rance said. "Let's go. We're walking the girls home. Berry is spending the night with Stella, and you're staying with me."

"I guess there's safety in numbers," Berry said. "I have to call my mom when we get to your house, Stella, so she knows I'm safe." She shivered. "That poor kid, who was run over last year."

"No fear," said Rance. "You've got us guys to protect you and I'm strong as a bull." He flexed his muscles. "Gary is the fastest kid in the State and he has that wiffleball bat." Stella laughed. Berry half-smiled and shook her head.

Rance's mother met them at the door. "Your dad and I will clean up," she said. "Come right back after you walk the girls home. I don't know why you insist on walking."

"Mom, I'm the biggest guy in high school. Don't worry about us."

They walked to Stella's house across from the park. The night was cold and clear with an eerie, thin crescent moon, horns pointed straight up, like a bowl. The stars shone down, and streetlights cast many strange shadows. Rance walked with Stella and Gary and Berry followed.

Berry shivered, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. He handed her his letter jacket. She put it on and smiled. "Thanks. Peter was your brother, wasn't he? The boy who was run over."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"We played on the same softball team for a few years. I thought I recognized you. Sorry for your loss. He was a great kid."

"He was the best," said Gary. "He always looked out for people." He wiped a tear away.

"I didn't know him well. Just from softball. He was helpful, nice to everyone. Are you OK?" She touched his arm.

"It's just. Every Halloween Peter took me trick-or-treating. Said he had to look out for his little brother. This is the first Halloween without him."

They walked silently for another half block and reached the beginning of the park. Most of the lights from the fair had been turned off. A few were on, including the one for the Maze, popular with lovers.

Gary looked at Berry, walking quietly, then felt someone at his other side. Thinking it was Rance, he looked up to see what Stella was doing, and saw her walking with Rance. Puzzled, he realized there were five teens walking across from the park.

The fifth teen was Peter. He froze. "Peter. My brother," he whispered, as Berry walked on. "You're dead. Aren't you?"

"Yes," said Peter, in a thin, echoing voice. "Looking out for you, little brother. I came to warn you. Be careful. Get inside. Stay out of the Maze. Hang on to that wiffleball bat. There's power, good magic out tonight, not like last year. Claim the power. Use it. I love you, bro. FYI. Rance ran me over on his motorcycle. Stella sat behind him, laughing. My blood is dried inside the front fender." He merged with the shadows.

"Who are you talking to?" Rance asked, coming back to him.

"Just thinking out loud. Let's catch up to the girls."

Stella stopped. "Let's go in the Maze." She looked at Gary and Berry.

"We have to get home by 12," said Berry. "And it'll be locked."

"We have half an hour," said Stella, shrugging. She grinned, not a pleasant one. "You've been to lover's lane in the park a few times, haven't you?" She walked across the street. Rance caught Berry's hand and pulled her after him. Gary followed. He took the wiffleball bat from its packaging.

They stood before the Maze, bright letters spelling out the word. Berry wrung her hands. "We should go to your home, Stella. I promised my Mom I'd keep the curfew."

"We'll be home soon enough. Don't be such a Catholic schoolgirl."

"We'll protect you," said Rance. "You're not backing out, right, Gar?"

"It's 11:25. "I'll give you 10 minutes." Gary set the alarm on his cell. "Then we leave or I'm calling your parents and the police. He looked Rance in the eyes. "Got it?"

Rance nodded. "That's enough time."

Rance forced the door to the Maze open and the four teens entered. He flipped a switch and a song played, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave". They walked down the path to the first fork. Left or right.

Gary whispered to Berry, "Stay with us. If Rance gets too handsy." She nodded.

Stella clung to Gary's arm as he led the way into the Maze. Rance and Berry were close behind. Stella pulled Gary to the left and they walked to the next intersection. She pulled him down a path and stopped. She hugged him and kissed him again and again.

"Hey! Rance and Berry are missing."

"So? Rance is a big boy." She kissed him again, but he was too worried to kiss her back.

"We should find them."

"Scared much?" She ran down the path, and looked back at him, laughing, before she disappeared around the corner.

He ran and turned the corner to find the path empty. His stomach knotted. The path was perhaps 20 yards long, longer than the outside walls of the Maze. He was afraid Rance had put more than vodka in the punch. He hurried to the next intersection and looked both ways. No Stella. He took the left, thinking--hoping if he kept turning left, he'd find the entrance.

Another left, and another. The paths grew longer. He stopped where his path ended and saw three possible paths. He was sick. The walls were large blocks of stone, with no roof. The moon was full and dim stars shone down. He checked his cell. No bars. Where was he? When was he?

A low, deep rumble echoed faintly down the left path. He took the right path. He took the next right. The rumbling was louder. Whatever made it was closer. He ran and heard footsteps following behind. Fast running. He whipped around another corner and found a wall. He ran back down the path and took a right turn on a corridor that curved back.

He stopped to listen for the noise and saw a figure standing in the dim light at the beginning of the corridor. It was a tall, muscular man in a chiton wearing a bull head mask.

Rance, Gary thought. Playing a joke. He took a few steps forward. "Not funny. Take the mask off, Rance, and let's go home."

Rance snorted, the mask amplifying the sound as he stepped forward. Gary backed up. Rance stopped a few yards away. The full moon came out from the clouds, and in the light Gary saw that the bull head was not a mask, but part of Rance.  His voice wavered as he said, "Where's Berry?"

Rance/minotaur said, "Stella's bringing her to the arena."

Gary stepped back. The minotaur took a step forward. Another step back, and another step forward.

He turned and ran, the minotaur pounding after him. He raced along a path, hoping there was no end wall. He ran through an opening, the only way he could go. He was in a circular arena, about 20 feet across with a sandy floor. Burning torches lit the arena. He raced to the opposite side and leaped up the wall, finding a foothold and perching on the wall out of reach of Rance/minotaur. He looked behind to find a way out and saw nothing but gray mist swirling.

He looked down as Rance/minotaur looked up, snorting. Berry ran in. Stella followed, waving a wand at her. Berry ran to the wall and climbed up. Gary gave her a hand and they sat together. The minotaur turned, snorted and raised his head, looking at Berry.

"Rance! Stop. We need them both." Rance/minotaur raised his head, but the animal smell and the low rumbling made Rance seem more dangerous.

"You're fast, track star. That's why Rance couldn't catch you."

"What did you do, Stella? What did you summon up?" Berry asked.

"A spell to grant Rance and me our desires. I wanted to be the most desirable, irresistible woman, and Rance wanted to be the best, successful football player."

"How could you arrange that? Don't you know those spells are dangerous?"

"We paid the first price. We ran Peter over. Yes, Gary's brother. You two are the final payment. Come meet the minotaur."

"No," said Gary.

Stella pointed her wand at the wall, and it crumbled beneath them. Gary pulled Berry away from Rance and they ran to the other side of the ring.

"You can't escape."

"If you don't pay, you lose everything," Berry said. "I know your witch ways. That's why you were kicked out of Catholic School years ago."

"Now I've mastered them. Rance will kill you, our sacrifice, and our changes will be permanent. Rance." She nodded and the minotaur took a slow step towards them.

Berry said, "If I'm right, you have to pay by midnight, or you lose everything."

Stella snarled, and Gary realized Berry was correct. He checked his phone. Three minutes till midnight. Safe if they could avoid Rance/minotaur and Stella's wand for 180 seconds.

Rance walked slowly towards them. They edged away. He followed.

"The bat," Berry whispered.

"It's plastic."

"There's power here. We can use it."

Gary shook his head.

She touched his arm. "Have faith. Believe in yourself. Use the power." She touched the bat. It turned heavy and solid in his arm. "Aim for the nose first."

Gary nodded. If this was a bad trip, he wanted to wake up and go home.

They sidled along the wall as Rance moved closer. Stella said, "That plastic bat will not help you."

Rance rushed at them. They ran along the wall. Gary heard Rance close in. He braced himself and swung the bat hard against the nose of the minotaur.

Rance bellowed and fell to his knees, clawing at his nose. They ran across the arena.

Rance got to his feet and moved after them. Berry stooped and grabbed a handful of sand. She threw it in Rance's face. He rubbed at his eyes, roaring.

Gary hit his nose again and again. Rance roared louder.

Stella ran at them, and Berry jumped on her. She knocked Stella to the sand and grabbed her wand away. Berry broke the wand in pieces and threw them at Stella. "You're useless. Helpless." Stella began to cry.

Gary whacked Rance/minotaur's knees hard. The man-beast fell to the ground and lay still.

The torches flickered out and the moon disappeared. The light returned. They were in the entrance of the Maze. "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" played on. Gary flicked the recording off. Rance groaned and stood up. He looked flabby rather than muscular, and smaller. His face was bruised and he limped.

Stella got to her feet. "You're horrible. I hate you." She was stick-thin rather than curvy and her hair was thin and lusterless.

"Shut up," said Berry. "You have no power in this world. You'll never have power again."

Gary took his phone and dialed 911.

"Police. What is your emergency?"