Halloween chapter from a new perspective

New character's POV

"This is halloween!
Scary spooky halloween!"

I sing along ecstatically as I jump around to the beat of the spooky tune.

With a satisfied smile, I flop down onto my pristine, fluffy bed, looking up at my bedroom ceiling, covered with photos of friends and posters of past crushes.

I sigh contently, happy to be back in my old, familiar room. I hadn't come back to my home town, back to my family, back to my sister, for years!

"Filippa come downstairs! There's people at the door!"  

My head jerks up and a grin spreads across my face.

I leap off my bed and scramble towards my door, lifting up the tattered skirt of my Halloween costume- this year I was a zombie!

I rush along the corridor, glancing at the bathroom mirror to check my ghoulish makeup before sliding downstairs and landing in front of the front door.

I grab the conveniently placed bowl of neon coloured sweets and hesitantly unlatch the door.

"TRICK OR TREAT! It's Barbie time!"

Barb-huh?

Standing at the door are two not-so-young people dressed in freakishly horrific costumes holding up two buckets filled to the brim with chocolates and candies.

"Oh! What... beautiful costumes! Let me guess... Two spooooky witches?"

I say with a forced smile as I keep my gazed fixed on the two surprising figures standing on the porch.

They stare at me for second, their orange painted faces wrinkling up in what seemed like anger.

"I'm Barbie and this is Ken." The first one speaks with gritted teeth. She looks oddly familiar.

"It's Steve!" The guy shouts at his 'girlfriend' and then winks at me "And you are..."

"Way out of your league!" I retort back, which is actually true, that guy must have been really desperate to be dating someone like Barbara.

Barbara sighs "Steve darling, don't worry about her. She's just..." she pauses as her eyes widen.

"F...F... Fio...Fiona?!" She asks, scared, almost as if she's seen a ghost.

"Ugh no! Fiona and I look nothing alike" I spit my words out in anger. I am so tired of people thinking we look the same!

"Anyway, I'm much hotter than Fiona!" I smirk as I flip my luscious, spider web covered hair.

"But...You haven't heard about Fiona?"

"I don't know where or what Fiona is doing! She's probably with one of her mate's, go check Mahnoor's house." I say annoyed.

Annoyed at my sister for not even caring I'm back to England, that she'd rather be at her friends house.

"M...Mah...Mahnoor?! And F...Fio...Fiona?! ... How?"  stutters again

"You got a stuttering problem or something?" I ask "If you are so obsessed with them just go find them and leave me alone!"

"We are still waiting for the sweets!" Steve joins the conversation, causing both Barbara and I to glare at him.

"Here take an apple!" I smile as I put away the bowl of sweets and give them the healthy snack. Before they can say anything back I slam the door on their faces.

"It's okay Barb dear, don't cry!" I hear their loud cries and complaints from outside. "I heard there's a sick party going on at that house. We could steal sweets from there"

Party? Nearby?

I should definetely go crash that party, who knows maybe I will meet some of my old friends there.

I missed everyone the whole time I was in Switzerland, but most of all I missed my 'dear' sister Fiona.

Truth is Fiona and I aren't as close we use to be.

We parted in bad terms the last time I was in England and since then we haven't uttered a single word to each other.

I can't blame her for being mad though. I can't imagine how hard it must be to realise that your dad is ... NO.

I don't want to think about that now. I left all of that behind when I went to Switzerland with dad. I'm just back to celebrate Halloween and because my mum asked me to come back...

I run upstairs, as I got in my room I quickly grab my phone and run back downstairs.

"Mum, I'm going trick or treating!" I shout as I put my shoes on and rush out behind Barb and her boyfriend.

"Barb, darling you can stop crying" I heard Steve talking to Barb

"But F..fio...fiona.. it was her!" I listened to her as I nearly bursted out with laugh. We look different!

"Cheer up Barb, eat some candy!" He passed her purple Cadbury bar.

She snatched the sweet and hurriedly ate it. "I'm ready to party!" She scream as she ate more candy.

Finally, they stopped in front of the entrance to the woods. "Halloween candy we are coming" Steve muttered and he walked in lightning a torch in his phone.

The cold wind hits me right on the face and I run back home to get a scarf.

Mum greets me at the door, a bottle of rouge liquid in her hand.  "Filippa! There you are" she says happily as she takes another sip of her drink.

I sigh In defeat, my mum has been like this since our family fell apart just over a year ago. Since then it seemed like she forgot I even existed as she drowned her thoughts in alcohol. Well, she forgot about me until a week ago...

She called me in tears saying that she wanted me back. And, doing what any good daughter would do, I took the first flight to England hoping this trip would fix my broken family.

Clearly I was wrong.

Since I came back mother has been happily drinking and Fiona... well she didn't even come to say hello!

"Mum, leave it.. please." I whisper "You had enough.. if Dad was here he wouldn't let this happen"

She slams the bottle down and turns to look at me with sudden hatred in her eyes, "Don't Talk To Me About Your FATHER."

I walk away, leaving her and grabbing a scarf and a coat from the hall.

"I HATE YOU!" I slam the door in her face.

I love you at the same time though.

I walk through the streets filled with little children in colorful,crazy and cute costumes.

Walking through the streets I reach the woods and hesitate before walking in. Breathe in. Breathe out.

I reached the party place in the middle of those umm.. cute trees?

Flashing lights. Spooky decorations. Sparkling drinks. Loud music. Crowds of people.

I look around hoping to see someone I know from my old school. After few moments I spot a figure near Barb.

I walk up to them waiting for them to notice me. Barb suddenly turns around and stops in the middle of her sentence with shock.

"F..Fio..Fiona!!" Her squeaky voive hurts my ears.

"Ugh! It's Filippa.. I'm better than Fiona" I mutter in annoyance before looking towards the person standing next to Barbara.

"Filippa! I missed you so much!" The girl suddenly hugs me, leaving no room to breathe.

"Emily.. oxygen!" I gasp trying to say something despite the lack of air.

"I'm sorry! I'm just so glad to see you! When did you get back to England?" Emily suddenly awakened.

Emily and I were best friends before I moved to Switzerland, we had no secrets. I trusted her more than my family. She found new friends and I tried to move on too but it was hard. She lived only a street away from me, I remember doing everything with her but everything good always has to end.

"I'm...visiting" I quickly lie and attempt some small talk.

Emily was a lot different than my sister, at least she cared. But I couldn't talk now, not in front of Barb.

"Sorry Emily, I have to go" I apologised and started walking towards one of the shorter ways.

"Be careful! Who knows what goes on in those woods." Emily shouted as I disappeared in the dark woods.

I walked for few minutes, breathing in the air and exploring the familiar surroundings. It felt good to be back home. As creepy as they may seem these woods were my favourite spot. Away from the world.

I suddenly stopped in my tracks as I heard something beyond the trees.

"Oliwia scared me, Abir did too.." The person continued as I walked up to one of the bushes and stood quietly, craning around to hear more, "Who  is it next?"

Me! I will wreck their plans! No party for them! Oops...

I whispered to myself with a devilish smile, already hatching a plan to scare the passing strangers.

But were they definitely strangers? Oliwia...Abir... I had heard those names before. If I remembered correctly, Oliwia was that odd girl that used to follow Fiona home like some sort of stalker and Abir used to play netball with Fiona after school.

So, two friends of Fiona, then? That made it even better! Maybe Fiona was with them even now! I now had a chance to prank both Fiona's friends and possible even my sister herself, and I was not going to pass up this excellent opportunity.

Quietly, I follow them hoping they wouldn't notice me. I can see the four girls clearly now and I'm pretty sure Fiona is not among them.

Who cares about Fiona?! I can still scare her friends. From the way one of them is skipping happily not caring about her surroundings, I can tell they all are pretty stupid, which is going to make scaring them even more fun.

But how should I scare them?

I think to myself as I step over branches and brambles, following the gang of girls up ahead of me.

Whilst thinking, I manage to glance at my torn and ripped dress and get a the perfect idea.

After a few minutes of walking through the forest and hatching my plan, the girls reach an empty clearing and I spot an opportunity.

I silently continue walking until I arrive at the other side of the clearing across from Fiona's friends.

Then, when I see that the girls have stopped and appear to be lost, I make my move.

I slowly walk into the moonlight, allowing it to illuminate my decaying skin and blood-splattered dress.

Once I arrive at the centre of the clearing, making sure that I'm completely visible to the girls, I wait for them to react to my appearance.

The first girl, the one that I saw skipping along in an idiotic way before, moves closer to me. She doesn't seem scared, instead she simply looks like she's about to ask for directions

Before she can reach me, another one of the girls, the only one I could recognise; Fiona's best friend Mahnoor, pulls the first girl back and then turns to look at me in the eyes.

I grin, time to get pranking! As Mahnoor continues to look at me, I open my mouth and whisper three words:

"I'm not dead."

***

Abir and the other girl scream at the top of their lungs. Mahnoor stares deep into my eyes. Oliwia bursts out with laughter.

"You guys are so bad at murdering people! You didn't even check if she was truly dead!" Oliwia carries on laughing.

"It's not her" Mahnoor states not breaking eye contact with me.

"It's not who?" I ask not understanding anything.

"Fiona! You didn't die! See guys? I'm innocent!" Screams the blonde girl enthusiastically

"Nice prank..whatever your name is..." I state, faking a laugh.

"ALICE BOYSEN LIDYARD!" She screams proudly.

"Okeyyyy.. I will just call you the Blonde girl" I say nicely and walk away, completely confused by their unexpected reactions.

What did they mean? It was just meant to be a harmless zombie prank! And then they started talking about murdering people! That girl, Mahnoor, seemed to think that I was my sister at the start. But we look nothing alike!

I was interrupted from my quiet musings by the sound of a notification from my phone.

I quickly glance over and see that it's my mum. She wants me to come back so she can talk to me.

Well, I have nothing better to do...

I sigh and prepare to face my drunken mum as I begin walking back through the woods towards my house.

I open the door and see my mum crying and drinking as  she looks over old family pictures. Our family would never be the same...

Mother looks up and smiles at me "Hi Filippa"

In this moment I actually feel sorry for her, all the hatred I had for her is replaced with affection. She is all on her own in this world with two daughters that don't really care about her...

After the way she treated and humiliated dad, this is all she deserves! But could I bring myself to forgive her?

"Filippa you are growing into a beautiful young woman" mother starts caressing my cheek "just like Fiona...was"

"Was?! You mean she is not beautiful anymore?! Did puberty hit her like a truck"

Mother smiles again but her smile disappears as quick as it came.

"No darling.. she didn't turn ugly.Umm.." she continues taking her time.

"Hurry up Mum, I still need to watch How to get away with murder!" I interrupted

"FionaIsDead" mum says hurriedly not letting me understand.

"Slow down Suzanne!" I scream annoyed as she couldn't say it before and when she gets to the point I don't understand.

"Fiona..is...dead" she says and bursts out with tears.

I begin to smile, thinking this is just some weird joke mum thinks would be funny in her drunken stupor.

She lays her head on the table, her shoulders shaking as she sobs.

She's not joking.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What do you think about Filippa and the rest of FF's family?
Do you like other characters' POV?
Out of all the minor characters which one is your favourite?

Thanks for reading!

Song of the chapter is " Dollhouse" by Melanie Martinez, representing what FF's family was like.

You know you love us
x.o.x.o
~Pigeon, Glitter And Potato