It was an average October night. The feeling of festivities, more or less horror was in the air. And in the town of Little Ivywood it meant a bunch of stupid kids doing stupid things and getting in trouble or hurt.

Alex was just finishing his late night shift at the theatres, he sighed and checked his watch '12:24'. Almost time for the last movie to let out.

And minutes later, people started pouring out of the theatre. "That was the last movie idiots! Get out of there!" Alex yelled to a group of boys and girls that were hanging back. They nodded and left. People are idiots Alex thought to himself.

He finished cleaning up the counter. He heard footsteps and the sound of a movie playing. He groaned and walked into the theatre. "WHO EVER THE HELL IS IN HERE, YOU NEED TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW. GOT IT?" He yelled.

He turned around and was face to face with someone in a dark hoodie, black jeans, and a panda mask, covering the figures face. "The hell?" he mumbled, questioning his sanity. The panda-thing pulled out a knife from under its hoodie. Alex got what was going on and ran the other way.

When he got to the front room, he saw his boyfriend, John, at the door waiting. He smiled at Alex before seeing the figure behind him. He started banging on the door. He pulled out his phone and hit the door. The door was locked, because Alex planned on going out the back.

Alex jumped over the counter and backed into a display case.

The figure walked slowly towards him. He felt behind him for the display case and opened it, grabbing the sharpest thing he could find. A replica of the sword from one of the idiotic movies that played there.

As the figure opened its mouth to speak he wrenched the knife into its side.

The figure stuttered and slowly fell to the ground "he stabbed me.." he mumbled

"What the hell did you do?" a female voice called. She ran towards them, a video camera in hand.

"Who-?" Alex stuttered. "It was a prank! A joke! You stabbed him! You stabbed him!" she yelled.

John Finally got the door open and ran to Alex's side. Alex looked down at him, he was always shorter. "Are you ok?" he panted, obviously tired from trying to open the door

10 minutes later the police were called.

"He's going to be alright." The officer told the girl and the two boys. "And in a few minutes. You'll be free to leave" he said.

"What? He STABBED him. You can't just stab someone and get away with it!" the girl argued

"Well let's see. A foolish collage prank vs an act of self defense. Self defense wins." The officer said.

The girl glared at the boys and walked off.

In the passing days, the incident had been all over the news. It made Halloween no more enjoyable. Alex was laying down in his bed, on his laptop finishing some work. Tap Alex heard. Tap Tap he heard again. He looked around TAP TAP TAPPITY TAP it sounded, more aggressively. He turned to his window and saw a girl, with light blonde hair let down wavy that matched her crystal blue eyes and pale skin. She was wearing an old fashioned red dress with a matching flower crown. "Maria? What are you doing?" he said, opening her window, she was being held up to his first floor window by a beautiful man. He was wearing a top hat and a fabulous black coat with a name tag staying "Lafayette". "What are you guys doing here?" he asked. "We've all come to fetch you to come to a party!" she said excitedly.

He looked around and saw two more girls. The smallest girl, Peggy, was wearing a yellow dress and flower crown just like Maria.

The tallest, though not much taller, was Eliza. She was dressed in a turquoise short dress with, yet again, a flower crown.

"Uh huh. Well hate to break it to you guys, but I'm not a big fan of parties." He said turning back to his laptop. He heard Maria sigh "you asked for this Alex!" she called.

Just before Alex could turn back, his bedroom door flew open and two people stood there. A short girl in some casual black clothes and a boy with a flannel shirt and tan pants.

"The hell?" Alex asked, looking at Maria. But before Alex could move out of the way, they picked him up and pushed him out the window.

"GUYS. SERIOUSLY?" He yelled. The girl jumped through the window after him, witch was no surprise to any of them. "Your mom says have fun. She's ok with you coming, SO LET'S GO!" the short girl, Bex, said enthusiastically. Noah, the other kid, stepped through the window.

"ughhrrr." Alex groaned getting up. "Fine. But I'm not wearing a costume." Alex grumbled. "Oh yes you are!" Maria said going through her red purse. "It'll be fun Alex! You'll see!" Eliza said

Maria pulled out some torn up clothes and tan shorts. "Here!" she said. "What am I supposed to be dressing up as? A fashion disaster?" Alex said. The others laughed but Maria didn't find it as funny. "It's stuff they wear in the apocalypse. But if you don't want to wear it then me, Bex, Noah, Laf, Eliza, Peggy, and john will just go without you!" she said. Alex sat bolt, upright. "John's going?" Alex asked. "Of course he is! He loves Halloween!" Eliza piped in. "Yep! And he's the fourt-" Peggy started but was immediately cut off by Marias death glare. "Mon ami, change and we will wait outside!" Lafayette said

12 minutes later, after Alex was changed and Peggy got a hold of the makeup and fake blood,

The Group set out to the party.

When they got there, Lafayette, Peggy, Eliza and Maria ran right inside. "so, what ARE you guys dressed as?" Alex asked Bex and Noah, who were wearing what looked like normal clothes. "Ha! You Kidding?" Bex laughed.

They quickly got into a back to back position. "were..." "Bi curious and the virgin!" Bex said Enthusiastically.

Alex, though he didn't get it (I'm not sure anyone did...) just smiled and rolled his eyes.

They began to walk in when they heard some idiots out back. "are there people out back?" Noah asked "well duh! C'mon. Let's go yell at them and tell them no spoking out back." Bex said.

The three walked to the behind of the building and saw some teenage boys. "H-Hey! Give it back!" a voice squeaked they heard laughing. "you look idiotic!" a tall boy with poofy black hair said. Alex, Bex, and Noah walked closer and before Alex could see, Bex smacked the tallest boy over the head. "hey! The heck- ohhh. It's the man-hater." He sneered.

Thomas.

If there's one thing everyone in the town knew. It was that Alexander Hated Thomas. They were always at each other's necks!

Thomas was holding a flower crown with white flowers. Alex stepped forward before Thomas's friends moved out of the way. Alex looked at the poor innocent soul to see it was a short boy with curly brown hair, bright green eyes, and covered in freckles. "John!" alex exclaimed, quickly running to him, he was wearing a white dress just like Peggy, Maria and Eliza's outfits. Alex turned around a decked Thomas in the face. He grabbed the flower crown.

After Bex got threw with Thomas, the 4 walked into the party. "there you are!" Maria exclaimed. "John! You look amazing! Its perfect! It matches the others!"

They had a fun night. Singing, laughing, eating candy, drinking pumpkin juice, and partaking in a pumpkin carving challenge. Peggy won. She carved a sign all around the pumpkin and smashed it when they said she had won.

The group laughed and walked home. Maria was on Lafayette's back as they walked to her house. "Quite a night. I vote we stay at Maria's!" Eliza said positively. The group agreed and began texting their parents.

When they got to Maria's everyone went to her living room. Her parents weren't home 95% of the time so they were golden.

Maria got a bunch of blankets and threw them on the floor. Maria sat next to Eliza and everyone made a circle.

"Hide And Seek B!!!" Maria Yelled

Everyone agreed and so it began. After an intense round of 'eenie meenie miney mo' Maria was it.

"1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11...12...13..." She counted.

Alex grabbed John's hand and hid outside in a bush. John was holding his mouth to stop giggling as they watched someone ran by.

After a few minutes later they heard a scream. Not a fun 'this is just a game' scream, but a blood curdling scream.

Alex and john shared confused looks then ran towards the house. When they got to the house, they found Eliza and Maria.

The group ran upstairs to Maria's room and saw what had screamed. Out the window, held up by a rope around there neck.... Was Peggy.

Eliza screamed and pulled her body up. Seconds later, Lafayette, Bex, and Noah ran in. they saw peggy and mouths dropped. No one else made any sound, the only sounds were Eliza crying well holding her sister.

Bex grabbed a phone and dialed 911. "Hello?" she said. Everyone looked at her.

"HI! Yes! 7 other teenagers and I were at a friends for the night and we came upstairs and one of the girls is hanging out the window! There was a rope around her neck and her sister pulled her. She's ice cold." Bex said into the phone.

The next few minutes were a blur. They all went into the living room and most of them were in tears.

Alex held his hands in his head. "The cops said they'd be here in... half an hour. They said not to leave." Noah said.

Lafayette went to the bathroom, Maria and Eliza were holding hands and crying together. John sat next to them crying.

I sat next to john and pulled him into a hug. They held onto each other until they heard Lafayette scream. Yes. He screamed.

"Me, Maria, and Bex will go. You stay here" Alex said

They ran to bathroom and saw.... Nothing.

No one was there. "Where'd he go?" Maria said, her voice a bit raspy from crying.

They heard another lighter scream from back in the living room.

They all ran back to the living room. Eliza was crying harder and was hunched over john. He was on the floor clutching his stomach. "John? John!" Alex panicked. Eliza moved aside well he sat next to her. He had a gash that cut threw his dress fabric, leaving a bloody cut along his chest. He was breathing heavily.

"John! John what happened!?!" he said pulled john into his hold. John just shook his head. "We didn't see..." Noah said.

"You know what this means, right?" Noah said. Noah was always into creepy thing had his own murder board at home. "What are you talking about?" Bex said

"Well it's not a coincidence both of them are being attacked." He said. "Seriously Noah? Now is not the time for a stupid mystery case! Someone's trying to kill us!" Bex said, you could pin the panic in her voice. Who wasn't terrified for their life here?

Alex held john closer. Someone already tried to kill him once. Never again.

Eliza was sitting next to Peggy's body. It was hard to watch the sister look at her little sister's dead body. She ran her hand over her face.

She put her hand to the throat and saw the cut. She gasped, causing the others to crowd around. She saw something glittering in the neck and slowly pulled it out. She pulled out a small blade. "Don't touch that!" Bex yelled.

Eliza dropped it and looked at her "if the murder had that blade they can use it for fingerprints!" she said, almost smiling. Eliza looked at the blade on the floor and stepped back. "I'm going to a bathroom" she said. "I'll come just in case!" Maria said. Bex and Noah nodded as they left. Bex turned to the boys and sat down. "Had a huge thing for Peggy." Noah whispered.

"Shut up Noah!" she yelled. "Hey! I'm just saying!" he said arms up. "No! Listen!" she said. They stopped and Alex could hear footsteps from upstairs. "Maria! Eliza!" Bex called. Suddenly the girls came running in, looking shaken up. Maria fell to the floor in a full faint. "W-We saw-" Eliza stuttered but suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "Liza?" Bex said stepping forward. Eliza fell to the floor, blood seeping through the black of her dress. John screamed and Noah picked up Maria.

"We got to go!" he said holding her bridal style.

"Holy hell!" Bex yelled, grabbing john and Alex by the arm.

They ran out of the house and down the dirt road. Why did they pick a house in the middle of nowhere?

They ran until they heard more footsteps behind them. Alex looked behind them to see a blurred figure. Bex screamed and they ran harder. John looked like he could pass out from running too much.

They finally saw red and blue lights in front of them. They ran until the cars saw them. They were safe.

Bex collapsed on the ground as some medic's surrounded her. Alex saw what had made her yell, she was shot in the leg. The cops quickly went on behind them to the house. Noah put Maria down as she started waking up, she started crying when she realized what happened

They saw John's parents, Bex's mom, Noah's dad, Lafayette's foster dad, and Angelica.

Angelica ran up to them. "Angelica I am so sorry, but...." Alex started, but couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Angelica seemed to get it because she fell to her knees in tears. John hugged her and the two cried together.

The cops started asking questions, saying that maria's parents were coming.

After too many questions, the cops took the evidence and the bodies.

Alex couldn't help feeling grief after what happened. He and john were at his house, they didn't want to be alone after that. John's parents were ok with it and Alex's mom was too busy to care. She told Alex that 'it wasn't his fault' then left.

They sat on his couch watching the sun come up a day later. Neither of them slept after that. John had just gotten out of the hospital with stitches on his chest.

They heard a knock at the door, John got up and walked to it. Alexander watched he was curious as to who was there.

"L-Lafayette?" John stuttered. Alex quickly got up and saw what john was looking at.

Their favorite Frenchman was standing there. He looked different, his hair was in a ponytail and he looked paler.

"Come in!" John said inviting him in. Lafayette smiled and they all sat down. "What happened?" john said, leaning next to Alexander.

"Well, you see mon ami. After Peggy's death I couldn't stop right there. No." he said. Alex was confused on what 'stop right there' meant, but he continued to listen.

"Then I knew if I was gone...." Ping Alex's phone went off

"... I'd be blameless!" he laughed.

Ping

"Then, during my escape two of the girls saw me."

Ping Ping Ping

"So after Maria fainted, I finished off Eliza! Quite easy." He laughed. "Y-You killed them?" john said, he was shaking.

"Of course! Had to try and finish Bex, but before anything else could happen..... The police came." He said looking angrily at Alex's beeping phone. Alex stood up. "Get out of my house." He said passing his phone to john. He mouthed '911' to him and turned back. John took it and ran to the bathroom.

"Where's he going?" Lafayette asked, standing up quickly. "bathroom." Alex said. Quickly as he could he tackled Lafayette to the ground. Lafayette tried to pull him off as they wrestled. He freed him hand and grabbed a pocket knife and sliced Alex's cheek. Alex felt the blood drip, but continued to fight the taller man.

Lafayette pushed him to the wall. Knife held close to Alex's neck.

John emerged from the washroom with the phone in his pocket, he had finished calling the police.

He gasped when he saw the scene and Lafayette turned to face him. "Do not worry Petite, you'll be next!" he said cheerfully.

The knife was just touching Alex's neck as john was yelling for him to stop, when they heard a Bang

Everyone stopped. Lafayette moved back, dropping Alex to the floor.

Lafayette slowly fell to his knees, his hand on his chest. Red liquid started falling from it. "Angelica" John said looking at a window. There Angelica stood, gun in hand.

She stepped through the window and ran to the now, bleeding out, and cold, but alive, body.

"I-Is he..." john asked. He walked to alexander and Alex put his hand around him, pulling him into a hug.

"Not for long. You called the cops?" she asked. John nodded, and as if on cue, they heard sirens in the distance.

"Thank God." Alex mumbled. He looked at his phone.

It was a bunch of people sending the newspaper clippings.

There was a picture of Lafayette and a heading

MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR 2 DEATHS AND ATTEMPTED MURDER

He put the phone away and held onto john. It was over.

No one in the little town of Ivywood forgot the murders.

The rumors of Ghosts and Killers from the Dead started spreading, but it didn't affect the surviving 5.

Alex, John, Bex, Noah, And Maria, Grew Much Closer.

There Are Somethings Friends
Can Do, And There's No Way
That They Won't Grow Closer
As A Result.

By: Jaelyn Raine

3024 Words

B+ Grade

19 Pages