Turning toward the two young people, Sonja folded her arms. “You two had better explain yourselves,” she ordered.
Marissa looked down at her feet, shamefully. “I . . . I was learning about witchcraft,” she mumbled. “I found some woman online, SS, who claimed she was a real practicing witch and could teach me—said she’d even send me my own spell book with instructions.”
“That’s what was in the package you received?” Sonja pressed.
Marissa nodded. “I’ve been planning this day for months. She’d send me new spells to try over e-mail, sent me my own pentagram with my initials inscribed. Then, she sent me the spell book with instructions, telling me how to prepare for our first meeting.”
Making the victim prepare their own death, that was horrible.
“I had to do cleansing rituals of some sort, and they had to be prepared ahead of time . . . that’s why I snuck away from the haunted house. In all the chaos, I was sure no one would notice I was gone.”
“Well, people did notice,” Sonja snapped. “Me, your teachers, the police, your parents. You had everyone worried about you.”
“I know. I know that now.”
“Now do you realize how dangerous it is to meet with anonymous people you've only talked to online?”
Marissa nodded, still shamefully.
“And you,” she said, looking at Sam.
“I’m sorry, Miss Sonja,” he muttered. “I lied. I did see Marissa leave the haunted house.”
“And you didn’t bother telling anyone?”
“I told him not to,” Marissa chimed in. “I gave him my old locket, the one from before I got the pentagram.”
Sam slipped his hand out of his pocket, revealing the small heart shaped piece of jewelry.
Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe the deceit and manipulation of this girl. She also was ashamed of Sam’s involvement, lying simply because a girl he liked had tricked him.
“After school today I got a ride home with Dillon’s dad. After he dropped me off I realized my mother hadn’t heard anything about the school shut down. I lied to her, told her they’d sent us home early for the holiday.”
“And you chose not to tell her about the regulations enforced tonight.”
He nodded. “When I left the house, I didn’t meet up with Dillon and Brian. Instead, I snuck over to Marissa’s house. I saw her leave through her window and figured she was coming out here. So I followed.”
“You followed me?” Marissa asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.
“You’d better be glad he did,” Sonja corrected. “We’re both alive because of him.”
“I lost her when she disappeared into the mausoleum,” Sam went on. “I had no idea where she went, so I assumed I must have just missed her. A state trooper was coming my way, so I ran further into the woods to hide. That’s when I saw this little hut hidden in the trees.”
Sighing, Sonja made one final correction. “You’ve both made some very poor decisions today, dangerous decisions.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they replied in unison.
“Unfortunately, we can’t tell the police or your parents the truth.” She motioned toward the skeleton. “No one would believe us.”
“So, we’re not going to be in trouble?” Marissa asked.
“I didn’t say that,” she affirmed. “You’re going to be in a heap of trouble, both of you. We’ll just have to leave out any part about witches or ghosts. You will still need to tell Sheriff Thompson and your parents that you both lied and both snuck out here without permission.”
Both kids nodded.
“Now,” Sonja asked, “How are we going to fill in the gaps?”
* * *
Ultimately, Sonja led the two middle schoolers out of the woods where they found Sheriff Thompson and a group of state troopers. They hadn’t been able to apprehend the masked man in the woods.
The children told a story about how they were secret pen pals and had agreed to meet up in the woods that night to touch the glass coffin. Marissa explained how she had snuck off early from school to get out to the mausoleum and how Sam had agreed to meet her later. Sam admitted to having lied about seeing Marissa.
Sonja informed the police about how she had found them there.
After another round of serious scolding from Sheriff Thompson, the police took the kids home and explained the situation to their parents, leaving it to them to create a fitting punishment.
Finally, after a stressful holiday of masked skeletons and witches, Frank and Sonja found themselves at her house watching an old rerun of House of Frankenstein, snuggled up together on the couch, eating leftover candy. It was a surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable way to spend the rest of Halloween.
“What about that guy in the skull mask?” Sonja asked as she pulled the blanket up further. “What are we going to do about him?”
The sheriff, finally in his civilian clothing after a long day, replied, “Nothing for the time being. If he shows up again, we’ll take him in for questioning.”
“But Halloween is over,” she replied. “I doubt he’ll be wearing a skull mask after tonight.”
“Probably not,” Frank admitted. “I’m just glad that Halloween is over.”
Surprisingly, Sonja felt the same way.
“Want some popcorn?” she asked.
“Sure,” he smiled down at her.
Hopping up from the couch, Sonja headed into the kitchen and placed a bag of kettle flavored popcorn into the microwave.
While she waited for the snack to finish cooking, she decided to brew some pumpkin spice tea and filled the kettle with water. It was then, standing at the window, that she saw the figure standing in her own yard—in between her house and her mother’s house.
Turning, the cloaked figure revealed his half skull mask. About to shout out to Frank about the man outside, she stopped when she saw the cloaked figure reach up and slowly removed his mask. For the briefest moment, Sonja felt her heart stop in her chest. She recognized the person behind the mask.
Running out the door into the night, she went to catch him, but he was gone before she could get close.
“What? What’s going on?” Frank replied as he followed her out.
Sonja’s eyes darted back and forth, but the man was gone.
“I saw him,” she whispered.
“Saw who?”
“My father.”
Spotting something white and square sitting on the lawn, right where her father had been standing, Sonja ran over to it.
“Your father? Are you sure?”
Getting close, Sonja realized it was a white envelope and picked it up. Opening the strange piece of mail, she pulled out a letter. Inside were a few lovingly scribbled words.
My Dear Sonja,
I am proud of you tonight. Good work on getting rid of the witch. I love you.
-Dad
“What does it mean?” Frank asked.
“I’m not sure,” Sonja responded. How did her father know about the witch?
Pumpkin Pie Waffle: Book 5 in The Diner of the Dead Series Page 8
