The Witch of Halloween House

by Jeff DeGordick

"Nothing happened," she said. "I went and talked to Peter. They have them locked up."

  "Is everything going to be okay? What did he say?"

  Carmen led him into his bedroom and they sat on the edge of his bed, talking. Carmen held the witch mirror in her hands, turning it over and rubbing her thumb against the smooth stone.

  "Peter can't help us," Carmen said, "and neither can anyone else. I have to go and stop the witch tonight myself."

  "You mean we have to go, right?" he asked.

  Carmen shook her head. "It's too dangerous for you," she replied. "I don't think the witch wants anything with me; she only wants children."

  "Why?"

  "Peter said it's because she needs them to regenerate back to her old form. She can get stronger that way."

  "No," Tommy said, "I mean why wouldn't you let me go? Are you just going to leave me at home while you go do it?"

  "It's safer that way," she said.

  Tommy looked down at his feet, depressed.

  Carmen gently placed her hand on his arm. "What's the matter?"

  He sighed. "I never get to do anything. When Mom was still around—"

  "Tommy," she interrupted, "now's not a good time to do the whole Mom guilt trip thing, okay?"

  "No, I'm just saying," he continued, "when Mom was around, she made sure that we did everything we wanted and needed. Not just me, but you too. Even Dad. Ever since she died, Dad's just been getting busier and busier with work, and he doesn't spend time with me anymore. I'm not even talking about what's been happening lately, I just mean in general. You've had to pick up the slack a lot and spend more time with me, and I know sometimes you don't want to."

  "Hey," she said, pulling him in for a hug, "of course I want to spend time with you."

  "But you know what I mean, right?" he said. "If mom was still here, I would be going trick-or-treating, and I would be able to do other stuff, too, that Dad forgets about."

  Carmen sighed. She felt sympathetic for her brother, but his safety was her paramount priority. Still, she saw the pained look in his eyes, the result of one too many disappointments, and she would give anything to put a smile on his face. She thought for a moment, trying to find a happy medium.

  "I know," she said.

  He lifted his head and looked at her.

  "We never got your costume."

  "Yeah, I know. What's your point?"

  "My point is, why don't we get you one?" she said with a smile. "Do you want to be Joe Hardy?"

  His eyes lit up. "Yeah... but how?"

  "Well, you still got that old red sweater, don't you?" she asked.

  He nodded.

  "I can help you fix up the rest. Even if no one else knows who you are, you and I will, and that's all that matters."

  "Okay," he said, "but what difference does it make if I can't go trick-or-treating? Randy and Shawn were already taken by the witch. It's too dangerous for me to go out at night."

  "You can't go trick-or-treating," Carmen said, "but we can do something else fun today while it's still light out."

  "What?"

  "How would you like to go to the pumpkin patch?"

  A smile slid across his face.

  They arrived at the Sawyer family farm near the west end of town in mid-afternoon. Carmen was bundled up in her normal coat and jeans, and Tommy was dressed up with two layers of t-shirts underneath his red sweater. Carmen had used some old hair dye she had to change Tommy's hair to the particular shade of blond on his book covers, and she dressed him up as closely as possible to his favorite mystery novel icon.

  The pumpkin patch was busy, with many parents walking around with their children. Everyone still seemed strange, but they didn't get too crazy in the daytime; only at night. Carmen would keep a watchful eye on her brother and make sure nothing happened to him, and in exchange he would get to have some fun for Halloween. Besides, she had an ulterior motive for coming here, anyway: she needed to prepare for tonight and get the items that Peter told her to gather. She had salt at home, but not garlic, nor anything made of iron that could be used as a weapon. But if anyone might have had that stuff, the Sawyer farm was a good bet, allowing her to kill a few birds with one stone.

  "Why don't you go inside?" Carmen told Tommy, handing him the ticket that she bought. "I'm just going to go buy some garlic."

  He nodded with a smile, turned, and skipped off for the girl standing at the admission gate.

  A whole host of jack-o'-lanterns had greeted them on the way in, each one carved into a different funny or frightening face, and Carmen heard that at nighttime the farm owner put on quite a lights show with them. But she had absolutely no intention of sticking around until dark, and she feared for any of the other townspeople who did.

  There was a stand before the admission gate where she could buy tickets or food, and there was also a large cart of locally-grown produce in addition to the huge boxes full of pumpkins for people to buy. She rummaged through it and found garlic. "Yes!" she said under her breath. "How much for this?" she asked, taking a bag full of five bulbs.

  "Three dollars," the girl behind the counter grumbled.

  Carmen took the money out of her pocket and handed it to her, then she took the garlic and stuffed it in her coat. With that on hand, she would just have to look for something made of iron while she kept an eye on Tommy and made sure he didn't stray too far. She headed for the admission gate.

  Tommy had already skipped quite a ways ahead, excitedly looking around at all of the attractions. It had been quite a number of years since their mom took them here, and there were many new additions, like quite a few animatronic shows featuring jack-o'-lanterns or mechanical chickens, and even a brand-new haunted house. But what he was looking forward to more than anything was the corn maze that he remembered so well from four years ago.

  He passed a multitude of other children, who walked around in wonderment similar to him, but most of them had strained looks on their faces, and when Tommy got the measure of the parents walking around, he knew what the problem was: all the parents seemed to be irritated, or downright angry. They were very short with their kids, not allowing them to do half the things they wanted, even though there was no good reason not to. It sounded like his father, and he sympathized. But he was with his sister today, and he didn't have to worry about any of that. Remembering this, he smiled and skipped on.

  Tommy hopped along the trail toward the tractor that picked people up and gave them hayrides.

  "Don't go too far!" Carmen called from somewhere behind him.

  He turned and waved at her, slowing down a bit, but still continuing on.

  Carmen watched him, noting that he was going for the tractor, then she ducked into an old shed that was for staff only. But she made sure the coast was clear and looked around the storage shed for something she could use. She picked up some trowels and shovels and tilling claws, getting a feel for each of them, but she didn't think any of them were made from iron. She moved on.

  Tommy crossed a row of jack-o'-lanterns carved and displayed on a hill next to him. They all leered at him with their scary faces, and he felt a little nervous looking at them for some reason.

  Just behind the hill, gliding by in the distance, he swore he saw a black, pointy hat.

  Tommy stopped and stared.

  The jack-o'-lanterns stared back.

  He gulped and carried on. The path ahead of him branched off either toward the hayride or the corn maze. For some reason, an insidious touch of fear had been put into him, and he decided to go and do the maze first; he remembered he always felt safe there as a kid, neatly tucked within the rows of tall corn, where no one could get to him.

  Carmen left the shed and walked down the path, looking toward the hayride. She didn't see Tommy standing in the crowd waiting for the tractor to pull up, and she spun around, searching for him. "Tommy?" she called. Then she glanced at the entrance to the corn maze and saw him slip inside. There he is, she thought.

  She walked p
ast a row of jack-o'-lanterns, giving them a quick glance on her way, and then one winked at her. She stopped.

  There had been a projector set up to display moving faces on the un-carved pumpkins, but when Carmen looked closer at it, she saw that the projector wasn't on yet, because it was still daytime. The pumpkin definitely had a face carved into it, and it moved. Now the entire pumpkin shimmied to the edge of the bale of hay for her, its mouth widening as its jagged teeth grew into longer, sharper points before her very eyes.

  "What the..." she muttered. Soon all of the pumpkins in the row came to life, and she heard a scream from behind her.

  A large animatronic creature made out to look like a dinosaur composed of large pumpkins came to life and tore down a chain-link fence, lurching forward for a frightened little girl.

  Carmen spun around and saw black robes gliding through the pumpkin patch in the field next to the corn maze. The witch raised her wand and suddenly all the pumpkins came to life, frightening visages being carved into them in real-time. Then the witch pointed her wand up at the sky and the sun plunged over the horizon like a bowling ball, bringing in a swift night.

  A bitter chill swept over the farm, and Carmen turned to the corn maze, breathless. "Tommy!"

  Rounded Up

  The scene at the pumpkin patch turned to chaos as everyone scrambled, trying to get out of there. Every jack-o'-lantern in the place came alive, hopping or rolling around and snapping their jagged teeth, trying to ensnare the children. A fire started in the large pumpkin patch in the field next to the corn maze, and the blaze flashed quickly, forming a huge lasso sigil.

  Parents scrambled in fear, some of them trying to collect their kids and escape, and others just outright abandoning their children and fending for themselves. Jack-o'-lanterns caught some of the young by the ankles, tripping them and dragging them away as their tiny fingers futilely clawed through the dirt.

  Carmen dashed for the corn maze, clutching the witch mirror in her hand. She had to find her brother at all costs; she couldn't let the witch take him.

  Tommy stumbled through the maze, he'd already made a number of turns and was already lost. He stared up at the sky fearfully, not able to understand why it had gotten dark already. He heard the screams outside the maze, but with the tall rows of corn surrounding him, he couldn't see what was going on. But he knew it must have been the witch. He took off in a run, sailing around the curves and bends, passing other frightened people making their way through the maze.

  Sometimes he felt a looming shadow behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder, only to see the tall stalks of corn bending over him lifelessly.

  Tall spotlights towered over the edges of the corn maze, illuminating the inside at night, and his hot breath came out as a white puff in the air. Tommy stared behind himself as he ran, sure that he felt a presence following him. He would periodically glance forward again to see where he was going before returning his gaze over his shoulder. He made a left turn, and then a right, then he glanced forward again.

  The witch stood in front of him.

  Tommy screeched to a halt, the heels of his shoes digging into the dirt. They slipped out from under him and he fell to his knees, scrambling to get up and retreat the other way. The witch followed, and it seemed no matter how many twists and turns Tommy took, she was right on his heels. He came to a dead-end in the maze and turned to see the witch gliding toward him, her wand raised.

  Frantically, he dove for the dense corn, trying to pull it apart and climb through. A flash of green light struck the corn behind him, creating a splash of sparks and causing a few of the stalks to sag down at the knuckles.

  It was very dark underneath the corn, and Tommy couldn't see where he was going. His heart rattled in his chest. He was operating on pure instinct. And his instinct told him that if he kept trying to go around the intended paths of the corn maze, he would never find his way out.

  Carmen searched around the corn, shouting his name. She held the witch mirror up in front of her, as if she expected the witch to glide around a corner at any moment for her. She still didn't know exactly what it did, but Peter said it would protect her, and right now she clutched onto it for dear life.

  "Tommy!" Carmen screamed. But she heard nothing. She narrowed her eyes as she ran, trying to find some kind of clue as to his whereabouts. Then she spotted something and stopped. She turned and saw some strangely-damaged cornstalks that were leaning over into the path. Some more cornstalks next to them were stretched apart, as if someone had tunneled through. And the makeshift tunnel was small.

  Tommy dove into another patch of corn, worming his way through. His arms and shoulders were tired, as were his legs. His breath ran ragged in and out of his lungs, but he couldn't stop, not with the witch behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and watched the witch shift through the thick width of cornstalks he just crawled through. She shrieked and another streak of green light shot from the end of her wand. Tommy ducked and popcorn exploded from the stalks where it struck. He frantically dove into another thick width of corn and dug through it as fast as he could. When he got to the other side, he tumbled down a grassy hill and came to rest down in a little ditch.

  When he got to his feet, he brushed himself off and saw that he had exited the corn maze in the farm. A stretch of woods sat ahead of him and he had no choice but to run for it as he saw the witch glide through the edge of the maze and pursue him.

  He climbed as quickly as he could over the uneven ground, his legs fatigued now. More jets of green shot by, striking trees and peeling off the bark. Tommy ran for the whole quarter-mile that the woods lasted as the witch closed in. Then he spotted a road up ahead. It was dark, and he didn't think anyone would be around to help him, but screamed in his head for someone to save him. He exited the woods and ran at the steep bank of grass heading up to the road when another green bolt caught his ankle and tripped him. He fell to the ground and spun around, seeing the witch twenty yards away and closing in.

  The thin green cord extended from the tip of the witch's wand and wrapped around his ankle, ensnaring him. The witch held him in place as her terrifying figure got closer and closer.

  A flash of headlights shone down the lonely road behind Tommy, and he threw a glance at it. He looked at the magical cord and saw that it was looped over the tongue of his shoe and around the back of it.

  Summoning a burst of courage, Tommy quickly untied his shoelace to loosen it, then he shimmied his foot out of it. The witch's lasso snapped shut and was pulled back into her wand like a roll of measuring tape.

  Tommy got up and ran up to the road, yelling and waving his arms.

  The horn blared and the car swerved to a stop next to him.

  He ran up to the passenger doors, banging on the windows and screaming for the driver to let him in.

  The passenger window rolled down and a man leaned past a girl sitting in the seat next to him and said, "Get in, little dude."

  Tommy pulled open the door in the back and climbed in, yelling for the driver to get them out of there.

  "Tommy?" a familiar voice said.

  He looked over and saw Brett sitting next to him, then he realized that it was Stacy sitting in the passenger seat with her boyfriend Vince driving.

  Vince didn't seem to take his warning seriously, and he slowly put the car back in drive and eased onto the accelerator. But the car cruised down the dark road, and Tommy pressed his face to the window, not seeing the witch chasing them. The radio was off, and no one talked after Tommy had calmed down, creating an eerie silence.

  "What happened to you?" Brett said.

  "The witch came after me!" Tommy replied. "In the corn maze!"

  Brett's eyes widened. "We saw her too. She came after me and the other guys, and we got split up after some bats attacked us. Man, things are going crazy around here."

  "Don't talk about witches!" Stacy said sharply from the front seat. "That's ridiculous."

  Brett rolled his eyes and looked at Tom
my. "She doesn't believe me," he whispered. "But I see what's going on. I see all the kids being taken..."

  "I know where she's taking them!" Tommy said.

  "Where?"

  "To the church!"

  Vince looked in the rearview mirror. "To the church it is, little buddy," he said in a robotic voice. He sank his foot on the gas pedal and the car picked up speed.

  Stacy shoved him in the shoulder. "What the hell, Vince? We're not going to the church! I need to get Brett back home."

  But Vince wouldn't listen. A turn came up on the left, and Vince took it, heading for the church at the edge of town.

  Tommy gulped. He wasn't equipped to go there right now. He just wanted to get out of here and find his sister; Vince didn't know what he was getting them into.

  "I'm serious, Vince!" Stacy cried. "Turn around!"

  He ignored her.

  "If you won't turn around, then stop this car right now! Me and Brett are getting out and walking!"

  Vince pulled the car to an abrupt stop, and Tommy and Brett were thrown into the seats in front of them. Stacy pushed open the passenger door. "Come on, Brett," she said, stepping out into the cold night.

  As soon as she was out of the car, Vince stepped on the accelerator again and the vehicle shot forward without her. Tommy and Brett spun around in their seats and watched Stacy scream and flail her arms in the middle of the road behind them, yelling for Vince to stop.

  Vince reached over and adjusted the rearview mirror, staring at the two of them with cold eyes. "All the kids like going to the church," he said. "They all love the church, yes they do." The way he delivered his sentences was monotonous and very inhuman. It sent a chill down the kids' spines, and as Tommy watched him, he saw the exact mannerisms that his father had exhibited lately.

  Carmen came out of the woods toward the road. "Tommy!" she screamed, looking around. Then she saw something a few paces from her. She ran over and picked it up, and her heart plunged to her toes.

  It was Tommy's shoe.

  Tears flowed down her face, and she knew that he'd been taken by the witch to the church. She wasn't ready to go there yet, but she didn't have any more time. It was now or never if she ever wanted to see her brother alive again.