by Charles Day
“Nick, Nick,” she said, “you have to hide. Go. Get away. Lou knows who you are. He found out what costume you have on tonight.”
Samantha yelled loud enough that Jenny, Maria, and half the kids running from door to door heard her.
One thing about Samantha was her voice. She had a set of lungs so powerful, she could yell to the rooftops and the next block would hear her.
“He knows? How? Who told him?” Nick swallowed some spit.
“Dad,” she said, with a sigh in her voice.
“Dad. How’d he get into this?” Nick tried to remain calm, in control. His future girlfriend—he hoped—was paying attention to everything she’d been hearing.
“Some kids in costume, probably spies for Lou, came to our door. They were looking for you, not candy. Dad told them you were out, and when they asked what you were wearing, he gave them a full description. So, like I said, you need to be real careful.” Samantha looked at Jenny. “And who are you?”
“Name’s Jenny. And this here’s my friend Maria. We’re friends of your brother.” Jenny finished answering the curious little one’s question and looked over at Nick. “Nick, she’s right. You’re not safe. We should go.”
Nick didn’t like where that was going. Jenny made it sound like he would lose a showdown with Lou. That’s not going to happen.
“I’ll be okay. Let’s stick together as a group. Keep an eye out for those devil clowns who tried to dress up like Kiss members.” To his surprise, they all listened and respected his newly discovered confidence. No one disagreed, not even his sister. Nice! He thought for sure she’d open her mouth and make a comment. So off they went, together, to get some candy from the next house.
Jenny approached the house first and rang the bell. An elderly man opened the door, and he looked like he was totally without clothes, staring straight out at Jenny and the others.
They heard a voice from behind the old guy. “Harry, get back here and go to bed.” His wife quickly ran to the door. She scooted the man out of sight. “I’m so sorry. He hasn’t been himself lately. Let me get you some candy. It’s getting late, though. Shouldn’t you kids be going home soon?”
Nobody answered; instead, Darth Vader, Jenny the Cheerleader, the creature from some alien planet, The Wicked Witch of the West, Goldilocks, and the Cat Lady opened their bags for some candy. The elderly lady grabbed the last of the lollipops and placed a fair amount in each bag. She then looked past them toward her driveway and saw a few more costumed figures at the end of her driveway.
“Looks like some more trick-or-treaters, or are they with you?” the old lady asked, pointing toward the street, watching them all turn their heads in sheer terror.
Nick felt it first; he thought he had a secret ability to smell and feel nearby danger. And he was right. All four Kiss members, looking more like bad clowns from some street fair, waited at the curb under a dim yellow street lamp. He felt like he was face to face with Michael Myers from the cult classic Halloween.
He had some trouble seeing their faces from where he stood, but he did make out the weapons. A guitar, a baseball bat, and possibly a pair of drumsticks.
“Okay now, let’s go,” the old lady said. “You got your lollies. Now run along, this shop is about to close for the evening.”
Maybe the old lady sensed the danger, too, because she chased them off her stoop, then turned off her porch light after closing and locking her door.
Nick felt his blood flowing, rushing to his head all at once, making him feel dizzy. He was physically and mentally prepared for the inevitable encounter with Lou and his buds, since he knew that, sooner or later, the confrontation had to happen. But, again, he preferred it happen in the school cafeteria, and not out in the middle of the street, late at night, especially with no adults around to break up what may get ugly.
Here we go, Nick. Get ready, buddy!
Nick took off his mask, aware that hiding behind Darth Vader would do him no good any longer. He tossed it in his bag and squinted at his enemies, who were still out on the street. It seemed that they were waiting. Just hanging around, watching, and planning something, or even anticipating his exit off the property of the old woman. That could be it.
Something caught his attention. He saw the old lady take one last peek out the window, before closing her curtains. He stared back out to the street.
Nick’s problem was not so much himself, but Jenny, and his sister. Of course, he didn’t want to see Maria or Samantha’s two friends get hurt on his account, either. And even though he still didn’t know who it was behind the scary, alien-looking creature mask, Nick needed to keep it out of harm’s way as well.
Out on the street, Lou and his clown-faced friends started to move.
“Nicky boy, why don’t you come out to the street so you and I can talk?” Lou suggested.
Nick didn’t want to talk. He wanted to end the problem. He also didn’t want his friends involved. “You guys stay back. I’ll handle this, once and for all.”
He walked toward Lou with an agenda, and he told the bully what it was. “It’s me you have the beef with, Lou. Leave the others out of it, and I’ll come out to the street and settle this with you, one on one.”
Again, Nick knew he needed to be cool, confident, and ready to fight this bully, especially with Jenny around.
Lou stepped up onto the sidewalk. Nick continued toward him and responded, “Oh, I have no problem with that, turd. Just you and I is fine with me.”
Ralph, Norm, and Byron moved a bit closer, making Nick begin to worry. He wasn’t sure if Lou was being honest or not. Either way, Nick had no choice.
“Lou, you mind telling me why you stole all the pumpkins from our neighbors?”
“Actually, it was only a few, but you caught me, detective. Now what are you going to do? Arrest me?” Lou laughed, waving his hands for Nick to come at him. When Nick refused, the bully started walking forward.
Only a few! If Lou hadn’t taken all the pumpkins off the block, then who else could it have been? Who may have been involved instead, and where were those missing pumpkins? Could the legend of the Pumpkin Thief be real? He worried more about this now. However, there was no time to think objectively, he had a bigger problem approaching.
Nick stepped back as Lou came in fast. He felt the bully’s head slam into his stomach before swinging his arms around the muscular teen’s body, hoping to take him to the ground. Lou fell backward onto the grass, and they rolled around while holding each other tightly. Lou was trying to get Nick pinned so he could give him a serious beating, but Nick refused to let that happen.
Samantha screamed as loudly as she could. Nick heard it even though his left ear remained mashed against the cold grass and dirt, and his other ear was squashed against Lou’s chest. He figured his sister was trying to get help.
A few of the other neighbors turned on their porch lights and came out to see what all the yelling was about. This alerted Ralph, Norm, and Byron. They moved toward Lou and Nick, who were still wrestling on the grass, pulled Lou off first, and then grabbed hold of Nick.
Nick was now in the clutches of his enemies, held captive and escorted away by Byron and Norm. Ralph and Lou walked behind, prepared to jump him, should he try to wriggle his way out and run.
Jenny and the others followed close behind, screaming and warning them if they hurt Nick, just one little scratch on his head, they were in so much trouble.
“Let him go, you jerks! Otherwise I’m calling the cops as soon as I get home. Trust me, my mom and dad will be heading over to give you all a beating! You don’t want that, do you?” Samantha yelled at them.
Lou promised her he wouldn’t hurt Nick. He just needed to answer some questions. They were going down the street, into the woods, where an old abandoned house had remained intact—to some degree—for years.
Nick heard what he said, but didn’t believe him. “You’re so wrong Lou.”
Lou continu
ed to yell at Byron and Ralph to carry Nick back to the woods.
Nick knew these woods well. Located just past Mrs. Needlewhitter’s home, the woods went back deep, far enough that Lou had gotten lost one time, when he was younger. And he remembered the old, abandoned house deep in the woods. That was not good.
He also knew the police were aware of this place, too, and patrolled these woods, periodically checking to see if any squatters or punks like Lou and his gang were hanging around, or in, the abandoned house.
Most of the kids had made up stories that became good, old, annual, ghost tales, passed around to scare everyone into believing the house was haunted. And tonight, it looked like Nick was about to get a personal escort to the inside.
Nick pleaded. “Don’t do this, Lou. Unless you plan on killing me with all these witnesses here, you better let me go. And, you’re going to have to answer for all the pumpkins you stole from our neighbors. You have some explaining to do, if you ever want to feel accepted in our neighborhood again.” Nick knew that was his last chance to reason with his nemesis.
“Like I told you, punk. We took a few, just to piss off the old lady and her dog. I doubt they’ll be sending me to jail for that, Mr. Wannabe Detective.” Lou smacked Nick in the back of his head with his dirty hand and then walked ahead.
They continued on, as Nick tried to squirm his way out of their grips.
“You can try.” Ralph laughed. “But you’re not breaking free. It’ll go much easier if you wait until we get to where we’re going.”
But Nick knew if they got him alone in this old, abandoned house, they would mess him up something fierce. If not, he figured that, while he was being manhandled by these goons, perhaps the ghouls and ghosts that had been hiding in the haunted house might get them all.
“Lou, this house has a legend attached to it. You guys don’t want to go in there. It’s really haunted. No one’s been able to stay in there for long without hearing strange noises, and of all nights, Halloween is the worst to be wandering around inside.”
“Don’t get all superstitious on me,” Lou said. “I’ve heard the legend. A family got murdered in that house, and now their ghosts are flying around. Hey, we can all party together while we’re giving you a beating.” Lou laughed.
The house was at the end of the disheveled driveway, but it was still a ways back, deep in the overgrown brush and trees. And even with the full moon shining down like a large flashlight looming over their heads, they were still unable to see the house from where they stood.
“Okay, guys, we’re almost there,” Norm said. They stopped to take a break.
Jenny, Samantha, and the rest of the followers pretended to leave, like they were running to tell an adult or get hold of the police. Instead, they hid behind a few bushes, far enough away that the boys and their leader couldn’t see them sneaking up.
Samantha told her friends it was time for them to leave. “You guys need to go back to your parents right away. Let them know what’s going down over here. Jenny and I can handle it from here.”
Jenny wasn’t sure what Samantha meant by “handle it,” but preferred that Samantha join her friends. “Samantha, why don’t you tag along on home with your friends? Maria and I will take care of this, okay?”
“You sure? That’s my bro in there, please don’t let him get hurt, please,” Samantha pleaded, tears rolling down her cold, red cheeks.
Jenny pushed her along. “Go get help. We’re going to try and stop them from going into that spook house.”
Samantha ran off with her friends. The creature from another world followed, but was having trouble keeping up while running in its big green flippers, flapping and stumbling along.
Jenny watched as they left. She knew what she had to do. Time to confront those bullies. And that was what she was about to do. As soon as she got her courage up.
Lou and the boys carried Nick farther up the driveway. Byron held the only flashlight. As they got closer to the house, Lou thought he saw a tiny flame dancing in the upstairs window, as if a small breeze were trying to blow it out. When he blinked, only the curtains moved a bit; the small yellow glow had disappeared.
Lou turned and forced his buds to stop. “I think Nick’s right about ghosts and goblins running amok in this haunted house. I thought for sure I just saw some light in the upstairs window, coming from a small flame.”
Then he saw them coming, Jenny and her friend, strolling up the driveway, the sound of crunching gravel getting louder with each step.
“That’s far enough, Lou! Let Nick go. If you want to play in that old house, so be it, but he’s coming back with us!”
Lou saw it in her eyes, that shiny bit of confidence. He could tell Jenny felt good standing up to him. He also noticed she wasn’t the least bit frightened. He wanted to raise his hands at her, intimidate her. Nonetheless, he felt that if he even attempted it, she’d kick him where the sun didn’t shine too often.
Lou walked past his cronies, who were still holding on to a squirming detective. He approached Jenny, walking so close he almost stepped on her toes. His Kiss costume made him look more evil than he really was. He watched her nose crinkle up she spoke right in her face. “And what are you going to do to stop us?”
“If you want to deal with the cops, be my guest, because I’m not playing with you, Lou.”
“Okay, okay,” Lou said, “now you’re getting me all upset.”
He heard Byron yell out, “We’re going in, Lou!”
They walked up to the old wooden door, pushed it open, and heard the old rusty hinges make a squelching sound. Then they walked in while their leader stood in front of Jenny and Maria.
“Okay. You leave me with no choice. I’m going to call the cops,” Jenny said, and turned to walk away.
“Hey, come with me, and I’ll give you back your Nicky,” Lou said. “We just wanted to give him a Halloween scare. We’re not going to hurt him. Come on, you can be a witness.” He waved for Jenny and Maria to follow.
They listened, then stepped forward.
“Just a Halloween prank is all,” he said.
They walked through the open door, each giving him a quick stare as they passed him.
Once they were all inside, the door slammed shut. Lou didn’t recall any wind howling on this crisp, clear, fall night. He watched the others scramble about, clearly startled and trying their best to recover from the shock of the sudden and unexpected noise. Lou felt fear; it hovered over him, breathing down his neck.
Nick watched Lou tug on the same door that had sent everyone’s nerves jumping, but it refused to budge.
Byron and Ralph let go of their hold on Nick, then looked toward their leader to see what he’d do next.
Lou gave them a little reassurance. “Not sure what just happened. I’m guessing the wind got hold of this old wooden door, and now it’s wedged tight. I can turn the knob, but I can’t get her to open.”
Nick was concerned, as well. They were locked inside a supposedly haunted house. He thought about what Lou had said when they were outside. “Lou, you said you saw a light on the second floor, in a window, which means that window’s not boarded up, like the ones down here. That’s our way out, if we can’t find anything here on the first floor. So let’s not worry ourselves, okay?”
That part was reasonable. He hoped it settled some of their escalating jitters, but he also remembered the light, a candle seen by Lou in that same window, clearly meant someone else was in the house.
“Why such a rush to leave, Nick?” Lou asked. “I’m sure there’s another way out, but while we’re here, why not look around? Oh, and I thought you and I should still have a go at it.” And then they all heard it: another door slamming. Upstairs.
“Someone’s in here with us, guys,” Jenny whispered. “We should have never come inside. This place is haunted, like they said in school, I just know it.”
Lou didn’t agree. “Oh, come on, who here believes in
ghosts? We came to have fun with Nick, and—”
Before he could finish, another door slammed upstairs. The loud sound sent everyone scrambling for the front door.
If it weren’t for the only flashlight, shining in Byron’s grip, they wouldn’t have been able to see their own hands if they were right up in their faces.
Nick began to wonder again if, perhaps, there was some truth to the legend of the Pumpkin Thief. Sure, he wanted to be a real detective one day. Real in the fact that he’d be working cases involving stolen property, improper use of funds, or on some special task force with the FBI—but not hunting down ghosts like a freaking Scooby Doo caper. Nevertheless, considering his first real assignment involved missing pumpkins and a mean old lady and her deadly hound, perhaps playing the part of Shaggy was not so far-fetched after all. If something was going on in this house, he’d find out who or what it was, and do his best to solve it. He’d also make sure he took full credit, as well. Put it on my resume, listed with my other credentials, he reasoned.
It took a ton of convincing from Nick, but he finally had them all taking the walk upstairs, with Byron leading the way, since he had the flashlight. Norm and Ralph were next, joined at the hips, and Lou and Nick allowed Jenny and Maria to go in front of them, should some hairy creature try and take them away to the dungeon downstairs.
As they ascended to the second floor, Nick noticed that the temperature seemed to be twenty degrees cooler than below. Some faint noises in the house were still heard. The wooden floorboards creaked, as if someone or something was walking around in a few of the rooms. What else could it be?
Everyone, including Nick, seemed to move more slowly as they walked farther down the hall, eventually stopping at a room with the door ajar.
Lou reached for the door handle. “Okay, Byron, give me the flashlight. I think this was the room where I saw the candle.”
Byron handed over his flashlight. The bully took it and made his way in. The others followed.
