A Halloween Story
By Ashley R. King
“You’ll
need to leave so you’ll make it home before dark. Maybe leave around one?”
Katie’s father spoke around his hamburger. He looked to her mother for agreement.
“You know
we don’t like you driving those back roads to Athens in the dark. There’s absolutely
no one out there and you never know when a serial killer could be roaming
around, especially on Halloween,” her mother added as she shivered from her own
words.
Katie
laughed as she shoved the last of her fries in her mouth. “You guys are so over
protective. Seriously, I will be fine. I’m supposed to stop over at Jeff’s
anyway, so I’ll get home after dark of course.”
“No ma’am
you won’t. You’ll leave here and go straight home. Unless you want to go back
to college without a car because I’ll take it away if you don’t want to follow
our rules,” her father said as he wiped his gray beard with a napkin.
Katie’s
blood boiled at his response, but figured the more she fought it, the more obvious
it would be that she would do it anyway. She was a sophomore at the University of
Georgia for crying out loud. She worked at the bookstore and at a pizza shop
downtown so that she could pay her bills since she refused student loans. Yet,
she couldn’t get any slack. Well then, she’d simply do things her way.
And that
she did. Katie’s Honda was packed up at one o’clock that Sunday and she hugged
and kissed her parents goodbye like the dutiful daughter she normally was.
“I’ll
call you when I get there!” she yelled out the window as she disappeared down
her driveway.
Jeff
met her at the doorway of his parents’ house. They were going to celebrate
Halloween in style with none other than a Halloween
marathon. Katie tried not to let her disappointment show, for she was more of a
Hocus Pocus girl, her mind too weak
for those scary slasher films. But this was time with Jeff, the guy she was
slowly falling in love with and never able to see since they both attended college
in different cities.
So watch
the movies they did, so many of them that the theme song played on a loop in
her mind. When she went to use the restroom, the theme song was there. When she
bit into a piece of sweet candy corn the theme song was there. When she kissed
Jeff’s amazing lips, the theme song was there.
At
five-thirty Katie disappeared outside to call her parents to tell them she’d
made it home. Her gut roiled with guilt, but she was nineteen and she really
missed Jeff. Her parents wouldn’t even begin to understand. When darkness
descended at six, she and Jeff handed out candy to the trick or treaters, Katie’s
eyes ever careful for people who might know her parents. After a late dinner
and a nice little make out session and
more slasher films, Katie finally left around ten. With perfect luck, she’d
make it back to her apartment at two-thirty. She wouldn’t have to worry about
waking up her roommate, Penelope, since she had plans to party downtown and
wouldn’t be home until four in the morning, regardless of classes to attend.
The
first half of the trip seemed to go pretty well. There were plenty of gas
stations and businesses to illuminate the road. Then civilization slowly began
to disappear as she reached the desolate two lane road mostly surrounded by trees.
Images
of Michael Myers slashed at Katie’s thoughts, suddenly turning every innocent
thing into something sinister. A speed limit sign cloaked in fog morphed into a
huge skeleton man. Unassuming cows at the fence line were spawns of Satan with red
eyes and sharp fangs. Even the security lights in the way too few yards threw a
more hellish glow on everything they touched.
“I’m
seriously losing my mind,” Katie muttered under her breath as she attempted to
calm her rapidly beating heart. She cursed John Carpenter for his creation of Michael,
she cursed Jeff for being so ridiculously cute, and she cursed her stupid hormones
for being the reason she didn’t listen to her parents.
Moving
a trembling hand to the radio knob, she searched for something, anything to
take her mind off of the eerie back roads of Georgia. Static filtered through
the speakers on every single station. Katie tried to ignore the chill that skittered
down her spine. She should’ve charged her IPod up or even her phone. With her
car charger MIA and her phone at 15%, she decided against it. Silence and her
own disturbing thoughts would be her entertainment then.
The
darkness grew thick, the fog creeping up from the road. Katie sat hunched over
her steering wheel as she gunned her car, not caring if she hit a deer. She had
to get home. It was past midnight and she still had at least two hours to go
and at least one before she reached some semblance of humanity.
As her
car accelerated, cold air pricked Katie’s skin, filling up her lungs, her nose running.
“What
the hell?” she whispered as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. It was cold for
October in Georgia, but it wasn’t this cold…or at least it hadn’t been. She
pushed her car a little harder, feeling guilty for the torture she was putting
her little Honda through. It was that
last little push that changed everything. Her car sputtered and clanked and
then skid to the side of the road, stopping just before dipping into the
waterlogged ditch.
After
letting loose a string of expletives that would make a sailor proud, Katie hit
the steering wheel, trying to hold back the frustrated tears. Her mind had her
all twisted up and she had to stop being so scared. That’s how she got in this
mess to begin with. Drawing in several deep breaths, she picked up her cell
phone .She’d call her roommate first. Or maybe not. No service.
“Seriously?”
Katie practically yelled, the sound echoing and slamming back into her much
louder than anticipated. “Damn it!” she cried as she kicked her floorboard. That’s
okay, she thought to herself. Just
calm down. It’s Halloween; it’s not the end of the world. And there was a house
back maybe two miles?
She’d
just walk. Thank goodness she’d worn her Chucks. Gripping her phone in one
hand, she snatched her purse from the passenger seat and dropped the car keys
inside. Katie took a deep breath and started her trek.
The fog
became a living, breathing being before her, stretching and yawning from the
ground. A sound filtered through the otherwise still and silent night. It
sounded like a…a wail? Hell, she didn’t know and didn’t want to find out, so
she moved, her body bouncing with the speed.
Another
sound broke her concentration as she noticed that the clouds were rather low to
the ground, almost kissing the fog. Together they seemed to form something wild
and monstrous in the dark. The sound was that of a car. She turned around, her
heart racing at the possibilities.
Her car’s
taillights shone through the darkness like blood seeping from a wound. And her
car was in reverse. It moved slowly, the sound of the gravel crunching loud and
ear shattering in the deafening silence.
Katie’s mind shouted at her to run, to get as far away from her car as
possible, but her legs didn’t appear to get the message. She stood there in the
middle of the road, completely surrounded by tall, menacing sentinels in the
form of pine trees as she watched her car maneuver and slowly roll to a stop
next to her. Her mouth hung open so wide that the cool air began to burn her throat.
When had the temperature dropped so low?
she wondered as she hugged herself. Was this all a dream? Because…because cars didn’t just move on
their own.
Panic began
to claw at Katie’s mind, as she peered inside her car. No one was inside. Of
course no one was inside. She’d locked it before putting the keys in her purse.
As if struck with an idea, she dug into her bag, only to come up empty. Where
the hell were her keys?
She tiptoed
closer to the car and saw the keys sitting in the ignition. But…but hadn’t she
taken them out? She knew she did. She knew
it, but there they were shining in the blue lights of the Honda’s interior. Her
stomach twisted in knots as goosebumps traversed her arms. A breeze blew,
lifting her hair across her face, momentarily blinding her. Once she moved it from
her eyes, she looked back at her car, only to feel her chest tighten. She had
to get the hell out of there. A thick fog had permeated her car and currently
filled the inside to the point that it was seeping out through the top cracks of
the windows.
Turning
on her heel, Katie broke out into a run, her worn Chucks slapping the asphalt
with such force that it shook her entire frail frame. Each step was a
punishment as the freezing air dipped into her lungs, hurting and burning,
making breathing a labored task. Her mind grew foggy as dizziness swept through
her head, causing her steps to stagger and zigzag.
Why was
she running again? She’d forgotten.
Her car
caught up to her again and this time its door swung wide, beckoning, calling
her to get in. The fog was a warm embrace as it danced around her body, the
comfort almost too much. Katie took one step towards the car, not remembering why
she was here in the first place, then another step. Just as her hand touched
the top of the Honda, the cold metal shocked her body, jolted her mind back to
awareness. No! No! This was wrong. Wrong.
Wrong.
The fog
appeared to take form, a large, ominous shape that devoured the night. She
would die if she stayed. This time she ran even faster and she forced herself
to focus, to not allow the cold or
the fog to numb her mind again. Get to that house, she chanted over and over
again. Tears rolled from her eyes, but she would not be defeated. The sound of
her car behind her forced her to push even harder, but she refused to look
back. She did not want to see what the fog had become.
A
security light broke through the darkness, its orange haze a beacon to safety.
“I can
get there,” Katie told herself as she pushed her body to the limit, her side
aching, her chest heaving.
The
yard was cluttered, as Katie tried to race through the haphazardly placed
objects without falling. Once she reached the door a wail broke through the
pines, the sound sinking deep into Katie’s bones. She was going to die.
“Help!
Please help me!” Katie cried as she banged on the door. Tears fell from her
eyes as hysteria threatened to overtake her.
The
door opened wide to reveal a tiny sitting room with a television, static
plaguing its screen. A shiver crept over Katie as she peered in the room, but
not yet feeling brave enough to go inside, the fog and her demon possessed car
momentarily forgotten.
“Hello?”
she called out, gripping her phone so tight that her busted up case nearly cut
her palm.
A male
voice spoke, thick with a southern accent, ““Should’ve listened to the fog, girl.
We’ve been waiting for you.”
