Short Stories Archive

my halloween night

"Peter, where are you taking me?!"

A true shame, really. I was actually starting to have a bit of fun at that Halloween party.

"Don't worry about it. For now, we just need to run."

And where better to run to than an overgrown cornfield. From the way things were going, I wouldn't be surprised if that place were actually a haunted maze.

"Halloween parties are so dumb, anyways." We stumbled into the wave of corn that towered over us with the half-hidden moon as our only true guide. "I should have never agreed to come with you."

Peter did not respond, but instead crouched down with his head in his hands, each exasperated breath of his outlined by thin, cold clouds of white from between his fingertips. "Peter, please," I panted, "you must know what to do now."

Finally, he sighed. "I wish I did." I thought for a moment that it would be the first time I'd see him cry, but then he sat back to let his legs splay out on the ground, gradually catching more and more leaves in the mesh of his princess dress. "What a fool I have made of you tonight. And I could not be more foolish for not protecting you."

In frustration, I kept on without him, storming off in hot pursuit of familiarity and somehow managing to create even bigger tears in my own princess dress. "Are you saying we're lost?"

"I'm saying that we have no idea who's after us," he groaned, "and without that knowledge, we're playing right into their hands by staying." I knew that it would be just like him to try and reason with me after everything he had done, but I had already long since left him in my barefooted tracks. "I wouldn't walk alone in that field if I were you. You'll  get even more lost."

I paid him no mind, for I was too busy pulling stray cornstalks out of my hair to listen to any excuse for an apology. "Better than being found with you." And then I finally saw the castle in front of me, and it was there that I lost all sense of hope.

"Trick or treat?" I squeaked into the darkness, only to hear my own voice echoing back to me. I should've guessed that we would find no wanderers here.

Slowly, I crept through the long hallway for any sign of life, only to find the place abandoned save for a few faint cobwebs lining the windows. Then, without warning, I heard the front door slam shut from behind me. A nervous chill shot down my spine as the sound of footsteps grew louder and closer and swifter until finally, I stood face-to-face with Peter, who had stopped in his tracks at the other end of the hall.

"How many times must I warn you not to run off without me?" he shouted from afar. "I can't keep looking after you like this when you deliberately insist on putting yourself in harm's way."

"Then don't." I crossed my arms, hoping they would be enough of a guard against Peter's defiance. "I can take care of myself, for the last time."

Peter glared at me, immediately resuming his painful stride along the dusty concrete. "You couldn't have picked anywhere else to spend Halloween night, couldn't you?"

"Um, spend? You mean, with you?"

"Are you going to find us help?" he snarled, baring his punch-stained teeth and moving closer towards me until I was the only thing separating him from the cool castle wall. "Lost means lost, Georgie. At this rate, if we're going to make it out alive, the best thing for us to do is wait until morning."

Best Halloween ever. (As if.) Although, on second thought, maybe there's a reason we ended up alone. In any case, I don't think any Halloween party— or forced attempt at reconciliation— is worth the sacrifice.

And so he continued. "I still have a job to protect you, Georgie, whether we like this or not." His hands, once a vicious grip, soon came to rest along my shoulders, his fingers instinctively entangling themselves within my matted hair. He met my gaze with wary eyes, and I cursed the way they still managed to twinkle as the moon continued to rise. "We could be in real danger right now, we don't know. But I have you here with me for the moment."