The Halloween Party

Absolute nightmare

Days before Halloween and something is in the air, she can't tell what it is yet, but it is no fall breeze. Something else has her attention, a man, a man worth looking at. He has jet black hair just like hers but his swoops in the back while hers is nice and long. Never has she seen a more handsome man. Too shy to walk to him though, she makes her way forward towards the twelve foot skeleton that he was admiring from afar. She starts to stare from him back to the skeleton, until his attention is reached by her. A white smile begins to shine through, "Hi." A simple hi sent shivers down her spine. There was something wrong but her infatuation got the better of her. "Hi." She whispered. "Home Depot is something else during this time. These skeletons always seem to keep getting bigger." He replied, she just nodded. His smile faded as the store became eerily quiet. She didn't notice until she couldn't hear any music. She began looking around while the man continued staring at the skeleton, unphased. Confusion and fear soon set in as the lights began to go black, one after the other. Panic set into her chest, filling her stomach with butterflies. "What's going on?" "Death...death has come for you my dear." She turned towards the man, his skin fading to a skeleton. His warm eyes, now a dark red and dark cloth enveloping him. Suddenly her racing heart woke her up, shot her dark brown eyes open and a scream ripped from her throat. Another nightmare.

How could she have another, she's been taking her medication like her doctor prescribed but as of recently, it seems to not be working. But, she hadn't that to worry about right now, she had a Halloween party to plan. Aeryn Calandra had a busy day ahead of her, starting with picking up the food. She hated visiting stores, especially by herself, she just wished someone else could be with at all times. But she's a 25 year old woman, an adult for crying out loud, she can do this. She got ready, texted her brother a stupid video and went on her way. She doubts that he will even look at it, but it's best to keep him in mind.

Her parents lived in the suburbs where there were plenty of children who came around, also because her parents were the ones with the good candy. Pulling up, the house was already decorated. The windows had bloody handprints on them, decorative pumpkins and leaves lined the stairs, and carved jack-o-lanterns were glowing in the windows. Everything seemed perfect. Aeryn walked in, arms full of groceries, happy to see her parents. "Aeryn! You made it." Her mom found her first as she was preparing the food in the kitchen. Her dad soon followed.

"Aeryn, did you find everything alright?" Her dad asked, grabbing some of the groceries out of her arms. "Yeah. But they didn't have the black and orange cupcakes you wanted, so I just got black." She explains, placing them on the counter. "Oh, that's okay, honey. As long as you're here, we'll have a great party." Her mom replies. Smile plastered on her parents' faces, excited for the party. The smiles, just like the man in the dream. Her happiness went away as she took a seat. "You alright?" Her father asked, driving the focus towards her. "Yeah, just another nightmare. I don't know why, but they're becoming more and more frequent." "Aeryn, have you been taking your medicine?" Her mother asked, checking her temp, like that's going to do something. "Yes." She spouted, sounding more rude than usual. "Alright, honey. Just checking." Her mother knew of the dreams she had ever since she was young. Dreams that torment her little girl. "So, when's the party starting?" Aeryn changed the subject. "Oh, around eight. Kids should be out by that time." Her father replied with a joyous attitude.

Eight o clock came and went and the house was full of people and children. Candy was flying all over and laughter filled the air. However, there was one person who wasn't having the ideal Halloween. "Aeryn!" Her mother yelled, wanted her to be introduced to yet another couple. Aeryn was getting tired of the night, she had fun to begin with but now it was starting to drag, she needed a break. She stepped outside, noticing the children in their costumes, running around the streets. There was part of her that still wished she was a child, to not have so much worry on her mind. As she took one final breath, she noticed a man from the corner of her eye. She turned and it looked like the man from her dreams. Handsome, black hair and soft eyes. Fear began running through her bones as she turned to run back inside. She slammed the door closed, hyperventilating. "Aeryn, are you okay?" Her mother heard the door and saw her worried look. Aeryn's eyes were closed tight until she heard her mother again, "Aeryn!" Her eyes shot open to see the man standing behind her mother. A scream ripped from her throat as she ran past her mother and towards her old room.

She couldn't believe this was happening, how could this be happening? It was all in her head. She kept repeating that as she twirled her fingers through her hair, realizing she was having a panic attack. She was breathing so hard, she never heard her parents knocking at her door. Eventually, after an hour or so, she had her breathing under control and her parents were waiting for her outside her room. The party was over by that time and everyone had gone home. Kids were starting to disperse from the streets and the only people left out were teenagers. "Aeryn, what's going on with you?" Her father asked this time. "Is it those dreams?" Her mother asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They're getting stronger and now it seems I'm hallucinating." She explains, her parents looking more and more worried. "Maybe you should stay here tonight. There's no point in returning home." Her mother suggested. "Yeah, okay." A sense of calm flooded over her, knowing her parents were there for her. Aeryn went back into her old room and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Hours had passed and Aeryn didn't wake up until she heard the sound of trees hitting her window and a blast of thunder crashing through her room. She checked her clock with groggy eyes, "3:04 am." She was tired but too awake to go back to sleep. She decided to watch some TV down in the living room. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she made her way down. There was leftover candy from the party so she decided to snack on that while watching Hocus Pocus. The rain was coming down hard while lighting lit up the windows. As Aeryn was making her way through the channels looking for the movie, she noticed a glowing red dot reflecting itself in the TV, then there were two. She flipped her head behind her towards their picture window and seen that man standing outside, rain washing over him. She had had enough, she was going to confront him, if it was the last thing she did.

Whipping the front door open, she made her way out into the rain, getting soaked as she made her way towards the man. "What do you want?" She asked, she was a good five feet away from him. He never moved, he didn't even look like he was real. "I asked, what do you want?" Now she was getting irate, moving closer to him. She was a good three feet from him. This is when he flicked towards her, turning from a brownish glow to a dark red. "Your him, aren't you? The one from my dreams." She asked the man. A smile creeped on his face. "I am death and you are not among the living." Confusion and anger overtook her. "What do you mean?" "You only exist to your parents. You are not among the living." He repeated. "Aeryn!" Her mother's voice broke through. She turned to see her standing in the doorway. "Get away from that man!" Her mother began running towards her with her father closely behind. Aeryn turned back to the mystery man. "Why do you keep insisting that I'm not living?" She asked, curiosity overtaking her. "You died when you were in a car crash. Why do you think your brother never texts you back? Or why your parents are the only ones who can see you? They brought you back." Death explained. His flesh melting off and becoming a skeleton, his eyes burning red and a black cloak enveloping him. "That's not true, people still talk to me all the time. For example, my parents Halloween party this evening. I can't be dead!" She was getting more and more angry, not wanting to hear this. "Everyone at the party was dead, including you." "Aeryn, don't listen to him!" Her mother screamed, finally making her way towards her.

"Mother, father...this can't be true...this can't be, is it? Is that why Tom never answers or why no one outside our house looks at me?" Her mom and dad just stood there, guilt ridding their faces. They didn't know what to say. "Well, is it?" Anger exploded from her. "Honey, we just wanted you back. We couldn't...we couldn't deal with it." Her father explained, tears coming from her mother. "You never noticed the blood on your head?" She turned back to death with a puzzled look. Feeling her way up her face and towards her forehead. Warm liquid could be felt and a red haze flooded her hand. Tears began falling from her eyes as realization soon hit, she was dead.

How could she be dead, but still here? "Was this your doing?" She turned back towards her parents. A small nod came from both of them. "We couldn't lose you, not ever." Her mother sopped. "Your brother never knew, he grieved and processed what happened, but we never could. So, we brought you back every Halloween, just to see you. Now it's time for you to go back." Tears began to flood her father's eyes now. "But, I can't. I can't leave you guys." Sadness overtook Aeryn as she could feel death approach her. "Don't worry honey, we'll see you next year." Her mother hugged her then her father as they said their goodbyes. "I'll remember these parties and come back through my own volition." Aeryn could feel the cold hand of death on her shoulder, "Time to go." She took death by his head and walked down the street, turning back to see her parents wave goodbye until she saw nothing but darkness.

A year had gone by and the Halloween party was in full swing, but there was no signs of Aeryn. "You think she'll come back this year?" Her father asked her mother. "I hope so, dear." Just then a breeze flooded through the house and the door flew wide open. "Mom, dad!" Her voice rang through the house and joy filled her parents. It was Halloween once more.