Dream for the Dead (Completed/Editing)

23 - *Halloween Special* (Part Four: Final)

There was a pause, and I knew I had to say it.
"Elias, I can't say that." I bit my lip so I didn't cry with remorse, knowing I was breaking his ghostly heart.
"Why not?" His voice was beginning to crack.
"Because..." I squeezed his hands and sighed, not wanting to have to say it. "I don't love you. Not like that."
"Why?" His sadness sounded as though it was turning to anger.
"Elias-"
"Why don't you love me?" He shouted in my face, throwing my hands away.
"Elias!" I shouted back, not realising that my Mother's room was in the same hallway. She came running into my room, and I closed my eyes, waiting for her to scream.
"Did you have a nightmare?" She asked me. "I heard you shout 'Elias'; is he actually stalking you?"
I saw Elias snigger and walk past my Mum and out of the room.
"It's fine." I said. "He's a little creepy, but I can handle it."

"He said he loved me." I found Seth in his special place.
Seth started laughing. "So, he spends hardly any time with you because he's being a child, and he ignores you for days on end, and yet he decides he knows you well enough to be in love with you?"
"Don't be mean."
"What? He's terrible."
"I felt really awful. He started screaming in my face, though; that was quite scary."
Seth sighed. "It's a new feeling to him. He doesn't know how to handle it. Sorry you went through that."
"The person you should feel sorry for is Elias."
Seth put an arm around me; he clearly heard the break in my voice as I tried to stop myself from crying.
"I just feel so terrible. What if he never speaks to me again? He's one of my best friends, Seth."
"It'll be fine. He's obsessed with you, Tabbi. He won't hold it against you for too long."
"I hope not." Suddenly, I jumped up, checking my phone. "Shit...I've got to go back and start getting ready, the party starts at seven."
"Alright." Seth stood to walk back with me. "And don't worry about Kyle, I'll sort him out. I promise."

"Tabitha, do you have your costume on?" My Mother called up the stairs.
"Just putting my heels on!" I shouted back. I was going as an insane Alice. Alice in Wonderland had always been one of my favourite things, and I usually made Halloween costumes inspired by it, but darker. As I walked out of my bedroom and into the hallway, I was greeted by a very smug looking Kyle.
"Almost time, sweetheart? I can't wait." He eyed me up and down. "Nice costume."
"You'd better not do anything-"
"Or what? You'll kill me?" He snorted and walked past me. "I'm going to go prepare."
I immediately felt sick. What was it he was preparing for?
"Tabitha! I need a hand." Mum shouted.
"I'm coming!"
I didn't have time to worry about Kyle. Seth said he'd sort Kyle out, and he would, wouldn't he? He wouldn't break a promise. I could trust him.

"Tabbi, Madison's here!"
I'd been speaking to some of Mum's work friends - and hating it - so when she told me the only person who was coming to the party for me was here, I couldn't have made my way to the door faster.
"Hey, Maddi." I hugged Madison and invited her in. "Oh, Ashton, you could come after all?"
Ashton was her boyfriend. I'd spoken to him a few times now, and I'd told Madison to bring him along if he could come. It would be pathetic if only one person turned up for me, when there were more than twenty people turning up for my Mother. I got them both a drink, told them they could not under any circumstances go upstairs together, and then quickly excused myself, saying I was going to the toilet. So far, despite people having gone up and down the stairs for the past hour, nothing bad had happened; at least that I knew of. I got upstairs just in time, as there were three people (two men and a woman) stumbling in the direction of the other side of the house. The side where most of the past residents kept to themselves.
"Hey!" I shouted after them.
They all stopped, and the woman started to giggle uncontrollably.
"It's not safe down there, especially when you're drunk."
"What do you mean?" One of the men laughed. "Kid, go back to the party."
"You're going to hurt yourselves. The floor isn't safe that way."
"Okay." The woman came tottering over to me. "We know everything about this house, okay? This isn't the unsafe part. We know everything. I don't know what you're trying to do, or if you're just stupid, but go back to the party." She motioned with her hand. "Run along now."
"You know everything?" Elias appeared from one of the doors.
The woman turned around and gasped in delight. "Where did you find him?" She turned back to me. "I'll admit, this is impressive. He looks exactly like the real guy."
"Same style, too." One of the men pointed out.
"You know who I am?"
"An Elias lookalike." The other man stated. "It's cool, but we'd like to carry on now."
The woman stared at Elias until they'd all turned the corner, and Elias walked up to me. "Sorry. I thought I'd freak them out." An embarrassed smile appeared on his face. "Didn't work."
"It's fine. We have to follow them. Kyle said he was preparing for something earlier, and I don't know what." I explained as I dragged Elias in the direction of the group.
"Seth said he'd sort Kyle out, but I haven't seen him since I was out with him earlier."
"Yeah. I don't think he's here." Was all Elias said.
"Go back to the party." I ordered as we caught up with the people. The corridor was dark, so I could hardly see past the woman's head.
"Wow!" The woman exclaimed. "He even has the same watch!" She jumped up and down, clapping her hands in delight.
Elias and I looked at each other in dread, and a lump caught in my throat. I pushed past the people, and Kyle grinned at me.
"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed.
"About to have fun." He answered, and then turned his attention to the group. "Since the party is taking place in this house, we've decided to put together a collection of objects from each resident. I'll be talking you through the story of each item and its owner. If you'd like to enter this room here; and I'll begin." He turned and walked into the room, followed by the two men. The woman turned to me for a brief moment, pointed to the door with her thumb, smiling with pure delight and saying, "where did you find these people?" Before quickly following after the others.
"Where is he?" I muttered, about to walk into the room, but was stopped by screaming.
"What's going on?" Before I could check what was going on, Madison appeared behind me. "I didn't see him downstairs." She pointed at Elias.
"Maddi, go downstairs. Ple-"
"I'm getting out of here!"
All of a sudden, the two men ran out of the room. "He's fucking crazy!" They shoved past the three of us, and there were a few moments in which none of us moved or spoke. That changed when the woman suddenly clawed at the doorframe and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"One of her arms is gone!" Madison screeched. "It's fucking gone!"
"I-it's just a prank..." I didn't sound convincing.
"Kyle, what the fuck did you do?" Elias shouted.
Kyle appeared above the woman, who was trying to pull herself up. He had her arm over his shoulder, and was smiling smugly. There was a butcher's knife in his other hand. "I had fun." He explained.
"Help me!" The woman staggered as she threw herself at me, shaking my right shoulder with her only hand. Her eyes darted from me, to Elias, to Madison, and she screamed when she looked behind her and saw Kyle. She started to run back in the direction of the party. A few minutes later, there was a chorus of screams from downstairs.
"I'm leaving! I am not staying a moment longer." I heard Mum's boss' voice from downstairs. "And don't bother coming to work tomorrow."
"Tabitha." Madison choked. "Don't ever speak to me again."
"Madis-"
"No!" She shrieked. "No. I don't want anything to do with you. You're sick."
Kyle threw down the knife and the arm; grabbing Madison by the shoulders and kneeling so their faces were level. "You listen to me. You saw what I did to that woman, right?"
Madison nodded.
"Right. I swear, I will do the same to you if you cause any trouble for Tabitha. Don't speak to her if you so wish, but if anybody asks, she stole your idea for a Halloween costume. Something childish like that. Alright?"
Madison nodded again, and I saw liquid travelling down her legs. Urine.
"Good." Kyle ruffled her hair and growled, making Madison jump and run.
"I'm off to sort out everyone else." Kyle winked at me. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you or your Mother."

Mum had gone to her boss' home to discuss her job, so crying loudly didn't matter. I sat on my bed, sobbing into Elias' chest. "Where was he? He promised nothing would happen."
"It'll be okay. Kyle may be awful to you, but he really is quite fond of you, you know?"
"A woman lost her arm! Mum lost her job; and I've lost my school friends!"
Elias sighed.
"It's all Seth's fault." I clenched my fists. "I want to speak to him. Right now." I jumped up, but Elias grabbed my hands.
"Tabitha! He's not here. He wasn't here since you got back. And..." He sighed. "And I don't think you'll ever be seeing him again."
I turned slowly towards Elias. "What did you do?"
My blood was boiling; and my heart was racing.
"I didn't do anything exactly-"
"What did you do?"
"It was Analetta. The witch who put the curse on the house. She's been here for two weeks now."
I started crying, dreading what was coming next.
"She found me and we started talking. About you and the Saviour business, mostly. I was getting jealous of Seth, and asked her to let him pass on."
"No!" I screamed, dropping to my knees. "You fucking dick!"
"Tabb-"
I stood and slammed him against a wall, then screamed as loud as I could: "I love him!"