Nonstop Halloween

Chapter 4: Oct. 30th and Halloween

I'm waiting in the car, flipping through the dusty old book, waiting for Lilith. I'm nervous because I'm alone and I'm terrified about this test that could happen any moment now. Or maybe this is a dream. Yeah, a terrible dream. I'll wake up covered in sweat and that will be the end of this. It'll be okay.

I jump when the driver side door opens, revealing Lilith. She gets in and starts the car, "So basically you're going to have to be some one of the most powerful paranormal Keepers within like, three days."
"Three days?!" I shout. "Yep, I know, not ideal. But, you need to read as much of that as you can and get ready because tomorrow could be the best day of your high school life." She smirks. "Oh god I don't think that this is going to work out." I gulp. "Look, Fraidy Cat, you've got nothing to be scared of. I'm here." Lilith reassures me. I nod and go back and to flipping through the book, not really reading it.

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Blood. There's blood all over the place. I'm drowning in it. I can't breathe.
It's going away. It's draining out. Thank god. Now everything is dark, so I'm still afraid but hey, no blood. "Hello!" I call into the void.
Nothing but an echo.
Okay what now? I'm starting to shake so I really need to find a way out right now. I look around and find a light. My legs take off, practically leaving behind the rest of me.
I fall through the door and onto the cool, white linoleum of my school's floor. Three shadows are seen on the wall, all pointing at me. The lights go out as soon as I stand. I curse under my breath. You have got to be kidding me.

"HELLO!?" I yell. Just then I see moonlight coming in through windows. I rush to it and peek outside. There are two hungry eyes staring back at me. The hungry eyes of a demon. Instantly I start to scream.

That's when I wake up.

The light that I keep on in my room is out and I bet let upright. I know I shouldn't be this afraid but there's something wrong. Thank god for morning light. I let out a sigh when I see it. The red marks all over my calendar. The marks of circles, arrows, and danger warnings. The signs written down as a reminder to "avoid this at all costs".

It's Halloween.

Groaning, I flop back down onto my bed and roll over. Only to jolt upright again at seeing the time. It's ten in the morning, I'm late for school, and Lilith is going to kill me! I run to my drawers and pull out a Nirvana shirt and some jeans, not even bothering to get socks. My shoes are by the door so I make sure I've got everything else done (well I haven't eaten, brushed my hair, washed my face, used deodorant, or done basically anything other than get dressed). "Screw it." I say to myself as I rush to put on my shoes.

There's something on the table by the door. A note and a newspaper. I turn and instantly grab the two. The note is from my mom:

Jonathan:

School was canceled today do to the "incident". A group of people, including myself, are going around town asking if anyone needs any help or knows what happened. I'm not sure when the power will be back on, but in the meantime I got out all the flashlights (they're on the coffee table in the living room) and batteries. I'll be back as soon as I can, text me if you're going anywhere/need anything.
                                                          Love,
                                                       Mom.

P.S: Are you afraid of candles or not? Is that a small enough flame for it to be okay?

I read the note twice to make sure I got it right. What could the incident be? I'm calling Lilith. She picks up on the third ring, "Ugh. I was sleeping." "I was too, until I woke up freaking out. I had another one of those weird nightmares." I tell her, sitting down on my couch.
"Yeah? I'd love to hear but I'm kinda busy sleeping, so, ya know...." She trails off.
"Lilith what happened last night. Why don't we have school?" I ask hurriedly.
"Wait, what time is it?" She questions.
"Ten fifteen." I answer, "School was cancelled and the power is out but I don't know why."

"If you're playing a joke on my I swear to god I will get every dog in the neighborhood-" Lilith threatens me, but this time I cut her off, "No joke. How soon can you get here?"

"I'll try to see you in thirty." Lilith hangs up and leaves me alone. Luckily it's as sunny as can be outside so there's plenty of daylight coming in, that makes me less nervous. Still, I feel like something is really wrong here. I pick up the newspaper by the door and read it: Mysterious Power Outage causes Mayhem. I don't want to read anything else without Lilith.

Some time later, she shows up at my door. She has wide eyes, not wide with fear, wide with confusion, "The power is out everywhere but no lines are down and no bad weather hit."
"Really? Is that all?" I ask, squinting. "Not exactly...didn't you read the newspaper?" Same questions and I shake my head no, "Well, three people are dead." Lilith looks down.

In a flash of light my nightmare is brought forward again. Blood. No power. Three shadows. Am I predicting the future? I'm trying to get this out, to tell Lilith but all I can do is breathe heavily. Lilith sits me down on my couch and holds my hand, "John, it's worse. They were all six. They don't know how they did, apparently all of it was internal."

"I knew." I whisper. Finally I am able to tell her my nightmare, how it's true. "You need to conquer fear to become a keeper but the other side or whatever chooses when. You have to be prepared." Lilith warns me. "I want to get out of the house let's go somewhere." I tell her. "Well, we can't. No one under eighteen can leave their houses without an adult." She says. "How'd you get here?" I ask.

All she does is smirk, "The same way we're getting to the party tonight."

"The party!? Three kids are dead and you want to go to a party?!?" I yell. "If we go, maybe you get tested and everything goes back to normal." She says through clenched teeth. She's got a point. I hate it when she does that.

"In the meantime, we are going to start a journal for you to right down every nightmare or dream you have and keep track of what it means." Lilith knows what to do and when, she's strong like that.

"Okay, let's get to it." I rush off to get a notebook and as I do, I can't help but wonder something: three children all age six. That's pretty specific, isn't it?