31 Days of Halloween

The Old Millhouse

Leaventon - a small town in Central Indiana, population of only several thousand - an eerie hush had fallen over the town in recent days. It was the week before Halloween, everyone waited on pins and needles. They waited for the evil to descend on their little town as it had every year for as long as even the oldest resident could remember. Each of them wondered who it would come for next. Every year it chose one victim to terrorize. No one had yet survived. No one understood why it targeted their sleepy little community, but it had.

From midnight to midnight the town remained empty. Families in their homes, quiet, lights off, in hopes of avoiding its wrath. Businesses along Main Street shuttered their doors and windows, remaining closed. Even the hospital locked their doors and allowed no new patients. Their priority - keeping the ones already there, alive. Schools were closed, and children didn't trick or treated on Halloween night, no parties were thrown, not a soul could be found on the streets. Even the stray cats and dogs seemed to comprehend the danger, they too disappeared.

Across town, near the river, as the mist and fog began to creep in, four teens sat inside a cabin. Each of their parents believing them to be at the other's house, they had taken precautions - locked the doors and covered the windows. Jake Paulson, the mayor's fourteen-year-old son, his friend Blaine Peters, Maya Lopez, and Jamal Turner huddled together on the living room floor. Blaine had convinced them they could find out who or what was behind the evil force which filled the town. The day before, the four sat on a park bench next to the river.

"Hey, I think I know how we can find out what this thing is or what it wants," Blaine said.

Maya turned to look at him, "Yeah? How do you suppose we do that? Walk right out there and ask it?" Sarcasm dripped from her words.

Jamal laughed, "I gotta say, I agree with her. Man, we can't just go out there, we'll die."

"I know that. I didn't say we go outside, but, we do have to ask it - from in here. Look."

Blaine grabbed his backpack and pulled out a sweatshirt with something wrapped up inside.

"What on earth is that thing?" Jake asked.

Maya, who hadn't been paying attention after Blaine said he knew what to do, suddenly found herself scared.

"No, I know what that is, and I refuse to be part of it. Messing with that is like asking for trouble. You don't ever really know who you're talking to, or even what, and it can open all kind of doorways," she said.

Jamal jumped up, moving away from the object Blaine now held in his hands, "Come on, get that thing outta here. We aren't messing with that, living through the next twenty-four hours is going to be bad enough."

"Hello? I asked what it was. Apparently, I'm not as enlightened as the rest of you," Jake said, the anger just barely hidden in his voice.

Maya answered before Blaine could speak, "A Ouija board, they use them to contact spirits. The problem, like I said, is you don't know who or what is on the other end. We could bring in any number of spirits - or demons. Do we want that?"

As the discussion went on, they reached a point where they had to make a decision. Time was running out. Would they meet at the cabin just before midnight or would they wait it out like every year, hoping they or a family member wasn't the next victim? Jamal and Maya were against the idea, while Blaine and Jake were all for it if there was a chance they could figure out what was taking over their town.

Blaine spoke up, "Think about it, guys. We've never been able to have a Halloween like everyone else. If we can figure out what it is and how to get rid of it, next year, we could have a Halloween party, the little kids could trick or treat. We don't have to live like this, locked up in our houses for twenty-four hours every year, waiting for someone to die."