Chapter 2- Lost
I woke up feeling small and jumpy. Then I realized why. I was on a nice loft bed with Star Wars comforters. “Carter, its time to get your costume on,” A voice boomed under me. I didn’t know how, but I knew that was my name. I didn’t feel like I knew much else, though. I felt a sharp nostalgic pain in my heart, as a woman climbed into my room.
I could have sworn she was identical to Freya, which was just a face that I somehow remembered. There was one difference, now that I look back at it.She was, umm, how to say it…old. Wrinkles lined her face, lines etched across the palms of her hands, which were old and shriveled. “Trick-or-treating starts at 6:30 remember, dear?” she asked, pointing to a small digital clock mounted on the wall that indicated it was 6:23 PM. That meant I had to get out of the house in less than 10 minutes!
“Where’s my costume…Mom?” I asked, somehow knowing that she was family. “There it is,” She said, pointing to a tattered costume lying on the floor. Green scales were scattered around the chest and legs of the outfit, while the other parts were a solid yellowy-green. I slowly tugged it on and felt a sense of homely comfort. A black mask lay on the bed, and I pulled it on draping the hood of the suit over it. There were two lights illuminating the area above my eyes, so it looked like I had glowing eyes, and it helped with seeing under the dark mask.
A pair of glowing red-studded blades sat on a Lord Of The Rings nightstand. I picked them up, but my hands felt weaker than usual. I almost gasped because it was so difficult to grasp the handles compared to the normal swipe that I somehow remembered. Something felt wrong, like I had a memory loss, because there were so many things that I randomly remembered, and lots that I didn’t. “Is anything wrong honey?” My mom asked, concerned. “No, Mom,” I said. “Everything’s fine,” I continued, trying to sound confident through all my current surprise.
I hopped down the ladder that came to the loft, went down a set of stairs, and down into the kitchen. “Carter, have a quick dinner,” The woman said, offering me a plate of casserole. “Aww man, Tuna noodle again?” I complained, but still grabbed the plate, a fork, and a can of Ginger Ale. I took a bite, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I ‘remembered’. I ate 3 servings of the casserole and then chugged down the can of soda. Then, I took out a chocolate bar from the pantry. When I was done, I barely had time to use the restroom before I heard the bell ring.
“Carter, can you get the door?” Mom said. “Sure!” I responded, quickly pulling my costume on once again. I took out the door, and exploded in excitement when I opened the door. “Carter!” A tall kid with long blond hair burst into the house. He was wearing a Thor costume from Avengers, which in this case, was a Maroon cape, and a silvery blue costume, finished off with a bronze chest plate and a metallic hammer with a studded leather-bound handle. “Hey, Henry!” I said. Like I said, some things I just randomly remembered, and this was one of them. “Henry! Glad to see you again!” My mom said, striding into the front room.
“Hello, Ms. Amelia! Thanks for inviting me!” Henry said, shaking hands with my mom, whose name, I now remembered, was Amelia. “So, Carter, you ready to leave?” Henry asked me, nudging me a little. “Yeah, I’ll just grab my ‘bag’,” I said, running upstairs and grabbing a pillow sack. I raced back downstairs, and pushed the door open, holding it for Henry. “Mom, We’re leaving!” I called to my mom. “Okay!” She said, “Have fun!” Henry and I ran out of the house as fast as Henry had come in, and pushed through the iron-link gate that lined the gardens of the house. We passed a couple houses, and at the end of the Stafford Street, we came to a stop.
“Here’s the place,” Henry said, his shoes skidding to a sudden halt where the sidewalk met the pavement of a driveway. The front lawn was etched with different shades of grass, all which were changing so it looked like holes were opening up and closing almost immediately. “Which place?” I asked, feeling like a fool afterwards.
“You don’t remember, Carter?” Henry said, towering a couple inches over me, but it felt like multiple feet, because I seemed small and insignificant for not knowing something that Henry felt so strong about, him being such a close friend. “Remember last year?” He continued, his voice slowly rising. “Not exactly,” I admitted, sheepishly. “You don’t remember the “incident”?” He asked, gazing suspiciously at me. “When you got all spooky and scared the heck out of me? It was unnatural!” Henry exclaimed, shaking his slowly. Suddenly, the entire street went silent.
I could hear the feet of trick-or-treaters shuffling on the rough pavement of the street. I heard a low, clear howl of an animal cutting the quiet of the evening into bloody screams and horror. “Carter, run!” Henry pulled my arm as he screamed the words, but I couldn’t budge. I felt numb from my neck to my toes, meaning the only thing I could move was my mouth. “Henry, I can’t move!” I screamed, closing my eyes and wishing it all to go away. But nothing happened. The air remained cold, and I could hear the terror driven in the people shouting and hollering around me.
I opened my eyes and saw the beast.
