The world around us

Story #2~ Midnight Wonderland (Halloween Special) (Oct 2018)

My next door neighbor is a witch,
And she lives way down in a ditch.
Her clothing is a little strange,
Because she never wants to change.
My next door neighbor is a witch.

~Samira Vallee

I was in a dark alleyway in a deserted part of town. A streetlamp flickered next to me, casting long shadows on the ground. Something clattered and sent out a metallic clash! behind me. Probably a stray cat looking for leftovers in a trash can, right?

The night air was frosty and wet against my bare skin. Puffs of smoke exited my mouth and reminded me of smoke from a cigarette.

A breeze lifted up the hairs on my arms and I shivered momentarily. Something cold landed on my forehead, making me jump, until I realized that it was a raindrop. Raindrops were now dripping all over the street and onto my dress.

"Great", I muttered to myself,"now it's raining."

Pulling on my hood of my red coat, I quickly made my way through the alleyway until I reached a rusty, green door with messy graffiti words and symbols sprayed all over it.

"You know, this is normally where young women like you get raped and killed.", the voice in my head commented.

"Yeah, well, the only difference is that those things only happen in movies, where the young women are dumb and vulnerable. And besides, I'm coming here at my own free will, aren't I?", I shot back.

"It might be a trap.", the voice suggested. "The criminals in real life aren't that stupid either."

Seems like the voice made its point. Ah, damn it! Now it really did look like a location from a horror movie. One where people mysteriously dissappear. Ugghh, now I was starting to get nervous.

Why was I still doubting myself when I've been here countless times? Ok, not exactly exactly this location, but similar ones. It's just more scary than I remembered it to be, standing here alone in the dark, looking for the right door.

Ok, whatever. The heebie-jeebies were getting to me, and I definitely did not want to catch a cold, especially before Romy's Birthday. I mean, hello? No way in hell was I going to miss out on a party thrown by THE Ramona "Red" Valentina Fernandez, who also happened to be one of my very best friends.

Too bad she was spending a week in her hometown in Mexico, or she would have been here with me right now.

"But she isn't. You're all alone, with no one on your side. Your father was murdered, your mother left you. And where were you raised? With your horrible aunt. No one cares for you. You will always be alone."

"Shut up!", I shouted. But then I remembered that it was only the voice in my head.

"Stupid voices", I muttered.

I pulled off my hood and sharply rapped the green door in the middle three times. I then proceeded to point to each corner of the door starting from the bottom left one and going clock-wise until I had pointed at every corner.

As I pointed, I repeated the words "Nocte Expiravit" over and over again until I had said it 13 times. At last, I reached into the pocket of my coat and pulled out a little translucent bag. I took a handful of it's contents out and left a trail of sparkling, purple powder outside the door.

"Patentibus", I whispered and stepped back.

An explosion of purple, sparkly smoke erupted from the powder, covering anything in my sight.