- 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍! four

" open the door and we'll see " — 🎃

october thirty-first had arrived, halloween night. corbyn cast a glance towards the small square mirror hanging in the doorway of his home. behind him, stood his mother with her arms crossed. "i sure hope you aren't planning on leaving without your sister." she spoke sternly, voice dropping an octave.

"mom, i'm not trick or treating this year. i'm heading over to eben's." he sighed, placing his hand over the doorknob. "corbyn matthew. you're forgetting someone." he peered down to the small seven year old girl standing at his mother's feet. "ash, i cant take you trick or treating." corbyn began, glancing up towards his mother.

"uh- but i can take you to reece's house." he smiled nervously, watching as her face lit up. corbyn smiled back, taking her small hand in his as he carried his phone in the other. the little girl was dressed as little red riding hood, a long red coat loose on her body. she held a mini basket, ready to fill it up with lots of candy.

the two walked hand in hand down the street, just a few houses down to zach's. "well hello, corbyn! and hello, miss little red riding hood." myta, zach's mother spoke in a high pitched tone. "hi, myta. is it alright if ash joins reece in trick or treating? i'm heading to eben's for the night." he asked politely.

"of course, honey! you can go with zach, jack should be here in just-" the brunette woman was interrupted by the loud honk of a car horn. "a few moments." she rolled her eyes playfully, turning around to see zach running down the steps leading to the second floor. "bye, momma!" he yelled, failing to see corbyn standing in the doorway.

the brunet ran into corbyn, sending them both to the ground with a grunt. "you're lucky i didn't hit my head." the blond winced, sighing once zach rolled off of the boy. "sorry, must not have seen you." zach apologized, helping corbyn off the ground. "mhm." the blond mumbled, dusting his hands over his pants as to rid of the dirt.

they made their way towards jack's car, seeing both gabbie and evie already present. corbyn slipped into the very back of the curly boy's mom's mini van, leaving zach and evie in the middle, and gabbie in the passenger seat. "alright, we got everyone!" jack exclaimed, hearing a groan slip past a certain brunet boy's lips.

"cheer up, zach! this will be fun!" evie exclaimed, her brunette hair blowing with the wind. without much more complaining, the group made it to the edge of the thick woods. the car drove roughly down the gravel road, bumping with the rocks and pebbles that slipped their way into the crevices of the tires.

after just a few minutes of driving, the surrounding area of the woods has already grown dark, the sunset being hidden by the leaves overhead. the headlights of the car didn't do much as the growing fog became thicker the deeper into the forest they drove. finally, eben's house was in sight, living room lights blaring into the small opening of the woods.

inside, jonah, tate, eben, and daniel could already be seen lounging around on the sofa. with a slam of a few doors, jack, gabbie, evie, zach, and corbyn made their way inside the house. "happy halloween!" corbyn exclaimed with a smile, greet the others. "hello, my love." daniel smiled, walking towards the boy with open arms.

"have you guys gathered flashlights and shit?" jack asked, walking past the two boys. "we only have a few, but if we stay together we're fine." eben exclaimed, picking up one of the hefty, yellow flashlights off of the coffee table. "i cant believe we're really doing this. just to figure out if some story is true?" jonah exclaimed, twirling another flashlight in his hands.

"it's not just some story. it's a legend." "which means there's a very good chance it's fake and we'll all die for nothing." jack rolled his eyes at jonah's response. "i hope we die just so i can tell y'all i told you so." jonah sighed, taking a seat onto the couch. "can't tell us from your grave, bud." tate snickered, receiving a playful look from jonah.

"miss dahl, would you like to be the first victim?" jonah teased, hearing chuckles from the others. "hypothetically- hey!" tate began, only to be cut off by jonah throwing a piece of candy corn, hitting her directly in the middle of her forehead. corbyn's little giggles could be heard from across the room along with laughs from the others.

"can we please just get this over with?" zach whined, dreading the idea of going back out into the dark forest. "let's find some ninja turtles!" eben yelled, standing up from his seat on the couch. "eben!"

;

the group of nine walked close together in a pack, their shoes against the gravel making rough footsteps echo through the air. the wind was cold on their faces, causing a blush to coat their cheeks. four held flashlights in hand, directing their glow into the trees.

they walked silently, hyper aware of everything around them. every sound, every step, every foot they could see in front of them through the fog. their eyes darted around, holding onto eachother for comfort as they walked. "i'll hand it to you, corbs. i don't know how you walk out here alone." eben spoke from ahead.

"as long as you're listening to happy music, you're fine." he sighed, breath ragged from the harsh winds. he shivered even under the cloth of his hoodie. corbyn's hands were red and dried, finding subtle warmth in the grasp of one of daniel's. occasionally, they would speak, but everyone only listened.

they listened to the bugs, the flapping of bats' wings, the shaking breaths of the others, and their tapping on the gravel. "here." eben finally spoke, stopping in his place. "what?" jack asked, arm stretched out in front of gabbie. "this is it. this is the path." he breathed.

the nine looked into the trees, barely seeing where the path broke off into another. they squinted their eyes, seeing many trees growing through the newfound path. "if we manage to follow this, the house should be on the opposite end." eben spoke, beginning to walk slowly.

everyone followed behind hesitantly, evie and zach trailing hand in hand behind everyone. "you're not scared, right?" zach asked, glancing towards his girlfriend. her eyes glistened under the moonlight before the trees had gotten in the way once more. "i should be asking you that." she smiled, nudging his shoulder.

they walked for what seemed like hours, but could only have been ten minutes. they flinched, hearing a howl echo through the forest. corbyn huddled into daniel, eyes darting around. "well, that's reassuring." he whispered, feeling daniel's arm wrap around his waist as they continued to walk.

finally, the warm glow of a barely lit lantern peered through the thick fog. "you think that's it?" tate asked, keeping her hand tight in jonah's. everyone stopped and stared, contemplating whether to continue on or turn back. "well, it looks it. i don't think there's any other houses out here." eben spoke.

he urged them to continue, seeing an outline of a house almost similar to eben's. "think there's anyone living in there?" evie joked, maneuvering her way through the group until she stood next to eben. "well, open the door and we'll see."

corbyn couldn't forget the shiver that ran down his spine or the words whispered by the wind before entering. oh how he'd soon wish he'd turned back.