Halloween Night

Ch.5: The Boogeyman's house

"Look at that! It's the Boogeyman's house!"

The three middle schoolers, heading home for the Friday night, the first of the Autumnal month of October, came upon the dilapidated green and white house. Under the eerie moonless sky, the stars blinking in and out of focus through a slight wisp of cloud, the three boys stood on the dead vegetation of the Myers lawn as they stared up at the famous House of the Boogeyman. Their friends at school had some wonderful theories about the house's reputation they heard from parents, family members, friends, or friends of friends.  One theory had it that a pale specter of the house's troubled former inhabitant, Michael Myers, haunted the place.  A second theory was that the Boogeyman lurked inside, prepared to ambush and devour unsuspecting kids while the third posited that Michael himself had never died and was still living in the house yet death awaited all who dared entered. 

"Wow, it looks tight!" Andy, the friend in the Chicago Bears jacket and cubs cap, glanced up at the rundown neglected home with his misty gray-blue eyes in shock, awe, and wonder. After all, this place had an infamous reputation which made people with a shred of sense avoid it.

Milton, the friend with the spectacles and the red and orange And1 jacket, turned and grinned mischievously at his buddies.

"I know, right? Say, you wanna enter and check it out? We can take pics and tell Eldridge and the others that we were here."

Winston, the level-headed one and the skeptic of the wild trio, looked dubious. 

"Well, I don't know. I mean, Ma will kill me if I don't get home for a late supper at 8."

Milton and Andy glanced over at their pal, eyeing him like a shark does to a minnow, sizing him up for a taunting.

"Really now?" Milton tilted his head, an amused smirk appearing on his face. "You are already late so what's the rush?"

Andy couldn't resist joining in on the goading.  "Yeah, you aren't chickening out, are you? Besides, we won't be long. We will only poke around for a bit and take pics to show Eldridge and his boys that we were man enough to come to the Boogeyman's home. Then we'll be home before our folks know it."

"Yeah, it will only be for a bit," Milton added, trying to convince his bestie to not lose his nerve and bail out. 

Winston blinked his almond-shaped green eyes before relenting. "I guess a few minutes won't hurt. Ma's gonna kill me anyway, so why not?"

Heaving his Fortnite bag over his shoulder, the shrimpy Winston trailed after his two mates as they stepped onto the front porch of the Myer's home. The creaking of the aged wooden boards echoed through the still night, announcing their presence to any occupants. Winston started to have second thoughts as Milton glanced through one of the dark windows, but frowned.

"Dayum, this place is darker than the locker room's bathroom. I can't see jack through here. Let's try the-"

The door swung open, revealing the darkness of the Boogeyman's lodgings. Winston could make out a shadowy figure standing by the entrance. Alarmed by the arrival of this hulking character, the boys let out terrified screams before turning and running like the wind. 

---

"Aaaaah! The boogeyman is coming! He's gonna get you!"

As he strolled with his classmates up Meridian Avenue, Billy heard the shouts and froze. Three kids, looking like rebellious pre-teens experiencing the world for the first time, ran past the group as if a pack of wolves were pursuing them. He, Kevin, Jenny, Amy, and the girl's friend Ellie, a cheerleader for the school's volleyball team,  glanced after the terrified kids as they fled down the street from the direction the college students had come from.  Billy glanced at his companions with a perturbed expression.