A Hallowed Anthology: Contest Entries for Halloween Vault 3D

The Lake

The air's damp and chilly, and cuts right through my red leather jacket, freezing my bare legs. I wrap my arms around my torso. Apparently going as Scarlet Witch wasn't my best idea, especially with this short dress on such a cold autumn night.

This was a mistake. This party, this dress, this night. All a mistake.

I should never have come.

Nicky would tell me to move on.

I wander out of the room of the old mansion where Becky Post hosts her annual Halloween party. An old estate out on the edge of the English moors, it was the best place to celebrate Halloween, and Becky invited us every year for a big party.

Except this year, instead of Nicky standing beside me, gossiping over which of the guys was hottest and who was going to chase who across the moors that night, she was gone.

Last year, Tommy Austen had chased Nicky onto the moors and no one had ever seen her again.

Rumors had circulated. Some say Tommy killed Nicky and hid the body. Some said she died some other way, fell and broke her neck, got attacked, and he never told anyone, just left her to die on the moors alone. Some say one of the Celtic demons who roamed the moors on Samhain, the pagan Halloween night, had taken her.

Tommy had said she had just disappeared, leaving no trace of herself behind.

I walk across the lawn toward the dark lake, the wind whipping my black dress about my legs. The lake was one of my favorite places on the old estate, and Nicky and I had used to go swimming in it in the summer. On milder Halloweens, we had even jumped in in our costumes, shrieking at the cold water as the water ruined our hairstyles and soaked our clothes.

But now the lake was off limits for the party after night fell, due to the danger it posed to those who might possibly be intoxicated. I ignore the warnings Mr. Post had given us as I stop on the edge of the lake, the toes of my black heeled boots just getting wet. Staring down at the water, I collect my thoughts and wish Nicky well. Wherever you are.

"Suzie."

The voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I stare at the person standing in the lake, staring back at me. Red hair hanging past her shoulders, pale skin dotted with freckles, and hazel eyes. She's even wearing the Princess Leia costume she disappeared in, albeit it's torn and muddied and her hair's no longer in the character's signature buns.

"Nicky." My voice cracks. I have so many questions but I can only assemble the words to ask one. "Where have you been?"

Nicky holds out her hand. I notice the scar marks on her arms, dried blood tracing down her wrist. "Come with me," she says, and she sounds just like my best friend. "Suzie, just trust me."

"Where have you been?"

"Trust me."

I consider, looking at Nicky, standing in the dark lake with her hair twisted and her white dress dirtied. But her face is Nicky's, her voice is Nicky's, and her eyes are Nicky's as well. So I walk into the lake, feeling the water soak through my tall, torn black stockings and my half-cut heeled boots. I swear, Scarlet Witch was the wrong costume for today.

Nicky takes my hand and pivots, dragging me deeper into the lake. She walks forward, looking straight ahead, heading further into the lake, not seeming to mind the icy cold water. Before long, I'm being pulled beneath the surface and Nicky's still gripping my hand, nails digging into my skin. I can't breathe, I can't breathe, and then the next thing I know Nicky's dragging me through a door as I cough and sputter.

Water fills the room, covering every inch from the sand floor to the rock walls, but I somehow catch a breath and sit up. I can say for sure my Scarlet Witch costume is ruined, my leather jacket drenched through and my dress sticking to my body. Furrowing my brow, I sit up and look around.

Nicky is sitting back on her heels, watching me. It's still Nicky, but the earlier smile is gone and she just looks sad. Sad and hollow.

"What happened to you?"

"I drowned."

"What?"

"I drowned."

"How are you talking to me if you're dead?"

Nicky smiles sadly. "Because you drowned, too."

"What?"

Nicky gestures to the door. "It's Samhain. The lake wants a sacrifice. Last year, they took me. This year, they took you. Next year, they'll take someone else." She shrugged. "Now you belong to the lake. Just like I do." She cocks her head, as if listening. "And here comes the lake."

I glance at the door, waiting for it to open and to see who took my life, but when it does open, the lake water rushes in, blinding and choking me.

The last thing I hear is a vicious laugh.