by P. J. Night
Ashley hurried across the room and peered into the bag. “Oh, awesome!” she said, laughing as she pulled out an economy-sized package of chocolate-covered marshmallow pumpkins. “My favorite! And now I have my own personal stash!”
Ding-dong!
“Somebody’s here!” Ashley cried. She raced to the door and opened it to find Mary Beth—and her mother—waiting on the porch.
“Happy birthday!” Mary Beth and her mother said at the same time.
Ashley smiled back at them and said, “Thank you!” As she spoke, she noticed that Mrs. Medina was peering over her shoulder into the living room. Then Mrs. Medina craned her neck to look into the kitchen.
“Hi, Luisa,” Mrs. McDowell called to Mrs. Medina from the kitchen. “Want to come in for a piece of pizza?”
“No thank you, Julia,” Mrs. Medina replied. “I’ve got to get supper on myself.”
Then, with a slight, satisfied nod of her head, Mrs. Medina gave Mary Beth a fast hug. “Have a good time, dear,” she said. “Remember what we talked about. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning.”
“Bye, Mom!” Mary Beth replied, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.
“Bye, Mrs. Medina!” Ashley added. She watched as Mrs. Medina walked down the porch steps. Just as Ashley was about to close the door, Mrs. Medina turned around.
Oh no, Ashley thought. She’s going to talk to Mom. She’s going to make sure we don’t go trick-or-treating.
But all Mrs. Medina did was bend down and pick up a package.
“Oooh! It’s my birthday present from Maya!” Ashley exclaimed. She stepped into the twilight and grabbed the box that was wrapped in plain brown mailing paper with her name written on the top. She wasn’t sure, but it felt like Mrs. Medina had been a little reluctant to let go of the package.
Ashley couldn’t wait to open it. “She promised to send me something special.”
“That’s very nice. Have fun at your party tonight,” Mrs. Medina said. Then she continued down the path to her car.
Ashley pulled Mary Beth into the house, and both girls dissolved into giggles. “Oh my gosh!” Ashley whispered. “I thought she was going to talk to my parents! I thought she was going to bust our party for sure!”
“She made me promise not to go trick-or-treating tonight, but whatever. I think she was looking for Halloween stuff,” Mary Beth replied. “Like decorations and things. I’m sure she felt better when she saw that there weren’t any, like, jack-o’-lights in your living room.”
“Jack-o’-lanterns,” Ashley corrected her. “And that’s because they’re all in the barn!”
Mary Beth’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. Everything’s all set up out there,” Ashley said as she led Mary Beth into the kitchen.
“Hi, Mary Beth,” Ashley’s parents said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get out of your hair,” Mrs. McDowell continued. “But we do want to see you girls all dressed up in your costumes before you head out, okay?”
“Okay, okay,” Ashley said, staring pointedly at the stairs. “See you later.”
Mr. and Mrs. McDowell exchanged a smile as they left the kitchen.
“Look what my dad brought me—only the world’s best candy! Want one?” Ashley asked Mary Beth.
“That’s okay,” Mary Beth said, shaking her head. “Maybe after pizza. But honestly, I don’t like chocolate that much.”
“What?” Ashley asked, pretending to be shocked. “Are you sick or something?”
Mary Beth grinned at her. “It’s just not really my thing. But sour gummies, on the other hand . . . if you have any of those, get out of my way!”
“I bet we’ll get a lot of those tonight!” Ashley said, laughing as she ripped open the package. “I wonder what Maya sent. She said it was going to be something really special. . . . ”
Mary Beth watched as Ashley opened the box. There, nestled in folds of tissue paper, was a necklace. As Ashley lifted it up, the shiny chain glinted in the light.
This is the amazing present? Ashley thought in confusion. Hanging from the chain was a familiar-looking pendant: shaped like a sideways figure eight, with a lump in the middle. Then, as Ashley took a closer look, she finally recognized the lump.
It was a snake’s head, eating its own tail.
“I’ve seen that before!” Mary Beth said suddenly. “Like, here and there around town.”
“Oh yeah. Maya told me all about it,” Ashley replied. “It’s a lemniscate—the symbol for infinity. Except it usually doesn’t have this snake head. I guess, in this symbol, the whole lemniscate is a snake twisted around itself . . . devouring its own tail.”
“Ugh,” Mary Beth said, shivering. “Creepy.”
“But perfect for Halloween,” Ashley said. “And for my costume!”
“So when are you finally going to tell me what you’re wearing?” Mary Beth asked.
But Ashley just smiled and shook her head. “It’s a surprise. Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon,” she promised.
Ding-dong!
“Really soon!” Ashley said as she and Mary Beth hurried off to answer the door. It was Danielle and Stephanie. The four friends chatted excitedly while they ate pizza in the kitchen. Then Ashley led them out to the barn. It took her four tries to get the door open, but that only helped to build the suspense. By the time it finally opened with an ear-splitting shriek, Ashley’s friends were so full of nervous anticipation that they all screamed!
Ashley grinned as she thought, I’ve never done Halloween with a bunch of newbies before. This is going to be awesome!
“Okay, everybody,” Ashley announced as they followed her through the gauzy curtains hung in the very middle of the barn. “Let’s put on our costumes! And if you need any extra finishing touches . . . ”
Ashley gestured to a bale of hay that was cluttered with spooky masks, glow-in-the-dark hair spray, black lipstick, and a horribly realistic-looking bowl of fake blood that she had whipped up that morning.
“Look at all this stuff!” Danielle marveled.
“Help yourself!” Ashley said with a grin. “Remember, there’s only one rule tonight: the scarier, the better!”
“Okay,” Mary Beth announced as she grabbed a tube of jet-black eyeliner and some lipstick. “I need a spooky makeover. Somebody want to help me out here?”
“You got it!” Stephanie cried as she ran over. In a few minutes Mary Beth’s gorgeous brown eyes were shadowed by thick, black lines that made her look much older. Her lips were stained with bloodred lipstick. There was fake blood dripping down the sides of her mouth and down her chin. She twirled around in a sleek black dress with draping bell sleeves. A black cape, lined with bloodred satin, completed her outfit.
“Mary Beth!” Ashley exclaimed. “You look amazing! Where did you get your costume?”
“Oh, I juth thewed it,” Mary Beth replied. Then she frowned and pulled a pair of plastic fangs out of her mouth. “Sorry. I sewed it. It’s hard to talk with these fang things in.”
“Well, they’re perfect. Totally realistic . . . for a vampire, that is,” Ashley said, giggling. “Besides, you’ll get used to the fangs after you’ve worn them for a little while. I was a vampire two years ago, and by the end of the night, I totally forgot I was even wearing them.”
“I can’t believe you sewed that whole thing so quickly.” Danielle laughed. “I took the lazy way out. My mom’s hot glue gun got the job done!”
The other girls turned to admire Danielle’s costume. She was wearing black leggings and a form-fitting black hoodie that had been covered with bones made out of white felt. She was even wearing gloves with little white bones going down her fingers. She’d painted her face entirely white, except for gaping black holes painted around her eyes, nose, and mouth.
“I love it,” Ashley said. “Can you do a creepy dance?”
“What? Like this?” Danielle asked as she started to dance in a corner of the barn. Against the darkness, only the bones on her costume
were easily visible—making her look like a real skeleton.
“Okay. Guess who I am,” Ashley said. She turned away for a moment, and when she turned around again, her friends screamed.
“Medusa!” they all yelled at the same time.
“Nice hair!” Danielle laughed, pointing at the snakes flowing down the back of Ashley’s head. “Medusa is totally my favorite Greek monster.”
“Right?” said Ashley, adjusting the toga she’d made out of an old sheet. “We learned all about her in English class last year. And when I found the shed snake skins, I knew I had to do something with them.”
“Snake skins? What?” Danielle asked.
“These are real snake skins!” Ashley exclaimed, pointing to the brown and gnarled snake-shaped tendrils entwined through her hair. “I found them right here in the barn! When I couldn’t find a place to buy a costume in town, I decided to dye them to look like live snakes and glue them to a headband. Genius, right?”
Mary Beth shrieked. “I hate snakes! I can’t believe you put real snakes on your head!”
“Snake skins,” Ashley corrected her. “And I’ll do anything for a great costume.” Then she turned toward Stephanie. “Hey, you’ve been really quiet. Let’s see your costume. Time for the big reveal!”
There was a pause before Stephanie turned around. “What do you think?”
At first, Ashley wasn’t sure what to say. Sure, Stephanie looked beautiful, all dressed up in a long white gown, with pretty makeup, sparkly jewelry, and a flowing veil on her head. But there was nothing scary about her costume—nothing at all.
Luckily, Danielle did the talking for her. “What are you wearing? You sister’s old prom dress?” she asked bluntly.
“Yeah,” Stephanie said. “I’m a bride.”
“Um, we can see that,” Danielle said in such a funny voice that everyone laughed. “But what’s scary about it?”
Stephanie shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. Scary isn’t really my thing.”
“But, Stephanie,” Mary Beth said, “we had a deal. We were all going to dress up as something scary, remember?”
“I didn’t know that we had to do that,” Stephanie said, looking away. “I’m sorry . . . I just . . . Does it matter?”
“I guess not,” Ashley said.
“Well, I think it does!” said Mary Beth. “This is Ashley’s party for Ashley’s birthday and the only reason we even get to go trick-or-treating tonight is because of Ashley!”
“Okay,” Stephanie relented quickly, turning to Ashley. “Help me be scary.”
“Really?” Ashley asked. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to—”
“No, I do,” Stephanie said. “Seriously. Now it’s my turn for a scary makeover!”
Ashley put her hand by her mouth, frowning slightly as she examined Stephanie’s costume. Then her whole face brightened. “I know what to do!”
Ashley perched Stephanie on the edge of a hay bale. “We don’t even have to change your costume,” she said as she applied white powder to Stephanie’s face, neck, and arms, and added a smudge of purple eye shadow beneath Stephanie’s eyes to create dark, creepy circles. Then Ashley coated Stephanie’s hair with glow-in-the-dark hair spray before sprinkling more white powder all over her head. When Ashley was done, Stephanie’s hair was entirely white, with the faintest hint of an otherworldly glow.
“Ta-da!” Ashley cried proudly. “Now you’re a ghost bride!”
“I love it!” Stephanie exclaimed as she stared into a pocket mirror that Ashley had brought to the barn.
“You look spooky and pretty,” Mary Beth told Stephanie.
“Wait a minute,” Ashley said. “One last thing!”
She grabbed a red lip liner and drew a thin line across Stephanie’s neck. A few drops of fake blood made the “wound” look even creepier.
“Now you’re a murdered ghost bride!” Ashley announced. “My mom wants to be a total mom and take some pictures of us, so let’s get that over with so we can get out there and trick-or-treat!”
The other girls followed Ashley back to her house where, to her surprise, her mom and dad were completely cool, taking only a couple of pictures before turning off their camera. “You have your cell phone, right, Pumpkin?” Mrs. McDowell asked. “And you’ll remember to watch out for cars? And don’t eat any unwrapped candy.”
“Yes. Of course. Never,” Ashley replied.
“Okay then . . . have fun,” Mrs. McDowell said, opening the door for them. “And happy Halloween!”
The girls walked outside, where a full moon shone through a cloudless sky. The last of the autumn leaves rustled on the trees from a burst of cold wind; one plummeted through the night sky and got stuck in Mary Beth’s hair.
“Whoops!” Ashley giggled. “Let me get that for you.” As she leaned forward to pluck the leaf out of Mary Beth’s hair, one of the snake skins brushed against Mary Beth’s cheek. Mary Beth clapped a hand to her face, simultaneously jumping away and cringing in horror.
“Ahhhh! I’m scared already!” Mary Beth cried, but Ashley could tell from her tone that she was having fun.
“Just you wait,” Ashley replied with a spooky smile. “It only gets worse from here!”
She had no way of knowing how true those words would be.
CHAPTER 7
“This way,” Ashley said when they reached the road. “I think it’s better if we follow Rural Route 13 toward town. The houses are closer together there, so we’ll be able to hit more of them before we need to get back. My mom doesn’t want us to stay out past nine.”
“How come?” Stephanie asked. “There’s nothing to be scared of, right? I mean, not really?”
“No, of course not,” Ashley assured her. “It’s just that that’s usually when high school kids go out, and they can get kind of crazy. Like, throwing really stinky rotten eggs, stuff like that. Besides, by nine o’clock we’ll have more candy than we can even carry!”
“I hope we get some chocolate peanut-butter bars,” Stephanie replied. “They’re my favorite.”
As the girls continued down the road, a sticky, clammy mist surrounded them; every time Ashley moved her head, the now-wet snake skins flicked against her neck, sending shivers down her arms and back. The bluish light from the full moon made the girls cast elongated, distorted shadows that followed their every move. It was a perfect Halloween night, spooky in every way—almost too perfect.
“Do you see?” Ashley cried, pointing at Main Street.
“Trick-or-treaters!” Danielle replied.
“Hey, guys!” Mary Beth called out to them in her cheeriest voice. The two trick-or-treaters up the road didn’t respond.
As the two groups came closer to each other, Ashley was a little shocked by how old-fashioned their costumes were—and how detailed. A red devil with razor-sharp horns approached them, carrying a carved pumpkin on a stick. His mouth moved up and down as though he was trying to say something, but only faint whispers were coming out. Ashley would have wondered about this if it weren’t for her shock at the rest of his outfit. The grimace carved into the pumpkin looked so torturous that Ashley couldn’t help but think that it took a lot of the fun out of Halloween. The clouds of sulfurous smoke that poured out of the pumpkin’s eyes, nose, and mouth surrounded them, and Ashley and her friends started to cough, covering their mouths and noses.
The devil cackled at their discomfort as he danced in circles around them.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ashley managed to sputter out just as the devil’s companion, a small girl dressed as a bat, made her way into the haze, flapping her leathery—and very hairy—wings in Ashley’s face. Ashley cried out when she caught a glimpse of the bat’s face: the coarse brown hairs, the tiny piggish nose, the glinting gold eyes. It was the most realistic mask she’d ever seen.
“Mary Beth! Danielle! Stephanie!” Ashley screeched to her friends. She managed to lock hands with Mary Beth and Danielle, who had grabbed on to Stephanie, and the four girls starte
d to run. Once they were safely away from the devil and bat, and Ashley was pretty sure they had moved on to torment other trick-or-treaters, she stopped running. She looked at her friends. Mary Beth and Danielle looked confused; Stephanie looked like she was about to cry. Ashley didn’t know if that was from fear or from the acrid smoke.
“What was that?” Mary Beth asked, her voice high-pitched from fear.
“Okay, something like that has never happened to me before,” Ashley said.
Stephanie didn’t say anything, but from the way she looked longingly in the direction of her house, Ashley began to think trick-or-treating was going to get cut short.
“I promise that is not what trick-or-treating is about,” Ashley assured her friends. “Those were just a couple of mean kids who think Halloween is an excuse to do whatever they want.”
“Are we going to get sick?” Stephanie asked in a worried voice. “Do you think that smoke was, like, poisonous?”
“No way,” Ashley said, shaking her head. “It smelled like a stink bomb, that’s all.” She pointed down Edgewood Lane. “Let’s head down this street and start trick-or-treating.”
Unsure of what to do, Stephanie looked at Mary Beth and Danielle. Danielle nodded.
Whew, Ashley thought, happy that trick-or-treating wasn’t going to be a total bust.
“So, Ash, what do we do again?” asked Mary Beth. The lisp from her fangs was getting fainter each time she spoke.
She must be getting used to those fangs, Ashley thought, beginning to cheer up about the night that lay ahead of them.
Ashley grinned at her. “Watch and learn!”
The other girls followed Ashley up the front steps. “I’m going to ring the doorbell in a second,” Ashley whispered to them. “When somebody opens the door, hold out your bag and yell, ‘Trick or treat!’ Then they’ll put some candy in your bag and probably say something about how awesome our costumes are. And then we say thanks and go to the next house. Got it?”
“Got it,” her friends replied.
“Okay! Here we go!” Ashley said, feeling that rare, once-a-year thrill of ringing the first doorbell on Halloween night.