Witch Hollow and the Wrong Spell (Book 1)

by I.D. Blind

13. Halloween

  In the evening, the girls were getting ready for Halloween. Electra went to the bed where Cassandra had laid out their costumes and began dressing up. “Do you think the creature we have evoked is a shapeshifter?” she asked.

  “But shouldn’t you make a sacrifice to evoke something like a shapeshifter? We didn’t make a sacrifice; there were only plants and flowers,” Cassandra said.

  “Pollen?”

  “Nonsense. Pollen is not a sacrifice. A sacrifice is either a living soul, or at least blood. There was neither the first nor the second.”

  Before putting on her mask, Electra looked into the mirror, chanting a verse from their favorite poem:

  “The lasses feat, and cleanly neat2,

  Mair braw than when they're fine;

  Their faces blithe, fu' sweetly kythe,

  Hearts leal, and warm, and kin';

  The lads sae trig, wi' wooer-babs,

  Weel knotted on their garten,

  Some unco blate, and some wi' gabs,

  Gar lasses' hearts gang startin'

  Whiles fast at night.”

  Electra was wearing black from head to toe. Her long robe was embroidered with golden half-moons, and clasped with a glittering brooch adorned with moonstones. She had a black conical hat on her head, her fiery hair flowing down her waist, seeming even brighter against the dark background.

  Cassandra stood by Electra and stared into the mirror:

  “The auld guidwife's well-hoordit nits,

  Are round and round divided,

  And monie lads' and lasses' fates

  Are there that night decided:

  Some kindle coothie, side by side,

  And burn thegither trimly;

  Some start awa, wi' saucy pride,

  And jump out-owre the chimlie

  Fu' high that night.”

  Cassandra's costume was lighter. She was wearing a blue cloak with a hood, and a long yellow dress under it. A mask of the same yellow color covered her face, and short curved horns peeped out from the top of her head.

  Medea peered into the mirror. She looked like a ghost in her long white dress with red stains over the bodice and the long hem. She fixed her white mask, straightened her red gloves, threw back her black hair, and said:

  “Wi' merry sangs, and friendly cracks,

  I wat they didna weary;

  And unco tales, and funny jokes,

  Their sports were cheap and cheery;

  Till butter'd so'ns, wi' fragrant lunt,

  Set a' their gabs a-steerin';

  Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt,

  They parted aff careerin'

  Fu' blythe that night.”

  The girls joined hands.

  “We will be vigilant and careful. If one feels trouble, immediately tells the others. Maybe tonight we shall understand what kind of creature is wandering in Hollow.”

  The witches left the castle with Jack. The road that led to the town was teemed with fairies, elves, vampires, and werewolves. Children in bright-colored clothes, with lanterns in their hands, ran out on the road, demanding sweets and candies. Then their friend Hector appeared, looking like a mix of a vampire and a wizard. A bit later, Ariadne, another of their friends, joined them, wearing a silver dress embellished with pearls, and carrying a diadem on her head.

  It was getting dark, and the dim road flanked by leafy maples and long-branched willows was illumined by the silver moonlight and countless jack-o’-lanterns. After one more turn, crooked lanes and colored houses appeared. The young people walked through the streets full of gnomes, wizards, witches, and elves. A cheerful company had gathered at the small pond and was dancing to the music of local musicians. Ariadne grabbed Jack and Hector’s hands and dragged them to the dance. This trio was in a good mood, which was hard to say about Electra, Cassandra, and Medea, who were constantly looking out for possible danger. They didn’t notice anything strange, or at least nothing stranger than dwarves, vikings, trolls, and a group of pirates with patches over their eyes. Several times Ariadne called them, but the girls were busy looking around the alleys. They were gazing attentively at the people around them, afraid that something that wasn’t a human was hiding behind one of the masks.

  Later that night, they reached a three-story house with bats, spiders, and one-eyed goblins painted on its walls. Horns rose above the door, and fluffy spiders hung down the windows. Burning scarecrows were blazing outside on the spacious yard where contests took place on Halloween night. The place was crowded. It seemed that the entire fairy world had gathered for a meeting.

  “So tell us, what is it?” someone shouted through laughter. “Come on, come on!”

  People with blindfolded eyes were sitting in a circle, shoving their hands into pots and trying to guess the contents. The girls were pulling their hands back with a shriek, while the boys were reaching to the bottoms of the pots, naming different things.

  “Are those dead insects?” asked one of them.

  One of the girls pulled her hand back with a squeal, making everyone laugh.

  “I don’t understand what it is. Each year you do the trick with the insects. But this time it feels like an animal intestine.”

  The girl who had shoved her hand into the same pot, squealed again and took off the blindfold from her face. “Phew, it's just a wet mandrake,” she cried out with relief, causing everyone to laugh again.

  Electra looked around while the hosts of the house kept passing other pots full of things repugnant to the touch to the participants of the competition.

  “I looked at everyone. They all seem human, let’s search somewhere else,” Medea cried in her ear. It was so noisy they could hardly hear each other.

  Electra nodded and looked around for the last time. Eric was standing just a few steps away. She recognized him at once, as he was the only one without a mask or a patch. He wasn't wearing any sort of costume, just his regular clothes. He didn’t immediately notice her. His attention was drawn to his friend Tim, who was trying to guess what was in the pot, the contents of which were soft and moving. Seeing Electra, he stared at her. She was standing right in front of him, as close as she had ever been. Her face was hidden under a mask, but Eric saw her grey eyes and fiery red hair. He knew it was one of the witches. They looked at each other until Dinah called Eric. He turned to answer her, and when he looked back at Electra, she was already gone. Eric saw her moving away from the street and wanted to call after her, but couldn’t remember her name. What had Eleanora said? Electra? Cassandra? While he thought it over the girl disappeared from the yard.

  “You look concerned,” Dinah said.

  “I’m fine.” Eric had to shout to be heard. “Let's go away and take Tim with us, he’s suffering needlessly with this pot. Is it so hard to feel the spiders? One has been crawling across his hand for a while now.”

  They were with a group of friends, totaling eight people. Dickens wasn’t among them, much to Eric's happiness. Heading to the hill, Tim and Dinah told Eric about the old legend of two prisoners who were hanged there many years ago. Each year on Halloween night, their bodies appeared on the gallows, and the brave had the chance to prove their courage.

  “They were supposed to spend the night next to the gallows where the prisoners were hanged, and tie a stick around the ankle of one of the dead men. But no one was able to complete the task. Everyone fled, pursued by demons and evil spirits.”

  “None have gone through the dare to date.” Dinah looked slyly at Eric. He laughed.

  “Surely you don’t have gallows here, much less with dead men hanging on them.”

  “Maybe we do,” Tim said. “And I bet you’d be too scared to approach them.”

  “Why would I approach them?”

  “I knew it!” Tim shouted. “Eric is being a coward!”

  “I’m not. I’d do that, but there are no gallows in Hollow.”

  “There are. The gallows still stand, though no one has been hanged for years, and if you’re n
ot a coward, then you’ll go up to them and stick this knife into one of the gallows.”

  Tim handed a jackknife to Eric. He took it.

  “People were hanged here?”

  “It’s a long story,” Dinah said. “Someday I’ll tell you the history of Hollow, but not tonight. Tonight is a night for adventures.” She grinned, her eyes sparkling like blue stars in the night sky.

  In a hurry, they explained to Eric where he had to go, put a lantern in his hands, and walked behind him, watching as he climbed over a knoll and approached the trees behind which three gallows were standing. The lantern’s dim light hardly cut through the darkness. Eric walked between the trees, and a chilling scene appeared before his eyes. The gallows were indeed there, but they were not abandoned as Tim had told him. People were hanging on them, their feet dangling in the air, hands tied behind their backs. Bags covered the hanged men’s heads, knotted with tethers around their necks.

  Eric stared ahead, making sure it wasn’t a vision, and that people were in fact hanging on the ropes.

  Ravens cawed; one of them perched on the gallows, just above the corpse’s head.

  This is a prank. Those are scarecrows, this can’t be real, Eric thought, going closer. This can’t be real. They want to play a trick on me on Halloween...

  He reached the gallows and stared at the bodies. His heart was pounding, but he was sure it was a joke. He knew he was being watched, and if the bodies had been real, his friends would’ve screamed in fear instead of waiting for him to come back. Eric approached the middle gallows. Clutching the knife, he touched the edge of the dead man’s shoe with the blade.

  “BOOM!” the dead man shouted, floundering in the air. Caught unawares, Eric tumbled down to the ground. Laughing, the two of the hanged men removed the bags from their faces, revealing Dickens McCormack and Thomas Baldric. Their hands weren’t tied behind them, and the ropes weren’t wrapped around their necks.

  “Fools.” Eric got up. “And an asinine joke.”

  “Crapped in your pants, O'Brian?” Dickens sniggered.

  “Scared like a child,” Thomas added.

  “Very funny,” Eric said sarcastically. “And who’s this?” He pushed the third corpse.

  Dickens and Thomas stared at the dead man hanging on the nearby gallows. “It was just two of us,” Thomas said.

  Eric recoiled when the dead man began to sway from side to side, uttering a throaty sound.

  “Damn it!” Dickens cried, in vain trying to detach himself from the rope from which he was hanging.

  “Dick, who is it?” Thomas cried. “What is it? Who is it? Eric, help!”

  Eric rushed to the gallows and began to cut the rope that was holding Thomas, the end of which was tied to the bottom of the log.

  “Hurry!” Thomas shouted.

  Uttering a blood-curdling wheezing, the dead man stretched out his hand to Dickens.

  “Come on!” Dickens cried at Eric.

  “I can't!” Eric yelled back. “The knife is blunt.”

  Thomas and Dickens began to swing on the gallows, trying to undo the straps while Eric fought unsuccessfully with the ropes.

  Their friends were watching them open-mouthed. Only when the dead man grabbed Dickens by his scruff did they cry out and flee. Some went after help, the others ran aimlessly. Dinah and Tim rushed to the gallows while Eric was trying to cut the rope.

  “Who is it?” Dinah hurried to her brother.

  “Stay away!” Eric shouted. “Go away!”

  Dinah stopped a few feet away from the gallows, watching the dead man pull her brother closer. Dickens was trying to escape from him, pushing back as much as he could. Thomas was in the same helpless state; he tried to tear the rope, but neither the rope nor the strap gave in.

  Realizing that the knife was useless, Eric began to hit the log with his foot, hoping to break it. Tim grabbed Dickens by his feet and began pulling him down. The dead man put his palm on Dickens’s face. A chill ran down his spine.

  “Break them, break the gallows!” Eric shouted to Tim. They began beating on the log. It cracked, and the fellows hit the wood harder.

  “Dickens!” Dinah cried when the dead man grabbed her brother by the throat. Dickens was trying to get free from the grip, but the dead man wouldn’t let him, so he only grunted and shook his legs.

  “Dick!”

  “Dinah, go away, run for help!” Eric shouted, but she didn’t listen.

  “Leave him!” she yelled. Looking around and snatching a pebble from the ground, Dinah hurled it at the dead man, but he didn’t even notice the blow.

  Thomas tore his ropes and fell to the ground. Leaping to his feet, he joined Eric and Tim, striking the log. It cracked again. The wood broke, the gallows tilted and fell, dragging Dickens down.

  Everyone ran to him, faltering under each other's feet. They untied the ropes and dragged Dickens with them, running away in all haste. The last time he looked back, Eric saw the dead man dangling on the gallows, the chilling wheeze ringing in his ears.