by Ava Mallory
“Wow! What was she doing there? Probably looking for Hank, I guess.” I teased. I just loved to get Ruby riled up about Charlene.
She was relatively harmless for the most part, but annoying enough to make you want to casually slip out of a room when she entered it. For her, Hank was the one who got away. She'd often lament about how if she hadn't dumped him in high school, she and he would have a house full of kids and a lifetime of memories to droll on and on about for years to come.
“Stop it! We both know why she was there. She was assessing the competition.” Ruby said.
Now, someone outside of our circle might take that comment to mean that Charlene was there to assess Ruby because she was Hank's wife, but that's not what this was about at all. Well, not entirely anyway.
If Ruby was the Queen of Halloween, Charlene was the Princess. The two of them had been in an unofficial battle for years. When Hank and Ruby got married, their first major purchase was the home they still live in. Little did they know that the pixie – Charlene – lived only four doors down from them with her then husband. I do believe that was a few husbands back at this point, but I could be wrong.
“Well, did you let her in?” I asked.
Ruby laughed. “Of course, she was a paying customer. She had two of her kids with her, so I couldn't very well tell them that they couldn't come in because their mother still had a thing for my husband or that their mother only brought them to check out her Halloween competition.”
She had a point there. That wouldn't have been nice.
“You should have seen her face! She was so jealous. I hired a bunch of teenagers to act as my ghosts and monsters. I gave a couple of them an extra few bucks if they scared her. It was great! You should have heard her. She was so scared, she took off running and lost her pink witch hat. I think I'll keep it as a trophy.” Ruby giggled.
“You are shameless.” I teased. “So, are we good? I really am sorry about what happened with Stanley.”
“It's fine. He'll live.” Ruby said before the line went dead.
“Hello?” I didn't hear anything at her end. “Are you there?”
I hung my phone up, feeling better about things. At least, this Halloween wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd managed to avoid having any trick or treaters coming to my door. My best friend still loved me and my roommate Tina and her son had called to let me know that they landed safely in Texas, where they would be for the next two weeks, visiting family.
My cell phone rang, just as I was about to close my eyes. Without checking the number I answered it, assuming it was Ruby phoning me back.
“What happened? Did your evil stepsister Charlene take your phone?” I teased.
Ruby's voice shook. “I need you to come here. Now! Something horrible has happened.”
Chapter Three
I don't know how I managed it. I don't recall the drive. All I knew was that five minutes earlier, I'd hung up the phone after Ruby's panicked call and jumped in my car without even bothering to stop and change my clothes or put on a decent pair of shoes.
“Ruby? Ruby, where are you?” I ran up the stairs, oblivious to the fact that both my hip and my right knee didn't like it when I ran, and rushed inside the unlocked door of the manor.
“Hello? Ruby!” I walked from room to room, searching for her.
“I'm outside!” I heard Ruby yell in the distance. “Hurry!”
As I ran down the stairs to the main level, it dawned on me that this house gave me the creeps, yet somehow I'd managed to go barreling through it in the dark, by myself. What was I thinking?
I stepped outside into the darkness and couldn't see a thing. The nearest streetlight was yards away.
“Ruby?” I called out for her.
No answer.
Great!
“Where are you? Say something! I can't see.” I said.
“There's a light switch in the kitchen.” Ruby informed me, her voice sounding miles away.
I turned around to go back inside the house, acutely aware of how dark it was.
“I'm not going back in there.” I muttered under my breath.
My voice shaking with fear, I called out, “Hey, this place scares the crackers out of me. Why don't you have any lights on?”
Ruby didn't answer.
I started to shiver in the cool night air, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Fine. Don't answer me. It's not like this place isn't creepy enough.” I groaned, stepping down the back stairs gingerly, hoping that I wouldn't fall and break my leg.
There was rustling in front of me. Remembering what I'd seen earlier on my tour, I brought up all sorts of weird images, like the crazy clown figures and the scarecrows that Ruby had positioned in the yard and in the corn maze.
I shivered at the thought of inadvertently running into one of those things as I tried to navigate in the thick darkness.
“Why aren't you answering me?” I asked as loudly as I could.
Still nothing.
I took one small step at a time, convinced that something would jump out at me at any moment. My only true source of light was the moonlight and even that was dismal at best tonight. California wasn't known for rain, but it never failed that on Halloween night, year after year, we'd get hit with rain showers. They'd disappear almost as quickly as they appeared, as if by the flip of a switch, but they were enough to alarm people like me – people who weren't particularly fond of Halloween or anything that had to do with ghosts, goblins, ghouls, or any other unexplained phenomenon.
I tried to find something in my mind's eye to focus on. Sadly, the only thing I could think of was the one thing I'd been trying to avoid thinking about as of late – my daughter's impending nuptials with a man I still hadn't had the pleasure of meeting. Or, I should say, he still hadn't the pleasure of meeting me yet.
Diana was the light of my life. Cliche, I know, but I truly meant that. At almost twenty-three-years-old, she was the true essence of beauty, brains and compassion. She was my proudest achievement and my greatest joy.
I should have been happier for her, but just a few short months ago, she made a flippant comment about having met someone on a plane and the next thing I knew they were engaged. Things happened too fast or maybe I was moving too slowly.
Diana was happy, but I was still a mess. While she was in the middle of wedding preparations in New York City, I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my little girl was a woman now – a woman in love.
“Mercy, are you still there?” Ruby's cry pulled me from my thoughts. At least she sounded closer to me than she had before.
“Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?” I asked, rushing back to reality. “And, what is going on?”
I made it to a clearing in between the stalks of corn.
“Hello? Ruby?” I whispered for some unknown reason. Something about the ambiance told me it was better to keep my voice low.
Ruby whispered back. “Over here.”
I jumped at the sound of her voice.
“Why are you whispering?” I asked.
“Why are you whispering?” Ruby asked me.
Okay, so you had to excuse our nonsensical behavior. Ruby was out in the middle of the corn field in the middle of the night and I'd just walked through a well-known haunted house, so we were allowed to behave oddly.
In the darkness, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, let alone make out where Ruby was standing.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Here!” Ruby said into my ear.
We both screamed and jumped. She took off running. I could hear her feet hitting the ground. I'd recognize the sound of those crazy shoes anywhere.
“Stop running!” Ruby shouted.
I came to a sudden stop, unaware that I'd been running too.
“Someone is going to hear us!” Ruby scolded. “Just calm down. You haven't even seen him yet.”
“Seen who? Who is out here with you?” I asked. “Why don't you hav
e any lights on? Why did you call me out here? What is happening?”
“Why are you asking me so many questions?” Ruby snapped back at me. “Just get over here.”
I blinked wildly, trying to force my superhero night vision skills to work, but they didn't.
“I can't see!” I groaned.
All of a sudden, a light illuminated directly in my face and a man's voice spoke. “What's going on here?”
Ruby and I screamed simultaneously.
“Who are you?” The man demanded to know.
True to form, Ruby asked. “Well, who are you?”
With the light still directed at me, I stepped forward to see who was holding the flashlight in my face.
“Stay right there!” He shouted.
A woman's voice was next. “Who is it?”
Ruby walked toward the man and woman, shielding her face with her hands.
“I'm the one that called you, officer.” She said.
I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't some crazed butcher, ready to attack. “You're with the police? Why do we need the police?”
Just then, the officer's flashlight panned the area and landed on a body, hind end sticking up out of a large claw foot tub full of apples.
The woman, who I still couldn't make out in the shadows, and I screamed in horror at the same time, causing the officer to jump three feet in the air and Ruby to fall to her knees, clutching her chest.
The officer called into the police dispatch on his radio while pulling out his firearm and aiming it at both me and Ruby, unsure of who was to blame for what had happened.
The panicked woman stepped out from behind the officer and pointed at me, yelling, “It was her. I saw her arguing with that man when I got here earlier.”
It wasn't until she stepped forward to blame me, did I realize that the dead man was Stanley Riddle.
“Charlene, what are you talking about? I didn't do anything wrong!” I protested, angry that she would just assume I was to blame.
“Now, wait a minute here, ladies. Everyone stop talking. Let me figure this out. Who called this in?” His eyes were wide as saucers as he assessed the scene.
As insane as it was, I had to stifle a giggle at the absurdity of it all. Ever since the day I first met him, I'd made some remark or other about sprinkling bad mojo all over Stanley and may have mentioned karma a time or two in the past.
Other officers and an ambulance arrived quickly. Soon, we were surrounded and guns were drawn. I shook in my slippers, while Ruby remained firm, insisting that she'd found Stanley in this condition.
Charlene cried hysterically, clinging to the idea that I'd had something to do with this murder. Where did she get off? I wasn't the one she'd had problems with in the past. Not that I necessarily wanted her to blame Ruby. I just didn't realize that she didn't care for me either.
I was familiar with one of the officers. A few months back, I'd been appointed as the leader of my neighborhood watch committee and he was my training officer. I smiled and waved at him to get his attention.
He nodded in return, but kept his service weapon pointed right at me.
“Remember me?” I asked.
Ruby shot a glare at me. “What are you doing, Mercy?”
I whispered. “Trying to get us out of this. Why didn't you tell me Stanley was dead?”
The first officer on the scene, spun around to face us, beads of sweat dripping down his chubby face. “Be quiet! Just stand still and wait until I'm ready for you.”
I protested. “I don't think I can keep my arms up in the air much longer. How long is this going to take?”
The other officers and the paramedics chuckled.
I looked around. Apparently, I was the only one standing with my arms in the air.
Ruby hissed. “Put your arms down! You're making yourself look guilty.”
“Nice pajamas.” One of the paramedics teased. “The slippers are a nice touch. Never saw a killer who wore pajamas.”
I took a step forward.
The officer's guns clicked.
Whoa! They meant business.
I took a step back.
“I was dragged out of bed to come here.” I explained.
Ruby muttered, “Stop talking, Mercy.”
We stood quietly for several minutes as the police officers and the paramedics tried to sort things out.
When the coroner arrived, he immediately walked over to us and asked, “Why are you two here?”
We'd worked with the coroner on a few occasions in our capacity as nurses in the community and John, the coroner, happened to be my neighbor's son.
I shrugged, deflecting to Ruby.
She explained that she'd been cleaning up the mess before locking up for the night and happened upon Stanley with his head in the tub of water and apples and his legs sticking straight up in the air. She'd checked for a pulse, then called the police. While she waited for the police, she'd called me.
“And, now, what?” John asked.
Ruby and I shrugged, unaware of how much worse things were about to get.
Chapter Four
“How did that happen?” Diana asked.
I sighed. Didn't I just tell her that I didn't know?
“Sweetheart, leave the boy alone for a moment and listen. I told you exactly what happened. Someone killed him sometime after Ruby closed the doors or at least that's what she thinks. Can you imagine if he was murdered during her event? She really knows how to knock 'em dead.” I joked.
“Why are you joking at a time like this? The poor guy is dead. And, by the way, he's not a boy and he has a name.” Diana didn't approve of my attitude when it came to what's his face, but it didn't matter. I didn't want nor need her approval. He needed mine and until he had it, he would remain nameless.
“I don't need to know his name because he never formally introduced himself. When he does that, it would be my pleasure to call him something other than 'what's his name', 'the boy', 'the man child', 'your hot one', 'the fireman who stole my beautiful daughter', and-”
Diana groaned, “Alright, I get it. When are you going to let this one go? I'm almost twenty-three-years-old. I don't live anywhere near Lake Villa any more. I make my own way, have a good job, go to grad school and-”
“And, you failed to introduce me to 'hot Italian beefcake' before agreeing to marry him.” I reminded her.
“You're impossible, Mother.”
She said that just to get under my skin. I detested the word 'Mother' more than any other moniker that people sometimes felt it necessary to address me as. 'Mother' made me sound evil and vicious. I preferred 'Mommy', but Diana hadn't called me that since she was ten, no matter how often I tried to get her to say it.
“No, he is. All I'm asking is that he at least attempt to beg for your hand in marriage. Is that so difficult to understand?” I asked.
Diana had heard this same argument at least a dozen times over the last several months. I was persistent or is the word relentless? Either way, in my oh so humble opinion, I wanted to look this young man – the daughter thief – in the eye and make him swear that he will never – I mean, never – hurt my daughter. I'm not talking in the physical sense. If that were to happen, I'd kiss my lovely home and my relatively simple life goodbye and accept my life sentence or the chair if necessary.
I meant it more in the sense that if the Italian weasel so much as got on her nerves or forgot their anniversary or anything vitally important like that, I'd hop on the next flight to New York City and make him apologize, while simultaneously singing show tunes at the top of my lungs, because I've been told that is the equivalent of cruel and unusual punishment.
“I'm hanging up, Mom. I love you more than sunshine and rain, but I can't keep listening to this. Just so you know – Dad is fine with it.” Diana knew that would irritate me to my core.
James, my ex-husband and longtime friend, had a knack for doing the polar opposite of what I'd do in any given situation. He simply didn't care
about things as passionately as I did. Having spent the better part of my adult life with the lives of countless patients in my hands (Okay, I can admit, that's a tad bit dramatic, but you get the point.), I thrived on strict protocol and a sense of order.
My handsome, yet annoyingly free-spirited ex-husband, loved change. Hence, the reason Halloween is my least favorite holiday. James, the only man I've ever loved, decided on Halloween night twenty years ago that our marriage wasn't what he really wanted in life anymore.