All Hallows' Eve

by Hal L. O'ween

  On the morning of her eighteenth birthday she went upon her day as she normally would have; she got up, picked flowers, feed the animals, and went about her day. The witches went to her after lunch as they needed to fit her for her new gown. One that was fit for a princess; as she was now of age, she would now go home, it was time to return to the world of royalty. They did the fitting and left to get some much needed supplies for the birthday celebration that was to happen that night.

  Well they were gone; the other witch took her opportunity to lead young Twila to the spindle of her curse. With a bit of magic, she had Twila follow a small bird to the spindle that spun on its own accord, it weaved a string that was black as sin.

  The witch spoke in a soft tone; she instructed Twila to prick her finger on the spindle needle. The young princess did without hesitation. In that very moment her heart stopped beating. She fell to the floor. The three witches appeared instantly, they were too late to stop the curse. Instead they froze time, they froze her and the kingdom in an endless sleep, that could only be undone by true loves first kiss. They protected the sleeping kingdom until they could find a cure for the curse on the young princess, however they never found one. For many decades, the kingdom was frozen in time. Many princes came ‘save’ the sleeping princess, however the witches prevented anybody from reaching the sleeping princess, thus they left her in the frozen state.

  One day a prince from a far away kingdom heard of the sleeping kingdom and thought of the land to be gained from such a union. So he set out across the many lands to get to the kingdom. Once there he faced the three witches, the first put up a field of knifes and spikes, that had to be carefully navigated, and could not be torn down. However this Prince, upon his birth, had been blessed by witches, with the smarts, and a sword that could cut down any object within its path. He cut through the maze of blades, and made it to the second task set froth by the witches.

  He reached a room of fire. The flames would burn through anything. The witches were sure that the prince would never make it through. However, also upon his birth, he was given a shield that would protect him from any supernatural danger. It allowed him to cross the flames of the witches’ passions. It allowed him to face the third and final task.

  A monster of the worse sorts, part dragon, part Griffin, colored the deepest of blues with eyes the color of a sunset. A creature that was sure to kill the prince. The prince knew he would defeat it. He was gifted strength, brains and pride upon his birth. He fought though the flames of the creature dodged the spikes upon its tail, evaded the razor sharp teeth that tried to chop down on him, but in the end his sword met the creature’s heart, and it turned to dust.

  The three witches looked on in shock as he stood by the bedside of the cursed Princess Twila and he leaned down and kissed her. The moment the kiss ended, she awoke. But she was no longer human, her pale skin, had long ago shrunk. Her beauty she once held was gone; in its place was death. The prince’s kiss had broken the spell which froze time, but not the curse.

  The Princess opened her eyes, she got up and then Twila did the unthinkable. She attacked the prince! She bit him. He stabbed her with his sword, but still she came at him. He ran from her, and fell down the stars and broke his neck. The witches waited, their breaths held. They waited to see what would happen now as the undead Twila started to move. Her beauty, her grace, and her pose all gone from her once lovely soul. She did not grow up royal; yet she is the one that paid for the sins of her parents.

  The witches watched as the prince’s body also started to move. The curse had extended itself to her victims. The witches watched as Twila set the neck of her undead prince and they went off together, to wreak havoc among their kingdom.

  The Queen locked herself in her chambers and cried out in pain as she watched her kingdom become the kingdom of the undead. She cried out to the witch that placed the curse upon her daughter, the one they didn’t invite because of her views of the world. “Hekate! Come to me! I beg you! Come to me! Make me a deal!” The Queen needed to stop the pain of her soul, the pain of seeing her daughter as a zombie. Her soul was drowning in the pain.

  “You called Queen?” Hekate appeared.

  “Make me a deal! Anything! Reverse your curse! Allow my daughter a life full of happy ever afters.”

  “You put you and your family above your people. You hired witches to bless your children, though you know it curses another! You make sure your children know all the comforts of life, while your people go hungry, while they freeze, they know all the hardness and pain, while you and your children know only comfort and joy! And you have the nerve to ask me to reverse the curse? To reset time?”

  “Yes! Please I will do anything!” The Queen begged.

  “Fine. I will reset time on these conditions and these alone! One, the child will be raised far from you. She shall be raised a poor child, that way when she is queen she will be fair. Two, no longer will you hire the witches to bless the children of royalty. Instead each child born in the kingdom will be bestowed one blessing and one hardship to overcome. And last but not least, your life for hers. You shall die in her place. It is the only way I can reverse time. I need to balance the universe. I took her soul, her life, so yours will be the price to save hers.” Hekate said with a sneer, sure the Queen would not take the offer.

  The Queen looked out the window and watched as her daughter took a spoon and scooped out a heart from some poor soul and watched as she ate it. She could not bear this pain. Death would be welcomed for a chance her daughter would live. “Deal.”

  Hekate was in shock. “So be it!” Hekate snapped her fingers and time reversed, the conditions now set in blood and soul.

  “King! You have a beautiful baby girl! Twila! She was gifted with grace, but cursed with the inability to sing.”

  “Fantastic!” The King said with a smile.

  “But my King, we regret to inform you the Queen has died in child birth…”

  “My wife is gone…?”

  “She looked at her daughter and said ‘For you my life.’ Then she decreed that she shall be raised by the three witches away from the kingdom until her eighteenth birthday, when she will marry; she said she shall become the queen she never was, sir.”

  “Then may her wishes be fulfilled.” The King walked away from the servant and his daughter, who would never know the curse once bestowed upon her…

  *

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  Chapter 34

  “Curse of the Dryad”

  Wolfen Lee McKoy

  Leland, North Carolina, USA

  Stepping onto my back porch.  I breathed in the autumn air. It was thick with the smell of pine. In my hand I carried my father’s old rifle. I heard rustling not far off, which I assumed was the wind in the pines. In the darkness I saw a flash of white in the moonlight. I cocked my gun, aiming it into the abyss before me. I heard a deep rumbling ahead of me and more rustling. It was definitely not a raccoon—maybe a bear.

  Suddenly I saw a flash of yellow, and before I could react a large white creature came bounding out of the woods. I struggled to wrap my fingers around my gun to fire at it, but it was of no use. It pressed on me and the shots that I did manage to get either missed it entirely or it couldn’t care less. I attempted to hit it with the shaft of the gun and it yelped, but it did not halt the attack. The wolf’s amber eyes glinted in the moonlight. Its breath steamed over my face as it snorted. It paused for a moment and its heavy paws pressed against my chest. It looked into my eyes, tilted its head, and let out a long howl. I tried to back up but it held me fast. As it lowered its head, it once more returned its gaze to me. In those eyes I saw a strange intelligence, almost human. It drew me in, like a trance.

  It growled again, and opened his maw wide, biting into my neck. I choked out a scream
, feeling its fangs rake into the skin of my neck. It did it with an almost carefulness, as if each bite was placed deliberately. After a time it stopped and I looked down to see red blood soaking through my shirt. I slumped back against door and gazed up at the moon. I beheld stars that I had never guessed would be there. It was an impossible sky, but it lasted for only a moment before it vanished.  After that I fainted. For hours I drifted through an uneasy sleep. My dreams were half-formed, and filled with impossible shapes that bustled about. They shuffled about a land of mist, reaching toward me with misty tendrils of smoke.

  I floated in and out of consciousness, and awoke to feel dirt under me and I became aware that I was naked. I felt something within me stir, and the land of dreams accepted me again.

  This dream was different.  I was still in the land of mist, but instead of the strange shadow creatures there was a wolf which looked strikingly similar to the one that bit me earlier. It lunged at me and jumped into me. Then I was the wolf. It was scary how real it felt. I ran about the land of mist. All the while, there was strange chanting that seemed both far away, yet close at hand. Strange figures flashed in front of my eyes with faces carved of wood, yet still very much alive.

  After a while I opened my eyes again and I felt empty. I reached into the emptiness, and a force seemed to stir in response. I let go of the sensation and opened my eyes. Bright light sliced into my vision. I was sprawled out on the carpet of some unknown home. Outside I could hear the birds chirping. I stood up and looked about the small mobile home. It was scant, with very few pieces of furniture, most of which had been badly ruined, with strange gouges down the sides. I heard footsteps, and a young woman stepped through the door. She wore black jeans, a loose t-shirt and a brown beanie. Her blond hair poked out from underneath it.

  “Good morning, sunshine.” she said taking a seat. She patted a hand on it, motioning for me to sit beside her. Cautiously I limped over, my muscles still sore.

  “Uhm… hello,” I said, “What’s going on? Where am I?” She chuckled, smiling.

  “You’re at pack headquarters, honey buns. You’re one of us now.”

  I look at her, my brow furrowing. “Pack?”

  Again she laughed. Her laugh was honest, and I could listen to it a thousand times without it getting old. “Babe. This is where we get together at. You’re one of us now, after last night. It seems that the dryads took a special liking to you. Come.” she said standing. She reached behind the couch and pulled out a towel, motioning me to follow her as she exited the trailer.

  I jumped up and wrapped the towel around me, and followed her out the door into the woods surrounding the house. All around were similar trailers and not far off there was a small shack which she seemed to be leading us to. I sped up to catch up to her, asking “Dryads? What do you mean, dryads?”

  She smiled but said nothing. Again I felt something stir within me. As we approached the shack, she looked through the window, sighed, and walked around to the other side. I walked around to the back side of the shed with her, to a rather peculiar half-circle of trees. Suddenly she began to sing in a clear, high voice. To my amazement, the tress began to move, taking on humanoid shape as I watched. The bark shifted, revealing the wooden faces from my dreams.

  “I present to you, the dryads of this forest.” she said.

  “Greetings.”, one of the dryads said, its limbs changing into human-like limbs.

  “Uh… hi,” I stammered in reply. “So… she says that I’m a werewolf now? Something to do with you guys?”

  All of them looked at me and nodded.  Another one spoke with a feminine voice, “Yes, and a most curious one, too. We feel the pull of the moon strongly in you. You are destined to do great things, perhaps terrible things. We cannot yet say. However… we have decided to give you a gift.”

  “A gift? What gift?”

  “We have given you the form of the wolf. That is, it is your true form now.  Soon, you shall forsake your human form, and reside in your real form forever more,” she smiled, but her words chilled me to the bone. What did they mean?

  They lifted up their limbs and began to chant softly. As they did so, that which I had felt stirring within me suddenly leapt to life, like a flame springing forth from embers. Under the influence of the dryads’ magic my body changed. The fur spread, covering my body. My face contorted and lengthened. I felt the bones in my legs assume new shapes. I yelled, feeling my spine lengthen into a long, lupine tail. As my transformation ended, so did the dryads’ song. I whimpered, sobbing thick, oily tears.

  “Stand,” commanded the tallest of the dryads. I struggled to my feet. I had not become entirely a wolf, but a mix between a wolf, and a man.

  “Please,” I begged, “Change me back.”

  You have no choice in the matter. We have chosen you, above all others.  This will be your new form, from now until your dying day. Forget your days as a human. Forever more, you are a wolf, and you will do great deeds.”

  I shook my head, muttering, “No… ” repeatedly. I put my paws over my eyes, sobbing. I felt the young woman put a hand on my band, but I growled at her, biting near her arm. I jerked away, and bounded off into the woods on all fours.

  After a couple of hours I found myself behind my home.  I kept swiveling my head from side to clear my vision of my snout, but it was no use. With a heavy heart I padded into my back yard. Standing on two legs I reached to the door handle, struggling to grasp it with my paws. It took two hands to do it, but I managed to open the door. I sighed and shook my head, locked the doors, and padded back the way I had come.

  In the coming weeks, I would learn about the strange world in which I had come to reside, one of shape-shifters, and magic. However, what the dryads had said was true, I was stuck this way. I did visit my home now and again, and eventually, the police arrived. I’d overheard one of the officers saying that my boss had called me in, after not hearing from me for a few days. However, I’d gotten too close. He saw me. Bullets whizzed past my ears as I trotted away into the shadows, but I did stop to mark against the side of my house for good measure. I’ve not returned to my home in nine months.

  *

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  Chapter 35

  “Beware of the Halloween Spirit”

  Pamela Griffiths

  Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

  The daylight was beginning to fade. Elaine turned on the light and carried on with her writing. A large ornamental fireplace gave off a warm amber glow as the night descended on a grey shadowy Halloween evening. Inside the little house, the sitting room was cozy and warm; Elaine had her laptop on a cushion tray resting on her knee. The cat was sitting in front of the fire in his usual place, stretching out and rolling over to soak up the heat from the fire.

  Elaine was busy writing a short story about an old woman who was being haunted by an evil spirit.

  She read through her story, editing as she went along. In her story the old woman had bought a house after her husband died; a smaller place to spend the rest of her years. The house was perfect, it was warm and cosy, although she was missing her husband terribly, this house was making her life much easier.

  There was a lovely little garden to the rear where she spent the spring and summer months planting and tending to the many colourful blooms. In the winter she would stock up with food and spend most of her time inside the little house in front of a warm cosy fire.

  On the first Halloween after Iris had moved into the house, strange things began to happen. Iris Waltham, was sitting in front of the fire reading a book when the lights dimmed, flickered then went out. After a few moments the lights came back on again. Iris heard an eerie moaning sound coming from the kitchen, she went to investigate. On entering the kitchen, t
o her horror and surprise, all the chairs were stacked up at weird angles on top of the little table. Iris struggled to get the chairs back down, then she returned to where her ginger cat Thomas was lying on the rug in front of the fire.

  'Oh my, I don't know what's happening in this house tonight, Thomas, but it's very disturbing'.

  The cat stretched out in front of the fire.

  'I really ought to tell someone about this, but there's no one to tell, only you Thomas'.

  Everything returned to normal, nothing unusual happened until the following Halloween. Each year in the evening of Halloween, disturbing things happened, which progressively worsened with each year that passed.

  The rest of the year was so peaceful, the house returned to its cozy calm, Iris put the trouble out of her mind. It was forgotten until the next year on the 31st October when the terror would inevitably return.

  On one Halloween, the gas hob had turned itself on and the automatic ignition clicked in and lit the flame. Another year Iris witnessed not only the activity, but she saw an apparition walking through the kitchen and straight through the wall into the pantry. The apparition looked menacing as it invaded Iris's kitchen. The temperature had dropped so much that her breath came out as a vapour, she shivered as the evil was almost palpable.

  On another occasion, a set of knives rose from the rack on the worktop, they flew across the kitchen towards Iris, she had to duck quickly to avoid being hit by them. Cupboard doors flew open, spilling out contents, the paranormal activity was active in her kitchen, she hadn't had it anywhere else in the house, it only happened on one night in the year, Halloween.

  Every Halloween the activity grew more menacing and more intense, the evil power was increasing with each passing year. Iris knew something evil was happening, she knew that whatever it was would go away once Old Hallows Eve had passed.