Trick or Treat

There is no better night for stories than Halloween night, they say. So the four

friends, Rebecca, Claire, Stephen, and Harry, preferred to stay home that

night, telling creepy stories around the fireplace as the rain getting heavier

and the wind getting whistling outside, making them feeling cold and they

shudder even more.

The house was Rebecca's and she was living alone for a few days while her

parents were away in town. It was located in the right place, a small house on

the edge of the village, near the edge of the forest.

But it was Claire who was telling the best stories. She began to speak in her

soft voice, as the fire was roaring through the fireplace and as the wind

pounded on the shutters, causing all four to upset every few minutes. The

rain didn't stop at all. It rained all day, almost from the morning and instead of

decreasing, it got stronger, throwing lightning and thunderbolts here and

there.

"Years ago, very old, maybe 2 centuries ago, there was a woman. Anna Lane

was her name". Claire was telling, next to the lit fireplace. "She loved the

children, but she did not have children of her own and since she was old, she

couldn't create them anymore. Some years later she died with this misery

inside her heart. As long as she lived, she always wore black and her hair was

black as well, also. The little kids ones were afraid of her and every year on

Halloween night, she was the only house they avoided, even though it was

decorated with countless scary pumpkins.

"The odd Anna", they were saing and were leaving away. And she was, really

weird. Some called her a witch and named her a "Dark Lady". The villagers

often were seeing her go down to the lake at night, next to the cemetery. They

were seeing her black dress spread out on the fresh grass to becoming one

with the night. Nobody knew why she was getting there. After all, no one else

ever approached that place. No one except Anna.

On such a festive night, a child made a mistake and knocked on her door

while his friends were sitting in a corner behind the trees, laughing at the bet

they had made with him. Anna opened it, but was surprised to see a child

around 15 on the doorstep of her house. "Come in to be treated," she told

him, "do not be afraid." He came in, and he didn't believe that in the end she

was a good woman and that everyone avoids her, it was bad. Leaving, she

gave him something of her own, a small amulet, told him never to lose it and

never to gift it to anyone, because otherwise he would die. But the child

disobeyed, did not believe them anyway, and a year later, on the same Halloween night, died inexplicably. His lifeless body was found on the shores of the lake next to the cemetery, among the reeds. He had given the amulet to his little sister two days earlier on her birthday, ignoring Anna's warning.

When she found out, she went to the lake and committed suicide out of grief, cutting her veins, because he was the only person who treated her kindly in her whole life. Since then, they were saying, every Halloween, a woman with black hair, dressed in black, with blood on her hands, wanders near the cemetery on the edge of the forest near the village, looking for the boy. Every year since then, a fifteen-year-old child disappears. Anna takes it, they were saying. She is caming out of her grave and takes the child to hell with her, until today "..

Before Claire can finish the tale, the wind blew so hard that they broke tiles from the roof, extinguishing the fire were burning in the fireplace. A loud thunderbolt fell nearby, causing a sudden power outage, causing everyone to be startled by the deafening sound. But what made them panic was a loud knock on the wooden door. Who was it? they were not waiting for anyone so late, the time had passed. Then they all got up together going to the door, out of curiosity to see who scared them, so late.

When Rebecca opened the door, there was no one there, only rain and wind. They were surprised, but didn't pay attention and returned to their seats, trying to light the fireplace again. The door knocked a second time. Rebecca opened again, but this time too they didn't see anyone. They went out into the yard where there neither was no one, even though they heard footsteps around. Wet steps. There was only rain and wind.. Someone made fun of them, they thought and went back to the living room. None of them had noticed the dark figure standing next to Harry in the dark. None of them had noticed the aura of hell in the house.

"Claire, you have very cold and wet hands," he said, as he felt one hand hold his own into the darkness.

"What are you talking about, Harry, the girls are not in that room, they have gone to the kitchen to check the fuses, there has been a power outage in the whole neighborhood. Only I am here with you", Stefan answered.

"And whom did I touch, then?" said Harry, terrified, feeling a cold breath next to his neck and two lips almost touching his skin, making him shudder, that lips were so cold and dead, the fear made the blood in his veins flow with more pressure and his heart its beating so loud that you could still hear it from the street.

His breath was both sharp and fast, he was trembling his whole body, he could not even turn his head, to see who was standing next to him in the almost absolute darkness and before he could answer, an icy, bloody hand grabbed him by the throat, entering her fingernails on his youthful skin. Her eyes were dripping with blood and her long black hair almost were covering her face. Her skin was as white as of the dead, there was no life in her. In her other hand she held a knife shiny and bloodied by her own blood, dripping on the floor. "How old are you"? She asked him in an eerie voice, making his blood freeze, and his heart stopped, as soon as he heard it. She was ready to stab him, but he didn't respond to her, the terror made him freeze, he did not feel anything, just he was trembling, so did Stefan. As soon as the girls saw her, they started screaming "It's Anna", they shouted ..

"What do you want"? Stefan asked her in his terror, with as much courage as he had.

"Him" she replied, giving him a cold, bloodshot look.

"You can't take him" Rebecca shouted at her, but she had so much power that she threw all of them all to the floor, shaking the whole house.

"He wants him, it's his turn. How old are you"? She asked him again.

"Sixteen" he said.

"LIAR. You are still fifteen ", Anna shouted at him, tightening his neck more.

"Clare, was the story you told us true?" Stefan asked her in terror. But Claire couldn't say a word. She was also frozen in terror. Everyone's blood froze, they were trembling, as it continued to blow furiously outside and it rained non-stop.

"The kid has to die before this story is over" Dark Anna replied, grabbing Harry by the throat. But he did not manage to take many steps. Claire had put a mirror in front of her. The dead cannot stand the mirrors, they say, they have no emotions, no reflection. Souls speak in whispers, have no voices, do not frighten us, love us, are by our side. She, was not such a dear soul. She came from the place of martyrdom, where the demons live, where the terror, the despair and the darkness live. Where there is no rest for anyone. She, was an empty mold, capable only of killing. As soon as Anna saw her dark idol for the first time in the mirror, she was shouted by a scream coming straight from hell, causing the whole house to shake like an earthquake. She hit Claire hard, on her nerves, throwing her on the cold floor. She looked into the child's eyes and if he didn't have enough strength in him, he would have died at the same time. Because her own lifeless eyes were full of sadness, terror and blood. She forcibly dragged the unfortunate Harry out of the house, who was following her like a hypnotized, he could no longer speak or react.

She was leading him to the lake, next to the cemetery, into the rain and winds. The other three children followed, running, but they couldn't do anything to save their friend. Dense fog was all around, above the lake, inside the cemetery, next to the forest. Darkness and misty everywhere. An eerie green light was shining from the opposite shores.

"They are coming to take us" Anna replied to Harry, "the twilight zone is waiting for us and will take us, to the bottom. You will be calm there, you will not feel anything. The dead do not feel, the tortured do not feel".

"No, i do not want to come with you".

"It's too late, my dear. They are already here. But do not be afraid. You will not be in pain. You will never grow old. Woe to those who live and suffer". The Dark Lady responded, bringing hell with her.

In a few minutes the place around the lake and the cemetery was filled with countless figures, spookiest. Whispers were heard from every corner. They all looked like children. Dead children. The children that Anna was taking every year on Halloween night, for 200 years.

"Leave him alone !! He is alive, you cannot take him "!! his friends shouted. In vain, however, she didn't listen to them. Their feet seemed to have taken root in the wet soil at the entrance to the cemetery, by the lake. None of them could move. The dry branches of the forest trees, as if alive, had bound, all three of them.

Anna was struggling to drown him in the dark waters of the lake, while he was trying to resist. As soon as she saw it, she let out a scream so frightening, making everyone's blood freeze in their veins again. "Where did you find this"? She asked him, pointing to a talisman, that was hanging from Harry's neck.

"It was given to me by my grandmother, who was given it to her by her own grandmother. It's a family heirloom". He said.

"It's mine, give it to me". Anna shouted and she was crying, "I gave it to him. I told him never to give it to anyone. He didn't listen to me. Please, give it to me ".

"If I give it to you, will you let me live"? Said Harry, startled. His pulse had risen. Τears had filled in his eyes. Everything would end soon. A fate that he did not want, was waiting for him. A dark fate, darker than the night. A fate he did not deserve. He was still a child, like so many other children before him.

She left him free. She lay on the ground, grabbed her head, something was tormenting her, was 'eating' her mind, she was going in crazy, her dead

breath had been cut. He looked into his wet eyes, and saw in his eyes the same kindness she had seen in that boy two centuries before. A kindness that unwittingly betrayed and cost not only his life, but also her own life. She had no rest, for two hundred years she wandering between the living and the dead, without purpose. Between the shadows and the demons of hell that torment her mercilessly, leading her to kill over and over.

"If you give it to me, I will never hurt anyone again. The Devil makes me kill children. He had given it to me, he had told me I would be happy, and I believed him ". Harry took it out and gave it to her, and she smiled for the first and last time, even though she had burned her hand at the amulet's touch. He went into the lake and never again went out again on Halloween night. By sunrise, all four were safe and sound, each one with a white sheen in their hair. This happens, they say, when you face fear and death head on and manage to defeat it. A white glint, to remind them forever of the horror they experienced.

In the cemetery by the lake, they found her grave and on the stone, they saw her name engraved: ‘Anna Lane, 1771-1819 The woman who loved children’. That night at last, he slept peacefully, and never woke up again.