"Trick-or-Treat!"
Sarah pulled open the front door with a smile across her face. She looked down at the three kids, flanked by their parents, who were waiting there with bags held open and smiles just as big as hers. The kids were dressed up, from left to right, as a Frankenstein's monster, a rather colorful video game character that Sarah vaguely recognized, and a-
"I'm a princess!" the little girl in pink and gold shouted excitedly. Her smile was easily the biggest of them all and, in her excitement, she started jumping up and down, one hand flapping while the other held the edge of the bag in her balled fist.
"Yes, you are!" Sarah agreed, her smile only growing wider. The little shimmery sequins sparkled and gleamed as the girl hopped up and down excitedly. Sarah retrieved several pieces of candy and placed them in the kids' bags, but had to try a few times before the excited girl slowed down enough for her to catch the opening. "Here you go, honey."
"Thank you! Thank you!" the girl shouted before turning back towards a woman standing near the front of the group of adults. "Mommy! Mommy, look! Can I-"
"Not until we get home, dear." the other woman said, clearly anticipating the next question. Sarah couldn't help but laugh as the woman looked up at her with a tired but happy expression. "Thank you. Happy Halloween."
"Happy Halloween to you too."
"Come on!" the little Frankenstein's monster shouted, already running away from Sarah's patio and across the lawn. "Let's go to the next one!"
"Hey!" one of the adults shouted. "What did I tell you about not stepping on peoples' grass? Slow down!"
"Thanks again." another adult called as the rest of the group filed down her front walk.
Sarah couldn't help but laugh as she watched them go. The night thus far had been nice. Lots of kids, lots of fun. It was cool, but not cold yet. The moon was full and there was just the slightest hint of a misty fog starting to roll in through the streets. Plus, almost every house on the street had decided to give out candy, making it feel much more homey than some years prior. Closing the door behind her, the smile she had followed her back to her easy chair.
The horror movie she had been watching sat paused from when the trick-or-treaters had shown up. On-screen, a young woman ran in terror from the beast that pursued her through the woods, just out of camera shot.
Picking up her phone, Sarah checked, but there was still no response from Ameer.
"Dude, you alright out there? She texted him for the third time that night. "Starting to think the monsters got ya."
She set her phone back down next to her in the hope that Ameer would get back to her soon. Or, even better, show up. The two had made plans a couple weeks before to enjoy the holiday handing out candy and watching a few select scary movies to celebrate the night, but she hadn't heard from him since earlier in the day. It wasn't out of the ordinary, perhaps, as her friend tended to get lost in his work. He was a bit spacy and this would be far from the first time something like this happened, but she always tended to hear from him the next day.
Still, she had hoped for the company on Halloween. It was Sarah's favorite holiday and it was always better with friends.
"Better be careful." she texted him again. "Or I'm gonna eat all the candy without you."
No response.
"Ahh, Ameer," Sarah said out loud as she clicked on the movie again and snagged a fruit candy from the bowl meant for the trick-or-treaters. "You suck."
As much as she wished she had company, she had to admit that the movie was good. It was the second one of the night of four that she and Ameer had selected. This one, "The Gorge", was one she hadn't seen before but one he had recommended. It featured a group of teens that were stuck at a campground when one of the counselors, interested in spending one last night with his summer girlfriend, sabotaged their ride out. From there, it was revealed that the campground was infested with werewolves, and the inability to leave meant that they were now being hunted and either being eaten or turned into werewolves themselves.
It was campy and fun and knew what it was about. Sarah had always enjoyed the teen-thriller monster movies and this one was easily getting added to her list to watch again when she could watch it without constantly pausing.
Sarah had always loved werewolf stuff in general. She found them cool, their legends interesting, and honestly, though she'd never admit it, maybe a little exciting. Something was enticing about the ferocity and the intensity, man turned animalistic, that just touched some of her buttons. She'd never admit it, but they got her heart pumping more than your average Dracula or mummy stuff.
Well, points to Ameer for his choices.
Over the next hour, she was interrupted only a half-dozen more times. Each time Sarah looked outside, she spotted less and less people wandering around. More houses were beginning to blow out their pumpkins and turn off their porch lights. On top of that, the fog that had just been starting to creep in was becoming thicker, making the street itself harder to see through the moonlight-dyed mist.
By the time the movie came to a close, she hadn't heard a knock in fifteen minutes.
"Bro, The Gorge was awesome. Sad you missed it. Are you showing up tonight? Hit me up." Sarah texted Ameer again as she stood to walk over and check out the two remaining movies. She was just deciding between another werewolf movie that Ameer had recommended, something called "Cookie Crumbles", and a 90's cult classic with all the Universal Movie Monsters called "Creature Crew" when she heard a knock on the door.
Glancing out from behind her living room curtain, the street was dark and misty; only illuminated by the fat, full moon that rested just above the tree line across the street. Sarah couldn't see anyone walking around outside and it looked like all the other houses were dark. She was probably the only house that still had her porch light on.
With a shrug, she started for the door and concluded she'd just give the kids the last of her candy and call it for the night. She could still enjoy another movie for the night at least without interruption. Or heck, maybe it was Ameer. Though he probably would have texted first.
Though, as Sarah pulled the door open, she found neither of those.
She didn't find anyone waiting for her.
Taken aback, Sarah stuck her head out her door, looking left and right. No one on the patio. No one tucked away in a corner trying to jump out and scare her. Nada.
"Hello?" she asked in the misty dark of the night.
No answer.
