Halloween Collaboration

Written in collaboration by: Ruby _{-No last name for you-} and Erin _{-No last name for you-}

Setting: Halloween night. Everyone has gone home, parties have ended, and the fun night of candy and costumes has drawn to a close.


I took off my Halloween costume, washed the paint off my face, put on my pajamas, and went to bed. I was almost asleep when I first heard the sound of. . .

Laughter. It was a soft, eerie cackling sound. I sat up from the protection of my covers and strained my eyes against the darkness. Seeing nothing, I laid back down and tried to ignore it- probably just my parents watching an old horror movie downstairs.
But I knew my parents were asleep.
And then it came again.

Confused and unable to ignore the soft sound, I sat up once again and turned on my bedside lamp. I mentally ran a list of possible things it could be. I remembered that once my family heard a disturbing noise from outside; it ended up just being a raccoon digging through our trash. Maybe that was it?
But. . .Raccoons don't laugh.

The laughter continued- creeping up from the corners of darkness filling my room and at the same time it had no place. It came and faded periodically, each time becoming more stressed until finally it had risen in volume and had a half-choked noise that couldn't be distinguished from either grotesque laughter or retching sobs. Stomach knotting up with fear, I clung to the bit of covers still over me. I felt the bed shake- wait, no, that shaking was from me. Right? How would the bed itself be shaking? Then again, nothing seems to be normal tonight.
My cliché childhood fear of those monsters hidden beneath the bed and in the closet came back at my mind full force.

Finally giving in to my curiosity and fear, I forced myself out of bed and crept into the dark, silent halls. The laughter had paused- then rose in volume once again. It sounded far away but at the same time so near to me.

I shuffled down the hall, bare feet sliding surprisingly easy across the hardwood floor until I reached the top of the staircase. With equal caution as I've had since this whole thing began, I stepped shakily
                                   Down
                                          The
                                               Stairs.

Shaking as the laughter came to an abrupt end, I reached out and groped the wall for the light switch. The dark and laughter itself was frightening- darkness and utter silence was out of the question. Feeling the cool plastic beneath my fingertips, I clicked the main light on.

My world was bathed in light for a mere second before a spark blew from the light and the house was painted in black once more. The lights never came back on, I noticed, as I tried multiple switches around the ground floor.

The silence was more deafening than the psychotic, hyena-like banter: my heart was pounding in my throat with adrenaline. A flashlight. I need a flashlight. I felt my way along the walls that seemed never-ending in the dark- and a retching cackle resounded.
It was back. And it sounded very, very near to where I now stood.

I didn't dare to move, to challenge what was most certainly behind me. That laughter grew quiet; an insistent giggling, like a child. My muscles grew stiff from standing stock still, but I still did not move.

It was when I felt small, cold fingers wrap around my forearm that I was compelled to turn. As much as I did not want to, my body disobeyed me and shifted out of its statue stance and turned to face what was currently clinging to my wrist. The window was open; the curtains blew without end as a wintry gust of cold air whipped me around completely.

I saw a blue haze. A glowing that started in the corners of my vision and slowly took hold of my entire being- I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was drowning. Drowning in what? Icy claws grappled onto me, hooked into my skin, pulled me down. Dragged me away. I could barely move- was I even moving? Yes. I felt my nails dig into the polished wood beneath me, dragging until they broke down to the nubs and the skin left grew raw from my struggles to hold on to something: ANYTHING.

I was going numb. My hold on whatever I had grabbed was gone- one last chance. I lunged out with all of my might towards the world, towards my life, towards life itself before the blue glow could overtake me, before those icy claws could steal me away, before-

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Girl Reported Missing on Halloween Night       November 3rd, 2012


17-year old senior Alexandra Minner has been reported as missing on November 1st, 2012. Appearing to have gone missing on Halloween night, her family found no evidence of her leaving of her own accord and claim she was home without someone with her when they went to bed that night.

So far there have been no reports of mysterious figures out on that night, and neighbors claim they saw no one go near or into the Minner household after Alexandra returned home. Windows were closed in the morning, doors were locked, and nothing was out of place.

The only evidence police have to go by is nail marks in the floors at the bottom of the main staircase of the house. It appears to have broken nail bits; presumed to have happened as the nails were continuously dragged across the floor until they ended up breaking off completely. Small traces of blood are left where the nail marks end and it appears that the fingers kept trying to hold on to the floor, thus leaving the fingertips raw and the skin broken from the immense pressure.

The only other piece of information police have gathered was a statement from one of the neighbors, who made a report to police around the time they were going to put their children to bed. The neighbor states:
"I never saw anyone go into the Minner home after Alexandra returned, and I was up with my kids watching those Halloween movies they obsess over. But when I was going to take them upstairs to go to bed I heard a scream from the Minner household. It wasn't something as  though someone had broken in- it was different entirely," around here the neighbor paused, looked uneasy, and then continued, "It was blood-curdling. I remember feeling my stomach drop as it sounded like Alexandra screaming ,"Let me go," but in the small space between "me" and "go" it just went silent. I heard nothing more after that; it was a though she just disappeared off the face of the earth, and everything was dead quiet for the rest of the night. The police arrived the next morning." The giver of this information's name has been withheld upon request, and police have found no leads and have no more insight as to what happened Halloween night.

Police enforce that for the next week parents keep their children at home and keep a close lookout for any strange figures wandering the neighborhood. If anyone has any information on what happened this night or the whereabouts of Alexandra Minner, please call:
1-800-938-8412


-Officer Ben Dale