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  One of the rotting hounds threw back its head and bayed, a long, low call that brought to mind images of battle fields and loved ones wailing over mass graves. I cried out and turned, not caring that I wouldn’t make it very far. I had to get away from these things, even if the only way to escape meant dying once they tore me to shreds.

  To my utter surprise, my feet obeyed my mind, and I went tearing across the meadow, intending to head toward the place where I could cross the swamp. I didn’t make it very far before one of the ghoulies leapt forward, coming to land to my right. It snapped at me, and I screamed, changing directions. Another one was right behind me, and the third somewhere on my left. I ran in the only direction I had left: straight ahead and deeper into the woods. I only hoped that I’d find a tree I could climb as I made my escape.

  Cold sweat poured down my back, and my lungs burned as I pushed myself, faster, farther, as the three ghoulies chased after me. Their howls sent goose bumps all over my skin and made my heart skip a beat, but I kept running, leaping over fallen logs and sliding down small slopes covered in leaves. At some point, I stumbled out onto another trail. If I turned right, I could head out to the road that dead ended before reaching the crossing point over the swamp. That was my better option. Taking a few deep breaths, I turned in that direction, only to have one of the ghoulies bound up onto the trail, its black claws skidding against the packed dirt.

  I cried out again and pulled up short, nearly tripping this time. Never in my life had I been able to run so well or so fast. The monster growled at me, panting. A half-rotten tongue lolled from its mouth, and the fire in its throat flared in time with its breathing.

  The other two were on the slope above the road, eyeing me carefully. They weren’t going to let me go out to the road. Whimpering and trying hard to keep the tears in my eyes from falling, I turned left and started sprinting down the trail. The ghoulies followed, herding me like a sheep. The road curved sharply to the left, and then, I could see the bottom of the culvert. It was dry this far back, but I could clearly see where the water might run through in the rainy season. I hit the sand, desperately searching around for a new direction to turn.

  On the opposite side, the trail picked up and continued to wind through the eucalyptus trees. To my left, the wide, sandy canyon floor continued on, only blocked by the occasional fallen tree or patch of willows. To my right, the walls of the small canyon rose up on either side, the passage blocked by a crisscrossing of dead eucalyptus trees which had fallen into the culvert over the years. It reminded me of a pathway into a haunted mountain in one of my brothers’ video games. A cold, unnatural gust of air rolled down the canyon, freezing my sweat-slicked skin. There was no way I was going to go down that way.

  Making up my mind to head back toward the place where I started, I turned left. Before I could so much as take a first step, one of the ghoulies jumped in front of me, snarling and flicking its whip-like tail. I tried to dart around it. Maybe I could lose them if I ran off-trail. My attempt at escape failed again when a second monster blocked my way. The third one joined in, and they had me cornered. I could either run directly at them, or turn and run up the culvert.

  “No!” I rasped, the tears now streaming freely down my face. “No!”

  They paced toward me, snapping at me when I didn’t move. I took a step back, then another. They sped up. Swallowing my paralyzing fear, I turned and bolted up the canyon.

  It’s just your fear, Aiden, I told myself as I wove between the eucalyptus trunks. Just your fear. You must overcome it.

  The walls of the canyon drew closer together, and the angle of the dead trees became more steep. Ahead of me, the dirt path became an eroded wall. I had come to the end. I turned around to face the ghoulies - to face my fate - but something to my right caught my eye. To my utter surprise, there was some sort of cave in the side of the canyon wall, its black throat yawning wide. Tendrils of roots and strips of dead eucalyptus bark dangled from the lip of the cave like a gruesome bead curtain hanging from a doorway.

  Before I could ponder it much further, another icy gust of air poured from the hole, along with the bone-chilling clack of dry bones striking together and the squirming sound of maggots roiling in rotten meat.

  The bile in my stomach rose. Something was coming. Something so terrifying, I could feel it with my instincts alone. Behind me, the rotten hounds grew restless, their growls turning to yips, but before me the black cavern seemed to yawn wider, drawing back as if it was about to spit something awful from its depths. The hideous sounds grew louder and the air colder. The wind stirred my hair, and all I could do was stand there, frozen in fear, with my fists clenched at my sides.

  Before I even got a chance to see the hellish thing that was coming to kill me, everything went blank.

  Part Five

  Super Powers

  I woke up, screaming at the top of my lungs. Only, there wasn’t a sound escaping my throat. The screams existed only in my nightmare, and in the real world, I only lie with my eyes wide open, gasping for air.

  I kicked at my bed sheets, almost descending into panic when I couldn’t break free. The blankets had become twisted around me like a straight jacket. Somehow, I managed to free myself and roll over in bed, curling up into a ball. I was shaking, and cold sweat coated my skin. My eyes darted around the room, seeking out the dark corners made darker by the eerie light cast by Jack and Joey’s fish tank. I expected ghoulies to come leaping out of the closet or from behind the dresser or from under my bed. Gradually, my breathing slowed along with my heart rate, and the acrid fear of the dream fizzled out with it. The grey light of dawn was just beginning to peek through the blinds, and I could hear Logan and Bradley, speaking in what they thought were whispers, arguing from their room.

  Glad of the distraction, I crawled out of bed and snuck down the hallway, pushing their door open without even bothering to knock.

  They both stopped their discussion and turned to look at me, Bradley scowling as usual.

  “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” Logan hissed.

  Apparently, his brotherly concern from yesterday was all gone. I shrugged and said, “Loud.”

  Bradley turned his nasty look onto our other brother. “I told you you were making too much noise!”

  “Me?!” Logan replied in exasperation.

  And then, they started arguing again. Figuring I was safe for the moment, I scuttled over to get a closer look at what they had piled up in the middle of their room. A few small cans of what might have been spray paint, some random Halloween decorations, lots of candy and a large, hand-made card. That’s when it dawned upon me. Today was Halloween and Meghan’s birthday. They were getting ready to surprise her. If anything good ever came out of Halloween, it was that Meggy was born on this day. Smiling and deciding I was going to help, I knelt onto the ground and pulled the card toward me. My brothers had snatched it away earlier that week before I could finish the picture I was drawing.

  “Aiden!” Logan complained.

  “Let him finish! We need to wrap the candy anyway. Meghan will be up soon.”

  For the next several minutes, we worked in relative silence, only the occasional disagreement rising up between my brothers every now and again. At some point in time, the door cracked open and Mom poked her head in.

  “Oh, there you are! I’ve started the breakfast, so be ready to go get your sister in fifteen minutes or so.”

  We worked for ten more minutes, Bradley and Logan doing a passable job of wrapping up the candy they’d picked out and me cleaning up the crayons and markers. When we finally spilled out into the hallway, we were greeted with the delightful smell of French toast. I breathed in deeply and smiled. The nightmare from before was already a dim memory, and I couldn’t wait to wish my sister a happy birthday.

  Dad was busy getting the twins fastened into their high chairs, and Mom had started depositing freshly cooked slices of French toast onto a waiting plate. Strings of black plastic cut-out bat
s and orange jack-o-lanterns hung between the cabinets, and Mom had to duck so she wouldn’t become entangled in them. Ghosts made of white tissue paper wrapped around lollipops dangled from the chandelier above the dining room table, one of them missing a googly eye.

  “Logan, go yell downstairs for your sister,” Mom said as she slid one final piece of toast onto the others.

  Logan darted across the living room, and Bradley started shaking the can he held in his hand. Silly string, I realized, not spray paint. When Logan was done yelling at Meghan, he replaced the trap door that marked the entrance to her basement room and then nodded in Bradley’s direction. Bradley took that as a sign and quickly made his way to the other side of Meghan’s door, tossing a can of silly string to Logan on the way.

  Before Meggy even reached the top of the stairs, Bradley and Logan pulled the trap door open, and she emerged, blinking in surprise at all the decorations. Two seconds later, she was ambushed by my brothers, silly string flying everywhere.

  “Logan!” Meghan complained, “You totally set me up for that!”

  She didn’t seem too annoyed, however, because she was smiling even as she picked the sticky mess of black and orange from her hair and clothes. I managed to weave my way through the chaos, walking up to Meggy and throwing my arms around her legs. She was so tall I could never give her a real hug, not unless she was sitting on the couch with me. She placed her hand on the back of my head, and for a few seconds, I let the comforting presence of my sister flood over me. Tonight, we would go trick-or-treating, and I would have given anything to have Meggy go with us, but she was going to a school dance with her friends. I would just have to be brave.

  After breakfast, Dad left for work, and Mom got the rest of us ready for the day. She dropped the twins off at the daycare down the street before taking Bradley and Logan to school. As we pulled into the drop off area of their school, I pressed my face up against the cold glass and gazed out across the parking lot. Kids dressed as zombies, fairies, witches and superheroes made their way into class. I was wearing my costume as well, but it wasn’t nearly as fancy as some of the ones I was studying at the moment.

  “See you after school!” Mom called out to my brothers before pulling out onto the main road.

  After that, she brought me to my school, kissing me goodbye and telling me she’d be back later to pick me up. I entered the classroom to find my classmates in the Halloween spirit as well. Mrs. Warren and Miss Rodriguez were dressed up as a cat and mouse. Maddie and Bella were wearing princess costumes, and Mira looked like an over-sized teddy bear. Jake and Russell were dressed as the same superhero, one from a popular cartoon and not featured in the comic books I read. We didn’t do much that day besides play games, watch a movie and have a small party before our moms and dads picked us up.

  I was ready to go home, even though going home meant trick-or-treating later. Everyone was always trying to make Halloween fun for kids, as if the holiday didn’t really hide creepy things in the shadows. I knew better. There were no friendly ghosts or sad monsters who just wanted to be your friend. The ghoulies were real, and they would hurt you if they got the chance.

  Once Mom had made all the stops to pick up my brothers, we headed home. We had an early dinner and then waited for Dad to get home. Bradley and Logan couldn’t keep still, and they started chasing each other around the living room. They looked a little ridiculous, especially Logan who had a hard time getting away from Bradley in his bulky cheeseburger costume. Dad showed up ten minutes later, begging us to give him a half an hour of peace before he took us out trick-or-treating. I felt my stomach tense up. Thirty short minutes from now, I would be going out into the dark world where the ghoulies waited for me, and maybe even those really big scary ones I’d seen in my dream.

  “Zap!” Bradley screeched, jumping out from behind the couch, his over-sized alien eyes looking demonic. He had a fake laser gun pointed at me, the light on the end flashing red.

  When my heartbeat returned to normal, I took a step back, holding up my hands. Best to play along.

  “I’ll save you, Aiden!” Logan bellowed, jumping from the back of the couch and crashing into Bradley.

  My brothers collapsed in a pile of sesame seed bun and shiny green alien skin. In the next second, Dad was yelling at them to stop rough housing, and I took the opportunity to make my escape. I glanced across the living room only to see Meghan heading toward the door. She was dressed like a butterfly and wore a black dress for the dance. Part of me wanted to rush toward her and beg her to change her mind; to convince her to go trick-or-treating with us, but she was already closing the door behind her. I would have to make it on my own.

  “Alright, that’s it!” Dad proclaimed. “I’m going to go change, and then, we’ll get going.”

  Ten minutes later, Dad came striding down the hallway dressed as the Grim Reaper.

  “Ready boys?” he asked in a fake, spooky voice.

  “Yeah!” everyone but me exclaimed.

  Mom helped Dad with the twins. They were a pair of sock monkeys, and their tails were long enough for Dad to keep wrapped around his hand. I thought it was pretty funny. So did Bradley and Logan. But since Mom insisted on staying home, Dad insisted on these little tricks to keep an eye on all us boys, especially on Halloween night. If that meant treating my rowdy twin brothers like a pair of hyper puppies on leashes, then so be it.

  Finally, everyone was gathered with their bags for collecting treats, and Mom was shooing us along. She didn’t like us to be out too late, so the sooner we left, the sooner we could come home. I was happy with that.

  By the time we were all outside and making our way down the street, the sun had just set, and twilight was staining the sky indigo and ink-blue. Bradley and Logan ran ahead of us, continuing their mock battle from inside, and although Jack and Joey tried to join them, Dad’s tight hold on their tails kept them always within reach.

  “I don’t think so, you two,” he said through the black screen taking up the front of his hood.

  I opted to stick as close to Dad as possible, gripping a section of his black cloak in my fist. As we made our way down the block, I watched the shrubs along the side of the road and the bushes clogging people’s yards. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary stirred in the dark.

  Each house on our street had a long driveway, and the homeowners had done a good job of creating a spooky atmosphere by stringing fake spider webs everywhere or wedging foam headstones into their lawns. Spooky music floated from cracked windows, and jack-o-lanterns stood guard on front porches, the yellow candle flames in their throats flickering and making them look as if they were laughing silently at us kids as we scuttled past in slight fear.

  If I didn’t know the truth behind Halloween, that it was the one day of the year the ghoulies came out in hordes, I would have loved it all. Despite that fact, however, I had yet to see a single ghoulie. Just as we rounded the corner of our street and headed out onto the wider road toward the next block, I noticed something odd. In the distance, I could see the tops of the trees that clogged the swamp behind our house. I had to blink several times to clear my vision, thinking maybe I was seeing things. But I wasn’t. A strange red haze was rising up from the depths of the swamp, like the weird glow I’d seen surrounding the ghoulies. Immediately, my skin began to prickle.

  “Bradley, Logan! Let’s go. We still have three more streets to hit before turning back,” Dad called out to my brothers, snapping me back to reality.

  Shivering, I moved closer to him and the twins. Something wasn’t right about that strange mist. Five houses later, and we had moved closer to the swamp once again. Bradley and Logan ran down the pathway of the next house, Jack and Joey close behind. I stayed right where I was. There was a gap between this house and the next one, and I could almost see down into the bog through the space.

  “Don’t you want anymore candy?” Dad asked me.

  I shook my head. My bag was half full, and that would last me long enough
.

  “Alright, you can wait with me here then,” Dad replied, putting his arm around me and pulling me close.

  For a few moments, I enjoyed the comfort of being nestled up next to Dad. But when he released me, I inched closer to the edge of the road so I could see down into the swamp. What I noticed next made my stomach turn. The red mist had grown thicker and rose higher, almost as tall as me now, and I could see things churning along the edge of it: ghoulies.

  “Dude! That lady gave us whole candy bars!”

  Logan’s voice made me jump, and I hurried back next to Dad.

  Before long, we were moving once again, visiting two more houses before finishing up with the cul-de-sac. We were halfway done with our night. I could do this. I could make it through without letting the ghoulies get the better of me.

  I spotted the first monster on our way down the next street. It was as big as a house cat with long, batwing ears that looked half-rotted and long, yellow teeth that did not fit in its mouth. Its dark skin hung from a bony body, and it limped as it walked. I grabbed Dad’s hand and held on tight, reaching for a long eucalyptus branch protruding from a pile of yard clippings on the dirt shoulder of the road.

  “Are you okay, Aiden?” Dad asked, turning to look at me.

  I nodded and proceeded to use the branch as a walking stick. After that, the streets practically crawled with the horrible little monsters. Some resembled squirrels, others small dogs and raccoons. They darted back and forth between the thicker landscaping of the yards, crossing the street like rats chased out into the open. They mostly avoided the other kids in costume and their parents, and I felt myself cringing every time one came close to getting stepped on, or moved in to sniff at the hem of someone’s costume. I had never seen so many ghoulies before, even during past Halloweens.

  As the night dragged on, more and more of the nasty things came out of the shadows like spiders hatching from an egg sac. The soft glow of the street lamps cast them in tones of peach and orange, and I could hear their low growls as they fought with one another under the cover of darkness.