Tales From Dark Places - The Halloween Collection Read online

  ***

  As you lay awake in a world upon the edge of dreams, listen to my shallow voice. This is my story of woe and as I whisper the tale of my passing into your defenseless ear. Can you imagine the fate that awaits you?

  The End

  © 2013 Peter John

  The Visitor

  Melpomene’s Love

  by Chris Raven

  James woke up with a feeling of being watched, which of course of late meant that he probably was. He rubbed his eyes, and slowly opened them to see the silhouetted figure of a woman looking down at him from the foot of the bed. He groaned, and reached out to pat the bedside table until he found the switch that turned on the lamp. "Oh," he said disappointedly, "I thought you were Celia”. He suppressed a brief pang of guilt, as he had already guessed that the woman was Rebecca.

  "Did you now," the stern looking woman replied, "well tact was never your strong point was it James".

  “Tact?" James said as he sat up in his bed, voice instantly annoyed. Rebecca had always known how to push his buttons, especially when she was in this type of mood. "You come here uninvited, and you talk to me about tact?" Rebecca just looked down at him in silent accusation, which only increased his annoyance.

  "You know this isn’t right, what you’re doing. It’s all wrong", he said angrily, swinging his legs off the bed and grabbing his glasses from the bedside table. "You can’t just come here any time you want. This is really not fair, especially to Celia.”

  "Oh, we wouldn't want to upset Celia now would we," Rebecca replied, voice heavily sarcastic and bitter.

  “No we would not, so you had better stop coming here, and start coming to terms with how things are.” James reached down to grab his dressing gown off the floor and caught sight of the alarm clock on the bedside table. “Bloody hell Rebecca, it’s four o’clock in the morning”. Rebecca just shrugged defiantly.

  “So!" She sneered, “what’s that to me?” James stood and slipped on his dressing gown. He studied Rebecca’s petulant face and tried to calm himself down.

  “Look,” he said, trying to introduce a reasonable tone to his voice. “I wouldn’t mind so much but, if you remember, it was you who left me.” He knew he had just made a terrible mistake, but it was too late for him to take his words back. Rebecca’s body had visibly tensed, her eyes were wild and then she exploded.

  “How dare you! Of course I left you, what choice did you give me? You heartless, arrogant ass, and after what you did to me”. James cut in quickly, angrily and loudly; wanting to drown out Rebecca’s voice before he had to hear the same old accusations and recriminations all over again.

  “For Christ’s sake Rebecca that was over ten years ago, ten years!” James was standing up by then and he had moved towards her. “Ten years, can’t you let it go? It was a one off and it wasn’t even Celia. You didn’t have to leave, we could have worked it out, but you went. It was your choice, so don’t blame me now if you can’t move on. This is not my fault anymore Rebecca and it certainly isn’t Celia’s”.

  James was really close to Rebecca by then, his red angry face almost touching hers, his voice loud and furious, with his spittle occasionally landing on her cheek.

  “That’s it James,” she screamed, “hit me, go on, you know you want to. Get it out of your system”.

  James stopped, stunned, he hadn’t even realized that he had been shouting. He hadn’t realized how terrifying he must have appeared to her then. He sat down heavily on the bed, his head in hands.

  “I never would have… I wouldn’t, why would…” And then it dawned on him.

  James looked up at the defiant expression on Rebecca's face and was horrified to see that his suspicion was justified.

  “You bitch, you call me heartless. I can’t believe you would try and get me to do that to Celia”. James took a deep breath before continuing.

  “Try and understand Rebecca, this was never Celia’s fault. We weren't seeing each other back then, not until years later anyway, not until well after you left. We’ve been married five years now for God's sake”. James fell silent and sat shaking his head.

  “I can’t help it,” Rebecca explained after a few moments of silence, “I just hate her”.

  James angrily motioned Rebecca to stay quiet and got up off the bed, giving her a long angry glare as he left the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

  .....

  In the kitchen, James switched on the kettle and prepared himself a cup of coffee. Rebecca was sitting at the breakfast table behind him, so he was able to keep his back to her.

  "I'm having a coffee,” he said over his shoulder, not wanting to look at her yet. “Do you want one?"

  "I don't think Celia will approve, do you?" Rebecca replied but without her earlier passion. James tipped in a spoonful of coffee in the cup as the kettle bubbled and switched itself off.

  “I’m sure Celia wouldn’t begrudge you one cup of coffee Rebecca, it’s probably been quite a while now.”

  “It has,” Rebecca said quietly, thrown by his sudden thoughtfulness. “Thank you James, I would love a cup of coffee.” The spoon of sugar that had been hovering over the steaming hot coffee was immediately withdrawn and James took the cup to the breakfast table. He placed it by Rebecca’s hand, only glancing at her once, both allowing only a brief moment of eye contact before James returned to the kettle. He grabbed a fresh cup from the tree and switched the kettle back on. Rebecca held the coffee cup in both hands and took a sip.

  “That is a perfect cup of coffee James”. She closed her eyes to savour the taste as she took another sip. “But you could always make a good coffee James. That was one of the things I loved about you”. James said nothing while he prepared his own coffee. The kettle switched itself off again and James picked it up and poured the hot water over the sugar and coffee granules, watching the clear water turn instantly brown.

  “It’s only coffee Rebecca,” he finally told her, “I only add hot water and milk.” He started to drink his coffee, with his back to her and looking out of the kitchen window to the identical window opposite.

  After a while Rebecca broke the silence and eventually asked.

  “Do you love Celia more than you loved me?” James’ head and shoulders sank a little but he kept his back to her as he added a little more sugar to his drink.

  “No,” he sighed, “I don’t love Celia more than I loved you. I have never loved Celia more than you”. He let the words hang there and after a while he gently added, “you were always the love of my life Rebecca and when you left it almost killed me. Celia quite literally saved my life; she gave me something to live for.”

  “I wish she hadn’t,” Rebecca said quietly, but without any malice. “You could have joined me; we could have been together all these years”. James turned and looked at his first wife across the kitchen, sitting on an old rickety stool, cradling her coffee cup in her hands.

  “I wanted to Rebecca," he told her, "there was a time back then when I really could have, but I didn’t”.

  "I know," Rebecca replied dryly, "Celia saved you".

  "I chose to stay," James cut in defensively, "Celia was there for me. That is why you can’t keep doing this, that's why you need to move on and leave us alone”. Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears. Instinctively, James stepped forward and knelt down beside her.

  “I can’t help it James," she cried, "I still love you.”

  “I know,” James said softly, putting his arms round her. “I know, I love you still but there’s Celia”.

  “Celia,” Rebecca repeated, briefly annoyed but then they looked into each other’s eyes and at that moment they suddenly and unexpectedly kissed, eagerly and hard, ten years worth of intense love and hate formed itself into this one moment of intense passion.

  Rebecca broke away first, gently pushing James back.

  “Does Celia know about me?” James shook his head and looked down, ashamed.

  “No, she thinks she sleepwalks”. Rebecca
cradled his jaw in her hands and lifted his face to look at him.

  “This is not infidelity you know. I am still your wife, we were never actually divorced. That technically makes Celia the other woman.”

  “No it doesn’t” James protested “I’m doing to Celia what I did to you.”

  “No, this is different my love,” Rebecca reassured him. “This is a lot different because you still love me and you’ve always loved me. You tell me that I can’t move on but that’s not quite true is it. The truth is my darling, that it is you who cannot move on. It is you who’s holding me here. I could have passed on at any time, but it is you who has never been able to let me go”.

  “I know,” James conceded and they kissed again but this time gently, more tenderly.

  .....

  Later that morning James awoke in bed at the insistence of the alarm clock. He patted the snooze button, rolled over and looked at his wife’s face as she lay there sleeping contentedly in the bed beside him. It was Celia who awoke when she opened her eyes and smiled warmly at James when she realized he was lying there looking at her. “Good morning darling,” she said, “have you been awake for long?”

  “No,” James said, sitting up. “The alarms just gone off, did you sleep well?”

  Celia considered this and then looked a little confused.

  “I think so, but I can taste coffee.”

  “I know,” James said, “you were sleepwalking again last night and you actually made yourself a cup of coffee”.

  “Really?” She said, sitting up surprised. “How strange, you know how much I hate coffee”.

  “I know,” James laughed nervously. “What will you do next?”

  “That’s bizarre,” Celia said laughing.

  “I know,” James replied, getting carried away with the lie.

  Celia stopped laughing and conspiratorially asked.

  “Did we?” The question was left hanging in the air for a moment before James nervously confirmed.

  “Yes we did sweetheart”.

  “Really?” She said, a little shocked.

  “You woke up first,” James added hastily, “but you were really sleepy. You’ve probably forgotten”.

  “You’re a naughty man,” she said in mock indignation, “taking advantage of me. It’s a shame though, I would like to have remembered”. James quickly stood up and slipped on his dressing gown again.

  “I’m taking a shower before I get ready for work. Do you want me to run you a bath while I’m in there?”

  “Please,” Celia said, as she snuggled back down under the duvet, warm and contented.

  James went into the bathroom and started to run the hot water. He sat on the edge of the bath and noticed that the bathroom door was still open. He could not see Celia from where he was sitting, but he could hear her breathing and he found the sound painful. He reached out and pushed the door closed.

  James looked at Celia’s pink bathrobe hanging from the back of the door and he choked back tears thinking about how he had betrayed her last night. No matter how Rebecca and he had spun the lie at the time, it was still a betrayal. James had betrayed the good friend who had become his second wife, the one who had saved his life all those years ago. Out of all their friends, Celia had been the only one who had remained while all the others had slowly drifted away, unable to face James’ headlong decent into despair. It had been Celia who had convinced James that his life was still worth living, even after Rebecca’s suicide, so James just sat on the edge of the bath and sobbed.

  The End

  © 2013 Chris Raven

  The Goblin Changeling

  By Sheryl Seal

  “You should know… It’s that time of year… When the witches and ghosts appear… They come at night when there’s no more light… Halloween is almost here… If you look… Very carefully… There’s a goblin behind each tree… But I must say… don’t you run away…‘Cause. It. Might. Be. Me!”

  Singing this children's song as we all strolled down the sidewalk, my buddies and I were excited to be going trick or treating this year. We were all hooting and hollering and having a great night. It was probably the last time we would all be together like this. We were between the ages of ten and twelve and this was our night.

  There was one house that we all couldn’t wait to get to and it was on the next street over. Of course the rules state that we have to knock on every house that is brightly lit up and participating with this age old tradition. Begging for candy isn’t exactly classy, but at the end of the night the rewards will be life changing.

  “Hey there Billy! Dude, you look like a dork with your great big green goblin ears and that mouth full of slimy teeth. I can smell your breath from here.”

  “Yeah Tyler, well look how big your feet are. A foot the size of a Volkswagen and just as wide isn’t exactly all the rage.”

  Cole and River and I were hanging behind and mocking every move the two of them made. “Katelyn, watch this.” River whispered. Cole and River then proceeded to mock Billy and Tyler’s steps. They had me laughing so hard I thought I might pee myself. Tyler is all long-limbed and his feet are the still the biggest part of him. Transforming his features to look just like Tyler, River even matched his huge feet. Cole couldn’t resist and joined in the fun and suddenly there was a loud noise and the nastiest odor in the air.

  “Hey River, that’s Billy’s breath! Get it?” The laughter continued as Tyler and Billy turned around and chased Cole and River down the street. I yelled for them to come back so we could go up to the next house. With my hands on my not so delicate hips and stomping my big foot, I shouted for the guys to come back.

  “We can’t skip any of the houses and I’m not going into this new life without my buds.” Heckling each other, they caught back up with me and we continued down the street of houses. Decorated all spooky, the last house on the street had what we call an overkill of decorations. A mass of spider webs with a giant make believe spider was surrounding the house. Spooky music played on loud speakers and carved pumpkins lined the stairs up to the house. A man dressed as a zombie handed out candy at the door and thought we were cool. “These are the best costumes I’ve seen so far, a gang of goblins, very realistic kids.” As he tried to pat Billy on the head, I heard the growl that came deep within. I stepped up quickly in front of the zombie and Billy, before the guy lost his fingers or worse. Tyler and River grabbed Billy by the arms and turned him back to the sidewalk and proceeded to calm him. Then he turned back. “I should really apologize for my behavior. Go on ahead and I’ll be right there.” Cole followed Billy to make sure he got his share of candy. Then Billy came running past me and I yelled after him.

  “Where’s Cole at Billy?”

  “He’s getting more candy from the zombie guy.” I knew of course, I shouldn’t have left him there alone but we all have decisions to make in life and I hoped Cole made the right decision tonight.

  We were rounding the corner to the next street when Cole finally caught up with us. He was making loud slurping noises and moaning and groaning. I knew what had happened and it was an unthinkable thing to do on this Halloween night. I turned around and stood in front of him as I glared and waited for him to confess his sin. He just smiled and pushed me aside and walked past. Catching up with him I whispered.

  “You have a few fingers stuck in your teeth.”

  There wasn’t much time to consider the complications that would arise from Cole’s actions. The street we turned down was so thick with fog that it was hard to see your hand in front of your face. Then I ran into River and it was like running into a brick wall. He was mumbling to Billy and Tyler about how eerie this street was. Tyler caught me by the arm and asked.

  “Katelyn, what took you and Cole so long? You know we’re supposed to stay together.” I dreaded telling him anything.

  “Ummm… there was an incident with Cole and the zombie man. This is creepy and there are no other kids around. Is this the right street?”

 
We were all hanging onto each other now like Tyler suggested and talking about leaving this street when a light came on at a house right across from us. The fog cleared and a lady in a witch’s costume stepped out the door and onto the porch. She motioned us to come towards her. We moved together like we were in a trance all the way up the steps until we were standing in front of her. She was beautiful with long pink hair that flowed under her big black hat. She had eyes that sparkled like emeralds and a black box with silver lettering that I couldn’t read. She clutched the box tightly and smiled at us all.

  “Welcome to the night of the goblin exchange, you are here to become part of the world of man. My name is Alicia and I am the witch that will help you on your way into the world of man.” She pointed her finger at us and the ground shook. Electric colors raced all around us and we were instantly changed into children that could live in the world of man. Tyler, River and Billy all high-fived each other as I stared at Cole. He was still a big green ugly goblin. He had big ears, big feet and hands, an oddly shaped head and body, weird looking obsidian eyes and the biggest mouth with slimy sharp teeth. Goblins are really not very attractive and I was happy not to be one any longer but poor Cole. He should never have eaten that zombie guy. I felt bad for him even while I was happy for the rest of us.

  As I watched, Alicia stepped forward and held her box up. I could see that the beautifully scripted lettering spelled Cole and before I even knew what was happening, she raised her eyebrow and spoke directly to him.

  “Get in the box goblin boy, you have broken the rules and must go back home until next year.” Immediately he was sucked into the box until the next Halloween.

  The End

  © 2013 Sheryl Seal

  Bars

  by Madhu Kalyan Mattaparthi

  I can't remember. I only have the vague memory of a woman living here with me but if it is a fleeting glimpse into my torrid past or only a figment of my imagination, I cannot say. The only thing that I can say with all certainty is that I do nothing but sit here in my run-down apartment, never being able to leave as I have no key to the door. This isolation is further enhanced by the heavy chains that bar my way. I do not know why they are here.

  I do have a few DVDs that lie caked in a thick layer of dust on my coffee table. However, I am unable to watch them as my television is broken. I can't even remember the last time that it worked properly. My telephone doesn't work either. Whenever I pick it up, I hear nothing but the static that echoes throughout the expansive caverns of my empty life.

  The only thing that I can actually do is play the menial computer games that always seem to appear on my desktop; games that constantly change throughout the day. This first one appears to be some sort of colour matching game. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange... I click lethargically on the dull orbs. All the while I stare out my window at the lush, green fields that lie behind my complex. I realise as I listen to the soft, comforting sounds of birds that contentedly flit to and fro among the branches of the trees, their gentle chirps resonating through the air as they do so, that it’s the only glimpse at freedom that I have.

  I hear an electronic ping come from my computer, so I tear my eyes away from the window to look down at the screen. I must have beaten the game. The colours begin to spin and rotate about themselves, quickly turning from a ring of varying shades into a sickly green miasma of swirling chaos. I chuckle softly to myself at the irony.

  Suddenly, I am distracted by the sound of something dropping through the mail slot on my door. This surprises me, as I have never received any sort of mail before. I run quickly over to the door, hoping to catch the mailman before he leaves. I may even start a conversation with him through the mail slot, as is the state of my desperation, but, alas, I must be too late; I can see nothing but the faded red paint of the door that sits solemnly across from my own.

  Feeling somewhat jaded by this, I turn my attention to the humble brown package that lies on my floor. I carry it back to my couch and begin to slowly open it. I desperately hope it’s a letter or gift from someone, anyone. Family, friend, stranger; I just don’t care. The parchment falls away to reveal nothing more than an ordinary barcode scanner, the likes of which could be found at any local grocery store. Thinking that it was delivered to the wrong person, I throw it against my wall in a fit of anger and frustration.

  I lay my head in my hands, as I have become gripped once more into the familiar embrace of loneliness and depression. After a fairly significant amount of time spent wallowing in my own self-pity, I look up again. The scanner must have been accidentally triggered by my throw, as I can see the insignificant red beam resting upon the spine of one of my aforementioned dust-caked DVDs. As I go to pick up the scanner, I notice something peculiar on the screen. Instead of reading the name and price of the DVD, or at least something along those lines, it simply reads "EY H". This thoroughly confuses me, as I never expected to see something this strange from those simple, unassuming bars of black and white.

  After some time spent pondering these events, I begin to develop a theory. I reason that if one of these barcodes held some sort of strange message, then perhaps the others would too.

  I begin to scan everything that I can find in my apartment, from the rest of the DVDs, to the blank white bottle of pills that rests ominously in my medicine cabinet, the purpose of which escapes me. After scanning some more barcodes, I begin to see more of a message take form. "FED", "NG B", "APE", "AN"... It was all gibberish to me. I finally go to the only item that remained un-scanned; the lone can of soup that seems to be perpetually full upon the shelf in my kitchen. I expect to find some more nonsensical letters to add to my already confusing collection. However, this one was different, coherent. It merely reads "WINDOW".

  After a few minutes spent pondering this, I decide that it must be referencing to the window above my desk, as it is the only one in my apartment. I am sceptical though, because I have tried to open that window in the past only to find sealed shut with no apparent means of unlocking it. I decide to try the window anyway and, to my surprise, it opens! I begin to inwardly rejoice, thinking that I am on the verge of escaping from this hell that has so long entrapped me. I suffer a moment of hope that I will finally be reunited with the outside world, but it is not to be.

  Instead of a blessed breath of fresh air, I am greeted by a cold, hard floor of cement as I enter into the secret room behind my window. I immediately walk passed the beautiful painting of a lush, green field and I walk passed the cassette player with the calm chirping of birds set to play on endless loop. I find myself face-to-face with a cork-board that is completely covered by faded yellow scraps of paper, each one filled with a multitude of those familiar barcodes. As I scan them, a message begins to take shape. "TH", "HAV", "HILE", "IES". I scan every scrap of paper and I finally have my obsession, the completed message is in my grasp. It reads: "THEY HAVE FED YOU NOTHING BUT LIES. ESCAPE WHILE YOU STILL CAN."

  I laugh aloud at the implication and absolute absurdity of the situation but a clanging sound, coming from within my apartment, distracts my dark revelry.

  I return to find the chains that have so long barred my way has fallen to the floor and the deadbolt has turned itself in the lock. I am finally free, I can finally return to normal society!

  As I push my way through the portal, I am greeted by a dark and ominous hallway. The electric lights flicker and spark, as if they are about to burst at any moment. As I take stock of my surroundings, I notice three doors besides my own. One is sealed shut with a multitude of boards and nails. Another is completely bricked over, the hastily done cement-work having dripped down and hardened upon the floor. As for the door that I had seen across from mine? I could see through its mail slot that it is devoid of any and all furnishings; the yellowed wallpaper is peeling around the edges.

  I now look to my right and see a long and dimly lit hallway that stretches further than what I can make out. I take a deep breath and begin the long march down the hall
way. After walking for what feels like an eternity, I happen upon a yellowed scrap of paper resting upon the floor, its face bearing yet another of those familiar bars of black and white. "IS ANY PERSON TRULY FREE?” Struck by a sudden pang of fear, I drop the scrap and continue nervously on my way. I walk only a little bit more when I find yet another scrap, this one so yellowed and torn that the ink was barely readable upon the page. "IS ANY PERSON TRULY SANE?"

  I panic now and begin to run. I don’t care where I am going, I just want to escape from the dark and imposing walls that seem to mock me at every step. I still continue to run as the walls begin to twist and spiral, taking on inconceivable shapes. It seems that I am running forever, never to escape this prison, this hell that has had me trapped for an eternity within its grim jaws, the likes of which must have been machinated by Satan himself; I continue to run.