The Blackest Eyes

Part 2

Haddonfield had developed the reputation of a pretty quiet and peaceful suburban town. It was the type of place where you could expect a very low crime rate and where most of the people who lived there were honest, trusting people. The kind of place where you often wouldn't feel the need to lock your doors at night before bedding down.

The residents of the "cozy" suburb had seldom been given reasons to think or feel otherwise. Not an overly eventful place to live. So uneventful, that it often bordered on becoming boring. Things usually got a bit more interesting around the holidays, however. Especially Halloween. That one had grown quite popular over the years, especially with the youths. Including a particularly reserved girl by the name of Laurie Strode.

Reserved was definitely a fitting word to use when describing Laurie. Despite growing up in Haddonfield, she'd rarely been one for socializing more than necessary. She was the "Quiet Girl" that mostly kept to herself. There were certain exceptions, however. Over the years, she'd managed to hold onto a few friends she'd known since kindergarten. Two in particular always came to mind: Annie Brackett and Linda Klok.

They both turned out to enjoy socializing quite a bit more than Laurie, and were better at it as well. They both became cheerleaders and ended up being two of the most popular girls in their school. Laurie turned to be something of a nerd, as far as their peers were concerned. A lot of them found it hard to believe that Annie and Linda would associate with someone like Laurie, but the fact that she was held in high regard by the two of them afforded her enough "breathing room".

One of the few things that brought her out of her shell for a little while, other than hanging out with her childhood pals, was definitely Halloween. There was something about the general atmosphere and decorations of the holiday that she always enjoyed. It felt eccentric, a lot like her. She had that to look forward to in an attempt to distract from the aggravated feeling the morning brought on. She was never a morning person and the bothersome noise of the alarm clock didn't help. She brought her hand down onto the switch to kill the annoying buzzing before dragging herself out of bed.

She stretched as she did so, almost involuntary thanks to the yawning that soon followed her awakening. She stumbled her way over to her closet and threw together the first articles of clothing that caught her eye. A dark blue hoodie with an orange skeletal design on the front, jeans that matched it in color and a pair of orange and black sneakers. It was fitting for the coming holiday, she thought. Soon enough, she left her bedroom and made her way to the bathroom down the hall. Turning on the sink, she started at the mirror.

For the most part, she found nothing about herself very remarkable. From the back of the glass, a slim and pasty girl looked back at her. Sandy blonde hair and dull blue eyes. It wasn't any of that that her attention was settled on, however, it was the old and faded scars scattered along her face. They weren't all that noticable at first glance, but Laurie always noticed them when she looked at herself for more than a few seconds. She never knew where they came from, but she found herself wondering pretty often.

She'd asked her parents a few times in the past. They claimed the scars were due to a car accident the family was in when she was a baby, but she never quite believed them. Still, something about the look on her mother's face each time she asked about the scars told her it wasn't something she was fond of talking about, so she stopped asking after a while. She supposed it didn't really matter. Whatever it was didn't really impact them in the long run as far as they were concerned.

She used that logic to take her mind off the question as she finished brushing her teeth, spitting the water she used to rinse her mouth out into the sink. A smell filled her nostrils as she left the bathroom and went to grab her backpack. Breakfast was almost ready. Now she most definitely wasn't thinking about the scars. Her mother's cooking had always been the one thing about mornings that she actually enjoyed.