Bones for the Magpie

Part One : Chapter Three

"But the story isn't real." Laurie tried cheering them up so they would be able to sleep.

"Yes it is! Ask any adult here and they'll tell you about this strange kid. Why do you think nobody wants to live in the Myers house anymore?"

A light pattering sound came from the window—like multiple fingers tapping at the glass. Tommy stood and ran behind the couch, Lindsey ran to Annie. Laurie took it upon herself to investigate—despite being the one who told the story, Annie was spooked by the noise. Laurie pulled the curtains away but saw nothing outside. She examined the glass and saw a few water droplets resting on it.

"I think it's rain?" Laurie said, confused due to the bright skies earlier.

A bright flash and loud booming noise caused all of them to jump and stop, but the low rumble of thunder that accompanied it let them know that they were safe from any Magpie legend was out there. Laurie looked back outside the window and saw all the lights from every house on the street had gone out—the loud thunder seemed to knock off all the power in the neighborhood.

"Laurie," Tommy said, making his way to her and grabbing her pant leg, "the Magpie Child—that's not the boogeyman right? The thing I saw today was black and white.. But that wasn't either of them right?"

"No, Tommy, that was just some dumb story. The Myers murder is true but all that nonsense about the bones and his sister's teeth weren't. Michael Myers is in the hospital right now in confinement, he's not the boogeyman."

Despite the wind and the rain, it was quiet in the house. The group remained together—they had spooked themselves and wanted to keep each other company. They could all hear each other breathing and Laurie could feel the shivers of a terrified Tommy. Laurie and Annie turned their towards the kitchen—they'd just heard the backdoor shift and open—it was loose in the hinges so it was quite noisy when moved in any way. The children had since retreated to the corner of the living room. Annie, not trying to look scared, was the one to go into the kitchen. She had no flashlight so she couldn't see. The door was closed, but the wind was causing it to shake, though she could have swore it sounded identical to someone opening it.

"It's nothing." Annie called from the kitchen.

As she was walking away, she stepped in a wet substance, but brushed it off as stray pumpkin guts.

"Check the dining room." Laurie suggested.

Annie let out a disappointed groan and looked into the said room. It was dark so she didn't give much effort to look around for anything. As she was returning, she passed a second entryway into the dining room and stopped. Something was off this time. The air was almost too still, it was quiet. She covered her mouth as the scent of decay came over her. She looked into the black dining room but could make out something that was darker than the blackness—it was human shaped, standing on two legs, but its neck was shaped in an odd fashion, a thick coat of something placed on its throat and wrapped around its shoulders.

"Laurie!" Annie shouted.

The lights flickered on for just a moment, but that's all she needed to see what lay on the dining table. It was Lynda, but the smell of death wasn't coming from her. In the brief moment of light, she could see Lynda's hands were placed upon her chest, but something caught her eye—her fingers had been ripped off from their sockets.

"Laurie!" Annie turned to run, but whatever was in the kitchen grabbed her.

Laurie heard Annie's scream and turned to the kids, "Tommy, Lindsey, run upstairs!."

Tommy shoved Lindsey to the front so he could stay behind her, hoping it'd keep her safe, and the two scurried upstairs. Laurie ran to help Annie, but as she came into the dark kitchen, Annie's body was thrown at her. She was still alive.

"Annie get up, we have to go!" Laurie helped her friend to her feet.

The quiet rattles from the kitchen grew louder, and Laurie looked. The lights had flickered on again, they weren't on long, but had enough time to give Laurie visuals of what was in the house. She looked and beheld the sight of the creature—it was the thing she'd seen earlier in the day. It revealed itself, creeping like a mere whisper from the blackness it enveloped itself in—he stood in the entryway from the kitchen to the dining room, allowing her to gaze upon his treacherous body. His hand was mangled with claw marks—Lynda tried to fight back before she died—but it was nothing compared to the sight above his chest. Jagged pikes protruded from his neck, tearing at the flesh of his discolored face. Although hard to see, she knew what they were by the small amount of light that had hit them. They were bones. Animal skulls and human teeth hung around his shoulders and dripped down his chest like golden chains of royalty, broken ribs and long claws decorated his neck like a twisted ruff of enamoring sadism. His face looked rotten, wasting away through the blood and grime that soaked his cheeks, his eyes were of an abyssal emptiness, as if staring into the void itself. Laurie watched as the exotic nightmare neared, his disgusting trophies rattled in silence as they incited fear in her stomach. Annie's story was true, except he didn't eat the bones, he wore them.

"Run!" Annie tried to shove Laurie, but he was too fast and grabbed her hair.

Though it was dark, through the lightning that began to pick up, she was able to see the silhouettes of everyone. She was terrified—this was Michael Myers, the little boy who ripped the teeth out of his sister, who collected carcasses. What would he do now that he was an adult? He threw Annie aside but returned with an instant to where their faces were right in front of each other. With one powerful hand, he clasped her mouth and squeezed her face with his nails. Laurie was too scared to move, afraid he'd run after her, but with the amount of bones protruding from his body, she'd just hurt herself if she tried to grab him. Annie's screams were muffled as his hand covered it, but Laurie could hear her sobs of pain. Michael's fingers dug into her cheeks, once he felt her teeth, he knocked her back with his leg, removing his hand from her face. She doubled over, trying to feel the damage, but he grabbed her again—this time, all four fingers grabbed her bottom jaw. With all the strength he had, Michael ripped it away from her face. Laurie gagged and managed to stumble away from the scene.

Laurie heard Annie's body fall to the floor and heard multiple clacks of her teeth falling too—he was plucking them and dropping them for later. Realizing others lived in the house, he continued to the living room where Laurie was. As he approached behind her, Laurie turned around with a crochet needle, and stabbed him in the neck. He backed away but wasn't damaged, something blocked the needle from hurting him. Laurie shrank back in fear, but still found herself able to run up the stairs.