The Halloween Cannibal

Chapter 7)Nothing stranger than a stranger

"Creep" by Michelle Branch
***

After a delicious feast of salted pumpkin seeds, popcorn, homemade fruit punch and incredibly too much candy, I noticed the older kids looked exhausted. "Uh oh...9:50 you guys...Let's get upstairs and brush your teeth. Bedtime in ten minutes!"
"Aw..." Parker and Sarah groan in unison. Little Lauren is already fast asleep on the couch in the family room. She had fallen asleep at least ten minutes into the second kid-friendly Halloween movie.
"C'mon...You remember what your mom said," I coo, ushering them up the stairs.
"Wait!" Parker stops. "You're gonna come to my hockey game next week, right?"
He's been asking me to attend all night. I pause, and act as though I'm heavily thinking about it. "I don't know, I was thinking of coming to root for the other team..."
"Cassi!" Sarah giggles.
"I'll be there, squirt." I wink. "C'mon, get upstairs."
"Aye aye captain!" Parker says, bolting up the stairs. Sarah proceeds to walk up before stopping.
"Oh, wait!! I forgot to put my witch boots away...Can you put them in the closet? Rosalita will get mad if they're not put away!"
"Sure. Brush your teeth!" I add in as she sprints up the stairs. I pick up a pair of sparkly black boots and bring them towards the closet. It's quiet, but I can faintly hear Sarah and Parker arguing in the bathroom across from their bedrooms. Standing up to close the closet door, I jump upon noticing that Ben is standing right behind it.
"Geese!" I yell, shoving him in the shoulder.
He grins. "That's pretty lame if that spooked you."
"You're the one quietly standing behind the door like a weirdo." I counter.
"Eh, it's Halloween. I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare."
"Line stealer," I accuse, picking up some more candy wrappers left behind by the kids.
Once I collected them all, I checked on the kids and tucked them in. By the time I came down the stairs, Ben had a bowl of freshly made popcorn.
"Movie time?"
"Why not."
"Pick a movie, or else I'm turning on Freddy."
Watching movies with Ben wasn't something I imagined my Halloween consisting of. Although I wouldn't admit it vocally, I didn't mind doing this with my old friend. It felt familiar; comfortable.
"Should we stream something or watch something in old school quality?" asks Ben, motioning towards the massive case of DVD's and CD's the Sterns had.
"Old school," I reply.
Walking over to the massive bookcase in the Stern living room that held a large display of DVD cases, a vase grabs my attention. The Stern's entire living room is decked out in brown dark green décor. The leather couches and love seats are a beautiful chocolate brown, as is the desks and bookcases surrounding the large room. All picture frames in the room are either a shade of brown to match the furniture, or dark green to match the curtains. The vase on top of the DVD player, however, is bright yellow. It matches not one thing in the entire room. I put in a DVD and pick up the vase to examine it. But taking a closer look at it doesn't make it any more appealing. Medium sized, hollow, rubber ducky yellow, and decorated with black spots on it.
I quickly conclude it is the ugliest vase I've ever seen. Yet, Mrs. Stern probably spent a pretty penny on it.
Shaking my head, I set it down on the floor and instead put the DVD case on the player. If I don't set the case on top of the player, I'll most likely lose it. It wouldn't be my first time. I'm known to constantly lose the cases of DVD's given I'm more used to watching movies on streaming services nowadays. I press play on the remote at the same time Ben enters the room holding the popcorn. A low chuckle escapes him as he sees what starts to play.
"Seriously? Shrek? It's Halloween night, and you're choosing to watch SHREK?" Ben shakes his head in disbelief as he plops down on the leather chair next to the couch.
"I'm not much of a horror fan," I mutter, pulling myself in a cross-legged position on the couch.
Ben snaps his head in my direction. "Uh...That's B.S right there. We've spent every Halloween watching some sort of-"
"We used to spend every Halloween watching movies." I snap in a furious whisper as to not wake Lauren.
Ben's cheeks pull in, his go to move when he's holding back something he wants to say.
I look around suddenly. "Where's Lauren?"
"I moved her into the den to sleep. I was feeling too lazy to carry her upstairs just yet."
My phone blares from the table, and I get up to check it before the annoying song can wake Lauren in the next room. I contemplate answering as I see it's Tyler calling.
"Hey...We need to talk," I answer.
"About... what?"
Ty's voice slowly slurs through the receiver.
I remove the phone from my ear to stare at it in disbelief. He sounds intoxicated. Just from those two little words it revealed all. Um...How about how you just left all mad and didn't let me explain?"
"Oh...right. That guy."
Ty slurs some more, seeming to not even know who the heck I'm referring to.
"You're drunk?" I ask in disgust.
"Onllllyyy haddd onnnee..."
Ty laughs on the other end before you can hear loud noises coming from his side of the phone. A girl is laughing in the background telling Ty something. He laughs with her. "Mmm...I love you baby..." A girl moans, before the call abruptly ends.
I instantly call him back only for the phone to go to voicemail. Next, I proceed to type a very lengthy -and angry- text message reply multiple times before deleting each of them. My mother always installed in my sister and I to never respond out of anger. Although, I was the only one who listened to my mother. My elder sister Alyssa often ignored this advice. I find I'm not angry at Tyler for cheating on me, or even Lacy, who I thought was my friend. Instead, I'm angry at myself for ever giving Tyler Chase the time of day by dating him.
This was probably why I should've followed my sister's advice and refrained from dating until college. Too much immaturity in the high school dating pool.
I head back to the couch, avoiding Ben's gaze as I concentrated on the movie. Part of me regrets deleting my texts to Tyler telling him I was done with our relationship. I didn't want to be the type of person who ends things over a text message, but maybe I was overthinking...
I stopped thinking of my romantic turmoil as I developed the feeling that I was being watched.
I try and dive into the silly storyline onscreen to get my mind off things.
But I can't get into watching the movie. I shuffle uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very uneasy.
It's not even Tyler my thoughts are consumed by. It's something else entirely. Another extreme feeling that I'm being watched distracts me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice it's not Ben looking at me. He's currently distracted with his mountain sized bowl of popcorn he's crunching too loudly on. Two kids are upstairs sleeping, while another is on the couch fast asleep.
I try to calm my nerves and focus on the movie playing, but I can't get invested. Having a strange feeling, I look quickly behind me, and that's when I notice it in the window.
Although it's pitch-black outside, and the lights are on in the living room, I can see the outline of someone in a hooded jacket, wearing a guy fawkes mask.
"Oh my God!" I squeal out of shock.
"Cassi?" Ben sits up, alarmed by my sudden fear.
Somehow, my shriek didn't wake Lauren from her slumber in the next room.
"There's someone outside!" I whisper, pointing towards the window.
But the person disappeared instantly. Ben doesn't seem to have seen the guy in the window. He heads over to turn off the living room and kitchen lights, I'm right behind him.
"What are you-"
I begin, before he puts a finger over his mouth, and proceeds to turn the outside lights on.
He motions me to follow him to the other windows. My breath picks up pace as I look around the now lighted yard through by shuffling through the blinds.
You can't see anyone. It's impossible. With tall bushes and trees surrounding the five acres of yard, anyone could hide. There's even the large wooden deck, along with the above ground pool and multiple jungle gyms to hide by. Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier to find than a person hiding. A rustle next to me occurs as Ben looks through two other sets of blinds. He frowns.
'What did you see?"
"A guy in a mask." I exclaim quietly, pointing to the same window again.
Ben nods, and walks over to the window where I saw the person.
"Nothing here," he mutters. "What kind of mask was it?"
"That stupid mask with the goatee and mustache." I whisper. "A guy fawkes one."
Ben looks puzzled. "Er...was it a kid in a costume?"
I freeze, remembering the person at the door.
"Wait, there was a kid...Or maybe a guy...He was pretty tall. He came to the door earlier."
"Uh...Tricker treating?""
"I guess." I shake my head. "He came to the door, but never said anything. He was wearing all black, had a hoodie jacket on, and the same mask as I saw in the window."
"How old did he look?"
"I don't know...He looked like an adult."
"He looked like an adult while in costume...?"
"He didn't look like a scrawny kid!"
"If you didn't see what they looked like, how do you know it was a guy?" Ben asks skeptically, crossing his arms.
"I don't know, Benjamin!" I exclaim, using his full name to show him he was annoying me with his interrogation. "I know some guy came to the door earlier, and I just saw the same mask staring at us through the window."
"One that just disappeared as soon as I looked towards the window..." Ben asks dryly, raising a dark eyebrow skeptically.
I stare at him incredulously. "You don't believe me." It wasn't a question but an observation.
Ben shuffled in place. "You could've just been freaked out from the squirrel and person at the door, so you thought you saw something that wasn't really there."
My hands balled into fists at my side. "I don't care if you don't believe me, I'm still calling the police." I shrug indifferently, moving to grab my cell phone off the couch.
"Go for it." He heads back to the couch, snatching up his beloved bowl of popcorn.
I head towards the kitchen and grab the number for the local police department off a magnet on the fridge. I don't need to call 911...How do you really explain to multiple firetrucks and ambulances that there was a face in a window?
Punching in the digits, I wait.
Beep beep oh beep
I'm sorry, your phone is deactivated at this time. Responds the phone in an automated voice.
I wince, although I thought my dad had just paid the bill for our family plan on Monday too. He was prone to forgetting on occasion. I grab the landline off the wall and push in buttons. But no response is made. I try again, but I'm still left disappointed by no response given. Hanging up, I take it off and retry the number. Glancing at the caller ID, I frown.
Phone number 3 ON
Form my time of watching the Stern children, I've learned that this means one of the other phones in the house is turned on. With one base phone, and two others, it means if any one of the phones are turned on you can't use any others to make a call. I tsked under my breath. Of course, one of the children would mess around with the home phones. What about if it were a real emergency? What would we do with my cell phone disconnected and the home phone misplaced? My inner monologue answered itself.
Ben's phone!
I walk back to the living room.
"Did you call?" said Ben, craning his neck to look at me over the couch.
"I need your cell."
Without asking questions, Ben tosses his cracked pixel phone towards me.
"Someone needs a new phone," I mutter while catching it. I type in the police departments number for the fourth time.
Beep beep oh beep
I'm sorry, your phone is disconnected at this time
"Uh...You didn't pay your bill." I hand the phone back to him.
"My dad probably didn't pay the bill on time." He threw some more popcorn into his mouth.
"What are the odds that both of our phones are disconnected?" I wonder aloud.
Ben seemed unfazed by my exclamation.
"Just means both of us are irresponsible, Cass."
My silence while thinking of the strange offs that both of our phones are off inspire Ben to finally look at me. He notices my expression. "Don't worry about it. I turned off the porch light and set the house alarm, no one can come in without a cop coming."
The small amount of worry I'm feeling evaporates as soon as I hear this. The home security system. I haven't watched the kids at the house in such a long time, I completely forgot about it.
Relief takes over me. Eventually I return to watching the movie, finally becoming relaxed as I thought about the house alarm. The person couldn't try to break in without triggering it. Even if they were to break the glass of any window, the vibrations hitting the frame would trigger it. Tom explained this to me the year the Sterns put in the alarm.
An intake of breath is made by Ben. "So...Two kids are upstairs sleeping, one in the other room.....We just gonna continue doing the awkward silence thing?" He asks, peeking a glance at me from his spot on the couch.
"Not at all. I'm just so preoccupied with this movie, I can't think of anything to say," I respond, pulling my legs into a pretzel style to sit on the chair.
Ben's eyes narrow as he sits up a little higher. "You've seen this about a dozen times."
"I don't remember it," I sniff.
"Yeah...you always said it was your favorite fairy tale. So, bull."
I glance at Ben, to notice his face has hardened. "Alright then, what do you want talk about? C'mon, lay it on me."
It's been six months of pretending we don't know each other and ignoring one another at school. Not to mention this is our first time babysitting the kids together in a very long time. But it's not from lack of trying on my part. After I accepted Ty's invite to prom and then went the following weekend, Ben iced me out. No warning, no explanation to what was going on. Not a text, call, email, social media message, nothing. If not for our previous correspondence and what was probably hundreds of pictures together, there was no evidence we had ever known each other.
"You ignored me. I spent my entire summer trying to make up with you, and you blew me off!" I seethed. "You didn't even give me a chance to explain. You know what Ben, I don't care what you think. I don't have to talk to you."
Ben winced heavily. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I ask sardonically.
He blinks, as if silently wondering if I don't really know what he's apologizing for. "For....You know."
"Can't say that I do."
Ben stood up, looking fidgety. His eyes squint, and his cheeks suck in.
I remember this look. It's the same look that crosses his face whenever he's had to give a class presentation, or when he does something uncomfortable. Like the time he broke up with Jackie James because he couldn't stand her nasally voice. We glare at each other in silence, before I take the remote and turn the movie off. The local news station displays a middle-aged brunette giving a briefing. And we are now in the fifth week in discussing the disappearance of Elijah and Jonathon Morrow. The brothers were last seen attending a campus party at Kansas State University, before being reported missing the following Tuesday. Reports say....

I pause from glaring at Ben to watch the TV. I've been following this case discussion for a few weeks now. Both brothers disappeared one night and haven't been seen since. Not their car, not anything. Their phones were last pinged near a tower close to their school. Other than that, there hasn't been any trace of them.
A twenty-two-year-old guy and his nineteen-year-old brother both vanished without a trace. Police first suspected drugs or alcohol played a part, but that was adamantly ruled out by the boy's mother. Whenever I see an interview pop up featuring her, she keeps insisting her sons never drink or participate in drug taking. But that sometimes meant next to nothing. Parents didn't always know what their kids' extracurricular activities were. The strange part that suggests foul play is that there's been no activity on any of their social media accounts, not to mention their credit cards haven't had any activity on them.
"If Carling the Cannibal was still around, I'd say he got ahold of those guys," said Ben as we watched the report.
"What a nice thing to say," I mocked.
"What? I'm not being mean. I'm just sayin', this kinda crap is something you'd expect a freaky killer to pull off."
I turn my attention back to the TV before a familiar ring comes from the kitchen. The landline is ringing. I'm puzzled because I remember the phone wasn't working earlier. Ben looks towards the kitchen as well. "I thought you said it wasn't working?" He asks as if answering my thoughts.
"It wasn't," I say as I head to the kitchen to answer. I flip on all the lights as I head to the kitchen, wondering about the possibility of Sarah or Parker being awake and messing around with the phones. Checking the caller ID, unavailable reads back at me. I half entertain the idea of not answering. With the person in the window, and that creepy squirrel...My scary movie knowledge is telling me bad idea. But on the other hand, my will to avoid awkward conversation with Ben outweighs my horror movie paranoia.
"Stern residence," I answer promptly.
"Stern residence." My voice answers itself.
"Who's calling?"
"Who's calling?"
My own voice repeats itself yet again. I look to the phone and flick the receiver lightly. I put my ear back to it, no sound echoes back. Hanging up, I proceed to head back to the room. The phone rings shrilly once more, spooking me slightly. As I pick it up, it still says unavailable, so this time I answer if without saying anything. Silence echoes through the other end of the receiver. It's gritty and chillingly quiet.
"What's the matter, you don't want to talk?" A rough voice spoke. It was male and deliberately slow. I nearly drop the phone in surprise hearing the voice. Goosebumps tickle my arms. "Uh...Stern residence. Who's calling?"
"A friend." The eerie voice answers.
I blink a few times, letting that process. "Oh. Uh...Tom and Simone are out; may I take a message?"
"I didn't say I was looking for them."
"Okay..." I answer slowly, wondering if this person was intentionally being cryptic. "Are you trying to reach Nick?" I ask politely.
The massive kitchen felt even larger while alone. It's a beautiful room, with grand ceilings, a granite breakfast bar with a large variety of pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. You're reminded of a very fancy kitchen seen in a pier one magazine. But by how quiet it is throughout the room, it feels eerie.
"I'm not looking for Nick."
"Well, you have the wrong number, then. Have a good night!" I exclaim, clicking the phone off. Almost instantaneously, the phone rings again as I attempt to leave the room. Checking the ID, it's unavailable again.
This makes me pause. Striding over to the phone, I click it off. I head back to the room, to find Lauren still fast asleep on the couch in the living room. I leave to make my way back to the living room only to find Ben's not here, and the movie is just about to end. The phone blares again. Heading back into the kitchen I look to it, and once more, the phone reads unavailable. I click on, and then click off, shaking my head. I stare at the now-silent phone, almost silently daring it to ring again.
It doesn't. No more calls come. I wait for a few minutes, simply staring at the phone; waiting. But no more calls come. I walk into the room to explore movie options. But I'm limited not horror movies or kid flicks. I'm not up for any scary movie, and the only others the Stern's mostly keep around are silly children flicks. Granted, this was amusing. I could either watch the Texas chainsaw massacre, or a movie about princess's or talking cars. No middle ground. I decide to play around on my cell phone, and I decide to try my luck at making another call.
I speed dial Tyler's phone and wait. I feel I'm ready to finally ready to end things once and for all.
The call goes through as though it was answered, but the other end is muffled. "Hello?" A thump occurs, followed by heavy breathing muffled through the receiver.
"Ty?" I ask.
"Ty's not here right now...May I take a message?"
A freezing cold runs down my spine as a realization hits me. It's the same creepy voiced man who was calling the house earlier. Anger replaces my fear instantly. It's Halloween. Tyler's been at that party all night. These phone calls were just a prank Ty was pulling. Although I feel relief, it's quickly eclipsed by anger.
"Silence isn't a message." The eerie voice remarks, as more muffled noise is heard from the background.
"Oh, I am so done right now, put Tyler on the phone!" I hiss furiously.
"But I want to play a game."
"Put him on, NOW."
"First, we'll play a game."
This sounded like the opening of a cheesy horror film. I hang up the phone, deciding I was no longer invested in speaking to Tyler. I would break up with him on Monday, maybe even before my first class of the day. The thought had me almost cheerful as I decided to start cleaning up the room.
Cleaning was always my stress reliever, and it kept me from being alarmed by Tyler and his eerie voiced friend. I was in the process of folding throw blankets the kids were using before a sudden tap on my shoulder makes me jump. I shudder in surprise to find Ben standing behind me.
"Stop doing that!" I yelp as Ben has his raised his palms upwards to show he comes in peace.
"Will you stop being so jumpy."
I nearly stick my tongue out childishly. "Then stop hiding behind me!"
"I'm not hiding. I said your name twice, you seem to be lost in thought. I wanna know why you turned off the house alarm."
The tiny hairs on the back of my neck suddenly slid erect. My wide eyes shot to him. "I didn't."
Ben's eyes narrow. "You didn't?"
"No..." I pause as Ben hurries to the nearest window. He discreetly starts looking through the blinds. "Cass, I think someone's in the backyard."
"The guy in the mask?"
"I don't know, the lights have gone off. I went past a window, and I saw someone walking past, it looks like more than one person. I went to check the house alarm and I found it off."
"It's only Tyler and his stupid friends."
Ben looked at me, bewildered. "Why would Tyler be skulking around the backyard wearing a mask?"
"I think he's trying to scare me." I proceed to tell him about the prank caller, everything that was said, and when I had called Tyler's the phone the man answered.
"You think it's him in the backyard?"
"I'm assuming. Just turn the alarm back on. If those idiots try coming in, at least they'll notify the police."
Ben nods, heading towards the hallway to set it. But he stops in surprise, his jaw dropping at something he sees. Since I was behind him, I release a small yelp, before grabbing onto his arm in a panicky movement. It's a move made from fear. The fear of seeing someone's face pressed up against the window. A very angry looking woman is in the window next to the front door. It's as though she's peering inside searching for someone. Once she spots us, she starts furiously knocking on the window to grab our attention. I release a groan. Rosalita. The Stern's housekeeper, and one of the most unfriendly individuals I've ever encountered. I grimace as Ben opens the door to let her in.
Rosalita has never been friendly in the months I've seen her around working for the Sterns. Not only was she unfriendly to me but to everyone around her, even the children of her employers. I also -personally- thought she dressed inappropriately for a housekeeper.
I remember the last time I had watched the kids here at the house, it had been two months previously. Rosalita had been dressed in a skintight red dress that exposed far too much cleavage, and only reached her mid-thigh. She also wore three-inch high wedge sandals, all while she was washing dishes. I half suspected she was trying to gain the attention of Mr. Stern, but part of me also wondered if she was trying to garner the attention of his son Nick.