The Haunted Mask Part 3

Chapter 1: New Kid on the Block

"Come on Noah hurry up!" Carly Beth calls from the bottom of the stairs.

"Don't rush him, Carly Beth," her mother scolds her. "If he hurries, he might forget something."

"But Sabrina is waiting for me."

"She can wait a few extra minutes."

"Plus, I bet Steve and Chuck that biking to school was faster than taking the bus."

"How much is at stake?" her mother asks.

"All of my Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Fudge bars."

"I thought you weren't going trick or treating this year."

"I'm not, but Katrina's family is holding a Halloween Party and they always give out the best candy bars as prizes."

"Oh, that's right, Noah got invited too. I was hoping that you might be able to take Noah to it."

Carly Beth groans. "Mom... it's bad enough I have to take him to school but on Halloween. All my friends are going to be there, and I'll be the only one who has to his baby brother along."

"I'm not a baby!" her brother says, finally coming down the stairs.

"It's about time," the girl groans, grabbing her helmet and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm going to lose the bet."

"Carly Beth, you know your brother is not a baby," her mother scolds her. "I want you to start taking more responsibility around the house and keeping an eye on your brother is one of them."

"Why do I always have to be the one who has to be watched?" Noah grumbles, crossing his arms as his mother kisses his head and zips up his backpack.

"Because you're a pipsqueak that's why" Carly Beth teases before going outside to grab her bicycle.

"CARLY BETH!" her mother shouts, hurrying after her daughter. "You take that back, that was a mean thing to say."

"It may be mean, but it's the truth," she says, putting her helmet on.

"IS NOT!" Noah shouts back, going to get his own bike.

"Carly Beth, Noah is the only brother you're going to have one day when the odds are stacked against you, it's a good idea to have someone who will have your back."

"Yeah, yeah," the preteen says, pedalling down the driveway. "Hurry up Noah!"

"Carly Beth wait for me!" the youngest sibling calls out, trying to catch up with his sister.

"Gotta be fast pipsqueak!" she calls back, biking through the piles of the thick piles of leaves that lined the sidewalks.

All the trees in the neighbourhood were shedding their vegetation in preparation for the coming winter. Red, yellow, orange, and brown piles of leaves were mounded across people's lawns and on the surrounding sidewalks. In addition to the bare trees, there were ghosts, pumpkins, bats, spiders, gravestones, and witches being added to everyone's windows and porches in preparation for the coming holiday. While Carly Beth liked this time of year, Halloween had long since been a holiday that she just had to get through. After her encounter with the infamous Haunted Mask and nearly being a monster for the rest of her life, she had long since learned that scaring people was not worth it; that real evil was out there and how dangerous it could be. She knew Steve had learned a similar lesson just last year. Both were still shaken up by their experiences and knew better than to use something they didn't understand.

As she pedals down to the end of the street, she spots her best friend Sabrina waiting with her bike.

"Where were you?" Sabrina asks as she tries to match her friend's speed. "Steve and Chuck will surely beat us now."