The cold night air sent shivers down my spine as I stood at the door, the candy bowl shaped like a pumpkin in my hand quaking as I stared at the fine, curled, brunette lock of hair upon the porch. The front yard was empty. The only sound was the screaming of the gate as it swung back and forth in the cool breeze that wrung out above the echoes of children's chatter and laughter.
Squinting into the light that erupted around the yard filled with flower beds and carved Jack O' Lanterns with their flickering candles within their stomachs, I slowly made my way through towards the gate. Looking side to side down the empty street, nothing and nobody was in sight, but the sound of children still echoed from a few streets over. Closing the gate gently, I turned around and made my way back into my house, closing the door behind me with the lock of hair between my fingers.
I wondered what this was about, why it was here and who put it on the porch. I didn't know how they had disappeared so fast as I sat on the couch, continuing to watch the remainder of Scream.
With every unknown sound from outside, I jumped and jolted in my seat, looking out of the window behind me to find the wind rustling the tree outside or a stray cat mewing, jumping on the fence. I let out a breath, panting as my heart hammered against my chest, a chuckle escaping my lips at how silly I was being.
It was just a lock of hair. It could mean nothing.
From behind me, I heard children's laughter, cold breath hitting my neck at the sound. Leaping away, my hairs sticking like pinpricks upon my neck, I turn around and see nothing. Yet, the sound encapsulated the area, becoming a creepy symphony to the Halloween night.
A light tug on the sleeve of my sweater drifted my attention away to the newspapers that were stacked upon the dining room table, years of research all piled up carelessly and untidily. A phantom wind blew over a newspaper, the pages tumbling in the air until I caught it with my hands. Reading the headline, shivers went down my spine, my body frozen in fear.
Five Children Die in Tragic Car Accident on Halloween
I look out towards the door, at the same moment a light knock echoes through the lonely house, the sound of children tittering ominously outside. Their voices were mere echoes of the past, the only thing left of them a lock of hair as the remainder of their bodies and the car were burnt to a crisp according to the article that I skimmed through.
Part of me wondered whether this would all be over soon, whether their restless souls would pester someone else's home instead of mine. But the relentless giggles and idle chatter continued until I fell asleep on the couch, restless and tormented.
Word count = 499
Written for the Horror prompt, The Lock On The Floor, in the Halloween Vault 3D
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Spookerella | Horror Short Stories
Horror- Created for the purpose of the Halloween Vault - On Halloween night, things always go bump in the night in the lonely pages of Spookerella. Whilst the dead wander the earth, haunting those who are still among the living, Spookerella waits for a fo...
