Horror Town

Strange Night

Charlie and Raven continued trekking towards Plants 'N' Things. Charlie always thought it was a bit funny that the flower shop sat on West Packer Ave., mainly because it was right across from the Volunteer Fire Department. If anything ever happened, all Jenna had to do was go across the street and just poke her head inside.
The two boys were just passing the park and making their way across the street, when Charlie's eyes randomly shifted towards the Dandy Mini Mart that sat in the middle of all the commotion.
"You think the Dandy's haunted now"? Charlie questioned.
"What"?
"The Dandy. You think it's haunted by the girl who worked there"?
"Charlotte Addams".
"Huh"?
"That was her name. The girl who worked there. Dad likes to use their names, a sign of respect, he told me".
"Makes sense. But you didn't answer my question".
Raven stared at the small building and shrugged. "I don't know. Nothin' weird ever happened to me whenever I went in there".
Finally the two reached the front door of the flower shop. Charlie stepped onto the large front step and pushed open the door, a light twinkle of a bell followed it. The scent of flowers and scented candles hit their noses as they walked in.
"I'll be right there"! Yelled a voice from the back of the shop.
The boys meandered around the shop, looking at the flowers, the stuffed animals, and the Halloween themed trinkets on the shelves displayed by the front window. Slowly they made it to the counter, which was topped by papers and ribbons, even a couple of orange and black balloons. Charlie lazily looked to the small room to the left and noticed Gerty Henderson sitting at her desk, working on some Halloween wreaths. She looked up from her work and smiled brightly.
"Well hello, Charlie! She's just about done". Gerty was a small, older woman with rectangular glasses and grey hair.
"Jenna, before you go make sure you come get your check! So, boys, how was your last day of school before Horror Town".
"Boring really. Just a bunch of quizzes and note-taking. But still good".
"I like to hear that. We've had a pretty slow day here ourselves".
Jenna stepped down behind the counter and pulled her sweatshirt on. She smiled and greeted her brother and his friend as she asked over to Gerty, who handed her a check. "Here you go, hon"
"Thank you. When would you like me back"?
"How about next Wednesday"?
"I'll be there! Have a good day and have fun at Horror Town"!
"Back at you, sweetie! Stay safe"!
Jenna opened the door and held it for the two boys. She closed the door behind her and led the boys to her car.
"Oh, Jen, can we give Raven a ride home", Charlie asked.
"Of course. North Elmer right"?
"Yep".
The trio hopped into Jenna's car and strapped in. The ride was relatively silent, opposed to the few questions she asked the two teens. In no time, they pulled in front of Raven's house. The boy hopped out, thanking Jenna and waving goodbye. The siblings watched as he hopped up the steps and disappear into the house.
Jenna pulled away from the curb and looked around the block. "I just gotta go and cash my check, then we'll stop by a drive-thru. Mom and Dad have a meeting after work. So, your stuck with me for a few hours". She playfully nudged Charlie, who chuckled in response.
Jenna pulled into the bank and drove up to the deposit lane. Charlie pulled out his phone while Jenna stuck placed her check in the capsule and watched it ascend the tube. Texts flashed across Charlie's screen from a group chat he had with his friends.

Gwen: Decorating is taking forever! 😩
Tawny: I thought you signed on to this. Said that you loved it??
Jake: Maybe there's not enough boys partaking 😂
Gwen: No, not that 😡! However there are a bunch of asshole seventh graders that are helping, or should I say, not helping! All their doing is talking and screwing around on their phones!
Charlie: Beat em' up! 😂
Tawny: 😂
Jake: 😂😂
Raven: 😂
Gwen:😒. I can't tho, Mr. Porter would let me have it. Anyway. I gotta go. See ya!
Jake: Don't kill anyone!!

Charlie chuckled and turned off his phone. "What's funny"? Jenna asked, putting her wallet back in her sweatshirt pocket.
"Gwen", Charlie answered. "She's helping with the School is out, FOR GOOD attraction and most of the helpers aren't helping. That and Jake told her not to kill anyone".
"Oh", Jenna snickered. "What do you want for dinner"?
"We haven't had Burger King in a while".
"Sold".
Charlie studied the ornaments in his front lawn as the car slowed to a stop in front of the house. They had their carved pumpkins, four plastic gravestones with the family's names and monsters on them, plastic monster silhouettes in the four upstairs windows, your average run-of-the-mill flying ghouls hanging from the front porch, the cherry blossom tree, and the lamp post, and finally a large plastic pumpkin that covered the light.
The siblings hopped out of the car and carried their dinner up the shared driveway and in through the back porch door. They ate, then they put on 'Casper'. About a third of the way in, Jenna spoke up.
"That reminds me, I forgot to tell you what happened today. It was around lunch and me and Gerty were wanting pizza, so I offered to run to the Dandy and get some. She agreed and I walked over. Well, while I was paying for our drinks and waiting on the pizza, about half of the pints of ice cream in the freezer by the windows came flying off the shelves and hit the door so hard it flew open. I didn't see it but I heard it. When I turned around they were all over the floor and rolling into the isles. Scared the hell out of me and everyone else in there. One guy just said 'screw this' and walked out. One of the other employees thought it was a co-worker just screwing around, but we would have seen him if that was the case. That and all the pints flew off at once according to another worker. Well, I got our lunch and I got out of that place. Anything weird happen to you today"?
Charlie shook his head. "Not to me, but a girl in my study hall went to the bathroom and said that she heard a girl humming in the stall next to her. She didn't really think about it, but as she was washing her hands the girl started crying. She asked the girl if she was ok but she didn't answer. She opened the door and there was no one there. The crying stopped as soon as the door opened. That's when she came back and told everyone".
"Ok, spooky doesn't even begin to describe that".
"I know right".
As soon as the movie finished, their parents pulled into the driveway and walked through the back door.
"It's a cold one out there! So, kids, anything weird happen to you guys today", Cal Stevens asked with interest.
"A classmate heard a girl humming and crying in the bathroom".
"Half a freezer of ice cream flew off the shelves by themselves".
"Eeek. Well your father and I were at the meeting tonight, all the papers came flying off the table. Everyone almost ran out of the room, but we managed to finish the meeting", Lori Stevens, recanted.
"Wow, Dad. You didn't jump out a window", Jenna teased.
"I would have but I froze".
        The small family laughed and migrated to the living room and put on 'The Nightmare before Christmas'. After the movie ended, Cal, Lori, and Jenna went upstairs to bed. Charlie stayed behind and watched a few more movies, all the while pondering the fact that his whole family experienced something bizarre. Charlie chose to ignore it, as he headed upstairs to bed.
        Charlie woke up around two in the morning. He groaned and dragged himself to his feet and made his way to the bathroom. Once he he came out of the bathroom, he sleepily trudged back to his room.
         Before he even crossed the threshold to his room, he heard footsteps coming from downstairs. At first he thought it was Jenna or one of his parents getting something from the kitchen. He checked his parents' bedroom, only to find them both asleep. He walked into Jenna's room, praying that he would find her bed empty. His heart dropped to his stomach when he saw his sister's sleeping form.
Panic rose into the sophomore's throat. He was about to wake up his Dad when the footfalls stopped altogether. 'Shit', Charlie thought. 'They heard me'. Charlie held his breath. He was to scared to risk waking up his parents. Charlie held his breath and waited for the footsteps to either walk out the door, or worse, walk up the stairs. It was quiet for a few agonizing moments. The only things he could hear was the breathing of his family members and the rapid beating of his own heart.
Quietly, Charlie released the breath he had been holding. Was it just his imagination playing tricks on him in his half awake state? It couldn't be he heard it clear as day. He stood there frozen for a few minutes before daring to move away from his spot in the middle of the hallway. He was beginning to think maybe he did really just hear things. That hope was quickly dashed when he heard a new noise come from downstairs. He heard the faint sounds of whispering. A conversation, more or less. The thing that caught his attention the most was the fact that the voices didn't belong to adults, but to kids.
Charlie couldn't make out any words but he could tell they were discussing something. Curiousness replaced his fear, and he began to slowly descend the creaky steps. He could still hear the voices as he stood on the landing and looked into the dark space of the living room. Charlie had just stepped off the last stair when a sharp 'shh' caused him to freeze. He looked to his right, staring at the doorway that led to the kitchen. He was about to inch his way into the next room when another sharp hush directed his attention back to the living room. Slowly he moved to the small table that held a lamp, which Charlie quickly flicked on. Light flooded the room immediately. All was quiet again.
The whispers started back up, this time they were quieter then they had been. Charlie slinked to the dining room but he found nothing. Only his own reflection in the giant mirror that hugged the wall across from him and a plastic bat skeleton hanging from the chandelier. He half expected to see two kids with black eyes staring back at him. Luckily, there wasn't. But he did hear the whispering continue. Slowly, but frantically, Charlie searched the entire downstairs. Yet the voices seemed to move to a new location whenever he entered a room. He even checked the back porch to ensure the door to the screened in area was latched. Which it was. And the door to the house was locked and dead bolted, as was the front door and the cellar door on the side of the house.
'How the hell did they get in the house? And how are they evading me this easily if someone's in here'? Frustrated, Charlie started to walk to the phone in the living room to call the police when loud, running footsteps ran past him, through the front door, and down the front porch steps. Charlie ran to the door and looked out the window. He could faintly see two small figures run across the street, threw the empty lot between his neighbors' houses, then disappeared before they reached the alley. He couldn't make out any details about them, but they were definitely children.
Shaken, Charlie moved the curtain of the window back into place and backed away from the door. Not wanting to stay downstairs any longer, the boy flicked off the lamp and made his way back upstairs.
He checked his family once more, amazed that the whole ordeal hadn't waken them up. To Charlie every small noise was deafening, and the invisible figures running out of the house was so loud it should have woken them up. Numbly, he walked back to his room and turned on the bedside lamp he had before shutting the door. Had that really just happened? A not only did he hear footsteps that made the wood in his old house creak, but he heard voices. He could have sworn they were right next to him as he went for the phone. The most frightening thing about the whole thing was watching the retreating figures disappear before his own eyes.
Charlie tremble as he tangled himself back into the covers and attempted to sleep again as he listened for anymore noises within the house. But he heard nothing, except his own heartbeat, once again.