Halloween: Day 11

We prowl the aisle looking for nothing in particular. As we make our way to the candy aisle a man in all black stops at the end of the aisle and peers at us with a grueling smile. I stare at him for a second and smile back. Lila tugs my arm and pulls my attention to the bag of candy that sits on the shelf.

"That man..." I start but I don't finish.

"What man?" Lila looks at the end of the bare aisle and then back at me, confused.

"Never mind."

We wander around the rest of the empty store, howling with laughter as we throw rubber balls at each other. Then I see him again, as he walked out of the outdoors aisle. He turns and stops when he sees us. This time he doesn't smile, he just stares.

"Lila there he is."

But as I focus more on her face I realize that something is wrong. She looks concerned, but not for me, she's looking past me. I say her name but she doesn't respond. Her eyes seem glazed over with fascination.

"Remy, he's coming towards us."

I look past her, and see the man standing still. What does she mean he's coming towards us, and how could she possibly know anyway she's not even looking...

I turn around, shocked to see another man dressed in all black, his hood up and a black cloth draped over his face so all that is visible is his eyes. He does come toward us with a heavy but urgent step. This isn't good.

I don't think I just run. I run and hope that Lila is following me. My lungs burn and I gasp for air, soon I'm reassured that Lila followed me when I hear her gasping as well. I press forward with all my strength but my legs still quiver.

I take a turn and somehow end up in the Halloween aisle with all of the costumes and decorations. We slow down to a walk, every other second glancing behind us, until we stop.

"Who do you think they were?"

My heart accelerates as I think of the answer. "Whoever they were, they aren't safe. We should leave."

Lila nods and we start walking towards the end of the aisle. My heart rate is starting to slow down as I think of home and safety within my grasp. Then the man walks to the edge of the aisle and stands in our way. I give a quick back glance and my heart racks against my ribs as I see no way out. Another man in all black with cloth over his face stands in the way too. We are trapped.

When I turn back around the man is two steps closer and my heart is two beats faster as well. He gives a crooked, demented smile and Lila screams from behind me. I tell myself not to look back but I do anyway. The man with the cloth holds her limp body in her arms with a cloth covering her mouth.

My eyes spring open as I feel a pair of hands around me and then a cloth covers my mouth too. The lights begin to dim and the etched outline of Lila's limp body is the last thing I see before the lights go off.