Ferry had met Mrs. Cobbs only once, at the Fires of the Hills. The same evening he had found out her story. The old lady was rarely leaving her home. And her niece, Tootsie, who must have been sixty-years-old, was the only one who took care of her. They lived together in the old, gloomy house, so different from the jolly brick houses around.

"Ferry, let's go!" he heard Ben whispering again.

"Why are you whispering?" he asked Ben without taking his eyes away from the house.

"Because they say the old lady is a bit... weird," Matilda answered, also whispering. "Long time ago, when she could walk, she was wandering the Shepherd's Forest, wailing and calling for her long-lost daughter. Shortly after the disappearance of her little girl, her husband also vanished. Some people in town say she murdered him in a rage crisis caused by the disappearance of their only child. And that she hid his body in the basement," Matilda added with a mystery tone in her voice. "Nobody is ever visiting. The old hag is crazy, I'm telling you. We should go! You know what they say about Halloween night, that the spirits of the dead awaken. I wouldn't want to burst in upon her dead husband's ghost," she said, shivering.

But Ferry couldn't budge. He remembered people in town also talked about Lavender Sky as if she was some lunatic. And boy, they were wrong!

He headed towards the house, not minding his friends' plea. He pushed the heavy, rusty gate which opened with a long creak. The garden looked abandoned, invaded by weeds and shrubs with tangled roots coming out of the ground spread like tentacles. A sweet, fruity scent greeted him the moment he stepped into the garden. That was odd because autumn was long gone. No fruit could have resisted that long. A soft tinkling, at every blast, made the whole scene look even creepier.

"Give me your flashlight," he asked Ben, this time whispering. Somehow, his courage faded away.

Ben handed him his pocket flashlight of which he was never apart. He was using it to lighten every dark corner, hoping someday he would meet an alien.

When Ferry turned on the flashlight and put the light on the old trees in the garden, the strangest landscape revealed itself under their eyes. On the empty branches, there were hanging the sweetest temptations a child could ever imagine. Lollypops of all sizes, candy apples, wood spoons with dripping honey. And jars of confiture, jam, marmalade made from all the fruits in the world. None of the jars had lids, and they were hanging on ropes, swinging like in a dance on the music made by their own clinking. The smell was just as inviting. Apples, walnuts, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pears, even roses, and acacia. And yet, no child dared to jump the rusty fence into the dark garden.

Ferry stepped carefully over the traps of the tangled roots. He didn't want to fall into such a sinister place. Matilda and Ben followed him, also in awe in front of such an eerie, yet alluring landscape.

"What are those things hanging from the trees?" Matilda asked pointing at the sweets no one dared to touch. "Do you think they are for the children who come treat-or-treating?"

"No," said Ferry, "they're traps."

"Traps?!!" the girl wondered. "For what?"

"For fairies. They're sweet fairy traps. But they will never catch a fairy."

"Why not?"

"Because fairies don't have wings," he said without realizing.

"How do you know that?" Matilda asked.

Her question was still floating in the air when Ferry headed towards the door of the gray house.

"Ferry, what do you think you're doing?" Ben whispered.

"Ben's right," said Matilda, forgetting to whisper. "We shouldn't be here."

But they were already at the door on the top of the stone stairs, and Ferry knocked on the old, oak door with the cast iron door knocker, the shape of a lion's head. The knock echoed. Then an absolute, tomb-like silence fell.

"Even the weirdest people deserve to be visited by children on Halloween night," said Ferry.

Eventually, they heard doors opening inside followed by dragging footsteps.

"Go away!" a faraway voice echoed, looking as if coming from another world. "Children are not welcomed here!"

But Ferry knocked again.

"Are you out of your mind?" Matilda argued, still whispering. "What if the old lady turns up with an ax and haggles us all? I'm out of here," she said going down the stairs. "Let's go, Ben!"

But before they could reach the last stair, a rattling voice stopped them on their way, "Let them in, Tootsie!"

The door creaked as if wailing and opened with difficulty as if the gate of a fortress.

The hallway was long, barely illuminated by a light bulb which spread a dusty light around. Tootsie, Mrs. Cobbs' niece, vanished from their sight almost immediately and all they could see was her silhouette muffled up in a dressing gown, melting into the darkness at the end of the hallway. Then, that tomb-like silence again.

The children waited in front of the open door, not daring to move or talk. Soon, they could hear a rhythmic sound. At first fainted, then louder. Closer. Ben almost screamed when on the other side of the hallway Mrs. Cobbs's silhouette appeared. The old lady was leaning on a walking stick, but nothing from her poise made her look helpless. She was wearing a white, silk blouse with lace sleeves and collar, and a black skirt, touching the floor as she walked. On the collar of the dress, she had a big cameo brooch with a hummingbird and small flowers. Her hair was styled in a perfect bun, as usual.

"Trick or treat," Ferry dared to speak.

The old lady blinked.

"Who do we have here?" she asked in a rattling voice.

" Matilda Harper, Benjamin Knight, and Ferry Donovan, Ma'am," answered Ferry.

"I'm afraid I only have some apple pie," she said while handing them a small package wrapped in an old newspaper.

"Thank you, Ma'am!" said Matilda, taking the package from her hands. "Ferry, can we go now?" she whispered to Ferry.

Mrs. Cobbs's dingy eyes couldn't see very well anymore. And yet, the old lady was staring. She was staring at Ferry.

"You are one of the Unseen..." she said in a quavering voice. "Do you know what happened to my Poppy? Please, tell me... What happened to my little girl?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about..." Ferry mumbled.

"You're one of the Unseen..." she repeated and a knotty finger came closer to Ferry's face.

"Ferry, let's go!" Matilda almost begged, pulling him by the coat's sleeve. Ben had already hit the road.

They ran out of Mrs. Cobbs's garden, their hearts racing. The old woman was still in the doorway with her hand pointing at something, "Please, bring my Poppy back!..." she shouted behind them, and her voice sounded dark as if coming from another world.

The children ran until they reached the central square and stopped under a street lamp to catch their breath.

"I told you we shouldn't go to that mad lady's house," Matilda quarreled after they came to their senses.

"But what did she mean by saying Ferry was one of the Unseen?" Ben asked, still paled-face.

"I think she meant she couldn't see him very well. You know she's almost blind," answered Matilda.

Ben was still confused, "But what's Ferry got to do with the disappearance of her daughter?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" Matilda burst. "Crazy people say crazy things. Now let's go home, I'm all frozen," she nagged.

"Let's go home then," Ferry finally said.

They walked in silence, too shaken to say a word. Yet Ferry felt something was wrong. A feeling of unease came upon him with every step he took. Then, he remembered having that strange feeling the whole evening—the feeling someone was watching. He felt weak and he could barely walk. He then noticed his friends also looked not feeling well. He thought maybe it was because of the fright at Mrs. Cobbs's house.

"I don't feel too good..." Matilda whispered, stopping all of a sudden.

"Me neither..." Ben added. "Maybe we ate too many candies..."

But it wasn't that. A few houses away, someone was hiding behind a tree on the other side of the street. The street lamps on the side went down for a few seconds and then started flickering. Their light was strong enough to lighten up the figure behind the tree. It looked like a tall man, taller than any other man in Goodharts, for that matter. He was watching them. He wore a long, dark coat, and his face seemed hidden behind a white mask. He looked like... floating. And Ferry had the funniest feeling that it was the same presence at the playground, a few days ago. The figure in Billy's photo.

Soon, Matilda noticed him, too. "Who's that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Who?" asked Ferry starting to walk again.

"That man behind the tree," she said looking back.

"It's probably someone coming home from a Halloween party," Ferry tried to calm her down.

They kept walking, looking behind from time to time. The silhouette seemed to follow. At some point, it even looked as if coming closer. The white mask was actually a cloth covering his face. But to their horror, the face had no features, as if the man had a perfectly oval face.

The streets were empty now. And the strange apparition wouldn't lose them out of its sight.

"I don't like it, Ferry..." Ben lamented, almost crying.

"Me neither," Matilda said. "I can barely breathe and I'm feeling sick," she added in a faint voice.

Ferry took their words for it. He felt the same way. And the stranger was getting closer. Ferry could feel the danger on the back of his neck.

"RUN!!!" he shouted with all his strength. "And stay together!"

His friends didn't think twice, and they burst into running. Ferry could run faster than anyone in town. He would have definitely lost his pursuer. But he couldn't leave his friends behind.

They ran on the back streets, hoping the creature would lose their track. But the silhouette was not slowing down. And the children were already tired. They had thrown away their costumes, the pumpkin lanterns, and the candy bags. But that didn't help much.

They were now running on strange, unfamiliar streets. When they thought the creature lost them, they realized they had reached a dead end. A tall, brick wall was rising between them and their salvation. Too tall to be climbed. They stopped, barely breathing. Ferry could have jumped over the wall in one leap. But his friends were too exhausted for such an effort.

Shortly after, the silhouette appeared at the end of the street. He had found them. He headed towards them, floating. Matilda and Ben crowded in a corner, yammering and keeping their eyes shut. Ferry set in front of them, protecting his friends with his frail body. But that strange presence, which looked now like a shadow, was getting closer.

Ferry looked around. There was no way out. They were in an old marketplace, with crowded shops. Ferry recognized the fish market which he had visited with his mother a couple of times. The market was open only two days a week and now it was empty. The light of a street lamp was falling on the window of a store where a big fish was hanging from an iron hook. That was the only light on the street. That and the moonlight which was falling a few steps away.

The creature was just about to reach them. It spread a mold and putridity smell. Ferry couldn't look at its face. He felt that if he looked, he would lose the last drop of courage he had. That if watched that face, his soul would be consumed by darkness and despair. Yet he couldn't take his eyes away from its sallow hand. The hand was pointing at him, just like Mrs. Cobbs's hand did a while ago. A four-fingered hand, which ended with black, crooked nails, sharp as knife edges.The hand was getting closer. Ferry felt that dark street spinning around him. But then, something came to his mind. There was something else with them on that street—the moonlight. With his last strength, he dragged his friends into the moonlight. Then, he waited.

And to his amazement, the hand retreated, as if burnt by moonlight; as if the moonlight would have been an unbreakable fortress built to protect them. The creature moved back, a yelp of a wounded beast emerging from his throat. Then, it vanished, consumed by the darkness it came from. 

Author's note:

The media accompanying this chapter is a representation of the Slender Man. It was the closest I could find to depict the dark character of this chapter. I hope you are intrigued :)

Can't wait to see what you think of Ferry's latest adventure. Also, don't forget to vote! Thank you!