You woke up with a loud noise coming from downstairs. Apparently, your second day in Haddonfield was looking quite interesting, thanks to the events of last evening, so you quickly changed clothes to find out what was this time.

«Maybe, mom killed grandma?» You joked on your own, yawning as you walked down the stairs. But your step stopped when you noticed the front door was wide open.

You complained about the cold from the outside and moved to close it, when someone rushed past you with lightning speed.

«What the—!»

You gasped, thinking it was an intruder and for a second, you thought it was the same guy at the Myers house, after catching you spying last night...

But you blinked in surprise when you saw the silent boy from the afternoon before.

«...you shouldn't break into people's houses like this, there's a bell for that you know?» You protested, a little less agitated, but not happy knowing that a stranger entered the house as and when he wanted.

This time, the boy nodded his head as if he understood his mistake and was about to apologise.

«I didn't mean to scare you. Just came to deliver these to your grandmother.» He had a toolbox in hand «I wanted to return it to her, but she wasn't here...the door was already open when I arrived.»

Although there was something strange in his last sentence, you just took the toolbox without any fuss.

«I see...thank you then.» You really hoped you wouldn't find any more weird surprises.

«My name's David.» The big boy added by staring at you with a firm expression «I'm sorry if I scared you. I shouldn't have gone into your house without warning...»

«It's fine. By the way, I'm Y/n.» You reached out his hand to finish the introductions and fortunately, the boy didn't run away like last time and reciprocated your gesture, showing a soft smile on that face covered by the black tufts of his hair. You didn't know why, but that expression couldn't put you at ease, like it was something unreadable to you.

What if he was the guy you saw in the window?

After David had left the house, your mother appeared with a screwdriver in hand.

«Who was that boy?» She asked with curious eyes after seeing him walk away from you «I saw him yesterday too, I think he's a neighbor of your grandma. He seems a big cute anyway.»

«Cute? Seriously?» You sighed with a hand on your face, always she wanted to encourage you to look for a boyfriend «Maybe you've forgotten that we're staying here for three days, but do you still think I'd be able to find the person of my life here, in Haddonfield? Please mom, and put that stuff away or you'll end up gouging out someone's eye!»

«I was just fixing a drawer in the kitchen! You know, your grandma doesn't want knives around the house.»

You didn't know that honestly, but didn't say anything, it was normal to keep potentially dangerous objects out of reach, especially for a quiet old woman...

But your grandmother was far from old, much less quiet and when you noticed the drawers were locked, you sensed that something wasn't quite right. But the situation became more tense, because your father was forced to leave for work reasons, promising he would be back by evening; you were confident that the afternoon would be peaceful, instead you witnessed the usual argument between the two women.

«Please mom, what if you needed a knife at the last minute? Can't believe you still have this phobia...»

Your mother said it in an almost witty tone as she used the key to open one of them under the frowning eyes of the older one, definitely she was pissed that her daughter was going through her things now.

«That's why there are paddles for that, I don't want to risk a knife falling on my foot!» She answered by walking up to your mother to close the drawer again. You just sighed without intruding and with the phone in your hand, trying to kill time, until the next words made you look up from the screen.

«Do you want someone else to get hurt–?»

«I just want to bake a cake with it.» Your mother cut her off, not as angry as last night and finally, your grandmother stepped aside to let her do as she pleased; as she watched her daughter Emily with knife in hand, she couldn't help but think how different that night could have been, if she had done something...anyway, you got up from the sofa and headed for the door.

«I think I'll go for a walk outside.»

You couldn't stand this weird situation anymore.

• ● •

For an autumn day, it wasn't that cold, but you were wearing a light jacket to protect you from the wind. As you were walking, a couple of cars passed or you met a person who looked at you with strange eyes, evidently the word "foreigner" was clearly written on your face...

Until someone spoke behind your back.

«...who are you?» The female voice asked and when you turned, a girl with dyed red hair appeared in your view and she appeared to be in her twenties, same age as you.

«Gosh, don't tell me you are...»

Her surprised expression made you annoyed, how it was possible in such a forgotten place like that there was someone who knew you? Anyway, you introduced yourself in a polite tone...

«My name's Y/n Dawson. But yes, I believe you know Mrs. Johnson over there...she's my grandmother.»

«I knew it! They told me there were new people in town, but I didn't think it was really them. That's quite a surprise...» She clapped her hands enthusiastically and you didn't understand why.

«Well, I just came to visit grandma with my family, nothing else.» You sighed a little, something told you that it was that David who spilled everything.

«...are you really sure there's nothing else?» When the girl said that, you stared dumbfounded at her side smirk.

«What do you mean?»

«Shall we take a walk? Oh and I'm Sarah, by the way!» She said walking a few steps in front of you, before stopping «But first of all, I'll tell you about the Myers family.»

You were confused now, what these people had to do with your family and why you knew nothing about it? Maybe, the quarrels between your mother and grandmother were related to this story, but you needed clear answers...

«I'm listening to you.» You just said, as you approached the unknown girl with a serious look.

• ● •

Apparently, Sarah didn't seem to know anything about your mother's relationship with the eldest daughter Judith, as she was only focusing on her younger brother, learning that his name was Michael.

«...that night, Judith Myers was found dead in her bedroom, murdered. No one really knows who did it, but there are rumors that his brother did it.»

She stared at you with wide eyes, as if it were a sort of game and in fact, you didn't believe her at all. On the contrary, you almost laughed at that.

«Wasn't he just a kid? How could he have done such a thing?» You retorted scornfully, obviously you didn't find any logical, until she raised her arm to simulate repeated stabs in the air.

«You see? That's how he killed her, with a kitchen knife–»

«This is absolutely ridiculous.» There, you raised a palm to stop her «And what's this supposed to have to do with my family? Why you bore my grandma with your silly stories?»

The girl looked at you without saying anything and there, you thought none of what she was saying was true, but just a way to attract and scare the most curious tourists...

«Because she knows about him as much as we do...»

«...him who?» You asked on that gray afternoon. Soon, the wind got colder and along with it, the fog gradually dropped.

«The Butcher of Haddonfield, of course.»

She walked on her own and in the background, you saw that you had arrived at the abandoned home of Myers «And if you're staying across the street now, I doubt you haven't seen him yet.»

True, you hadn't forgotten the silhouette you had seen the previous night and just looked towards the windows of the dark house...things were two, either your wild imagination, or it was the tasteless joke of these villagers. Either way you didn't like them at all.

«But you're right. They're just stories so don't think too much about them—»

*THUMP!*

Suddenly, both of you turned when heard a noise coming from inside the house. And then another one, this time you were sure there was someone inside.

But when the door opened, just the boy from earlier appeared.

«David, what the hell are you doing? You gave us a scare!» The girl with a red tint yelled at the black-haired boy, who was carrying a wooden beam on his shoulder. You had to admit that he was stronger than you thought.

«It wasn't my intention...» Again, he shyly met your gaze, aware that he had made another mistake «I was picking up something before this house falls apart.»

«So, you were also the one peeking in the window last night?» You asked getting a look from the girl next to you, as David didn't move an inch from the entrance.

«No. Why should I do that?» His expression was neutral when he said that, it didn't look like he was lying «I just walked in an hour ago. I wasn't here last night.»

There, David watched your expression turn thoughtful, but without saying anything and then, his eyes moved to Sarah, who seemed to be holding back a laugh instead.

«Ooh you definitely saw the Butcher of Haddonfield!» She said giving a confident pat on your shoulder «He must have got his eye on you—»

But she stopped when you stepped away.

«You are all crazy. Don't come near me or my family anymore, okay?» You warned watching both of them. David stayed silent but the other gasped in surprise.

«Come on, we were joking! It's Halloween tomorrow, we'll have to think about having fun!»

You had no desire to celebrate anything and simply walked away, heading to your grandmother's house.

«I don't want to hear any more bullshit.» You didn't know who was the craziest in that town anymore.

Later, when you returned home, you found your grandmother sitting on the sofa with the television on, inexplicably alone.

«Where is mom?» You asked as you took off your jacket to put it on the coat rack.

«She's gone shopping for tonight. Your father is not back yet, busy with work?» She asked, taking her eyes off the screen to look at you as you approached.

«Yes, but he had taken a few days off for this vacation. It must be something urgent...»

You scratched your head, not knowing how to act now that you were alone with the old woman.

«And you? Have you met anyone from the neighborhood?» She added standing up, pretending not to know «You know, they can be a little weird sometimes...»

«I had a simple chat with a girl.» You just shrugged, before going to get a glass of water in the kitchen «And the other guy, David, was doing some work inside that house...maybe to scare someone tomorrow night.»

You were joking, but as you were drinking, you noticed your grandmother was serious the whole time, now you thought it hadn't been a good idea to tell her about them.

«Not everyone is like you think, my dear. And others talk too much, but without knowing anything...choose who to trust very well, Y/n, and you know who I'm talking about too.»

After that, Mrs. Johnson disappeared into some room of the house, leaving you to reflect on her words. Was she saying to believe that girl's words? What about your mother then, was she really hiding something from you?

«I'll ask her when she gets back.» You thought for yourself, as you decided to go take a shower. That house was too cold for your liking...

• ● •

The splash of the water made you relax a bit. Just a day was passed, but you didn't like the atmosphere of that place and the more you breathed it, the more you felt like poisoned. By now, the thing which mattered most to you was knowing what your mother thought of all this and what connection it had with the present...

You turned the faucet when you heard the sound of a door opening.

«Grandma, the door!»

You reached out of the shower to grab the towel, but you didn't find it.

«Dammit.» You thought you brought it with you, anyway you left the bathroom to reach your room, covering yourself with the hands.

The towel was on the bed. You started rubbing your hair quickly before wrapping it around your body...not that there was anyone else in the house, of course, but you still had that feeling of being spied on and your fear increased when you heard the door again, this time slamming shut.

«Mom?!» You called out loud, but got no answer and this made you suspicious. Other than that, you didn't hear any other noise and your grandmother seemed to be gone.

What if someone had broken into the house?

With just the towel on you, you grabbed a hanger from the closet to take it with you and left the room. Your heart beat faster and with every step you took, a drop of water fell on the wooden floor from your wet hair.

«Maybe I'm getting paranoid.» You thought, after all the things people were telling you about that place, it was quite normal to worry and your thoughts went immediately to the mysterious shape...

You didn't check the window this time, but what if...

You stopped thinking about it when you heard footsteps downstairs.

«Who is there?!» You asked aloud, trying to hide your anxiety «Is that you, grandma?»

You didn't know where she was. There was still enough light outside to be able to see inside the house, but your discomfort was imagining yourself that you were suddenly alone, caught off guard by a possible intruder.

You gripped the hanger in your palm, as you descended the stairs. Once you arrived, you stopped to look around...

«W-what the hell is going on?! I swear, if this is a joke...»

But there, you shut up at the sound of some breaths which you couldn't locate, very deep and almost sinister. Now more than ever, your shivers were fueled more by fear than cold...

You narrowed your eyes. And when you opened them again, someone appeared in your view, moving quickly towards you; instinctively, you raised your arm with the object in the hand until you heard a familiar voice yell at you.

«Hey! What the hell are you doing Y/n?!»

You had no doubts about who that person was and almost hit your mother with the hanger.

«What were you trying to do? And tell me, why you're walking around the house in this state?» Of course, the woman noticed you were still without clothes, as you were trying to recover your senses after what happened to you.

«I...I thought there was someone inside.» You justified yourself with your voice and "weapon" lowered «Haven't you seen anyone? Where's grandma gone?»

«What? No, she's in the garden! I just got back from the supermarket.» She explained by placing her bags on the table «By the way, the door was locked, no one could get in there.»

You breathed a sigh of relief, luckily none of that was really true. Meanwhile, your mother looked around curiously.

«...don't tell me you let that boy–»

«Oh please mom! How can you think such a thing about me?!» Your eyes widened when she insinuated that you were hiding an affair with David and just thinking about it made you dizzy, as she grinned like an idiot.

«'Course yes, that boy is a real softie, no doubt you could be good together!» Seriously, you didn't understand why your mother kept fantasizing about a romance with that boy who was practically a stranger to you «Don't deny it my love, I know you like tough guys like him–»

«But that's another thing, I'm not directly interested in him!» Your mother snorted at that and you folded your arms impatiently «And remember, relationships aren't built in just three days.»

«I mean, I just thought it was a good idea to get to know him. Maybe, you would have become friends...»

Well, she didn't seem to give up so easily and you just sighed. At this point, you should have gone back to your room and put on something dry, but you didn't...there were too many questions you wanted to ask.

«Just today, I heard about a girl who was killed on Halloween night...I don't know whether or not to believe this story, but grandma said you knew Judith Myers very well...»

When she heard that name come out of your mouth, the woman stopped putting the food away in the fridge. She looked very upset now, but that didn't stop you from continuing to investigate on that event.

«You know the truth, right? So, was it her brother or not–»

«He's nothing to do with any of this.»

You stayed silent, now it was your turn to finally hear her version.

«Listen me well Y/n, there's a reason I ran out of this town...but whatever you've heard from those people, it's just wrong.» She placed her sweaty palms on the table for support, she really didn't know how to explain to you «Things are too complicated to explain now. Not even if I wanted to.»

«Well, I don't have to go anywhere, have all night for that.»

Your mother cracked a smile, surely you could be very stubborn most of the time. But yes, you wanted to know more details about this story, if only your grandmother hadn't appeared at that moment with the phone ringing in her hand.

«Your husband is here, Emily, he wants to talk to you.»

Your mother composed herself before grabbing the phone and talking to your father a few meters away.

«And you want to get sick or what? Go change now!» Your grandmother's scolding was enough to convince you to go back upstairs to get dressed, interrupting that speech once again.

But was it really worth it? It would have been Halloween soon. And the next day, you would go back to your usual life, forgetting what had happened there...

No lights were on in the Myers home this time. Yet, something told you The Shape was there, staring at you in the middle of the darkness...that's what you called that thing and again, a cold shiver ran through you, with the memory of those breaths on your skin.

Definitely, you had never been alone from the moment you set foot in that damned place.