Your mother looked up when she heard you sneeze. It was the third time this morning and by now, the reason was obvious.

«This is what happens when you walk around the house naked and still wet.» She scolded as she washed the cups you used to have breakfast. It bothered you to admit she was right, but she didn't know what you had been through the previous day...

«It's just a cold, it will pass soon.» You rolled your eyes as you leaned an elbow on the table «So, what time's dad coming back?»

«Nine o'clock this evening, I think. He got stuck in something apparently.»

You went back to looking beyond the kitchen, towards the living room lit up by the windows, now that the fateful October 31st had arrived, you were expecting a gloomy day, instead it was quite sunny.

«How about going outside?» Suddenly, your mother spoke your thoughts out loud «And also in the pharmacy, you can't spit out your soul all day!»

You parted your mouth for a chuckle before grabbing a tissue for the next sneeze, honestly you were already tired of playing the sick part...but when you left the house, you forgot there was no car in the driveway.

«Oh don't worry, there's still this one...» The other woman said heading towards the garage and there, a very old car just appeared «Damn I used to go to school with this, can't believe it still works!»

Your mother was over the moon when she managed to turn it on, but you simply sat next to her, surprised there was only one long seat.

«Hope it doesn't leave us in the middle of the road then...» Your mother laughed in front of your baffled face and together, you set off on the road to the pharmacy.

For a while, you stared at the window watching the houses go by in an almost relaxing atmosphere, if it weren't for those macabre decorations the neighborhood would have a better view...then, you saw some children playing in a kindergarten, already wearing costumes for this evening's occasion.

«What kind of memories do you have of this day?» You asked with your arm leaning against the window, as your mother stared at the road.

«The same, more or less. When I was younger, I used to go out with my friends to go trick-or-treating...» Your mother said with a nostalgic voice «And then, I started earning some money by babysitting.»

Now that the topic had come up, you took the opportunity to ask.

«I see, so the Myers were also paying you to look after their son?»

There were a few moments of silence and you were afraid she was avoiding the subject, until you saw her smile slightly from the rear view mirror.

«I did it free for them, their daughter was my best friend after all...and his brother was a good boy, at least for me.»

Definitely this wasn't what you had heard so far, but right there, your mother seemed to remember something good from her past. Or maybe she was just good at hiding her true emotions to you, in any case she said no more until stopped the car at the small town pharmacy.

«You can stay in the car if you want, I'll do it right away.» Your mother said but you followed her inside, not really keen on catching cold in that old car.

You took a look around the corridors and as your mother was chatting with the pharmacist, you saw they were selling allergen sprays; you happened to suffer from a little allergy to pollen and dust during the mid-seasons and so, you thought about taking those too.

«These might come in handy...»

But, as you were reading the label, a large shadow covered you from the light, which entered the window behind you. It had looked strangely familiar, but when you turned to see who was there, it was already gone.

«Have you seen that too...?» You said out loud catching the attention of your mother and the other man, but you just heard chuckles.

«Tonight is Halloween, it's normal to see someone around with a mask!» The pharmacist answered you jokingly «Is she your daughter? She looks a lot like you, Emily.»

Your mother smiled at the compliment and thanked him as she left, followed by you with a different look than before.

«Please, tell me what's going on now. You've gotten weird lately Y/n, surely it's your grandmother's fault–»

«Do you really think it's all her fault?» You blocked her before you got in the car «Nothing is going normal since we've been here, mom, all you do is argue with grandma and I can't just stand this, I can't stand this place anymore!»

Your mother just stared at you silently before lowering her head and getting into the car; by the way, you did the same thing, arguing with her was the last thing you wanted.

«I made a promise and I'm not going to break it.» Your mother took a deep breath and looked into your eyes with determination «Before we go home, I want tonight to be the best one for us and grandma...tell me, what do you think if I cook pasta with pumpkin cream and gorgonzola?»

«Mmm do you think grandma will like those? I've not seen anything like that in her fridge...» You were uncertain about your mother's choice but at the same time you were dying to eat that dish, as it was a family tradition for you. The woman burst out laughing and you did the same, thus managing to forget the rest...

Nothing about that town had to matter after all.

• ● •

You had just ended the call with your father. Apparently, he wouldn't be back for dinner and unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be able to enjoy the delicacy your mother was preparing in the kitchen by herself. As for your grandmother, she had gone to take an afternoon nap in her room, so you were just sitting comfortably in the living room all by yourself, until someone disturbed you by ringing the doorbell.

As you thought, they were kids looking for sweets.

«You better open up or they'll fill the house with raw eggs!»

Your mother warned from the other side and with a loud snort, you grabbed the basket on the table before opening the door.

A group of little kids yelled "Trick or Treat" in unison before presenting their pumpkin-shaped baskets to you. You handed chocolates to each of them, causing them to leave the porch happy with their loot, before moving on to the next house and no one seemed to approach the abandoned house across the street...

Maybe The Shape was inside, ready to scare away any human who approached there, or this you had thought as you stared at it terrified and curious at the same time.

«—why don't you join them?»

Sure, the only thing that really frightened you was the sudden appearance of your grandmother behind you, definitely it was a habit of that place to appear and disappear immediately afterwards.

«It's not my thing. Honestly, I don't find the use to celebrate this day.» You answered sincerely and there, the old woman said nothing except turn towards the stairs, gesturing to follow you.

You took one last look around the kitchen before heading upstairs, following your grandmother to her bedroom. With a key, she opened one of her drawers to pull out an old local newspaper.

«What's this?» You asked when she handed it to you and your eye automatically fell on the headline on the first page. You thought you could let it go, but that wasn't the case anymore...

"Judith Myers: Emily Johnson innocent, the fingerprints on murder weapon belong to younger brother Michael Myers."

«W-what does this mean...?» You were shaking now, every word of that article sounded unbelievable to you and immediately, you looked at your grandmother.

«I've never forgotten that day, the day they caught the real culprit.» She said as if she was about to burst «Yet, your mother still believes it's not true. But that kid was nothing but a monster and thank God, he's locked away somewhere far from here.»

At that point, you left your grandmother's room and rushed towards the kitchen, where your mother turned away with a confused expression.

«Y/n, what's wrong with you now–?»

«Explain this or I swear I'm walking out that door right now.» You threw the newspaper on the table and under the petrified eyes of the woman, she didn't understand how you had found such a thing «What the hell happened that night, have you been arrested?!»

Emily's hands started to sweat as she recalled that terrible night, the only one she was trying to forget and that was surfacing so persistently now.

She no longer knew how to contain it in front of you.

«...I was taken to the police station for questioning, because I was the only one calling when found Judith...dead.»

You remained silent as you listened to your mother tell how she was the only witness to the girl's murder, twenty-five years ago...however, she refused to say it was her younger brother who had committed the crime.

«It's also written here, on the front page! Why do you keep denying it–»

«Because they are all crazy! Tell me Y/n, how could a seven-year-old boy kill a person, his sister, with repeated stabs in the chest!?» This time, it was her turn to raise her voice «I saw with my own eyes, the fear he had...they chose the weakest to blame, this is the truth!»

It was clear by now, your grandmother said a thing, your mother another. There was something undoubtedly wrong and you just hoped that your father would come back as soon as possible to hear nothing more...

But suddenly, your grandmother appeared and with a loud thud, she set down a book with a black and white cover, depicting the eyes of a young boy.

«Do you think this isn't reality yet, Emily? Here he is, your little Michael Myers!»

"The Devil's Eyes", you read. Your mother also seemed as confused as you by the discovery of that book and when she took it in her hands, she leafed through it to understand the contents.

Just that, your mother took her eyes off the reading when heard the front door open, finding you with your shoes and jacket on.

«Where are you going–»

«I'm leaving, I'm tired of all this.» You said getting only silence from the other two women «This is something you two need to discuss...I've nothing to do with this and don't want to hear it again.»

After those words, you closed the door behind you and with no intention of hearing answers, as no one was there to give you explanations when you needed them. Right there, a kid ran beside you, wearing his monster costume.

You were damn full of everything about this place.

• ● •

The phone wasn't stopping ringing. The screen showed your mother's face but you continued to ignore it, until you decided to put it on silent mode. You just wanted to be alone.

The night was pleasantly quiet and not too cold. The fog you had seen during the day was as if it no longer existed and the same was for all the various things you had heard...for the first time since you had been there, Haddonfield was a normal American town like any other.

You didn't know where you were going, just straight ahead and aimlessly, until you heard a male voice calling your name.

«...Y/n?»

There, you saw David, the big boy from the neighborhood.

«Oh. Hello.» You simply answered. Unlike the other times, he was wearing a jacket which covered both arms.

«Why are you walking alone?» You didn't feel like talking, but his interest unblocked you a little.

«Nothing, I just wanted to go for a walk. There's a full moon tonight...» You looked up at the sky and to your surprise, there were no stars or moon. You felt embarrassed and a chuckle escaped the boy's lips.

«I see. Is it okay if we walk together then?»

You didn't expect it honestly, but you didn't mind and in the end, you two started walking side by side. You had to admit that he was frighteningly tall...

«So, were you going trick-treating too?» You asked, swaying slightly with your hands in your pockets «You have no mask on.»

«I'm not a fan of Halloween, but I enjoy the night walk.» David answered by looking straight ahead, but could hear a short laugh from you.

«We are the same there.»

When you said that, the black-haired boy turned to look at you for a second, like he was in some kind of trance where he couldn't get out...definitely, you were giving him that effect.

«You are different from the people who live here, Y/n...» He spoke softly, contrary of his physical appearance he could show a sweet side «I can feel it, when I'm near you.»

You looked back, staring at him with curious eyes, you could say the same thing about him too, as he seemed different from the people of that place, until your mother's words came back to you...you knew you were leaving tomorrow, so you wanted to enjoy that peaceful moment with someone you didn't know, but whose presence made you feel better.

You were wrong to doubt him. And you could tell by looking into his hazel eyes.

«You should cut that hair, otherwise no one will be able to see your beautiful eyes!» You joked by brushing his pitch-black tufts and your gesture made him stop abruptly; you thought you had done something risky, until his hand reached up to your smaller one.

«You've seen them, this is enough for me.»

You didn't know why, but that contact made you vibrate a bit, in a good way of course. You smiled internally and when your phone rang for the umpteenth time, you ignored it.

Until David's phone rang.

«Hello? Sarah...ok I'm getting here.» He hung up just then and his expression changed suddenly.

«What she wanted from you?» Your tone was annoyed, you wondered why that weird girl had called him at this time of night.

«She asked me to take a look at her house, power loss during the party.» David explained to you calmly «Don't worry if you don't want–»

«It's fine, we can go together.» You replied with a smile and the boy just stared at you silently before walking «And what if it's a joke? Better not go alone, don't you think?»

David said no more, just stared at you as you watched the road, before heading towards Sarah's house at the end of the street. But once there, you noticed the lights were off.

«Surely it must be a prepared joke, if the door is already open.» You thought in your head with a snort. Of course, you didn't particularly like these things, but didn't fall for it that easily either and that's why you went to open the door with confidence...

«I'll go first.» Before you could, David stepped in front of you and you let him, following him into the dark house «Is anybody here?»

At that point, you took out your phone to turn on the flashlight, but nobody showed up and judging by the things on the ground, it looks like they had messed up a lot.

«Wait for me, I'll go restore the power in the cellar.» He told you before disappearing under the stairs, also with a flashlight in his hand; you just stood there, looking around and preparing for any scarejump anyone might throw at you.

«Why it's so cold here?» You said to yourself when you felt a draft of cold air reaching you. You went to see where the spring was, which was in the kitchen and to your dismay, you saw the back door wide open.

«What the—!»

You rushed to close it.

«This game's taking too long, stop now!»

You were starting to dislike this situation and decided to warn David, when you heard a loud noise coming just from the cellar, as if something heavy had fallen.

You pointed the phone to the downstairs, where it was suddenly dark.

«David...?» You called without getting an answer. Now you feared that he was part of the joke, but what if it wasn't a joke at all and something bad was happening?

You could have walked away, but you were worried about David and walking through there was the only way to find out...

Until a creak made you turn around...

The cellar door was closed.

«No, no, no, no!» You repeatedly pounded on the door to try to open it, or convince whoever closed it «Fuck you, open up!»

When silence fell, a groan was what you heard and came from where you were; you moved with the flashlight and stayed shocked to find David lying on the ground, barely moving.

You were trying to keep calm, but it got harder and harder as time went on, especially when you discovered there was blood on the boy's head.

«W-who did this to you...»

Luckily, he was alive, but seemed unable to stand up and you didn't have the strength to pull him up alone and without being able to see...

«I have to think about his wound.»

You wanted to look for something to heal him, but something prevented you. Again, that heavy breathing enter your ears, leaving shivers of fear inside your body.

Whoever was, it was there, locked with you...