Halloween Countdown
Part 2 Present
The figure was a dark shiftless shadow seemingly frozen on the top step.
We screamed and fled out the back door to the car port.
Mom had ran out to do a few last minute errands. There was no car to escape in and we weren't old enough to drive. I had a bike, but we couldn't all three fit on it.
We cowered behind the shed in the alley when we heard a screen door slam. When I turned around Erika was huddled on the ground and Janie was nowhere to be found.
I jolted awake. Same nightmare over and over. It had been decades and yet that night still haunted me.
Erika and I were still friends. She had managed to get her life together and became a second grade teacher at Maple Grove Elementary.
I'd stopped telling her about the nightmares. Her advice had been to go back to the house to overcome my fears. That would never happen.
Our family, still owned it, but after that sleepover, I'd never gone back inside. Mom had hired a moving company to go in and pack up our things after the police had cleared the scene.
She called it a tragic accident. I knew better. So did Erika, but she wouldn't admit it.
I work part-time at the radio station. That might sound exciting, but I wasn't a DJ. I cleaned the station every night. I took out trash, swept the floors, occasionally cleaned out the sketchy break room fridge.
It wasn't glamorous, but it was quiet and since I could never sleep at night it was perfect hours for me. 10 pm to 2 am.
Usually I slept pretty well during the day, but today something was off from the get go.
My cell rang. A number I didn't recognize, I answered. The voice was nearly buried in static.
“Reverie, let me out!!! Please!!! Help!!!”
I jumped up and threw the phone across the room. It shattered against the wall.
The weather radio blared on at top volume.
“Humid and mostly cloudy. Ninety percent chance of thunderstorms after midnight and….”
The report stuttered to a stop. The dial on the radio spun and the whole thing vibrated against the wall.
“Come home, Rev… we miss you!”
Part 1
