The Halloween Monster Chapter 1

The first chapter.

CHAPTER ONE: THE BLACK CAT

HALLOWEEN HAD COME AT LAST.

Children were getting out of school and quickly bouncing home to change so that they could earn their candy. Parents filled up treat bowls and waited by the door, and scary decorations hung everywhere the eye could see.

One little house was more stressful than the others, and contained an unusual family. There was a frantic mother by the name of Eliza May, who felt overwhelmed by the thrill of the holiday, and of course her husband, Connor, and their two children, seventeen-year-old Trey and young Heidi.

Eliza was in the kitchen, hurriedly filling a candy bowl, while Connor was watching the news in the living room.

Trey was standing by the door, with a candy bowl ready to be given out. His deep frown and frequent sighs made it clear that he didn’t want to be there.

Eleven-year-old Heidi was in her room, dressed in a Dorothy costume. She had the white and blue dress on already, with the little wooden basket containing a stuffed Toto.  Shiny red shoes completed her look as she admired herself standing in front of the mirror, batting her brown eyes, with two dark braids hanging down with silky blue ribbons.

“Tonight, you go trick-or-treating by yourself, Heidi,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

This time Trey would not accompany her, grumbling how stupid he looked in his Captain Hook outfit; but instead she would go out alone.

No adults. No brothers. No friends. Just her.  

Heidi opened her eyes and adjusted her black braids to look just right on her shoulders. It was fortunate to have Dorothy’s color of hair for this night.

“Heiiidddiii!!” she heard her mother call. “Time to go trick-or- treating!”

Heidi took one more look at herself in the mirror before going downstairs. She smiled, but her reflection didn’t look happy, so she shook her head and left the room.

She didn’t know she wasn’t going to be back for awhile.

Her stomach churned with nervousness. Heidi wasn’t sure if she was ready to go out by herself. Anything could happen. She didn’t know if she was ready yet… but she simply sucked in a deep breath, pushing her thoughts away, and trotted down the stairs.

“Oh, Heidi! You look absolutely wonderful!” Her mother ruffled her daughter’s hair, smiling proudly. “I only wish I could be there for you when you go from door to door...”

Heidi backed up. “Please, no!” she said, embarrassed. “We talked about this. You said that when I turned eleven, I could go out by myself on Halloween; and I am eleven now.”

Eliza looked down at her little daughter. “I know, honey. Just don’t go inside the houses, don’t talk to anyone you don’t know, don’t go out of the neighborhood, and most importantly-”

“-don’t stay out after dark,” Heidi finished, rocking impatiently on her feet. “You’ve told me this a hundred times. I’ll be careful and be back soon.” She kissed her tearful mother on the cheek and turned to the door.

“Wait!” her mother called anxiously.

Sighing, Heidi turned around. “Yes?”

Eliza kneeled down so she was at Heidi’s exact height, and kept an impenetrable gaze on her daughter. “You have to remember, honey, that you cannot run, or you may fall over, and you can’t go in the streets, because a car might come, and you can’t -”

“Let the poor girl leave already!” Connor grumbled, getting up from his seat in the living room. “She’ll be fine.”

Eliza hesitantly nodded, and kissed Heidi on the cheek before she stood back up, wiping her eyes. Trey opened the door. He patted her on the back and shut the door behind her.

For a long second, Heidi stood on her doorstep, clutching her wicker basket. She was out alone. She could get kidnapped, or poisoned, or-

No, Heidi thought. I will not betray myself now that I have gone this far.

So the small  girl took a deep breath and stepped off her porch into the Halloween chaos.

After twenty houses of safe candy collecting, Heidi relaxed. Nothing bad had happened. She hadn’t gotten invited into a strange house and been kidnapped, the candy hadn’t killed her when she sampled it, and she recognized almost everyone. She had suspected much worse to happen, due to her parents’ warnings, but it seemed that they had gotten something wrong for once, which was fine with Heidi.

Night would come in about twenty minutes, and there was still more candy to collect. Heidi was skipping along the sidewalk, when she suddenly felt something brush past her legs, bumping her Halloween candy  basket. It spilled its contents on the ground.

Heidi, completely caught off guard, fell to the ground. She looked up to see what had touched her. It was a black cat. The animal stopped when it heard her moans, and paced back to her, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

“Go away! Please!” Heidi whispered, too scared to raise her voice. Her mother and father had taught her to be afraid of cats and dogs and more animals than she could count, which meant that she wasn’t used to being face-to-face with any animal.

The dark silky cat bowed its head in apology and spoke to her. “I am sorry for causing you to fall, young girl, but you must come with me before the portal closes! We must hurry!” He nudged her to stand up and follow him.

Heidi almost fainted in shock, but managed to stand.

“W-what are you?” she stammered.  

The cat looked offended. “I am not a what; I am a who. My name is Ghost, and I am the honored Black Cat of the Hallows.” He sounded like it should have impressed her, but Heidi stared at him blankly.  

Ghost sighed in annoyance. “I will explain it when we arrive in the Hallows, where you will be welcomed as the Girl from the Prophecy,” he told her. “Now follow me!”

Heidi hesitated, and for a good reason, too. It wasn’t every day that a black cat talked to you and said he was from a whole other world. She was raised without much adventure, and certainly no risks, so maybe this was the day she did something different for once.

If only her mother could see her now.

“I-I’m coming.” Heidi nodded at the waiting cat, and Ghost took off. Heidi had a hard time running along, with her thin legs and arms, but the strong feeling of adventure pulled her along.

She continued to look up at the darkening sky, seeing the shadows begin to come. She would be expected at home soon, and her family would fret.

But she couldn’t dwell on that now. What was done was done. She was going to follow this mysterious talking cat, Ghost. There were three reasons she was still following him.

One: the cat could talk. That was plenty of reason to believe that another world existed. It might be a bit dangerous, but who  was she to say no to helping a stranger? That would be selfish. She had been taught better.

Two: all her life she had wanted to do something. Have an adventure, take a risk; but her parents’ rules had prevented her from doing just about anything without safety goggles and leg armor pads.

Three: she felt a strange sensation that she needed to follow this cat. It was almost like… destiny.  

Heidi, now panting heavily, wiped her damp forehead off, struggling to continue on.

Ghost glanced back at her. “I sense that you are tiring, girl, but we cannot rest! The portal to the Hallows is beginning to close, and we must get back to my world so you can defeat Him!”

Heidi wiped sweat from her brow, her black braids whipping back and forth, tickling her ears. “Defeat who?” she asked, her heart pounding.

“I will tell you later, girl!”

Heidi’s eyes widened in fear, and it took all her courage to not stop running and demand Ghost to tell her what was going on.

“How much farther?” she asked, thinking that she wouldn’t last much longer in this new condition.

Ghost looked in front of him. “Not much longer, girl! We just turn into this road and run through the open grassy patch, then you will see the portal! There is no missing it!” He waited for Heidi to catch up.

So she and the strange cat ran some more, turned the shadowed corner, and onto the untamed grass. I hope we’re not trespassing, Heidi thought, biting her trembling lip. They jogged down the dark green hill, and then Heidi saw it. The portal.

It was flickering like a curious firefly, struggling to remain where it was. It was shrinking rapidly, and soon it would be no more. The portal was positioned on the side of a large sturdy oak tree, and it seemed to be the trunk of the tree itself. The tree’s branches swayed  in the chilly evening breeze, and Heidi shivered.

“See that, girl? We have to run in the portal as fast as we can or it will not work!” Ghost explained, his black tail twitching in excitement.

I guess he misses home, Heidi thought. That made two of them.

Night had fallen already, coating the ground like tar. Heidi was nervous. She had never been away from home, all alone, so far away this late. It was frightening.

Suddenly, she heard an oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sound behind her, like a sad moan. She began to turn her head to see what it was, but Ghost shouted, “Do not look! They have found us! We must reach the portal first and make sure that they do not get through!”

“What are they?” she called to the cat.

Ghost let out an un-catlike growl. “They are His warriors. Blood- thirsty beasts…”

Heidi gulped as the moans were heard closer than before.

The portal tree was very close now, but the portal itself was beginning to dissolve. “Hurry, girl! We must make it!” Ghost howled, bolting forward.

Heidi had tears in her eyes as she continued running. Her side hurt from sprinting, and she heard the moans getting closer...

Ghost and Heidi quickly reached the tree’s perimeter, which was only a few short yards away. “We will make it, but only if you take a running leap!” the cat ordered.  

He sprang upwards, disappearing into the glowing portal. Heidi tried not to close her eyes as she too jumped towards the portal.

She felt herself flying through the air, her braids whipping her face, out of control. Suddenly she felt coldness around her, then there were many colors surrounding her. Gold. Yellow. Orange.  Swirls of violet, ribbons of rose.

Heidi was in the portal.

She began to spin upwards, then downwards, then sideways and every way imaginable. Something was not right. The colors got darker and darker until there were no more to see. She flew around more violently than ever.

That’s when Heidi passed out.

Author's Note

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