Remembering the Halloween

Eva and Mara ran past a couple of skeletons, and zombies. “Guys! Keep up!” Michel, Eva’s brother yelled. The night of Halloween they had made plans to go to the Haunted House and see who could stay until two in the morning. It wasn’t dressed up in any decorations, but the windows had been plastered shut. 

Michel stopped in the driveway of the house. Mara and Eva slowed as they neared Michel, breathing heavy. “Mic, slow down!” Michel gave them a sly look. “You’re right, you guys are gonna need your breath when you need to run out of the Haunted House.” He started up the driveway. “No, we are so going to beat you staying their until two in the morning. Come on Mara!” Eva smiled, haunted houses were her thing and she was going to win the contest. 

The yard was covered in a thick layer of leaves and the bushes were untrimmed. the patio was coated in dirt and dust. Michel was already inside the house when Mara and Eva got to the door. “Oh, so he gets a head start?” Eva mumbled to herself. Mara shook her head, smiling she opened the door for Eva. 

“You are going to get yourself killed one of these days you know that right?” Mara followed Eva into the house. There was eerie creaking and a thump that rumbled throughout the house. “What do you think that is?” Mara asked Eva. Eva tossed a strand of hair behind her back and laughed, “Probably Michel making a fool of himself.” There was a scream that echoed through the hall. “Perfect,” Eva said, rubbing her hands together. 

The main entry was filled with cobwebs. The carpet was a dark green color and the paint on the walls were peeling. The light switch flicked under Eva’s finger, still, it was dark. Mara sighed and continued through the hall. 

They decided that they should stick to the left side of the house. They took a corridor on the left and stalked through the house. “How is this place haunted?” Eva asked getting disappointed. She checked her watch, six hours to go. They seemed to have entered the old living room, as they stared out the window from the inside. The planks of wood just covered all but the corner of the window. Mara let Eva take the first peek. 

Eva’s eye widened at what she saw. It wasn’t the outside, that’s all Eva knew. It was bright and colorful. She stepped back, “Check it out.” She told Mara. Mara stepped beside Eva and leaned down. The colors swirled before her eyes. “We have to find that room!” They said at the same time. “It’s that way!” Mara said pointing out the hallway. “Let’s go!” 

As they ran down the hall, Eva wondered out loud, “What if Michel found the room?” Mara turned to Eva, panting, “This is the door, and if he did, we can throw all our melted chocolate at him.” Eva returned Mara’s smile and turned the knob to the room. It was stuck fast. 

Mara noticed Eva’s trouble and tried to help her. But the door didn’t budge. “Maybe we could break down the door?” Eva nodded and slammed her shoulder into the wood. She stumbled back into a big spiderweb. “Ugg!!” Eva said standing up and wiping the web off of her. “Disgusting!” Mara tried to hide the smile and turned to the door to hide it. “I’m not laughing, I’m not laughing,” Mara said snickering softly. 

Eva waved her off, “Shut it.” and she jiggled the doorknob. Mara sat on the ground to settled down. “Maybe we should go back to the room where we first saw it?” Eva stopped and gazed down at Mara, “The room was that way right?” She pointed down the hall from the way they came. “Yup, let’s see if we can get in from there.” 

Eva held out her hand to pull Mara up, she took it and they were off on their way to find the living room. While they were walking down the corridor, Mara spotted a painting on the wall they didn’t see on their first trip. “Eva, did you see this painting when we first came down here? Or did I just miss it?” Eva stopped and peered at the canvas. “No, it definitely wasn’t there the first time we came. And the walls, they were green first and now they are yellow.” Eva started to back away from the painting, “Come on let’s just go.” She nudged Mara along and they approached a corner. 

Mara’s eyes widened, “This definitely wasn’t the hallway we were in before.” Eva sucked in a breath and continued taking the left corner. “Well, we can’t just stay in that hall for the rest of the night.” She explained holding Mara’s hand tightly. 

Suddenly something appeared right before Eva, and she slammed into it. “Aggh!” She shouted. Mara hid behind a corner before the figure turned. “Why little child, why are you here? And why did you hit me?”

 The old lady had a shriveled face and a huge nose. She was wearing a dark purple gown and a black triangular hat. “You know that is really rude.” She said before Eva could explain. “Now, to teach you a lesson,” The lady raised her frail arms and mumbled under her breath. Eva cowered before her. “Uh, um….” Eva squirmed and twisted. “Ughaa!” Eva screamed, dark tendrils of magic swirled around her, she tensed and jerked. The old lady laughed, “That should teach, ya!” And she backed into the fog. 

Mara raced around the corner and searched the fog for her friend. “Eva! Eva!” She whispered not wanting to bring the magical lady back. There was a meow that made Mara whip around, “Cat?” She crouched low, and a dark as midnight cat wobbled out of the fog. But this cat was standing on two legs. “Eva?” Mara asked reaching a hand out. “Well, obviously! There are no other cats in this building. I think that was a witch and she turned me into a cat! Michel will think I was too scared and ran on of the house. But now he knows! I am not scared of anything! I even endured turning into a cat and encountered a witch!” Eva the cat began to pace back and forth a growled rising in her throat. 

“Eva! Calm down we will change you back I promise, we just have,” Mara quickly checked her watch, “four more hours to go. And man you sure do talk more when you’re a cat.” Eva sighed, “Well, let’s try to find Michel and leave this place. And maybe the spell will wear off in time.” Eva marched off in the opposite direction of the witch and Mara followed her. 

“Eva use your senses to pinpoint, Michel. It shouldn’t be that hard.” Eva nodded her small head and twitched her nose. “That way,” And she began to lead. 

It took an hour before they entered a small room that seemed like the kitchen. “You know it seems weird to know that we are in here and other people are too. You never know, there could be a ton of other cat-people walking around.” Eva had been jabbering the whole time while they searched for Michel. “Mara? Eva? Is that you?” A voice said that sounded like Michel. “Yup,” Mara said kinda bored from all the talking. 

Michel popped up from behind the counter. “Sup, wait where is Eva?” He said when he saw just Mara standing alone. “I killed her,” Mara said in the most unemotional voice she could. “Ah, no really? Where is she?” Michel started to peer around Mara. 

She rolled her eyes and bent down. She lifted the cat gently by the belly and showed Michel his sister. “Uh-huh, you expect me to believe that my sister got turned into a cat, by…. A witch, that got mad at her for bumping into her?” Michel guessed. Mara had a feeling Eva wanted to handle this situation by herself. “Exactly,” Eva said, as Michel’s face turned purple. 

“Ummm, you know what I think you guys win this contest, I have had enough haunted houses in my life. Bye!” He said pushing past the girl and the cat and out a hallway and opened a door. 

Light flooded the house and Mara set Eva on the ground. Eva bounded over to Michel and followed him out the door. Mara ran to the door and gave the house one last look, “You’re not so bad.” She said rubbing her hand over the wall. And then she exited the Haunted House. 

Outside the black magic returned and swirled around Eva. Michel’s eyes widened and he screamed. Mara relaxed and smiled. Her friend was coming back.

After Michel calmed down and Eva was fully returned they made their way back to Eva’s house to sort out their candy. For them, this was the best Halloween ever. 

Forty years later…..

Mara stood in front of what used to be the Haunted House but she talked to the witch named, Trina about changing it. Now it stood tall as the everchanging Haunted House, opened to the public. But whenever Mara stood inside she always had the memory of her favorite Halloween.