The Not So Sweet Halloween Party

It is October 20. That means there are 11 more days until Sarah’s favorite Holiday, Halloween. She loves it so much in fact that she has gotten into arguments when her friends debate whether Halloween should be considered a holiday. To her, it is the grandest time of year when all of the spooks are set to haunt people’s nightmares, and when you can literally be anything you want to be. Freedom of expression is probably Sarah’s favorite thing about Halloween. She has always been the type of person who does not follow the crowds and does not invest in any sort of trendsetting, no matter how many people are yammering on about how good or special an item may be.

         This is especially true when it comes to Halloween costumes. She is not the type of person who scours the internet looking for the latest and most popular costumes. She likes to keep things traditional and in line with the absolute classics. This year, she has decided that she will keep things relatively simple, and she is going with the classic cute witch costume. At first, she was not going to dress up at all. Because of the pandemic, she had planned to just stay at home and watch some of her favorite Halloween movies. At the last minute, though, she received an invitation to a small party from her best friend Sally. Once she heard that Sally was hosting a party, she immediately accepted the invitation. Sally was her best friend since childhood. They always had fun together, even when they did not have specific plans and were just simply hanging out.

         That was the specific reason Sarah treasured Sally’s friendship so much. They were the type of friends you would see in the movies. The kind that completed each other’s sentences, and the type that knew what each other was thinking without saying a word. Sally was always the best host at parties, and she always served the fanciest food. Her mom always went all out and bought the most expensive Halloween treats for the party because it was the one time of year that Sally hosted a party.

         This was the first time this year that Sarah had plans to look forward to. This year has been particularly rough because of the sickness that has been spreading around the world. Sarah has had issues with her compromised immune system lately, so she has spent a record amount of time being a hermit crab like homebody. Sarah loved her home, and she knew that she was extremely fortunate to have a roof over her head. However, with that being said, she could definitely use some time away from the same four walls, even if it is only for a few hours. So, she was definitely counting down the days until she would be able to dress up and just enjoy some time with her closest friends.

When Sarah was a little child, she often daydreamed about spending time with friends. She had always wanted a group of people to accept her as she was. She was grateful that her years in high school granted her a lifelong bond with the girls and guys she considered to be her best friends in the whole entire world. She went at least 14 years with hardly any friends because her mom chose to home school her. She was homeschooled until her mom got a divorce from her father and began to fall behind on the bills, especially big payments like the mortgage and electricity bills. Her mom went back to work when Sarah was due to start high school. Her mom was incredibly nervous and apprehensive about just throwing her daughter to the wolves, especially in a time when her development was the prime concern.

         However, it turned out to be the complete opposite. Her mom was wracking her brain the whole day during work, worrying about who was picking on her daughter and how her day was going. Her nerves were allowed to rest once she picked up Sarah and saw the huge smile on her face as she picked her up to go home. The whole ride home, Sarah never stopped talking about her new friend group and how welcoming and accepting they were. This immediately put to rest all of her mother’s worries when she realized that her daughter was more than capable of making friends and functioning within the craziness of society.

         Her bonds with her friends still continue to this day, even when social media and influence have quite literally taken over the world. Even in a world where being popular should be a competitive sport, Sarah and her group of friends are still thriving and enjoying life to its fullest potential. It cannot be easy trying to survive and thrive in a world where every single person is trying to one-up each other. It cannot be easy to admit your flawed characteristics in a world that does absolutely nothing but point fingers in judgment.

         She and her friends are not the types to worry about how many followers they have on Instagram or how well their videos are performing on YouTube. They just tended to do their own things and enjoy them despite others judging their actions or lack of actions. Her mom was admittedly jealous of their ability to shake all of the shit off and just enjoy life. She wished that she had learned to do that very thing when she was their age. Her mom glowed when she watched them dancing around and acting goofy as friends do and having the time of their lives doing so.

         Sarah’s perspective on life was a beautiful thing. Her outlook was only part of what makes her such a loveable and likable person. It is why once exposed to the real world, she attracted people of her same kind who chose to live with a joyful heart and spirit. How they live was entirely their choice They lived their life to the fullest, and it was definitely reflected in their actions and behaviors. Her mother was delighted to have a daughter she could look up to as an example of positive and acceptable behavior. She often wished that she could bottle up all of their energy and somehow transfer it to the other kids who needed help and an exciting burst of energy in their lives.

         With all of that being said, her mother was always willing to let them hang out and have fun. They had her full and complete trust, which is and was exceedingly rare when you consider most teenagers who were around their ages. She was really excited for Sarah to have something that she was looking forward to. She was not able to get out as nearly as much as her other friends. Sally’s Halloween parties have been notorious for being fun and a good time.

         The day Sarah had been anxiously awaiting was finally here. She woke up covered in the papers she had ripped from her wall calendar in anticipation of what was meant to be the party of the year or realistically the only party of the year. In this strange time, people are afraid to have parties fearing that they would needlessly spread sickness and germs Sarah trusted Sally to be wise and careful when needed. She had never let her down before having been careful knowing that Sarah could get extremely sick and possibly die if she caught something that her immune system did not know how to fight off.

         The weather was ominously perfect outside and would perfectly set the scene for a Halloween party. The clouds were heavy and extremely dark as if the rain would pour out of them at any second. Sarah hoped and prayed that the rain would hold off until after 6 o’clock tonight. She had a few errands to run, including getting her costume and she was not in the mood to get absolutely soaked. Fast forward a couple of hours later, and Sarah’s wish of no rain while running errands was granted.

It was finally time to get dressed and head up the hill to Sally’s house. Sarah proudly wore her Wizard of Oz costume and was ready to indulge with her friends and have an amazing night… At least that is what she thought would happen and no one prepared her for anything else otherwise.

As she began her trek up the hill, she noticed that Sally’s door was wide open, and the lights were turned off. Sarah thought that Sally might be trying to scare her. She had always gotten a kick out of trying to scare Sarah. Sarah did not understand the humor behind it, but she was always willing to entertain her best friend.

As Sarah approached the house, she realized that this was not the setting for a prank at all. There were trails of blood everywhere. The air even had the copper scent that blood tended to produce. Wide-eyed and shocked, Sarah was not sure what or how to think. She felt kind of betrayed in a way because no one even thought to call her in this horrible state of emergency. Then again, she realized that everyone was under a serious state of shock and when things like this happen, calling someone is the last thing on their mind. As Sarah entered the kitchen, she found that the intricate Halloween decorations her mother spent hours hanging and all of the food she prepared had become a tangled mess on the ground. Half of the food had been eaten and the other half was crunched and smashed on the tables and chairs.

Sally’s mom met Sarah at the end of the hallway, quivering in fear. Sarah hugged her as tightly as possible and gently and politely asked her what happened. Apparently, their good friend Claire was told that she could bring her boyfriend as a plus one. Fully trusting Claire and her taste in men, everyone thought things would run as smoothly and normally as possible.

Obviously, they thought wrong. In the first hour of the party, Claire’s boyfriend Steve had become uncontrolled and drunker than he had ever been before according to Claire, who had only known him for a couple of months before settling down with him and making things official. She swore up and down to everyone at the party that she never knew he could get so out of hand. When asked if he had ever gotten violent with her, Claire swore that he never raised his hand to her. Steve had already been detained and was heading to the police station before Sarah got there. At first, she would have been upset about running late for a party, but in this instance, she believed that God was protecting her from being stabbed by Steve. Sarah never assumed that people were automatically evil before hearing their stories, but in this situation, she could not help herself when she found she had disregard and disgust for a man she had never met. What kind of person would go on a killing spree at a high school Halloween party? What kind of person would become so inebriated that they lose control of their own body and mind? What kind of person would have so much repressed anger that they end up taking it out on the most innocent kids?

Sarah had so many questions, and she was willing to support Claire through this difficult scenario. She was willing to dig through the family history to find out what set him off. She was willing to find out if there was any sense of violence or abuse within his family tree. She did not mind. Her friends were always there for her when things turned upside down for her. The least she could do was return the favor.

She was certainly not used to playing the role of an investigative detective, but she would become one if that is what it took to help her friends figure out where everything went wrong. Sarah always loved Halloween, but she never expected this particular Halloween to be so frightening and so raw and real. Even though they were all terrified and shaking, they all agreed that next year’s party would be held at Sarah’s with no extra guests. Throughout all of the madness, the girls remained solid and happy in their friendship for years to come. This particular Halloween night was something they would talk and surmise about for years and decades to come. You would think that something so traumatic and horrible would turn them against each other, but not these friends. They were special and special they would remain.