Tolls and Rewards

The factory's siren echoed through the streets of Mckenziewood like a sweet warning. The glass confectioners were finally being set free of their stressful duties and could come back home to their wives, husbands, and kids with enough time to spend some of the festivities. Halloween night has always been an important event for the city, even after the tragedies that always happen around that part of the year. Many were the officers and digital influencers that tried to stop the celebrations, but nothing really worked.

The To-Die-Town, as the whole country called it, was pretty famous for its numerous unsolved cases of murder, most of them occurring exactly on the thirty-first night of October, the month of Our Lady of the Rosary. The cops were blamed for years and years for this nomination, but that also stopped when a duchess of some rich European kingdom was declared missing from the Little Wonder Hotel three days before Halloween, one of the few hotels in town. An international coalition was set between the Royal Guard and the best investigators of the United States and, anyway, the morning after the creepy night brought a corpse fulfilled with inscriptions of an unknown language. With the unluckiness of some, great times followed the blood trails and a small city inside a small state became a target for tourists from all around the globe that were brave enough to spend Halloween night in a city that always took its toll.

Edgar left his tools in the small drawer assigned for him in the factory vestiary and got to his car, a dark orange 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier he inherited from his old man. Mister Adanpoe was one of the richest men in town, but his multiple scandals and gambling losses turned his family life into chaos for Edgar's most important mind-building years – his teenage era. Right now, the son of the owner of the Glass Factory was one of its many underpaid workers.

His first stop was at Mckenzillion Flavors, the city's most acceptable restaurant.

– Loved the decoration, Maeve. – He said to the barmaid. – I’ve been coming here for ages now and you guys always outdo yourselves, right?

– Pumpkins were never enough, honey. – She was smiley as always. – The usual?

– You can be sure. – He noted Maeve was a bit strange like something was bothering her and she needed to act happily to the costumers. – Wait, can you add some spooky fries for the kids?

– Of course, Edgar. And they’re on the house today, ok?

Maeve has always been pretty, and the long grey hair that came with the years did not take that away from her. Edgar could remember the woman flirting with his father in his golden age, something he wishes was happening to him back then. She returned with a paper bag fulfilled with some good-flavored and not so expansive food and a happy face that may or may not be true from the barmaid.

On the way back home, he listened to his favorite band – Eurythmics – and sang along to Sweet Dreams with his hoarse voice as loud as he could until he arrived. The house was decorated with fake skeletons and pumpkins with famous horror movie villains ornate on it, like Michael and Freddy. Lisa really put some effort this year, he thought while entering through the white and blue door. His daughter Eileen and his wife were already waiting at the table for him, so he kissed their foreheads and opened the food bag, delivering a delicious scent of fried potatoes, grilled fillet, and Mediterranean rice to the family.

– Are you going with us tonight, daddy? – Edgar’s daughter asked him.

– Tonight? You two are going trick-or-treating? – He started to act like a scary narrator. – Be aware of the horrifying dangers of Halloween night, you fool. The city takes its toll!

He screamed and scared Eileen at the end of the acting, making Lisa, and then Eileen herself, laugh.

– Daddy has work to do, honey. – He stroked her head. – I’m sorry, I need to fix those countertops. But tell me, where’s that friend of yours… Marianne, right? She doesn’t come here for ages and you were so close.

– She transferred from school some months ago. – A sudden sorrow appeared on her face. – I miss her…

– We can visit her next week, what do you think? – Lisa suggested. – You could even invite her to sleep in here again, baby.

– Yeah, you two could have another sleepover for the whole weekend! – Edgar insisted.

That thought brought a huge smile to the thirteen-year-old girl. Almost an hour later, Eileen was already dressed up as Anna, from Frozen, and Lisa was her duo as Elsa. He could only think of how lucky he was to have them in his life, two beautiful and smart women he would try his best to protect and help in any need they could present.

Twenty minutes later, someone knocked. Looking through the glassy part of the door, he could not see a single soul. Stranger, he thought for a moment, but then heard a little boy’s voice calling. Just one kid trick-or-treating, just like his own daughter went a few moments ago. The golden hair got cut in the army style, matching with the camouflage suit that made him so adorable. Edgar gave him some strawberry candy and a bunch of coconut flavored chocolate and then he left with a big smile on his face.

The second knock did not take long to show up. Edgar collected a few chocolates from another flavor and more candies and headed towards the house entry, but there were no children waiting for him there. The next acts happened faster than his eyes could assimilate, leaving only the blurred shadows of one or two folks grabbing him by his shoes after blowing a kind of black powder on his face, a particularly bad-smelling one. He tried his best to scream, but his throat hurt so much he could barely breathe before failing his goal. And then he blacked out.

As Edgar started to regain his vision, a few women appeared in his sight. They were not strangers to him, he could recognize the faces of a school teacher of Eileen from last year, an old lady that lived next to his job in the factory, a red-haired young woman that inherited the La Nueva Esperanza Hotel some years ago from her grandmother, a real estate agent that always appeared in television commercials and one more woman that shocked him the most. The fifth member of the group was Maeve, the restaurant barmaid that had known him for his whole life was part of something evil and he was as afraid as a man can be.

However, he could not recognize where they took him. The place looked like some part of the Mckenziewood’s forest, but he did not remember trees like those in any of his camping memories with his father and sister. A great flamboyant tree drew attention with its red flowers all over its extension. Surrounded by eucalyptus trees, that should not allow it to live due to the toxins they exhaled, and really small shrubs, the flamboyant bathed by the pale moonlight would be a beautiful and unforgettable image if the situation was different.

– Any sins to confess, Mister Edgar Addanpoe? – Maeve was the first one to speak.

– Maeve… – It was still a bit uncomfortable for him to talk. – Wh-what is happening?

– Do you wish to confess your sins, Edgar? – The redhead asked then.

– What sins? – He tried to move, but his wrists and ankles were tied by roots. – I swear I don’t know what you are talking about!

– So, I guess we should better… Refresh your mind. – The teacher did not smile while saying the words and then she and two more of the women began a kind of strange ritual.

They were reciting words unknown to him, repeatedly. The hand movements were also a repetition and her eyes were fixed in the dark sky, looking to the moon with shining grateful eyes. Slowly, the earth next to the flamboyant tree rose turned into the form of a bed with a kid laying on it. A shadow approached from the eucalyptus trees, one that he could not deny recognizing, after all, that shadow belonged to himself.

His shady doppelganger came close to the bed and approached his dark face to the soil child, sniffing its forehead and then retracting itself, like it was not sure of what was doing, not knowing if it was wrong or not. Yet, it kept going on. The shadow pulled the sheet of soil that covered the infant body, slid his left hand into the children’s nightgown and made some movements. Then it brought its hand close to the face of darkness, sniffing for a while and then licking it. The whole scene disappeared in dust and air after that.

– Do you wish to confess your sins, Edgar? – The redhead remade her question.

Edgar stopped denying, he knew now that those ladies had all the information, and they knew he was now aware of that.

– Guess your silence is a pretty good answer. – The old lady said. – We will proceed with the conclusion of your judgment.

– Wait! – His facial expressions changed. Maeve could notice he was now starting a new part. – That was only once, I swear! I was weak, it will not happen again… Please, Maeve, you’ve known me my whole life!

– Don’t you dare to lie to us, Judges of Irene, under the moonlight. – Maeve looked directly at him. There was no sign of emotion in her eyes. – It not only didn’t happen only once but six times. Am I wrong, sisters?

The other women confirmed the quantification.

– But… Eileen! – He screamed. – The kid loves me the most, she will not survive without me… I promise on my father’s grave that I’m going to be good for now. Come on, Maeve, please!

– She will be taken care of in a much better way now, you can be sure. – The real estate agent spoke for the first time, showing off the strong accent she used so well in her publicity. – Lisa is a good mother, even not noticing your atrocities. We will also look after them.

He tried to bargain again, but with a whisper of the old lady, his language knowledge apparently was gone e he just did not know any words to say. The witches began their judgment ritual.

– Irene of Athens! Under the last moon of October, we present what you asked, Edgar Adanpoe and his nasty secrets, his nasty sins! – Maeve led the speech, looking up uninterruptedly for the pale natural satellite and performing hand movements way different from the ones used to manipulate the earth before. – This year’s toll is now yours, take his soul and protect us all!

With the increase of their movements, Edgar’s skin started to hurt. Strange symbols were being marked in the man’s body by invisible claws, letting the blood and screams spill through the forest that was so quiet before. The ladies did not look at the event for a single moment, keeping their eyes up to the moon, but their subtle facial expressions reacting to the loud suffering man made clear that there was no pleasure in their acts – only duty. Edgar was a strong man, after all, the many years in the factory stiffened him more than any other job would be able to. Eventually, he could not handle the injuries and died, covered in his own blood, lies and illnesses.

By the morning, the corpse was found somewhere else in town. An investigation surely would happen but would lead to nowhere – just like the several other ones. Life would still go on in Mckenziewood with all the sorrow and happiness it could provide to its citizens and then, on the next last night of October, the Judges of Irene would act again and clean one more sinner from the world of the living. The touristic business in town emerged again with the Halloween night, Mckenzillion Flavors got crowded with costumers on both the witchy night and the morning after. The rents for one night in hotels and pensions increased like they always did in that part of the year. Even the small stores of craft and other kinds of sales were favored with the date.

In the end, the To-Die-Town takes its toll, but it also shares its rewards.