When Tricks Turn to Treats

T/W: suicide 

“What are you doing here? On Halloween? Are you crazy?”

“Huh?” I turned around and saw a pale figure hovering over the roof I was currently sitting on. “Holy shi-”

“Woah, chill. Keep it clean. You’re new to this, aren’t you?” 

The figure is a ghost. He’s a young guy. Maybe a few years older than me when I died. I never thought they were real. Until I became one. “New to what?”

“Wow. You really are a newbie. I’m Noah.” 

Noah looked kind of handsome, if I do say so myself. I pushed that thought away, because it wasn’t important at the moment. “I’m Amber,” I said shortly. And of course, this guy decided he had to strike up a conversation. He sat down next to me and began to run his mouth.

“It’s really great to meet ya. I guess I should tell you more about myself, yeah?” I didn’t say anything to that, but he continued anyway. “I’ve been a ghost about two years now, three after November 29th. I’m originally from California, but I wanted to see the world, so that’s what I did. I somehow ended up back in the US, just here in Pennsylvania. And lastly, I died from a burning building,” He looked at me. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“I don’t really have a story,” I looked down and tried to avoid eye contact.

“You have to have a story! Like, how did you die? Or, what was your life like before death?” Well, of course I had a story. I just didn’t want to share. It was too depressing. And besides, this is a time I could start over. Maybe things could be different.

Suicide. That’s how things ended. I didn’t know what else to do. It’s a little complicated, but Fall Out Boy albums just couldn’t solve anything anymore. Nothing  could. It resulted in me jumping in front of a train. “I don’t have a story,” I repeated. Noah looked up at the sky, then looked at me. I just stared down the whole time. I haven;t really gotten used to this life yet. There really isn’t much to do. I’ve only been like this for a couple of days, but it’s still boring. “How do you live like this? Like, being a ghost all the time? It’s so boring! You can’t even eat food.” I exclaimed.

And then he had the audacity to laugh. Laugh at me. “Amber,” he had to take a breath from laughing and all I could do was roll my eyes. “Amber, being a ghost is the best part of death! And you’re actually saying this on Halloween? This is literally the best time of year to be a ghost, you idiot!”

“You have a point, I guess.”

“You guess? Seriously, you have no idea!” I can’t believe he was making a big deal out of this. He took a pause. “You know what? I am going to make sure you enjoy yourself today. It’s 11 AM now, and all the fun really starts in the evening, so we can start then. I can’t let you be alone and do nothing on the best night of the year.”

 I wanted to ask exactly why it was so important to celebrate this holiday as a ghost, but I really didn’t wanna seem more stupid than I already did, so I refrained from doing so. To be honest, I never really loved Halloween. I mean, maybe when I was younger, like 8 or so, but it just seemed silly as I got older. All holidays seemed that way, but it was Halloween that just was odd. Dressing in costumes just so we could get free candy from which most people are strangers. That just sounds really suspicious. And I guess it’s just kinda odd. But after what Noah just told me, it might be different this time around. Hell, it could be fun! Seeing it from a brand new point of view could change everything. “Okay. Fine. But it’s an absolute must that we go down to Griffin Drive. There’s some stuff I’d like to do,” I smirked as soon as I said that street.

Griffin Drive was where my friend, Natalie Whitaker, lived. Every year since we were 12, she, me, and some other people would always gather there every Halloween. Specifically to play with her brother’s ouija board. This time around, I’m gonna make sure I scare the living crap out of them. I’m just hoping they’re not too depressed. I’m not sure if my death has affected them in any way, so I guess I’ll see tonight. 

“Ooh, you got any plans tonight, doll?” Doll? That really wasn’t necessary. But then why did I not dislike it?

“Yes, actually. But I guess I could use another person-”

“-Ghost, technically, but continue,” Noah interrupted. 

I sighed. “I could use a little help. A little.”

“That’s good enough for me. Hey, are you gonna do anything before tonight?” He asked.

“What, ‘cause I’m gonna go grocery shopping? No, of course not,” I said sarcastically. 

Noah looked at me with pure shock. “You’re not going to even scope out the area? To see what victims we can scare? Nothing? Wow. you really are a beginner. Like, wow,” He repeated. I rolled my eyes again. This guy was exhausting. “Actually, forget meeting you tonight. I clearly need to stay. To make sure you do nothing stupid.” I playfully shoved him off the roof. That really sounds weird, doesn’t it. But it’s okay, because Noah just floated right back up. “Like that,” he pointed at me. I laughed. I can’t believe I did. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve done that. Maybe having Noah around wouldn’t be such a bad thing. 

___________________________________________

It was 11:35 AM. Noah and I were outside the supermarket, watching people go in and out. “What are we doing here?” I asked.

“Watching people, scanning for good victims,” He replied, looking at a woman with blonde hair and a baby with her.

I groaned. “We’re ghosts, aren’t we? Why aren’t we going inside? We can have a better look and will see more people without them seeing us, duh.”

“Shhhh. Look. You see over there?” Noah pointed to an odd looking man. He seemed young, and kinda cliche. Like one of those losers you’d see working at an arcade. A skinny, shaggy haired, and living in their mom’s basement type guy. He had earbuds in, and was visibly having some rock out session, strutting and pretending to play the drums. Ew. 

“What about him?”

“Perfect victim to scare. Charlie Davis. He used to be my neighbor. He’s a lot older than me, though. He never believed in ghosts. So I say we change that, what do you think?” He looked at me and smirked. I returned a smile and nodded. “I think we should make a list, don’t you? You know, a kill order,” he said. I laughed at that. 

“Okay. So, what do we have? This dork, Charlie, and the girl at Griffin. Natalie Whitaker. Who’s next?”

“Natalie? Like, the girl whose brother threw those really wild parties? That Natalie Whitaker?”

“That’s the one. She and I and a couple other friends would always play with his ouija board. I think that’s a pretty easy scare right there,” I said. 

“Ooh, I like that. You’re getting the hang of it,” He encouraged. 

“Well, the planning, at least. Scaring’s gonna be harder,” I mumbled.

“You’ll be fine. You got this.” He held his hand up for a high five. I tried to return it but my whole forearm went through his. 

“Oops.” 

Noah laughed. “It’s okay. It happens. Just focus. Remember when you pushed me off the roof? You just need to focus.” I tried again, focusing this time, and managed to successfully high five him. We both smiled at each other, then continued scoping out possible victims. Every so often, we’d find someone we knew, or would seem fun to mess with. After the supermarket, we had a pretty solid start to our ‘kill order.’

“Pretty good start, yeah?” We were walking down the street. We weren’t trying to go anywhere, just walking around.

“I would agree,” Noah responded. He turned to head in the direction of the playground. I followed him. 

“Why are we going here?”

“To reflect.”

“Wow, Noah. I didn’t see you as the zen type,” I joked.

“Amber, that wasn’t a joke.” I sighed in response and watched as he took a seat on a swing. I followed suit and took one next to him. 

“Are you okay?”

It was a minute before answering. “We shouldn’t be like this. Dead. Gone.”

“But it happens. It’s part of-” I started.

“No! It’s not every day that some teen boy just dies from a stupid, shitty, fire. It’s not supposed to happen. You shouldn’t be dead. You probably didn’t deserve to die. I know I shouldn’t. I know I didn’t. We’re just worthless, huh? I didn’t choose to die! I didn’t want to. I had plans. I was gonna go to college.” I felt tears slip down my face. I didn’t think I could cry after I died, but here I was, crying as Noah spoke. He was angry, and I couldn’t do anything. He continued to go on. “I had friends. I had a family. I had it all. And then a damn fire. A damn fire took it all away.” I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran. I got off the swing and ran. I didn’t want to listen to it. “Amber!” He called after me. I didn’t listen. I kept going. 

I spent a lot of my time people watching, or shoulder surfing, watching people’s phones. Before I knew it, it was 6 PM. I still haven’t seen any sign of Noah. I’m not sure I really wanted to either. I guess what he said just triggered me a bit. I’m not even really sure what happened out there. 

I was standing outside of Natalie’s house. I watched her family, all gathered in their dining room. Her little brother was already in his rocket ship inflatable costume, eating his dinner with it on. Her older brother was quiet, and silently poking at his food. Natalie looked terrible. She wasn’t even trying to pick at her food. She just sat. it looked like she’d been crying. 

“It’s too early to start haunting you know,” I heard someone next to me. I turned around to see Noah. I didn’t say anything and continued watching the Whitaker family. “Hey, Amber, look.” I turned around again to face him. “I came to apologize. I don't know why I dumped that on you. I didn’t mean to,” he said. 

“I chose to die,” I said quietly. He was a little taken aback by my words. “I killed myself, okay?”

“I’m so sorry. God, I’m an ass. I’m really sorry, Amber. I had no idea.”

“You didn’t know. It’s okay,” I said. We stood there in silence.

It was a couple minutes before Noah spoke again. “Why did you do it?”

“I didn’t know what else I could do,” I said weakly. I still had tears in my eyes. I kept telling myself not to cry. I think Noah sensed that, and patted my back as an attempt to comfort me. We watched the Whitaker family together. I saw Natalie get up and leave the table. God, she looked miserable. I would do anything just to see her smile again. She looked like she was headed towards her basement. “Noah,” I said. “ I need to go in.” He didn’t object. 

I walked up closer to her house and walked right through the walls.I watched Natalie go down to her basement, and I followed her. I noticed the ouija board in its usual spot as it was every year. I realized this was how I could talk to her. I took a deep breath and walked over to her light switches. I flicked them. She perked up immediately. She looked up at the lights, then down at the board. This was my chance. I moved the piece to the different letters. Nat? 

“What?” She said out loud. “Who’s there?”

It’s me. I hesitated before saying, iAmber.

“Amber? Is that you Like, really you?”

Yes. I’m sorry, I spelled out. 

“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry too,” She was crying at this point. I felt terrible. 

I’m okay.

“That’s good. I miss you.”

I love you, Nat.

“I love you, too.” And with that, I flickered the lights once more. I took one more look at Natalie, then left. I left the house to see Noah waiting for me. 

“Everything okay?” He asked. 

I wiped my tears. “Yeah, actually. I think she’ll be okay,” And I did.

“You talked to her, didn’t you?” I nodded and smiled. He smiled back. And then I hugged him. I didn’t have to focus to do that. It was the first time in a while I was happy. Genuinely happy. “It’s okay. It’s all okay.”

___________________________________________

“Well, this is definitely not how I pictured my first Halloween as a ghost,” I said. Noah and I were walking side by side around a park, around 1 AM.

“Probably not,” He smiled.

“But I did rather enjoy it. Even though it seemed short. And a little sad. But it was good.” I paused. “You know, Noah, I think we have potential to tolerate each other.”

“Possibly,” he simply answered.

“You know, I think I’m gonna see my friends. See how high they are yet,” He laughed at that. 

“Do you want me to come with you?” He asked. 

I thought about it. “No, I think I’ll be okay.”

“Well then, I guess this is goodbye.”

“Until tomorrow, of course,” I said.

“Then, tomorrow. I will find you.” Noah looked down at me, smiled, and kissed my forehead. “Goodnight, Amber.”

“I’ll see you soon,” I said. I turned and started walking away. A minute later, I find myself spinning back around and hugging Noah. “Thank you,” I whispered. 

“Anytime.”