A/N: Halloween is my favoritest holiday ever, so it seemed only natural to write a story commemorating it in some way. This is a Post-Eclipse/No Breaking Dawn story. I love to have certain music in the background when I read this and Enya's "Boadicea" seems to complement it really well, although any creepy Halloweeny music will do. So sit back and enjoy yourself, and don't forget, that bump in the night you hear while reading this, it's nothing. It's probably just some axe-wielding murderering fiend or something. :) Sweet dreams - - - [maniacal laughter]
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Urban Legends
It had been just five years since the infamous fight in the clearing between the wolves, the Cullens, and the invading newborns that were sent to kill Bella Swan and anyone in their path. The wolves had been triumphant and the newborns and their makers were destroyed. Even though one of their own had been hurt badly in the fight (then second-in-command Jacob Black) it was still a good day. The wolves finally got the action they'd been wanting- and Jacob won Bella's heart. Fearing for Bella's life, the Cullens stood strong against the Volturi. They let it be known that they trusted Bella and had no doubts to her ability to keep their secrets; they also let it be known that if anything should happen to her they as well as the wolves would come to Italy and make their presence known. Aro understood the meaning behind Carlisle's words and decided it would be best for all concerned to let sleeping dogs lie.
A dejected Edward and the rest of the Cullen brood left and were never seen in the area again.
Life in LaPush and elsewhere, went on as it should...
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It was Halloween time again and the area was alive with orange and black decorations, windows with stick on witches and brooms and black cats, and carved pumpkins as far as the eye could see. Many things had changed in five years, especially at the Clearwater house. Leah was now married with a 6-month-old and had a career she loved. Seth was a full-time college student at Port Angeles.
With both her kids living away from home, Sue's empty nest syndrome was in full force. She lived for the holidays now and her kids came to see her as often as they could, but as time went on Seth's visits became shorter and shorter. He loved his mom, but he loved to party and be with his friends more. He was feeling his oats and loved his freedom.
Sue certainly understood. She forgave some holidays like Valentine's Day and Labor Day, even the 4th of July, but one holiday she absolutely would not budge on was Halloween. This brought back some of their happiest times from Halloweens past. When they were younger, Seth and Leah would help Sue make all their treats: Popcorn balls, candied apples, and all kinds of ghoulish looking treats. They'd also help with the trick-or-treaters, carve pumpkins, and make s'mores and tell ghost stories, etc. But those days were long gone.
Seth was now too big and too mature to do any of that and Leah had her hands full with the baby. But Sue managed to do most of these things, if only for the memories it conjured, and Leah did help when she could. Seth begrudgingly carved the pumpkin but it was a mess and obviously done in haste. When Sue commented on it, Seth snapped at her saying he didn't want to do it in the first place, but what he really wanted to say was how he didn't want to be here, but she guilted him into coming. He had had other plans and it didn't involve apples.
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Trick-or-treating was about to start in LaPush when Seth's phone rang. After talking secretively for a minute, he decided to talk to his mom.
"Hey mom, a couple of my friends from school are here; do you mind if I go out with them?"
"What?" she said while grabbing a large bowl from the cabinet. "We still have to finish those caramel apples, and I thought you were going to help me give out candy while Leah takes little Harry trick-or-treating? It's the baby's first Halloween."
"Mom," Seth whined. "I really don't want to stick around just for that. Besides, he's six months, he doesn't even know what day it is."
"Seth!"
Backpedalling he said, "I just mean, it's no big deal for him. Come on, mom, please! You can handle the little monsters, right?"
Sue sighed, "I guess so." She couldn't hide her disappointment. "It's just - I thought we could sit around the campfire and catch up a little afterwards."
The doorbell rang. Wanting to end the discussion, Seth got up to answer it. "Hey!" he said as he greeted his friends one-by-one.
His mother then realized he had already made plans to leave before he even asked. Annoyed, she went back to filling the bowls with candy, shaking her head.
"Mom, this is Ethan and Alex, friends from school," the boys smiled and gave a light wave to Momma Clearwater.
"Hello," she said kind of chilly. "So, what do you boys have planned?" she asked.
They looked at each other and shrugged, "Nothing concrete," Seth said. "Just hang, maybe go into Forks and check some stuff out."
"Okay. Well, you know what Chief Swan said about the curfew, right? There's no reason for any kids to be out past 11:00 tonight. Halloween is hard on cops because of all the pranks. So if he catches you-"
"He won't, I promise." He kissed his mother on the cheek and gave her a light squeeze. "Thanks mom, I'll be good," he added with a smile, and they waltzed out the door.
All three boys climbed into Seth's car and they were off.
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It was just turning dark, not a hard feat in the Olympic Peninsula as it was overcast nearly all of the time, but it added to the atmosphere of the holiday.
After going through the list of things to do in LaPush of which took only a few seconds – they decided to go to Forks and find something to amuse themselves. They finally settled on going to Forks Cemetery. The boys came prepared. Before they left Port Angeles, they had stowed a cooler of Deschutes Jubelale beer into the trunk.
Ethan had just turned 21 so he loved being able to buy whatever he wanted now. With their cooler completely stocked, they were going to have a party whatever they wound up doing.
Seth stood up and after looking around the quickly darkening cemetery and smelling the air for a few moments, an old habit from his patrol days, decided they were completely alone. Seth's friends didn't know about the Quileute wolves or that Seth was one of them, they just knew he was a really good lookout. They found a large statue of an angel with its granite wings extended. They felt this would be a great place to hide out and kick back.
Ethan, a native of Port Angeles had never been to Forks and wasn't very impressed with its small size and lack of night life. He begrudgingly sat on the cool ground and took one of the beers immediately. Alex had grown up in Forks before his family moved to Port Angeles, just before entering high school. There were several things about Forks that always stuck with him.
Seth, of course, had seen and done more in his young life than either of these young men combined. Because of his experiences he wasn't interested in cheap thrills like other people and a lot of times couldn't relate to them. But he wanted to fit in and was willing to do whatever it took. He didn't even want to come to the cemetery, but it was their best shot at being undisturbed and his friends liked the idea. His friends seemed anxious to try to one-up the other at whatever they did. Boredom turns smart people stupid.
They were all enjoying the reddish-brown ale they brought and had already downed one six pack and was starting another. The smell alone actually made Seth feel slightly warm and drinking it even more so. Of course, the 7% alcohol may have had something to do with it.
"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Seth said, feeling a buzz.
"Well, anyone know any good ghost stories? It's Halloween, man, let's do some scary shit!" Alex said.
"Like what?" Ethan asked, a little bleary-eyed. He went back to chugging his beer.
"Well, the scariest ones I know are true stories," Alex said.
"Yeah, that's for sure," Seth said with a distant look in his eye.
"Hey, Seth, you remember those stories about the old McDowell place here in Forks? Where's that house again?"
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of it. It's, uh…it's on the west side, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's right. On Bogachiel Way, I think," Alex said, wistfully. "Do you want to go see it?" he said smiling.
"Wait, what is this place?" Ethan asked.
Seth looked at Alex, "You want to tell it?" he asked and settled into another beer.
Alex nodded, "It's a local legend. I don't know if any of it's true, but it gets told around campfires a lot. Some time in the 1800s after the Civil War, the first white settlers came to this area. Pretty soon the logging companies moved in and set up shop. The owner of the biggest logging company, uh, something McDowell, was ruthless. Rumor is he used to be a slave trader before the war. He fled the south for a new life and brought his ways with him. He was pretty rough on the workers. A lot of 'em died because of faulty materials and 16 hour days."
"Old Man McDowell was evil, man," Seth explained, discarding the empty bottle. "He died mysteriously one day. They found him hanging in his room."
"Well what's so mysterious about that? So, he hung himself. Seems pretty cut and dry to me," Ethan said.
Seth shook his head. "Nah, the old man loved himself too much to off himself. Thing is, even though he lived by himself and didn't have a family he built himself one of the biggest houses in this whole area – just to show off, and during a time when everyone was struggling for money, too. He was a hateful son of a bitch."
Alex continued, "Besides, they say his bedroom was a mess and he had some blood on his face and shirt and there wasn't a chair anywhere near him. Some said suicide, but it sure sounds like murder to me."
"The house is still there but it's condemned and has been since the 60's," Seth finished."
Alex chimed in in a low voice, "Yeah and people say every now and then they hear sounds coming from the house. Things they can't explain."
Ethan's eyes were big. "Cool!" he said. "Can we see it?"
None of the boys could think of a reason not to. They finished off the rest of the beer and went to Bogachiel Way road feeling excited for the first time tonight.
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They pulled up to the house and were regretting it the moment they stopped, but they weren't about to say anything. The street was dark and no one lived on that block anymore. It was completely deserted.
The boys had passed some trick-or-treaters a few blocks east but knew none of them would come this way for love or money. They were all alone.
Seth could feel the butterflies and anxiety building. He knew his friends were probably feeling the same way, at least that's what he assumed from their increasing heart beats.
All three of them stood in front of the three-story Victorian home. The shutters were either hanging lopsided in some windows or completely torn off on others. Some of the windows were broken and some looked remarkably untouched. There was no paint to speak of and any that had been there once upon a time had long since faded and the far left corner looked like the house caught fire at one point. The charred exterior still remained as though no one even attempted to fix it. Unloved and unwanted, it was the loneliest looking house Seth had ever seen. The flashlights they each held on this moonless night was the only illumination.
The plan was to go inside, one at a time, go up to each floor and shine a light out of that floor's window to prove they had made it. It was to be timed because they were taking bets.
Since this was his idea and since he had always been curious about the place, Alex went first. Seth heard Alex's heart speed up with each step he took toward the house. He opened the door without resistance; it creaked in a horribly loud way. He then wriggled past the few remaining boards that were meant as a barrier against trespassers, and closed the door behind him. Seth and Ethan looked at each other and let out a nervous laugh. No longer feeling the buzz from the liquid courage they consumed, the boys were now on their own. Seth noticed that Ethan's breathing had become irregular and his heart sped up. He nudged Ethan, hoping he wouldn't pass out.
Finally, within a minute or two of entering the house, a light came from the first floor window showing Alex was okay.
The boys let out a sigh of relief. Seth was a skeptic and figured the house probably wasn't really haunted. It's just one of those silly urban legends that people talk about and convince themselves are real. Anyone can make anything into a ghost if they try hard enough. A cool spot is probably just a draft from an open window. Orbs in photographs are probably just dust. It didn't take much to fool people, and took even less to scare them. But there are very real dangers inside the house. Rusty nails, rotting floors, a critter or two that wouldn't want to be disturbed.
What if he panics and freaks out in there? Seth thought. He might run the wrong way and fall down the staircase or something. Damn, wished we'd thought of that. Oh well, too late now.
Several more minutes passed and they saw the light from the flashlight shining down from the second floor window. After they shined their lights up to the window to let Alex know he had been seen he moved on to the next floor. The reflected light from their flashlights blinded Seth for a minute, but his eyes were soon able to adjust if he looked into the darkness.
While trying to re-focus, he looked at the first floor window and saw something dark move across it. Whoa! Did he actually see something or were his eyes playing tricks on him? He tried to focus harder but was unable to see past the white blobs that were in his vision still. He decided it was nothing and brought his attention back to his friend.
Finally, the light they had been waiting for shined down on them from the third floor window. He made it. Seth and Ethan celebrated while Alex made his way back down.
After a few minutes, he bounded out of the house, exhilarated, and alive. "Well?"
"Ten minutes and 13 seconds," Seth said, looking at his watch.
"Okay, terd, you're up," Alex said to Ethan.
"If you can do it, I know I can do it, and way better that that," Ethan boasted.
"Well, I'm seeing an awful lot of nothing right now, big mouth," Alex said.
That was all the encouragement Ethan needed.
As it turns out, he did do amazingly well. Seth and Alex were surprised at how fast Ethan was signaling and moving, signaling and moving. It was as if he never slowed down. And then, they heard a crash and they both gasped.
Seth and Alex looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "Are you all right?" Seth hollered.
They heard nothing.
Straining to hear something, all Seth could hear was his own heart beating in his ears. Alex's heart was just as loud. Many things ran through their minds. They then saw a light coming from the second floor window and Ethan reappeared. He hollered down, "I'm okay, my foot fell through some rotten floorboard and I had to scramble to get back up. I'm gonna keep going."
Seth and Alex let out another huge sigh of relief. "Slow down, you idiot, it's dangerous in there and I ain't carrying your lifeless body all the way back to P.A!" Alex yelled back.
"Yeah, yeah," Seth heard Ethan say as he waved back.
Within a couple of minutes, Ethan had signaled his third floor triumph and Seth and Alex yelled a deflated, "Yay." By the time Ethan made it back out, Seth was a nervous wreck.
"Drumroll, please," Ethan asked Alex. Alex made a drumroll sound with his mouth.
"Ten minutes aaand..." Seth said, drawing out the wait, "12 seconds."
"Oh yes! Yes, yes, yes! HA!" Ethan gloated. "Suck on it!" he cried, pointing to Alex. "And that was with falling through the floor! HA!" Alex didn't look happy.
"Wait, wait, wait, it's not over yet, moron! It's Seth's turn," Alex pointed out.
"That's right, ladies. Time to put you both to shame," and with that, Seth bounded past them and with one swift movement flew onto the porch and was in the house, closing the door. In spite of his large frame, he was very agile and graceful and every movement was deliberate and smooth - courtesy of the Quileute bloodline.
Watching Seth's movements the boys began to worry. "We're so gonna lose," Alex said. Ethan nodded.
Once Seth was gone, Ethan turned to Alex, "Okay, so which one of you was it?"
"Was what?" said Alex, looking at the house.
"Which one came in the house after I'd gone in? Which one of you was it?"
Alex looked at him confused, "Neither. We were out here the whole time. Didn't you see us?"
"Don't give me that shit, I heard you," Ethan said. "I was up on the third floor and I heard one of you say my name, and I kept hearing someone klunking around in there. I thought you guys were trying to scare me, so I just-"
A chill ran through Alex's body. His colorless face said it all.
"That wasn't you?" Ethan said.
Alex shook his head, no. Ethan lost all the color in his face as well. "Then who...?" Just then, they saw a light coming from the first floor window from Seth's flashlight.
Inside, Seth noticed why it took so long to get from one floor to the other. Broken furniture and strewn pieces of junk scattered the floor. Cobwebs hung from the door frames and chandeliers, and dust and mold choked the air. Seth was hating life right now. He couldn't remember any of the reasons why he was here and why he was doing this. He was afraid to touch anything. Do wolves need tetanus shots? He had made it to the staircase on the first floor and after signaling in the window proceeded onto the second floor.
The stairs seemed to be in worse shape than the house; they creaked and groaned under the weight of his 220-lb body and he just reminded himself, don't slow down, don't stop, watch your step.
He made it up the decrepit steps and sauntered over to the second floor window and signaled down. He looked and saw his friends cheer. This spurred him on and he was feeling so good about his accomplishment, he forgot one of his own rules. He stepped into the same rotten hole his friend had just moments before. His friend came away, miraculously, with only a minor scrape, but due to Seth's bigger size he came down harder on the hole and jagged pieces of wood pierced into his leg. He cried out in surprise and pain. He could hear his friends calling to him and after he extricated himself from the hole, he cried down that he was all right. They waved their lights in the air.
Seth proceeded onto the third floor. After some careful maneuvering up the stairs, he made it without incident. He could feel a wetness on his calf and could smell the blood. Great, he thought. How was he going to explain this to his mom, he wondered. The punctures were beginning to heal and he knew he was also going to have a hard time explaining that to his friends – blood with no wound?
He signaled out the third floor window and his friends were jumping and hollering. He did it.
After being in such a dreary, negative sort of place even for a few minutes, it was good to look out into the world and see something familiar. Even with the stumble he knew he had made good time and was anxious to rub it in. Just then he heard something move on the second floor. It sounded like a door moving. His rational mind tried to explain this: A gust of wind, a raccoon, someone playing tricks? He looked back outside and both of his friends were still out there. A chill went through him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Then he heard what can only be described as… foot steps. He shivered. All of his old childhood fears, and a few new ones, began to stir.
All of his heightened senses were failing him. He was just about to head back downstairs to get out when he heard something he couldn't possibly explain. An unknown voice echoing off the walls - "Seth." He whipped his head around but there was no one there. It sounded like it was right by his ear. His wolf hearing and vision yielded nothing. All the ghost stories he had heard when he was young began to come back to him. He always thought they were just stories. He had never seen a ghost but the teachings of the elders bore into him of their existence. For many Native Americans, ghosts are as real as the moon and the sun and it was important to learn to co-exist, but every now and then a dark one emerges. Someone evil in life can be evil in death - twofold. His native self had realized what his skeptic self could not - something was in the house with him.
He gulped and made his way to the stairs again, but as soon as he reached the top of the stairs some unseen force grabbed Seth around his neck and pulled him back. He was unable to yell as whatever it was continued to strangle him. He struggled, knocking over anything that wasn't nailed down and a few that were, but managed to break free. Panicking, he tried to scream for help but he was soon choked again. A primal scream was all he could manage. Being a wolf wouldn't help him now. How do you fight a ghost? Still smarting from what felt like ligature marks on his neck and gasping for air, he tried to get up again and felt the force of being kicked in his stomach and face repeatedly, knocking him against the wall.
He decided he needed to confront this thing. In the stories, spirits only understand cunning and strength. Maybe, just maybe... "Who are you?" he yelled into the air. "Show yourself, you coward!" He felt another chill pass by him. Then he saw a man's silhouette form right before his eyes in the closet doorway. It was looking right at him. The figure took a step forward and with each step materialized a little more. Seth was too terrified to scream. It seemed to grow stronger with Seth's fear and pain, and blood.
"Oh God. Oh God," Seth pleaded. Tears began to well as he looked on, frozen with fear.
"Help, somebody help," Seth whispered. He wished he was anywhere but here. He wished he could see his mom one more time. Mom. The thought of her now made him miss and need her that much more. Then, just when he was about to give up and let whatever evil this was take him, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A bluish light seemed to spark into existence out of nowhere and flickered out. Within an instant, it was back and the light seemed to envelop the room. In this light, Seth was able to get a better look at his assailant and he really wished he hadn't, because the rage and the hatred on the entity's face was horrifying. Fortunately, however light seemed to stun the ghost as well.
Just when Seth thought he might pass out from shock and fear, he just couldn't imagine what else could possibly happen, figures of men materialized out of the light. These figures shimmered but still appeared solid, and they had the same bluish hue to them as the light. They marched like soldiers. With their regalia and native features, they could be only one thing, Seth hesitated even to think it, but he recognized his tribe's dress from his history books. Spirit Warriors, Taha Aki's Spirit Warriors had come to save him. Emotionless but strong, they each held a body-length spear, and stood side-by-side as a ghostly shield between Seth and the entity. It was clear, if the entity wanted Seth, it would have to go through them.
Seth looked up and felt the pride of the warriors standing around him. Drawing strength from them, he no longer felt afraid and scrambled up along the wall, and hobbled down the stairs. He looked up and the entity had a look of anguish and frustration on its face from being denied his prize. Seth never stopped moving. The last thing he saw as he descended the stairs, The Spirit Warriors were moving in closer and closer to the entity, forcing it out of sight.
When Seth finally made it to the front door, the entity screamed an unearthly scream and the house went quiet, but he could still feel electricity in the air.
He made it outside and looked around but there was no one there. His car remained however. Seth was in such a hurry, that he ran out of the front yard, soared over the rotten picket fence and was just about to get into his car when he felt two sets of hands grab him. He screamed.
It was Sam Uley and their new alpha, Jacob Black. Seth immediately collapsed when he saw them.
"Seth, what's wrong? What happened?" Sam asked.
"I...I was...I ssssaw..." Seth couldn't put it into words, instead he raised a shaking hand and pointed to the house. What Sam and Jacob saw left them dumbstruck.
"Oh my God," Jacob said. Sam whispered, "Whoa."
They stood motionless with their jaws agape, unbelieving of what they were seeing. They looked in time to see ghostly warriors assembled at every window in the house and in front of the door blocking the entrance. They were bluish-white and stood proud and strong. They looked like the drawings from their cultural history books. Then one of the ghostly warriors stepped forward and seemed to be saying something to them, but neither Sam nor Seth could hear anything. But Jacob could. He nodded at the warrior and it nodded back and without warning, they disappeared taking the light with them. Sam and Jacob looked at each other, and then to Seth.
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On the way home, Jacob explained that Alex and Ethan called Seth's house, frantic. They could hear Seth screaming inside the old McDowell house but couldn't get him out - something had sealed the door shut from the inside.
Seth had the car keys, so panicking, they ran. Sam and Jacob picked them up at a nearby gas station after they found Seth.
Sue was in the living room worried to death, waiting for word. The door swung open with the force of a full-grown man rushing in. Seth ran to his mother and hugged her, in fact, collapsing into her waist hugging her middle. Still shivering, still visibly scared.
"What the...?" Sue exclaimed, shocked to see Seth in such a state.
"I'm so sorry, mom! I am so sorry! I promise I'll never say one bad word about Halloween or caramel apples or pumpkins Ever Again, EVER. I swear! I love you, I love you, I love you!" Seth cried.
Jacob and Sam strolled into the house. Sue looked at them, questioningly. They only shrugged, unsure of how much to tell her, and unsure if they believed it themselves.
After it was all over, Sam was dropping Jacob off at his and Bella's home. Neither had said a word about what happened the whole time.
"Well thanks for dropping me off. I'll see you tomorrow," Jacob said.
"Wait just a minute," Sam said. "What did he say to you?"
"Who?"
"The thing…at the McDowell house. What did he say? Seth and I couldn't hear it."
"Oh, he said…they were proud of us."
"That was all?"
"And ... they'll see us next year."
The End
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A/N: So you survived the axe-wielding murderer long enough to finish my story, I see. Good for you. Glad to see you've got some spunk. Well there you have it, I hope you liked my little attempt at scariness. Poor Seth, I think he's learned his lesson about not taking anything for granted and how stupid it is to cave to peer pressure. We've all done it but not all of us have the backing of our tribe's ancestors. So remember that, kiddos. Happy Halloween everyone and stay safe! Check your candy and bring your flashlights because believe it or not, drivers can't see you dressed in black walking around in the dark. I know, odd, huh? lol Good night, sleep tight, don't let the insane asylum escapee bite [Vincent Price laughter]
***Disclaimer: The characters setting and familiar situations belong to Stephenie Meyers. References to films or music also do no belong to me. No copyright infringement intended. I'm not making any monetary profit from this.***