Katie looked longingly at her Aunt Ana's photo, holding it in her hands. Katie had called her many times, trying to get a hold of her, but for some reason, Ana never answered. Katie, being only ten, thought that it was no big deal. She also thought it was just that Ana never picked up her cellphone or her house phone. Katie placed the photo back on the counter-top, and pushed some of her long, brown bangs out of her eyes. She decided to call Ana once more. She turned around to get the phone in the kitchen and screamed. In front of her stood a figure that had dry blood on it, with teared-off skin, revealing the bones under it. Katie shrieked again. The figure took off it's mask, chuckling.
"Katie, it's just me, Tom."
"Tom!" Katie cried in disbelief. She gaped at her eighteen-year-old brother, who was beaming down a smile at her. He broke into a laugh. She slapped him on the chest hard. "How could you?"
"Um, happy Halloween?" he said, still chuckling. Katie rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Yeah. Right."
"Aren't you going to dress up for old times sake? I mean, don't you think scaring the skin off of little kids is fun?" Tom asked, messing up his scruffy dark-blonde hair with his hand. "And besides, I can't leave you home alone. You know Mom and Dad will kill me when they came back from the trip, if I do. Which I won't. So get dressed, and hurry up."
Katie rolled her eyes again. "Scare little kids? What are you, two?"
"What? I love Halloween! It's not about the candy, it's about the scares!" Tom cried. He gave Katie a spooky laugh. Katie sighed, thinking Tom was just plain foolish. She sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV.
"You're going to watch the news on Halloween? What are you, crazy?" Tom said. He took off his suit, revealing a plain white shirt and jeans underneath. It was Tom's turn to sigh. "Fine. I give up. We'll go outside later, then." He plopped onto the sofa next to Katie, resting his elbow on the arm, and his chin was in his hand. He sighed again, then sat up, looking at the urgent signs on the news.
"What's that about?...," he mumbled to himself under his breath. He stood up, then walked to the TV and sat down on the table in front of it. Katie and him peered at the TV, as if they hypnotized. Katie gasped and put her hands over her mouth.
"D-Deaths?" Katie stammered. She listened to the news for a moment. "Thousands of deaths?" Then she stopped. "Wait. Isn't that where Aunt Ana and that guy she talks about live?" Katie's eyes widened. "I wish Mom and Dad were here..."
"Oh my God." Tom stood up and moved to the sofa again. "I have to watch the news more often."
"Please," the anchorman pleaded. "Please stay inside of your homes. Do not try to reach loved ones, for it may be too late. Do not, I repeat, do not go outside. Lock all of your doors and lock all of the hatches on your windows immediately. Please, I repeat, you do not know what lurks outs-" The connection stopped, and the screen suddenly turned to a line of colors. The TV made a long noise. Katie jumped when she heard a knock on the door. Katie slowly turned to Tom.
"Should we open it?" Katie asked, whispering. Then they heard the childish voices saying, "Trick-or-treat!" Tom exhaled a big breath, then got the candy and opened the door.
"Hey," he said, turning around to face Katie. "They're just happy trick-or-treaters." He turned back to the kids who were smiling up at Tom in their childish costumes. He looked outside the porch and saw two adults, who Tom assumed were these children's parents. They were all girls. One was dressed as a ballerina, another one was dressed as a cheerleader, and the last one wasn't dressed at all.
"What are you supposed to be dressed as?" Tom asked the girl, as he gave them all candy.
"Well, I'm dressed as me," the girl said. The one on the very right smiled shyly at Tom.
"You're cute," she said, giggling. The other ones giggled, as the ordinarily-dressed one rolled her eyes. Tom looked behind him and saw Katie looking blankly at the TV.
"Um... thanks," Tom said to the girl. He shrugged and closed the door. "Couple of weirdoes..." He walked over to Katie and told her, "I'm going to go lock the windows and stuff... If anyone comes to trick-or-treat again, don't open the door." He turned to walk away, but stopped. He turned to face Katie again. "Oh, and stay here. And please, close the curtains." He took a last glance at the dark night sky and turned to leave. Katie felt nervous waves rise in her body, knowing that she was all alone. She silently made her way to the windows, taking fast strides. She quickly shut the window and locked it, then pulled the curtains over it. Biting her lower lip, she didn't want to turn around. Katie loves to watch scary movies, and sometimes can't help but think of the scary things that can happen. She turned around quickly, nearly knocking over a plant next to her. She sighed, smiling for thinking of such a thing. Suddenly the doorbell rang, which made her jump.
"Ouch!" Tom cried. Then he yelled down to Katie, "Uh, sorry, Katie, I jammed my toe on something." Katie heard him mumble, "Damn table."
The trick-or-treater started to bang the door. Hard. Katie couldn't help it. She walked to the door and opened it about an inch. The little girl from earlier was outside, crying.
"Please, let me in," she begged. "Please, Miss, please." Katie opened the door quickly and let her in. She looked at her with a confused expression. The girl had to be seven or so, Katie noticed. She kneeled next to her. Katie locked the door, almost forgetting.
"What's wrong?" Katie asked, trying to calm her down. "And where are your mommy and daddy at?" The little girl turned to face Katie, and she let her arms drop to her side.
"I don't know," the girl said. "They left. And Alana and Sammy, my two bestest friends in the whole wide world, were attacked by these ugly-looking men, and then I ran away, and they started to chase me. So I ended up coming here." She started to sob again. Katie tried to force back a worried face, but that didn't help. Tom came down the stairs, and jumped when he saw the little girl.
"Who's that?" Tom asked. "Wait, isn't that...? Katie, I told you not to let anyone in!"
"It's not my fault!" Katie cried at him. She put her hair behind her ears. "She was begging for me to let her in. S-Something's out there, Tom. Something bad."