Mattie looked in the mirror at her costume. Tonight was Halloween and it would be her 1st time trick-or-treating in Salem, MA. The new town that they moved to. Mattie and her family moved to Salem this summer, so she was exactly that new. But Mattie knew that Salem took Halloween very seriously. Back in the 1600's there were these sisters called the Sanderson sisters. They lived in a cottage not far from Mattie's house, and they sucked the lives out of children. Mattie shivered at the thought. Turns out, some kids named Max, Dani, and Allison claimed to have killed the witches 10 years ago. No one ever believed them.
Mattie was being a cat for halloween. She wore a black leotard and a black skirt. She had black tights on and cat ears. She drew whiskers on her face too. She let her straight brown hair down and then slipped on her black flats. She headed downstairs. "There's the little kitty!" Mom said as she hugged Mattie. Mattie giggled and wiggled out of her arms. "Where's Sam?" She asked. "Upstairs." Dad said. He was sitting the table looking at the news. All of a sudden there was loud thuds from upstairs. Sam tumbled down the stairs. Mattie groaned.
Sam decided on being a full out punk rock star this halloween. He had his hair spiked up, like he normally does and wore a rocker vest with a band shirt underneath, ripped jeans and black boots. "Ready?" Mattie asked as he got down the stairs. He nodded. "Stay in the neighborhood okay?" Dad said. Mattie and Sam nodded. Of course Mattie would listen. She ALWAYS listens. Sam on the other hand… does not. They grabbed their trick or treating bags and headed outside.
A gush of cold air smacked Mattie in the face when she got outside. Sam was already walking. "Where are you going?" Mattie asked, racing after him. "To meet up with the gang at the graveyard. We're going to go check out the Sanderson Sisters house." Sam said. Mattie grabbed his arm. "But Dad said to stay in the neighborhood." Mattie said. Sam rolled his eyes. "Of course you would listen. I think you're just using that as an excuse because you're scared!" Sam bickered. Mattie glared. "I am not!" Mattie said. "I bet you wouldn't even go in the house!" Sam yelled. "I would too!" Mattie yelled back. "Prove it. If you can stay in the Sanderson Sisters' house for 15 minutes, I'll do your chores for a week." Sam said. Mattie thought for a moment. "Unless you're too scared…" Sam said. "I am not! Deal!" Mattie said. She followed her older brother to the graveyard.
"Mattie? In the Sanderson Sisters' house? No way!" Rick said. "I will and I'll prove it!" Mattie snapped. The group of boys laughed. "Fine." They said. But they all thought she was lying. They headed up the trail in the woods that led the backway to the house. "Okay now prove it. Unless you're a scardy...cat!" Sam said. The group of boys all laughed making Mattie fill up with anger. She stormed into the house. That made the boys shut up fast. "Come on, let's go get candy." Sam said. The boys ran off, leaving Mattie alone in the Sanderson Sisters' house.
It was pitch black in the house. Mattie waited for her eyes to adjust before she could see the forms of things. She saw a stack of lighters on the counter and stumbled over to them. She lit the lighter, but only could see a little bit of what was in front of her. That's when she saw the form of a candle. Mattie stumbled over to it, not noticing the candle was the Black Flame Candle. She lit it and the wind picked up. Everything in the house started to shake and the floor glew green. Mattie screamed. She ducked under a table and then she heard a loud cackle. All the candles in the room lit up. The door burst opened and Winnie, Mary, and Sarah Sanderson burst in. "We're back!" Winnie yelled. Mattie covered her mouth to keep from screaming. What has she done?!