All Hallow's Eve
I feel the full moon call my name as I stand alone on the quiet bridge that lays over the cool, calm, long river. The silhouette of the tall old trees sway in the chilling breeze. I am still in the moon's thick trance when I hear the call of what sounds like a wolf behind me. It seems close. To close. "They are coming," I whisper. My mother was right. She had once told me to never go out when the moon was full. For this is when the demons of the night come crawling from the depth of the Earth. This is when man may become beast without warning.
I run back to my small, superstitious village. I halt in my step as I hear another wolf cry & see a rather large figure coming toward me. Without a second thought I run in the other direction. I cross the old quiet bridge & the soundless, calm night is no more. My faint heart beat so loud & hard I feel as if it will jump out of my chest & escape from my sight into the cold, merciless night.
When I finally get to the other side I feel as if I am no longer alone. I feel one thousand eyes burrowing into the pores of my skin. I want to scream for help but I know this will do no good. Before me lies a moonlit path to guide my way. But to where? I never before had crossed the bridge. Let alone know where this path led.
I swear I can hear a cruel, wicked laugh somewhere near me in the thick dark woods. There is a split in the path. On my right, the moonlit path. On my left, the dark wood. But there is a poorly lit cabin at the end. Do I follow my trusted moon? or put my life into a stranger's hands? But how can I put my trust into an object that I have only seen from a distance? I must take the path to the stranger's home.
As I raise my fist to pound on the door it opens slowly. The light is much brighter than I had expected.I shut my eyes. Trying to adjust. When I open them there is a figure of a man. He is almost skeleton like. He is tall & pale. "Hello my dear. How may I be of service to you?" It is almost like he was expecting me."Come in," he tells me. "Take a seat. I just made some soup." As I sit on the old, uneven chair I look around. There is a bed on the far left in the back. There is a fire on the bottom of the back wall. Over the fire rests a rifle. "Yes. It is loaded." The man of age with long, gray hair tells me. Reading my mind. What a strange cold night.
"Now - what exactly a=was a sweet treat, such as yourself, be doing out . . . on a night such as this?" My mouth went dry. i did not enjoy the way he had his eyes on me. "the moon-" I began. But I was interrupted. "Aw yes, the moon." he looked out of his window, up at the full moon. "How beautiful & mysterious she is."
This is when I noticed his sunken in face. It was almost like he had no skin.
I needed to leave. I need to escape. I got up quickly. He pushed my back down. "You're so skinny," he tells me. "Must plump you up for the feast." This frightened me even more. "Feast - ," my voice cracks."What feast?" His cold, lifeless eyes put me in my place. "But of course. It is All Hallows Eve. The most special of days." I had to ask. "What is so special about it?" "This," he began. His smile so unnerving & non human like. " - is the night when my kind can walk & roam the Earth freely. When the humans are supposed to stay inside. But you broke this rule. And now . . . must pay!" I run to the door but he catches me. He throws me on the bed. "Come in!" He shouts to unseen ears. The door slams open to reveal a nightmare of creatures. I could never imagine this scene in my worst of dreams.
There was a creature that walked like a man but had the face & body of a wolf. I knew this was the creature that had been howling during the night. One creature resembled the demons my mother had warned me about if I did not say my prayers at night. each creature seems less & less human. They resembled something only the devil himself could create. I knew in my heart that God could never lay eyes on such things let alone produce them. I knew I had to do something. Time was not on my side.
I jumped for the rifle. I had used this sort of weapon before for hunting. I raised & aimed it at the creature that was closet. Which just happened to be the creature that resembled a wolf. I ended up shooting the creature's left eye. But it seemed that this had no effect on the godless monster. It lunged after me. I screamed out in pain & the next thing i knew I was in bed in a cold sweet. Breathing heavily. I said to myself, "Thank God. Tis just a devilish dream." I felt a slight pain. I looked down at my wrist. There were teeth marks & dry blood.
"Or," as I thought. "Was it?"