(Melissa POV)
As I drove home, I found myself caught in traffic, sipping on a cup of coffee I had bought earlier that day. After a while, I had passed the jam and was driving smoothly down the road. Someone in a large black SUV cut in front of me.
"Dude, what the hell?" I mumbled under my breath. I stared at the SUV, determined to talk to... well... scream at the driver once I got next to him. Then, without warning, a car made harsh impact to the back of mine. My body lurched forward and I hit my forehead on my steering wheel. All I could see was black, and all I could hear was muffled whimpers of pain from Penny.
I fell through darkness. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't feel. I fell with a crunch. No. No, no, no, no, no. This was not happening. I opened my eyes, soon to find I was in the middle of the woods. I lay on dead leaves and stared up at the darkness of the midnight sky. The moon was replaced with a glowing, eerily grinning jack-o-lantern. I slowly stood up and brushed myself off, before noticing that my arm was covered in dried blood.
"Oh... shit. No, please, no." Where the hell am I? Heaven? Hell? Nirvana? The ghastly void? I heard a thump behind me. Turning around, I realized it was Penny. She lay limp on the ground, and a large chunk of glass was lodged in her side. I knelt next to her and picked her up, brushing off the small bits of glass from her fur and pulling the chunk of glass from her side. Blood flooded from the wound. She didn't whimper or even wince, even though she was conscious. She looked up at me and whined.
"It's okay. You're okay." I quietly assured her. It seemed to calm her, and she lay her head back on my arm. I began walking through the woods, petting Pennie's head. I was absolutely terrified and thoroughly confused. I continued walking for what seemed like days, before I found a scarecrow with a sign nailed above its jack-o-lantern head, reading "Halloweentown." I continued walking, before seeing a large graveyard. I examined the gravestones, noticing the bizarre, crying faces on some and barking dogs and screeching cats on others.
I continued walking through, mildly creeped out by the unusual tombs, before coming across a gate. It was open, so I passed through it. I was then greeted by a tall hill topped with a seemingly small town. I walked down a cobblestone path leading in from the cemetery up the hill. No-one seemed to inhabit the crooked, monotone town. I put Penny on the cold ground so that we could explore it. I walked past a building with a tall observation tower stemming from it, gripped a bar of the iron fence, and swung around to see the alley beside it. I then saw something that made me turn several tones paler. A shadowy figure was walking around, seeming to be looking for something. Penny barked at it. Suddenly, the creature quickly looked up at me.
I needed to get out. I sprinted off as fast as my legs could carry me. It didn't matter if I didn't know where to go, I had to get away from that thing. Far away. A place it could never find me. As I ran, I looked behind me. Shit! He was following me! I could see him walking towards me. I turned back around, only to find myself tripping on a cobblestone that was slightly pulled up. BAM! My body fell to the floor. However, I didn't feel any pain. I just decided to stay on the ground. If it thinks I'm dead, maybe it will leave I thought to myself.
"Hello? Hello?" Said a male voice from behind me. He began jabbing me in the arm with a bony finger.
"Are you okay?" Well, he seems to have some humanity in him... He wants to know if I'm okay. I rolled over on my back, only to see the same figure crouched beside me. He wore a black, pinstriped suit with a tail coat, and his head was replaced with a skull. He was also extraordinarily skinny. He he vaguely reminded me of one of those Day-of-the-Dead figurines that would go on the altars. My nerdy mind went off somewhere else, half expecting for him to tell me that his name is Manny Calavera and that he is my new travel agent. I giggled to myself. He shot me a confused look.
"Are you okay?" He repeated. I sat up.
"I... uh... I'm fine, thanks." I mumbled. He grinned and stood up. He brought one of his skeletal hands down to me. I gripped it and he helped me up. I picked up Penny, who had followed after me.
"Thank you." I gave him a warm smile.
"You're welcome."