A/N: Well I have to admit, I had hoped for a more positive reaction to this story. Or heck, any kind of reaction. But so far, no faves, no follows, and no reviews. I don't mean to sound whiny or anything, but would someone please leave a review or something? Let me know that I'm not wasting my time here? I mean, I'll continue this whether it gets looked at or not, but it would mean a lot if I knew there was someone out there who was enjoying it. Please?

Anyway, I'm done complaining now. On with the show!

Chapter Two

October 29, 2008

Haddonfield High School was a one-story structure that occupied a lot on the far side of town. It was only a fifteen minute walk from his new home, so Ben decided to go on foot. He felt the butterflies fluttering in his stomach as he approached the building and got his schedule and information from the friendly lady at the front desk. Then he headed off to US History, weaving through throngs of chattering students, all of whom turned to look at him. One of the disadvantages of moving to a small town, he thought wryly. Everyone knows you're new.

The feeling of unease increased dramatically when he entered the History classroom. Everyone went very quiet, and Ben could actually hear his footsteps on the tile floor as he walked up to the teacher's desk. The young man in a crisp white dress shirt and blue tie kindly introduced himself as Mr. Hardy and directed Ben to a desk towards the back of the room. A girl directly beside him gave him a shy smile as he sat down, which he tried to return. He thought it might have come out as a grimace.

"Hi, I'm Katie," the girl said as the other students resumed their conversations. "Katie Sanderson."

"Ben Greene," Ben replied, nodding and trying that smile again. It felt better this time.

Katie was pretty. She was thin and modestly curved with red hair, a nice face, and a friendly smile, one that told Ben that he was genuinely welcome. This made him feel a little better. Maybe adjusting wouldn't be so hard after all.

A boy behind him said, "I'm Joey Blanchard." Ben looked around and saw that the speaker was a tall, lanky teenager with coarse brown hair and a bright smile. "What brings you to Haddonfield?"

"My dad got a new job," Ben replied. "We just moved in yesterday."

"Well, welcome," Joey said. "We don't usually get newcomers around here."

"Why not?" Ben asked.

"Oh, you know, small town and all," Joey replied airily. Ben got the distinct impression he was hiding something.

At that moment, the teacher called for quiet, and Ben faced the front with everyone else as the lesson began. He took notes diligently, a practice he had learned from his old ex-teacher. If you didn't copy down every single word that woman said, you would be in for a nasty surprise come test time. Ben sincerely hoped this teacher wasn't quite so cruel.

After History, Katie showed him to Chemistry, taught by a middle-aged woman who smiled welcomingly as Ben was introduced. He made sure to sit beside Katie. At least there was someone here who was friendly.

"Hi," said a voice to his left. He looked around to see a girl, about five foot ten with shiny blond hair and pretty blue eyes, gazing at him. "I'm Alice Whitman."

"Ben Greene," Ben said. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Alice replied, smiling sweetly. "Where are you from, Ben?"

"Chicago," he answered.

"Wow." Alice's eyebrows went up. "A city fellow, huh? This must be a huge change for you, moving to a small town like this."

Ben shrugged. "I guess, but so far it's okay."

Alice snorted a little derisively. "You'll be changing your mind pretty soon, I bet. Especially when you find out just how little there is to do in this town."

Ben didn't quite know how to take this, so he merely grinned and shrugged.

"You'll sit at our table today at lunch, won't you?" Katie asked. Was Ben imagining it, or did she sound rather hopeful?

"Are you all that bored?" Ben asked, trying to sound playful. "So bored you need a new kid in town for entertainment?"

Alice laughed and said, "Yeah, something like that."

Katie, however, looked a little hurt by his response. Ben backpedaled. "That was a joke, Katie."

Katie's injured look vanished and was replaced by a warm smile. "Yeah, I knew that."

The teacher called the class to order, and Ben turned to face her and took more notes. By the time the bell rang, his hand was sore and cramped.

Katie and Alice led Ben to the cafeteria, where a long line of students was forming to fill their trays with unpleasant-looking food. Well that's nothing new, Ben thought. Cafeteria food sucks whether you're in the city or a small town.

Once the three of them had their food, Katie and Alice led Ben to a small round table, where Joey Blanchard and two other people were already seated. They both looked up as the two girls and Ben approached. "Hey Alice," Joey said, standing up and giving Alice a little kiss. The blonde smiled at him, her eyes shining. Joey grinned at her wordlessly for a second before turning to introduce the newcomer to the two others at the table. "Guys, this is Ben Greene. He's new here."

"Hey Ben," said the boy, grinning. "Name's Steve Morgan." He was tall and thin, with wavy brown hair that looked as though he'd just been on a wild roller coaster.

"I'm Miranda, Miranda Nicholson," said the girl. She was stunningly beautiful, with long blonde hair and blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires. Ben grinned at her, and then noticed that she was holding Steve's hand.

Oh. Off-limits.

He sat down with the friends and listened to their various conversations. Katie asked Alice about her plans for Halloween. "I was thinking about going to Frank's party, but I'm not sure. He's kinda weird," she said, absentmindedly playing with a lock of her hair.

Joey and Steve were talking about a haunted house that opened up in Russellville, another small town not too far from Haddonfield. "I've heard the special effects there are really great," said Joey.

Steve scoffed. "I went there last year. It's cheap shit like projections and guys in black robes and masks. Don't waste your money."

"I went to a haunted house when I lived in Chicago," Ben offered, feeling glad that he could contribute to the conversation.

Joey and Steve looked at him, interested. "How was it?" Joey asked.

"Well," Ben replied, spearing a wilted green bean on his fork and gazing at it thoughtfully, "it scared the shit out of me. But I tend to scare easily, so I don't know how you'd like it."

"I like them good and scary," Steve said, grinning. "Lots of blood, guts, and gore. Can't have a haunted house without those three things."

"We have one of our own here in Haddonfield," Katie said, picking up on the conversation. "A real one. The old Myers house. Plenty of people say it's haunted, and it definitely has a gory past."

"I'll say," said Miranda, shuddering rather theatrically.

Alice looked thoughtfully over at Ben. "The Myers house was sold a couple of weeks ago," she said. "Which house did you move into?"

The entire table fell silent. Ben was suddenly finding it hard to chew. When he finally swallowed, he asked in a would-be-calm voice, "Is the Myers house a small two-story white house, really old, looks as though it belongs in a horror movie?"

Joey nodded, looking very concerned. "Do you know the address offhand?"

Ben thought for a moment. "I think it's 45 Lampkin Lane."

By the expressions of shock on everyone's face, Ben could guess the truth.

"You actually live in the Myers house?!" Steve said in a hushed voice. "Oh man, what's it like in there?"

Ben shrugged and tried to keep his voice level. "It's just an old house. It creaks a bit and the doors don't shut worth a damn, but other than that, it's perfectly ordinary."

Everyone looked rather impressed at this. Ben noticed Katie shudder. Unlike Miranda, she looked genuinely unnerved.

"So what exactly happened in the Myers house?" Ben asked, feeling as though he really didn't want to know the answer.

"Well," Joey said, "it was the childhood home of one of the most famous serial killers in America, Michael Myers."

Ben felt his insides shrivel up. Of course he'd heard the name before. There weren't many people in Illinois who hadn't. "God…" he breathed.

"It was Halloween night, 1963," Steve took up the tale, looking giddy with excitement. "Six-year-old Mikey came home early from trick-or-treating. His parents were at a party somewhere and his older sister Judith was upstairs fucking her boyfriend. Well, little Mikey sneaked into the house, grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen, waited for Judy's boy toy to leave, crept upstairs, and stabbed his sister a hundred times. There was blood everywhere, man. She wasn't even recognizable, just a huge hunk of bloody meat on the bedroom floor."

Ben felt the gorge rise in his throat and fought to keep himself from throwing up.

"No one knows why he did it," Joey continued, shooting a glare at Steve. "Just went crazy, I guess. Anyway, in 1978, he escaped from Smith's Grove Sanitarium and came back here, to Haddonfield, and started stalking some babysitters, including a girl who turned out to be his younger sister, Laurie Strode. I think it was like, what, sixteen people dead? Halloween night, 1978. His doctor, Sam Loomis, chased him all over kingdom come, even blew up the hospital. God only knows how he survived that one.

"Well, it was assumed that Michael died in the fire, but to my knowledge they never recovered his body. And every once in a while, people claim he's come back. Every few years we hear of people getting killed on Halloween night. Most people think that it's Michael, that he somehow survived and keeps returning to Haddonfield to stalk and kill teenagers. The police find the bodies, but they never catch the guy who's behind it all." He hesitated for a moment. "There is some speculation that he's the bogeyman. Every time he shows up, someone claims to have finally killed him, but then the body always goes missing and he'll show up again in a year or two. Some people believe that he simply can't be killed."

Ben felt as though someone had punched him in the gut.

"Well, the Myers house has been empty pretty much since 1963, when his parents moved out," Alice said, giving Ben a look that he thought might have been truly pitying. "People have tried to live there a couple of times over the past thirty years, but they always leave pretty quickly. Most people in this town believe it's haunted or even cursed. They say that to live in the Myers house is like signing your own death warrant."

Ben finally unstuck his throat and said, "And…do you believe that? Do you believe the house is cursed?"

Steve scoffed. "Dude, Michael Myers isn't even real," he said. "He died back in 1978. From then on it's been copycat killers, and none of them have been smart enough to survive. Bunch of dumbasses, trying to be the next Michael Myers. Don't worry about it, man. You've got no reason to be afraid.

But Ben Greene was afraid. Very afraid.