Hmmm 🤔…ok feel like this one might need a liiiitlle itsy bitty warning.
WARNING: Please Do Not Read If You Are Easily Triggered By Gruesome Details.
Otherwise, please enjoy and have a great Halloween 😁😝😈
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It was a bit darker by the mid-evening in October, not that one could tell with most of the front porches and lawns decorated by lit pumpkins that made the festivity of the season come alive. A slight breeze blew the browning maple leaves off the trees, carrying them along to be deposited on various roofs or sweeping them into the street. The cul-de-sac was abuzz with the ambient sounds of children’s laughter as different groups of little figures flittered from door to door, chanting the same chorus gleefully when the homeowners answered.
A three-tiered knock rattled one shortly after the other on the front door to the house at the end of the street; one could basically feel the excitement from the caller with each knock.
“Coming!” came the call from the home owner, a dose of laughter giggling its way into her voice.
When Alice Lorne opened her front door, the security light reflecting down from above it made her flowing blonde hair a halo to her caller. He stood looking up at her with his mouth agape and eyes to match, forgetting the customary cry of the season. Alice was accustomed to similar reactions, but often coming from those who at the least looked older than six years old. Alice looked like she had been plucked right out of a 1950’s postcard featuring the perfect home-maker. Her golden blonde hair had not a strand out of place as it flowed down her back with a partition set to swoop over her left shoulder. The big blue eyes that were reminiscent of a clear summer sky didn’t need much makeup to accentuate them, matching the rest of her facial features that much like her hair had an angelic appearance to them. A button-up cardigan was cropped just above her waist, its sleeves capped at her forearms, beneath it a floral print pouf dress spread outward on her lower half, lining up just beneath her knees. Like the sweater, the stockings sleeved on her legs were perfect for bridging the season’s transition from hot to cold weather, sinking into ankle-strapped pumps.
Tied over both the dress and sweater was an apron, frilled at its edges; simple pearl earrings matched her necklace and bracelet.
“Well hello there sweetie…” she beamed at her caller with all the joy she felt at his appearance “and what are you supposed to be?”
The boy was dressed in a simple buttoned shirt with an open leather vest over it. Khaki slacks, boots that looked like they belonged to a different costume, a fake rubber knife on his hip and a bone-laced necklace. But the most prominent thing about his ensemble that kept making Alice struggle to contain her mirth was the oversized stetson hat with a circle of beads around its base.
“I’m-I’m a hunter!” the boy responded in a bashful tone, his green eyes keenly focused on a nonexistent item on the ground, coming up intermittently only to catch hers looking back at him causing his to snap back to the ground.
“I can see” Alice responded with an amazed tone that she replicated on her face as she pointedly looked at his rubber bucket half full of assorted candy, the praise making a smile tickle the edge of his lips as his body swayed left to right in mildly controlled happiness.
He reminded her of her little brother when she’d been a teenager.
“Where are your friends sweetie? Your parents?”
The boy sniffed his nose out of seeming habit that caused his bottom lip to get slightly sucked in between his teeth; an adorably failed attempt to hide a proud smile.
“They said I’m old enough that I can do this on my own now”.
He might as well have set his arms akimbo on his hips and beamed from ear to ear. Alice was overcome. She looked up into the street behind him and it was empty, it seemed all the other children had milled out, heading for other neighbourhoods during their conversation, all the other doors closed.
She squatted down so their eyes could be at the same level
“What’s your name honey?”
“Louis. Louis Lake” the large emerald green eyes looking at her guilelessly
“Do you have a phone to call home?”
“Umm…” his befuddled look was answer enough.
“Louis…” she spoke his name with familiarity, meeting and holding his eyes “I don’t feel quite right letting you go off all on your own, so, why don’t you come in for a moment and we can try to get a hold of your parents”
The large green eyes looked uncertain, his head turning to look back at the deserted street
“I promise I’ll give you all the candy you can eat”
Whether it was the sweetness of her voice, the tempting promise, or both, his head whipped back to look at her, his face almost cherub-like in its glee. Alice’s insides melted at the look, making her let out a heartfelt chuckle. So much like her brother had been.
Rising to her feet she stepped aside
“Come on in”.
The child all but ran past her in excitement as she watched him stop several paces in when he realised he didn’t know which way he was supposed to go. He barely looked back at her raising the brim of the oversized hat as it blocked his view. This made a fresh giggle escape her as she pointed him to the left, the happy grin he returned as thanks before speeding into the living room making that melting feeling in her spread even further. A gust brushed past her, reminding her to turn and close the door, locking it.
She moved in the foyer till she got to the branching path, she looked into the living room to see her guest sitting politely in the middle of a sofa, his legs not long enough to reach the ground; he may have looked patient but like his knock at the door earlier, one could basically feel the anticipation radiate from him, the sight freshening her grin. Alice made her way to the kitchen and reached up to open the cabinet she’d stored the candy in, she got the special batch she’d put aside from the rear of the cupboard, then made her way back to the living room.
“Here you go sweetie” she said sweetly as she poured the medium carton full of candy into the boy’s bucket, his little face exploding in unimaginable pleasure as he let out an audible gasp that turned into a short squeal of joy. It made Alice laugh cheerily.
Off came his hat, wrappers ripped apart, each hand overflowing with candy and a second later, his mouth stuffed to the brim. Alice couldn’t help running a hand through his dark hair, the touch made him look up at her, with a wide ecstatic smile, both his cheeks filled to bursting. So much like her brother.
Though not really needing to, her eyes scanned around the living room to make sure that the curtains had all been fully drawn, then she made her way to the doorway of the room and looked back at him. He munched down on a crunchy bar of chocolate, his little hands lathered in salivary coating from multiple confectionaries, in her mind she bit down hard on one of those little fingers, her teeth weaving through the tender flesh and crunching on the bone inside; the melting warmth threatened to set her on fire, it was all she could do to contain herself as she actively refrained from licking her lips.
“I’ll be right back sweetie, okay?”
“Mmhm” came his humming recognition without raising his head as he stuffed more candy into his mouth, his legs swinging happily over the edge of the couch.
She turned around as her hand slid into the right pocket of her apron to make sure the key to the front door was safely tucked away in there; like the windows she already knew the answer, but being careful was a motto that she, more than most needed to live by. Turning fully she resumed her journey back to the kitchen, her entire body, like the child’s had been, radiating with excitement.
Alice had been eleven when she was in the woods with her five year old brother on a simple day like any other at their home in the countryside. She’d been picking flowers for what seemed like only a moment when she heard a sharp and short scream. Spinning around, she saw what had looked to either be a wild dog or an extremely withered wolf grabbing and pulling him to the ground by his coat as he screamed for her. She knew she should have run to his aid; she could have run to his aid, but she chose not to. She watched mesmerised as it tore past the fabric, her brother crying and trying in futility to struggle against the power of the wild beast’s jaws until that sound of bones being crunched between teeth. That sound that from that moment filled her with such ecstasy, his squealing cries of pain and terror only adding to her euphoria. Her head had turned this way and that to make sure no one else was coming to the scene. Certain there were no witnesses to her horrific act, she watched on enthralled as the animal gorged itself on the little body, her brother’s screams now reduced to gurgles as one of his little hands kept weakly winding at the wrist as if still trying to fight the creature off. When she was unable to contain the thoughts that had been welling up in her mind any longer, she had moved. The canine, so involved in its feast never noticed a thing before she bashed its head in with a rock, hitting it over and over till its skull was smashed open. Kneeling there looking down into those wide blue eyes that were so much like hers, while they looked back up at her helplessly, trusting and pleading for her help, she had lowered her mouth to the ripped open torso and taken her first bite. Her whole being had caught on fire with an indescribable pleasure as she chewed on the soft flesh. She had taken another bite and then another, the hot wet chunks gliding down her throat making her want more.
When she had run home screeching and wailing at the top of her lungs, not a single soul had questioned the validity of her story. The blood on her person had very obviously been from fighting desperately albeit all too late to save her poor sweet brother’s life. It had all been too easy from then on. One little boy perhaps every two years, taken in ways that could not be traced back to her and if the search for one intensified, she staved off her hunger for longer.
Getting to the kitchen, she quietly shut the door behind her then turned to open the secret door between the cabinets and the fridge. She made her way down the stairs almost in a hypnotised state, mentally counting down how long it would be for the drugged candy to take its effect. It had been almost three years since she last sated the hunger and for the boy to wander to her tonight was just all too perfect. She didn’t need to turn on the light in the basement room as she knew where everything was by instinct, the fingers on her left hand running over the surface of the table she’d fitted with straps that never failed to do their job, keeping the struggling little bodies restrained as she fed. She reached the counter by the back wall and ran her right hand over the clear containers she knew were there, each one holding a preservative with a pair of bambi-like eyes in them.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as her brain switched from pleasure to burning up with a sensation she was not so familiar with. Her right hand snapped immediately to snatch up one of the knives from the set she kept by the counter and whirled around. Standing at the foot of the stairs was the child, barely visible in the darkness save for his silhouette. Alice thought fast, hiding the knife behind her back; if her eyes couldn’t properly see him then certainly it would be the same for him.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” she weaved her voice into the sweet melodious lilt that never failed as she took a step toward him
“Um…” his little voice began “I finished the candy…”
“That’s okay sweetie” she chuckled as she took another step. Just one more and he’d be within reach
“But, I’m still hungry”.
The sensation that had made her hairs stand on end, that had made her grab the knife, it flared up with a vengeance. Something about his tone made goose bumps rise violently over her, it made her feel trapped in the room and then she saw it. His eyes opened, but the green iris’ seemed to glow in the dark, like a cat’s and then he smiled; his teeth beginning to show as his mouth spread open, but it seemed to spread wider than it should. A second later he was gone from her sight. Her ruse was gone as the panic overwhelmed her; she backed up into the room holding the knife at the ready, trying desperately to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Her breathing was visibly heavy, her mind racing as it struggled to figure out what was happening. A sound to the right of her made her twirl, slashing out, but the knife only connected with air. Her breathing was audible now, her panic making it come quick. Losing what little composure she had left, she began hacking wildly at the space around her, each time hitting air, her fear escalating till she eventually began letting out feral screams with each failed attack. Hearing more movement, she slashed wildly again. The quick crunching sound was barely audible before she screamed out, but this time it was from the overwhelming pain that shot through her right leg. A shorter, sharper scream burst from her when she tried to move but realized her right knee was broken, sending a tearing pain shooting through her and making her stumble to brace herself on the wall to the left of her.
Her breath broke into sobs now. The pain, the fear, the helplessness; tears welled in her eyes. After all these years, why, why was this happening to her. The tears fell as she shook, letting out a primal cry. It was stopped short as her body was slammed back into the wall of eyes, causing some of the glass containers to fall, shattering on the floor. Struggling to move she felt the weight attached to the front of her body. Grabbing at him she tried again but stumbled into the table as her broken leg failed, the piercing pain in her neck finally beginning to take precedence in her mind. It grew sharper and sharper making the pain in her broken leg seem superficial. Alice went to grab at the back of his vest but almost immediately felt those little hands wrap around her forearms, impossibly stopping her arms advance. Then the little fingers gripped tighter, and tighter, and tighter, until she heard the sickening crunch before feeling the indescribable pain as both her forearms were broken. Instinctively trying to scream only made it gurgle in her throat, her body beginning to slowly slip downward onto the floor. Paralyzed on the cold concrete was when she finally felt the wetness on her throat and chest, her breathing reducing with each second. The reverberation through her blood of her heart steadily slowing in rhythm was countered by the feeling of the child’s small but persistent heart, pounding like a rocker’s drum against her chest.
She was unaware of when he got off her, everything since she hit the floor seemed like it was happening between hours, all she saw were those green eyes looking down at her as she looked back up into them helplessly.
“Oh what did I tell you my love?!” a voice crooned sweetly into the darkness. It was sultrily rich and feminine.
“You were right my dear, it seems my concerns were unfounded. Our little boy is a natural” came the response from a male voice that seemed to speak directly into Alice’s mind.
Alice managed to blink her eyes twice, that was all the pain and weakness would allow, but it was enough to see the child standing at the entrance once more. With him were two larger figures; the male stood looking back at her with those same glowing green eyes. The female was squatted down, hugging the child fondly. She released him then, cupping his face in her hands
“You did so well my darling, I’m so proud of you!” she gushed
“Thank you mother!” the child responded with the same innocent excitement in his tone he had when Alice first met him
“You waited for the best time to lure her, you made sure no one else was around and you got her to invite us in. You did beautifully son”.
“Thank you father!” the child spoke to the male figure to his left as the woman rose to her feet.
“And now…” The woman began, her voice taking on the same tone as the child’s had that sent a cold chill through Alice’s blood “we feed”.
All three turned to her, their glowing green eyes and unsettling grins approaching Alice. And then they were upon her, that same knife like pain she had felt in her neck, but now on her neck, her breast and her thigh. As they fed on her Alice felt her energy dissipating, her life literally being drained from her and all she could muster was a twitching arm from her futile attempt to struggle against her death.
Arc 