Page 64 of All You Want
The only sound on the concrete floor are my footsteps, and it feels like a creature is watching me, holding its breath.
A gust of wind raises the hairs on the back of my neck, and I gasp when I walk through the silky strands of a spider web.
I refrain from looking over my shoulder. No one’s out there, and even if someone’s prowling, they’re not close enough to attack me without me hearing them cross the gravel patch.
My heart pounding from my throat, I reach the door and lunge for the safety of the light.
“Aarow!” A black shadow dashes through the door before I can close it and runs toward the loading dock and dumpster.
“Is it you, kitty?” I ask. “Or are you a rat I have to trap?”
I grab a broom and follow the creature. My heart calms when I hear it purring. Surely, a rat doesn’t purr, does it?
“I bet you’re hungry.” I chat to keep the creeps at bay. “You’re only a black cat, and I’m not superstitious. Sure, you crossed my path, but if I make friends with you, you can be my lucky charm, or at least my spooky charm. How would you like that? I’ll name you Spook; that’s who you are.”
I cross over toward the dumpster and flip on the light.
The kitten drags a bloody rat across the cement floor and glares at me. A black bundle is sprawled on the floor.
My foot lands in a dark puddle, and I trip over a baseball bat and pick it up. It glistens with red paint, the same color as the can that spilled on me.
I sweep aside the black sheet covering the bundle, and I blink, unbelieving.
Staring at me, blank-eyed and bloody, is the bashed in face of Viola Graham, the town librarian.
“Meow.” The black cat drops the bloody furball at my feet.
It’s not a dead rat.
It’s the Bigfoot mask Todd was wearing, and it’s matted with dried blood.
I reach down and touch the librarian. She’s still warm.
Twenty-Three
~ Todd ~
I hit paydirt just after midnight.
In the distance, I can hear the fireworks exploding ATC—across the creek at ye olde red-light district.
I’m sure Tami’s having a grand time with her sorority sisters, and Shane was able to get there in time to herald in his first Colson’s Corner Halloween.
I blow the dust off the box dated more than a decade ago. There was a death that wasn’t a death. I was in high school at the time, and the rumors flew like wildfire.
It was a Halloween party for children at the King’s barn—back before it burned down.
Tami’s parents went all out, with treats dangling from the rafters and spooky actors jumping out from the hay. There were fortune tellers, face-painters, magicians, and creepy clowns. A skeleton band played music, and giant spiders and bats served punch. A vampire queen told stories, and ghosts flitted here and there, handing out treats and tricks.
The schoolyard was rife with rumors. Some say a stuntwoman accidentally hung herself when the power went out. Others say a witch was dragged into the forest by werewolves. The younger kids say a giant spider was bitten by a vampire bat, and teenagers say one of the kids gave an old woman poisoned tea.
It all went away when the supposed victim, a maid who worked for the King family, left town, and Sheriff Weaver and the mayor made some big speech about how someone took an act too far. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here. Move along. Everything’s A-okay type of stuff.
I find the folder and take it to my desk. Old newspaper clippings are stapled to the official report. I squint at the scribble of Sheriff Weaver. Portions of the handwriting are inked over, and the wrinkled and aged paper has missing and torn pieces.
I push aside the newspaper clippings, which are likely sensational and fake, and try to decipher Weaver’s chicken scratch writing.
An adult female had been taken to the hospital. It was ruled an accidental poisoning. What happened next was unexplained. The woman was pronounced dead, but a band of werewolves stormed the hospital, breaking windows and upsetting gurneys. By the time, the police showed up, the people dressed like werewolves disappeared, and only later, did the doctor notice the woman’s body was gone.
