Page 5 of For One Night

“It’s even better since I’m going as a werewolf!”

Now I’m laughing almost as hard as him.

“Hilarious.”

We get to the office and I work on some paperwork. Just a few hours until we are joining the masses in partying for Halloween.

3

Micaela

6:30 p.m.

I enjoy looking through anything I can find in the lanky guy’s house. I’ve always been nosy. Being a ghost will do that to you.

I almost feel like I could touch his stuff if I wanted to, but there’s no reason to waste my energy.

When it’s clear he’s not returning anytime soon, I decide it’s time to leave. I don’t want to waste a second of the horrors taking place on Halloween by waiting around for someone who is probably too scared to return home.

During the day is all children’s games but at night is when the debauchery will begin. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. The other spirits have been very excited about Halloween night. I keep my distance from them all, except Gary, but I still hear the whispers.

It’s definitely more exciting here in the city than it ever was in the suburbs.

How shall I spend the night? At a haunted forest joining the actors with real horror? Maybe I can haunt a graveyard where stupid kids think they’re brave for disrupting the dead. That gets me worked up, for obvious reasons.

I’ll see what I come across first. The sun is just setting, so I have an entire night to do what I do best. I move through the streets, avoiding kids rushing home from trick-or-treating and focus on the teenagers or adults.

My favorite victim is someone pretending to be brave. One little haunt from me, and they run scared like the baby they taunt others to be.

People are dressed in all sorts of costumes. Some are extremely revealing, practically nothing. Others are trying to be scary, but most miss the mark. If I was alive, I’d find the skimpiest costume I could. I would add my own scary spin to it.

I follow a group of teenagers who look like they’re heading in the direction of the local cemetery. Decision made.

The sun drops below the horizon, painting the city in darkness.

Energy is pouring into me from my surroundings. People are scaring their friends, doing my job for me. People are paying more attention to the surrounding shadows and all the things that go bump in the night.

The constant stream starts to become too much. I become desperate to expel the excess but, before I can allow it, my body decides what to do.

I bump into someone I’m planning to float right through. Our bodies collide and the impact sends me back on my ass. A sting shoots up my tailbone but I’m too shocked to care.

“Watch where you’re going, freak!” the bitch shouts and I can’t let that stand.

I pull my right arm off and smack the girl with it. Blood and gore drop everywhere, and she screams in horror before sprinting away. It was too realistic to be a cheap Halloween trick.

My laugh is manic.

I quickly reattach my arm to avoid attention and stand up. I brush the gravel off my clothes before remembering they’re scraps of fabric not worthy of me any longer.

How did this happen? I can touch and feel, I just ran into someone, and they saw me! Can I speak?

“Hello!” I shout.

Every head in the area turns to stare at me in curiosity. I see some pointing or people whispering but they quickly move away. One older woman even looks back over her shoulder before hurrying off. I’m sure I would garner more attention with my looks if it wasn’t Halloween.

Unfortunately, this is how I died. Clearly I was stabbed to death since I’m covered in blood and my clothes are full of holes. Not that it matters, I can’t remember any of it.

They heard me. I have no idea what’s happening right now. I have a body, I look like I’m alive and people can hear me even when I am not focusing my powers. I never imagined this could happen to me. I don’t know how it’s possible. I could try to find another ghost, maybe Grant, and see if he knows what’s going on but something stops me.

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