Three friends sat in a dark mysterious house. The sun setting low on the horizon making the darker Halloween colors stand out in contrast. The fake spider webs and skeletons making the house seem dark and eerie to the average person, but the three did not mind. The oldest, Mike, being fifteen, sat leading a discussion for their plans on Halloween.

“Ok, so, do we want to go to a haunted house, go scare people, or do we want to go to a party?” The fifteen-year-old asked the other two friends.

“I think…that we should go to a party!” The fourteen-year-old Max offered. Kalee, also being fourteen, agreed with him.

“Well, is it all agreed on, then? Kale sent us an invitation to his party, so we could always go to his?” Mike’s hesitant voice spoke up. They cheered, and Mike called Kale.

The next few days were spent shopping and planning. Max was going as an evil, undead zombie, dressed in torn rags and make-up covering his face and hands to make it look even more realistic. Kalee was going as a vampire, dressed in pure black, skin pale, and a bit of fake blood down the side of her mouth. Mike was going as Freddy, whose claws haunted almost every child’s nightmares.

They had a plan set up, and were almost too anxious to keep up appearances. They were going to sit near the bushes, hidden from the light, covered in darkness, and more importantly, in the perfect spot for their plan to come into action.

The first people came, and the three teens looked at each other and nodded. They leapt out of the bushes, and tackled their first victims, two sixteen-year-old girls, who screamed in surprise. The three teens shrieked in laughter, falling backwards before they could drag the girls down with them.

When they finally controlled their laughter, they apologized and got the girls to laugh with them, before hiding back in the shadows, unaware of the eyes…searching, calculating.

They spent most of the night in the same fashion, only stopping when they started to get thirsty, or to pick on snacks. They laughed with the guests, who congratulated them on managing to scare almost everyone. No one noticed how Kale pulled Kalee away to talk.

When Kalee returned, Kale pulled Mike away, and explained their plan for revenge on Mike, since it was mainly his idea, and they agreed on their plan of action.

Going back outside, Kalee and Mike waited to be pulled back and put their part in. Kalee got pulled back first, and screamed as she was pulled backwards into the unknown. Max jumped, and Mike yelled, called for Kalee, but the only sound left was her screams echoing in the air.

They went back to their hiding spot to search, and walking up to the porch passed a dark forest that Mike was pulled backwards into screaming. Max yelled, calling for help, and raced inside.

The five-minute run seemed all too long for Max, whose best friends had been dragged into the unknown. He needed to get help, and that was that.

Finally, he reached the house, and raced inside, not hearing anything moving, but hoping against all hopes to find help. Inside, though, was a horror story of its own.

All the people, even Kane, were lying there, unmoving, still, silent. Max dropped to his knees besides Kane, and shook his shoulder, calling his name, and when he refused to get up, Max walked to the bedroom.

The bedroom was probably the quietest of the entire house. Max moved silently to find something, anything, and when he came back out of the room, he moved silently and stiff, like the living dead. Not noticing anything amiss in his own thoughts, he walked into the living room again, only to scream when everybody jumped up and screamed at him.

His heart racing, Max looked around at all the laughing faces. Slowly, his heart calmed, and he joined in on their laughter.

“You guys had me fooled. What did you do that for, anyways?” He asked thoughtfully. Everyone stared at him, and almost yelled at the same time, “Payback!”

He chuckled lowly. “I can understand where I must’ve scared you all. That’s the least you could do in revenge. You guys had me scared for a minute.” Everyone looked at him skeptically.

“You were walking as if the end of the world had already happened. Zombie!” Somebody screamed. Everybody laughed again.

Soon after, everybody got back into a party mood, and they were dancing and laughing, the memory of their prank all but non-existent. Yet, as the witching hour struck, an echoing laughter bounced off the walls, scaring everyone into silence. But nobody noticed the near transparent bodies floating around, there were only people huddling near each other to stave off the sudden cold. Screams echoed, people tripped, clutched each other in horror, and fell silent.