It was last october once again and the feel for Halloween was out in full swing. This included the town’s annual costume contest where the winner would receive $10,000 in cash. This made the contest extremely competitive and had the contestants prepare months in advance. There were also no shortages of sabotage either.

Tracy had been so close to winning last year but due to sabotage she had a wardrobe malfunction on stage which not only cost her the competition but her dignity as well. She swore that this year it was going to be different, she intended to win at any cost and had planned several months in advance, however when she ordered something that would get her the leg up in the competition, her packages mysteriously vanished, even her regular parcels never arrived unopened. She knew what was happening to the packages but the police never properly investigated, no doubt the culprit was the sheriff's wife.

Tracy was furious, she couldn’t win like this, she wasn’t skilled enough to make super detailed costumes and any old store bought costume wouldn’t do, that’s why she had been ordering them online. The contest favoured bold and realistic costumes and at the moment she had none. She wished she could just find something to give her an advantage over the competition, she was even willing to stoop to their level.

It’s was only a day before the contest and Tracy hadn’t gotten a costume together yet, nor could she afford ordering them anymore. She heard a knock on the door and there was a delivery man standing there. “Delivery for Tracy,” he called out. She opened the door, signed for whatever it was and opened it. Inside the box was a very detailed psycho killer costume which came with a sword and a note.

“Rumor has it your costumes have been sabotaged, this simply won’t do. Please take this sword and use it to get ‘a head’ of the competition this year.”

Tracy picked up the sword which felt almost weightless and something even felt odd about it, not in a negative way but she couldn’t exactly say what it was either. Still she accepted the costume and tried it on, it was indeed perfect though she wasn’t sure if it was a contender for the top prize.

The next day she headed over to the town’s performing arts center and registered for the costume contest with only a few hours to spare. She headed to the backstage and got changed into her costume rather quickly, it was a lot simpler than the other costumes, which further indicated her chances of losing.

“Back again this year, Tracy?” Naomi asked in a taunting voice, she was half dressed in her own costume, which seemed to be an elf warrior. “I thought you wouldn’t dare show your face here again, though with that lame hockey mask, I guess you aren’t. My son still has the pictures by the way. I would ask him to delete them but boys will be boys. Anyway good luck, you’re going to need it.”

Tracy stood there breathing rapidly with anger and something else came over her. Before she knew it, Naomi’s body was stumbling around searching for the head that was now being held by the hair in Tracy’s hand. She was screaming profanities and curses at Tracy but she was so focused on the sword and Naomi’s head she didn’t hear a thing she said. Taking advantage of the situation, Tracy returned to the dressing room and opened up an empty chest. She placed Naomi’s head in it and walked away.

Seeing Naomi’s body stumbling through the hallway gave Tracy an idea. She knew her costume wouldn’t be able to beat the other girls but if the other girls were left headless and stumbling around blindly, she’d easily win. It wouldn’t stop them from competing either, they’ll just all be headless versions of their costumes, giving Tracy a massive advantage for originality. Besides it’s only fair, Tracy should’ve won last year and they had already been sabotaging her for the last few months.

She proceeded to the next room where Gina was getting into a very detailed werewolf costume, her body was done but her head still needed the final details, she’d never get that chance as Tracy sliced through her neck as well and took her head, stashing it in the same trunk as Naomi. Tracy went and did this for the other 3 girls, all in various stages of their costumes being done. Finally she got to Jill, undisputed champion for the last three years this contest had been running with. She was in a different costume than what she usually was, a 16th century horse rider. Tracy scoffed, there’s no way she was going to win with this outfit, still just to teach her a lesson, she removed her head as well. Storing it in the trunk with all the rest.

Tracy then came up with a brilliant plan, there were still a few moments before the contest started and one of these girls would make for a great prop to complete her serial killer costume. She grabbed out Naomi’s head, placed duct tape over her mouth and placed her on the counter to have a look at her neck. It was all smooth skin, which wouldn’t do so she proceeded to decorate the neck with fake blood and gore, one of the other contestants had.

When it came time for judging, Tracy came out first, she gripped Naomi’s hair tight as she walked onto stage with the severed head and posing with the blade. Once done, she put Naomi away and watched as stage hands helped all the other headless women onto the stage. The judges seemed impressed at first but eventually grew tired of the headless theme and scored low on the incomplete costume.

“I wasn’t aware there was a headless theme this year,” one of the judges commented to another.

“Last but certainly not least we have our reigning champion, Jill!” The announcer yelled to the crowd.

Tracy watched in the corner wondering how this trainwreck would turn out. When suddenly she heard hooves coming from the front door and not the stage. The door opened to reveal Jill riding atop a black steed, holding her head under her arm, the rest of the girls were also tied to her saddle by the hair. The crowd went wild as she cheered for Jill who laughed like a maniac as she brought the horse up onto the stage. “The other contestants didn’t stand a chance to my power!” She laughed.

Tracy couldn’t believe it, Jill and the other girls had been released from where Tracy had hidden them and now Jill was taking credit for what she had did. She was furious. She ran out onto the stage and yelled. “You didn’t do this to them, I did and if I didn’t cut your head off too there’s no way you would’ve won.”

“So you admit to sabotaging us then?” Jill smirked as she put her head back on and climbed off the horse. “You ran off last year and didn’t participate in prior challenges so I guess you don’t know what happens to known saboteurs,” Jill looked at the announcer and smiled. “Bring out the guillotine!”

Two stagehands wheeled out the guillotine, while three more seized Tracy and locked her into it. Her mask was taken off and she found herself looking down into the bucket. The announcer walked by ensuring everything was secure. “While we haven’t officially announced the winner yet I’d say without a question, it’s Jill!” The crowd cheered. “So care to do the honours as you take home your 4th trophy?”

“With Pleasure,” Jill said as she tugged onto the string, lowering the blade and separating Tracy’s head from her body. However unlike how the sword allowed the girls to retain control of their bodies, the guillotine didn’t do that for Tracy. Jill picked up Tracy’s head, by the hair and attached her to a wooden trophy base. She held her new trophy up for the audience to see and still held it when she graciously accepted her prize money.

Jill didn’t stay around long after that and took Tracy straight back to her house. There Tracy swore 3 other girls on the same trophy block as she had, resting on a display shelf, each having a different year listed under them. Jill put Tracy up on the display and admired her new trophy.

“Oh she looks nice, honey,” the delivery man said as he kissed Jill on the cheek.