The worst part was the silence. For a building filled with hundreds of confused people, there wasn’t a single sound. No one was talking, no one was moving, we all just stood where we were, looking around. It’s not because we didn’t want to, well at least it’s not because I wanted to anyway. I had gone to take a step but changed my mind, I had gone to say something before losing what I wanted to say. I assumed that was the case for everyone else, or they didn’t want to disturb the eerie tranquility of the room.
My spine shivered as a cold, harsh breeze came blowing in from behind me when suddenly I heard footsteps. I turned around, without moving my feet to see where the noise was coming from. I could hear my ears throbbing as my heart raced with anxiety and fear. Walking through the hall was a shadowy figure with black robes, holding a scythe. For a moment I thought it was the grim reaper, but somehow I knew it wasn’t. It seemed it chose this form to scare us. Something that seemed to be working. It chuckled in a loud haunting laugh that echoed throughout that hall and never quite faded.
Its focus seemed to narrow on a woman as it hurried towards her in a power walk that made it look like it was gliding across the floor. For a second I thought it was going to plow right through her, or that she was going to run but she stood her ground and it stopped inches from her face. She was like a deer in headlights as she looked extremely scared to a point tears were rolling down her cheek. The figure was unmoved however and raised its gauntlet covered hand and covered her face. She still didn’t move though so the figure lowered its hand. What I saw next made my heart skip a beat.
The young woman’s face was gone, like it never existed in the first place. She had no noticeable cheek structure, no eye sockets, no nasal crease, it was just smooth, level skin. Her hands moved to touch her blank face and I could only imagine what she was thinking. ‘What’s happening, why can’t I see, why did that thing do this to me?’ I was so wrapped up with what was happening with her I failed to see what happened to the person next to her, until the cloaked figure handed her a leash for a dog that suddenly there. It then waved its hand and the faceless woman and dog both vanished into thin air.
The figure raised its hand and formed a pulled it closer towards itself. As a result four people slid across the floor until they were all standing directly in front of it. The four people consisted of three women and one man. The figure wasted no time with them as it waved its hand in front of three women’s pants, making their bottoms completely exposed. Only where their genitals should’ve been there was smooth flesh and not a single hair. The figure then placed its hand on top of the male’s head and pushed downwards until the figure was kneeling on the floor, covering what was left of the man. It picked it up and turned its hand over, showing what became of the man. If we were capable we would’ve all gasped, or screamed or ran. The man had been reduced to what defined a man, he was not a set of penis and testicles and I hoped that he wasn’t still aware. I could swear I saw the figure smile as he positioned the genitals in front of one of the half naked woman’s crotch as it pressed them against her flesh, making them connect with her. As it waved the three women away, only replacing one set of genitals I could only guess the figures intentions there.
After that moment I tried not to pay as much attention to the figure went around the room changing more people but it still didn’t stop me from seeing what it was doing to people. It had removed the head of a woman, placing it on a shared body with a guy. It had beheaded someone else and they were forced around to carry around their own head. It grabbed another trio of people and removed one of their eyes, their mouth and their ears. I saw it turn two guys into breasts for one of the women. It had deaged a few people into kids while aging others until their hair turned grey and their bodies wrinkled. A few more people were turned into different animals. I saw one lady end up as a painting before the figure came to my end of the hall. Two women that had been standing next to me were next to be transformed. It didn’t pay much attention to them as it touched both of them lightly and their flesh and hair turned to stone.
The figure stood in front of me next and I was absolutely trembling. I could see its face now, at least what looked like a face. Its eyes, mouth and nostrils glowed with fire from inside its head. It’s head was fat and round, with ridges. It took me a second to realise I was looked at a carve pumpkin. I wanted to tell it to go away, that I hadn’t done anything to deserve whatever it was it was about to do to me. But like all the others I just stood there in silence.
The being place a hand on me and suddenly I understood what I did wrong. When a trick or treater knocked on my door I had told him I didn’t celebrate Halloween and to go away. Because I hadn’t given the kid his treat, I was to be punished with a trick. I couldn’t believe that was the reasoning, those horrific things this thing did just because they didn’t give kids candy or something else.
Now that I understood my crimes the being was ready to enact my punishment and a black shadow opened up beneath my feet, sucking me into it. I tried to reach out and grab something, I tried to scream but my body didn’t obey. I was swallowed by the shadow and my world went dark.
* * * * *
I lurched upright, with a scream. My heart was racing and I was sweating terribly. I was now in my bedroom and it was still dark. I breathed a sigh of relief, even though my heart was pacing ‘It was just a nightmare,’ I told myself.
I laid back down when I felt a shift of mass on my chest. My neck also seemed to be resting on my hair as well. My heart began to race again as I sat back up, causing the weight on my chest to shift again. I looked down at my chest and saw two breast.
I screamed again, this time hearing that it was a more high pitched squeal than usual.
‘This can’t be happening,’ I shook my head with my eyes closed causing my long hair to go all over the place. ‘I’m still dreaming.’
I didn’t dare touch myself, I didn’t want to think this was real. So I just sat there with my eyes closed, hoping I’d fall back to sleep or wake up.
“Hello?”
I jumped out of my bed when I heard a voice coming from my bedside table. I landed face first onto the floor as my new hair covered my vision. This wasn’t a dream. My heart raced faster and faster as I cowered on the floor.
“Where am I? Hello! How do I get out of here?!” I heard the voice scream in panic as my mobile vibrated with each word.
Cautiously I sat up, wiping the hair out of my eyes as I reached for my phone. I dropped it again when I saw that there was a woman on my home menu.
When she saw me, I could see the fear in her eyes as she began to cower. “No, no, no. This isn’t happening, this can’t be happening.” I didn’t know what to say so I just put the phone down and after a few seconds the screen went dark. “No! No! No! Don’t leave me in the dark!” My phone lit up again as the woman banged her fists on the screen.
Her predicament was a nice distraction from my own though I didn’t know how to help her. She was in my phone and there was nothing I could do. What was worse is her constant begging and wanting to not go into the dark made the battery’s life begin to drain quicker than usual.
At least neither of us were in this alone. Exhausted I climbed back into my bed and cuddled up to the phone, not sure if that was any comfort to the woman as I drifted back to sleep.