Holidays
Chapter 9: Halloween: Joel
Arya handed out invitations during school to his Halloween party. He invited only the coolest of people, including his boyfriend, Joel, and Joel’s cousin, Will.
“Dress up as something scary,” Arya said as he handed the orange envelope to Joel.
“Okay.” Joel opened the envelope and he read the card. “Thanks, I’ll be there.”
Arya handed him another envelope, “And give this to your cousin.”
“Why can’t you give it to him? We go to the same school,” Joel replied as Arya walked away.
Joel saw Will later in their Study Hall and he handed him the invitation before class started.
“What’s this?” Will asked.
“It’s an invitation to Arya’s Halloween party,” Joel replied.
“Why couldn’t he give it to me?”
“I don’t know, I asked him the same thing, but he just walked away.”
“I’ll go — when is it? Oh — the twenty-ninth.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just have to get a costume before then.”
“He said to dress as something scary.”
Will looked at the card and thought about what he would wear.
The bell rang and class started.
Red, yellow, and orange leaves fell from the trees as the weeks went by and the 29th finally arrived.
Joel put fake teeth in his mouth over his own teeth and tied the black and red cape around his neck. He left his house and picked up Will.
Joel looked at Will as he got into the car. “What took you so long?”
“Sorry, I changed costumes last minute and — ”
“Oh, come on.”
“What?” Will looked at Joel and his costume. “Oh, we’re wearing the same costume.”
“I told you I was gonna be a vampire. Why did you change costumes?”
“I didn’t like how the Frankenstein costume looked, so I switched to my backup.”
“But I told you I was dressing up as a vampire so we wouldn’t wear the same costume.”
“I’m sorry, I forgot. You told me after I bought my backup costume.”
“Whatever, let’s just go. We’re going to be late.” Joel shifted the gear shift from park to drive.
They arrived at the party in similar costumes. Joel knocked on the front door.
Arya saw the costumed vampires standing at his doorstep. “I guess we all had the same idea.” He laughed, also in a vampire costume. “Come on in.”
“Is that Jenny Walker dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein?” Joel asked.
“Yes, it is.” Arya pointed out the food as they walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. “Let me introduce you to a few people.”
They followed Arya to the living room. “This is Candice Montico dressed as — ”
Suddenly, the lights went out and everyone turned on the flashlights on their phones.
“Don’t worry everybody, I’ll go check the fuse box in the basement!” Arya shouted. He walked to the basement door.
“Wait,” Joel pointed his phone’s flashlight at Arya. “I’ll go with you.”
“No, I know my house better than anyone else here. Plus, you’ve never been to my house,” Arya replied.
“Why is that?”
“We’ll talk about this later.”
“Be safe.”
“I’ll try to be.” Arya opened the basement door and it creaked loudly. He slowly walked down the steps. The door slammed shut.
All of a sudden, a loud girlish scream emitted from the basement. Joel heard Arya run up the stairs and turn the doorknob, but the door was locked. Joel turned the knob and he heard another scream. It was too late.
The door unlocked itself and Joel had to go down there. What if his boyfriend was hurt or worse, dead?
Then Will rushed over and grabbed Joel’s arm. “Wait, you don’t have to go down there alone.”
“But I do.”
“What if you get hurt or lost?”
The lights came back on. The party resumed.
“How would I get lost in a basement?”
“What if the ghost gets you?”
“What ghost? How old are you? I’ll be fine.”
Joel opened the basement door and walked down the steps. He quickly found the fuse box, but when he pulled it open, the switches were removed. He turned his head back and saw a dark figure, it was oddly darker than the darkness. Curiosity quickly turned into fear as he stepped near it and it engulfed him. He screamed, a low but loud scream.
