The Red Curtains

Early in the morning before All Hallows' Eve, a ten-year-old boy, left to go to his bus stop for school. It was a very foggy morning, streetlights still on, and a chill in the air. He had a feeling, a feeling that someone was watching him. You know that feeling, when your hairs stand up, your stomach gets queasy, and your heart starts beating faster and faster. He kept looking all around - at this house, at that house, at this bush and behind that one, but no one was there except the kids who are always there at the bus stop, kids from his school.

He pushed his way onto the bus and sat down, still looking frantically around. Even though he didn't see anything, he knew something was there; he knew something wanted to get him.

After dinner, his friend called him to come over. Joe's mom said okay. When Joe got to his friend's house, his friends' mom told him that he was not home. Joe was very confused and went to the sidewalk, looked around for any of his friends and saw ... no one - no one but the shadow behind the red curtains.

Just then, a slight breeze picked up, rustling the leaves on the ground - this way and that. He got the chills, and looked at every bush, every tree, at every house, and saw no one. He started to walk home. With each step he took, another hair stood up. With each step he took, he heard a noise. He stopped. He listened. He heard ... nothing. He started walking again, faster this time. There it goes again, the noise. He stopped, listened, and heard nothing again. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it might jump out of his chest. He kept telling himself that it was nothing but his imagination getting the better of him. That didn't work. He was panicking now. He was in a kind-of jog and he heard the noise again. He stopped abruptly and listened, he heard ... footsteps! He froze. He couldn't run, he couldn't turn around to see who it was; he just clamped his eyes shut and couldn't open them - even when he heard the footsteps right behind him.

He stayed there for a while, how long he didn't know. All he knew was that he was frozen - right there with his eyes shut. He finally decided to turn around since he didn't hear anything. He turned, with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and ... there was nobody there. He slowly looked all around, up the trees, around corners, behind bushes. There was nothing and no one around. He ran home as fast as he could.

He pushed open the door so hard - it bounced off the wall and slammed shut again. He yelled out, "MOM! MOM, WHERE ARE YOU? MOOMM!" Of course, his mom came running expecting an emergency. They ran into each other, and when she saw him shaking, she immediately held him and tried to comfort him. He then told her what happened, quite fast. When he finished, his mom sort-of froze with a look of puzzlement and concern. Then, without warning, she just belted out a laugh so hard she couldn't breathe. She laughed and laughed. She told him that he almost had her. She told him that he had to do that to his father later. He was almost ready to cry, he was so hurt that she didn't believe him. He didn't understand.

That night, he couldn't sleep. Every time he nodded off, he had a nightmare. Thankfully, morning came soon.

Today was Friday, Halloween, he thought. He was trying to decide if he even wanted to go out trick-or-treating. He kept telling himself that it wasn't real and that it was just his imagination. He was in no real danger. Just as his mom always told him ... there's no such things as monsters ... it's in the script ...it's only computer graphics. He has always slept well knowing that.

After the streetlights came on, and the sun was blending colors in the sky, it began to get dark. He looked around and noticed that the street was nearly empty now. He looked around again and stopped at the sight of a man dressed in a black suite, slicked back dark hair, and red eyes. His fingernails were long too. He felt the hairs stand up, his stomach got queasy, and his heart was beating a mile a minute.

The man started to walk toward him, closer and closer. He froze again. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe - he couldn't yell. When the man got close, he felt his knees give way and dropped down on them. He looked right into those red glaring eyes, sweat beading on his forehead, head getting dizzy, and ...

As someone's red curtains closed across the street, the man said, "It's your turn now." Joe screamed and screamed with much pain from the man touching him, yet no one heard him.

Joe disappeared, with no evidence of what happened to him, where he went, or who took him. No one knew anything ... except for one; the one with the red curtains.

Joe didn't know it, but he was destined to frighten the world - especially at Halloween, or he would suffer excruciating pain, just as the man who took him. Once Joe was fully turned, the man was set free to die a mortal death. Every time he was allowed to talk, in the beginning, he would always say two things: Why me? And, I want to go home! He only ever got one answer ... learn your powers because you are never going home.