#scares

It was Halloween night and you were binging through your favorite horror movies. Usually, you’d have a few friends or your boyfriend over to join the scarefest with you. Watching the Saw movies, followed by the Silent Hills with loads of popcorn and a glass of wine or two. Only taking breaks to refill the candy bowl outside the door, so the neighborhood kids wouldn’t get into mischief against you for not supplying their sugar addiction. But your friends had other plans for the night and your boyfriend was held up with work.

So, it was just you this year.

That was okay, you’d make them all RSVP for Christmas.

You were forty-five minutes deep into Silent Hill 2, when something struck your front door, sending your heart out of your body, like a NASA Rocket, and under the covers in your bedroom upstairs. Swallowing it back down into your chest, you blindly reach for the remote to pause the movie and unfold yourself from the sofa; heading for the entryway.

“Christ, I hope they didn’t egg or toilet paper the front porch.” You mumbled under your breath, pushing up on your toes to peek out the peep-hole; but saw nothing out of sorts. “Hmm.” You grabbed the stash of candy you had by the door and stepped out onto the pouch. “Those heathens.” You growled, finding the remnants of an egg; the clear albumen and runny yoke with bits of broken shell slowly seeping down the mocha-colored wood.

“I should just confiscate the candy bowl!” You barked out into the dark, meeting the eye of every trick-or-treater that walked by on the sidewalk; but filled the bowl nonetheless, feeling bad for punishing the innocent ones.

Going back inside and securing the door, you headed into the kitchen, tucking the empty candy bag into the recycling and pulling another chilled cooler out of the fridge. You stood there for a moment, sipping it and considering if you wanted to order takeaway or pop something in the oven for dinner, as the loudest bang came from the dining room. Drawing a startled scream from your lips. Stumbling towards the entry connecting the living room to the kitchen, your cooler nearly slipping from between your trembling fingers, your eyes were locked on the opposite side of the kitchen, to the entry leading into the dining room. It was just a portal of darkness, like most of the house. The only light was from your paused horror movie, casting light against your back, and only helped your brain find trick shadows in the blackness.

Your throat was tight with fear, you set your wine on the edge of the first counter you could find and continued to back out of the kitchen and into the living room. Dashing around the couch to grab your phone, the moment you were close enough, and dialing your go-to number.

“Hey, babes.” Your boyfriend’s excited voice picked up on the other end.

“Oh my god! Oh christ!!” You blurted out, bouncing on your toes.

“What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

“I think someone’s in the house.” You whined, biting your lip with your eyes panning in every direction.

“Are you sure?” He asked, concerned and agitated.

“There was a loud noise in the dining room.” You told him, antsy.

“Did you go look?”

“GO LOOK!” You snapped out at him, outraged, but quickly gasped and slapped a hand over your mouth, collecting yourself. “Are you crazy? That’s how people get murdered!” You told him, whispering loudly.

His side of the line filled with chest rumbling, amused laughter.

“Why are you laughing!” You scolded him, moving from scared to angry. “Someone could be in the house, trying to rob and/or kill me!”

“Baby, how many horror movies have you watched tonight?” He asked, through his fit of giggles.

“I don’t know.” You sighed, pressing a hand to your forehead, starting to feel silly. “All the Hills Have Eyes, the IT movies, Don’t Breathe, and now, I’m on the second Silent Hill.” You confessed.

“All alone in the dark.” He said, matter-of-factly. “Maybe I should have taken this work thing off and stayed home with you.” He mumbled to himself.

“No, I’m fine.” You said, shaking your head and steeling yourself. “You’re right, I’m just over hyping myself. I’m sure it’s something stupid and explainable.”

“I’m sure it is, love.” He agreed, his voice soft and loving.

“I’ll let you off.” You sighed, glancing back at your unfinished movie. “I’ll see you when you get back tomorrow?”

“Obviously.” He chuckled. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Hanging up, you clutched your phone in your hand before deciding to brave the dining room to find out what had almost sent you to an early grave. Turning on your phone’s light and hugging it against your chest, you tiptoed through the kitchen and pressed yourself against the wall beside the doorway, taking a moment to maximize your courage, before flashing your phone into the space. You had hoped to blind whoever could be hiding in there, gaining an upper hand, before jumping out of your hiding place and into the dining room. But there was no one there, shielding their poor blinded eyes. You couldn’t spot anything out of place either. All the chairs were pushed neatly into the table, the book shelves against the walls were right and their contents in their rightful places.

“What the fuck.” You cursed, rounding the table twice, looking for any explanation, even underneath it.

Nothing.

You pressed a hand to the side of your face, at a loss. “I’m losing my mind.” You decided, shrugging and going back into the living room. “Out of my damn mind, Pyramid Head.” You told the eerie figure on the screen, popping down on the couch, appetite completely forgotten about. “Whatever.” You sighed, pressing play on the movie and tried settling back in.

Silent Hill was almost over and you had finally relaxed again, when yet another bump sounded through the house. This time from upstairs. You flew off the couch and all but ran out of the house, toes barely touching the floor as you went.

“Crap, crap, crap!” You panicked, pacing the foyer, heart thudding against your chest like some cartoon character. You yelped at the sudden sound of your phone going off, but didn’t go for it, where it still sat on the couch cushion. The upstairs between you and it. “Christ alive!” You growled, skittering sideways through the dining room, bolted through the kitchen and all but dived for your phone.

“Yes?” You hissed, kneeling between the couch and coffee table.

“Hey baby.” Your boyfriend’s voice replied cheerfully, but faded. “Did I scare you?” He asked, hearing the panicked terror in your voice.

“No.” You snapped at him, testily.

“Honey, why don’t you call the Horror-thon short for the night? You’re clearly spooking the life out of yourself. I’d hate to come home to you all sleep deprived and paranoid, cause you were too stubborn to call it.”

“It’s a tradition.” You argued with him.

“I know it is. But this is the second call we’ve had that you’re terrified over something; be it something in the house or just the sound of the phone ringing.”

Or something else in the house! You thought, glancing up at the ceiling.

“How about this, when I get home, we’ll do the Horror-thon together. I’ll get us our favorite takeaway and everything for it.”

You wanted to argue with him. You didn’t need him to be there as a safety buddy, so you wouldn’t be afraid of the dark. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of. They were just horror movies, actors acting things out. But something was making noises in the house with you. You were sure of it. But you did like the idea of having a horror date night with your boyfriend.

“All right.” You sighed, conceding. “I’ll turn it off.” You felt around for where the remote disappeared to, pressing your hand between the couch cushions for it, brow creasing in frustration. “I swear, I’m going to super glue an AirTag to this damn remote.” You growled under your breath, turning towards the coffee table.

Your boyfriend chuckled in your ear. “That would make finding it easier.”

Pushing aside empty candy wrappers and empty wine coolers, you came up empty for the remote. “Where did I put this dam-” The TV flickered off, plunging the living room, and you, into darkness. “Jesus Christ!” You squeaked, frozen in place, eyes locked on the deactivated screen.

“Babe?”

“The tv turned off…on its own.” You told him, voice thick.

“Did you accidentally hit the remote?” He asked, his voice trying to guard his concern.

“Pretty sure I didn’t.”

“Go, look out the patio window, see if the neighborhood lost power or something.”

Nodding, you pulled yourself up onto your feet and crossed to the sliding glass window leading out to the backyard. Peeking out to the houses on either side of you, you could see lights on in their windows and back yards and a couple street lamps in the neighborhood over. A cold chill ran down your spine, everyone around you had power.

“Well?” Your boyfriend asked expectantly.

“They have power.” You whispered softly, slightly trembling.

“All right, love. Why don’t you go to my place?” He suggested, his voice calm.

“I think I like that idea.” You agreed, turning sharply on your heels and heading towards the door, forgetting everything else in the house, except your keys, which weren’t on the hanger by the door. “They’re not there.” You whimpered, every bit of resolve and bravery you had seeping out of your body.

“What’s not there?”

“My keys.” You answered, your voice high-pitched.

“Did you leave them in your purse?” He asked, hoping to instill some of his soothing tone into you.

You turned around and looked up the stairs, gulping thickly. “It’s very possible.”

“Okay, grab it.”

Easy for you to say!

“Yeah, grab it.” You echoed back, taking a deep breath and mounting the stairs. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He answered, chuckling softly.

You teetered at the top of the stairs, glancing at the hallway bathroom and the guest room, then down the great length of the hallway to your master bedroom. It never seemed so far away since you lived there. Digging deep, you grasped the last bit of courage you found and hurried down the hall for it, diving inside and closing the door for extra measure.

“Give me a second, I need my flashlight.” You told him, too scared to turn the bedroom light on. You used your phone light to guide yourself around the room for your purse, finding it on a chair beside the closet. Your hands shook as you rummaged through your purse. “Come on, come on!” You hissed, bouncing on your toes, impatient.

I’ve gotta clean this thing out!

“Ah-ha!” You laughed, hand closing around your car’s fob, feeling a rush of victory go through you, only for loud steps to fill the hallway outside, like someone running towards the door. But they stopped short and you froze in place, waiting for the door to open and your tormentor to show themselves.

“Babe?” Your boyfriend called through the phone still clutched in your shaking hand, but you were too deer in the headlights to answer him calling your name.

Your door didn’t open, but one of the other doors upstairs slammed with such force the floor rattled. Whoever this was, was having a crack at your expense before they finally stopped tormenting you.

“Get out of the house!” Your boyfriend’s voice yelled through your paralyzed fog, having heard the door slam through your connection and activating your fight or flight mode.

“I’m going!” You snapped, rushing out the door and into the hall, knowing they were between you and the stairs, but you were ready to throw hands if you needed to, to get by. “Ha!” You giggled manically, making it to the stairs, feeling triumphant, until you reached the second step and felt an arm snake around your waist, picking you clear off your feet.

You let out a squealing scream, arms and legs flailing, a huge hand clamping over your mouth; cutting off any more screams or noises you could make to alert the neighbors or people coming up to the house for candy of your danger. You felt your intruder’s chest vibrate as they held you against their body, a laugh bubbling past their lips at your terror.

“You’re so easy to scare.” They teased into your ear.

Eyes flaring, your fright was replaced with shocked anger and you bit down on their palm, forcing them to let go with a surprised hiss. “HENRY!!” You yelled, turning around to shove your boyfriend in the chest and stomping your foot, outraged. “It’s been you all night!”

Henry grinned at you, apologetic mischief on his face. “Yeah.” He nodded, feeling bad about tormenting you the whole time.

“Work thing?”

“Mmm…” He shrugged, bashfully. “I fibbed. It was just an excuse for you to think I was gone and wasn’t probably in on pranking you.”

“Do you know how many heart attacks you gave me tonight!” You demanded, poking him in the chest. “You egged my front door!”

“Oh no, that egg wasn’t me.” He admitted, biting the corner of his lip. “That was Trevor, next door. I may have paid him a week ago to toss it tonight, at a specific time, to get things rolling.”

“I’m going to kill both of you.” You declared, nodding, then punched him in the chest again. “You’re such an ass!”

Henry laughed, folding you into his arms and kissing the top of your head. “I’m sorry, love.” He chuckled, swaying gently. “I couldn’t help it, just this once. It was so perfect, with you all alone and stuff. Or at least you thought you were.”

“How did you turn the tv off?” You asked, cocking your head back to look at him.

Henry pulled his phone out from his back pocket and showed you the remote control app he had for your smart tv. “I debated changing the channels on you and stuff, but I didn’t want to muck with you too much.”

“The noise in the dining room?”

“I dropped your leather bound copy of War and Peace, then returned it to the shelf, before going back upstairs.” He explained, with no small amount of pride.

“Footsteps?”

He laughed, cupping your face in his hands. “I was just going to sneak up on you, when you were looking for your keys. Which I moved from the hook by the door to your purse, while you were checking to see if the neighborhood lost power. But you closed the bedroom door, so I just ran up to the door and quietly went back to the half bath, where I’ve been hiding. Then you know what happened after that.”

“How did you even get into the house, while I wasn’t looking?”

“That was what the egg was for. While you were dealing with that, I slipped into the house through the slider, and just tip-toed around you.”

“That’s pretty impressive for a man your size.” You complimented him, impressed with how thought out Henry had made this. “I really hate you though. That was so mean, Hen.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He chuckled, kissing you sweetly. “I’ll make up for it. How about some takeaway and Saw?”

“Takeaway, yes. But I think I’m done with all things horror and scary for now.” You informed him, pressing your forehead to his chest.

“Fair.” Henry smiled, kissing you once more.

Calmed down and torment over, the two of you went downstairs, ordering food and turning on a Rom-Com to finish the rest of your Halloween night, curled up together on the sofa; without another bump or thump in the night.