'Tis Hallow's Eve: A Halloween Horror Anthology

‘Tis Hallow’s Eve: A Halloween Horror Anthology

By Dairenna VonRavenstone

Copyright 2011 Dairenna VonRavenstone

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

This Halloween Horror anthology is dedicated to all my fans new and old. Without you I would not being writing and creating. Thank you to all my friends, my segregate family and to anyone who listens to my random ramblings.

Author Note

I will be re-working this and other titles in the New Year (2015) so expect some changes in the coming months.

Contents

Shadow – Cat-haters will hate cats even more after reading this

Far From Home – Always bring a cell phone when traveling long distances

Tricky Treats – A creature comes out on Halloween to punish naughty children

Boil and Trouble – Always remember the story of a witch

Magic – Some things in life are worth death

Blood-letting – Never make fun of the weird ones

Happy Halloween – When entering a stranger’s home uninvited, always bring back-up.

Carnival – Sometimes it’s not the clowns that are evil

Shadow

Inspiration: I love cats and decided to give something for cat-haters to add to their list of reasons to hate cats. Originally the cat in this story was black. But it’s always a black cat that gets the horrible reputation so the cat had a color change.

It had been a long night and all he wanted to do was go home to get some needed sleep. He shuffled along streets covered in a damp fog lit only by the occasional street lamp. A fine mist coated the shoulders of his over-coat and he was glad he had decided to bring it to work despite the formerly warm air of the day.

Overhead a cloud raced over the moon and the stars winked in and out of existence. He sighed and huddled deeper into his coat, feeling the stubble of his beard scrape against the inner lining. He reminded himself to shave but figured it did not matter. His stocky build and black hair made him look like a bar-tender and he supposed his customers were happy about that.

As he passed the mouth of an alleyway a light meow came to his ears. The alley in question was unlit and the smell of rotten garbage was powerful. He waited a few moments, trying to see past the shadows and the fog but he could not. Another mew came and he scoffed, choosing to ignore it. He hated cats anyway.

He soon forgot about the slight distraction as he continued his walk home. He was three blocks away from his complex when another meow startled him out of his half-asleep stupor. He turned looked down. Twirling around his ankles was a slim, pure white, long furred feline. He stared at it for a few long moments then pushed it away, not quite kicking it out right but sending it the message to leave him alone.

The cat hissed but did not run off. The man muttered something to himself and walked away with a shake of his head. He made it three steps before another meow came from behind him. He paid it no attention and continued to stride forward. Another mew hovered from somewhere at his back but he figured the stupid animal would go away eventually.

He was answered with another meow. He let out a sigh and turned, seeing the same white feline sitting on the sidewalk staring at him with one yellow-green eye and one blue eye. For a long while man and animal stared each other down. Man grunted and ran a hand through greasy hair.

What? I don’t have any food, go away, he told the cat while gesturing at it to leave.

The cat responded by licking a front paw. He assumed this meant something along the lines of I don’t care, in cat language. He watched it for a long while then decided he was being an idiot. It was three AM; he was sore, tired, hungry and watching a stray cat lick itself in the middle of the street.

Fuck it, he grumbled as he turned and continued to stalk back to his apartment.

He did not have to turn around to know the cat was following him. He disregarded it and finally made it to a run-down apartment building with a single blinking light under a sagging awning. He stuck his key in the lock, turned it and slammed the door in the feline’s face before it could follow.

He watched as it hissed at him again then gave it the finger. The cat tilted its head to a side, yawned hugely as if to show off its fangs and walked off. The man huffed, turned and began walking up the four flights of stairs to his apartment. He strode down a dingy yellow hall with barely working light bulbs and the faint smell of urine. He wondered if the bar would be busy on Halloween in two weeks.

He hoped it would not be since he did not need a bunch of pagan freaks in masks voodoo-dolling him into free drinks. He turned the key to his apartment and it stuck. With a low curse he jiggled the key in its lock and the door popped open. For the millionth time since he moved in three years ago he promised himself he would find a better place.

The door thudded shut behind him and he turned on a light to reveal a moldy apartment. A torn leather couch sat in front of an old wooden frame that held a precariously balanced television with rabbit ears. Pizza boxes, empty beer cans and old newspapers littered the floor as old mail and over-due bills piled on the stand beside the door.

The carpet used to be white but lack of care had turned it the color of ash. A mattress was shoved into one corner since the only bedroom was unusable because of a leak in the middle of the ceiling when it rained. The leak was supposed to be fixed before he moved in. He left a few pails in that room to catch the shower of water that came every other day.

Scattered around the room was dirty laundry, scuffed paper backs and boxes that were filled with clean but musty clothes, dirty magazines, and DVDs. He had not actually been able to fully unpack since he was not able to use the other room. It did not matter. He had most of a roof over his head, beer in the fridge and there were not any bugs.

He pulled off his coat, tossed his shoes off his feet and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge a moment later and bent to stare inside. A loud meow startled him and he stood abruptly, slamming his head off a shelf and falling to his knees with a shout.

Son of a fucking bitch, he groused and looked around his kitchen.

Sitting demurely on his counter was the white cat. He stared at it as it watched him rub the sore spot on his head and stood slowly. The cat made no motion to move, merely regarding him with a frightening amount of intelligence in its oddly colored eyes. He grabbed a beer can out of the fridge and in one swift movement, threw it at the cat.

The cat jumped away and the beer can exploded over the counter. He roared a few choice curse words as the cat darted out of the kitchen from between his legs. He spun to follow it as it ran over to the open window and jumped away. He looked at the window for a long moment and knew he had closed it before leaving his apartment.

Bloody fuck,

He woke up sometime in the afternoon, staring at a crack in the ceiling above his head. The air was warm but not hot enough to make him want to open the window he had slammed shut last night. Stained sheets were tangled around him and his boxer-clad form. He ran a hand over his face and winced at a sudden pain on his cheek.

He sat up and rushed to the bathroom. He fumbled along the wall and finally flicked on the light. Green tile and counter tops blinded him for a moment before he looked into the mirror. On his right cheek were four ragged lines of dried blood about an inch long. He stared at them for a long moment and noticed they were slightly puffy. They would never match his short nails and could only come from one...

Meow, the cat called from his bathtub.

The man turned slowly and blinked at his impromptu guest. The cat smiled at him and he swore it let out a little chuckle. He screamed in sudden rage and launched himself at the feline. The cat waited until his momentum could not be stopped before leaping over him and making him fall headlong into the bathtub with a thunk.

FUCK! he shouted as he withered in pain in the middle of his bathtub.

He managed to sway to his feet and fall against the wall. The cat sat on the bathroom vanity, licking a front paw delicately. Then it jumped off the counter, walked through the wall and was gone. He allowed himself to slide down the wall when his knees gave way and he mercifully fell into a slight slumber.

A week passed and the man had not seen hair nor whisker of the mysterious cat. The scratches reminded him of the entire incident and co-workers gave him an odd look. He did not bother explaining because he had no idea what to tell them. He merely concentrated on slinging drinks to waiting hands and collecting tips.

It was half way through the shift when he felt a tingle along his spine. He finished mixing a martini and turned. The white feline sat staring at him on the stool beside the customer whose martini he had. He overlooked it and handed the woman her drink. She paid; he collected the three dollar tip and turned to his next customer.

The beer was served to the other man as the cat regarded him with an unblinking expression. He continued to snub the beast and make his way through the throng of thirsty half-drunks. One of the waitresses came by and began filling a tray with beer. As he turned to get the rum behind him, he stumbled and just about fell.

Winding around his ankles was the cat. It looked up at him with that smile again and he swallowed back a frustrated groan. He discounted it and turned to mix the drink he was working on, almost tripping on the feline again.

You okay? the waitress asked in concern as she looked down at his feet in wonderment.

He knew she was thinking he was drunk. If she could actually see the cat she would be mentioning it right now as it was butting its head against his legs to garner attention. The man ignored it and went back to work.

Fine, he rumbled to the waitress as he finished the concoction and moved to the next customer.

The cat leaped up on the bar and sat in front of a voluptuous blonde. The woman did not notice it was there. The cat licked its tail and watched unimpressed as he began to wipe down the bar. Another man came for a beer and he served it. The bar started to pick up again and for the remainder of the night, he