Hallows Eve by Kristina Cossa

Hallows Eve

By Kristina Cossa

Samantha didn’t believe in ghosts or anything related to the supernatural. Despite what some people in her town thought, even some of her own friends believed in it. She didn’t; she was a science girl and figured that once someone died, they either went up or down. They didn’t stay on earth and wander around haunting people. Besides, most people who have claimed to see ghosts were either lying or had no evidence to prove it.

Taking a deep breath, she flipped her long golden hair and pulled out her phone as she walked to class. Through her earbuds the song “Safe and Sound” played, and she fought the urge to sing the lyrics. Because she was distracted, she didn’t notice when she almost ran smack into another girl.The impact made the girl drop all her books, and Samantha knelt down to help her pick them out.

“Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I didn’t see you,” Samantha apologized. The girl gave her a kind smile and told her not to worry about it. As she stood up and took her books back, Samantha took in her appearance. The girl was beautiful, uncannily beautiful. Her skin was almost pure white with a slight touch of tan. Her hair was a river of long silver waves, and parts of it looked to be dyed blue. Her eyes were a shade of teal green, which to Samantha’s knowledge should be impossible. Her clothing matched her appearance perfectly; her dress was a light blue that faded into a royal blue on the ends. She also looked to be a bit older than Samantha was, maybe fourteen or fifteen.

“Are you new?” Samantha asked, not sure what else to say.

“You could say that. I’m Clarisse,” the girl said.

“I’m Samantha,” she answered, holding her hand out for Clarisse to shake. Clarisse blinked, not sure what to do.

“Why are you giving me your hand?” she asked, confused. For a minute Samantha thought the girl was joking. Hadn’t she ever shaken a hand before?

“So you can shake it,” Samantha answered. “It’s how I say hello,” she continued. Clarisse blinked again for a few seconds before shaking Samantha’s hand. Maybe she was dreaming or crazy, but Samantha felt her body shiver when they touched hands. She was probably just imagining things, so she didn’t bring it up when she pulled away.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, but I have to get to class,” Clarisse said, turning on her heels and walking away. Samantha shrugged and walked in the opposite direction to her next class. Today was Halloween, so everyone in the hallway was discussing their costumes or how much candy they planned on getting. She paid no attention to it, until she found her seat in the biology lab.

“So you guys are going out tonight?” a boy asked.

“No way. Don’t you know what day it is?” another boy asked, looking a little scared.

“Halloween,” the first boy answered.

“Yes, idiot, but it’s also been ten years since a bunch of children went missing while trick or treating,” the second boy explained. His friend groaned at him.

“Oh, come on. This again? Man, there is no such thing as ghosts or anyone that looks like the grim reaper,” the first boy responded, rolling his eyes.

“What are you two talking about?” Samantha asked, turning around to look at them.

“This guy thinks the Ghost Master is going to come for him in the night,” the first boy said, pointing to his friend in a mocking way.

“Again? Come on, Jake. You know that’s just a story, right?” Samantha asked, furrowing her eyebrows at both boys.

“He is too real! I’ve seen him,” Jake responded, and Samantha sighed as he went on a rant about his encounter with The Ghost Master. The story was always the same: Jake said that a few years ago when he was trick or treating a ghostly figure with skeleton features and a black rope grabbed his cousin. “And he was never heard from again because he was turned into one of the Ghost Master’s minions,” Jake finished. Samantha yawned from boredom, having heard the story a number of times.

“Right, and I suppose that adds up because he only appears one night every ten years,” Samantha said to him. She was clearly more interested in her school supplies than Jake’s story.

“You both laugh now, but tonight when he comes for you, he will be the one laughing,” Jake warned.

“Cut it out, man, people are going to think you’re on something,” his friend said to him.

“I’m not crazy,” Jake said, trying to defend himself. But the argument ended there as the two boys began talking about girls they liked. Samantha rolled her eyes at them and wondered why all the boys she knew were like this.–save for her brother, who was a precious gem that needed to be sheltered from all the bad in the world. He was only eight, and really her only friend as she was pretty much a lone wolf and only hung out with the few friends she made through the chorus. Not that she wasn’t not grateful for them, but it would be nice to have a best friend who would always have her back. But no, most teenagers today were concerned with their social media accounts and technology. She was brought out of her thoughts when the teacher arrived and told them that class was about to start.