Once Upon a Halloween Read Online Free Page A

back in?"
        "Just a second."
        "They're gonna get her," Hunter whispered. "Just chill, huh?"
        Laura came back into the house, shut the screen door and locked it, The moment she was clear, Shannon closed the heavy oak door.
        "Maybe the kids'll stop coming," Laura said, "if we turn off all the lights."
        "It might slop some of them," Shannon said. "On the other hand, lights are a good way to discourage foul play."
        "You oughta keep them on," Hunter said. "If it's dark, they can sneak up on us easier."
        "Let's leave the lights on for now," Shannon said. She turned to Hunter. "Why isn't Connie with you now? Where is she?"
        "I think maybe they got her."
        "You don't know?"
        He shook his head. "We kept waiting on the bench, like I said. Figuring they'd go away sooner or later. But then they... you know how the Kneeling Girl's mouth is open?"
        "I know, all right."
        "Well, one of them stuck a flare in it."
        "A flare?"
        "A road flare. It really lit the place up. It even lit us up. Connie and me. I mean... God... we're just sitting there like an audience... with the lights on." He shook his head. He had a sick look on his face. "I figured we'd get seen if we moved, but they were gonna see us anyway as soon as one of them looked in our direction. I didn't know what to do, and Connie just sat there beside me like she was a statue. So we just sat and watched them."
        "What were they doing?" Shannon asked.
        Hunter shook his head and shrugged. "Well, they kept on chanting in that funny language. When the flare was going, they held out their arms and started turning around in circles."
        "They didn't see you then?" Laura asked.
        "Huh-uh. They had their heads tipped way back. I think some of them might've had their eyes shut, too. And then the chanting got faster and they started moving faster. Spinning and jumping and stuff. It got pretty wild. Some of them took out their knives and swords and things and started waving them around."
        "They were doing all this in the nude?" Laura asked.
        "Yeah."
        "By the light of a road flare?" Shannon asked.
        Hunter nodded.
        "That's a mighty well-lit orgy," Shannon said.
        Looking perplexed, Hunter said, "I don't think it was an orgy."
        "There were men and women?" Shannon asked.
        "Yeah."
        "Dancing around naked?"
        "Yeah."
        "Sounds like an orgy to me."
        "Been to many?" Laura asked her.
        "Not yet. But I keep hoping."
        "This wasn't any orgy," Hunter insisted. "I think it was like a ceremony... like Devil worship or... I don't know, it sort of looked like a war dance or something."
        Laura frowned as if focusing on an idea. "How many did you say there were?"
        "I don't know, maybe like a dozen?"
        "Were there thirteen?"
        His shoulders bobbed. "Maybe."
        She looked at Shannon and raised her eyebrows. "A coven of witches?"
        "You asking me? I don't know shit about witches."
        "This is the Eve of All Hallows," Laura said. "It's what, like the autumnal equinox? I think it's like a special time of the year for witches and things."
        "Ghosts and goblins and headless horsemen." Shannon shook her head. "Screw it." She turned to Hunter. "I want to know what happened to Connie."
        "She ran for it."
        "Huh?"
        "We were just watching. I thought she was scared to move, same as me. But all of a sudden she jumped up and ran like hell. They saw that. Some of them did, anyway. They pointed at her and yelled and then some of them saw me. A couple of them had already taken off after Connie, so I couldn't go that way so I ran the other way. They must've split up and chased both of us. I know I had a bunch running after me. They couldn't catch me, though. I'm on the high school's cross-country