Into The Night
1. Winver
ONE
Today wasn’t just a normal Friday, it was the Friday. Here in Willow Creek, Oregon, people go crazy for Halloween, but especially all the haunted houses that go with it. And tonight was the opening night for all of them. People from all over travel to Willow Creek just to go haunted house hopping. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday and when Ansley told me this town was known for it, I knew I made the right decision moving here.
Swinging my legs out from under the blanket hitting the cold, wooden floor, I make my way into the bathroom and start getting ready for my day when I hear a knock on my bedroom door. Already knowing who it is, I open it to see Ansley standing there excited with her silk pajamas on.
“Today’s the day!” she sing-songs, clapping her hands. She pushes past me, making herself comfortable on my bed.
Ansley has been my roommate for six months now since moving from Texas and, although I moved in with a stranger, we quickly became best friends. She’s the golden retriever to my black cat personality and I wouldn’t have it any other way. People are always so surprised when they look at us and we tell them that we’re best friends. She’s a 6’0 blonde with tanned skin, blue eyes, and has the body of a supermodel. I, on the other hand, stand at 5’6 with pale ass skin, brown eyes, and black hair to go with it. Sure, I have an athletic figure, but I sure as shit don’t look like I just walked out of a high-end magazine.
“I know, I’m so excited! The one month out of the whole year that brings me natural serotonin,” I say, walking into my closet.
I pick out some black sweats and a cropped, white hoodie as Ansley claps her hands together again and lets out a deep breath. “So, which one do we want to go to tonight? I was thinking I could take you to Slaughterhouse, but then again, it’s only like a ten-minute haunted house.”
“We could still go to Slaughterhouse to get our feet wet, then just go to another one.” She shrugs her shoulders and nods her head in agreement. I put my hair in a messy bun calling it good for now until I have to get ready for tonight.
“We can think on it Ans, we have the whole day. I’m gonna go to Scream Box and get some more decorations to put up if you want to come.” Her eyes widen giving me an over-the-top smile as she gets up and leaves the room, yelling at me from the hall.
“You’re driving!”
Walking into Scream Box, I’m welcomed by the scent of plastic and latex as masks and props are scattered throughout. Mr. Ron, the owner, stands behind the counter greeting us like he always does. We’re both one of the few customers that come around when it’s not prime Halloween season.
“Winver and Ansley, what pleasure do I have with helping my two favorite customers?” I shrug my shoulders, walking deeper into the store. “Oh, ya know…Trying to find some Halloween decor. Have any new ones for your favorite customers?”
He lets out a chuckle, walking out from behind the counter and leading us to the back of the store where all the home decorations are displayed. Minimalist and maximalist decor is spread all throughout the walls, possessing both cute and scary features.
Mr. Ron does not play when it comes to Halloween. Ever since I discovered this store when I moved here, I knew this would be my kind of town. At the very least, it gave me the smallest reassurance that I made the right decision moving here. Sometimes I’ll come in and just look around. I’ll try on some costumes for the hell of it, all while Mr. Ron fills me in on what he ordered for the store or life in general. The store has been dead for the last six months, but now that October is here, everyone is picking out their costumes and new decor to set up around their homes.
Once we’ve both picked out what we want, we head back meeting Mr. Ron who resumed his place behind the counter. The front door jingles, welcoming in someone I have never seen before. While he keeps his eyes focused on the masks, my eyes focus on him. He’s tall, at least 6’4, wearing a pair of black jeans with a red shirt, a leather jacket, and some black chucks. Suddenly, his head turns to my direction and I catch the sight of his piercing, green eyes and dark, brown hair. Quickly looking down for a few seconds, I slowly look back up seeing that he’s back to looking at the masks. I catch sight of his neck tattoo of a woman with her mouth abnormally open with blacked-out eyes, black tears streaming down her face, and a backwards cross on her forehead. As he goes to reach for a mask, I notice he has hand tattoos, but I’m too far away to figure out what they are. All of a sudden my vision is filled with Ansley standing in front of me whistling, waving her hands in my face.
“Earth to Winver…Come on, I went ahead and paid for everything since you paid last time.”
I shake my head twice, blinking a few times as I’m snapped back into reality. Looking at Ansley, she has our bags down at her side with an eyebrow now raised at me. She looks back at the man then to me, squinting her eyes and smirking before turning around to leave the store. Following behind, I catch a glimpse of him one more time, his eyes latching onto mine briefly.
As we make our way back to the car, I pop the trunk for Ansley to put our bags in, but she just stands there with a hand on her hip.
“Dude, you were totally eye-fucking him.”
“And?”
“And you should’ve gone up to him and said something instead of looking like a deer in headlights.”
I roll my eyes and start the car as The Defeat by Ben Howard plays in the background. I know Ansley’s right and I should’ve said something, but what the fuck was I supposed to say?
“Sir, your face looks like a chair I want to sit on?”
Driving us back home, a part of me wonders who that man was. Although I’ve only been living here for six months, you get familiar with faces pretty quickly in a small town like this. But, like Ansley has told me, Willow Creek brings in a lot of tourists during this time of year. Whether he lives in Willow Creek or not, I hope that I see him again.