"Look at that! It's the Boogeyman's house!"
The three middle schoolers, heading home for the Friday night, the first of the Autumnal month of October, came upon the dilapidated green and white house. Under the eerie moonless sky, the stars blinking in and out of focus through a slight wisp of cloud, the three boys stood on the dead vegetation of the Myers lawn as they stared up at the famous House of the Boogeyman. Their friends at school had some wonderful theories about the house's reputation they heard from parents, family members, friends, or friends of friends. One theory had it that a pale specter of the house's troubled former inhabitant, Michael Myers, haunted the place. A second theory was that the Boogeyman lurked inside, prepared to ambush and devour unsuspecting kids while the third posited that Michael himself had never died and was still living in the house yet death awaited all who dared entered.
"Wow, it looks tight!" Andy, the friend in the Chicago Bears jacket and cubs cap, glanced up at the rundown neglected home with his misty gray-blue eyes in shock, awe, and wonder. After all, this place had an infamous reputation which made people with a shred of sense avoid it.
Milton, the friend with the spectacles and the red and orange And1 jacket, turned and grinned mischievously at his buddies.
"I know, right? Say, you wanna enter and check it out? We can take pics and tell Eldridge and the others that we were here."
Winston, the level-headed one and the skeptic of the wild trio, looked dubious.
"Well, I don't know. I mean, Ma will kill me if I don't get home for a late supper at 8."
Milton and Andy glanced over at their pal, eyeing him like a shark does to a minnow, sizing him up for a taunting.
"Really now?" Milton tilted his head, an amused smirk appearing on his face. "You are already late so what's the rush?"
Andy couldn't resist joining in on the goading. "Yeah, you aren't chickening out, are you? Besides, we won't be long. We will only poke around for a bit and take pics to show Eldridge and his boys that we were man enough to come to the Boogeyman's home. Then we'll be home before our folks know it."
"Yeah, it will only be for a bit," Milton added, trying to convince his bestie to not lose his nerve and bail out.
Winston blinked his almond-shaped green eyes before relenting. "I guess a few minutes won't hurt. Ma's gonna kill me anyway, so why not?"
Heaving his Fortnite bag over his shoulder, the shrimpy Winston trailed after his two mates as they stepped onto the front porch of the Myer's home. The creaking of the aged wooden boards echoed through the still night, announcing their presence to any occupants. Winston started to have second thoughts as Milton glanced through one of the dark windows, but frowned.
"Dayum, this place is darker than the locker room's bathroom. I can't see jack through here. Let's try the-"
The door swung open, revealing the darkness of the Boogeyman's lodgings. Winston could make out a shadowy figure standing by the entrance. Alarmed by the arrival of this hulking character, the boys let out terrified screams before turning and running like the wind.
---
"Aaaaah! The boogeyman is coming! He's gonna get you!"
As he strolled with his classmates up Meridian Avenue, Billy heard the shouts and froze. Three kids, looking like rebellious pre-teens experiencing the world for the first time, ran past the group as if a pack of wolves were pursuing them. He, Kevin, Jenny, Amy, and the girl's friend Ellie, a cheerleader for the school's volleyball team, glanced after the terrified kids as they fled down the street from the direction the college students had come from. Billy glanced at his companions with a perturbed expression.
"If I am not mistaken, those boys just came from upstreet Meridian, correct?"
Kevin nodded, confirming the Englishman man's presumption. "Yup, they sure did. Why's that important?"
The shaggy-haired Loomis boy glanced ahead and saw the Myers home, its ominous presence looming like a mini-haunted house from a classic horror movie.
"It's because they must have seen something in that house to frighten them so much that they flee."
Jenny glanced at Amy before staring at Billy with an astonished look.
"You aren't suggesting-"
Billy raised a hand to disclaim any preconceived notions. "No, I am not suggesting anything, but I want to investigate to make sure."
The three women and the sports dude involuntarily cringed at the Psych major's proposal.
"No way!" Elle shook her head, taking a step back. "I am not going anywhere near that place."
"Yeah, me neither," Amy chimed in. "Besides, you don't know what could have taken up residence inside that godforsaken crypt. Any bum could have made his home there ever since the city had shuttered the place off from the public."
"Ok, I am not forcing you to follow me." Billy could see that none of his new companions were willing to step foot near the house. "Feel free to wait outside until I finish up. Or if you feel you had enough for the night, you can go home and I'll see you all tomorrow."
A few minutes later, the group was standing before the same intimidating structure that the kids had entered earlier. None of Billy's new friends had the desire to desert him. That brought a smile to the face of the guy with the semi-long umber hair.
"Well, now I know that I chose my mates wisely. I half-expected you to desert me, but I am reassured now."
"Bro, you think we gonna let you have all the fun?" Kevin cackled, shaking his head in amusement. "Besides, we are pals as you just declared. In the unlikely event that you encounter a murderous drifter, you would need all the help you can get. That's what pals are for."
Billy chuckled. "I'm touched to have friends like you. Not only are you true companions, but I also know you aren't chickenshit either."
"Um guys, I really don't want to interrupt this tender moment, but we really should move along. If anything frightened those kids, it has to be something as harmless as a cat. Have you considered that a classmate of theirs played a prank on them? Like let's confirm it. I have homework to do."
The other two girls murmured in agreement at Jenny's request. Billy just nodded and complied with their wishes.
"Let's do it."
The psychology student slowly pushed the door open after futilely trying to get a glimpse of the insides of the 'haunted' house. As usual, nothing was visible past the shuttered windows into the darkness beyond. Taking a breath, Billy Loomis took a step inside the musty and abandoned home. Flicking on his large yellow flashlight, he lead the other Haddonfield college students into the forsaken building. Beside him, Kevin leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"Who does homework on a Friday?"
Billy just shrugged, but continued to search the house that resembled more of storage warehouse than a home. He had explored the place before, but someone, or something, had stirred and Billy didn't want to risk a confrontation with the Boogeyman himself. At least, not when he was unarmed and his friends' lives were at risk. He entered Judith Myer's room, the location where she was murdered by her brother in front of her dresser, and trained his flashlight onto the dark marks on the carpet that were the only tokens of the horrific crime that had taken place.
"Dayum!" Kevin breathed out beside him, shining his phone light onto the bloody outline. "So this is where it went down, no?"
Before he could respond to the scholar athlete, a scream tore through the darkness. Jolted by the abrupt noise, the boys ran across the hall toward the kitchen. Billy, prepared for the worst, spotted Amy putting her hands to her mouth as Jenny and Ellie searched under the tables and cabinets.
"What happened?" Billy asked.
Jenny glanced up at him. " Amy saw a few rats skitter by as we entered. I say we get the hell out as this place looks deserted. If anyone lived here, it wouldn't be infested with rats or roaches. "
"Y-Yes, that's a g-great plan," Amy whimpered. "There's nothing more to see here."
"Guys, I think we got company!" Ellie explained.
Billy, Kevin, Jenny, and Amy hurried over to the window to see a car, hard to discern the make and model in the darkness of dusk, pull in and park in front of the house's driveway. The headlights emitting a ghostly glow, the doors slowly opened and out stepped shadowy figures clad in something that didn't belong in the current era.
"Who are they?" Jenny wondered aloud.
"I don't know, but they look kinda funky," Kevin replied. "Do they think it's the 31st of October rather than the first? Maybe they're confused or something."
The sound of slow footsteps shuffling above them silenced everyone. As the steps gradually made their way toward where the stairway was located, Billy shared an uneasy look with his mates. They all understood a couple things: they weren't alone in the house and they needed to scram lest they receive a fate one in their right mind would avoid. Frantically looking for an exit, the group of five started to scramble for the doorway when Kevin called for their attention.
"If I can open the kitchen window, we can get the heck out of dodge!"
Hearing the footsteps getting ever closer and reaching the steps, Billy hurried over to Kevin's side and helped him pry the stuck kitchen window open. It shot open with a screech. The boys then turned to their female companions.
"Ladies first," Kevin offered. "But hurry, we don't have much time! Whoever is coming down the stairs will be here soon enough."
Ellie smirked at him as she stood on a stool and crawled her way out of the house like a squirrel. "Always the gentleman even in times of exigency."
As the girls left, Kevin and Billy hurried out just as the footsteps reached the ground floor. Without daring a look back, the college associates shot ahead. Adrenaline pumping, Billy didn't stop until they reached the bus stop at Cypher Road. Sitting on the bench to catch his breath and process the close call, Billy turned to his side and noticed Jenny sitting beside him, equally out of breath. Behind them, Kevin sat on the ground panting and heaving, whether from fatigue or terror, Billy couldn't tell, as Ellie lay prone on the soft grass before him. Amy was leaning at Jenny's side of the bench, taking steady breaths.
"At least we verified our theory about the kids." Billy smiled. Then he leaned over to whisper in the girl's ear. "Hey, can I ask you something about the girl that you and Amy are companions of. No, not Ellie, but the dark-haired one. The one who is kind of cute. For starter's what's her name?"
---
"It's a long way from Chicago."
"Only if you are at the bottom of the hill," the scratchy voice responded. "What news do you have for me?"
Inside the beige Cadillac, the passenger, a young man in his twenties, dressed in a wide brim hat as black as midnight as well as matching robes, held a small dark cellphone in his left gloved hand. As he replied to his contact, the man who was the leader of what would soon be the revival of their group, the driver and a green-eyed woman seated in the back, similarly clad as the speaker, watched him in anticipatory silence.
"It looks like the young Loomis and his companions are getting a bit too curious. They entered the home and nearly discovered the occupant, our catalyst for All Souls' Day. If this continues, they could discover our plot for Samhain," the robe-clad passenger spoke in an Irish accent. "Should we intervene before they stumble upon our little secret? All our hard work can go to waste. Please advise."
There was a moment of silence as the car drove through the serene streets for Haddonfield, lit only by the streetlamps that resembled the bottoms of fireflies, before the voice responded.
"Keep close tabs on the meddlers. Should they get in the way of our plans or derail them, you have my blessing to take action. You must do what it takes to ensure that Samhain goes smoothly this year. No blunders will be tolerated. Do I make myself clear?
"Aye, sir!"
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