Must Have Been A Trick Of The Eye

Elise needed a night to herself to relax and stop feeling anxious. It would be the first time she wasn't dressing up and going out with friends on her favorite holiday: Halloween. The television set glowed, and the menu screen awaited instruction to start the latest horror movie. The only other light in the room came from a large three-wick candle on the coffee table in front of the couch. Large sliding glass doors provided a peaceful view of the vast yard that Elise shared with her neighbors in the townhome complex. By day, you could see the rippling creek and beautiful pond, but by night, it was darkness and shrubbery. The silhouette of a man walking his dog could be seen on the path that runs alongside the creek.

Elise balanced an armload of snacks and a can of soda in her arms from the kitchen to the coffee table where she arranged them. It was an impressive spread for a night in, alone. Her cell phone rang, and she turned back toward the kitchen where it sat on the counter. "Hello?" she said, before she had even gotten the phone to her ear. "Hey, Chrissy. You're not going to talk me into going out, so let me just save you the effort." The laughter of her friend on the other end made her chuckle. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... you know how it is," she made her way back to the living room. "I'm actually looking forward to a calm Halloween alone with my scary movies that you guys hate so much," she grinned to herself. "I just need to relax and get my mind off Ace, you know? Like, it's hard enough going through a breakup, but him not leaving well enough alone just makes it a million times worse."

She climbed the stairs to the second floor and flicked on the light in her bedroom before entering. She cradled the phone on her shoulder while loading up her arms again, this time with manicure supplies, face mask supplies, and comfortable slippers. Chrissy's voice could be heard faintly throughout the room as Elise listened to what was no doubt sage advice from her dearest friend who had been through a few rough breakups of her own. Elise dropped something, and as she bent down to pick it up, in the view from her bedroom window there was a large figure with no face standing in the middle of the street below. Elise stood up straight again, turned off the light, and left the bedroom while continuing her phone conversation. The figure was gone. Must have been a trick of the eye.

"I don't think he's dangerous, Chrissy. I think he's just an asshole," she said as she descended the stairs and set up her self-care supplies next to her snacks on the coffee table. "Listen, I promise I'll call you if Ace goes all 'Boogeyman' on me tonight, okay?" she laughed, and her friend's voice as she chided Elise for her dark humor could be heard at least two rooms away. "Alright, I'm gonna watch my movie. I've been looking forward to this one for months," she rolled her eyes as her friend continued her lecture. Chrissy finally conceded, though, and Elise remembered how lucky she was to have friends like her. "Okay, I love you, too. Happy Halloween!" She hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch. Something out in the backyard caught her eye.

Elise walked to the sliding glass doors and opened them just slightly for a clear view of the yard. She thought she had seen someone run down toward the creek from right next to her house. She turned the porch light on to better illuminate the thick early darkness of the crisp fall night. Aside from the occasional dog bark, the whir of cars on Main Street in the distance was all that could be heard. Leaves dancing on the brisk fall breeze and the windchime that tinkled at the edge of her patio was all the movement she could see. Perhaps a trick-or-treater was messing around off the beaten path. She slid the door open a little more and slipped outside for a better look. The night was peaceful. She caught a chill and went back inside. Must have been a trick of the eye.

She pulled the door shut and latched it, and switched off the porch light since that made it a little easier to see the whole yard from the dark living room. She was mostly unfazed. She had watched a lot of horror movies in her life, and someone would have to try a lot harder if they wanted to rattle her.

She settled in on the couch and grabbed the remote. The movie started and Elise relaxed into the soft couch with a blanket and some popcorn. The glow of the television and the light of the candle were the only things illuminating Elise's little corner of the world.

Halfway through the movie, while admiring the shimmering shade of pink on her perfectly manicured nails, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and snapped her head quickly to look outside. All was still and quiet again, aside from the breeze rustling the trees and shrubbery. Must have been a trick of the eye.

The candle continued to burn, casting a calm, comforting glow across the coffee table and Elise's face as she nodded off, missing the end of her movie.

She almost didn't hear the cell phone ring since she had been sitting on it, but the vibrations awoke her, and she realized she must have fallen asleep. The television had returned to the menu screen, and the candle continued to fill the air with the scent of cinnamon apple crisp. She fumbled for the phone and sat up, pushing her hair out of her face and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Hello?"

Silence.

"Helloooo?"

A raspy voice on the other end finally said, "You'll die tonight."

"Give me a break," Elise hung up on the prankster and checked the call log. Private caller. She rolled her eyes and got up to take some of her manicure supplies back upstairs and make room for more snacks.

Upstairs, she finished putting away her nail supplies. As she left the bedroom, a dark shadow slid across the end of the hallway. She stopped short of going down the stairs and opted instead to look closer into the shadows at the end of the hallway. A car passed by on the street below and the headlights caused the shadows to dance. Must have been a trick of the eye.

The doorbell jarred her out of her relief and she continued down the stairs to answer the door. As she reached the front door, she realized the door was already ajar. She tried to remember if she had closed and locked the door earlier when she got home. She was also sure she had turned off the porch light to signal no candy for the trick-or-treaters. She opened the door to see a group of three children dressed as gremlins or demons. The costumes were rather intricate, complete with sharp claws and slimy drool hanging from their mouths. "Hey there," she smiled. "Those are some impressive costumes." The children never said "trick or treat." They didn't say a single word.

Elise broke the awkward silence, "Hang tight, I'm unprepared." She closed the door and grabbed a couple handfuls of her movie snacks from the coffee table and turned back to the front door. The three children were inside the house. Elise gasped in shock. She hadn't even heard the door open. "Here," she put the snacks into their pillow cases of candy and ushered them out the door. "I appreciate a good Halloween trick as much as anyone. Good one, guys. No more for me, though, alright? It's been a long day. Happy Halloween." Not a single sound from the children.

She shut and locked the door, breathed a sigh of relief, and returned back to the living room. The sliding glass door stood wide open. Elise stared, knowing full well she had closed and locked that door earlier before she started the movie. She gasped again as her phone rang on the kitchen counter behind her.

"Hello?"

"You promised we'd spend Halloween together," came the familiar voice on the other end.

"Dammit, Ace. I knew it was you. Stop bothering me. I mean it," she chided him.

"What are you talking about?" Ace sounded genuinely confused. "I was just sitting around at home thinking about you and, you know, you promised we'd spend Halloween together. So, I thought I'd stop by and hold you to it." Elise froze at the realization of Ace's words.

"You're here? Did you break into my house?!"

"What? Elise, you watch too many horror movies." A knock at the front door startled her again and she dropped her phone. She could hear Ace's voice on the other end as she slowly crept toward the front door. She tried to see who it was through the stained glass windows on either side of the door. She was about to open it when whomever was on the other side threw their entire weight up against the door. Elise jumped back so fast, she tripped on her own feet and fell backward, hitting her head on the hardwood floor.

Dazed, but aware, Elise struggled to get up and went to secure the sliding glass door. When she got there, it was shut and locked.

Elise was so confused. It must have never been open. She's being paranoid now because of the creepy trick-or-treaters, the prank call, and her obsessive ex-boyfriend. Must have been a trick of the eye.

Behind her, a large, dark figure with no face arose and lifted a scythe high above Elise's head. She never even had a chance to scream.

A man walking his dog along the sidewalk in the townhome complex was admiring the nicely manicured lawns and fun Halloween decorations. He came upon a particularly gruesome scene which looked like a body torn limb from limb. He stopped momentarily to observe the grisly scene, and bent slightly to get a closer look at the severed head on the trunk of a mustang with plates that said ACESHGH.

He poked at the gore around it and some slime had stuck to his finger. "Yuck," the man said to his four-legged walking buddy. "That's realistic." He cringed, wiped his hand on his pant leg, and led his dog in the other direction. "Some people are just so crass, huh boy." He thought he saw something creeping around in the bushes nearby. Some children, maybe. He looked back to see for sure, but nothing was there.

Must have been a trick of the eye.