Categories > Original > Horror

Trick or Treat

by Hysterical_Delirium 0 reviews

Halloween is every child's favourite time of year.

Category: Horror - Rating: R - Genres: Horror - Warnings: [V] - Published: 2013-10-31 - 2831 words

0Unrated
Warning: Gore, blood, violence, the usual graphic stuff you'll find in horror.

**

"Trick or treat!" the young children all chimed in unison, before being bestowed with sweet treats and chocolates and happily sent on their way with a smile and a wave. Halloween was every child's favourite time of year; free sweets, fun parties, dressing up with friends, what more could one wish for?

"I bet I have more chocolate than you, Ralph!" gloated Tara, the oldest and tallest of the four.
"Oh yeah?" Ralph hastily retorted "I have... one... two... three..." he counted out loud how many pieces of chocolate he could find whilst greedily rummaging around in his bag of goodies.
"C'mon, guys. It's not a contest. Oh! Let's go to Mr Anderson's house!" insisted Aimee, the second youngest but arguably the most sensible of the group.
"Yeah, I heard he sometimes gives everyone two sweets instead of one!" the shortest and youngest, Paddy added, wide-eyed and with a large, excited grin. The group then began walking in the direction of Mr Anderson's residence.

Tara was dressed as a witch; her outfit was a fluorescent purple and she carried around a broomstick with shiny streamers in the place of jagged twigs. She wore a bright green wig underneath her pointed hat, with the occasional strand of blonde, straw-like hair which had managed to escape the cover of the wig. Paddy was dressed as her cat, or at least that was what Tara had insisted. He was really dressed as a cat because his mother believed he was far too sweet and delightful to be a zombie or a vampire. He was wearing a black, fluffy onesie complete with a long, thin tail and a hood with ears, as well as black, fluffy gloves and three lines drawn on each cheek to resemble whiskers, which had now become quite smudged due to him rubbing his eyes out of tiredness. Aimee's outfit consisted of large amounts of toilet paper wrapped around her with a black jumper and trousers underneath in her efforts to portray an Egyptian mummy. Ralph had donned a dark brown wolf mask (which was now propped up on top of his head, allowing him to eat his collected treasures) and tail, which he wore with a beige hoodie and black jeans. This was the first year the four had been allowed to go trick-or-treating alone, and they were making the most of this privilege by stopping at as many houses as possible. Before long, the children's bags were so full up of delicious delicacies that they were almost overflowing.

"Guys, I think we should probably go home now, if we get given any more sweets to carry around I think my arm will fall off!" Aimee giggled.
"Just one more house" Ralph replied without a second thought.
"We haven't been to that house" Paddy said as he pointed towards the house at the end of the street. Its lights were switched off and no one had yet knocked on the door.
"Of course not, silly!" chastised Tara "No one's been there in years!"
"Why?" Paddy questioned, although quite meekly out of fear of being scolded again.
"Because apparently the person who lives there never gives out treats!" she explained.
"We can still try, what's the worst that could happen?" inquired Ralph and began instinctively walking towards the enigmatic house. The rest of the group reluctantly yet naturally followed.

When the group reached the front door of the house, Tara was the one to ring the doorbell, before instantly yanking back her hand and panickedly waving it around in the air and screeching noisily upon discovering that it was covered in dusty cobwebs. Her brave action was in vain anyway as no doorbell sound was heard. Ralph rolled his eyes and confidently reached out and knocked on the door loudly four times. The group could hear the sound of the knocking echoing through the structure of the house. They waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no answer.
"Told you!" exclaimed Tara and swiftly turned around to walk away, but stopped as soon as she took her first step because the sound of footsteps could suddenly be heard from behind the door, which gradually became louder until the locks on the door clicked and the door slowly swung open. A small, skinny, elderly woman stood before them, she was hunched over and her bony hand was still clasped around the inside door handle. She smiled while looking over each member of the group.
"Trick or treat" Paddy warbled, this time unaccompanied by the others. The elderly woman then chuckled, which put the group at ease, and then finally spoke.
"Terribly sorry that I took so long to get to the door, I'm not quite as agile as I used to be."
"That's quite alright, miss. Now, can we have some sweets?" pressed Tara impatiently, to which Ralph eagerly nodded.
"Oh, of course! They're out back in the kitchen. Come in, come in!" the elderly woman replied cheerfully and shuffled aside whilst holding the door open for the group to enter. Tara went first and nodded and smiled at the woman when she passed her, Ralph went next and didn't acknowledge her, Paddy then slowly stepped up inside and followed the other two. Aimee hesitated and remained standing outside on the welcome mat for a brief moment, until the old woman gestured with her head to come inside and join the others, to which she reluctantly stepped inside and followed her companions. Unlike the homes of most elderly women, there were no photos of children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or even small decorations such as vases or flowers. The walls were plain and covered in peeling off-white paint, and there was no carpet or tiling on the floor, just bare floorboards. The kitchen was just the same, a small room with the usual cooking appliances (which looked like they were in need of a decent clean) and a small, round table in the middle of the room, with four wooden chairs around it. The group all took a seat each and awaited their treats.
"I'll just get them for you." the elderly woman told the group, as she walked over to the cupboard and began rummaging through it.
"Don't you keep your chocolate in the fridge?" questioned Ralph, to which the old lady giggled.
"Oh heavens no, my fridge is always full." she replied, and brought out a bowl full of various types of sweets, which she then placed on the table. "Dig in, children." she permissed.
The hands of all the children then dived into the bowl, greedily searching for their favourites. Ralph was the first to take a bite; he had picked up a chocolate caramel biscuit bar was noisily and messily chomping away at it. Tara shoved a fistful of gummy worms into her mouth and also began chewing noisily. Paddy picked up a chewy sweet, carefully unwrapped it and began to nibble at it. Aimee picked up and replaced many sweets, inspecting the bowl of treats carefully, before finally settling on a strawberry-flavoured lollipop. She looked up at the elderly woman, who was staring back at her, and gesturing to go ahead and eat it up. Aimee looked back at the lollipop before untwisting the wrapper and placing the sweet into her mouth. The first thing she noticed was that it tasted quite different than usual. Not bad, just different. Different in a way that made her want more and more, and she finally understood why the others were guzzling down theirs. Before she knew it, the bowl was almost empty, and everyone had stopped gobbling down the tasty treats. Every member of the group was looking terribly unwell, and suddenly became unable to think straight. The group all had blank expressions on their faces, like they were not fully in touch with reality, but they all turned suddenly when the sound of Ralph's head hitting the table startled them all. Tara was next to pass out, her pointed hat almost falling off the top of her head. Paddy and Aimee knew what was going to happen to them, but lacked both the physical and mental energy to flee, as well as being paralysed with fear. Within minutes, Paddy had also fainted, and a couple of minutes after that, Aimee also finally slipped into unconsciousness.

When Aimee opened her eyes, everything around her was just a blur, like an out-of-focus image on a camera. The second thing she noticed was that she couldn't move, although she was unsure whether this was due to being physically restrained or whether the effects of whatever mysterious substance she had ingested had not yet fully worn off. She soon was able to come to the conclusion that it was due to both reasons. Once her vision had become clear enough to distinguish her surroundings, she realised that she was in a different room than where she had lost consciousness. This was another room with bare walls and flooring, but she noticed that everyone in her group was each strapped down onto a horizontal board on a table. Paddy appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness, but Ralph and Tara were both still out cold. The elderly woman was standing with her back to everyone on the other side of the room, preparing something on a small table. As soon as she noticed the old woman starting to turn around, she decided to pretend to remain unconscious, but kept one eye ever so slightly open, so she could just about see what was happening around her. The elderly woman began to walk towards Ralph. When she reached the board which he was fixed to, she raised her arms, and Aimee noticed that she was holding something in her hands. A large object. She didn't realise what it was until the old woman lifted it above her head and then bought it crashing down onto the neck of the young boy, causing blood to start erupting from the wound, splattering and spilling all over the board, the floor and the old woman's dress. She repeated this action, using the axe to hack into the boy's neck, causing yet more blood to pour out and form puddles on the floor. After repeating this action many times, Ralph's head eventually became detached from his body. The old woman then freed Ralph's body from the straps and carried it over to the table on the other side of the room. Aimee was too in shock to be able to scream, cry or react in any way. For some reason, now that the old woman's back was turned, Aimee decided to look over at the board where Ralph's body once lay, only to see that his head had rolled over slightly so it was facing her. His eyes were wide open and blood was dripping from his mouth. The sight was so horrifying that her eyes were glued to it. She could feel her breathing becoming faster and heavier, and she had to use all her energy to try and keep her breathing as quiet as possible as to not draw attention to herself, despite being aware of the fact that the same fate would eventually happen to her. After what seemed like forever, the old woman placed Ralph's body aside and began to walk towards Tara. Aimee quickly glanced over to Ralph's headless body, and noticed that the word 'TRICK' had been carved into it. Once the old woman reached Tara's board, she once again lifted the axe above her head and slammed it down onto the neck of her young victim, causing another eruption of blood onto the floor, board and dress of the old lady, and repeated this action until Tara's head became free, which seemed to happen quicker for her than it did for Ralph. Tara's body was freed by the old woman and taken over to same table as Ralph's, and she once again started working away. This time Aimee knew better than to look over at the lifeless head that was on the board beside her. After several minutes, the old woman placed Tara's body aside. Aimee noticed that it had the word 'OR' sliced into it. The elderly woman then turned to face Aimee, and began slowly walking towards her, axe in hand, but was then interrupted when a small noise caught her attention.
"Aimee..." Paddy murmured. He sounded shaken and desperate. Paddy, being young and clumsy, often made many mistakes. Little did he know that this was the last mistake he would ever make. The elderly woman instantly turned and began walking towards Paddy instead.
"Shhh... go back to sleep, sweetie... it's okay" she reassured him, stroking his cheek with the back of her scrawny hand, before doing the same to him as she did to the others. This time, however, her victim began choking and spluttering as the crimson fluid began to flow from the deep wound in his neck. The second time that he was struck with the blade, his gasping was instantly ceased, and the third time, his neck was completely severed. His small, lifeless body was freed by the old lady and carried over to the carving table. Aimee knew she shouldn't do this, but instinctively looked over at the board where the young boy previously lay. His head was facing the ceiling, his eyes wide open and his mouth hung open in a silent scream. She could no longer contain her anguish, and began to whimper, which soon turned into hysterical crying and howling.
"Shhh... go back to sleep, dear. There's nothing to be afraid of." the old woman comforted her, without turning around. When she had finished slicing away at the young boy's body, she placed it with the others. Now that the old woman was fully aware of Aimee's consciousness, she was able to look over at the pile of bodies with her eyes fully open, so she could clearly read the word 'TREAT' etched into his skin and torn up clothing. The old lady then turned around and slowly began to walk towards her.
"What should we do with you, my dear?" the old woman wondered out loud, "I don't need any more words, but I can't let you go now. Looks like we'll just have some fun together." her voice was still as warm and friendly as ever despite the chilling words that she uttered. She then turned around and went back to her carving table and began fumbling around with the equipment which lay on top of it.
"You may have noticed that my house is quite bare. I've been meaning to get some decorations for a while, and it looks like I'm finally able to." she explained, before turning around, holding a saw in both hands. She began to walk towards her final victim. "Hold still, dearie." she told she young girl, before placing the blade across the joint between Aimee's abdomen and leg, before slowly starting to move the blade backwards and forwards, shredding the flesh underneath it. The severing action gradually became faster and more vigorous. The piercing screams of the young girl seemed to fall on deaf ears, with no reaction from the old woman other than the occasional "Shhh...".

Eventually, the joint gave away and Aimee's leg was free. The blood loss had caused her to start feeling very faint, barely having enough energy to keep screaming, despite it being completely involuntary. The dismembered limb was placed aside, and the old woman then began to work on her next challenge: the other leg. She continued working her way around, detaching every limb until she reached the young girl's neck. By now, Aimee had been dead for several hours. Once she managed to remove her head from her body, and all she had was a pile of blood-soaked body parts, she put them together with those of her other victims and carried them out of the room, a few pieces at a time.

One year later, it was every child's favourite time of year again. The streets were once again full of excited young children, collecting precious treasures from their neighbours and having fun with their friends. This year, however, everyone began to notice the dark house at the end of the street.
"Look at that house! This year she's put decorations up!"
"Wow, they're impressive!"
"What are they? I can't quite see without my glasses."
"Headless hanging corpses with 'TRICK OR TREAT' written on them."
"Ooh, spooky!"
"They're obviously fake, of course."
"Well of course they are! She's just a harmless old lady, not a serial killer!"

**

I'm sorry, this is pretty terrible. Then again, it is the first thing I've written in a looong time. Any constructive criticism would be very very appreciated. ~ ^_^
Also, take a look at the first letter of each child's name. It spells out something. :3
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