Lindsay wasn’t sure if she could survive Halloween without Heidi. It was already September and that filled her with dread. She wrapped her little thirteen-year-old arms around her big sister and squeezed until Heidi gasped.
“I’ll be back for Thanksgiving,” Heidi said. She pulled up Lindsay’s head and wiped away her tears. “I’ll write you every week.”
This made Lindsay show her cute little, crooked teeth. “I love you!” She tried to keep her brown curls in order as the wind jostled them around.
Heidi had given up on her hair. The static made the top of her blond hair stick up like a mad scientist’s hairdo. “I have something for you.” She knelt down and looked over Lindsay’s shoulder. “If they find it, tell them you found it in the garage. For all they know, they could have missed one.”
She unzipped her luggage and pulled out a VHS copy of Meet Me in St. Louis. Lindsay’s eyes lit up like Christmas morning and the tape was in her tiny clutches before she knew what she was doing.
There was a clank as something fell over in the garage behind Lindsay. With a stealthy stash, she stuffed the tape between her coat and her t-shirt.
Heidi patted Lindsay’s belly. “No more candy for you, honey.”
Lindsay responded by sticking out her tongue. The wind ramped up its howling with painful lurches of blunt force. Lindsay’s tiny body tilted to the side with each gust of wind.
Heidi’s lips quivered. “I hope it makes your Halloween better.” She gave her one last big hug and rolled her suitcase to her future dorm roommate’s car parked at the curb.
Lindsay watched as her only sibling, her only friend, left her. The VHS tape slipped out of her coat and she just barely caught it before it shattered on the ground. She hugged it before stowing it back in her jacket.
Autumn conquered summer and completed its transformation of the trees into blots of orange, red and yellow. Little Lindsay moped the same way she did all September and October.
Today was Halloween.
The gusts of wind rattled their thin, single pane windows and there was a whistle that crept out of their TV room window. Lindsay leaned against the back wall and looked at her parent’s as they watched The Shop Around the Corner. She squinted against the TV’s harsh light in the otherwise pitch-black house. Her mother, Heather, was knitting a Christmas sweater and sweating. She was always sweating.
Lindsay pulled a folded up flier from her pocket and inspected the local rental store ad. The Mummy had already been available to rent for weeks now. James, her father, cleared his throat and she shoved the flier back in her pocket. He was old, fat, and tired.
As she turned, she saw dated height measurements for Heidi and herself on the edge wall leading into the TV room.
She wondered if she would ever be taller than her.
As she made her way to the kitchen, her stride stretched out like an ostrich to avoid tripping on any unseens obstacles in the darkness.
A knock on the door startled her. She froze in place as she was only six feet away from the door.
“Trick or treat!” a girl said.
Lindsay held her breath and waited for the pattering of little feet to leave her porch. She exhaled and moved to the fridge. After she grabbed a glass of whole milk and a few cookies, she tried to tip-toe past her parents to the stairs.
“Don’t you want to watch with us?” James asked.
“Oh let her be. She’s seen this a thousand times,” Heather said.
Lindsay smiled and ran for the stairs before they could ask any more questions. A little bit of her milk splashed into the orange and brown carpet on the stairs. She rubbed her black socks into the spilled milk until it was dry. She more delicately made her way up the last few steps and into her bedroom.
The room was cozy, with flowery wallpaper and a big military camo bean bag in the corner.
She set her snack on a metal framed, glass-topped TV tray. It was one of the few things she had to remember her mom’s mom. The glass was semi-transparent with glass pieces that were colored and shaped like grapes, cheeses, and inexplicably, a cat.
There was a draft in her room so she checked her only window which overlooked the front yard.
“Mom must have opened it earlier.”
Their minivan wasn’t in the driveway. She squinted and saw it parked across and to the left of their house.
“If you want to pretend like you’re not home, you have to go all the way!” she said in a mocking tone.
She watched as a group of children stopped under the street lamp in front of her house to inspect their goodie bags. They were dressed as each of The Ninja Turtles.
A seven-foot-tall, cloaked figure approached the children from the shadows. It said something to the kids, but she couldn’t hear them. As she closed the window, the cloaked figure turned to face her. Its face was gaunt and its eye sockets were like caves. Its mouth opened, but there were no teeth. It quickly turned its attention back to the other children and Lindsay pulled her curtains closed. She wriggled her body around and shook her head.
“Why is an adult trick-or-treating?”
She grabbed a photo of Heidi standing next to her campus dorm on her nightstand and put it on the TV tray next to her snack.
“Finally."
The VHS tape of Meet Me in St. Louis was hiding in a box under her bed. She listened for any footsteps before snatching up the tape, running to her 13” VHS/TV combo, and delicately inserting it.
Dancing waves of white noise turned to warbled colors. A faint scratching sound came from her sliding door closet. She paused the VHS and turned to face the closet.
“Hello?”
CLUNK.
Something heavy fell in her closet and she held a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. The last thing she wanted was her parents investigating her room right now. She picked up her flashlight and tried to keep the beam steady under her shaking hands. She somehow got the courage to get herself over to the closet door and slide it open. Her baseball sat on the floor of her closet.
She panned her flashlight and looked around the closet, but nothing moved or looked odd. She left the closet door open and returned to her chair.
After she pressed play on the VHS player, she pressed fast forward. She paused once the opening credits were done and the Summer 1903 title card was displayed.
“I’ll watch summer in the summer!”
She hit fast forward again and watched as the Smith family went about their summer antics. She missed the Autumn 1903 title card and had to rewind a little and then play.
Lindsay showed her crooked teeth again as the movie zoomed in on the Smith family’s home under sinister music. She looked at Heidi’s picture.
“I hope you’re watching it too.”
Scraping crept up from inside the closet again. She grabbed her plastic baseball bat and set her flashlight on the bed so that it was pointing at the closet. She jumped up and stood on her bed. The crackling fire and cackling children from the movie didn’t help to sooth the tension. Sheepish puppy eyes peaked out from her closet. She loosened but did not step off the bed or set the bat down.
“Are you friendly?”
The dog cautiously stepped out into the light. It looked like a dog, but its hair was gone and its paws were bony. Her arm stiffened and she raised the bat. The dog cowered down and curled up. Its eyes were gentle.
“Aww… I’m sorry.”
She set the bat down. The creature’s stench reached her from across the room. Her feet came down slowly off the bed. The flashlight bobbed up and down as she stepped across the mattress. Her shaky hands flicked on a small lamp next to the TV.
“I’m Lindsay. Do you have a name?”
She tilted her head and couldn’t see a collar or tag around its neck. She could, however, see rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth in its maw.
“That’s a good boy…”
Each of her steps pressed into the carpet and into the creaky second-floor boards. As she approached the beast, it hunched down and growled. She backed away and steadied her shaking arm.
“How about I get you a snack?”
The beast perked up and Lindsay smiled. “You know this word don’t you?”
It was much easier to sneak past her parents as they dozed off by the TV. They’d moved on to Andy Griffith Show reruns. A true sign of desperation.
“I should tell them…” She rolled her eyes at her parents. “Naw.”
She opened the fridge and rifled through the meat drawer for some lunch meat. A limp carrot lay drooping on the shelf above.
“Do dogs like carrots?”
She threw the meat and the carrot into a plastic grocery bag and stealthed her way back upstairs.
The beast’s little nostrils flared and sniffed. She dumped her cookies on the table and laid the plate in front of the beast. It watched her intently as she laid a few sandwich meat slices on the plate. Its legs trembled as it backed into the closet with a whimper.
She put the meat back in the bag and laid the rotting carrot on the plate. The beast looked at her and then at the carrot. Its bony little paws scraped the metal slide door rail on the floor as it inched closer. Its nose twitched by the carrot before it snatched it up, tossed it high into the air, and shredded the carrot on the way down its maw. Startled, Lindsay stumbled back and fell over.
The beast licked its lips with a pale tongue and ran over to her side. It scratched at her side and whimpered.
“I’m okay… Carrot. I don’t know what else to call you.”
Carrot’s eyes lit up and it ran around the room until it noticed the bag with meats on the floor. It growled and snarled at the bag.
“You’re vegetarian. I get it.”
Carrot finished off the basket of vegetables Lindsay had brought from the kitchen. He rolled over and lay on his side with his pale tongue sticking out.
She wanted to touch him so badly, but his lack of hair, and no lack of cuts, and sores made it difficult to work up the courage. Instead, she sat next to him and leaned on him a little with her side. His stench made her sneeze and wiggle her nose.
Next, the stench of burning hair hit her nose. “Bleh!” She looked down and watched as the hair grew and smoked out of his body.
“What are you?”
A tingling sensation rippled through her body as Carrot was brought back to his former glory. He stuck out his red tongue and dashed toward the mirror. He strutted and admired his short black hair and funny little nose. His ears were still bony.
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She could tell that he was a Doberman Pinscher now. She also sensed that she had changed in some imperceptible way.
“You’re so cute!” she said.
She picked him up and squeezed him until he whined. “Sorry. You’re just so cute!”
He moved back to the mirror to admire himself again and she noticed that she had several large pimples on her face. “Eww…” Then there was something at the window in the reflection.
“Those stupid birds always sit outside my window!”
Carrot turned and growled.
The curtains snapped open as she tried to scare the birds away, but there were no birds. The eyeless cavities, toothless mouth, remorseless smile stared back at her. The monstrous woman was perched like a bird outside her window. The voice was muffled through the thin window, but she could hear it.
“That pup will murder you, dear,” the monstrous woman said.
The words stuck in Lindsay’s throat. “Mom,” she said softly. “Dad…” She grabbed her throat.
The fleshy, rotted nose of the monster wriggled methodically. “No need to talk to them.”
“Help!” Lindsay screamed. But nothing came out.
“Gayegogi is the only one who can save you,” Gayegogi said.
Once the bedroom window was open, the chill of night filled her room. Gayegogi turned to the side and tried to squeeze her large frame through Lindsay’s small window. “If you give Cruncher back, I won’t eat your parents,” she said.
Carrot, A.K.A. Cruncher, jumped up and licked Lindsay’s nose. She wiggled her nose and wiped it off. As she thought about the name Gayegogi, a fiery sensation rattled her bones.
“Liar. Your name means liar in Cherokee,” Lindsay said. Lindsay screamed out in pain and grabbed her legs while Carrot had his pointy ears back.
“Clever Cruncher. You’ll kill her like that,” Gayegogi said.
Carrot scratched at the door until Lindsay picked him up and opened it. She slammed the door behind them just as Gayegogi finished crawling through the window with a plop.
“Dad! Mom! Help!”
The only noise was her own footsteps on the stairs. Her feet flew down five steps at a time. The spotty snow of the TV was the only thing illuminating the blank faces of her parents. She shook James. “Daddy! Wake up!” He slumped over in his chair.
She put her hand on his wrist.
“I like meat raw and hot,” Gayegogi said. “I can’t kill them until Cruncher is available to do my crunching.”
She opened her filthy, toothless mouth and Lindsay dry heaved. After she regained her composure, she clenched her teeth and back away out of the TV room. “Why didn’t you do the same thing to me?”
“His new bond protected you, but it’s fading,” Gayegogi said. She smiled and looked at the height measurements on the wall behind her. “Looks like you’ll be taller than Heidi after all.
The most recent measurement was August of this year and Lindsay was easily three inches taller right now. Lindsay took a quick glance as not to give Gayegogi a chance to strike.
“Give me Cruncher and I will let you live,” Gayegogi said.
“His name is Carrot!”
“Strange how the dog keeps licking your nose,” Gayegogi said. Without a sound, she whisked her way out through the back door. Lindsay set Carrot on the floor and looked through the back window. Gayegogi hopped over the back fence into someone else’s yard.
Lindsay locked the door knowing it wouldn’t stop her if she came back.
“Lindsay?” Heather said.
“Mom!”
The house suddenly felt much warmer. James and Heather stirred, creaking and moaning like they’d woken from a long nap. Lindsay hugged her mother and father in rapid succession. Heather put a hand on her head. “When did you grow?”
James smiled. “Growth spurt. Heidi had them plenty when she was her age.”
Lindsay took a deep breath. “There was a horrible monster in the house while you were sleeping!”
Her parents shared a knowing glance. James put his hand on her shoulder. “Did Heidi leave you one of those scary movies?”
“We left it alone because you were sad, but you’re obviously not old enough to handle it,” Heather said.
Carrot felt left out and yapped.
Everyone looked at Carrot. James’ mouth was gaping as he pointed at the dog. Heather moved past them into the kitchen. “I’ll… make us some sandwiches.”
“You brought a stray dog into the house?” James yelled.
Lindsay picked up Carrot and held him tight. “I found him in my closet!”
“A dog somehow got upstairs and into your closet without any—“ James started. He stopped and looked past her. “Honey, are you alright?”
Lindsay could feel her mom close behind. She could smell the steel of the knife. Her mother stood over her with a long kitchen knife as she turned around. Carrot shook between her legs.
The knife fell to the ground just as James Grabbed Heather’s arm, but he convulsed, hunched over to pick up the knife. Heather screamed and shook, but she did nothing as James slashed his own neck open.
“James!” Heather knelt and put her hand on his neck wound. She let go and picked up the knife.
“Mom! Stop it!”
Carrot wouldn’t stop his yapping and jumping. He finally landed another lick on Lindsay’s nose.
“I get it, Carrot. Gayegogi wiggled her nose whenever she… did whatever she does.”
He stared up at her as her mom moved in with the knife. She nodded at Carrot and wiggled her nose. The knife flew out of Heather’s hand and stuck on the wall. Lindsay grew another inch and other womanly parts of her grew as well. Her hair darkened, and her clothes started ripping. She had a hard time breathing, but she had to help her dad. There was a new shine to Carrot’s fine coat.
Carrot whimpered and licked James’ hand. Lindsay ran over and put her hand on his neck. She wiggled her nose and the bleeding stopped. James choked a few times but started breathing normally.
Lindsay grew yet another inch and developed into a fully grown woman. She stopped breathing as her clothes compressed against her body. She moved her nose and the knife was in her hand. She cut off her clothes and breathed a sigh of relief. She looked down at her fully grown body in pure horror and excitement. But then she saw that Heather had found a new knife.
Once James had stood back up, he glared at Lindsay.
“Who are you?” James yelled.
“It’s me, Lindsay!” she screamed. She covered herself and pointed to Heather. “She can only control one of you at a time so help me!”
James looked around frantically and started to shake.
“Forget it,” Lindsay screamed.
Lindsay closed her eyes and wiggled her nose for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, she had on fresh clothes that fit her, but her parents had vanished. “I think they’ll be safe there…”
She was wearing the shiny black coat and pants that Trinity wore in The Matrix. She zipped up the shirt a little higher to make it less revealing and took off the sunglasses.
Her hair reached down to her waist and small wrinkles formed on her forehead and cheeks. One lonely streak of gray hair ran down the front.
She looked down at Carrot, all full of life and with a younger, sturdy frame.
“I told you this pup would kill you,” Gayegogi said.
Lindsay wondered if she had ever truly left the kitchen. She ran up the stairs, but Gayegogi was just behind them.
She could hear claws scraping the walls up to the stairs. “She’s getting desperate…”
“If you summon me into the void like your parents, you won’t have enough life left to bring them back,” Gayegogi said.
Lindsay ran into her room with Carrot and slammed the door shut and locked it. As she wriggled her nose, streams of gray hair unfurled. Her eyes twitched as an icy-hot sensation rolled over her body. Her mind was filled with lore.
“The only way to kill a Wendigo is with silver,” Lindsay said.
Carrot looked at her and scratched her leg nervously. She knew he was telling her to stop. Her bedroom door crashed open as Gayegogi smashed her way into her room.
“You say I don’t have enough life to bring my parents back,” Lindsay said. She wiggled her nose and gripped her hands around the hilt of a silver sword that matched her hair. “That’s why you haven’t just sent me somewhere,” Lindsay said.
“Smart girl. I still have claws,” Gayegogi said.
The night breeze rattled Lindsay’s homework papers around her room. Her math assignment fluttered and landed between them. She closed her eyes and wiggled her nose.
“I Know Kung Fu,” Lindsay said. She smiled at her dumb joke and lunged at Gayegogi. The blade locked between the spikes of Gayegogi’s left claw as Lindsay pushed forward. “I read that on the rental store flier.”
Gayegogi used her free claw to swing at Lindsay, but Carrot caught it and latched onto her arm. With a quick swipe, Lindsay unlocked the blade from her claw and cut the whole hand clean off. Carrot dropped down and Lindsay did the same to the other hand. Orange pus leaked out of Gayegogi’s arms.
“So you’re taking over for me?” Gayegogi said.
“Shut up,” Lindsay said. She stabbed the blade next to Gayegogi’s heart and then carved a circle around it. After pulling the flesh core from Gayegogi’s chest, the filth and gore spilled on her carpet. The rest of her massive body fell to the floor.
The heart had fallen on her math assignment. Her old, tired face tried not to cry as she thought about her classes, classmates, and her teachers.
She picked up the heart and set it in front of Carrot, who whimpered and backed away. After hesitating, Lindsay picked it up again. “If I eat her heart, she can never come back.”
Carrot jumped up and bit Lindsay’s arm, but she didn’t let go of the heart.
“Carrot, she will keep eating people if I don’t end this now!”
She sunk her teeth into Gayegogi’s heart and chewed and bit it until it was all gone.
The rest of Gayegogi’s body melted into nothing and disappeared forever.
Lindsay sat on her chair and pressed play on the Meet Me in St. Louis VHS tape. She smiled as she watched Tootie joke about blood, violence, and Halloween. Carrot sat on the floor next to her with his tiny, newborn paws.
Lindsay’s nose was tired from all the wiggling, but she did it one more time. She could hear James and Heather fighting downstairs. Her hair was completely gray and she had lost a few teeth. Rapid footsteps came up from the stairwell and Lindsay’s eyebrows raised.
Heidi was panting and heaving on the other side of the wall. “I couldn’t spend Halloween without you!” She ran into Lindsay’s room and stared at her ancient, younger sister, horror in her eyes.
Lindsay smiled.
“I’m hungry.”