The Trapping

Rand Alderman stood at a time-weathered, bent and abused iron gate. Unkempt bushes and trees clawed their way over the walkway, casting long shadows across broken paving stones. In the distance, was a home, or what looked like a home, forgotten and left to rot in the dark of the woods. The setting sun illuminated the tops of the trees ruddy red and rich orange.

Rand pushed his fingers through his thick, black hair something he did when he was nervous. He couldn’t remember what he was doing or how he arrived at the gate. Nothing looked familiar.

A ‘no trespassing’ sign caught his eye, but so did the half dozen bullet holes, rust ringing the dime-sized punctures.

Behind Rand were three other teens, strangers. Maybe freshmen like Rand, maybe not. The girl with dirty-blond hair reached out and took Rand’s hand. He jumped at the cold of her touch. She was wearing a Super Woman costume—bright even in the early evening. He could tell she was equally confused, eyes finding Rand and staring.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and let go of Rand’s hand.

“It’s okay,” he croaked, trying to sound less scared than he was.

The girl next to her wore a bright, frilly fairy costume, her skirt so short Rand blushed as he glanced at her long, slender legs. He’d never seen a girl wear such a scant outfit.

The guy next to her adjusted his fake chest muscles and his horned Viking hat. “Dudes, how the hell did we get here?” the guy asked.

The fairy girl tossed her wand and turned away from the gate and the house and the row of thick trees. She pulled her candy bag to her chest and took a few purposeful steps. “I’m outta here,” she hollered only to stop a dozen feet away.

There was no path leading away only thick dark woods. A shrieking bird cried out. The fairy girl spun around and marched back to the gate. “Who’s going with me? I can’t go off into the woods by myself.”

The Viking laughed. “Some sort of joke. That’s all. Let’s do this. Play along. It’s Halloween after all.”

“You go to Edgewood High?” Rand asked Super Woman in a low voice, not sure why he was whispering or so scared.

Super Woman shook her head. “No. I go to Silver Oak.”

“Never heard of either,” Viking blurted. “The only school ‘round here is Seaside.” He huffed. “I don’t know who y’all are but I’m here to have fun. So let’s have fun.” He flipped the latch on the gate.

“I need to get outta here. Find my date and get back to my group. We were all trick or treating, like, just minutes ago,” Fairy said. “I…think that’s what I was doing.”

Viking shoved open the gate. The gate squeaked loudly, its bottom metal bar scraping on a paving stone. “Someone’s messin’ with us. It’s just a prank. Let’s knock on the door an’ see what’s up.” He swung his plastic battle axe playfully.

“Hold up. You sure you wanna go up to that house?” Rand asked. “Maybe we should just find the path back to the road and go to our groups.” Rand’s lips went dry. His memory was incomplete, too. I was trick or treating, with… with my friends. Right? Sweat saturated his shirt–he was wearing a wizard cloak and holding a candy bag.

“Dude, do you know who I am? Mason Richfield? I’m Seaside’s best quarterback in fifty years. You have to be livin’ under a rock not to hear of me.” Mason seemed to search Rand for recognition and when it didn’t come he shrugged and continued toward the home.

Rand turned to the two girls. “I’m Rand and I have no idea what is going on.”

Fairy girl pulled out her cell. “Great. My battery is dead.”

Super Woman took out her phone and turned it on. “I’m calling my mother. She’ll come and pick us up and take you guys wherever you need to be.” She held up her phone, glaring at the screen. “No service. This is total crap. We’re not in the middle of nowhere. My house is only two blocks away. I should have at least one bar.” She walked around, careful to stay on the path.

Mason nor Rand’s cell phones worked and it took minutes of testing locations along the path to prove it, everyone buzzing around like bees, with phones in the air.

Fairy Girl sighed. “We’ll, I think Mason is right. This is a trick. Let’s just go to the house, play their game and get outa here. I’m Camilla, by the way,” Camilla said.

Super Woman looked at Rand. She looked familiar, her eyes radiant even in the dark. “I’m Ivy. Let’s see where this goes.” She nudged Rand, gently. “You’re a brave wizard. You got this.” She winked.

Rand stepped gingerly down the walkway, avoiding the drooping, hooked branches that looked more like claws silhouetted by the waning light.

“I’ve trick-or-treated through my neighborhood all my life and never saw this path. It’s like it just came out of nowhere,” Rand said, still moving cautiously.

The wind stirred, tugging the weakest of the fall leaves off their branches and carrying them away.

“I don’t think anyone lives here, dudes,” Mason said, pausing at the porch steps. “Just wait for someone to pop outta the shadows with a camera.”

Rand followed the group, like he was tied to them.

To the right of the old home’s front steps was a clearing and five grave stones, old and weathered.  

Rand meandered off the path and headed to the graves. “Look at this. A cemetery. How have I’ve never heard of this place?”

“You never heard of a lot of things around here if you don’t know about Seaside. We’re state champs,” Mason snipped.

“At the end of my street there was a path that went to an old house, but a fancy one. Million dollar one. This is crappy,” Ivy whispered, looking around nervously. “Maybe you should get off the hollowed ground. Probably not the best idea to disturb the dead. Not on Halloween.”

“This is an old church, guys.” Camilla pointed to the top of the steeple. “Can’t see it from the gate, but that’s a cross up there.”

“Good,” Mason said, continuing up the steps. “If this is a holy place, nothin’ to worry about. Anyone home?” He yelled.

Rand didn’t make it to the grave stones. Motion caught his eye in the nearby tree line beyond the clearing. Ivy grabbed his cloak and pulled him back.

A dark shape obscured the woods looking liquid and thick like a vertical column of oil.

“What is that?” Ivy asked.

“Don’t know. Part of the trick?” Rand looked beyond the gate they’d come through. “That’s why we can’t passed the woods. Something is blocking it.” He pointed to the column of dark liquid. “That is blocking the city lights.” He should have been able to see the distant porch and street lights of the neighborhood, the meandering characters, the goofy energy of kids young and old gathering candy in leu of fabled tricks. He could not see any of that, only the dark wall of nothing. “I don’t know but I…think we’re surrounded.” He didn’t want to say it out loud but it appeared to be moving.

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“I want to leave. Trick or not.” Rand took Ivy’s hand and ran up the steps, taking two at a time. Mason and Camilla were already at the door.

“Don’t!” Rand yelped. “I’ve a bad feeling. We gotta go! There’s too much weird crap goin’ on.”

“Chill. Just play along or you’ll look stupid on Friendbook.” Mason pressed the doorbell and held the button down. A chime echoed throughout the old church, playing a ditty last appreciated in the eighteen-hundreds.

"How did the bell work? The electricity is off.” Ivy mumbled.

Dust rained down from the top of the door as it popped open.

“Trick or treat,” Mason blurted out. He and Camilla held up their bags of candy in preparation but were disappointed. No one answered the door.

“Don’t you think it’s weird we don’t know each other?” blurted Rand. “Where are our own friends?”

Ivy looked at Rand who was still holding her hand. “I know you. I’m not sure how but…you are my f… friend,” she stuttered, tightening her grip.

Mason kicked the door open wider. “Sup? We get the joke, y’all. This is too sus to be real.”

“Totally sus,” Camilla said. “I need a phone.”

Rand looked back at the yard. The wall of liquid black was moving closer, slowly swallowing up the trees. The sun was down all the way, the sky darkening quickly. 

Rand pushed Camilla and Mason inside, pulling Ivy behind.

“Dude? What’re you doing?” Mason hissed. “Impulsive much?”

“Get in. Shut the door.” Rand waited for Ivy to rush inside and Mason to grab his axe before slamming the door shut.

“Hello?” Camilla blurted, facing the dark foyer. “Sorry we busted inside.” She glared at Rand. “Someone shoved us in, rudely.”

The house was darker than outside, the fading light now blocked by shredded, thin and decaying curtains.

“Okay, we’re inside creep-manor. Now what? No one here to give us candy.” Mason pulled out a small chocolate bar and ate it. “No one jumping out at us yet. Let’s explore?” No one responded to him. “What is the big prob?” Mason said, mouth full.

Rand walked to the window facing the walkway and parted the blinds. He stared a moment. “Uh, guys, look at this.”

Mason strolled to the opposite side of the window and whipped open the curtain. He stopped chewing. “Dudes. What is that?”

The wall of darkness overtook the gate, slowly creeping its way toward the house.

“Don’t know but it’s the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Rand mumbled.

“You guys are just trying to scare me.” Camilla walked to the window and looked over Rand’s shoulder. She dropped her bag, gasping.

Ivy put her hand on Rand’s shoulder. “Let’s go out back. Maybe we can get around it. Whatever it is. We cut through the woods turn back and find our street.”

Rand nodded. “Good idea. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Camilla reached down to grab her candy. “Who took my bag?” She reached around in the shadows but gave up. “Ivy? Shine your light on the floor please.”

Ivy took her phone out and flicked on the flashlight.

Camilla’s bag was leaning up against the wall, covered in dust. “My candy.” The pumpkin artwork was faded, ink cracking. “I just dropped it a sec ago.”

Spider webs spread from the wall to the bag, decorated by a  dozen or more spider-eaten moth carcasses. Rand took his own phone from his pocket and clicked on the light. He knelt by the bag, carefully opened it, dust falling from the plastic, and took out a piece of candy. The wrapper was stiff and faded. He opened it. The chocolate had completely gone white and was cracked, looking a hundred years old.

“I wanna get outta here, now. This place is tripping me out.” Rand headed through the foyer to the main room, this new friends behind him. A rat sprinted across the floor, a dead mouse in its mouth.

Ivy yelped. “Oh, gross!”

Three flashlights shone around quickly like concert lights. The room used to be a chapel but hadn’t been used in a long time. Instead, the space had been converted to a living room. Rand’s swinging flashlight illuminated a motionless chandelier crowning a round table where only memories of diners remained. Massive webs were spun across a faded couch with a hand-carved head bar and arm rests, crooked paintings and an old tube TV. The far end of the room had a few steps leading to a stage now occupied by a pair of faded plush chairs and a tall stained glass window. To the left of the stage was a door to a back room. 

Rand hustled passed the furniture to the door next to the stage. He kicked off cobwebs, encrusting the handle and burst through. Beyond was a small hallway, leading to a back door. The curtains had long rotted off, but the window was covered by soapy white smears. Rand fiddled with the lock and handle until the door opened.

He froze. The darkness was there, too, just beyond the trees, eating up the starlit sky.

“UH!” Ivy spat, grabbing Rand’s shirt and pulling him close. “What is that?”

“More crap?” Mason peeked out the doorway. “Lame!”

“What is it? Is it moving? Is it alive?” Camilla spat.

“It’s liquid,” Ivy said.

“A stupid illusion, y’all,” Mason insisted.

Rand closed the door. “Whatever it is, it’s getting closer to the house. How is this possible? Is this some kind of joke?”

“If so, it’s not a very funny one,” Ivy snapped, fuming with frustration and fear.

Across from the back door was a narrow hall and stairs. Leaning on the third step was Mason’s fake axe. Rand looked at Mason, surprised the axe was no longer in his hands.

“No way.” Rand knelt by the axe.

“Didn’t you set that thing down, like, thirty seconds ago?” Ivy gasped. “Didn’t you? You had to have. Just now?”

“I didn’t set anything down. I was just holdin’ it.”

Spider webs incrusted the plastic blade, pits eaten out of the handle, exposing the hollow inside.

“Same thing happened with my candy. This isn’t a trick. Can’t be. Something crazy is happening to us. I’m getting out of here!” Camilla rushed off, sobbing, back through the old chapel.

“I’ll get her,” Ivy said and followed.

Mason kicked aside the plastic axe and stepped up the stairs. “This lead to the top of the steeple?”

“Probably.” Rand wasn’t sure if he should follow Mason or go after the girls.

“I’m going to the top to look out. See beyond whatever that black crap is. Maybe see how we can get through.”

“Okay. I’ll go get the girls. We should stick together.” Rand rushed off, leaving Mason to tromp up the creaky steps by himself.

Rand moved quickly through the large room and pushed open the foyer double doors.

Ivy and Camilla were on their knees holding each other, staring out the open front door.

Rand rushed up to them. “Hey! Girls. Can we stick together? I think—” Rand’s cell phone light fell on Ivy and Camilla. He about choked as he stepped nearer to their motionless figures.

Ivy and Camilla were dead, skin dried and wrapped around their bones like mummies, cobwebs strung from head to floor and covering their upturned hands. Camilla’s mouth was open in a silent scream.

“No,” Rand muttered, quivering, ready to burst into tears. He touched Ivy’s shoulder, needing proof of what his eyes perceived. A massive spider scuttled out from her mouth, reared up its hands and spat venom that nearly hit Rand’s eye.

He stumbled back, scrambling for balance. The front door creaked in the wind but it was obvious thick webs covered the opening.

The spider leapt off Camilla’s face and sped toward Rand. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward the old chapel room. Huffing great lungfuls of air, he smashed through the double doors and dashed to the back door. Ticking sounds were all around him, thousands of shapes in the dark, moving toward him.

“Mason! Spiders everywhere!” Rand hit the stairwell and charged up the steps, two at a time.

At the top was a long hallway. Doors on either side and more steps at the end. “Mason? Where the hell are you?” The doors didn’t seem used so, without hesitation, Rand sped to the steps and jumped up those as well. He didn’t get very far before the stairwell bent over like a liquid dream. His stomach lurched. The walls darkened as his cell phone dropped from his hands. He fell to his knees, catching himself on the bending, twisting steps. His vision darkened further.

A small open window let the night air in. Though almost ready to vomit, Rand climbed up the bent wall, seemingly defying gravity. He pulled himself out, barely able to fit, scraping his side on the old metal sill. He gripped the roof but couldn’t hold on. He fell and rolled, hitting the edge of the roof, tumbling off the edge. His body slammed into the damp grass, knocking the air out of him. He looked at the house, vision blurry. The tower wasn’t bent in any way but stood proud and straight, silhouetted by the stars. .

He slowed his breathing and slowly got to his feet. “Mason!” He croaked, looking around. The black, liquid wall was fast approaching, so close, it was nearly at the edge of the cemetery clearing.

Rand shook, dizzy with fear, holding bruised ribs, eyes wide and searching the dark for any clue as to where to escape to.

The sky to the east was an intense, rich blue, the stars meager blips gone, overwhelmed by the bright moon that rose over the tips of the tall trees.

“Come on! What is going on?” screamed Rand. He turned toward the house, but the dark wall moved through it, submerging it in its nothingness. Rand stumbled back. He had nowhere to run. He was alone.

The dark wall of ink shrank around him. Rand ran in the only available direction. At the edge of the cemetery he tripped and fell.

Face to face now with the large headstone, Rand got to his knees. His could barely read the inscription but it was clear. Blood froze in his veins. He wiped dust from the lettering. His name was engraved on the stone and could not be mistaken for another. The other headstones had the names of Ivy, Camilla, Mason. But five stones stood in the yard. The fifth empty of any name.

Rand could barely remember another new friend. But the memory faded as fast as it had come. Had they escaped? Weakness overcame Rand and he fell to the cold earth. His breath pushed a fallen leaf around, blew dust from his lips. He closed his eyes as the darkness collapsed around him.

Rand Alderman stood at the property boundary of a large home at the end of a winding street, staring past a time-weathered gate down a long walkway. “Hey, you guys wanna go check out the creepy house?” He said and turned.

Mason cheered and Ivy and Camilla squealed. “OOOOH, let’s do it.”

The four pushed through the creaky iron gate and let it clank shut behind them.

Rand turned around “Was there someone else with us a moment ago?”

“Naw,” Mason blurted out, already way ahead of everyone else. “Come on, y’all. This is awesome.”