all hallows eve scene - edit

All Hallows was their favourite celebration, and as the oldest group amongst the youngsters it had fallen to John and his friends to organize the party. He, Tom and the other boys had spent all day carving Jack O’Lanterns and moving hay bales while the girls had been preparing food, and Jonas Pike’s cousin had promised to secretly source three bottles of Barb wine that he said lived up to the name this year.

The barn on Tom’s father’s farm was the chosen venue, after pledges were made to keep naked flames and hay bales a goodly distance apart, and lectures about improper behaviour, keeping masks on and strangers out had been endured. The parents would be gathering in the farmhouse nearby and would know immediately if things were getting out of hand.

Two hours into the party and masks were down. Tom and he had been conniving to get Anna Thomas and Gillian Hand to dance with them. Neither lad cared to dance but both cared very much about getting their arms around some pretty girls. And this seemed a certainty during the whirl of a dance. Tom couldn’t understand why the music gave them licence to do something that otherwise the girls denied them. It was one of those mysterious rules that girls invented and boys just couldn’t fathom. John didn’t much care why it was and swallowed another belt of Barb wine that, he found, was making his teeth ache.

His head felt light and he was a bit disorientated from the din of the music, the stamping feet and the flickering shadows from the ghoulish pumpkin heads placed about. Friends were shouting into each other’s faces just to be heard. He scanned the room and spotted a scrawny girl slipping in through the latch door behind him. It could be William Dunn’s younger sister but he couldn’t be sure in this light. Still, the watch was out on the roads so the chances she was a wandering stranger were thin. She’d probably just crept outside to be sick. He certainly wouldn’t make that mistake again this year. Tom appeared all at once beside him with Gillian in tow. He looked sweaty and she looked pleased with herself. If Tom had claimed a kiss from her John would be hot with envy. Tom had once kissed Susan Jenks too. Everyone had kissed Susan Jenks except for John, she had spurned him with a snort because he had whiskers on his top lip and she said that kissing him would be like kissing her Uncle. John had been immensely proud of those few dark hairs until they had bilked him out of his first kiss.

Anna was nearby now and she and Gillian were giggling behind their hands, he hoped it wasn’t about his whiskers. He put his hand to his top lip defensively. Tom dug him hard in the ribs and smirked at him. His ribs sang out in protest and he rubbed at them wondering if he had time to run outside and pee before he’d be expected to dance.

He was first aware of the commotion behind him, then off to his right. A tremor ran through the barn like an icy blast of wind. A few cries of warning went up and then a rush of panic followed, marked by the rustle and snap of masks and mufflers being pulled into place. It was a routine they’d learned to dread since they was old enough to understand anything at all. Drills in the schoolroom, an innocent cough in the market square, a traveler spotted in a field nearby, no one ever got used to the fearful panic. Everyone had shuffled a few paces away from their neighbour as if putting a body length of clear space around you was barrier enough. He heard a whimper, probably one of the younger children.

He glanced frantically around the barn to see dozens of pairs of eyes alive with fright and suspicion doing the same. Everyone was still standing, no one looked to be in distress.

A blink, two blinks passed and then he saw her half hidden by some bales, the latch door girl lying prone. He span around to warn Tom at the same moment Tom caught ahold of his arm with a grip that made him twist it away in pain and alarm. Tom’s face was warped in panic as he clawed at his mask, Anna too was flailing and Gillian was already down on all fours.

So fast, why was it happening so fast? He felt a wave of heat pass through him, a burning flush filled his head until he thought it would burst open. His skin prickled as rivers of sweat coursed down from his scalp and his mouth began to fill with too much drool to swallow. He choked on it. He wrenched off his muffler to let the saliva spill down his chin while he gasped for air. He sank to his knees and willed away the panic, he’d never draw breath if the panic filled his chest. Beyond the roaring of blood in his ears he heard chokes and cries of friends falling around him. Tom and Anna now lay writhing in front of him. He pissed his trousers. He was dimly aware that the barn doors were open and masked adults stood on the threshold, shouting and screaming but not daring to enter. Then his throat clamped shut and he sank into a hot and fearful darkness.