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A BOBBY STORY: A BOBBY HALLOWEEN It was that time of year again, Halloween, when kids thought of ghosts, ghouls and most of all, CANDY! Bobby was no different than any other nine year old boy in that respect, and was really looking forward to this years bag full of goodies. At the same time Bobby had been unsure of what he'd wanted to go as, and had pondered and waited and procrastinated for so long that when the day before Halloween came and he decided to go as Robin from Batman and Robin, not a single Robin costume could be found. In fact, no good costumes at all! Rather than be disappointed, Bobby simply made his own. He took a red t-shirt and some magic markers, and printed on Robin's traditional "R" and the little snaps on the front. A towel held with a safety pin became his cape, and a pair of green short shorts like he always wore formed the briefs; he wore sheer, nude tights as well, and a little food coloring dyed a pair of old white sneakers green. A plastic dollar Lone Ranger mask and a wide belt completed the outfit, and Bobby was ready just in time. Bobby lived in a rural area, and in years past it had been up to his mother or sister Merry to drive him, his sister Bonnie, and his friends Jody and Terry around trick-or-treating. This year though, that didn't work out. Merry had to work, his mother's car was in the shop, Jodi was sick, and Terry, who was scared of everything, was too scared to go out this year. Lastly Bonnie, who was eleven, had decided she was "too old" for trick or treating and was going to a friend's Halloween party. Again, Bobby did not let this get him down! He would ride his bike to the various houses. Bobby in the last couple of years had been riding almost everywhere, sometimes miles from home, much to his mother's chagrin. He promised, of course, only to go to houses whose lights were on, and would welcome Halloweeners, and would stay to the side of the road so he didn't get run over. It was a full moon out too, so that would help. And so, with a last reminder from his mother to be careful and not eat any candy before she'd inspected it, he was off, slinging his empty bag over one handlebar and imagining it being quite fat with sweet loot when he got home. He hit local homes first, people he knew like Jody's house and Terry's house (Terry came out of his room long enough to admire Bobby's costume), then moved further out. Going to the houses of people he didn't know was a little more difficult-his natural shyness made his voice soft and often hard to hear, and when they asked that awful question, "So what can you do?"-meaning sing, or dance, or tell jokes-he'd kind of mumble his way through. He was actually grateful for the houses where the door opend only enough to admit a handful of candy that was quickly dropped in his bag, then would disappear quickly inside. There were a few funny moments, like the old man who thought he was the "Lone Ranger in his skivvies", whatever skivvies were. Or the lady dressed as a witch whose "nose" fell into the candy bowl, then her hat came down over her eyes when she bent to retrieve the nose. And weird, like the house with the lady in black, with the pale white skin, and black cats watching him from every window, who'd warned him to beware of the ghosts in the old Maple Lawn Cemetery, the next road over. Bobby had no sooner pedaled away from her house than a car came along, and slowed down beside him. A man stuck his head out and shouted, "Hey, Robin, you're pretty cute!" Bobby blushed; he actually heard that a lot. He was small for his age, just three foot eight, very slender, and his light brown hair, cut just before school had started, already hung to his collar. A lot of men had told him he was cute, pretty, sexy...not many women, mostly men. Bobby tried to respond, but as often happened around men he didn't know, his voice largely failed him. He needn't have worried; the car picked up speed and was gone, and anything he said would have been lost anyway. The next few houses were dark, so Bobby moved onto the next road, and remembered the pale lady in black's warning. On this road was Maple Lawn Cemetery, a very big, old, spooky looking (even in the daylight) cemetery that Bobby had pedaled past many times-always as fast as he could. The place was overgrown and eerie, the trees dead, many stones overturned or cracked. There were even vultures in the trees! At night it looked even scarier, and Bobby's heart was pounding as she raced past it, and then past the two dark houses beyond. The next one had a porch light on, and Bobby pedaled up, got off, and knocked on the door. It opened and Bobby gasped a little: a very tall man stood there, dressed all in black. He had a spooky face, with deep set dark eyes, thick brows, and hard looking cheekbones. His hair was pulled back tightly behind his head. "T-T-Trick or t-reat", Bobby blurted out, holding up his bag. The man was so tall the the of Bobby's head didn't even reach is belt. "Trick or treat indeed, little one", the man said, in very deep, droning voice. "Come inside and tell me your name." Bobby did as he was told-though he very much didn't want to! "B-Bobby", he blurted out, remembering quickly the man wanted his name. The man shut the door behind him. "Bobby is it?" The man chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. "Do you believe in Satan, Bobby? In the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Damnation?" Bobby gulped. "Y-yes." "That's good. Because he wants to meet you...personally." And suddenly he pressed a sweet smelling cloth over Bobby's mouth, while holding Bobby's head with his other hand. Bobby dropped his bag of candy, which hit the floor and sent Tootsie Rolls and butterscotch hard candies everywhere, and pulled futilely at the man's arm. But the man was too strong and the chemical stronger, and Bobby soon passed out, his slender legs folding under him, only the man's strong hands holding him up... ------ Lucifer, as he called himself, scooped up his young captive and deposited him on the nearby couch, kicking aside pieces of candy and crunching others underfoot. He smiled to himself as he studied the boy, ran his hands over the shapely, nylon clad legs, and was pleased. The boy was young, he decided, no more than six, and a perfect sacrifice to Satan! At last, he would have his immortality, as the Dark Father had promised. Thirteen children must die for that, each on all Hallow's Eve. Twelve long years had gone by since Lucifer had received that promise, come to him in a dream. Each of those years a child had been sacrified by him on Halloween. They had to be children, virgin and pure; he'd begun to fear the thirteenth might not show, and then Bobby had been delivered unto him. It was the providence of the Dark One, he felt! He moved quickly to secure the boy, having ropes and a gag ready for the moment. But first he removed Bobby's mask and that silly cape, and snapped a Polaroid of his sacrifice-to-be, just as he had done with the other twelve. He liked to savor their faces, and in his own twisted way, thank them for the greatness they would bring him. Returning to the boy, he first stuffed a wadded up kerchief into his mouth, then rolled him onto his belly and used a blue kerchief to cleave gag the boy. He moved to the kid's hands next, laying them one over the other at the wrist and binding them with a length of white rope, then tied his ankles together, looping the rope first around each ankle, then around both before going around the rope itself between his ankles and knotting it. Next he bound the boy's legs, tying rope around them just above his knees, then sat him up and tied more rope around his upper arms. Tightly secured, he scooped up his young captive and hurriedly carried him outside and put him in the back seat of his car. Almost gleeful with excitement, he leapt into the driver's seat and backed out, heading down the road to the Maple Lawn Cemetery. The place that frightened Bobby so only served to excite Lucifer. He'd spent many days there, violating graves, stealing parts of skeletal bodies, bits of grave dirt, whatever his ritual called for. A low, flat crypt would serve as his altar, and had already been desecrated in the name of the Dark Father. It was to there Lucifer headed straight away, as Bobby stirred in his arms. He laid the boy out on the slab and hurried to light the ritual candles, all the while muttering incantantions to Satan. On the altar Bobby's eyes fluttered open but he remained in a stupor, unaware at first of what was going on...but those eyes widened when Lucifer stepped up to him and drew the wickedly curved athame (or witch's knife) he would use to take Bobby's life...and make his own immortal! ------ "Hear me Satan! This child's life, the life of this innocent, I offer to you!" The man's deep voice boomed in Bobby's ears, and the little boy whimpered, his eyes wide with fear, and struggled against the ropes that held him tightly. Bobby looked around frantically for help, but saw only tall grass and tombstones, and became even more afraid-he was in the Maple Lawn Cemetery! He looked up again at the man, who towered over him, talking in some language Bobby didn't understand, his eyes closed, the knife held high and gleaming from the light of the many candles lit around him. He mmphed and screamed fearfully into the gag, but Lucifer ignored him, and when Bobby looked around again, frantically, for help, it did not come... And then he saw the others. They just kind of stepped out of the darkness, pale, their eyes empty, glittering in the candlelight. Children, boys and girls, no older than him. Bobby saw one girl wore what looked like a witch costume; another boy wore a Spiderman costume without the mask. All of them, in fact, were dressed for Halloween, but it wasn't that Bobby noted so much as the fact that all of them had dark stains that began at their necks and spread out over the front of their costumes. And he noticed their pale skin, their glittering eyes... In his panic he counted them; a dozen, all approaching soundlessly from behind Lucifer, their arms extended. Bobby's fear deepened. It was all like a bad horror movie, all too much. Above him the man chanted louder; behind the man the children continued to approach, crowding in, hands reaching for him. Abruptly the man stopped chanting and looked down. And then he started screaming. Bobby screamed too, because suddenly the pale, costume clad children were yanking the man down, pulling him down to their height, and try as he might, he could not make them let go. They grinned at him with dull teeth and pale gums, making horrible, guttural sounds in their throats, and Bobby was unable to look away as the man kept screaming, as the child pulled him down, and now Bobby saw they were not just pulling him down, they were pulling him into the ground! And then it was too much, and Bobby fainted. ------ Some time later Bobby came to again, feeling very cold. All at once he remembered where he was, and his eyes opened. It took him a moment after that to realize he was no longer tied or gagged. The candles that illuminated the graveyard burned low, and the air had grown chill. He looked to where Lucifer and the children had been, but saw no one. Leaning over, he saw only the man's knife, lying on the earth. No sign of the man himself. Bobby didn't stick around, but jumped down and ran. He didn't think about his lost candy or his bike, or anything but getting home. He ran down the road, onto the next one, past the strange house with the pale lady in black-he saw the house was dark now-and onward. He saw a car coming and driven more by panic than reason, waved for help. It was a woman and her daughter, who'd been out trick-or-treating. The picked him up and took him home. Once there, his mother called the police. Though it was late, the police took Bobby with them to show them where Lucifer's house was, and the cemetery. It was enough. The officers were kind enough to get Bobby's bike and his candy and take him home, and told the little boy that things were okay now, and he shouldn't worry anymore. But Bobby was to remember than night for a long, long time... |