Pumpkin Spice, стр. 6
Being so late at night Evan tipped toed down the stairs. He couldn’t wake his parents, there was no alibi he could conjure up that would convince them to let him leave the house. But he needed to leave, the fate of the world depended on it. Maybe not the world, but the township definitely. He unlocked the front door and gently closed it behind him. Once he got past his front porch onto the suburban street, he took a sigh of relief.
As he walked down the street, he turned the flashlight on, a pair of large green ghostly eyes were staring back at him. Evan, not used to seeing eyes without a face, fell to the ground. He shut the flashlight off. You see, that diary was more than just a diary. More than just a book. It was more of an instruction manual. Not for a device, or piece of furniture. It was for defeating the evil of this world. Ghosts live amongst us, but for the most part they’re not our enemy. It’s the werewolves. The werewolves that hunt and feast on human flesh. And tonight, during the devil’s eye is the first of their three-day hunt for the year. As he learned in the book the devil’s eye, the gateway for the demons occurs once every three years. The first night of the devil’s eye is the beginning. The wolves have not yet taken their forms. But shinning a black light on them will reveal their true identity. By the time the moon is full on the third night they will take their form, and the feasting will begin.
Evan walked into a twenty-four-hour greasy spoon diner. The overnight waiter was a rotund fellow, his hair was black and frizzed, and is uniform was one size too small. As he was drying a coffee mug, he watched Evan enter and frantically looked around the diner. “Can I get ya something kid?” The waiter asked as he scratched his butt. Evan didn’t respond. “Kid, ain’t it past yer bedtime? Why don’t you go on home?” Evan continued to ignore the overweight employee as he scouted the diner’s patrons. None struck him as “Werewolf-like,” whatever that looked like. The fact was the only person to catch his eye was the waiter. Evan reached into his pocket and pulled out the black light. He walked up to the counter and turned the black light on right into the employee’s face. “Hey! What’re you doing, kid?” he angrily asked, his form remaining the same. Evan was still new to this and raced out of the diner.
He walked along the streets shining his light at unsuspecting night crawlers. As the night went on Evan grew more and more tired. His first night of the devil’s eye and he was coming up empty. Not only that, he was extremely tired and he didn’t know how long it would take him to walk home. So, he decided to cut his losses and call it a night.
That night Evan laid in his bed reading the diary. “The curse lives far beyond the sea, the curse occurs in years of three. The curse will not bend until the Luna’s life ends.” He was confused by the words in the book and closed it for the night.
The next day was the final day of school before Hallowe’en. The classrooms were decorated in playful horror. Fake blood and limbs hung from doorways. Jack-o-lanterns greeted every child as they entered their classroom. And of course, each child came dressed as their favourite, ghost, goblin or super hero. Evan arrived at school dressed as a mad scientist and even with all the chaotic frenzy of Hallowe’en surrounding him, he couldn’t help but continuously fall asleep at his desk. His best friend, and on this day a warlock, Colton flicked a piece of paper at his head. He woke up. “Dude, you’re sleeping. Teachers gonna get you in trouble.”
“Yeah, dingus.” His crush Allison, dressed as a vampire, laughed back. “Thanks.” Evan grabbed his notebook and pen then pretended to take notes. “What’re you so tired for anyway?” Allison asked, Evan didn’t reply. “C’mon man why are you so tired?” Evan remained silent, “Evan, man, what’s going on.” Colton continued to egg his friend on. “Are your parents divorcing?” Allison asked. Evan shot her a dirty look “What? No!” He did his best not to raise his voice. “Dude!” Colton grumbled. “If I tell you…I can’t tell you.” Evan wanted to tell his friends all about the diary and the werewolves, but he could not. “Tell us.” Allison said firmly and directly. “Fine,” Evan was only thirteen, he couldn’t resist! “I was up until three in the morning, OK!” Allison and Colton looked at each other in disbelief. “You’re a bad liar, Evan.” Allison said rolling her eyes. “Terrible” Colton added. “I’m not lying I was up until three. If you don’t believe me fine, but it’s the truth.” Allison once again looked at Colton, then back to Evan, “OK, sure. But, why?”
“Yeah, why?” Colton leaned in closer to Evan, Evan rolled his eyes at his friend. “I can’t tell you here. It’s not safe. Come over after school. I’ll tell you everything.”
And they did. The three of them, dressed in full Hallowe’en attire went to Evan’s after school. Evan’s mother asked if they would be staying for dinner, Evan answered “yes” for them. He closed his bedroom door behind him and slid a chair under the doorknob. He asked his friends to sit on the floor in front of his bed as he grabbed his diary.