"A Night to Remember" by Ashlee M

            It was the night of All Hallows Eve and everyone was getting ready in the room upstairs. I was downstairs talking to my parents, when I heard a loud thud from above. I ran upstairs to find Rebecca on the floor, Cassie nowhere to be found, and blood on the corner of the vanity. Not knowing what happened, I panicked and dropped to the floor to try and help. Suddenly, Rebecca sprang up and scared me half to death. Cassie walked out of the closet laughing because of how frightened I got during that moment. Little did I know, that was just the start of everything that was going to happen that night.

            Time passed and we all were finally ready. Rebecca, Cassie, and I dressed as the Powerpuff Girls this year, showing off our true personalities. I of course was Blossom, Cassie was Bubbles, and Rebecca was Buttercup. The three of us walked down the stairs to show my parents the finished look. We took pictures, said our goodbyes, and walked out the door. We were finally on our way to the Halloween Party of our dreams. This party happened every year, but it was always a “Seniors Exclusive”, meaning all of the underclassmen weren’t invited. Rebecca parked the car down the street, the three of us hopped out, and started walking towards the house. I say house, but this was no ordinary house. Not only was it massive, but there was something off about it. The outside was decorated with spiderwebs, skeletons, and crazy pop-outs that were there to give you a fright before you got to the door. The grass was covered in fog and you could feel a chill as you walked up. At the door, I could see a man in a scary clown mask. He looked as if he was a statue, but I figured he wasn’t. I walked up close to Rebecca and Cassie because I wasn’t too fond of what I had just saw. We got past the pop-ups and made our way to the entrance. I looked around for the man in the mask, but he was nowhere to be found. I was creeped out, but I decided to let it go and enjoy my time at the party. We opened the door and it was like walking into a spooky wonderland. There were decorations everywhere; they filled the room and made you feel like you entered a different atmosphere. The DJ was set up in the main room, but we knew there was more to see. We walked through the strobe lights, pushed aside the streamers, and entered the room full of snacks and drinks. We decided to stop and get some of the “Vampire’s Blood” drink, which we assumed to be fruit punch. I looked over my shoulder, and there he was again, the man in the clown mask. I looked back quickly, trying not to make eye contact. I grabbed my drink, turned around, and he was gone.

            Some time had passed and we had done so much already. I mingled and talked to a lot of different people from the school, we all explored the house, danced, and even entered the costume contest, which we were obviously going to win. But there was only one thing we didn’t go explore, the upstairs. For some reason, I didn’t want to go upstairs. It didn’t feel right. Something felt… different. I told Rebecca and Cassie, but they told me to stop being a wimp and that everything was fine. I didn’t want to “wuss out”, so I went up with them and began to look around. Nothing looked different, but there was some weird feeling that it gave me. Rebecca and Cassie began walking to the end of the hall, where there was a reddish colored door. I don’t know why it was there because all the other doors were white. I stopped for a second because I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and I saw the man in the clown mask again. I was frightened and walked closer to Rebecca and Cassie. This man was following us, I knew he was. I told them to look, but when they turned around, he was gone. We turned back towards the red colored door, and there he was. We all turned to run down the stairs, but when we turned around, there was nothing. No stairs, no people, no party, no way out.

            We were forced into the room, but we couldn’t see anything. The strobe lights and fog made it almost impossible to see our surroundings. The next thing we know, we’re all tied up, our arms behind our back and duct tape over our mouths. He sat us in a circle, so we all stared at each other in fright. The clown circled around us, tapping our heads as if he was playing a game. Was it duck, duck, goose? I didn’t know. All I could do is sit there in fear of what was going to happen next. He stopped above Rebecca, his finger on her golden blonde hair. He played with it and then started to drag her into the darkness. She screamed and we tried to save her but we couldn’t. A couple seconds later, the screeches went away and he walked back out. Behind him was a trail of dark, red blood. Cassie and I looked at each other with terror. Our friend was just killed and we knew we were next. He walked to Cassie next and whispered something in her ear. I couldn’t hear what he said but all she did was cry. He walked around her, then suddenly grabbed her leg and started dragging her into the darkness. I didn’t know what to do. My two best friends were just murdered and the clown was coming for me next. Who was he? Why was he doing this? I guess those were questions I would never get an answer to. He came back and I stared at him, terrified of what was about to happen. He crept towards me and it felt like he was walking in slow motion. My heart was pounding, tears were rolling down my face, and my palms were sweaty. He came up close to my face and slowly peeled off the duct tape that was over my mouth. He walked away and I screamed, “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” He ignored me and grabbed what looked like a pink chainsaw. He was walking back over and all I could do was sit there. His hand started inching towards his face. Was he going to show me who he was? He grabbed his mask and started to take it off. This was it; I was going to see who was doing these horrible things. The mask was almost off now and... “BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!”

            I woke up to the sound of my alarm for school. Was it really all a dream? I couldn’t fathom the fact that it was all just a fiction of my imagination. It felt so real. I sat up in my bed and looked around my room. Out the window, I could see the sun barely rising, so I decided to lay back down. I turned to face the wall and there laying in my bed was the same man from my dreams. He put his hand over my mouth before I could scream. I couldn’t move, I was in shock. He came closer to my ear and whispered to me, “You thought it was over?”