The house of Darkwood

            In the land of holidays and seasons there rests the autumn forest, where people live with eternal fall scenery and bountiful harvest, and then there is Hallows End, where everyone celebrates Halloween and the spooky side of a fall night. Between these two places is the Haunted forest, a forest were ghosts and spirits dwell in such numbers that it seems that every tree and plant has a mind of its own. The forest has a way of playing tricks on people and has even been known to trap people forever if they wander in alone. Once a year large groups of people travel to Hallows End to celebrate Halloween by traveling through the haunted forest and as long as everyone stays together it is a safe journey.

            For the most part everyone in the Autumn Forest, Hallows End and even the people of other lands, love Halloween. Everyone except Joseph Mcgree and his wife Sarah Mcgree. This seemingly normal couple live just outside the dark forest and always dreads Halloween. The Dark Forest is the most narrow point of the Haunted forest as the forest comes to a cliffside and ends short of the drop. Its just called the Dark Forest because its dark and spooky like the Haunted forest, but this section of trees isn’t haunted. All year the Dark Forest only look menacing, but is actually as safe as any normal forest, but on Halloween creatures and monsters branch out from the heart of the Haunted forest, making the Dark forest and all of the immediate surrounding areas dangerous for anyone who is out at night and not part of a large group armed with torches and weapons.

            It was the night before Halloween and the Mcgrees stayed in as usual. They didn’t enjoy Halloween in general but the added danger made things worse. Joseph was reading when he started to hear scratching at his door. It sounded like a small animal, maybe a lost dog or a stray cat. Normally one of the Mcgrees would answer the door, but this close to Halloween they wouldn’t open the door for anyone after sunset. The scratching continued and Joseph tried to ignore it. He had to keep telling himself it was probably a tricky spirit trying to lure them outside. Sarah looked up and Joseph just shook his head. The two went back to their reading. Then they heard a soft and sad meowing. “its not Halloween yet” Sarah said. She imagined a scared cat outside, alone and so close to the dark forest at night. “No, it could be anything” Joseph said. In honestly he was thinking the same thing as his wife, but they both needed to keep each other in line during dangerous times.

            The night dragged on. Sarah was walking to their bedroom and saw a cat jump up to their window. “it is a cat!” Sarah called to Joseph. Joseph got up from his chair and looked. There was a black cat in the window, it was small and sad looking. “Maybe we could open the window quickly” Joseph said hesitantly. Just as he said this the two heard footsteps outside. They looked at each other and went to the next window to see who was outside. They both looked and didn’t see anyone. Then the scratching at the door started again, but the cat was still at the first bedroom window. Sarah left the bedroom to check the front window. “If there are monsters outside, the cat could get eaten” Joseph said to Sarah, he spoke loudly so she could hear him from the bedroom. She didn’t respond.

            Joseph slowly walked to the window, as he did the cat stood up and rubbed against the glass. “I will just grab the cat quickly” Joseph muttered. He slowly opened the window and reached his hand out for the cat. By this time the cat had a strange twinkle in its eye. Joseph realized, if this was a real cat, why wasn’t it purring, or meowing or making any noise. Just as Joseph opened the window, Sarah walked in holding an orange and white cat. “Don’t be mad, but I double checked before I opened the door. There was a cat outside. Just not the one by the w…” Sarah said but stopped talking as she saw the window open and something horrible was standing in place of the black cat.

            Joseph had turned his head to see Sarah as she entered the room, he saw her terrified expression and his stomach sank. He turned back around and a grizzled, hair claw grabbed a hold of Joseph’s face and covered his mouth before he could scream. The darkness of night hid most of the creatures face so all Joseph could see was a black hair arm, rough skinned, clawed hand and two black beady eyes that reflected the light from the house. The creature pulled on Joseph and tried to drag him outside. Joseph’s mind raced as this beast was tugging on his head. Then suddenly there was a release and Joseph was thrown back into the house and almost landed on the orange cat as he fell backward.

            When Joseph looked up he saw his wife holding and axe, which was now covered in a dark green blood and the window was closed. A hairy monster arm sat still and rigid on the bedroom floor and the orange cat started to attack its fingers.

            “I’m glad we decided to keep an axe in every room” Sarah said. Joseph just nodded, his eyes still wide with fear. Sarah’s mind was racing and her palms were sweaty, but to Joseph she appeared perfectly calm. “You know I had a choice between you and Mary Sue down the street” Joseph said with a smile. Sarah started to laugh. “Yes and with Mary Sue you would have enjoyed her pleasant company up until a monster pulled your head off as she stood there and screamed” Sarah replied. The two laughed for a few minutes, which helped relieve some of the stress and fear.

            After a few minutes of chuckling and eventual silence, Sarah finally spoke up “So what do you want to do for Halloween?” She said with a sly grin. “Well we need to think of a name for this cat and nothing beats reading a good book and staying in” Joseph said. “as long as you keep an axe with you” Sarah added.