Hello, I am Renee, an ice skater and dancer by profession and a writer by passion. Since people don't trust me easily, whatever I say, I prefer writing my life adventures down. People often think that since am a writer I carry with myself the gift of wild imagination. Another thing is that...
I don't know if I should be feeling proud or guilty of mentioning this but I will disclose the fact anyway. I am the owner of this Gigantic Goenka Mansion, as a result of which, am residing in this surreal not less than a palace mansion since the last 5 years. I've been living alone in this house for 5 years. There's a secret about this place that no one knows but I. Every 31st day in the month of October, a secret door in the basement appears for 24 hours.
Being a kid back in those days, I recall, how I used to get busy with the Halloween preparations. Today also I become nostalgic every now and then when I recall my memories with Molly the Mole, my best friend. How my and Molly's waves of laughter and squeaky chuckles used to fill the entire atmosphere of the Mansion. While Dad, whenever, he used to find us too involved with each other over some activity, he would come quietly from behind and...
* * *
'Ouch,' we both cried out as I turned my head to look behind.
'It's Dad,' I whispered to Molly, he was still rubbing his head, trying to rub off the pain as Dad had bumped our heads with one another a bit hard than he usually does.
'You can share secrets with this oldy too,' Dad whispered into my ears in a funny groaning noise.
Molly and I chuckled at this.
Dad wanted to get the house decorated with goofy hidden scary surprises and get the walls of the Mansion knitted in his one of the favourite themes, neon coloured cobwebs, which, will be further enhanced with real as well as fake spiders hanging from them. Regarding buying scent candles to get the Halloween smell? He never had to worry about that as our basement always got this blend of tangy and foul sour smell to it on the very night of Halloween. The pungent smell always gets to the tip of my nose even as far off as from the Terrace. However, Dad always considered the pungent smell as a Halloween blessing.
While Dad got at his decoration work for tonight's party, I and Molly packed up our equipment and decided to go for a stroll outside.
It was quite shadowy and dark outside despite the presence of the sun which also hardly showed up from behind those dark grey clouds.
We had just started going down the 'Dark' lane, until, we spotted the witch's house at a distance and instead decided to take a U-turn from there.
The old woman living there wasn't a witch in the real sense of the term but there was something weird about her and spooky about her place. Whenever we have passed her house we have encountered something unpleasant just the next day at school. I was about to turn when I found Molly cringing at the very sight of the house with a hateful expression.
'Dude!,' I exclaimed and started laughing.
'What's wrong?' Molly asked rechecking his trouser zip.
'Don't give her such looks. You're gonna make her wrinkled cheeks blush,' I blurted out still laughing.
He gave me his most daring look. Of course, I couldn't blame him for reacting that way to a joke because usually, he's the one to be victimised the next day at school of the unpleasantries.
We turned and were just about to take our next step when two tongs of hands gripped at our collars. We somehow managed to wriggle out of that strong grip and turned behind.
What we saw next...
I stumbled a few steps back whereas, Molly was already on the floor on his lying on his back, all our wits shook out of horror.
After those few steps, I couldn't make any more movements.
We saw a tall creature with a hideous face bending upon us. Its yellow sticky hairs moving in snake rhythms. Its red glowing bulged out eyes hanging halfway down its pig-like cheeks from its big cracked open black sockets were way too intimidating enough to get consecutive heart attacks to any heart ailing patient. The mouth half opened in a snarling expression with pink and blackish liquid oozing out from its right end. The face had too many scars and the scars somehow seemed to be in some sort of motion with black little insects creeping up and down within the outline of the stitched scars as if keeping in mind some pattern of formation.
'Bloody me! What am I doing?' Screamed the inside of me. What else could I do? I can't run, as my legs have become limp out of fear. I am unable to scream either as the inside of my throat started to burn and dry up. And hence, all I was doing was minutely describing that distorted face in the best way possible.
As soon as the reality struck me I shifted my eyeballs from left to right, searching something or someone of some help. A fail! nothing or no one was there.
Wait a sec.
Did I just say no one?
'Molly!,' I cried out in despair trying to look for him.
He was already on a run.
I felt the Beasts warm breath at the back of my neck.
I gasped as soon as I turned around to see whatever, next I was to encounter.
The Beast slowly took hold of his spiky double chin and slowly started to move it across his neck, as if it was some break it and fix it property.
'Let me now reveal my ultimate self,' came the trenchant voice.
'Hell!... Mikes! Have you lost it or what?' I cried with a sense of relief.
Then came roars of laughter from all directions. I looked around me trying to figure out and recover myself from the shock. Mikes and all his friends showed up.
Mikes is my neighbour, a student in Senior Highschool. He and his Gang love to play pranks on their juniors.
Without waiting for another moment I got on my toes and ran as fast as I could. My warm with embarrassment cheeks brushing against the cold winter winds as I searched my gaze for Molly.
I stopped in front of a shop, panting heavily. It was a shop specialising Halloween goodies. I entered it without a second thought and found Molly digging at a box of hideous masks.
"You hardcore scaredy cat!,' I shouted across the room, loud and trenchant enough to sound mean and get Molly staring at me like a mouse pleading for mercy.
The next moment He came half running and half jumping to me.
'You are alive!,' Molly cried as he hugged me.
'Duh...What else were you expecting? As usual it was Mikes,' I said
He recovered with a straight face. We searched around the room to find something as enthralling as Mikes mask for tonight's 'Trick-O-Treats' callouts.
We bought our masks and Halloween party outfits. Along with it a few pumpkin lanterns to accompany our tonight's get up with some bright lights.
We came out of the shop and bid each other farewell for the afternoon.
I reached home to find it spookily decorated.
I searched for Dad in the entire house calling out to him. I thought of searching for him at our neighbour's house next. Then something occurred to me and I went to search for him in the basement instead.
I slowly stepped down the first floor steps which led to the basement while making sure not to get my head intertwined into the cobwebs set up.
It was almost evening, so it had become dark down there.
I switched on the lights but they didn't light up.
The sour smell had started to become stronger now as I approached the corridor of the basement.
I saw a light...
There was light coming from one of the rooms there.
I followed it.
As I slowly started to approach the lit up room, I got an unusual chill run up my spine. My eyes slowly tried to adjust to the pouring light.
* * *
'No!,' My inner me screamed out of disbelief.
It was a Museum but not a Museum like any other Museum you'd find.
It...It was a Museum of....of...heads...
Freaking human heads! that were hung and were being used like the pumpkin lanterns that I and Molly had bought this afternoon.
The heads emitted high voltages of yellow blinding light. They were void of any eyeballs and were replaced with beams of lights. The mouths also were opened as if they had galloped dozen dozens of light bulbs.
My heart throbbed heavily as it would burst into floods of blood anytime now.
* * *
Its been 5 years now since that incidence, and I never found Dad. When I had gone to inquire about him to my neighbours, crying out of fear, people thought I had gone mad. They thought that my wild imagination was at work again including Molly. They told that I had lost my Mom and Dad, both at the age of 3 in a fatal accident.
After that day, I never tried to talk to anyone about this, not even Molly.
The door appears every year on the evening of Halloween and new heads get added to The Museum of Heads each year. The heads being used as Jack-O-Lanterns.
I Guess, it was the Lord, Samhain (The Lord of Halloween).