Meet Carolyn Anne Webber; a plain, yet, intelligent woman of about 31 years of age, single, typical height and average weight; the sort that goes unnoticed like the inhaling and exhaling of a breath or the passing of the night as we slumber. Her life, her tiny universe, consists of a computer inside a small cubicle in a high rise building in Midtown Manhattan, where she telephones customers of past due credit card accounts. It is the 31st of October of the current year, and to some degree, except for Miss Webber, every employee of the Covenant Agency, is dressed to celebrate the Halloween occasion.“I’m sorry Miss Jefferson, but I can’t accept a minimum payment of five dollars, but if you can pay the balance of $4034.50 today, I can take a check over the phone.”Beatrice Washington, a coworker from an adjacent cubicle, rose from her chair and peered with dark eyes from behind the wall. A black hat, that of a witch, adorned her head, and her face, thin, long and slightly blemished, was decorated entirely with glitter of the color red.“Carolyn, Carolyn Anne,” she whispered, trying to get the woman’s attention.Miss Webber repositioned one side of the headphones slightly away from her ear.“Are you going with us to happy hour?” asked Beatrice, looking about nervously.“No, I can’t,” whispered Carolyn Anne. “I have grocery shopping to do.”“You’re going grocery shopping? Girl, it’s Halloween and Friday night! You know, you really need to get a life.”Carolyn Anne gave the lady a stern look; all the while, the customer could be heard yelling through her headset.“Yes, I understand Miss Jefferson,” acknowledged Carolyn Anne. “If I can put you on hold for a moment, I’ll check with my supervisor.” She pressed a blue button on the base of the phone to place the customer on hold.“Come on Carolyn Anne Anne, Bob from the mailroom will be there.”“Who?” Miss Webber asked, removing the headphones.“Bob!” said Beatrice, in a slightly raised tone. She looked about to see if anyone had taken notice. “You know—that guy that told me you were cute?”“Oh yeah, Bob…the bald guy that smells like he bathes in aftershave. Aqua Velva Bob—yeah thanks, but no thanks.”A young fellow of about twenty-eight years of age, wide eyed, and wearing clothing of a most noticeable shade, with UPS etched into his brown cap, went from cubicle to cubicle carrying a rather large plastic box with a bright red ribbon tied around it.“Carolyn Anne Webber? Are you Carolyn Anne? No—I have a deliver for Carolyn Anne Webber!”The hand of a beast rose from behind a grey wall and pointed toward the two women. “That way” said the man attached to it, without being seen.“Carolyn Anne Webber?” asked the approaching fellow.“Yes, that’s me.”“I have a delivery for you. Please sign here and here,” said the gentleman, handing the woman a flat electronic device.Beatrice held the box as Carolyn Anne carefully applied her signature to the display of apparatus.“Wow, I wonder what’s inside? Girl, have you met somebody you’re not telling me about?”Carolyn Anne handed the delivery man his device and thanked him. “No I haven’t, and I have no idea what this is or who sent it.”“Open it, let’s see if there’s a card inside.”“No, I don’t want to open it. I don’t want to give who ever sent it the wrong idea.”“What? Fine, then I’ll open it,” said Beatrice.She tugged away at the ribbon until Carolyn Anne interrupted her. “Ok, ok, give it to me, I’ll open it. Hand me your scissors.”She sat the box down on her chair, cut the ribbon and removed the lid.“Oh my god, it looks just like you,” said Beatrice, removing a rather large doll from the box. “It’s has the same outfit you’re wearing, and the same glasses too.”“Yeah, it’s cute, but kinda creepy isn’t it?”Carolyn Anne fumbled through the paper inside the box, looking for a card. “From an admirer,” she read.“It’s probably from Bob,” said Beatrice. “Someone told me he had some weird hobby. Maybe it’s playing with dolls.”Carolyn Anne laughed. “I still don’t think I should keep it. He might get the wrong idea.”“Well, don’t leave it here. Why don’t you take it home and bring it back with you on Monday.”“That’s a good idea. I better finish up this call, it’s almost five o’clock.”“Okay, I’m outta here. I’ll call you this weekend,” said Beatrice, as she departed.Automobiles and trucks of various shapes and sizes lined the route leading from the office building, and it made the commute to Carolyn Anne’s Battery Park City apartment unexpectedly lengthy. And when she had arrived to her destination, costumed clad children were busy going from house to house, greeting the owners with the words “trick-or treat’.Carolyn Anne, weary from the drive, found an unoccupied area to park her vehicle three city blocks away. She turned and stared, though the clear plastic cover of the box, at the doll, and decided to leave it sitting on the backseat of the car. She then collected several pieces of Tupperware, a briefcase, and hurriedly progressed toward her apartment building. When she had clambered up the stairs to the fourth floor, to her surprise, a young girl of about seven years of age stood at her door.“Just a minute honey,” said Carolyn Anne, quickening her pace. She leaned against the wooden frame of the door, balanced the briefcase and Tupperware on her knee, and removed a set of keys that hung on a leather ring from her mouth. A number of plastic containers fell to the stained carpet. The little girl stared down at them, and then turned her eyes up at Carolyn Anne.There was something familiar in the face of the little girl; so familiar in fact, it forced Carolyn Anne to delay, momentarily, her efforts to unlock the entrance.“Do you live around here?” she asked, interrupting her stare, and returning to her task.“Yes ma’am, close by.”A sound, that of a click-Clack, verified that the door was unlocked, and Carolyn Anne pushed it open with her foot. She kicked the Tupperware inside.“Wait right here,” she said, with a warm smile. “And I’ll get you some trick-or-treat candy for you.”She stumbled through the apartment, until she had reached the kitchen. There, she placed the briefcase on the marble counter.“I’m coming honey! I’m getting the candy right now!” she yelled.Carolyn Anne searched frantically through cabinets and drawers for the bags of Halloween treats. She stood there for a bit with her hands on her hips, attempting to recall the location that she had left the elusive sweets. Her face brightened; for she suddenly remembered that she had opened several bags, and poured the contents into a large bowl before departing for the office that morning. She hurried to the living room, lifted the glass bowl from the coffee table, and headed toward the door.She removed several pieces of candy. “Here you go little—”The child no longer stood at the entrance of the apartment. Carolyn Anne placed the candy back into the bowl. And in an attempt to locate the child, she peered out into the hallway, looking left and then right, and then left again. It being the night of Halloween, the corridor was unusually quiet and vacant. She paused, listening for the voices of small children. And after she was satisfied that none could be heard, Carolyn Anne went back inside the apartment and closed the door.She picked the plastic containers from the floor, performed a change of clothing, and then inserted a frozen dinner into the oven. According to the words on the packaging of the meal, it would be 45 minutes before it was prepared; So Carolyn Anne sat down in the living room on the couch until it was done.She gathered the remote, and began probing the TV channels, one by one. A film, one without color and unquestionably from another era, caught her attention. She settled in comfortably, pulling a small eiderdown over her legs.A sharp knock on the door interrupted Carolyn Anne, startling her. Reluctantly, she rose from her position, and went to the source of the disruption, carrying the bowl of candy as she did. She opened the door.“Trick or Treat!” a host of young voices screamed in unison.“Oh my god, what do we have here? Ghost and witches, ghouls and goblins—I’m so scared I don’t what to do.”“Trick or treat,” spoke the smallest of the children.“Awwwe, he’s so cute. Are you a pirate?”The little boy, hesitantly, responded with a shy nod of acknowledgement.Happy Halloween little pirate,” said Carolyn Anne.She extracted a handful of tarts from the bowl, and dropped them inside the boy’s large sack. And no sooner had she done so, little tiny arms attached to bags and buckets of all sorts were raised high in the air in an effort to take advantage of Carolyn Anne’s uncommon generosity.“Here, you go—one for you, and one for you, and one for you—”“Ah man!” a small girl complained. “He got a bunch. Why didn’t I get a lot like my brother?”Carolyn Anne retrieved another candy piece, and dropped it in the girl’s Jack-o-lantern shaped container. Her eyes brightened.“I got another one!” she announced, “Thanks lady,”The children, having had their fill, scampered away toward the next door down the hall. Carolyn Anne observed a small child standing alone near the stairwell at the end of the hallway. “Hey, little girl,” she called out.Wearing the most beautiful white dress, the child stared briefly at Carolyn Anne, and then hurried down the staircase. The incident was quite puzzling. Carolyn Anne stood there for a moment with a perplex look upon her face before retreating back inside her apartment.She placed the large glass bowl back in it’s place upon the coffee table, and then settled in comfortably on the sofa. Her focus turned quickly toward the television as the scream of a woman blared from it. She studied the images on the screen as if in a trance. And when a gentleman, with sharp, long teeth and wearing a black cape, sunk his teeth into the neck of a frail woman, Carolyn Anne retreated entirely beneath the comforter. And it wasn’t until an interruption by an advertisement, moments later, that she mustered enough courage to peer from her position of security.The sound of an alarm, which sat on the stove, briefly startled Carolyn Anne. It conquered within her the disturbing images of vampires, and forced her thoughts on her meal. She rose and headed toward the kitchen. The aroma of roasted turkey hung in the air, causing her mouth to water and her stomach to insist on a portion, immediately.Carolyn Anne retrieved the dinner from the stoves’ interior, placed it on the counter, and began to dine where she stood. From the safety of the kitchen, she observed the screen of the TV as the program continued. The tearing of flesh from the neck of a victim forced her to turn away, and her desire for food was immediately affected by it. Carolyn Anne forced a last spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth and swallowed hard. Moments later, the sound of foot steps and the laughter of a small child could be her coming from Carolyn Anne’s bedroom. Nervously, she placed the remainder of it inside the refrigerator.“Is anybody there?” she called out. “Who’s in there? I got a gun, and I know how to use it!”She stood there, listening intensely. And when there was no answer, she grabbed a black cast-iron cooking pan, and went to investigate.“I’m calling the police,” she announced as she crept toward the entrance to the room. “I’m calling them right now!”Peering into the darkness, Carolyn Anne gripped the pan tightly. “Anybody in here?” she whispered, praying no one would respond.“I’m calling the p—”The blow, swift and without warning, that struck Carolyn Anne rendered her unconscious. And when she woke, even to the eye of the untrained, it was obvious that she still suffered from the effects of the blow.“Oh heavens no, Mister Gates—Microsoft won’t be sent to a collection agency if you pay $3 million today,” she mumbled.She sat, bound, in a rocking chair, and the mysterious little girl, the same Carolyn Anne had seen about prior, stood before her.“Hi Winnie, where’s my coffee?” Carolyn Anne asked. Her eyes fluttered and a wide smile came upon her face.The question, it being that of an incoherent one, resulted in a negative response from the child. She forcefully, slapped the face of Carolyn Anne.“Rise and shine, Miss Webber,” the little girl sneered. “There is work to be done, and the witching hour draws near.”“What?” Carolyn Anne asked, regaining her senses. Unaware of the cords that bound her, she attempted to rise. “W—what is this?”“You have been chosen,” said the little girl.Carolyn Anne struggled to escape, rocking the chair wildly. The result of her actions was unexpected, and because of her efforts, the girl drew a large knife and placed it against the throat of Carolyn Anne.“My intent was not that of a blood sacrifice. However, it is the night of such rituals. If you value the life that flows within you, I suggest that you keep quiet and still.”The threat was taken seriously by Carolyn Anne, and she did indeed cease thrashing about. “Who are you,” she asked.“Why Miss Webber, you don’t recognized me?”“No, I’ve never seen you before in my life. Now, who are you?”The girl came closer, and whispered in the ear of Carolyn Anne. “It’s it I, your friend, Beatrice.”Carolyn Anne eyes widened and she stared into the face of the little girl. “No, no, it can’t be,” her voice shook.“Yes, it can, and indeed it is,” the little girl snarled.“B—but how can it be?”“Well, think about it Carolyn Anne—have I once, dressed any anything excerpt the costume of a witch on October 31st?”Carolyn Anne paused. “No”“And inside my cubicle at the office, what pictures and figurines have you seen?”Carolyn Anne paused again. “Those of witches, but I didn’t—”“You didn’t think what? That I could possibly be a witch? It’s ironic isn’t it? Because none believes in us, we hide in plain sight. But it wasn’t always that way. Many of my sisters were burned alive or drowned, but no longer. I like the 21st century much, much better.”“Beatrice, please, please, let me go. I won’t tell anybody anything about this, I swear!”Beatrice touched the face of her captive. “Poor Carolyn Anne, this is not about you—it’s about justice. What we have here is an opportunity to bring home another member of the sisterhood—one that was burned at the stake in 1779 and now is trapped like an animal inside of this!” She held the doll high for Carolyn Anne to see. “And tonight, at the hour of twelve, during the witching hour, your soul will depart and will go into this doll where it will be trapped forever. At that very moment, the spirit of my sister will be release and will reside in your body, and then she can be reunited with her long lost love, Nathaniel.”“Nathaniel?”“Oh yes, I forgot. The man in the file room—the man you belittled—the one you know as Bob, well he’s my brother-in-law, Nathaniel.”Beatrice, please, please!” begged Carolyn Anne, weeping.Beatrice placed a large strip of electrical tape across the mouth of Carolyn Anne. “Now unfortunately, the process can be painful, and we wouldn’t want the children to hear you scream, would we? And don’t worry, I’ll be back in the morning to untie you, or what used to be you, and then I’ll have to burn the doll along with your soul inside it.”A look of utter terror froze in the eyes of Carolyn Anne, and again she attempted to free herself. Beatrice again tightened her binds.“There is no escapes Carolyn Anne, for you are the chosen,” she smiled.She headed toward the door of the bedroom, and turned one last time, eyeing her prisoner. “Happy Halloween,” she whispered.When Beatrice reached the front door of the apartment and opened it, her brother stood before her. “Nathaniel, what are you doing here?” she asked.He touched the forehead of the little girl with the black feather of a crow, causing her to scream in agony and to inexplicably fade away.Nathaniel went into the bedroom to free Carolyn Anne. He removed the tape from her mouth. “My god, it’s about time you got here,” she said, relieved. “Your sister-in-law is a witch—and I don’t mean that in a good way either.”“Yeah, I know, and I still can’t believe she wanted me to reunite with my ex-wife,” said Nathaniel, untying the cords. “I mean, I suffered through hundreds of years hearing nothing but, “don’t leave your spells laying all over the kitchen table, I don’t want you doing magic in the house, clean up the horse manure like a real man, I saw you looking at that little witch down the road”, incessant nagging, day in and day out. And what about the time she turned you into a toad?”“Yeah, and that was really uncalled for,” snapped Carolyn Anne.“I’m sorry, but witches like her and her sister; they give good witches a bad name,” said Nathaniel. He untied the last of the cords.“Well, we’re just lucky she fell for it,” said Carolyn Anne, rubbing her wrist. “It was a good idea, getting Beatrice to summon the soul of her sister inside this doll so we could destroy them both. And now that we’re finally alone, we can live and love without ever looking over our shoulders again.”They kissed a passionate kiss. And with Carolyn Anne carrying the doll, they went into the living room and sat on the sofa. Nathaniel put his arm around the shoulder of Carolyn Anne.“There’s a scary Halloween movie on tonight, wanna watch it?”
You need to be a member of Blacksciencefictionsociety to add comments!
Replies