Transformation

My story isn't pretty and usually never spoken of. Now that I am as old as the hills I feel like I've earned the right to tell it.

Young and adventurous with nerves of steel I had an uncanny attraction to the macabre including Halloween. My friends were less enthusiastic but always went along with me. You might say I was leader of the pack. I had the power of persuasion. It wasn't unusual to get into trouble for some prank I had implemented.

Every year, our part of town had a pretty impressive haunted house. Of course I was the first one to volunteer and then, because of my ideas, eventually took charge of the event and received a whopping $300 to spend. It was nice to finally be favorably looked upon and for something that I enjoyed doing. I went to great lengths to make it more interesting than the year before and the attendance proved how popular it was.

I was a slender girl with long wheat colored hair and dark brown eyes; pretty if I do say so myself. For the event I would don a long black wig, ruby red lips and nails, and a draped black gown with sequins. I appointed myself as the host. Guests would walk into a room lit only by a diffused candle on a table where I sat. In my best Transylvanian accent I offered them a plastic champagne glass filled with red punch. The punch bowl had a sign that read drink at your own expense. The rest of the tour would basically be a collection of rooms with scary, slithering, slimy objects in them. Her friends were recruited to scare the heck out of everyone. Rooms had flashing lights that would briefly relieve the darkness. Sometimes children ran crying out of the house. This gave me validation that I had done a good job.

To the dismay of my parents I eventually dyed my hair black and painted my lips and nails red.

"For heaven's sake Sally," my father would yell, "why must you run around looking like that?"

'Leave her be," my mother would chime in, "it's just a phase, she'll grow out of it."

My interests grew to the occult; seances and Ougie boards. I gravitated to different friends who had the same tastes that I did.

Time passes and I did grow out of it. Now a young lady of 20, I had long ago packed up all my weirdness and was about as normal and boring as everyone else. I moved to the city to pursue my career.

Still in love with Halloween, I was invited to a party on the 31st. I dug through the boxes in my apartment until I found the old black wig and dress. I would reincarnate my witch persona just for the day.

My friends and I parked the car and walked up to the house. It was an old ramshackle Victorian, perfect for Halloween. True to the holiday, a black cat streaked down the sidewalk bringing shrieks of laughter from everyone. Clouds wafted across the moon making the scene eerie and creepy. Every type of figure was making its way to the door. Vampires, ghosts, Frankenstein, witches, super heroes, etc. Inside, music from an organ assailed the ear.

Almost laughable but quite impressive, couples were doing a tango to the insanely horrible music. Tables were set up everywhere with snacks, sweets, and punch bowls. A bar at the end was selling soda and hard liquor drinks.

The home must have been magnificent at one time. A grand staircase led to an upper level with railings surrounding the ballroom below. Looking up above, I had a strange sense of dizziness and felt as weak as a kitten. The figures seemed to be floating instead of on their feet. I mentioned this to my friends and they laughed.

"How many drinks have you had already?"

"None," I replied sarcastically. "Where is the restroom."

"Upstairs to the left I believe."

Hanging onto the railing I made my way up the stairs and stood by the restroom door.

"Are you OK, you look a little pale."

I looked up to see a rather handsome man with dark hair and eyes.

"Ummm, not really, I feel somewhat dizzy. I was fine before I got here and haven't had anything to drink."

"If you want, I'll take you out to the balcony to get some fresh air."

"I guess that would be OK," I replied.

He took my arm and led me to the balcony where I sat down on the bench.

"You were correct, the fresh air is making me feel better. Thank you!"

We sat and talked for some time.

"I love your Dracula costume. It looks very authentic."

"Is that so? You look lovely in yours. Do you have a boyfriend."

"I did, but we broke up when I moved here."

He laughed which I thought was strange. "You'll just have to kiss and make up I guess.

"Oh, no, we've both moved on. Gosh, I've enjoyed talking to you but I've lost track of time and better get back to my friends. They will be wondering where I am."

He reached out to help me up when suddenly lights in the mansion rumbled and all the lights started flickering.

"What's happen........", I said.

Guests ran outside to see what was going on but there was nothing unusual. Someone screamed.

"Look up there! Those bats are the largest I've ever seen. My God, they're almost as big as a person. They just flew off of the balcony. I hate bats, I'm going inside."

Later, the friends looked for Sally but she was nowhere to be found.

"Funny, she must have taken a taxi home. She wasn't feeling well. Ill check on her in the morning."

A thorough investigation was conducted i but not a trace of Sally was ever found.

I'm still here, just in a different form. Beware!"