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"Please Take One"

Halloween is a time for fun and a time for terror. Going door to door, collecting candy from strangers, watching horror movies until you fall asleep and leave the monsters running around your nightmares. Just make sure the monsters don't follow you outside of them...

    My friend, Janet and I ran around in our Halloween costumes. I was dressed as a zombie and she as a Bride of Frankenstein. We made a terrifying duo as we ran around from door to door and collecting candy. Our bags were about half full but we were having too much fun to call it quits.
    That was until we came across one house. The porch was covered in jack-o'-lanterns and big, fake spider webs. I loved the aesthetic and she loved the lights. We saw the bowl of candy sitting on a bench just outside the door. There was a hand-written sign above it that said 'Please Take One'. Janet and I rolled our eyes and reached into the bowl, each grabbing a handful of candy before leaving and going on to the next house.
    As we left the porch, I could swear I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. But when I looked back toward the house, it was gone.
***
    Later on that night, Janet and I were sitting in the living room, the lights dimmed. We were watching some scary movies while our parents were asleep. We had our candy sprawled out on the floor and devouring them until our stomachs hurt. I had traded her my candy bars for the fruity ones. I'd never been a fan of chocolate.
    But as we watched the movies and joked around with each other, we heard the sound of glass shattering behind us. We jerked our heads toward the kitchen, letting out a scream of terror as we did. We were frozen in fear. Someone, or something, had just broken in, I thought. We've got to find out for sure though.
    I half expected my parents to come running down the stairs but we heard nothing from them. We were on our own.
    I crept over to the counter and peered over, trying to find where the glass had shattered. Sure enough, I'd found it. There was a large chunk taken out of the window next to the back door, which now hung open. Someone was in the house...
    I ducked back down behind the counter and looked back to Janet. I mouthed to her the words "Someone broke in."
    Just then, I saw a shadow moving from the other side of the counted. As the person casting the shadow came into view, they peered down at me with a twisted smile, wielding a butcher's knife. The man lunged forward, taking a swing at me. I somehow managed to roll to the side just in time. He swung at me again, this time nicking my arm. Pain seared through my body as I held onto my arm. But I felt no blood. I tried not to think about it too much.
    I jumped to my feet and grabbed Janet's arm, dragging her along with me. She and I ran upstairs, calling for my mom and dad. As we ran, we could hear the heavy footsteps behind us. The twisted man was still trying to kill us.
    Finally, we got to my parents room. We pounded on the door, screaming our heads off. But we heard no sound from behind the door. How tired were they?!
    Tired of waiting, I pushed the door open and screamed out in horror. Our parents were in bed, but their stomachs were cut open, candy pouring out of them. What the hell?!
    We turned back to the door and the killer, who's face was masked by shadow, was standing in the doorway, the knife held high. He lunged toward us. We barely managed to dodge out of the way, leaving the killer on the ground, face first. Janet and I quickly ran to the opposite side of the room. We flipped the light switch on and watched the killer, who was still on the ground, hunched over. Something was wrong.
    As we slowly approached him, he collapsed completely to the ground. Janet slowly reached out to him. Her hand grasped his shoulder. He remained unmoving. I don't think he was even breathing. What was going on?
    Janet turned him over and the killer looked up at us from laying flat on his back. He was dead, the knife that he was trying to kill us with was plunged into his stomach. I was surprised there was no blood seeping out like you'd expect, making me question if he was actually dead. But then his stomach started to shift and gurgle before foil-wrapped candy poured out of the freshly sliced opening.

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