As the group walked, Jesse turned over the million questions burning in his brain. How can real monsters exist? How could they have stayed hidden from the rest of the world? And most importantly, how did he and his friends get into Gravewood if they can’t get out?

  Unfortunately, Brom had no intention of answering any of them.

  “This is just great,” he complained loudly. “I’m being kidnapped by a bunch of middle schoolers! Next thing you know, you’ll be kicking my face in just like my cousin-”

  “Do you ever shut up?” Alicia glared at him. She got used to their new reality pretty quickly, choosing to focus her energy on finding her brother instead of worrying about the finer points of their situation.

  “Just a second ago you were all begging me to tell you where the witch lives, now you don’t want me to talk? Make up your mind.”

  “Either help us or stay quiet,” Noah said.

  Moonset was just as bustling as when they left, with groups of various monsters enjoying the festivities. Jesse tried not to stare as they passed, but it was hard not to look at eight-foot-tall hulking sasquatches or giant globs of bubbling green slime, or mummies decked out with glittering gold and jewels.

  He managed to tear his eyes away from a particularly grotesque looking zombie. “Alicia, what was your brother wearing again?”

  “He’s dressed like an astronaut, with a big round helmet. I think he’s safe enough with it on, no one should be able to tell he’s human.”

  “That’s a relief. We have to be extra careful from here on out. Try to act natural and not draw attention to ourselves.”

  As soon as he had said that, Brom suddenly began shouting. “HEY, THESE KIDS OVER HERE ARE HU-”

  Noah threw both of his arms around the pumpkin’s mouth, effectively silencing him. A few nearby monsters looked over at them, confused.

  “Hungry!” Siobahn said, forcing a laugh. “Man, we are sooo hungry.”

  Noah glared down at Brom. “Yeah, in fact, maybe we should make some pumpkin pie.”

  Once all the eyes were off of them, Alicia hissed at him, “What is the matter with you?!”

  He said something, but Noah was still muffling him. Only when they were sure that he wouldn’t start yelling again, did he lower his arms. “Just doing my civic duty. You know humans aren’t allowed in Gravewood.”

  No, we didn’t know that, Jesse thought bitterly. Thanks for the warning.

  “Next time you try that, we’re using you for the pumpkin bowling,” Noah threatened.

  That seemed to do the trick, as he kept quiet while they searched for Ashton.

  The neighborhood was full of children, most dressed in Halloween costumes ranging from superheroes to animals. Jesse even saw a little Dracula costume, similar to his own. They would have been cute, if it weren’t for the fact most of them had slimy scales or slit eyes.

  “Hey, is that him?” Siobhan asked. She pointed to a small child sitting in the yard of a house across the street wearing a familiar astronaut outfit.

  “Oh my god, Ash!” Alicia said.

  They ran through the crowd and saw that he wasn’t alone. Set up in front of the house was a corn hole game, and he was playing with a couple of other pale-looking kids; a girl dressed like a princess and a boy dressed like a cowboy. As they got closer, Jesse could see that they were transparent.

  “Nice throw!” The ghost boy said as Ashton landed a bean bag in the hole.

  “There you are,” Alicia said, coming to kneel next to him. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  From the front porch, two more ghostly figures drifted towards them, the mother and father of the kids, Jesse realized. They looked like they stepped straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting; the dad wearing a smart pair of slacks and smoking an unlit pipe while the mom had perfectly curled hair and a neatly ironed dress.

  “Hello there little lady,” The dad greeted as the mom flashed a dazzling smile. “Do you know this tyke?”

  “Yes, he’s my brother,” Alicia said, standing up. “Right, Ashton?”

  Ashton didn’t say anything, but he silently slipped his hand into Alicia’s.

  “Quiet kid, isn’t he?” the dad remarked.

  “He doesn’t like talking.”

  “My, what lovely costumes you all have!” the mom said. “Sure is different from back in our day, isn’t it Walter?”

  “I’ll say.” Walter nodded at Noah’s costume. “Is that what hockey players wear nowadays?”

  “Uhh-”

  The mom gave her husband a light whack on the arm. “Oh, please excuse us. We sometimes have a hard time understanding this modern era. Everything is just so new.”

  “Speaking of new, I don’t think we’ve seen you around here before.”

  “We’re just visiting for Halloween,” Jesse said. “We live in… a different neighborhood.”

  “Well in that case, thank you for stopping by. The name’s Walter. Walter Abernathy.”

  He held out his hand to shake and without thinking, Jesse grabbed it. Too late, he realized his mistake as his hand passed straight through Walter’s. It felt like a bucket of ice water poured over his skin and he quickly recoiled.

  He chuckled. “Sorry, sport. Just a little ghost humor. And this is my better half, Barbara.”

  “So how are you finding Gravewood?” she asked.

  “Oh, it’s great, but we really should-”

  “Is this the boy’s guardian?”

  When Jesse turned to the new voice, he almost had a heart attack then and there. Of all the creatures they had encountered so far, the zombies, the ghosts, the talking jack-o-lantern, none of them compared to the woman in front of him now. From the waist up, she looked ordinary enough; pale and thin with pointed features framed by pitch black hair, but sprouting from underneath the pumpkin themed sweater she wore was the bulbous body of a giant spider, complete with eight spindly black legs that stabbed into the ground as she walked.

  “Nice to see you, Cynthia,” Walter said, though it came out forced.

  She ignored him, instead peering down at Jesse’s group.

  “A little young to be all by yourselves, aren’t you?”

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  He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh come now, when I was their age, I went just about everywhere myself.”

  “Yes, but things have changed a lot since then. It’s dangerous for children to be wandering around alone.” She stared pointedly at Alicia as she said that last part.

  Alicia turned red, tightening her hold on Ashton’s hand.

  “Cynthia,” Barbara interjected. “Out of everyone, you should know best that Gravewood is one of the safest communities for people like us. After all, you put in so much work at the community meetings.”

  It was obvious she was layering on the sweetness with her words, maybe a bit too much, but Cynthia didn’t seem to notice.

  “Thank you, Barbara,” she said, pleased with the compliment. “It’s nice to see someone appreciate my contributions. I swear, if it wasn’t for me, we would have been overrun by those dirty humans ages ago.”

  Jesse froze, and he could see his friends tense up as well. “O-Oh, have you guys had a lot of trouble with humans?”

  “Thankfully not. The barrier around the neighborhood prevents them from getting in. But I also do my best to make sure no one here exposes us. Who knows what those barbarians would do if they found out about Gravewood?”

  “I think you might be forgetting that we used to be humans, Mrs. Vanderwebb,” Walter said.

  She brushed him off. “I don’t mean you of course. I meant other humans. The kind who don’t think twice about stepping on a harmless little spider.”

  “Of course.” Jesse could tell the smile Walter wore was strained.

  “Oh, Cynthia,” Barbara said, changing the subject. “I simply must compliment your webs. You’ve outdone yourself this year!”

  “Really? Thank you for noticing. The kids and I worked so hard on them all through September. It was no small task, making decorations for the entire neighborhood.”

  “But that reminds me.” She tapped her chin with her finger, pretending to think hard about something. “I believe I saw some other out-of-towners messing with the webs over on Redfield Road.”

  Cynthia stiffened, mood instantly soured. “Oh, they better not be!” She scuttled away, the crowd parting to make room for all her legs.

  Barbara turned back to their group. “Don’t mind her. I think she’s what the kids these days call a ‘Karen.’”

  Noah coughed into his hand to hide his laughter.

  “Thank you for watching over Ashton for me, by the way,” Alicia said.

  Walter smiled warmly at her. “It was no trouble at all. Cindy and Tommy had fun playing with him.”

  The two ghost children, who had continued to play corn hole as the grownups talked, now came over to say goodbye to Ashton.

  “Are you leaving?” Cindy asked.

  “Can’t you stay a little longer?” Tommy begged.

  Alicia looked apologetic. “Sorry, but we have to get going.”

  “We hope to see you again sometime.”

  Ashton returned their wave.

  “Wait.” An idea struck Jesse and he turned to the parents. “Would either of you know where to find Bella Cardenas?”

  “The witch?” Walter said. “Why certainly. She lives on the next street over, Bloodhill Boulevard. Just head straight down, go left, and hers is the blue house with the garden out front.” As he spoke, he used his hands to mime out the directions. “But why do you want to see her?”

  “Oh, we just heard she gives out the best candy and wanted to see for ourselves,” Siobhan lied.

  “That she does,” Walter mused.

  “It was nice meeting you all,” Barbara said, waving as they walked away. “Enjoy the party.”

  They found the house easily enough; a two-story Victorian house painted a light blue color. The garden out front had various signs sticking out of the planters, labeling herbs like mugwort, mandrake, and basil. Hanging from the front door was a gag decoration of a flattened witch, making it look like she had ridden her broom face first into the door.

  Siobhan rang the doorbell, a series of chimes signaling their arrival.

  “Have we thought about what we’re going to say to her?” Jesse asked, nervous feeling once more settling over him.

  “Beg for her help and hope she takes pity on us,” Alicia said simply. Now that she was reunited with her brother, she seemed a lot less frantic than she had been.

  “Yeah, you guys are pretty pitiful.” Brom had been so quiet during their talk with the Abernathy’s, Jesse had almost forgotten he was there.

  The seconds ticked by and no one answered the door, even after Siobhan rang the bell again. Noah, fed up with waiting, grabbed the brass knocker and rapped hard.

  Still nothing.

  “Maybe she’s not home?” Jesse suggested.

  “Aw, too bad,” Brom said. “I guess you’ll just have to give up and take me back to my patch.”

  “No way.” Alicia pointed at the windows. “Look, the lights are on. She has to be inside.”

  “Only one way to know for sure.” Without further explanation, Noah started heading around the side of the house.

  “What are you doing?” Siobhan asked as the rest of them followed.

  “Looking for another way in,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “This is dangerous,” Jesse whispered. Just talking about it made him feel like he was committing a crime. “Remember, a witch lives here.”

  “Good point. Hey, Brom, check if the coast is clear.”

  “Wha-” Before he could finish, Noah chucked Brom over the fence. He yelped and there was a loud thud on the other side.

  “Is it safe?” he called.

  Instead of responding, Brom yelled back an impressive string of curses.

  “Yeah, it’s fine.” He jumped up, grabbing the top of the fence, and pulled himself over.

  “Okay, we’re really doing this.” Siobhan climbed the fence as well, shorter legs scrambling to find purchase on the wooden surface.

  “Jesse, could you go next and help Ashton over?” Alicia asked. “I don’t want to just leave him out here.”

  He wasn’t sure taking him into a witch’s lair was much safer, but agreed nonetheless. He hiked himself up to straddle the fence top, then tried not to lose his balance when she handed her brother over to him.

  Ashton, for his part, was incredibly calm. Jesse couldn’t see his face past the reflective visor of his helmet, but imagined the boy was staring at him, not saying anything.

  “Uh, Siobhan. A little help here?”

  He passed the child to her before jumping down himself. Alicia quickly followed, effortlessly clearing the fence. As expected of a member of the cheer team.

  The backyard of the witch’s house looked normal, if a bit overgrown. It was clear Bella must have put more care and effort into her front garden than she did her back one. Jesse picked up Brom from where he had landed in the weeds of a flowerbed, still cursing, as Noah wiggled the handle of the back door. Locked.

  That was probably a good thing. Jesse still wasn’t totally sure that this Bella would even help them, much less so if they broke into her house.

  Siobhan held up a hand. “Wait, do you guys hear that?”

  He concentrated. Drifting faintly from the house was strange music, a mix of screeching violins and ominous drums, and as they listened, it grew louder and louder.

  They slowly crept up to a window that had its curtains open and peeked in.

  Inside, they could see a kitchen. Or what appeared to be a kitchen, judging by the fridge and gas stove. The room looked like a tornado had swept through it, with books and papers strewn about on every surface. Jars stacked precariously on top of one another lined the walls on the counters, labels too small to make out their contents from where Jesse was. But what really unsettled him was how everything was pushed to the side to make room for a strange symbol in the center of the floor. The only light came from candles surrounding it in a menacing circle.

  Movement in the hallway made all of them duck back down. The music got louder as the witch entered the kitchen. They could hear rustling as she did something inside, but none of them dared to look.

  Chanting joined the music and finally Jesse plucked up the courage to take a peek through the window again.

  The witch was kneeling inside the rune, back facing the window. Her large, pointed hat bobbed up and down as she swayed to the music.

  “Guys, maybe we should leave,” Jesse whispered.

  “No way.” Alicia shook her head. “She’s our only lead on escaping this place.”

  “Besides, she’s just chanting,” Siobhan pointed out. “She’s not doing anything that- “

  Suddenly, the witch raised a large jagged knife, bringing it down on whatever was in front of her. Jesse watched in horror as red liquid pooled around her knees. He had to bite back a scream.

  Oblivious to their fear, she continued chanting, the candles flickering around her. Their flames grew bigger, the smoke rising from them growing thicker, until it enveloped the room. The witch took a pause, and when she continued, she stumbled over the words, almost as if she had to-

  “Achoo!”

  “Bless you,” Brom called. Jesse threw his hand over his mouth, but it was too late.

  The witch froze, and as the smoke filled her entire kitchen, it completely obscured her from view.

  There was a tense moment where nobody moved. Jesse was too scared to even breathe.

  “Maybe she didn’t hear him?” Siobhan whispered.

  As soon as she said that, the window flew open, smoke pouring out into the night sky.

  They all screamed. Siobhan took a step back, losing her balance and starting to fall over. She tried to catch herself on Jesse, but only succeeded in taking him down with her. As he fell, he lost his grip on Brom, causing the pumpkin to roll away as he landed hard on the grass.

  Amidst all the coughing and Brom’s cursing, he could hear the backdoor opening.

  “Oh my gosh, are you kids okay?!”

  Less than a second later, he was being helped to his feet by gentle hands. It was only now that he was able to get a proper look at Bella Cardenas.

  The thing that stood out the most is that she was a lot younger than he had expected. When Brom had told them she was a witch he immediately pictured a gray-haired old crone, but the woman before them looked to be around college age, in her early twenties. The pointy hat he had seen before rested atop a mound of bushy brown hair.

  “What are you all doing in my yard?” she asked, once she had determined none of them were injured.

  “They were robbing you,” Brom claimed, before anyone could stop him.

  “What?”

  “No! No, we weren’t!” Jesse said hastily as Noah gave Brom a swift kick. “The truth is we need your help.”

  Bella frowned. “My help? But what do you- Wait…” She took in their appearances, and her eyes widened. “Are you… humans?”

  Their silence was all the answer she needed. She held the door open and ushered them into her house.

  “Hurry, come inside.”