Ashley

The October air was thin and sharp, the kind that seemed to whisper warnings through the trees. But Ashley didn’t care. She stood in front of the cracked hallway mirror, adjusting the brim of her witch hat—black velvet, crooked just right, a deep purple ribbon tied around it. Her dress matched: short, jagged hem, fitted sleeves, and just enough shimmer to make her smirk at her own reflection.

“Stop staring,” she said without turning. “I’m not,” Andrew replied immediately—too immediately.

She grinned. “Liar.” Andrew tugged at the collar of his own costume, some thrift-store vampire ensemble that still had the dry-cleaner tag half sticking out. He wasn’t excited about leaving the house. Ashley could feel it.

“You’re gonna be fine,” she said, stepping up to him and flicking the loose tag. “It’s just Halloween. People don’t bite.” “You do,” he muttered.

“Only when you annoy me.”

She grabbed her bag, stuffed with candy and maybe a few things she probably shouldn’t have, and pushed open the apartment door. The hallway light flickered in that familiar, unsettling way, but tonight it almost felt festive. Outside, kids ran past in neon masks. Carved pumpkins glowed on porches. Somewhere down the block, a speaker blasted cheap haunted-house sound effects.

“See?” Ashley said, slipping her arm through his. “Normal night. Fun night.”

But Andrew’s eyes kept scanning the shadows, like he expected something to reach out and grab them the second they relaxed.

They walked toward the town square where lanterns hung low, bobbing in the wind. For a moment—just a moment—things almost felt normal.

Almost. A chill ran across the back of Andrew’s neck.

“Ash… do you feel that?” “Feel what?”

He wasn’t sure. A presence? A stare? Something behind them? When he looked back, the street was empty except for a plastic skeleton rocking in the breeze.

Ashley noticed his silence. “Hey.” She bumped her shoulder against his. “Don’t go ghost-hunter paranoid on me. Not tonight.”

She tossed him a wrapped caramel from her bag.

“Let’s just have fun. For once.” He let out a slow breath and nodded. Ashley smiled—softly, the way she rarely allowed herself to.

But as they stepped into the glow of the lanterns, both of them felt it:

A faint rustle behind them. A shadow that didn’t match any lantern. Something that followed when they moved… …and stopped when they stopped.

Ashley tightened her grip on Andrew’s arm.

“Okay,” she murmured, voice shifting from playful to serious. “Maybe you weren’t imagining things.”

The festival lights flickered. The wind died. And something in the dark whispered both their names.

Ashley’s smile returned—but this time, it was sharp.

“Looks like Halloween’s about to get interesting.”