A Hallowed Anthology: Contest Entries for Halloween Vault 3D

To Light A Candle

Shivers ran down Tony's back as he stepped off the sidewalk into the park to take the shortcut to his flat. The bright oranges and yellows of the sunset colored the sky as darkness slowly approached, but there was just something unsettling. Something in the air. Fanny would say it "tasted strange."

Shoving his hands deep into his jacket pockets, Tony quickened his steps. The park was empty and quiet, as it tended to be this time of day, but today the quiet wasn't peaceful, just suspenseful.

A voice caught Tony's attention and he turned to look into a stand of trees, where he saw a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground, hand raised as if she was conducting an orchestra. He stopped. Tony had been walking through this park for years, and he'd never seen her before.

"One candle, two candle, three candle, four," she chanted. "Five candle, six candle, seven candle, more."

As she spoke, lights suddenly sparked to life before her, flickering candle lights without the candlestick. They floated before her for a moment, then began to bob across the park, heading in the direction of Tony's flat.

The woman turned, deliberately meeting Tony's eyes. She smiled, an eerie expression, and then rose and skipped off.

Tony broke into a run, not stopping until he reached the door of his flat, ahead of the bobbing lights. Slamming the door open, he glanced wildly around.

"Tony!" Fanny exclaimed, stepping out of the kitchen. Flour covered her apron and her hands as she rested them on her hips, a fine dust powdering her nose. Despite the mess, Fanny still looked pretty, her light brown curls pulled into a high ponytail. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Tony took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I just saw something strange in the park." He crossed to the window, pulling back the curtain and glancing out. The eight little lights were floating on the sidewalk, right underneath the window. "Oh, no."

"What?" Fanny asked, making her way to Tony's side. She peered out the window, her eyes widening as soon as she saw the lights. "Oh, no. Oh, dear."

"I saw them in the park," Tony told her. "Some woman summoned them or something."

Fanny's whole demeanor shifted. Her eyes narrowed, shoulders stiffened, and focus dropped over her features. "Tony, get my box from our closet. The one labeled 'Tricks.' Please."

Tony rushed into their bedroom, grabbing Fanny's box and carrying it into the living room. Fanny turned from the window, stepping to her box and cutting the tape with a kitchen knife. Tossing the utensil aside, she opened the cardboard flaps and drew out a silver lace shawl, draping it over her shoulders.

Tony peered into the box. "Fanny, what is this?" He couldn't make sense of everything inside; candles, long wicks, a couple of black rocks, a collection of thin sticks, tapered to points. "What are these things?"

"Never mind that, Tony," his wife said, grabbing a box of matches from the counter and sliding it open. "Open the window."

With a furrowed brow, Tony opened the window, glancing down at the eight lights still flickering there. "Fanny, tell me. What's going on?"

"Those are corpse candles," Fanny said. "Harbingers. They signal bad tidings for those they follow. I see eight down there. Is that right?"

Tony nodded.

"Eight is bad, bad news. For you, for me, for Ricky." Fanny's breath caught on saying their son's name. "So I need to counter the spell, light sixteen candles to block the eight." She struck a match and began to light some of the candles sitting on the counter before moving to the bookcase and the end tables. Fanny had a strange obsession with candles, having them scattered all over their flat.

"Candle light, fire light, glow and watch over life." Fanny's chant echoed around their apartment as Tony watched her quizzically. "Sixteen fires, sixteen flames, protect our family from death or maim."

The eight lights grew brighter and Tony glanced at Fanny as her own sixteen candles brightened. He looked out the window again and saw the woman from the park standing on the sidewalk, staring at the window with glaring intensity.

"Someone's watching, Fanny. It's her."

Fanny moved to the window, keeping her hands up and fingers curled, and locked eyes with the strange woman. There was a long moment of excruciating silence, sweat dripping down Tony's face as the tension in the air heightened, and then suddenly the corpse candles were extinguished and the woman turned and walked briskly across the street. A car sped by, concealing her for a moment, and when the car passed, she was gone.

"Fanny," Tony murmured, turning to face his wife to see her pale and drained. She stumbled and he raced to catch her, getting flour all over his clothes but he didn't care. She didn't say anything, just buried her face in his shirt as he held her tightly, smoothing her hair.

Finally, Fanny looked up, her eyes meeting his calmly. "Ricky. I need to check Ricky."

Tony released her and the two young parents hurried into their son's nursery, Fanny picking him up out of his cradle. "You're safe, you're safe," she murmured, kissing his head. "I thought they wouldn't find me again."

"Fanny, what did you do?" Tony asked. "The candles, the strange woman, the corpse candles...what happened? What's the box for?"

Fanny sighed. "I hoped I wouldn't have to tell you, Tony. I am...let's say I'm part of a family which goes far back in England's history. We have gifts."

"You just chased off a harbinger," Tony said. "What kind of gifts, Fanny?"

Fanny tilted her head. "Tony, I left that life behind. But you can say I am part of an untold urban legend, one that's been forgotten." She shivered. "One that should never have been forgotten."