Just something I've been experimenting with. Let me know what you think

Ian fidgeted with the patch on his right eye. Looking into the mirror, he had to admit that he was definitely pirate material. His dark, curly hair was mussed all over his head, but he was thankful that the hat hid all except the few disobedient locks that were brave enough to show themselves around it. The red scarf brushed lightly against the white dandy that covered his nine-year-old torso. Ian was certain that he would never be caught dead in a shirt with ruffles on the front, or anywhere else for that matter, but Halloween was different and this costume rocked. The lightweight metal sword was his favorite part of the outfit. He secured it once more at his side as he grinned, revealing the black shadowing on a couple of his front teeth. No pirate would have had a full set of teeth in those days so he shouldn’t be expected to either .

Maneuvering the stairs to the first floor, Ian shot his big sister, Clover, a mischievous grin. Clover was four years older than him and she loved being a teen. At least that’s what she told him, over and over again. Ian thought better of it. Thirteen was always an unlucky number, no matter who you were and the idea of being that digit for a whole year didn’t sound like fun to him.

His sister had outgrown trick-or-treating a few plus years ago, but her age for parties had just begun. She side stepped him at the bottom of the stairs as she pulled the pink bouffant out of his reach. Ian grinned hideously at her costume. Blond curls lay in rolls all over her head. A few of them had been pulled up and tied with a pink satin ribbon. The constant pink theme made her look like she had been doused in pink anti-diarrhea medicine.

“Think I’ll be the hit at the party?” Clover asked him with an uncertain expression.

“With the size of that dress, you’ll definitely hit something,” Ian replied. “Why didn’t you get a scarier costume? You look like you’re going to church during the civil war.”

“Thanks a lot, Ian. At least I don’t look like some pirate freak.”

“It’s Halloween. I wouldn’t want to be anything but a freak. Call me when church is over, lame girl.”

“Ian Cadence!”

Ian turned to face his mother. Clover smiled.

“Apologize to your sister right now or no trick-or-treating tonight, young man.”

Ian turned back to Clover and mumbled an appology.

Clover just smiled even broader. “It’s okay, little brother. I know your taste in clothing hasn’t matured yet.”

“Besides,” his mother said as she straitened the pink bow in Clover’s yellow mane, “I think you look lovely. You will truly be the bell of the ball tonight, sweetheart.”

“Thanks mom.”

Ian watched as she teetered along to the back door.

“You remember the rules, Clover,” mom reminded her, “and be back by eleven.”

“I know, mom,” she huffed as she shut the door behind her.

Ian watched as his mother turned her attention to him. “You certainly are handsome tonight, Ian.”

“I’m not going for handsome, mom. Geez! I’m a pirate.”

“Oh. Sorry, dear. Well then, how about…help me! Help me! There’s a pirate in here! Does that help?”

Ian shook his head in disgust as his mother laughed lightly. A knock on the door made his thoughts come back to a happier mood.

“That’s probably Lander,” Ian said, answering the door.

The little red headed boy smiled broadly through his clown makeup.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Lander,” Ian groaned.

“What is it, Ian?” his mother asked. “Oh, Lander! You look absolutely adorable.”

Ian rolled his eyes as Lander stood in the doorway looking embarrassed.

“It’s Halloween, Mom. He’s not supposed to be adorable. He’s not supposed to be lovely or the bell of the ball. He’s supposed to be either scary, freaky, or gross. Those are the only things he supposed to be.”

“My mom made me,” Lander grumbled. “She said that I shouldn’t be a vampire. She said it’s like junk food for the imagination. Clowns are more child oriented. So, she made me wear this.”

Ian’s mother giggled. “Oh, Lander. You hate wearing that thing, don’t you?”

Ian watched as his friend nodded his head.

“You know,” she said,“some of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen had clowns in them.”

“Really?” Lander’s eyes brightened up.

“Of course. Most of them were like serial killers or something.”

“Cool!” Ian and Lander said together.

“Wait a minute!” Ian exclaimed as he ran upstairs. “I’ve got a great idea!”

Lander bolted after him as his floppy shoes slapped against the linoleum flooring. Minutes later, the two of them returned to the kitchen where Ian’s mother was pouring bags of treats into a huge bowl.

“How about now?” Ian asked feverishly.

His mother jumped and threw a bag into the air as she gasped, putting her hand on her chest as candy landed all over the floor.

“Oh my goodness! I do believe you can be counted as one of the many freaks tonight, Lander.”

Lander grinned as he flipped the plastic hatchet in his hand. The fake blood that Ian had smeared around his face was also drizzled on the blade side of the hatchet.

“He looks very convincing now, Ian. You guys be careful out there and…”

“I know, mom. Remember the rules,” Ian mumbled as he pulled a cloth Halloween bag off of the kitchen table and thrust it in front of his mother. “Trick-or-treat.”

She smiled as she deposited a handful of candy into both boys’ bags. “Have fun.”

Both fourth-graders nodded coolly in her direction as they went out the back door.

Halloween was always the same in the little town Ian lived in. He and his friends would trick-or-treat for a couple of hours, hitting each and every house in the city limits, then, they would all meet at an old barn on Ian’s grandfather’s farm. The barn was spooky enough during any other night of the year, but on Halloween night it was even more eerie. There they would tell ghost stories and eat candy until Ian’s grandparents came to drive them all home a few hours later. By ten o’clock, Ian would be safe at home, nursing his annual belly ache.

“Let’s hit the old Tamer house,” Lander said as he evaluated his candy haul. “I heard old Mister Tamer was giving out huge sour twists.”

“Ugh!” one of the other boys in their group exclaimed. “Those things are disgusting! Wonder if he’ll give me two for my sisters?”

Ian laughed. “Let’s go! I bet Clover would hate that stuff. I’d love to see her face when she eats one of those!”

The boys trekked out to the old colonial house that was deemed the old Tamer house by every paranoid child that lived in the county. Mister Tamer was kind enough, but he was definitely weird. He lived alone and rarely came out of the house. Ian remembered his mother saying something about his wife passing away many years ago. Now the entire house was occupied by one person and a cat.

Ian shivered as he recalled Higgins. Higgins was Mister Tamer’s long-haired, black cat. He had emerald green eyes and he was quite possibly the meanest cats Ian had ever laid eyes on. Once in a great while, Ian would pass Mister Tamer while he was taking Higgins out for a stroll. Higgins was always secured by a harness and leash, though he seemed extremely annoyed that he had to wear them. The thought of the cat’s annoyance brought a shiver down the boy’s spine as Ian recalled the evil look the cat would give him when he slowly approached Mister Tamer and the feline. The cat would growl and then hiss loudly as Ian made his pass. Mister Tamer would just chuckle and offer a polite hello.

Ian pushed the memories out of his head as he led the troop of boys down the street and up a hill to the old colonial house. The front porch light was on, of course, for no one in the town was found to be a Halloween pooper (a person who pooh-poohed Halloween and refused to hand out treats). As they reached the front of the house, Lander swallowed so hard that Ian could hear him.

“What’s the matter?” Ian asked.

“The house gives me the creeps,” Lander replied, trying to keep his voice low. “There’s just something about it.”

“Old man Tamer lives there, that’s why,” one of the larger boys bellowed out. “My dad said he got out of the state pen about ten years ago for offing his wife.”

“That’s a lie,” Ian mumbled as he gripped the handle of the trick-or-treat bag. “His wife died. My mom said so. Besides, Lander, it was your idea, remember?”

Lander threw a regretful glance at Ian.

“How do think she died, stupid?” a boy named Herschel asked, his hazel eyes glaring down into Ian’s soft brown ones.

Ian frowned at the broad, freckle faced boy. Herschel towered over both Lander and Ian, but he was still not the biggest boy in the group. He was, however, the biggest bully. His father was the police chief and Herschel had spent most of his school life feeding on that fact. A fact that all of the boys in the entire group wished was not true , for one wrong move and Herschel would have his father lock them all up in jail.

“I don’t think he killed her,” Ian said. “He’s still a nice man.”

“My dad says that some of the worst killers were nice men,” Herschel replied, following the group up to the front porch.

“Yeah, right,” Lander said meekly. “He would know. How about we don’t go to this house, Ian. We can skip it and go on to the barn.”

“You can go if you want to, but I’m getting those sour twists for Clover,” Ian set his jaw in determination as he rang the doorbell.

The other boys looked at one another and shrugged. Lander set his eyes to the ground and froze. Ian knew his friend was not nearly as brave as some of the other guys he hung out with, but Lander was his best friend and he wouldn’t leave Ian’s side even if he was scared. The thought made the Ian’s butterflies go down a little in his stomach. From inside the house, a shuffling noise echoed into Ian’s ears. Ian waited a few minutes and no one answered. Pushing the doorbell once more, he whistled, pretending to be wasting time as the other boys cracked a couple of jokes and cackled like a pack of hyenas.

“You know it’s probably hard to get to the door when you’re busy trying to bury your dead wife’s body,” Herschel said with a roar of laughter.

Lander frowned, took off his clown hat, and ran a hand through his short, red hair.

“Just give him another minute,” Ian said. “I’m sure it’s just cause he’s old.”

“Old is right,” Herschel laughed, “old as dirt.”

Ian rolled his eyes as he caught Lander’s horrified expression. At first, Ian thought it was because of the other boys’ crude sense of humor but then he turned back around and faced the door. Higgins was perched up in the door window beneath the curtain. His green eyes glittered as Ian heard him growl. Jumping back, Ian saw the cat hiss and strike at the window.

“Holy crap, man!” Herschel bellowed. “That’s one killer cat.”
“Higgins,” Ian mumbled, pushing the doorbell once more.

The cat went crazy, clawing at the window and screaming at the top of its kitty lungs. Ian stood on his tiptoes and tried to peek in over the wigged-out feline. He could see a large plastic jack-o-lantern filled with candy on a table in the foyer through the rumpled curtain in the window, but no Mister Tamer in sight. Ian rolled off of his toes and turned to his group of friends.

“He has to be home. There’s candy out and everything.”

“I told you,” Herschel said with a hideous grin on his oversized, freckled face, “he’s busy burying his wife. That’s why he can’t answer the door.”

Lander’s clown eyes became huge as saucers.

“This is whack, guys!” another boy complained. “I’m going on to the barn. When you get through with mister one-vitamin-a-day in there, you come on over.”

Ian muttered a curse word under his breath as he watched everyone but Lander and Herschel walk away. Ian wondered if the real reason that Lander had not left was because he was still frozen in fear at the sight of Higgins still throwing a tantrum. Herschel, unfortunately, stood firm as he smiled hideously.

“So why aren’t you going with them?” Ian asked, crossing his arms.

“This is more fun than that stupid old barn and besides, you’ll need someone close to the police if we do find the old geezer burying something in his back yard.”

Lander’s eyes flew to Ian’s in panic.

“I’m not going in his backyard! No way!”

“You’re such a wimp, Lander,” Herschel chuckled, “but don’t worry little sissy man. We’ll protect you.”

Lander glared at him as Ian pressed the doorbell two more times, making Higgins squall and Herschel laugh hysterically.

“That’s a freaking guard cat!” the broad faced boy exclaimed.

“I don’t get it,” Ian said, pushing his eye patch up onto his forehead. “It looks like he should be here.”

“Maybe he just stepped out for a minute,” Lander added.

Herschel walked up to the porch and peeked inside, making sure to tease Higgins by tapping on the glass before he turned to Ian.

“Let’s check out the back.”

“I don’t know if we should,” Lander said nervously. “I mean, that’s trespassing, isn’t it Herschel? Isn’t that what your dad would say?”

“Not if he’s doing something illegal. If old man Tamer hurt someone, going out there would be legal, cause we’re good Samaritans.”

“Yeah, right,” Ian muttered, touching the doorknob.

To his surprise, it turned. Higgins jumped down from his position and Ian wondered for a second if it would even be safe for him to open the door, considering the cat was extremely hissed off. Glancing at Lander, Ian stifled a grin. The boy looked absolutely horrified.

Herschel grinned. “I never thought you had the balls.”

Ian pushed the door open wide enough to let himself inside. Ian jumped as Higgins swatted at the boy’s legs and hissed at him a couple of times. Sidestepping the cat, he turned and wave both boys inside. Herschel pushed Lander closer to the door and the small red-headed boy reluctantly squeezed through the small space, careful to not let the long-haired black cat outside. Ian frowned as he watched the large boy try to maneuver through the doorway. Higgins growled and let out a loud unwelcoming mew that would send a chill down anybody’s spine. Herschel dodged a swat from the feline, leaving a huge gap in the door. The cat squalled once more and bolted out into the darkness.

“That’s just great,” Ian muttered. “You let him out.”

“Stupid cat! I’m not chasing him. He’s mean as hell. If old man Tamer wants him, he can go find him all by himself.”

“You’re the one who let him out,” Lander said meekly. “You should go find him.”

Herschel glared down at the smaller boy as Lander stared at the floor, thinking better of adding anything to that comment.

“He’ll come back,” Ian butted in. “Let’s just check on Mister Tamer.”

“Whatever,” Herschel mumbled following the other two inside.

“You can’t do that,” Lander whispered. “That’s stealing.”

“It’s Halloween, lame boy. He would have given it to me.”

Ian turned to see what the two were talking about when he saw Herschel putting a couple of handfuls of candy into his bag.

“Not that much!” Lander yelled.

“Let’s just say that he felt a little more generous tonight. That’s all.”

“Will you both shut up?”

Herschel flicked the back of Ian’s pirate hat and laughed. Ian paid little attention to him and continued walking. The living room was lit and furnished completely with antique furniture. Bookshelves lined the walls of the room as hundreds of books stood proudly in them.

“The man doesn’t own a television?” Herschel muttered. “I knew he was psychotic.”

Ian flashed him a glare.

“Mister Tamer? Hello!” Ian said loudly. “We’re just making sure you’re okay. Hello!”

“That’s it, Ian. Let the killer know we’re in his lair. Great thinking.”

“You don’t know he’s a killer.”

Ian turned away from them and walked into a room that resembled a dining room. It was a shade darker and the shadows of a china cabinet stood adjacent to a large dinner table. Ian stopped at the archway to the next room, which was pitch black.

“Mister Tamer?” he called out.

“I don’t think he’s here, Ian,” Lander said softly. “Maybe he stepped out for a while. Let’s leave and come back later.”

“I saw a stairway in the living room.”

“I saw it too,” Herschel uttered as he pulled a chocolate bar from his back and started unwrapping it.

The three of them crept back to the living room and up the red carpeted stairs. The lighting wasn’t all that great, but Ian could see several framed portraits hanging on the wall with each step he made.

“That must be his family,” Ian mumbled.

“You mean, was his family,” Herschel said almost incoherently as he chewed on the candy.

The rooms upstair were all just as dark and unoccupied as the room downstairs had been. Ian turned and stepped slowly down the flight of stairs as the other boys trailed him.

“I say we try the backyard,” Herschel piped up, shoving another piece of candy in his oversized mouth.

Ian shrugged as Lander whimpered incoherently. Through the front door, they went around the house and through the gate of a wooden planked privacy fence. Small landscaping lights lit the area within the fencing. A couple of fountains bubbled around them and a small waterfall trickled into a large coy pond. The entire area was gorgeous, even in the little specks of lighting that shown through the night. Ian swore to himself that this was probably the most beautiful yard he had ever seen in his entire life. The solace found in here was interrupted by the occasional laughing trick-or-treater or the irritated adult forced to have to accompany the young ones from house to house.

The sound of a slamming door brought Ian’s mind back to where he happened to be standing. Herschel glanced up, taking his eyes away from the attention he was giving the coy in the pond. Ian watched Herschel slip one of the fish a piece of chocolate. The sight made him want to yell at the oversized boy, but instead, he just shook his head in disgust before he took off back around the house. Lander and Hershel followed him.

At the front door, Ian pulled a dead stop. His face paled for a moment.

“What’s wrong, Ian?” Lander asked as he readjusted his red nose.

Ian said nothing and Lander followed his eyes where a sheet of paper hung on the door.

Thanks for letting the cat out. I sure do wish you hadn’t. I have to find her before she finds the mice at the barn. She likes mice, but she’s not supposed to have their blood. I have to get her back inside. Don’t worry about her though, and help yourself to the candy. Maybe I can get your grandfather to help me get her in before it‘s too late.

Mister Tamer



Herschel panted loudly as Ian heard him finally make it to the door. Lander turned a questionable glance to the broad-faced boy who took a few seconds to read the note.

“That cat’s a girl! No freaking wonder she acts like that!”

“You’re joking, right?” Ian asked with a blank expression. “That’s all you got out of that note?”

Herschel shrugged.

“You don’t think--” Lander started as Ian interrupted him.

“It’s Halloween. Anything is possible, right?”

Lander and Ian took off running, leaving the heavy set boy to groan as he swallowed the belly full of candy back down before he went after them. Huffing and puffing, Ian heard Herschel trailed behind them. Ian grinned a little. He couldn’t help but feel the boy deserved a bit of indigestion.

Beyond the trick-or-treaters and parents, beyond the city limits and down a curving dirt road lay the farm that belonged to Ian’s grandfather. Through the gate, the three boys went past the fully lit house and into the field that would lead them to the barn where all the neighborhood boys usually spent the rest of their Halloween evenings. The small light that hung on one of the barn rafters shined in the distance illuminating the way. Ian’s heart raced as he thought about Mister Tamer and that blasted cat, Higgins. A scream from inside of the barn set his nerves on edge.

“Ian! What’s going on in there?” Herschel huffed.

“Do I look psychic to you?” Ian yelled back.

The young boy wearing the pirate costume reached the door first. He pulled on it with all of his might, opening just enough to be able to slip through. Inside, the boys from the neighborhood that had been away their arrival stood as still as statues against a stack of hay. Their eyes were wide as saucers. Their skin was as pale as ghosts. Ian could have sworn they looked as scared as mice, themselves, standing and waiting for the slaughter. Reaching down to his side, he pulled the sword out. It wasn’t a true sword, but it was metal and it was the only thing he had. Lander and Herschel walked up beside Ian. The sheer terror in Lander’s face was evident, while Herschel seemed to have no real idea what was going on.

A familiar growl from the other side of a stack of hay let Ian know he had been right. Higgins was here! She was here and she had managed to corner all of the guys. Swallowing hard, Ian summoned up the courage and gripped the pirate sword tightly in his hand. Slowly, he inched forward. His eyes met Lander’s. The red-headed boy shook his head slowly and Ian knew that he was pretty much on his own with this one.

Ever so quiet, Ian made it to the stack of hay. Higgins growled relentlessly as Ian peered around the corner of the huge stack.

There she sat, refusing to give up what she had worked so hard for, the half-dead mouse that lay barely breathing between her fangs. Blood had trickled from one of the rodent’s many puncture wounds, into the corner of her mouth and down her fluffy black furred chest. She really did look vicious, but the reaction his friends were having to the scene was definitely not called for. Ian looked questionably at them and loosened his grip on the fake pirate sword as he came into full view.

“You guys can’t be that upset about a dead mouse,” Ian said with a grin. “I mean, really.”

A couple of the boys gulped and one of the smaller ones shook his head furiously. Lander and Herschel gawked at what was happening around the hay. Ian started laughing. His laugh faded fast when the shouting outside of the barn could be heard.

“Boys! Get away from that cat! I mean it! Now’s not the time!”

“Do what Tamer says, boys,” Ian heard his grandfather shout. “He’s telling the truth.”

The boys in the group tried to move slowly away from the cat. Higgins’ eyes sparkled against the light in the barn. The emerald green danced in them and Ian felt a chill go up his spine. He knew he had hated that cat for a reason.

Outside he heard Mister Tamer curse.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left the house to get her a can of tuna fish.”

“Tamer, you couldn’t have known somebody would have let her out,” Ian’s grandfather grumbled. “Let’s just get the kids out of there.”

Ian turned to see Lander and Herschel pushing up against the door. They looked like they were really straining, which was a lot to be said for Herschel. Ian watched Higgins who let out another growl, almost smiling in satisfaction. The boys lined across from her tried to move but the cat dropped the mouse out of its mouth and let out a hiss with her hideously bloody mouth. Looking at her feet, Ian saw the sharp white claws that he had not noticed when he first saw her here.

“Doggone you, Higgins!” Mister Tamer yelled as Ian heard someone kick on the other side of the door. “Open that confounded door!”

The grip on the sword tightened once more in Ian’s hand as he heard Lander and Herschel screaming about the door being stuck. The pounding echoed inside the young pirate’s head. The screaming vibrated against his brain and the look of the other boys made his heart thread quickly. Higgins laid her body on the barn floor. She purred, almost relaxed but Ian knew better. He watched her hind quarters as she maneuvered ever-so-slightly where she wanted to be. One of the terrified boys wailed as he tried to pushed against the others.

“Let those boys alone, Higgins!” Mister Tamer screamed.

“Back away from the door, boys!” Ian’s grandfather shouted as the sound of a shot gun being cocked was heard throughout the barn. “I’m going to blast the hinges!”

Higgins glanced at the door as Lander and Herschel moved out of the way. She growled and turned her green eyes to Ian. Then with a snarl and a glance towards new prey, she snapped her body into action and planted those sharp, white claws into one of the boys’ legs. The boy screamed uncontrollably as he barreled over all of the others. Higgins squalled as she climbed him like a tree. The boy tumbled into a pile of loose hay, yelling at the top of his lungs. Ian heard the shot gun go off a couple of times as wood from around the hinges splintered into the air.

Ian’s heart raced as he ran up to the boy who lay under Higgins. Holding the sword above his head, he knew his strike would hurt the cat but his friend was about to suffer the consequences of him not doing anything if he didn’t. Higgins’ eyes met Ian’s, once again, just as the young pirate went for the down-swing. Those green eyes sparkled once more and then the sword slipped from Ian’s fingers, landing with a clank on the floor.

The mound of black fur on top of Ian’s friend’s chest writhed for a second and let out a shrill squall that turned into a scream. A human scream. Ian backed away as he watched the fur on Higgins melt away as bloody flesh burst forth, growing disproportionately huge to the body of the cat. Screams of the boys were heard all over the room as the hair and features of a woman started to appear where the cat had been.

Ian turned to the sound of the barn door giving way. His grandfather rushed in and cocked his shotgun once again as Mister Tamer ushered the boys quickly out of the barn. The woman, gray and frizzy headed, stood over the trembling boy. Blood from the dying mouse trickled down the corner of her mouth, but that was not the sight that grossed Ian out the most. Her plump body was in need of something to cover it and Ian was certain that this was a sight that would wake him up in a cold sweat for many nights to come. Her emerald green eyes sparkled at Ian as Mister Tamer hurried to the woman’s side with a thick blanket, covering her short stature from the shoulders down. Holding the woman firmly, Mister Tamer passed Ian once again.

“Happy Halloween, dear,” she hissed at Ian as Mister Tamer escorted her back out into the darkness.