Halloween Horror

This is my contribution to the 1000 Word Meme this week. I thought it was fitting.



“This is why I hate Halloween,” Stan remarked, gazing at the mutilated bodies in the bedroom.”All the crazies come out of the woodwork.”

His partner was examining the body of the lady of the house. She used to be quite beautiful according to the picture by the bed. Now it was all he could do to look at her. Her face had been carved up. It looked like someone had tried to make her look like the Joker off the Batman movie.

The man wasn’t any better. His nose had been cut off and his eyes poked out.

“I don’t understand why there aren’t signs of a struggle,” Stan said. “It looks like someone just walked in, did the deed, and waltz out pretty as you please.”

“Chief, you need to see this,” a deputy called from the kitchen.

“What ya got,” he asked upon entering the kitchen.

“We found this sitting on the counter beside the booze,” he said, pointing at a box of rat poison.

“You got to be shitin me. Nobody uses rat poison to kill these days.”

“Seems somebody did. Looks like it still works too,” the deputy replied.

Stan made his way back to the bedroom shaking his head. Rat poison. Haven’t had a case of that in years, he thought.

“They were poisoned, John. Rat poison, if you can believe it,” Stan told his partner.

“Guess that explains why they didn’t put up a fight. That stuff’s lethal.”

***

“Holy Shit!” someone in another part of the house muttered.

Stan and John made their way to a bedroom down the hall. As they entered they saw a deputy staring into the closet. He was stock still with a shocked expression on his face.

“What is it, deputy?” Stan asked.

“A kid,” the deputy replied.

“A kid? Well, what are you doing? Get him out of the closet.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Chief.”

“Why the hell not?” Stan asked as he made his way to the closet.

What he saw inside chilled even his hardened heart. A child of about ten was sitting crossed legged in the closet floor holding a small dog. In the child’s hand was a knife. He was busy carving the dogs face.

The chief heard him say, “I’m sorry, Toby, but Mom wouldn’t get me a pumpkin. I asked her and Dad both but they wanted to get drunk as usual. I just wanted one normal Halloween like all the kids at school talk about. I wanted to carve a pumpkin! I think yours is going to look the best. I practiced on Mom and Dad first. I wonder if I can cut the heads off and sit them on the porch?”