He’ll come for you
Regina was born on October 31st.
She had the best birthday. It was always a costume party, and most of her class came. Mom spent half the afternoon making food and snacks. And Regina ALWAYS wore a scary costume.
Until this year. This year Hugh Blythe was coming to her party, and Hugh was the cutest boy in class. He was smarter than Blake Gleadall and better at sports than Greyson Aire. And his eyes were so dreamy!
She had to look like a rock star, and Emily (her sister) was totally ruining it. She kept interrupting.
“Where did you get that?” she snarled unkindly, glaring at her sister’s reflection in the mirror.
“Mom’s closet.”
Regina was wearing a gold dress covered in sequins that sparkled when she turned.
“She just let you wear that?”
“Okay. She doesn’t exactly know I have it.”
Her sister’s scowl deepened. The zombie makeup made her face truly terrible.
“But don’t worry! I won’t get it dirty! I’ll be so careful! And I’ll return it before she even misses it! You know how much she loves cooking for the party! She’ll be in the kitchen all night. She’ll never know.”
Emily crossed her arms. “Unless I tell her.”
“You wouldn’t!” Regina cried out. “Would you?”
Emily stuck out her tongue and ran out of the room. Regina thought of chasing her, but she was too scared to rip the dress. She just sat down, waiting to hear her mother’s feet coming up the stairs, her voice yelling “Regina Elizabeth Adshade! Stay out of my closet!”
The voice never came. Emily came back, walking very slowly. She looked weird. Sick. She stopped and stared at Regina. It was creepy and uncomfortable.
“What do you want, pest?”
Emily just stared.
“Why don’t you just get out?”
Silence.
“If this is some prank I swear!”
Emily smiled. It spread across her face slowly.
“You were born on Halloween.”
“Everyone knows that, dummy.”
“You have to wear a scary costume.”
Regina rolled her eyes.
“If you don’t wear one, he’ll come for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Emily ran away. There was no time to think about it. She was probably just being a pest. No way she was telling mom about the dress. Getting the party shut down meant no party for her, either, and she just LOVED harassing Regina’s friends.
She looked in the mirror. The dress looked great. No WAY Hugh was seeing her in some scary costume. “I’m wearing it.”
The doorbell rang so many times it sounded like a dinner bell. Her whole class showed up and most of them brought their siblings.
Mom was busy in the kitchen. Emily was DJ-ing the party and doing a pretty good job of playing music that wasn’t completely lame. Where was Hugh?
Finally she spotted him, in the corner with a group of other boys. He was wearing a creepy rabbit costume. They were all trying to hang spoons on their noses and laughing. The tallest one tried and his spoon clattered to the floor. They all yelled “OH!” When it fell.
“Hi, Hugh.”
“Hey! Adshade! Cool party.”
“Thanks.”
“Join us!”
She did, blowing air onto the spoon and sticking it to her nose. She was actually pretty good at it. They all seemed impressed. Once it had been stuck for a few seconds, she started dancing around with it still balanced. Everyone was chanting “Ad-shade! AD-SHADE!”
She spun around in circles a few times but got super dizzy and fell into someone. Someone in a creepy rabbit costume. Oh, no.
“Hugh! I’m so sorry.”
“No,” he said. “It’s Halloween.”
“Uh...yeah.”
“It’s your birthday.”
“Are you okay?” Did he hit his head?
“If you don’t wear a scary costume, he’ll come for you.”
Not Hugh too! She groaned. Was everyone in on this stupid joke? She was going to stop it RIGHT NOW. She was going to the kitchen to get mom!
As expected, mom was covered in flour and buried behind a wall of cookies and cakes and snacks.
“Mo-om! Emily’s messing with me! And she’s getting everyone else to do it, too!”
“It can’t be that bad. They’re just having a good time. Can you pass me that big glass jar of baking soda?”
“I can’t even find it!” The kitchen was piled with glass jars full of powder and cans and baked goods and platters! How was she supposed to...
Her mom came out from behind a pile of food and grabbed a glass jar from a forest of identical glass jars.
“Why do we have so much baking soda?”
“You’ll thank me when there’s an apocalypse and we still have cookies.”
“How often does that happen?”
“It could.”
She peered at her daughter, as if seeing her for the first time. “Regina...what are you wearing?”
“Ok...don’t freak out...”
“What are you DRESSED AS?”
“I’m a rock star, but—“
Her mother frowned. “Okay, but you’re changing, right? Before the end of the party...you’ll change?”
“Change? Why would I?”
“You HAVE to wear a scary costume...”
“Really? You too, mom?!”
“Listen to me! You have to change!”
Regina ran. She was so mad! Why couldn’t everyone just stop messing with her?!
She knew exactly what to do. She grabbed Emily’s microphone and shut off the music.
“Ok guys! Very funny! You can quit messing with me now! I know nobody is ‘coming for me’”
Hugh spoke first “But he IS coming for you.”
“He’s coming for you. He’s coming for you.” They all chanted. It was so loud. Regina covered her ears.
“Stop!” She screamed. “Just STOP!”
They didn’t. They surrounded her. It got louder and louder, until she had no choice but to run. Down the hall and out the front door.
A man stood on the porch, carrying an old fashioned medical bag and wearing a top hat.
“If you please, I’m looking for Regina.”
Regina thought fast. “I’m her sister. Emily. Why are you looking for her?”
“I must be absolutely positive she’s wearing a scary costume tonight.”
Regina opened the door wider. The chanting had stopped. Emily was playing music again. She was dressed as a rotting zombie.
“Great.” The man took a pen and clipboard out of his bag. He marked something on a sheet, and stowed them again. Then he winked. “He’ll be very pleased that He doesn’t have to come for her.”
“Oh...”
“And next year, I assume you will also be appropriately dressed?”
“I...”
“You will, REGINA. Or he’ll come for you.”
