“Charlie, why are you dressed up like a fairy?” Nana furrowed her brows, like two gray caterpillars resting in confusion over the rim of her glasses.

“Nana, I’m Starchild. You know, I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day?” I motioned at the face paint and the leather outfit. How could she not know who KISS was?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about sweetie. But it’s not appropriate for Easter. God wouldn’t like that outfit. You look like a fairy.” She shook her head in disapproval.

“Nana, it’s Halloween, not Easter. And calling someone a fairy really isn’t okay anymore… Did you take your meds?”

She didn’t answer, simply stared off into space, softly humming a church hymn.

“Whatever…” I groaned, making my way to the back door.

“Charlie, don’t forget curfew this time!” My mother called from somewhere deep within the house.

“Yeah, yeah! Got it mom!” I rolled my eyes as I slid through the screen door and down the porch steps.

Streetlights splashed a yellow glow across the asphalt as herds of children in costumes flooded the streets. Orange and brown leaves spun in circles across the ground as a cool breeze rolled in from the south. Laughter filled the air as kids jumped and twirled in between doorbells.

A part of me missed that age, the thrill of trick-or-treating and staying up late to stuff my face with candy corn, but another part of me was glad it was over. I had more adult things on my mind for this evening.

I couldn’t run in my platform boots, but I sped walked faster than any soccer mom could ever dream of as I made my way across the neighborhood to Eric Pliers house. My calves were on fire, but after a few minutes it was totally worth it.

Deadmau5 pulsed from inside as neon lights spilled out of the windows onto the lawn. Some other kids that I recognized from school were making out on the patio.

I made my way into the foyer through the entanglement of bodies and mounds of discarded red solo cups.

A sea of risqué costumes writhed in the living room as EDM raged through the speakers. It was a fantastical dance floor made of shag rug and floral wallpaper. The outdated house came alive tonight. The energy was electrifying, and I felt its current twist its way through my veins like a drug.

I slipped my way into the fray of flesh and danced like I never had before. My limbs twirled in a frenzy as the bass rattled my teeth.

This went on for hours. By the time I came down from my buzz most of the people had left the party. A few girls gossiped on the sofa and there was a jock passed out on the kitchen floor just outside the den. Other than that, the house was about empty.

What time is it?

I looked to the grandfather clock by the staircase.

11:46PM.

Oh shit…

I’d missed curfew almost by an hour. Oh, man… she was going to kill me.

I broke out into a trot and burst through the front door and down the porch steps. I was partially down the street when I heard someone call out to me.

“CHARLIE! WAIT UP!”

Eric Pliers jogged after me, his alien costume jiggling comically.

“Oh, hey Eric. Great party! I had so much fun, but I really gotta get home. I’m out past curfew and my mom is going to be so pissed.”

“Ah… well I just wanted to tell you thanks for coming. I enjoyed hanging out with you.”

“But did we hang out? I don’t really remember us talking?” I chuckled.

“Well, no… but I really liked seeing you. Outside of school I mean. Do you think… do you think I could do that more often?”

“Do what?”

“See you outside of school more.” He blushed.

“Oh, yeah of course. I’d like that.” I grinned.

He beamed at me for a moment, but then his smile quickly faltered.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You know that guy?” He pointed over my shoulder.

“What, who?” I spun around. At first, I didn’t see him, but then I spotted him standing behind a streetlight.

He was freakishly tall and thin enough to hide most of his body behind the lamppost. Only his shoulders and head stood out from behind it. His neck was craned and I could tell he was watching us even though he had on what looked like to be a Japanese Oni mask.

Large golden horns curled out from the black snarling face of a demon. I’d seen something similar in an Anime before.

“CAN I HELP YOU?” I shouted.

I spun around to face Eric.

“Seriously, what’s with this guy?” I asked, throwing up my hands.

“I don’t know what a creep.”

I turned my head to look over my shoulder, but the man was gone.

“What the hell…” I paced in a circle, scanning the area. I didn’t see him anywhere.

“Well, the creepy weeb must have taken off.” A giggle was caught in my throat as I turned to Eric to see the tall man with his hand around his throat, pulling Eric tightly against his body.

Eric choked and thrashed against the man, his face purple with spittle bubbling at the corners of his mouth.

“WOAH, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY…” I cried, backpedaling away from them with my hands up.

“We were just joking, you’re totally not a creep. Please let him go.” I pleaded.

The man said nothing. He only stared at me with icy gray eyes beneath the mask.

“Just let him go and leave us alone. We won’t tell anyone…” I didn’t know what to say, I just wanted it to stop.

Silence.

Eric had gone limp. He had lost consciousness or worse. The Oni man suddenly tightened his grip so hard that I heard a snap. I gasped as Eric’s head lolled to the side like a ragdoll.

“Oh my God!” I screamed.

I took off sprinting as fast as I could, clomping in my platform boots like a Clydesdale through the streets.

“Help! Someone help!” I hollered. But the once busy neighborhood was dead asleep.

I couldn’t call the police, my mother had taken my cellphone when I’d broken curfew a week ago.

I ran and ran, my lungs were on fire, my legs were weak and wobbly. I didn’t look over my shoulder until I was rounding the corner of my street.

The Oni Man stood behind another lamppost not thirty yards behind me. The light glinted off his golden horns and this time he was waving at me.

Tears rolled down my face as I galloped further down the sidewalk. I was almost to my house when I tripped over my boots and face planted onto the concrete. My mouth filled with blood from where I’d chipped my teeth.

I spit out the shards and a mouthful of blood as I scrambled back to my feet. The man was close, I could hear his footsteps just behind me. But I didn’t dare look back, I darted through the yard and into the house, slamming the door and locking it behind me.

“Charlie is that you? You’re late, AGAIN!” My mom shouted while descending the staircase.

“Mom, mom! Call the cops!” I screeched.

“What, why? What’s happened?” She scrambled down the steps and into the living room.

“Oh my God, what happened to your face?” She grabbed the sides of my cheeks to examine the damage.

“Don’t worry about that Mom, damn, call the police!” I yelled.

“What’s going on Charlie? Are you on drugs?”

“No mom, the man… the man in the mask, he killed Eric. He killed Eric and he’s after me.” I whimpered.

“What are you talking about? Who is Eric? Who is after you?” Her voice was high pitched and panicky.

Before I had a chance to answer I heard a window shatter in the study.

My mother quickly crossed the room, her pink bathrobe billowing behind her.

“No! Mom, don’t go in there!” I cried.

But it was too late, the tall man emerged from the doorway and slammed her against the wall. She cried out in pain as he wrapped his hands around her neck and slammed her again and again. I fell to my knees as her body smashed through the drywall, cracking the wooden studs beneath.

She crumpled to the floor in a heap after he was done. Blood pooled around her head, matting her blonde hair to the hardwood.

The Oni man turned to face me. The same steely gaze shone through the eye holes in the demon mask. There was no emotion there. He was the void, and I was to be consumed by it one way or another.

I felt urine trickle down my pant leg as he stepped towards me.

This is it. This is where I die.

The thought bounced around my skull like static.

Just before his hands reached me an explosion rang out just over my head, sending the man tumbling backward.

My ears rang and the whole world slowed down. I watched as he struggled to stand but before he did another blast tore through his chest.

He didn’t get up that time.

I turned to look behind me.

“The devil never stood a chance on Easter Charlie. Always remember that.” Nana stood at the bottom of the staircase, smoke drifting from the barrel of her shotgun.

I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, sobbing.

“It’s alright son, it’s alright.” She patted my back after dropping her gun to the floor.

----

Mom was in a coma for a week but ended up pulling through without any permanent damage. We had called an ambulance just in time the paramedics had said. They were able to get her in for surgery before her brain had swelled too far.

Eric hadn’t been so fortunate. His neck had been broken and he’d been deprived of oxygen for too long.

Nana and I attended his funeral a few days later. It was a beautiful service. The entire school had shown up.

As for the Oni man. Well, he had lived somehow despite all the buckshot he’d taken. The police had him in holding at the hospital but claimed he was mute. He never said a word. They also couldn’t find anything on his fingerprints in the system. It was like he didn’t exist.

Before they could sort it all out, he had escaped. The officer that was supposed to watch the room was on indefinite leave for allowing him to slip away. It was all over the news.

A patrol car sat outside our house every night for months. Just to be safe.

But I never felt at ease walking the neighborhood again. I couldn’t stop looking at the lamppost. Waiting… waiting to see those horns glowing in the streetlight.

To see him watching. To see him waving. A greeting from the void, come back to consume me.