(HHWC) Enchanted

Halloween Night 1978

Cylena was the typical 13 year old girl with scads of admirers at school just beginning to notice her for her 'maturity' accompanied by her incredible and sparkling blue eyes which only cast a shadow when she flashed her long and thick dark eyelashes to wink or blink in their direction which always sent shivers down the spines of her male classmates.

No doubt she would have no problem finding a date for the Halloween Ball which was the biggest event of the year at Perry Middle School in the mid sized town in rural Pennsylvania, her Mother had told her during the summer as they sewed and sequenced several choices to wear. Her Mother a designer of fashionable kids clothing, had assured her as much.

Already the chill night air had given way to the storms on the horizon blowing in fast from the North.

Having tried on at least 7 different costumes Cyrena decided on the Typical Purple witch outfit, the warmer of the seven, which framed her budding curves and although sensible and sedate, also gave her the appearance of a slightly sexy grown up, which was the look she was most striving for.

"Cylena! You better hurry honey your date will be here in a few minutes!"

"Cylena? did you hear me?"

"Hang on Mom I'll be down in about 10."

No sooner than Cylena reached midway down the antique oak spiral staircase the doorbell rang, a small group of gools and ghosts stood with arms outstretched pillowcases open at the end and shouting "Trick or Treat!"

She reached into the large black wrought iron calderon sitting beside the door and handed them all large fist fulls of sweets.

"Happy Halloween" she said as they raced off back into the night.

Walking into the kitchen where her Mom and her best friend Carol sat sipping the festive looking 'brew' topped with a luscious dollop of whipped cream, she stood and raised her arms out to the sides and made a pirouette at the entryway.

"Oh, Cylena! You look amazing darling!" exclaimed Carol, "A true witch you are tonight my sweet daughter" stated her Mom proudly.

Pretty bitchin' huh? Or should I say Witchin? They all burst out in laughter and jumped up to begin dancing to the song Werewolves of London which just come on the radio.

Cylena shouted out "If anyone was to see us right now they would think us a bunch of spazzes!" "Well" said Carol, "'We' may look like a couple of spazes but you, you are no spaz honey, you look like the queen of the witches tonight."

"Blanch, do you think it is time?" Cylenas Mom looked peering at her best friend but moved over to the China hutch in the corner of the room and pulled out a small wooden box and walked back over to her daughter.

"This being your 13Th Halloween my love, it is time I shared something I also wore on my 13Th, it is as old as time itself and something which has been handed down for more generations than anyone knows.

Cylena lifted the lid on the simple little box and her eyes opened wide at the sight of the gems catching the light and reached in to take out the most exquisite necklace she had ever seen.

The color of autumn fire filled her senses as she pulled out the burnt orange to deep red jeweled necklace and her Mother stood behind her to help fasten it around her long slender neck. Carol held a dressing mirror before her and Cylena with tears in her eyes asked, "What is it? Ruby? Topaz?" as the colors seem to change as it reflected the colors surrounding it, "no my love it is far more rare than either of those, this is a gemstone called garnet fire, but not like the similar gems, the typical ones found in the world today, these are not even from this world, from a faraway place."

"Oh Mom! Now I know your kidding me!" "No dear I am not, but we can discuss this another time. I just heard your, date, trip over the flower pots on the front porch"...

With that Cylena hurried to the front door and opened it to find Charley dusting off the potting soil from his Superman costume, little flecks of pearlite still clinging to his chest.

"Um, sorry cylena, I um, tripped"

"Oh Charlie are you alright?" "Well I am but your Mom's Mums are not." He handed the broken stems to Cylena who insisted her Mom could simply replant them and that it was perfectly fine as long as he was OK.

Charlie was the shortest boy in the 9Th grade, with unruly flaming red hair and an abundance of freckles, a shy demeanor, but one of Selena's favorite people to hang out with as they both shared the same passion for the Sciences and Astronomy. Charley had the uncanny ability to point out each and every star in the sky and know something about each one. Constellations were his specialty and that was how they could sit on the cool grass in the backyard for hours over the summer together and just talk amongst themselves or and even better sometimes just enjoy each other's company in silence, a comfortable silence.

"Charlie! you look so strong and handsome tonight said Blanch Cylena's Mom from behind the doorway." "You kids better get going,you have a long night ahead and I wouldn't want you to miss a moment of the fun awaiting you."

"You both know the rules and in by Midnight."

"Catch ya on the rebound Mom."

With that they set off walking in the direction of the school. "Cylena, you look really cool tonight." "Thanks Charlie, and you know Superman is my favorite comic book character, you really look rad."

For the next couple of blocks neither of them spoke a word and instead kept their attention on the trick or treaters running back and forth across the streets candy bags filling up, at one point a particularly chubby pirate had spilled his entire bag of loot, Charley and Cylena stopped to help him hoist his 'treasures' back into his booty bag.

Entering the auditorium which had been transformed visually into a fall decorative delight was only upstaged by the smell of old tennis shoes and cinnamon pumpkin spice. The evening was a typical teenage dance really with the populars dancing into a frenzy as the night wore on and the less than's keeping the bleachers along the walls of the spacious room occupied and warm.

Cylena and Charlie sat for the most part 3 rows up watching as spectators rather than participants. They did however hit the floor when a few songs came over the PA, songs like "last dance" by Donna summers, "You really got me" by Van Halen, and Rod Stewart's, "You're in my heart". Cylena declined when Charlie asked her to dance to "Brick House."

At the end of the night 3 of Cylenas best friends all dressed as playboy bunnies, and their dates came up to the odd couple and begged them to come meet at a private house party being thrown by one of the high school jocks whose parents were away from town. They had to decline as it was fast approaching midnight and the walk home would be just enough time to get there if they left shortly.

Charlie grabbed two cups of the punch as they headed towards the exit stopping only briefly to smell the contents for any unsuspecting extras which may have been dumped in by the hardcore partiers. Deciding all was safe he handed one to Cylena and took a long drink of the second before tossing the empty cup in the bin at the door.

The night air had dropped by several degrees since their arrival and Charlie removed his cape to drape over Cylenas practically bear shoulders. walking slowly through the empty streets save a few lit houses all was quiet and peaceful.

"Charlie, why don't we take the long way home and just pass by that party on the way home? We wont stop, I just want to spy on them for a minute."

"OK Cylena, will do! But lets not stop we need to keep on truckin' you know, midnight and all." "Then we better boogie Charley!"

As they passed the party a very disheveled looking Frankenstein was on the front lawn puking his guts out, his girlfriend dressed as Daisy Duke hurling insults upon him and threatening a major breakup in the morning. From the front window you could see standing room only in the cramped house and loud music by Led Zeppelin was blaring out onto the streets, dogs were barking and the red and blue lights at the end of the street were the indication to step it up a notch as they headed down the back streets towards Cylenas home.

"Hey Cylena, do remember the old haunted mansion by the park we used to go to every Halloween night just for a good scare as old lady Mckinney used to chase us off?" "I know she really needed to take a chill pill." "Wonder what ever happened to her?"

Did she die?" "I don't know Cylena, maybe she did and her spirit is still there, waiting for unsuspecting trick or treaters to step on her lawn so she could choke them with her chains or something." At this point charlie holds up his fists as if shaking a chain at Cylenas neck."Ahhh, Charlie stop!" Breaking into laughter Charlie apologized and they both broke into a run headed towards the old mansion and mean old McKinney.

The house to their surprise was fully lit and the sounds of laughter could be heard in the otherwise dead silence of the night, a swirling wind picked up as they stepped up onto the porch to take a peek inside through the front bay window.

No sooner than they stuck their noses to the glass the door opened and out stepped Carol in a long dark velvet hooded cape,

"Ah, I see you two finally arrived! We have been expecting you, come on in and get out of the cold children."

Cylena's Mom dressed in a cape similar to Carols but blood red in color rushed up to give them both a hug and a tall man dressed in the same only white handed them each a pewter goblet filled with a honey amber colored liquid, "Happy Halloween kids."

Old Mrs. McKinney walked up arthritically and draped over her arms were two capes, one a deep rich green which she acknowledged towards Charlie and then turning slowly offered the remaining royal purple to Cylena.

They each took the capes but looked at one another in astonishment and confusion as they slipped into the robes. as they did , so the room seemed to fall away, at least as they knew the room to be, another set of physics appeared like a loud pop, and no longer were they standing in the foyer of the old mansion, but out in a meadow of sorts surrounded by trees that were of a color unknown to them before, the tree's appeared to be part of the celebration, the party and were communicating telepathically with guests!

Multicolored candles free floated above their heads and the meadow itself was surrounded by tables fully decorated and overflowing with trays brimming with cakes, fruits and foods of every kind.

A fountain in the center spilled out the same amber liquid as they had been given and guests placed their goblets in to refill as they passed by. The taste of the liquid was pure ambrosia, it was thicker now than when they first sipped it in the foyer, but tasted even sweeter, fresher than the first drink which between that and the capes brought them here.

Cylena ran to Carol and asked "Where's my Mom?" Carol told her, "Blanch is not your 'real' Mom, at least not in this dimension." "what"? "What do you mean Carol, she is my real Mom, where is she?" "That's not important, what is is that you tonight stand up and accept the great lineage you have been kept from for the past 12 years, tonight you discover who you really are, who your true parents are and how life will be for you in the present and future."

At once all the guests raised thier goblets and began to emminate a sound vibrational frequency, not from their mouths but seemingly from every pore of their beings, a sound unlike any before heard by Cylena and Charlie, together they stood, not afraid as the energy which surrounded them was of pure love, light and compassion.

Not only could they hear the music but could also feel it like a warm embrace. The energy in the space began to pulsate with the frequency and even the molocules of the air became like tiny pin points of life and illumination.

As with a lightheaded sensation,both Charlie and Cylena began to float up, up into the air. The light molocules actually caressing them and allowing the physical sensations to send them higher and higher 20-30 feet above the rest until it became clear another space had appeared before them more brilliant, magnificent than before.

As they breathed the microscopic light molecules filled their chests with a sort of liquid consistency until breathing completely ceased and only the comfort of a baby in the mothers womb could describe their experience.

Once they became accoustomed to this higher vibrational frequency did they see their real parents for the first time, Charlies on the left and Cylenas on the right.

It was no accident that they had connected on the lower astral plane of existence for in this realm they were both the children of the creators of reality. She of the female and he of the male.

All time and eternity melted into a single moment, into a pinpoint of crystal clear and abundant clarity. A moment when eternity penetrates time.

Fin

wonderful story! thank you for sharing it with us.

I got scared for a moment there, wondering where the story was going to head, when they started drinking the "jesus juice"

I started to think it was a true horror story and they were being abducted by an evil cult

Any story that provokes me to "solve" it before I actually finish reading it is a good one to me

Well done,

~meathead

Great Halloween story, Antar, I loved it.

Nice Story! I told myself that I would not read any HHWC for fear of absorbing too many negative energies. I do not take well to reading about violence because my mind works in pictures.

So it is funny that I should open my first HHWC and find such a wonderful story, I am quite relieved. Thank you!

So my now "Mature" children, think I should have gone with the old lady McKinny 's spirit coming back from the dead and wreaking havok on the two teens... LOl I asked them to finish the story right about the time it went for the ole switch-a-roo, fun, but Ok, next time I will write a real horror.

I literally had to stop myself from looking ahead to see how the jeweled necklace was going to effect her!
But it was a good thing, and all's well that ends well.
I enjoyed it very much.

Very nice and uplifting story, it's nice that there can be Halloween stories that don't focus on the dark aspect of the supernatural. I find there's a very tangible connection between my spiritual outlook and the light/dark orientation of the things I read.

Nice story Antar.

You should consider writing a book, or maybe you have

and also, do you believe in Wicca?

Its just a curiosity, you dont have to answer of cos.....

Antar
u've been holdin out on me
ur a writer and didn't tell me
what a great story
loved reading it
S&F from me

edit to ask:
is any of this true?
sounds like some of it
was from personal experience.
am I correct?

reply to post by boondock-saint


Only the very last line which was a singular spiritual event and the reason I am still looking for answers to the Shifting of the earths axis which will probably happen in my lifetime.

reply to post by Dr Cosma


I did not know one could believe in Wikka any more than one can believe in the sun. I love this precious Universe thats for sure! Thank you.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Well it was going to, but as with most of my fiction it just flows where it wants and I follow. I wanted the necklace to have supernatural powers and something that unites Mom and daughter on the level which she was to be initiated that night. Also the boyfriend was going to be frozen with no memory the next day upon arriving at the old house. The old woman, Old Mrs. McKinney was going to be a ghostly host of the gathering.

reply to post by antar

I enjoyed reading your story, Antar. Your writing has a particular realism and texture that makes it a pleasure to read. Your careful use of details in describing the dance and the party makes the tale believable, and your narrative paints a convincing picture of Cyclena, one that kept me reading until the end. I'd like to read a vampire story by you as well. Have you written one in the past?

reply to post by Flatwoods


No, but would love to. I love your writing style, so much and am just glad you took time to read my story.

reply to post by antar


You surprised me by your ending. Not what I was expecting at all! I would love to see that necklace, you painted a beautiful picture in my mind. Very wonderful vibe throughout the reading, I enjoyed it

reply to post by antar


This was a story that could have turned for the worst. I sure didn't expect the ending to be so magical.
Here's a handful of stars for you.

Thanks for the story.

Looked up from my computer afterwards and was almost surprised to find myself sitting in front of it.
Great stuff.

Thanks again.

Ah, ty for the sweet replies and I enjoy reading them as much as writing, almost.

The reason this one took the turns that it did is because there are so many negative things happening on so many levels,and at least when writing or reading a haunted tale it has the ability to be anything we chose for it to be, and that said I suppose the collective ATS readership 'wanted' it to take a positive direction in the end.

Flatwoods has had me considering a Vampire tale, and I have been working on that in my heart and head since it was suggested.

It begins with the female New-blood in free fall off the top of a flat ridge somewhere in the Grand canyon between the Rim of the world and the Painted desert.

She now can smell her own body and the emotions it had given off prior to, to this endless cascade of plunging demise.

The distinct taste of blood thick and cold almost in coagulation form making it impossible to swallow without glass like agony.

A faint remembrance of the past now as distant as the cliff's edge which she had just catapulted herself, struggling with fleeting memory and the last remaining shred of her humanity.

The dominant scent of their intimacy stronger than even her own lapsing fear pheromones, something she would never again emit for they are the things of man and she no longer was part of that social order.

Making love on the mountain top by the full moon light, that was the last experience she could recall.

Now blanketed by the crisp cool reflection of what would have been felt and instead causing a tingling sensation of frigid nothingness as if it was happening to her, but not of her as she continued to descend to her ultimate death.

3 Months Prior...

The loud and blaring sounds of the city street rushed up to her ears with metallic sharpness and threatened to collapse her head from the migraine which was almost blinding at this point. The Doctors had told her it was a benign tumor and would plan to have her in for an MRI the following Monday.

When first she became aware of any problems with her physical being there was all at once a hemorrhagic explosion from her left eye which left her sightless for almost an hour. No pain, just blood dripping from her eye in a large puddle on the desk before her.

Her coworkers at the facility had found her sitting in front of her computer monitor eyes closed with no indication of awareness or even life as Jewel had instantly begun practicing the same techniques used in conjunction with breath to slow ones heart rate or lower blood pressure.

This seemed to quell the flush of sanguine fluid flowing from her tear ducts and other than a brief moment of contemplation for what was happening, she sat prepared for the worst case scenario and that of her unfinished life.

At 43 years old she was no longer an adolescent yet had the physical constitution and energy of women half her age when visiting the local gym which was at least once a week on a regular basis.

No she thought to herself before going into a slow and methodical state of meditation, time was never something which ended when life was complete, instead it always caught one off guard and completely by surprise at the middle of the journey.

When the paramedics arrived and begun flashing bright lights directly into her pupils what they observed left each one speechless and nothing less than astonished.

As Jewel sat watching each one in turn give a pass with their flashlights as if peering into her soul, the look of amazement and horror crossing their faces as they caught sight of what the other shad seen before them.

A heightened sense of awareness had followed the episode and she could literally hear each person in the rooms thoughts before they had a chance to completely form into the material realm of the conscious.

Her coworkers had all been ushered out of the room as soon as the first paramedics had arrived and still Jewel was able to conjure up what each one of them was experiencing as they had not only been close in the business world but had been even closer in their private lives.

Especially her and Brant Greyman a fellow researcher who she had known for over 10 years since their first days as research assistants. Somewhere along the way Brant had made his way up the ever growing corporate ladder to become assistant editor in chief in charge of research and development. He had never forgotten Jewel and always advanced her not because of his overt bias towards her, but to validate her incredible ability to create original avenues for their research findings.

The Government contracts were secondary to the immeasurable importance of the funds created in private for the real work which laid in the back ground of CMDC or Critical Mass Detection Center. Jewel was top in her field second only to Brant who in his late twenties had made the in vitro pharmacokinetic data discoveries of the past obsolete while reaching for metabolic stability for identification of metabolites important tools in early drug discoveries.

Some time ago I read your story but didn't comment, got side-tracked.

Superb storytelling and a short but super powerful tail that's never forced, it flows naturally.

Here are some of my impressions...

Halloween night is a good date choice.

The name Blanch adds great contrast. It's also so ghoulish since we blanch certain foods before freezing them.

She reached into the large black wrought iron calderon sitting beside the door and handed them all large fist fulls of sweets.

haha This sounds like something a 13-year-old witch would do! Mom or Dad would probably carefully count out the candy. You have a sharp eye for detail.

Catch ya on the rebound Mom.

As in bound to this world? Hmm.

burnt orange to deep red jeweled necklace

a gemstone called garnet fire

as the colors seem to change as it reflected the colors surrounding it

Autumn colors would be breath-taking reflected through a gemstone.

So Charlie and Cylena had a date with destiny, I see. Nice surprise! I expected a haunted house and what could be better than that? Another world, that's what. You got me there! i wasn't expecting it at all.

Nice Halloween present for Charlie and Cylena.

And luv how you used an elixir and a cape to transverse a parallel? world. What was really in that drink? I know that ambrosia is one ingredient.

Not only could they hear the music but could also feel it like a warm embrace. The energy in the space began to pulsate with the frequency and even the molocules of the air became like tiny pin points of life and illumination.

Wow sign me up!!!! I like this kind of physics.

Levitating 20 feet in the air would find me singing ... "just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down. the medicine go down..." LOL

Seriously your story blows me away.

Star

P.S. I went to edit my post and I hit the edit button and this screen came up...



Okay now my post was on page one the first time then the screenshot says that my post was on the the 2nd page (there is no 2nd page btw). Are you magic? Did you do that. I'm trippin. Maybe there are two worlds??? lol