RITUAL - A Halloween Treat

Photo by Ján Jakub Naništa on Unsplash

RITUAL

In November 2023, I found my dream home. It was built in the 1700s and had good bones and the historic charm I craved. Though the interior needed work, I poured myself into the renovations, balancing modern comforts with its original character. By the time I finished, the manor gleamed. I was proud.

February 7th, 2025, was my first night in my newly remodeled home. At the stroke of midnight that night, I woke into a nightmare.

The house I had shaped was gone. In its place stood the home as it must have been in 1789. An intricately carved wooden frame replaced my simple modern bed—the warm glow of candles instead of electric light. The air was so cold I could see my breath.

I wandered through the house, trying to prove it was a dream. Behind one door, I found two strangers asleep, their faces ghostly under the moonlight. Heart pounding, I shut the door and crept to the stairs. The house had rebuilt itself — the walls I’d torn down returned, the colors dark and heavy. Everything smelled of wood smoke and wax.

I stepped outside. The landscape had shifted, too: dirt roads, towering trees, an endless forest. Through the trunks, a fire flickered, shadows circling it. A cloak hung by the door. I put it on and walked toward the fire.

Black-robed figures moved around the flames, chanting. Masks hid their faces; their voices blurred male from female. I tried to listen closer — but hands seized me, lifting me off the ground. They carried me into the clearing and bound me to a flat stone.

The strangest thing? I didn’t resist. Some part of me knew this was meant to happen.

I won’t tell you what came next. Does it matter? Perhaps.

Because when I woke, I was back in my own house. My own time. And it never happened again.

Until tonight.

Halloween — my favorite holiday. I decorated lavishly, even hosted a masquerade for the neighborhood children. The evening ended with laughter and warmth. I fell asleep easily.

But at midnight, I woke again to the same nightmare. The same house, but when I opened the front door, my front garden had come alive, with horrifically carved pumpkins, their twisted faces leering, though I never planted a single seed. The rhythmic sound of drums drew my attention to a bonfire burning in the forest, and I walked to the clearing again as if drawn by a magical force I couldn’t resist.

Surrounded by chanting masked figures, I was lifted to the table. It was only then that I realized I was pregnant. This time, I wasn’t bound, but I was naked. As their chants grew louder and faster, the world began spinning faster and faster. Labor pains tore through me. Then release. And in my arms, a son.

~~*~~*

Detective Cypress made his way through the heavy brush to a clearing that had been taped off. “Who found her?” he asked the officer in charge.

“The gardener. Well, his dog, really. Wouldn’t stop barking. He followed it and found her.”

“What is she lying on?”

“A stone or cement slab. Might have been a table of some kind.”

“Time of death?”

“Doc says around midnight. Same night as her party.”

“What kind of party?”

“Masquerade ball for the kids. Everyone says it was wonderful. She was generous. It ended before ten.”

The detective frowned. “And she was found naked. Heart missing. Like a sacrifice. But why? What kind of killer does this?”

 

© Yolanda Renée 2025

587 Words

This story isn't a rewrite; it's new and just for Halloween!

Although I can't claim originality for any of my Halloween tomes, because everything's been done over and over again, not only by me, but by many authors. They're told with different characters and settings, because the originators of all these monsters came to fruition long before I was born.  Plus, the Twilight Zone, Stephen King, and many more horror writers have influenced my writing. I always add a different slant, a humorous or interesting take on the usual. But I know for a fact that the scariest monsters are human!

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a lovely Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Photo by Jessie Nelson on Unsplash