Shelly, Anne, Rhys, Jennifer and Scott walked into their school early on Halloween. They were fondly known at the school as “Goth co”, and their outfits reflected this. The girls were dressed in black gothic dresses with crimson lace for Shelly, navy lace for Anne and violet lace for Jennifer. The boys wore black tuxedos and capes with a green bow tie for Rhys and an orange one for Scott. All in all, a slightly strange sight but after all, it was Halloween. The five teenagers were laughing; this would be one of the last times.

“So tonight, Shelly will go buy the films, then we’ll all go to my place once my parents have gone to that Halloween party and-”

“Hey, why do I have to buy the films?” Shelly interrupted Rhys. The other four gave her a meaningful look.

“Oh, right.” Scott and Anne were a couple, as were Jennifer and Rhys, so they would obviously want some “couple time”. Shelly rolled her eyes.

“It’s just my luck I’m the only single one in the group. Damn people in love…” Jennifer giggled, and Anne tried to cheer her up.

“And at least you can got out and pull; the rest of us are stuck with one person- no offence, Scott.” Scott and Anne smiled at one another, which caused Jennifer and Rhys to do the same thing. This went on for a while, until Shelly snapped her fingers in front of their eyes.

“Not helping, people!”

Scott laughed.

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll introduce you to my cousin Richard. He’s moving here, so I‘ll invite him to come tonight; you’d like him. He‘s as crazy as you.”

This cheered up Shelly considerably, and she joined her friends in spending their free periods with bottles of fake blood, some plastic bugs and a sound effects machine. Many a student, including “Goth co” came home at the end of the day with what appeared to be bloodstains on their clothes. Ironic, really.

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Shelly took her time at the supermarket choosing DVD‘s, not wanting to interrupt her friends’ “private time”. Richard was apparently not arriving till later. She picked out a few horror movies, in addition to “Nightmare before Christmas”, and was now contemplating “Shaun of the Dead”.

Standing next to her also looking at DVD’s was a pale, raven-haired boy about her age; he was wearing a long black trench coat which covered him almost completely. He began to gaze at her intently with washed out blue eyes, and Shelly became all too conscious of how short her dress really was.

She quickly rushed past him and pretended to be choosing what snacks to buy, and he soon walked out the store. Shuddering, Shelly paid for her purchases and walked out; cursing, she realized that she had forgotten her video camera; she had planned to make a movie about tonight with it.

“I guess the others won’t notice if I’m a little late…” Shelly said to herself, and she began to walk home…

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Half an hour later, Shelly approached the house where Rhys lived. The lights in the living room were dim, so Shelly rang the doorbell several times to make her presence known so she wouldn’t walk in on anything. She then opened the door.

“Hey, guys! Sorry I’m late, I had to…” Shelly trailed off as she entered the living room. Before her was a horrific sight.

Rhys was hanging by his own intestines from a hook previously used to hang up a picture; his eyes had evidently been gazing at the mess in his abdomen just before he died, and the horror in them was still evident.

Jennifer had been slashed at repeatedly all over her body, and was still jerking and moaning slightly as the blood leaked out, especially at her throat.

Anne’s head was facing the wrong way, and as she lay on her stomach, her empty eyes gazed into nothingness; in addition, her limbs seemed to have been bent into impossible positions as well.

Scott’s head had an empty hole leaking yet more blood onto the floor, and it seemed horribly empty…

Shelly turned away from the scene and threw up heavily onto the hallway carpet, dropping her bag; the image of her friends soaked in blood seemed burned into her mind. She knew she should have been more sad, but somehow the sheer horror had made her feel numb. Once her stomach felt empty, she began to make her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water and use the phone. However, she was stopped. It was the pale boy from the supermarket, except this time his clothes, face and hair were splattered with blood. Shelly gasped. He grinned at her.

“Happy to see me again, Conch Shell?”

He knows my name, Shelly thought in horror, and he’s made up a nickname…

“Of course you are. Don’t suppose you want some of this, Conch Shell?” He held up a plate, which held what had to be Scott’s brain. Shelly shook her head, trying to fight down another wave of nausea.

“Your loss. I always said my dear cousins brain should be put to better use; now it is!” He pretended to take a bite out of the mess on the plate before him, but didn’t actually eat it to Shelly’s relief. She managed to speak.

“So that means you’re-”

“Richard. Yes, my cousin seemed quite excited about introducing us; he seemed to think I was merely eccentric, like you, Conch Shell. Just in case eating this might pass on some of that stupidity to me…“ Richard threw the brain against the wall, where it slowly slid to the floor.

Richard stepped closer, and Shelly automatically stepped back. He strode forward quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer.

“Now, what will happen to you, Conch Shell…?”

Could have been worse. I’m not sure if I’m going to kill Shelly or not, so I’m leaving that up to you; please review! Suggestions are welcome; flames not so much. Thanks for reading!