I’ve never considered Halloween my favorite holiday. I knew this to be true as I dragged my brother from house to house, enduring all the kid aspects of the holiday. I was bored out of my wits. After what seemed like an eternity of torture, we finally stopped at my neighbor’s house with a roaring bonfire in the driveway. I could hear my dad call our names and drag over a lawn chair for me to sit in. I plopped into it wordlessly, focusing on warming my frozen fingers. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt like going on a walk. The sun had set, and all the clouds, once yellow and pink from the fading rays, had now turned charcoal and black against the heavy, inky backdrop of the night. I walked, my sneakers sliding slightly on the damp cement from last night’s rain, which added a chill to the air.
The wind rustled though the trees, the dry leaves swirled in an eerie dance in the mist. I didn’t realize until now that I was alone. The heat from the welcoming fire had now left my body, and my frigid fingers became claws at my sides. A church bell rang in the distance, and the moon shone silver pale through the clouds, sending moonbeams through the trees.
My feet stopped in its tracks. I knew I was not alone. My heart pounded in my ears, and my breath came out slow and labored. I could hear a rustle in the large clump of trees ahead of me, and all I could hear was a large, heartrending shriek. It wasn’t a howl. It was something much more grotesque. It sounded like a mixture of a snarl of a tiger and the roar of a lion. My scream became stuck in my throat and I blindly turned around and ran.
The icy wind blew past my face and my hair flew into my eyes. I could hear thudding steps behind me. They sounded animal but also human, like some mutant creature. I searched helplessly for an escape, and I knew I was going to die.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, ghostly hands grabbed me and pulled me into a clump of bushes. I was about to scream when it hissed “Quiet!” and clamped a hand over my mouth. I sobbed quietly against the hand, more afraid of a murderer than some mutant creature.
“It’s going to be okay, just be quiet!” I finally discerned that the ghost wasn’t real, and his voice was tight and anxious. After a few more minutes, his breathing slowed and the roaring died away into the woods.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He released my hand and quietly crouched out of the bushes, and ran into the line of trees. My breathing accelerated again. I did not want to be left alone. A few minutes later, I was focusing on counting my heartbeats when I heard more of the violent roaring. I almost yelped in terror when I thought it was closer to me than before. It was cut off by a sharp slash and a gurgling shriek of defeat.
I was still waiting for my unknown rescuer to come back, when I saw him emerge from the woods. He was completely exposed in the moonlight. He had jet black hair and his skin glowed in the fantastic light. He held a silver dagger in one hand, dripping with black-red blood. His obsidian eyes gleamed with victory and triumph.
He dropped the knife to the ground, and I numbly watched the blood coagulate with a puddle of water, forming a strange elixer on the glistening pavement.
He walked over to me, and using his non-bloody hand, helped me up to stand.
"Who are you?" My breathless voice asked.
"Isn't it better not to tell? More..mysterious, don't you think?" Hs tone was teasing, and before I could ask anything else, he dipped his head down and pressed his lips to mine.
His lips burned my own, thawing all my frozen limbs. His mouth pressed mine urgently, his hands framing my cheeks. Unthinkingly I twisted my fingers in his black hair, forgetting where I was.

I started awake from my dream, the only burning I felt was the heat from the bonfire.
"Finally, she stopped snoring!" My little brother pulled a lock of my hair and walked towards our house. Everyone was leaving. I could feel a numbness in my chest. It was just a dream. I numbly pulled myself up from the chair and turned towards my house. Then, all I saw by the light of the moon was a lone figure, standing on my street corner, with his obsidian eyes burning into mine. As my steps pulled me forward, like I was in a trance, all I could hear was a ghostly, teasing chuckle.