Speaker 1: This is a story of my college days. I lived
Speaker 1: in a Rennett house with my roommate Nancy. She loved
Speaker 1: to party. On the other hand, I was always a
Speaker 1: shy girl, even though we were poles apart. Nancy always
Speaker 1: cared for me like a big sister. She used to
Speaker 1: drive away bullies for me, took care of me whenever
Speaker 1: I fell sick. This is why I could never say
Speaker 1: to her. I admired her for being kind hearted, even
Speaker 1: after being one of the popular girls on the campus.
Speaker 1: Our house was on the outskirts of the city. They
Speaker 1: were hardly ten to twelve houses in our residential area.
Speaker 1: Nancy and I used to go to college together in
Speaker 1: her car. The day was thirty first October Halloween. After
Speaker 1: waking up in the morning, I went to the kitchen
Speaker 1: to make coffee. Nancy's bedroom was on the left side
Speaker 1: of the kitchen. After pouring myself a cup of coffee,
Speaker 1: I went to check on her to see if she
Speaker 1: had returned. No. Nancy was dating a guy who was
Speaker 1: a senior. He had a place of his own at
Speaker 1: five to seven houses down from our place. She often
Speaker 1: spends the night with him and returns home early. I
Speaker 1: never had an issue with her staying away at night
Speaker 1: because this guy was a nice person, so I knew
Speaker 1: she would be safe. As I turned to head back
Speaker 1: to my room, Nancy opened the main door and entered
Speaker 1: the house. The reason I could tell it was her
Speaker 1: because Nancy had a habit after coming home. She used
Speaker 1: to throw her shoes off on the floor, making loud
Speaker 1: thuds and calling out for me, saying Katie, I'm home.
Speaker 1: Hearing her voice put a smile on my face. Nancy
Speaker 1: rushed towards me and said, I have the most exciting
Speaker 1: news for us. I knew this would be about going
Speaker 1: to a party tonight. Still, to enjoy the excitement on
Speaker 1: her face, I pretended to be curious. She told me
Speaker 1: that her boyfriend is throwing a huge party at his
Speaker 1: house tonight. It's a Halloween costume party and we both
Speaker 1: are invited there. It was never a party animal, but
Speaker 1: there was no way Nancy would have taken a note
Speaker 1: from me on this. She is crazy about Halloween parties. Anyways.
Speaker 1: I also wanted to go out and socialize a bit
Speaker 1: for a change, so I said yes. She really got
Speaker 1: excited and said we will go for our costume shopping
Speaker 1: after lunch, calling off all other plans for one day.
Speaker 1: Nancy and I rode in her car and went to
Speaker 1: the City Mall. The mall was quite crowded and the
Speaker 1: entire decoration was Halloween themed. Almost all the shops had
Speaker 1: something related to Halloween for their customers. We started to
Speaker 1: check out the costumes and various shops. After roaming around
Speaker 1: for about an hour, Nancy and I finally bought our costumes.
Speaker 1: She wanted to be Harley Quinn and assisted me to
Speaker 1: buy the catwoman outfit. I did, and we headed back
Speaker 1: towards the exit. Just what Nancy said, she had to
Speaker 1: pick up some snacks and pools, so we will have
Speaker 1: to go to the food Mark for some time. The
Speaker 1: food mart was in the basement of the mall, so
Speaker 1: we got down the stairs. Any boys and girls were
Speaker 1: already wearing costumes and wandering around the food Mark. Everyone
Speaker 1: seemed busy buying booze for their Halloween party. Nancy told
Speaker 1: me to wait near the vegetable corner and went to
Speaker 1: the right side to buy beers. I stood there for
Speaker 1: two to three minutes and kept watching everyone in an
Speaker 1: excited mood. Suddenly, my eyes went to the left corner
Speaker 1: of the food mart I noticed a tall guy dressed
Speaker 1: as the urban legend the Hookman, standing right after the entrance.
Speaker 1: His big hoodie over his head kept his entire face
Speaker 1: in darkness. Being honest, After looking at his hand, I
Speaker 1: felt kind of creepy. I kept looking at other directions
Speaker 1: just to understand if he was watching me or not.
Speaker 1: Every second standing there, I could tell that he was
Speaker 1: not only watching me, but literally scanning me with his
Speaker 1: dark hitten eyes. I stood like a statue for ten minutes,
Speaker 1: then started to walk towards the alcohol section. I saw
Speaker 1: Nancy with lots of stuff in her hand basket standing
Speaker 1: near the billing cue. She was standing behind two people,
Speaker 1: so I felt relieved that we will leave soon. I
Speaker 1: walked towards her and stood beside her. She looked at
Speaker 1: me and said, thank god he came. My hands are
Speaker 1: so full. Help me. I quickly hid the tension on
Speaker 1: my face and hold a few packets. My eyes kept
Speaker 1: checking every nooks and corner for that guy, but I
Speaker 1: didn't see him. I thought he might have left her
Speaker 1: with his friends, and I overthought the entire scenario. Nancy
Speaker 1: and I started walking towards the exit after paying the
Speaker 1: money as usual Nancy was talking about the party and
Speaker 1: I calmed a bit. Just when we were nine to
Speaker 1: ten hands distance from the exit, I noticed that same guy.
Speaker 1: He was standing near the exit and watching us walk
Speaker 1: towards him. I really got freaked out this time, but
Speaker 1: couldn't say anything to Nancy. We kept walking to the gate,
Speaker 1: and I understood we are going to to walk past him.
Speaker 1: It was the scariest fuse sects of my life. When
Speaker 1: I almost reached close to him, my breath grew denser
Speaker 1: and I was out of words. Just the moment when
Speaker 1: I was about to cross him, I heard his evil laughter.
Speaker 1: As soon as we got out of the mall, I
Speaker 1: hopped inside the car, Nancy started the engine and reversed
Speaker 1: the car to make a U turn. He was standing
Speaker 1: near the mall gate. I didn't utter a single word
Speaker 1: about him to my roommate. I felt she would think
Speaker 1: I am making up a stupid story. We arrived at
Speaker 1: our boyfriend's house. It started to put up the decorations
Speaker 1: and prepare ourselves for the party. The entire evening when
Speaker 1: in such a rush that I almost forget about this
Speaker 1: incident at the mall. I also told myself that it
Speaker 1: was some drunk freehead who tried to spook me in
Speaker 1: a hookman costume. The party started and the house got
Speaker 1: filled with crazy college students. See and I drank beer
Speaker 1: and joined everyone on the dance floor. The spooky neon
Speaker 1: lights and yellow lighted pumpkinheads all around the house set
Speaker 1: the right mood for the Halloween party. I was actually
Speaker 1: having fun, but after a few hours I started to
Speaker 1: feel really drunk. The lights all around me with the
Speaker 1: dramatic decorations made my head feel heavier, so I decided
Speaker 1: to head back to my place before I end up
Speaker 1: vomiting in embarrassing myself. I went to Nancy and asked
Speaker 1: for the house keys. She handed me over the keys,
Speaker 1: asking will I be okay to go along. I didn't
Speaker 1: want her to miss the party, so I said I
Speaker 1: will be fine. I also told her that she could
Speaker 1: stay at her boyfriend's tonight if she wants. She got
Speaker 1: happier and told me to go home and lock the
Speaker 1: doors and have a sound sleep. She will come back
Speaker 1: early and will also fix me some breakfast in bed.
Speaker 1: She knew I was gonna wake up with a hangover. Anyways,
Speaker 1: I left the party and started to walk down the street,
Speaker 1: It wasn't a very long walk, but because I was drunk,
Speaker 1: I walked pretty slowly. I was being careful not to
Speaker 1: stumble upon a rock and flip on the road. It
Speaker 1: was one thirty a m. Hence the streets were completely empty.
Speaker 1: There was only the sound of the hollow wind passing by.
Speaker 1: I was almost near the house just when I heard
Speaker 1: the sound of a twig snapping behind me. I turned around,
Speaker 1: but there was no one. I thought, my mind is
Speaker 1: hallucinating due to too much alcohol in my stomach. I
Speaker 1: opened the main door with a trembling hand. I got
Speaker 1: inside the house and locked the door behind me. My
Speaker 1: head was hurting really bad. Just when I felt the
Speaker 1: urge to vomit, I ran towards Nancy's room, as it
Speaker 1: was the closest to the main door. Her room was dark,
Speaker 1: but the street light coming from the window helped me
Speaker 1: to reach the bathroom. I freshened myself up and decided
Speaker 1: to go to my room to sleep like a rock.
Speaker 1: As I opened the door of my room, I saw
Speaker 1: the window was open. I couldn't remember whether I locked
Speaker 1: it or not before leaving the house, but knowing myself,
Speaker 1: I thought I might have my room was too dark.
Speaker 1: The window was right beside my bed, so I could
Speaker 1: spot it with the help of the street lights. Again,
Speaker 1: I was in no position to find the switch, so
Speaker 1: I threw myself over. I realized the other half of
Speaker 1: the room was entirely in darkness. I started to take
Speaker 1: off my shoes just when I felt something move in
Speaker 1: that darkness. At first, I wasn't sure of it, but
Speaker 1: after a while I saw something pointy and shining in
Speaker 1: that darkness. My head had no control over my body,
Speaker 1: so I just sat there for some seconds. Just when
Speaker 1: I realized I should turn on the light to check
Speaker 1: what it is, someone knocked on the main door. This
Speaker 1: time I got really freaked out, but after a small pause,
Speaker 1: I heard Nancy's voice. Katie opened the door. I felt
Speaker 1: so relieved to know that she came back. I ran
Speaker 1: to the main door, leaving the room at the moment
Speaker 1: Nancy came in and said, I thought I shouldn't leave
Speaker 1: you alone tonight, so I came back. Are you all right?
Speaker 1: I hugged her and said I just got a bit
Speaker 1: scared being alone in my room. She replied in a
Speaker 1: comforting voice that she will sleep in my room tonight.
Speaker 1: As we walked towards our room, we heard a loud
Speaker 1: thud outside. After getting into the room, I noticed the
Speaker 1: window was closed. This time, my head couldn't take it anymore, so,
Speaker 1: without paying attention to anything, I immediately lied in my
Speaker 1: bed and fell asleep. If you think the story is over,
Speaker 1: then let me tell you that the scariest part of
Speaker 1: the story is yet to come. The next morning, when
Speaker 1: I woke up, I almost had a heart attack. It
Speaker 1: felt like all my blood had rushed to my face.
Speaker 1: The wall on the other side of my room freaked me.
Speaker 1: Even in that morning light, someone has rolled on the
Speaker 1: wall with a sharp, pointy hook like object. Lucky that
Speaker 1: your roommate came back.
Speaker 2: I'm searching for my sister. Until now, we lived in
Speaker 2: a small city in Houston, Texas. It was my parents,
Speaker 2: my younger brother and sister, and myself, being the oldest sibling.
Speaker 2: My brother and sister often obeyed me, taking advantage of
Speaker 2: my power over them. I ordered them to do little
Speaker 2: unimportant stuff like telling them to get me a glass
Speaker 2: of water or having them go get me the TV remote.
Speaker 2: Whenever I was feeling a bit too lazy. My parents
Speaker 2: often kept me in charge everywhere we went. Living in
Speaker 2: a small city can give one memorable childhood moments, but
Speaker 2: can also leave someone with a scar for a lifetime.
Speaker 2: Pauloween used to be that one special festival that made
Speaker 2: our town people go crazy. From wearing costumes to backyard
Speaker 2: barbecue parties, the entire evening made this day super special
Speaker 2: for every kid. For one night, we could all eat
Speaker 2: as many candies as we wanted and our parents wouldn't
Speaker 2: tell us no. I was twelve years old and my
Speaker 2: brother was eight and my sister was five. Being excited
Speaker 2: for this big upcoming Halloween event, we all went to
Speaker 2: the city mall and bought our costumes. Our dad took
Speaker 2: us to some various shops. The day was just a blast.
Speaker 2: When we got back home, the whole town gathered in
Speaker 2: this city park and started preparing for the festival. Some
Speaker 2: families arranged barbecue grills, some put up flags in colorful decorations.
Speaker 2: Our family made some carved pumpkinheads, and a family in
Speaker 2: our neighborhood arranged all the candles. After working for most
Speaker 2: of the evening, we all decided to take a break
Speaker 2: and agreed to finish the rest of the work by
Speaker 2: tomorrow afternoon, which was the day of Halloween. After coming
Speaker 2: back home, I had a quiet family dinner as everyone
Speaker 2: was tired after a long day. My mother tucked my
Speaker 2: brother and sister in, and then came and tucked me in.
Speaker 2: After I settled down in my bed, the three of
Speaker 2: us slept in a big room. My brother and sister's
Speaker 2: bed were on the left side of the wall, while
Speaker 2: mine was on the right side, just beside the doorway.
Speaker 2: Though I picked on my brother and sister, I no
Speaker 2: doubt loved them and felt like protecting them. Thus I
Speaker 2: chose to sleep beside the door like a big brother.
Speaker 2: Being the youngest, my sister used to get scared easily
Speaker 2: in the dark. She sometimes woke up crying, saying she
Speaker 2: had a bad dream. I'd then go to her and
Speaker 2: caress her head for a bit to make her fall
Speaker 2: back asleep, and I would do this while telling her
Speaker 2: I loved her unconditionally. That night, when everyone was asleep,
Speaker 2: I woke up hearing a heavy breathing and a soft
Speaker 2: sobbing sound coming from the other side of the room.
Speaker 2: I sat up in bed and rubbed my sleepy eyes
Speaker 2: to have a proper look around the room. As my
Speaker 2: vision slowly adjusted, with the darkness in our room, I
Speaker 2: noticed my sister standing against the wall just beside our
Speaker 2: bedroom window. At first, I thought something came into the
Speaker 2: room from the window, but I saw that the window
Speaker 2: was still locked. My sister was breathing heavily and kept
Speaker 2: staring at me with her frightful eyes. I asked her,
Speaker 2: what is it, Why are you out of bed? Is
Speaker 2: it a bad dream again? She nodded her head slowly
Speaker 2: and said in a sobbing tone, there's a goblin in
Speaker 2: our backyard and it's calling me. I got spooked at first,
Speaker 2: but then decided to go to the window and check
Speaker 2: it out myself. What if it's a burglar or someone
Speaker 2: with bad intentions, then I might have to tell Dad.
Speaker 2: I gathered all the courage I had and went up
Speaker 2: to the window. My sister clasped my hand with her
Speaker 2: little palm and kept shaking her head gesturing no. I
Speaker 2: calmed her down and made her sit on her bed,
Speaker 2: and then walked over to the window. I saw a
Speaker 2: small kid wearing a goblin costume, and they were standing
Speaker 2: in the middle of our back yard looking straight at
Speaker 2: this window. At first, I heaved a sigh of relief
Speaker 2: as it wasn't actually a burglar. Then I opened the
Speaker 2: window and said, hey, it's too late. You need to
Speaker 2: go to sleep the otherwise you'll miss the City Park
Speaker 2: celebration tomorrow. My voice was a bit loud, so my
Speaker 2: dad came back to check on why we were still awake,
Speaker 2: But when I looked back after explaining everything to him,
Speaker 2: the kid was gone. I shrugged it off as a
Speaker 2: small nothing to worry about incident and went back to sleep.
Speaker 2: The next day, everyone was running around the entire city.
Speaker 2: The festival mode hit, and I forgot about all the
Speaker 2: stuff from last night. Around five pm, after my dad
Speaker 2: got back home from working at the City Park, we
Speaker 2: all started on our Halloween get ups. I was dressed
Speaker 2: as Pinocchio, wearing a fake pointy long nose made from
Speaker 2: ice cream cones by my mom. My brother and sister
Speaker 2: dressed as the Shining Sisters, which pissed my brother off
Speaker 2: as he had to dress like a girl, but after
Speaker 2: my dad handed us our buckets to collect candy, we
Speaker 2: all cheered up. When we came out of the house,
Speaker 2: every little kid in town was dressed as some spooky
Speaker 2: Halloween character and were wandering around the streets and houses
Speaker 2: asking for trigger treats. I went to our neighbor's house
Speaker 2: with my brother and sister, and our candy hunting mission began.
Speaker 2: After collecting buckets full of candy, he decided to go
Speaker 2: see the fireworks while eating the candy that we just got.
Speaker 2: The park was filled with kids and their parents. The
Speaker 2: three of us sat down under a tree and started
Speaker 2: having a fun time. Suddenly I saw my sister looking
Speaker 2: to her right side and she started breathing heavily again,
Speaker 2: just like last night. As I followed her eyes, I
Speaker 2: saw that same goblin kid from last night about fifteen
Speaker 2: feet away from us. I looked back at my sister
Speaker 2: and said, hey, don't be scared, that's just another kid
Speaker 2: in a Halloween costume, just like us. My sister believed
Speaker 2: me and she calmed down. I waved looking at the kid,
Speaker 2: and the kid waved back to us. The kid started
Speaker 2: to wave us over with his hand while standing there silently.
Speaker 2: I got up and went to the kid, with my
Speaker 2: brother and sister in tow. I looked at him and said, well, Hi,
Speaker 2: where do you live. The kid didn't say a word,
Speaker 2: and his goblin mask kept smirking at us. It felt
Speaker 2: a bit unusual. Now, so I said, hey, can't you talk?
Speaker 2: But suddenly the kid did something completely unexpected. He snatched
Speaker 2: my little brother's candy bucket and started running in the
Speaker 2: opposite direction. I realized this was a little mean kid,
Speaker 2: so I kept chasing after him. Seeing me running after him,
Speaker 2: my brother and sister also started running with me. The
Speaker 2: goblin kid ran straight to a minivan parked under a dark,
Speaker 2: bushy tree, far away from the crowded park. Just as
Speaker 2: I was about to grab his shoulder, he elbowed me
Speaker 2: in the eye so hard that I fell and hit
Speaker 2: the ground really hard. Suddenly, the minivan's back door opened up,
Speaker 2: and two guys in entirely black attire grabbed my brother
Speaker 2: and sister and pulled them inside. I rose up to
Speaker 2: stop them, but someone already started the minivan and closed
Speaker 2: one door, taking my sister inside. While the other guy
Speaker 2: tried to pull my brother inside. I shouted, leave my
Speaker 2: brother alone, let my sister go. I heard the guy
Speaker 2: yelling to the driver to slow down the car, saying, Oh,
Speaker 2: this one's not a girl, it's her brother. Ah damn it,
Speaker 2: stupid Halloween costumes. The mini van slowed up a bit,
Speaker 2: and that devilish man threw my brother onto the road.
Speaker 2: Even though the van was going slow, my brother still
Speaker 2: scratched up his arms and knees. He even got a
Speaker 2: bump on his head from hitting a rock on the road.
Speaker 2: I quickly grabbed him and ran towards the van, shouting
Speaker 2: for help, but due to the entire area being secluded
Speaker 2: and everyone's so busy celebrating at the park, no one
Speaker 2: was there to hear my cry. The van started to
Speaker 2: pick up speed and that goblin kid leaned to close
Speaker 2: the other door. Just when he was about to do so,
Speaker 2: he removed his mask and I saw it was just
Speaker 2: this bearded, ugly looking man who was probably a dwarf.
Speaker 2: He started laughing at me in a squeaky voice, and
Speaker 2: he started to wave goodbye at me as the van
Speaker 2: disappeared into the darkness. My parents and I are still
Speaker 2: hopeful that my sister is alive somewhere in this world.
Speaker 2: My parents still live in the same city, waiting for
Speaker 2: her to come back. One day, I moved to California
Speaker 2: with my brother and we filed cases to every police
Speaker 2: station possible. We kept creating search campaigns for my sister
Speaker 2: using every social media platform we could. My brother and
Speaker 2: I never celebrated a festival again, not after she was
Speaker 2: kidnapped by that horrible bunch of thugs. I'm sure that
Speaker 2: dwarf Man must have followed and spotted my sister on
Speaker 2: the night before Halloween, and then they planned everything out
Speaker 2: ahead of time for the next day. I'm still so
Speaker 2: angry at myself for not taking this matter to my
Speaker 2: parents in the first place, and for chasing a stranger
Speaker 2: with my little brother and sister instead of going to
Speaker 2: my parents for help. I pray to God every day
Speaker 2: asking no harm to come to my little sister. Those
Speaker 2: horrible men, with their preference for kidnapping little girls, just
Speaker 2: it shocks my heart with fear every day. So Kathy,
Speaker 2: if you see this or come to know about us
Speaker 2: in any way, please come home. We'll wait forever for you.
Speaker 2: And I'd also like to say to every kid out
Speaker 2: there on Halloween or I mean any day of your life,
Speaker 2: never go after a stranger without your parents' knowledge.