“Then maybe I should change.” My words accompanied by a sarcastic eye roll.
We headed toward Main Street on foot. It was only about two blocks to the main strip. Normally, the walk would be welcomed, but not today, not in these shoes. As I stumbled around in my extremely high heels, trying very hard not to break my ankles, Myra talked nineteen to the dozen about the Halloween street party happening that night.
We reached Main Street just as the parade kicked off. Most parades that I have seen are relatively quiet and calm. People ride by waving from floats or cars, some walk and throw candy. The parade was loud and interactive. Baton twirlers were twirling fire sticks. Others were throwing candy as they danced and flipped. Twelve zombies from the high school band marched down the street playing various instruments to the beat of “It’s Halloween.” The song was upbeat and airy, with a psychotic, unsettling undertone. It was written by the local band, Amy’s Arrest.
Most people outside of our town believed, incorrectly, the band was named after the lead singer, Amy Winters. The band was named after an infamous outlaw, Amy Urshbrooke, who settled in our town over a century earlier. The legend said she lived there undetected for five years. When she was finally discovered and arrested, it caused the mob war of 1907 in our tiny town and the surrounding field. The reason for the uproar was never proven. People speculated all sorts of reasons that the mobs would have been interested in her arrest. The rumors included the theories that she was a mistress of a mob boss, or she was part of the mob but in hiding. The entire incident was true and on record at the county courthouse, but most things were left to speculation. Of course, the story had been so romanticized that the truth, if it was ever known, had been lost to history and rumor. An unknown, small town in the middle of nowhere seemed like the place I would hide. too.
Monster trucks with loud mufflers and blaring music followed the band. Oversized banners that read “Happy Hallows Eve, Y’all” lined the truck.
My mind spaced without a memorable thought as parade floats inched past my vision.
“So, are we going?” Myra asked, bringing me back from the depths of lost thought.
“Huh?” I asked, bewildered.
She raised her right eyebrow, which always meant she was insulted. “Um, only the party that I’ve been talking about since we left my house.” She looked at me in a moment of recognition. As her lips revealed a disenchanted smirk, she said, “Ugh, you haven’t been listening to me at all. Have you?”
I didn’t want to admit to the lack of listening on my part, so I answered her first question, ignoring the latter accusation. “Sure, we can drop in for a few minutes, I guess.”
“Good,” Myra beamed. “I’m super excited. I wonder if I should change into a different costume for the party.”
Across the crowded street large round, glowing red eyes peeking between the passing floats catch my eye. My heart raced. My fits balled up tightly, cutting into my palms. I blinked several times to clear my vision. Red eyes were staring back at me. Three sets of red eyes stood amongst the crowd. They were staring at me. I closed my eyes for a moment. I had to be hallucinating. Upon opening one eye, I stared back at four sets of large, round, red eyes.
“Red eyes? What the hell is going on?” I murmured to myself. Float after float, I clearly observed four sets of red eyes. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened them, I saw the red eyes still gazing into mine. My breathing quickened, and my heart threatened to explode. An anxiety attack was coming on. My rapid breathing turned into hyperventilation.
“Vanessa, what is wrong with you?” I heard Myra ask through my mental haziness.
“Red eyes,” I managed to whisper.
“Red eyes? What?” Myra asked in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
A set of red eyes appeared behind a child from “Mrs. Somers 2nd Grade Ghost” float.
I closed my eyes as tight as I could and screamed.
“Vanessa, snap out of it.” Myra was shaking me fiercely as I struggled to loosen her grip. “What are you doing?”
I stopped and slowly opened my eyes. Myra’s face was intense with worry. Looking around, faces were staring at me; none of them possessing red eyes. No sign of anything strange seemed to exist anywhere around me. I took a minute to glance around and process what I thought I saw. “I saw red eyes,” I whispered. Everyone at the parade was gawking at us, and the floats had stopped moving. I couldn’t comprehend what I had seen. I knew I had seen four sets of large, round, glowing red eyes in the crowd. It was not my imagination, but no one else seemed to have noticed anything strange. I kind of expected the crowd to be frantic, but no one moved. Eyes were still glued on me. I scrunched my nose in contemplation. “What a conundrum,” I mumbled.
“Vanessa,” Myra said, breaking the rolling thoughts.
I lifted my head. “It’s nothing.”
“Babe, I’m seriously getting worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s up for debate.” Her sour expression was self-explanatory.
“Oh, great,” I said, noticing Demien in the corner of my eye. I feigned disappointment. I was ecstatic for the distraction and pining to see him as well. I was uneasy with the bag of mixed emotion his presence brought about.
“What?”
“Demien’s here. What’s he doing here?” I snatched Myra’s wrist and headed toward the snow cone stand. A snow cone was the perfect substitution for a cold shower.
She pulled her wrist from my grip. “Um, first of all, what was that about?
