CHAPTER ONE

“Keep your eyes closed! Just one more second… I need to grab my other earring,” Maggie said as she frantically searched for a matching earring to complete her pair and, more importantly, her fancy outfit. “Found it!” She sang as she hooked it into her left ear on the first try.

“Okay, now can I look?” Eddie asked with a growing grin of anticipation, his hands covering his eyes. He tilted his head left to right and back, waiting in excitement.

“One sec… Yes, now look at mommy,” said Maggie as she struck a model’s pose in front of her large mirror in her bedroom and put on her lipstick. Her eyes lifted from the ground and locked with her reflection’s gaze back at her. She broke into a big, blushing smile as Eddie’s mouth hung open. “Well- say something,” she said, tossing her hands into the air and needing her judge’s final verdict.

“Mom, you’re beautiful,” Eddie spoke softly. He rose from the bed and walked a couple of steps towards his mother, gently pulling at her evening wear, admiring the beauty of his hardworking, yet tired, mother. She wore a black short-sleeved dress with a large floral pattern covering the stomach and heavy gold specks on either side of the V-shaped neckline. She had a drawstring that roped the stomach of her dress, tightly tied, emphasizing her waist. The rest of the dress featured pink flowers perfectly placed and a never-ending floral design that circled the bottom of the dress, stopping halfway past her knees. “You look great, Mom. Do you feel happier?” Eddie asked with heavy optimism in his voice. He stood on his mother’s right side, and the two looked at each other through the mirror, taking a moment.

“I do, sweetie. I do. I’m a nervous wreck more than anything. I haven’t done… this in-in I don’t know. But I’m happy to go out tonight and meet a nice man,” Maggie said as she left the mirror and sat on her bed to put on her black heels.

“Is he going to be my father?” Eddie asked casually as he turned around to watch his mother fasten her heels. “Because the last one packed a mean punch,” he said as he made a fist and pretended to hit his own face.

“Edward Callahan! We don’t joke around like that,” Eddie’s mother said, slamming her hand on the bed and causing Eddie to flinch. Maggie was quickly startled but quickly calmed down and smiled once more. “Honey, I told you already. He’s a nice man from the office I clean, and I’ve gotten to know him and he’s… nice. It’s dinner. It’s a date. Oh no! I’m running late,” Maggie spat out as she swept past Eddie to exit her bedroom to head downstairs. A loud knock could be heard coming from the front door.

“She’s here! Perfect. Eddie, go sit in the living room, and I’ll let the babysitter in. Eddie?” Maggie knelt down to match Eddie at eye level. “Do be a good boy tonight? I mean, you always are, but please? I miss Grandma too. I miss my mom. I know she watched you when she could, but be good for Joanne, please?” Eddie smiled and nodded. He understood the importance. He ran to the TV set and turned it on, plopping right on the floor just feet away. Maggie straightened herself up with her best smile and opened the door to see a skinny, thick-glasses-wearing, awkward teenager who noticeably favored her right side.

“Hi! Thank you for coming. I really appreciate you doing so on short notice,” Maggie spat out with her smile now made of wood.

“Yes, of course. I’m happy you called!” Joanne shot right back. She was holding her inhaler and clutched even harder, thinking the sheer nerves would induce an attack.

“Please, come in,” Maggie stated as she widened her door and moved out of Joanne’s way. Joanne limped into the entry and immediately spotted Eddie lying on his stomach watching television. “Remind me, is it: Joanne or Jo Anne?” Maggie asked for assurance as she took Joanne’s coat from her and hung it on a hook near the front door.

“Yeah- so it’s Joanne, or Jo Anne, or Jo, or-or whatever you can remember. My dad calls me Jo; my older sister calls me an orphan. My mom, I think, forgot my name before she took off. And the kids in my class call me Betty. Why? I’m still not sure,” Joanne retorted and continued on. “I’m so sorry! I joke when I’m nervous. You can call me Joanne or Jo,” Joanne said, offering a square grin that bared all teeth and squinted her left eye.

“It’s okay, Joanne. I suspect I’ll be more or less, be the same this evening on my date. I-,” Maggie said to calm Joanne, but was interrupted by the television. “Eddie! Turn it down, and what are you watching?”

“Scooby Doo,” Eddie deadpanned. “It’s Night of the Living Dead, mom. It’s the best part,” he rushed.

“You must think of me as a terrible mother. To let my son watch these movies. He-we’ve been through a lot over these last several weeks, and he seems calm watching these movies. He’s got an active imagination, but I figure they are just movies, Maggie said, more so wanting reassurance from Joanne.

“Of course! No, I agree. Listen, we all have our baggage. My father used to let my older sister have boys come over. Teenage boys, right? And she ended up getting pregnant. It was a whole thing,” Joanne said, flicking her wrist and wanting to seem casual.

“Did she keep it?” Eddie shot out without ever looking at Joanne.

“Eddie Callahan!” Maggie sternly shouted.

“No, it’s okay. She did. Or we did. My mom left a long time ago… don’t ask. My father decided to just raise my nephew as his own kid. Thomas was born in ’74 and is my dad’s favorite. I figure he just wanted a son because he had two girls and loves us so much. And my nephew slash little brother doesn’t yet know that his big sister is really his mom. That is going to be a fun conversation when he’s older,” Joanne trailed off, drifting into her own world, imagining when that inevitable day would come and what it would look like. After a moment, she looked at Maggie, whose mouth was agape. “That was a lot- you are doing a great job. Horror movies are fun.”

“Look at the time, I’m late! Eddie, the number to the restaurant is on the fridge. Call me if you need anything, okay? And thank you again, Joanne,” Maggie stated as she moved quickly with a bright-eyed smile that hid a very “get. out. now.” sort of look. She grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and shuffled into the living room to kiss Eddie. “Be a good boy. And call me for anything,” she whispered as she caressed Eddie’s head and failed to steal his attention from the cheap deaths on the television screen. Maggie walked past Joanne and offered another nervous smile. “Thank you again, Joanne,” and she was out the door.

CHAPTER TWO

Joanne stood planted, looking at the front door. She turned her attention to look over the home and thought it tidier than she’d assumed, given everything this family had gone through recently. Her eyes landed on Eddie, who was lying on his stomach with his head propped up in his hands. She’d not seen anyone who seemed amused by horror before. A scream here and a head falling off over there was enough to make anyone squeamish or at least uncomfortable, she thought. But not this kid.

“Hi Eddie, what are you watching?” Joanne asked as she walked into the living room and plopped onto the middle of the couch right in front of the television and behind Eddie.

“Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. It’s over. But, Smile: At Midnight is on now. They are playing my favorite,” Eddie excitedly said, jumping off the floor and sitting next to Joanne.

“Let me guess, it’s Tales From The Crypt?” Joanne asked unconfidently.

“No, good guess. It’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Eddie said. “Leatherface is so freaky, I love it. Why don’t you have a cane to help you walk?”

“Wow, right to it, huh? I do, but-but I choose not to use it because I don’t feel I need it, I suppose. I am who I am,” Joanne replied, choosing her words carefully.

“Look! It’s starting,” Eddie jumped up, pointing to the television. Smile: At Midnight blared on the television set with its host, Jerry Koz, wearing a sort of caped costume and sitting in a chair befitting of Dracula or Satan himself. He shot off some cheap one-liners that didn’t land with Joanne but she could see that Eddie was eating it all up. Then the moment of truth-

“Told you, Texas Chainsaw!” Eddie yelled as he repeatedly tossed a couch pillow into the air. “So what happened to your leg?”

“You are like two people, you know that? You are freaking out about this movie, and then you remember I’m in the room. What happened was, I was a kid, like my nephew, and something bad happened to my leg. Now I limp. But, it’s not the end of the world,” Joanne said as she could truly sense that Eddie was genuinely curious about her. “Movie’s starting, you got popcorn? Of course, you got popcorn. Who doesn’t have popcorn? I’ll go make the popcorn.”

Eddie sat mesmerized by the movie. Even though he’d seen it a number of times against his mother’s wishes, he always felt that each time he learned something new that he didn’t know before. Hearing Joanne in the kitchen and the five ill-fated teenagers driving into the screen for the first time, Eddie sat back. A small object hit the living room window right behind him, and he flinched. He turned around to see someone standing under the flickering lamppost. He inched closer to the window and was absolutely sure someone was there. He could make out a white mask and on it a grotesque smile with teeth, that made Eddie flinch again at the thought of that being done to someone’s face. They stood still as a statue, never moving. Just watching Eddie, and he watched them.

A hand touched Eddie, and he turned and screamed as loud as he could.

“Eddie! Eddie! Calm down, it’s just me,” Joanne panicked as she sat down and set the bowl of popcorn next to her. “I am so sorry for scaring you. I thought you could hear me dragging my feet! My dad says he can’t get back to sleep when I walk around,” Joanne said, trying to calm Eddie.

“Joanne, there’s someone outside under the lamppost! They threw something at the window, and I turned around, and they were watching me. They had this face, this mask,” Eddie went on as Joanne looked out the window and could see nothing except a flickering light. “It was like a smile, but I’d seen it before. I promise you he was there.”

“I don’t see anyone. But I believe you. People do weird stuff all of the time and always try to scare kids. It was probably Billy Turner and his witch of a girlfriend, Caroline Turner,” Joanne said, trying to soothe Eddie. But he didn’t buy it.

“No, I don’t think so,” Eddie said, looking again. “Joanne, can I tell you something?”

“Sure, bud.”

Eddie went on to describe to Joanne what happened to his grandmother exactly six weeks ago. How was she home alone on an evening like this one, and someone broke in and murdered her? A widowed old woman in a town far, but not too far away. How his mother didn’t want him to view her body in the open casket because she always said, “movies can’t scare you like real life”. How at the funeral he snuck away from his mom at the end long enough to see his grandmother one more time, a woman he loved with all of his heart and her of him. How he slowly walked from the bottom end where her feet lay so that he could take all of her in. She was dressed in a fitting black dress, and her hands fastened together on her stomach. How still she was, like a peaceful sleep, but no breathing. How he got to her face and saw what his mother never wanted him to see: stab wounds where are eyes should be creating lengthy slits; a permanent smile jaggedly etched into her face nearly ear to ear; how he wanted to touch her face and it’s like she moved on her own as her head turned to him and he saw what her artist wanted the world to see- a permanent grin staining your mind. He freaked out. He fell to the floor as he looked into her face and her into him. How he cried silent tears and sat still for several minutes before his mother came back into the funeral home and dragged him out. How could he not sleep for weeks, except whenever he watched horror movies?

Joanne sat frozen, except for her hand going in and out of the popcorn bowl. To her, this story was way better than any movie she could have ever seen on this night.

“Eddie, that is- I am-,” Joanne didn’t know what to say. ” Eddie, I don’t know what to say to something like that. That is so tragic, and I am so sorry that you and your mom are going through this. We’ve heard something happened, but you know how neighbors talk. No one ever knows the full story and I won’t say anything,” Joanne tried to reassure Eddie as she lightly touched his arm.

“That man I saw tonight killed her, and he’s coming for me next,” Eddie whispered, and for the first time, frightening Joanne. She looked out the window again and saw nothing. “Grab that curtain,” Joanne asked Eddie as she pulled her side, and he did the same. “Now the curtains are closed, and we can’t see anyone, and they can’t see us. Popcorn?”

Eddie grabbed a few kernels and sat back to continue watching Texas Chainsaw. He leaned against Joanne, and she threw an arm around him. She thought about everything he’d been through and really felt sorry for him.

CHAPTER THREE

They sat together a while and watched the movie. The kitchen light began flickering. Eddie looked at Joanne.

“This is happening,” he said, sitting up.

“It’s a coincidence, stop,” Joanne said, standing up. Just then, the phone rang. They looked at each other. “Stay here, I’ll be back,” Joanne said, walking to the kitchen. The phone rang again. She picked up the receiver from the wall.

“Hello?” she asked hesitantly.

“Joanne, hi! It’s Maggie,” Maggie said fast into the phone.

“Oh! Hi Maggie. Eddie, it’s just your mom,” Joanne yelled out.

“Everything okay?” Maggie asked, with slight concern.

“Yes! Yes. We’re just watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Eddie is a kid after all. His imagination,” Joanne said.

“Don’t I know it. Listen, I’m calling to just check in. My date is going so well! We’ve finished eating, and he’s insisting on dessert and a walk near the river later. I-I think I like him, I’m not sure, but he’s so nice and so so handsome and polite!” Maggie gushed. “Joanne, I’m so sorry to tell you all of this! I don’t have many girlfriends, and my mom was usually-” Maggie said, cutting herself off. There was a pause on the phone and Joanne at this point had digested its cause.

“Maggie, it’s fine. We can be girlfriends. People tell me stuff all of the time, and I don’t think they mean to. I’m just one of those people. Like my science teacher, Mr. Winkleton, weird name, right? Anyway, he once told me what he does in the evenings, after I asked, of course, and he said that sometimes he goes home after work and plugs a toaster into the wall and will sit in a bathtub filled with cold water just holding the toaster for hours. He said he’s in pain and one of these days he’s just gonna loosen his grip and let go. So you’re fine, Maggie,” Joanne said as if she really believed she was talking to a girlfriend. “Uh, hello?”

“Yes, thank you for that, Joanne. Well, um, I have to get back to the table. Tell Eddie I love him. Bye,” Maggie said, rushing off the phone. Joanne hung up the receiver and stared at it a moment, thinking what more she could say and do to make Maggie dislike her more.

“Dude, I think your mom like hates me. I’m trying to connect and… it’s… just not… working. Eddie, what are you doing?” Joanne asked as she returned to the living room and saw Eddie on his knees and his ear pressed against the front door. Eddie put his finger to his lips to quiet her.

“I can hear someone breathing on the other side of the door,” Eddie whispered. Joanne walked as fast as she could as she limped to the front door and unlocked it, and pulled it open. Eddie came from behind her and looked outside, too.

“Someone is here, Joanne,” Eddie said, looking at the porch. He pointed to a dirty footprint.

“That-that’s probably- let’s go inside,” Joanne said to Eddie, shutting the door and locking it. The phone rings again. “Eddie, go back to the living room and turn the movie off and put something friendly on, please. Thank you,” Joanne commanded as she made her way back to the kitchen. She picked up the receiver and could only hear static on the other side. “Hello? Hello?”

A loud knock came from the front door. Again. Again.

“JOANNE! JOANNE!” Eddie screamed, leaping onto the farthest side of the couch away from the door. Joanne turned around and grabbed a knife from the counter in the kitchen and came back into the living room, and paused. A loud knock again at the front door. Joanne was frozen. She could feel her nerves and, more importantly, her breathing was faulty. She moved to her bag and grabbed her inhaler to catch her breath. Eddie sat with his mouth ajar. “I didn’t know, Joanne. You can’t walk or breathe. I’ll protect you,” Eddie said and sat as he shot up from the couch, took the knife from Joanne, and made way to the front door. He swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the door. Nothing was there, except a small pile of what looked to be ash was on the porch.

“Give that to me! Don’t do that again,” Joanne said, snatching the knife from Eddie. She too saw the ash and slammed the door shut and locked it. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I’m calling the police,” she said. Eddie held Joanne’s hand as they walked into the kitchen. She had Eddie take a seat at the table and went into the fridge to grab milk and pour a cup.

“Milk always makes me when I’m nervous,” she said with a hint of a smile. She grabbed a cup from the counter and poured it for him, and handed him the cup. “Drink this. I’m going to call the cops.”

“Call mom.”

“I… want to. But, she’s having a fun time, and I know how much this night means to her. And the cops are going to come and check things out and will find it’s nothing. It’s Billy Turner and his bitch of a girlfriend, Caroline Turner, messing with us. They act married because they have the same last name. They are probably siblings,” Joanne said, feeling the heat rise in her chest. As she took a pause, a loud and violent noise erupted at the front door. Eddie swung his head around to see the front door blowing open against the winds on this cold, October night. Eddie ran to the door and slammed it shut. As he did so, he could see that the lock had been sawed through somewhat.

“Joanne, come see this,” Eddie said. Joanne came to the door, and she too saw that the lock had been sawed through. “I think someone’s inside with us,” Eddie whispered, staring into the darkness at the top of the staircase. The lights go out, except the television.

Joanne and Eddie, holding hands, walked to the living room as Joanne’s limp made it harder for her.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Are you ready for the real fright fest, boys and girls? Because do I have a treat for you. Just now, something came into my possession from one of my most sadistic fans. This will give your kids’ kids nightmares,” Jerry Koz shouted from the television with the most sadistic laugh. He hid his face long enough to reveal a dirty, somewhat tattered and broken, porcelain mask with black holes for eyes and teeth, somewhat faintly pained on.

“What do you think, boys and girls? HUH?” Jerry shouted at the television. “Texas Chainsaw continues.”

“That’s the mask I saw tonight at the lamppost, Joanne,” Eddie said, squeezing the life out of her hand. With the house cloaked in darkness, Eddie walked Joanne to the kitchen. Even in darkness, he knew his way around and where a flashlight had been kept due to the blackouts they experienced just months before.

“My leg really hurts, Eddie,” Joanne said through sudden pain she began to feel. Heavy footsteps and movement could be heard from upstairs, and it was then undeniable that they were no longer alone. Eddie put his finger to his lips to quiet Joanne and slowly and silently guided her with the flashlight to a door that led to the basement. Joanne went down the stairs first, needing to take a step at a time as her pain was quickly growing. Eddie shut the door as quietly as he could and followed suit, giving pause when needed.

Eddie and Joanne found shelter toward the corner in the far left of the basement. They were shielded by stacks of boxes that belonged to Eddie’s grandmother and had been moved into the basement at the behest of his mother, though they’d been untouched since arrival. Joanne was massaging her leg and wincing. Eddie let her tend to herself, and he quietly shuffled about in their area. An off-colored box, unlike the rest, caught his attention. He looked up to the ceiling as if expecting to see something.

“What is it?” Joanne asked, the sound barely a breath, like a woman already wounded by what she feared to hear.

“Nothing,” Eddie calmly put out for Joanne to settle down. “I just wanted to be sure I can’t hear him and him us. This box is interesting,” he said as he lightly opened it with quite a precision to limit any noise.

“Can you see anything?” Joanne asked as she was attempting to get off the floor. Eddie looked around and remembered the light was at the top of the stairs, and thus not a choice. “This is so stupid! You’ve got me scared for no reason. We saw the door open, but didn’t actually see anyone in the house. There have been sounds in your house all night, and if this were real, why wouldn’t this guy just come straight for us? Huh? You’re a kid, and I’m limping. I’m going back up and calling my dad,” Joanne said, with each word rushing out and her voice climbing higher through frustration and panic. She placed her left hand on the box for support, but the box gave out and fell to the basement floor with a loud thud that also irritated surrounding boxes and miscellaneous basement dwellings, with all the contents within breaking loose. All Eddie could do was look at her with fear as if something was behind her and slowly tilt his head upward as if something was disturbed and staring back at them.

“Eddie, you’re scaring me. What?” Joanne said with a shaking voice, through fear breaking loose. She looked up too with Eddie as his head and stare was frozen like an eerie trance, and she heard footsteps near the front door and knew she couldn’t mistake it for anything else. They weren’t alone.

Eddie looked back at Joanne and pointed to the floor. He tiptoed around some of his grandmother’s boxes and on top, as if placed deliberately for him to see, were photos of what looked like his grandmother from decades ago when she was working at a nurse, though Eddie never knew where and what exactly she did. He also saw a newspaper that had the exact mask on the front page that he saw that evening. Even the face was the one he saw on his grandmother that day.

“Joanne, look! This is the mask I saw tonight,” Eddie pointed out, and Joanne leaned over from her spot. “This is it. And these photos are of my grandmother. It looks like she worked at some sort of hospital,” Eddie said, shuffling through photos and trying his best to make sense of all of this.

“They call him ‘Happy’. And this guy is wearing the mask in all of those photos. He killed your grandmother, and he’s definitely after you, but why?” Joanne asked Eddie as he just stared at the newspaper giving him a name, and that a fire killed people years ago, and that only one patient was never found.

“This guy is who they couldn’t find. My grandmother was always weird, and my mom even called her paranoid, but I didn’t really get it. She didn’t leave her house much, and I remember her face and the smile,” Eddie said above a whisper and trailed off. “He’s connected to my family, but why? And why is my grandmother in all of these photos with just him?”

Eddie and Joanne looked at each other once more for a moment. Their lingering stare communicated they knew they couldn’t sit and wait. They knew they’d have to be brave enough to leave the basement and get out of the house. Somehow.

“Can you move?” Eddie asked Joanne as he came back around the boxes to assist her.

“Yes. My leg is just sore, not falling off,” she said, trying to assure Eddie she was capable.

Eddie grabbed a photo of his grandmother and Happy and pocketed it. He then took Joanne’s hand and they slowly made their way to the stairs and walked up the basement, one step at a time. Once they were at the door, they looked at each other once more, and Eddie pushed the door open. Nothing happened. Eddie poked his head out and nothing. They exited the basement fully and were back in the kitchen and the living room.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Eddie!” a voice called out from the kitchen. Eddie and Joanne leaped in their spots with their souls nearly ascending to heaven and said words that’d normally only be said by adults and never repeated, unless you were itching to be beat.

“Mr. Donnelly, what the hell!” Eddie shouted. He was clutching his chest and bent over, with his heart pulsating so fast that the blood rushing to his head was enough to knock him out. Joanne could only muster a small shake of the head and leaned against the basement door. Mr. Donnelly was a retired neighbor who lived next door. He was pretty good friends with Maggie, often chatting her up and assisting on some yard work. It wasn’t uncommon for him to show up without notice, especially since he’d been widowed for nearly a decade.

“I wanted to come check on you. I know your mom had her… date tonight, but I was concerned. She called me a bit ago, sharing that she couldn’t get a hold of your babysitter. I tried to call, but your line is dead, and sure enough, when I picked up the receiver, it’s gone,” Mr. Donnelly said, pointing at Joanne and the phone. “I’ve heard some sounds coming from your house and saw lights going in and out, and even your front door is broken in. I did an inspection down here and was on my way out to call the police. I called your name and didn’t hear anything,” Mr. Donnelly said softly.

“How loud did you say Eddie’s name? We were in the basement and didn’t hear anything,” Joanne shot back. “How long have you been in here? Eddie saw someone in a mask earlier. And no offense, sir, but how do we know it isn’t you messing with us?” Joanne asked, growing suspicious. Mr. Donnelly could only put his hands up in self-defense.

“Ma’am, I don’t know what happened tonight, but I know this family, and I don’t know you. I’m doing what Maggie asked me to do. I told your mom weeks ago that I saw a guy in a mask stalking around, and I thought I saw him tonight. I wasn’t sure. Eddie, are you okay?” Mr. Donnelly asked, keeping his voice as still as possible. “It’s him-” Mr. Donnelly began to say as Happy rushed by Eddie and Joanne, knocking Eddie over.

Happy grabbed Mr. Donnelly by the neck and pushed him into the sink, with Mr. Donnelly gurgling and attempting to knock his hand away. His eyes bulged, and only forced squeals could break through. Mr. Donnelly looked to Eddie, who lay helplessly on the ground. Happy turned his head and then swiftly jammed his knife into Mr. Donnelly’s stomach. He pulled out and did it again. And again.

Happy let go of Mr. Donnelly’s neck and moved just to his left and watched him stagger a couple of steps and drop to the ground on his knees hard, slowly faded out. Happy placed his hand on top of Mr. Donnelly’s head and drove his knife into his face to create his signature smile. Eddie stared, thinking only of his grandma’s face that day at the funeral and everything from the box in the basement.

“RUN!” Joanne yelled. Eddie jumped off the floor, and Joanne pushed ahead of him, running as fast as she could, but her limp was making it harder for her. She tried to open the front door, but it was jammed shut.

“Go up the stairs, go!” Eddie shouted and grabbed Joanne’s hand, leading her and ensuring he’d go at her pace. At the top of the stairs, Joanne squeezed past Eddie and ran into his room at the tail end of the hallway. Eddie lingered on the stairs a bit to see if Happy was coming.

“Eddie, come on,” Joanne cried out. Eddie ran to his room but got yanked back. His belt loop on his pants got caught on the doorknob. “What’s happening? Eddie,” Joanne begged.

“My pants are stuck on the door,” Eddie said in between forced breaths, trying to break loose, which he finally did. He joined Joanne at the far end of his bed nearest the 2nd-floor window. “Hey, let’s whisper moving forward, yeah? In the movies, everyone always yells, and we have to help save ourselves by whispering,” Eddie whispered. Joanne turned slowly to the right and stared in disbelief.

“That’s what you want to say right now? A man was just killed in front of us,” Joanne whispered, bewildered. Eddie could only shrug.

CHAPTER SIX

They waited in the room in the same spot for some time without moving, and nothing broke the silence except a breath here and there. They anticipated that at any moment, Happy would rush into the room and do whatever he wanted with them.

“Hey Joanne, why do you hate Billy Turner and his girlfriend Caroline Turner>” Eddie asked as he stopped watching the door and sat fully on the ground with his back to the bed. Joanne, never peeling her eyes away, thought a moment.

“Your neighbor was killed in front of us, and there is a killer in your house playing with us, more like you, since your grandmother has pictures with him, and that is what is on your mind, kid? You have to stop watching scary movies,” Joanne said, nudging Eddie with her elbow.

“It’s just- I don’t know. Why?” Eddie asked again.

“I stopped using my cane because Billy would kick it out from under me and make me fall and laugh at me. Caroline thought it would be funny to hide it from me in the locker room, and I’d fall. She’d place water near my locker, and I’d slip. I get picked on for something I didn’t do to myself, and I can’t do anything about it. Or at least I thought I couldn’t. I stopped crying about it and just decided to get rid of my cane and face what I am,” Joanne said through what seemed like relief to get it off her chest.

“What are you?” Eddie asked.

“An awkward seventeen-year-old girl with thick brown glasses, a noticeable limp, asthma, and underestimated,” Joanne said as she sparked up. “Oh my god!”

“What?”

“I just realized I haven’t even thought to use my inhaler running around,” Joanne said, seemingly impressed and worried at the same time. Eddie gave a small laugh.

“I have an idea and don’t worry about me,” Eddie said as he stood up.

“What is it?” Joanne said as she sat on the bed.

“I’m going to go downstairs and find Happy and try to get him to chase me to the basement. You’re going to leave the house and go next door to Mr. Donnelly’s and call the cops,” Eddie said with unbreakable determination.

“Eddie, that is stupid, no!” Joanne groaned as she grabbed his hand before he pulled away. Eddie started for the door before turning back.

“It’s like the movies, and you said it. He wants me, and I have to find out why. Did you hear Mr. Donnelly? He saw him here before. He wants me, and I have to try and save us,” Eddie said and beelined out of the room to the stairs. He stood at the top for a moment, ignoring Joanne’s hisses for him to come back.

CHAPTER SEVEN

He began his trek down the stairs, more annoyed at each stair choosing this night or all nights to creak and snap. He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner to spot Happy in the kitchen, drawing on the kitchen floor in Mr. Donnelly’s blood. Eddie, feeling unstoppable, began to walk towards Happy. He took one step at a time until he got halfway into his living room and a small distance from his basement door. Happy looked up and pointed at Eddie, making inaudible sounds. He stood up, grabbing his knife. Eddie lunged for the basement door, not taking his eyes off of Happy. Happy watched Eddie and grabbed Mr. Donnelly by the foot, dragging him towards the basement. Eddie hopped down the stairs two and three at a time until he hit the bottom.

Happy walked the basement steps, with Mr. Donnelly’s head slamming into each one more ruthlessly than the step before. At the bottom of the stairs, he let go of Mr. Donnelly and looked around. At the far-left corner, he saw boxes being moved around and knocked on the floor. He walked over and saw photos and the newspaper scattered on the floor. He squatted down and picked up the newspaper, and more sounds came from behind the mask. He looked over the paper before tossing it. He then picked up a photo of his former nurse, Eddie’s grandmother, and himself from decades past. Happy caressed the image and looked around more, even seemingly distraught. He had started to cry or at least try to but grew angrier each glance at the photo. He kicked over more boxes and grew enraged. He heard a sound on the opposite side of the basement and lingered for a moment before heading over.

Happy walked to the other side of the basement and stood in front of tall shelves as he scouted out where the sound came from. He knew Eddie was here, but where? Suddenly, shelves collapse and Happy is knocked to the ground and buried beneath. His knife landed just out of reach above his head, and he tried and tried to reach for it, but couldn’t. Eddie jumped from the dark and pushed over another shelf that landed on top of Happy again.

Eddie ran to what appeared to be the furnace and tinkered with it.

“Guess what, Happy? You are dead tonight. I saw what you did to my grandmother, and you won’t hurt me or my mom,” Eddie yelled at Happy. He hit a switch on the furnace, and it began to heat up.

“Eddie!” Joanne called out from the top steps of the basement.

“Joanne, I got him! I got Happy!” declared Eddie as he and Happy locked eyes.

“Let’s go! The cops are on the way,” Joanne cried.

Eddie began to walk and stepped on top of the shelves to crush Happy more under the weight, who lay still. They never broke eye contact. As Eddie made his way across the shelves, Happy reached out and grabbed Eddie by the ankle and effortlessly yanked him to the ground. Eddie screamed out and landed on top of the shelves with his face only inches away from Happy’s mask. Eddie stared into Happy’s eyes as every nerve, piece of fear, anger, and scare boiled within him, but he didn’t flinch nor could he blink.

“You have my sister’s eyes,” Happy said in a raspy voice as if he hadn’t formed words in a long time, if ever. Eddie became even more frightened as he digested those words, and before he could respond, a hand yanked him.

“Let’s go, Eddie!” Joanne said, making her way down the stairs to help Eddie. He got off the ground, and they both made their way back to the stairs, and it was just in time as the furnace erupted with a flame pushing out and exploding. Joanne and Eddie got knocked back, falling onto Mr. Donnelly’s body. They held hands and ascended the stairs, with Eddie only looking back once to see Happy looking out at him and the shelves on fire.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Police had swarmed the house and done their checks. They went in, swarmed each floor, and could make sense that something had happened. Saw the blood on the kitchen floor, which Happy drew a big smiley face on the ground with Mr. Donnelly’s blood. They went into the basement and could only find Mr. Donnelly. Police had stated that outside of the one body, they did find a scorched mask, but no one else. They had made note of a broken window in the far-left corner of the basement.

Maggie had returned from her date and had been hysterical. She couldn’t let go of Eddie, clutching him and holding him. She couldn’t stop crying and thinking about what unfolded and what she didn’t know. That Mr. Donnelly, a sweet old man who meant well, had been killed in her home, and that so much was happening and so little made sense.

“Mom, did you have a brother?” Eddie would ask his Maggie, who wouldn’t know what to say amongst the chaos. On one hand, Eddie was a twelve-year-old child who was smart and curious and had a habit of asking questions others didn’t want to answer. On the other hand, he had been brave and undergone something he shouldn’t have.

“Honey, it’s a lot. There’s a lot. I found out things I’d never known when my mom died and… I’m still processing it. I-I-I think I did, baby. I think so. And your grandmother had her reasons for why she kept him away and never told me or you,” Maggie could only carefully say through tears and more confusion herself.

Police had bagged and tagged the mask, and Eddie couldn’t stop staring at it. Even though Happy wasn’t wearing it, he could see his eyes. He could hear his voice.

Joanne sat alone in a cop car that was going to take her home. Maggie and Eddie approached her, and Maggie reached out and gave her a mother’s hug.

“Thank you,” Maggie said as she squeezed her firmly and kissed her face. “Are you okay?” Maggie asked, genuinely concerned.

“I think so. My leg really hurts and my chest- oh! Eddie, when you went downstairs to face Happy all by yourself, I started to have a panic attack. I know, right? We just talked about it. I literally stumbled and fell down the stairs because it would be faster for me instead of walking, and grabbed the inhaler and was okay. Now, in most movies, the inhaler would be misplaced, right?” Maggie asked with excitement. Maggie grew more disoriented from the whole story.

“Yes! It’s the story adding more conflict and obstacles,” Eddie said with genuine excitement.

“Well, not this girl! I got to it, and here we are. I think you and I make a great team, kid. Oh! Maggie, how was your date?” Joanne asked a growing, befuddled Maggie.

“Eddie, you- alone? To- I- oh my god. We have a lot to talk about. All three of us,” Maggie said as she paced in her spot, and Eddie and Joanne smiled. “My date! He- We will see each other again. Thank you for asking, Joanne,” Maggie said as she went through several emotions.

CHAPTER NINE

Sometime later on a long night, when things had calmed down and seemed relatively settled again, life got back on track.

Eddie lay in bed tossing and turning. Unbeknownst to Maggie, he couldn’t stop thinking about Happy. About the whole night. How could he hurt Mr. Donnelly? He was inches from the mask, and he told Eddie that he was his uncle. Eddie kept asking himself:

Why didn’t you hurt us, Happy? You could have easily. What are you looking for, Happy?

Eddie couldn’t sleep, so he jumped out of bed and crept by his mom’s room, who was sound asleep. He went downstairs to the living room and turned on the TV to watch whatever horror movie was playing. Eddie sat front and center in front of the couch and sat back.

Smile: At Midnight had been on and Eddie shot straight up as if the nerves directed his body on their own and froze him. Right in front of him was the host, Jerry, wearing his very own porcelain mask. Eddie had suddenly remembered that night how Jerry pulled the mask out, but he hadn’t given it anymore thought after everything that had happened.

“Hello, boys and girls. Particularly, all of my killer fans in Chicago- how are you this evening? Apparently, you have a killer on the loose who-,” Jerry said with growing theatrics with each word spoken and a particular emphasis on ‘killer’. He took the mask off and tossed it aside. “Slipped away in the night from a little home in a little neighborhood… the suspense! Our own little horror movie playing out in real life. Spooky. Stay frighteningly alive,” Jerry said as his face grew bigger on the screen with a devilish grin taking over. Eddie calmed down as the night’s movie starting back up again. He had to remind himself it’s all over.

After some time, he finally began to feel tired and got up to turn off the television. As he turned, he jumped back, nearly knocking the TV over as he thought he just saw Happy standing in front of his window. Eddie remained still a bit and walked, hesitantly, to the couch to look outside.

He saw nothing.

He thought maybe his mind was playing tricks on him as he remembered more details from that night. After all, Jerry Koz had his own mask and seemed to think the whole ordeal was amusing.

Eddie, after a moment feeling satisfied, walked to the stairs and stood a moment. He began to make his move up the stairs, stopping every few steps and looking back at the window and then living room. A part of him prayed nothing was there, because why would it be? But the anticipation grew within thinking what if Happy was back.

Once back in his room, Eddie, as mutedly as possible, closed his bedroom door just keeping it ajar enough. He turned to see something sitting atop his pillow but couldn’t make it out in the dark. He moved closer and picked it up.

It was a porcelain mask. The same one that Happy had, only this one wasn’t charred from the furnace. His heart began to pound as if drums were in his chest. His hands caressed the entirety of the mask and felt the smoothness.

All of a sudden, Eddie whipped around and tripped and fell onto his bed as he heard his bedroom door abruptly shut.

*Images were A.I. generated*