Eddie Lewis was a lonely man. He lived alone, ate alone, drove in his car alone. He sat in his office cubicle alone, his fingers expertly clicking on the stiff keys of the computer. Eddie had no friends, no family. Both his parents had been gone for quite a while, all his high school friends dispersed around the country, around the world. Once in a while, Eddie would check his social media accounts, glaring at the 0 that labeled his number of followers. He would see his old friends getting married, having children.

Children.

Even though Eddie wished for a life-long companion, something he despised with all his heart was nasty, loud, children.

His life was boring, simple, ordinary. Whenever he talked with a co-worker at the accounting office he worked at, they said he needed to go out in the world more. Live more.

But Eddie just shook his head, smiling sadly. No, living fiercely and confidently wasn’t the lifestyle Eddie wanted for himself. He was quite content sleeping in, waking up to his cat Silver’s claws scratching his face. Well, not that exact part. 

Yet the point remains the same.

And everything was the same. Sleep, eat, work. Sleep, eat, work. Before he knew it, Eddie was fifty, unmarried, and desperate for any company.

That’s it, Eddie told himself one morning, I must do something with my life. Make some small difference in this world.

He drove to work after eating his standard bowl of oats. 

The first step, he told himself, is to change something up in my routine. So, for the first time in his life, Eddie decided to go to work late. He drove to the closest coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino. 

“Happy Halloween!” the waitress told him as she jotted down his order.

“Halloween?” Eddie asked, unsure.

“Well, of course, it’s the 31st of October! Haven’t you seen any of the decorations?”

“Ri-ight!” Eddie stumbled over his words, “Halloween, of course! I remember…”

Sipping on his coffee, Eddie pondered how else he could change his life around. He settled with talking to some co-workers at the office, even if it was as simple as asking how their day was. 

For a middle-aged man with social anxiety, it was a huge step.

The day progressed, and Eddie made a couple of new friends from the office. By the time he drove home, Eddie Lewis was tired, yet satisfied with himself. He drove around some houses that had spooky decorations and even waved at some people trick-or-treating. When he was twenty minutes away from his home, three children in costume blocked the road. Eddie stepped on the breaks harshly and stopped the car.

The three children, looking no more than thirteen years old, approached the car. They appeared to be arguing, which frightened Eddie. He did not like talkative children.

The tallest child, a boy, who was dressed as a vampire, had a black cloak draped over his shoulders. He pounded on the car window.

“Let us in, please, sir!” the boy in the vampire costume said, “can you give us a ride?”

The two other children, a girl dressed as a witch and a boy as a werewolf, nodded and smiled pleasantly when Eddie looked at them.

Agitated, Eddie remembered how he was trying to change his life around today. He slowly clicked the button to unlock the door, and the three children got in.

“What in the world am I doing?” he asked himself aloud, already flinching when the children started talking animatedly.

“What’s your name?” the girl dressed as a witch asked him.

“Eddie. Eddie Lewis.”

“Hello, Mr. Lewis!” said the girl and the older boy at the same time, scaring Eddie in ways he had never been scared before.

“I’m Welma,” said the witch girl. “This is Vike,” she pointed at the older vampire boy, “and this is Lamb.” she then turned her finger to the younger boy dressed as the werewolf.

“Why is your name Lamb?” a trembling Eddie asked the younger boy.

“Oh, he doesn’t speak,” Welma answered for him casually, looking out the window. 

“Doesn’t... Doesn’t speak?” sputtered Eddie, a bewildered expression on his face. 

Vike, the older, vampire boy, glared at Welma. “Hush, Wel! Don’t run your tongue and ruin our cover!”

Then, Vike turned to Eddie. “What she means,” he paused, then continued, “is that Lamb doesn’t speak yet.”

“Yet?!” shrieked Eddie, terrified. “He looks no more than eleven!” 

“He’s twelve,” Welma shot back, “and... Well… when do kids usually begin to start speaking?”

“By two years, children should be able to say some phrases,” Eddie answered, heavily concerned now.

“Should we tell Mr. Lewis that we aren’t human? And that Lamb doesn’t speak because werewolves never learned English, that they only speak Werewolvish?” Welma whispered to Vike quite loudly.

“Shut up, Wel! Of course not! It doesn’t matter how nice this Lewis man is, we’re not supposed to tell anyone,” Vike answered. He then turned towards Eddie and smile guiltily. “Oh dear, I’ve forgotten to tell you where we’re going! Do you know the building 91126 on Maple Street?”

Before he could answer, Welma stated matter of factly: “It’s the City Morgue.” 

Lamb hissed at her and said something in a garbled, wicked language. 

“I’m sorry!” Welma said instantly, covering her mouth with horror. “Oh goodness, we weren’t supposed to tell anyone!”

“Welma!” Vike exclaimed angrily, and Lamb let out a wail that came from the back of his throat, rose up, then slowly died down.

“I don’t understand!” Eddie shouted, shaking his head. “First you tell me Lamb doesn’t speak, then that you aren’t human, and now that you’re planning on visiting the City Morgue on Halloween night? To do what? Say, ‘Oh, hello! We kill em’, you bag em’, am I right?’

The three children were completely silent. All of a sudden, Welma’s witch make-up looked a bit too real, the blood on Vike’s chin looked too fresh to be painted, and the glint in Lamb’s eyes was full of death and excitement.

“Oh dear,” said poor Eddie, feeling his stomach do a couple of loops. “You’re monsters, aren’t you?” He slowly began to step out of the car, and before he started sprinting into the woods, all three kids erupted in laughter.

“You totally believe us!” Welma cried. “That was so funny!”

When Eddie finally collected himself, he looked the children in the eye and said: 

“That’s enough now. Go on home, you trouble-makers. Do you want me to call your parents?”

Welma, Vike, and Lamb climbed out of the car and started walking away. 

“It’s too far to the Morgue, would you rather just take the shortcut?” asked Vike, and before Eddie knew it, Welma pulled a small broom from under her stockings, boarded it, and flew away. 

Vike jumped to the trees, crossing the woods by leaping. Lamb let out a horrifying roar, transformed into a six-foot-tall beast, and sprinted into the forest. 

Eddie’s jaw dropped to the ground. “This can’t be possible!” he cried.

Before he knew it, his eyes were rolling into the back of his head.

The last thing Eddie Lewis saw on this Halloween night was the large, yellow moon, with an outline of a witch in front of it. 

So much for changing my life around, Eddie thought.

And then, he fainted.