It was late one Hallow’s Eve, when the trick-or-treaters had begun disappearing and the candles in the jack o’lanterns were dimly flickering, when Victoria spied the two figures encroaching on her home. Perhaps they had seen the thicket of dead, barren trees and mistaken them for Halloween decorations, but whatever their intentions, she did not welcome them.

The first was a woman, short and scrawny, her eyes small, her nose flat and buttonlike. She was young, supple, and beautiful. A pang of jealousy stabbed her soul. In the past, she would’ve been the type of girl Victoria herself would have liked to become, or, at the very least, befriend. Now, her form was old and decrepit.

The other, a male of similar age, was tall and burly. His light sandy hair framed his face in tight ringlets and he had pale grey eyes. He too was beautiful and, in the past, would have been very appealing to Victoria, but not as much as the girl.

She watched them imperiously from a window in the attic, glaring down with black eyes like dark embers on a moon-shaped face. When they entered the house, she flew downstairs in a furor. There, she hastened to hide behind a dreary set of drapes. They fluttered with her every movement, emitting a low moaning noise which echoed throughout the halls. As the last vestiges of wind curled through their hair, the girl remarked, “It’s odd. I have the strangest feeling about this house.”

From behind the nearly transparent curtains, Victoria watched, her eyes long having adjusted to the dim, murky shadows which the eyes of others could not penetrate.

“It seems as though something is watching us.”

The boy laughed and shook his head. “You’re overly paranoid, Hannah.”

The two of them were terribly annoying, not merely in their presence but also their youth and vitality which in turn cast her in a dim light. Once more, envy took root in her spirit. The sight of the young ones upset her and she wished she could return to the days of her youth. Still, she was tired from eating and earlier commotions, so she resolved to bid them leave.

As such, she shifted to the dining room. A rickety mahogany table stood at its center, with a rusting music box on top. She jiggled it vigorously, inducing the entire table to shake doubly so and the broken box to begin playing a sinisterly monotonous tune of creaks and groans.

“Did you hear that?”

“It must have been the wind.”

In one last bid, she scurried to the front door which had been left slightly ajar and slammed it open with all her might. It swung open with a great gust of wind, spraying dust and old cobwebs everywhere. The bang it created as it collided with the derelict walls reverberated throughout the hallway. There could be no clearer sign of her wishes.

“Really, I think we should leave!” Hannah exclaimed. She began to make for the door, but the boy held her back.

“Wait,” he pleaded. “How often might we get to explore a haunted house?”

Victoria hovered in place, irritated. She had given every indication they were not welcome in her home, yet the boy insisted on staying. Suddenly, the generous spirit which had possessed her earlier left, along with her intention of permitting them both to leave. She would have at least one of them. To eat or to wear, she would decide afterwards. So she drew herself up to her full height of several meters and flew in spiraling circles, shrieking, until she reached the crumbling ceiling. Wisps of hair extended from her skull in all directions as the skirt of her dress, frayed and decaying, puffed and billowed, producing the illusion of grand size and emanating a stench of rot.

The two adolescents cowered immediately. Hannah, who had wrenched her hand free from the boy’s grasp, scrambled to her feet and sprinted for the door. Victoria watched her go with a disinterested eye, but the boy, who remained trembling on the floor, she beheld with more scrutiny.

She floated closely to him, regarding his young face. It was stricken with fear, full of tears and whimpering as she drew near.

“Please,” he croaked. “Please let me go.”

Silently, she touched her forehead to his and pressed forward until, seamlessly, her ghostly form slipped into his body. When he opened his eyes again, they were black like the abyss.