The Masked Man

Today, I drove my seven-year old son, James, and I into town to go Halloween

shopping. I didn't have to buy any candy this year because we live in a

cul-de-sac out in the middle of a farming community on the outskirts of the

city. I moved there last year because I had divorced my wife and lost my old

house along with most custody of James.

It's okay, though. James and I love Halloween. It's one of the few times a

year that Tracy finds it acceptable for my only son to come visit me. James

stays with her on every other holiday through the year: his birthday and

everything else in between. I get to see him only on my birthday and the

week before Halloween, unless the court finds it suitable for him to come

spend the night every once in a while. Frankly, I'm surprised Tracy let him

come shopping with me.

He showed an extremely strong attraction to a flamboyant green and purple

Buzz Lightyear costume. It's really typical for a kid to have an eye for the

most expensive thing on the rack, but I didn't have the heart to say no to

those profound blue eyes. He also picked out the house decorations. I know

we won't be getting any trick-or-treaters out where I live, but embellishing

the exterior of our home was always one of our favorite things to do

together.

Friday, October 21

It looks like James and I will be having some competition for the "best

Halloween decorations in the neighborhood" award, which sadly, in this

community, is only fictitious. When I lived with James and my wife, we won

the trophy every year since he was three. Now, my next-door neighbor is

really giving us a run for our money. It looks like he did quite the splurge

on decorations, just as we did.

He must have ordered everything online, though, because aside from the

cliche "Happy Halloween" banners and the like, some of the festive treasures

found on his house and lawn were nowhere to be seen in the store that James

and I went to - which sold primarily Halloween-related contraband.

The thing that stuck out most to me was the kite string strung from both

ends of his garage door that suspended dozens of expensive-looking bones and

skulls several feet off the ground. He had also placed several other bones

sticking upwards, perpendicular with the edge of his lawn. It almost looked

rather sinister. There was no color or detail, just random bones placed here

and there, strewn about his overgrown and unwatered lawn. I think James and

I have beat him, though.

Saturday, October 22

While walking through my house at dusk, I noticed a quick flicker of

movement dash in and out of my peripherals outside my dining room window as

I was preparing for James' arrival the next day. I can't recall why I chose

to inspect was it was, seeing as how I immediately dismissed this movement

as a cat or other small animal. I don't even know if I should be glad that I

did.

I walked back in front of the window about a minute later and saw the same

animation, but this time in the center of my vision. I walked back away from

the window and slowly peeked out from the corner of the glass. I made out

the shape of the very top of a person's head peering over the top of my

fence and seemed to be watching me.

Whoever it was ducked down again right after they realized that we had made

eye contact. I backed away from the window. I don't know why. I crawled over

to the family room window, which was about fifteen to twenty feet to the

left of where I was and facing the same direction as the dining room window.

I stayed, kneeling timidly but curiously grasping the curtain; I ever so

slowly pulled back the cloth, only to reveal the masked fellow who was

snooping around behind my property. This time, I saw the entire head. The

mask had a gaping, dangling mouth, similar to the mask used in the "Scream"

series. The only difference was that the jaw of the mask was swaying about

in the wind and that it also had teeth.

A lot of teeth of all different shapes and sizes, surrounding the entire

perimeter of the mouth. The expression on the mask was plain, and the tone

of color was rather pale, with a sight gray discoloration. It didn't have a

goofy smile or an intimidating stare, just a mouth hanging wide open and a

couple of perfectly round, beady little chameleon eyes.

After about ten seconds of observation, one of the eyes appeared as if it

was steadily drifting off - away from where it was fixated and, very slowly,

began to scan to the right - and as soon as the eye seemed to lock onto

where I was, he/she quickly disappeared. What a mask.

Tuesday, October 25

I don't really know my neighbor, much less where he gets all of his

decorations. I noticed a new ornament of sorts in front of his door today.

It was a ceramic bowl full of guts, strategically placed where one would put

a bowl of candy if they were too lazy to answer the door for

trick-or-treaters. Behind it was one large white piece of paper bound to the

wall of his house with masking tape.

On it was written, in nearly illegible chicken scratch, "TAKE ONE." The

whole sign had bloody fingerprints smeared all over it. Even more convincing

was the bloody tape...and the bloody wall. Nearly the entire wall was

smeared in brownish red. Spooky. The blood streams all over the place were

even dried. I didn't know they made novelty blood that looked dried like

that.

I've only ever talked to this neighbor once, and it was around the time that

I moved in. He seemed rather distraught. Wen I approached him, I asked him

if everything was all right. He said that he was late for work, which was

odd because it was around 8:30 PM. I asked him where he worked and he

revealed to me that he was a biologist and worked for the military, but said

nothing more.

It was strange...every time I saw him after that, his pants had always

ridden up his ankles a little bit more. He was always stumbling around

awkwardly and constantly tripping over his own feet. My other neighbors and

I liked to joke about him from time to time. I remember one specific

instance when he was watering his shrubbery and one of his knees gave out.

Backwards, like the way a bird's leg works.

It looked excruciating to me, but he just walked it off. I've only ever seen

him outside again a couple of times after I saw this happen. We stopped

making fun of him after that.

Last month, as I walked to the mailbox one afternoon, I had heard his kids

crying really loudly and frantically. There wasn't any screaming to be

heard, just horrible crying. The crying stopped later, which I was thankful

for. I was having trouble sleeping through that horrifying racket. It's been

several months since I've seen him last.

Wednesday, October 26

Ever since James arrived earlier this week, he has simply abhorred the idea

of removing his costume. Little Buzz has been running ramped throughout the

house quoting "Toy Story" and "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command." He hasn't

changed once since he put it on, except for the time I demanded that he

allow me to wash i because he was rolling around outside in the dirt, so to

speak.

I haven't sen any more of this weirdo in the mask lately. It's probably some

mischievous kid from the neighborhood behind mine. It's a cul-de-sac too,

just a bigger one. There is a dirt road that accompanies an irrigation canal

separating the two cul-de-sacs. My house is the farthest house from the main

road, and the canal runs parallel to my fence. There's no bridge that I know

of that one could use to cross the water, though. Maybe the guy just runs

track in school.

My neighbor bought a new decoration. Why he's procrastinating so badly, I

don't know. It's about 200 feet of lights to accompany the 200 feet of

intestines he had previously thrown all over the tree in his front yard. The

lights don't coexist with the prior decor, though. All I could smell when I

went outside was the burning odor of his literally sizzling ensemble of

mix-matched decorations hanging from the tree. When I went outside at night

earlier on to go ask him to kindly turn off the lights, most of them

appeared to be burnt out, so I went back inside.

Come to think of it, the smell wasn't so bad. I'd smelt it plenty of times

before, I just don't know where.

Friday, October 28

I'm going insane. No simple words can properly describe what I believe I

have witnessed. Today, I got another glimpse of 'the masked person.'What I

saw this time was not at all what I would describe as a mask. I was sitting

in my living room reading. The bay window in my living room overlooks the

entire street I live on, and I had my blinds open.

I had lifted up my head and looked up and out the window at the nearly

dissipated sun because I had heard what sounded to me like an asthmatic

individual audibly struggling to inhale accompanied by a restless house cat.

After a bit of listening to this unnerving sound, I stood up from my couch

and walked casually toward the window. I cupped my hands above my eyes to

deter the sunlight and pressed my face against the window...and I saw it.

It was pursuing a small cat. It ran like an ostrich. Its entire figure was

covered in thin hair and big blue veins; its long, matted, nauseating black

hair closely following its flaky, decomposing head. Its flapping, jawless

chin bobbinghappily to and fro, occasionally slapping the sides of its

scrawny, pale, indisposed neck. Narrow shoulders rhythmically bounding up

and down in harmony with its tree branch-like arms, easily giving it at

least a five foot reach.

Mammoth hands were dragging its chopstick fingers, tickling the ground as it

ran. Its emaciated, stilt-like legs completed its horrific image.

Altogether, I observed an eight-and-a-half foot question mark with greasy

hair practically leaping from yard to yard chasing this poor creature for a

reason obviously beyond simple sustenance. One could be no less than

appreciative that they weren't in the shoes of this poor feline.

The cat approached a fence on the left side of the street, followed by its

lanky predator. It began to scale the fence. The beast then proceeded to

effortlessly jump from the sidewalk, clear the 20-foot lawn, and snatch the

animal from the top of the fence with its talon-like claws, as a falcon

might. The cat didn't stand a chance, nor did it even manage a voice to

squeal.

I saw it for a whole three seconds before it disappeared into the shadows

with its prize. That amount of time was more than enough to tattoo my

retinas with its grotesque image.

Saturday, October 29

I now thoroughly believe that the aforementioned beast does, in fact, exist.

I've never thought about calling the police, but we all know how they would

never find a "monster." That is, if they would even respond to such a

ridiculous call. I definitely couldn't call in and report a burglar or

anything human for that matter, mainly because they wouldn't be looking for

what needed to be caught.

Earlier tonight, my neighbors threw a street-wide costume party at their

place down at the end of the cul-de-sac. I didn't go because I had to work

late, and after I picked up James from his friend's house, we anticipated

having a game night with the two of us. My reclusive neighbor stayed at bay

as well.

Some time during the night, James decided to take a bathroom break. He was

gone for over fifteen minutes. When he returned, he seemed excited to inform

me that he looked out the family room window and saw what he described as a

"really tall weird-looking person with a bag" running patiently to the house

where the party was being held, empty bag in hand.

They would disappear into the backyard of the house and, seconds later, bolt

out of the lawn with a full bag and tear off towards my neighbor's house,

wearing a costume. They repeated this process several times, each time

wearing a different costume than before.

He said that on "her" last round, "she" stopped in the middle of the street,

cocked "her" head to the right slightly, and "her" right eye slid to the

side of "her" head and stared right at him as if there weren't a window

between them. he said that "she" then turned "her" head 180 degrees and

locked eye contact with him, and then "her" colossal mouth sluggishly

transformed from a probing expression to the widest smile he thought he'd

ever seen.

He said that its smile had then hastily collapsed, dropping the chin into a

visible free fall which ended with a slinging slap on its chest. It then

darted off into a neighbor's yard and that was when he decided to come alert

me of his findings.

I looked outside the window, but I could see multiple figures...standing

around inside the house of the party. I thought of that horrid monster

smiling at my beautiful boy. I despised the idea. Next, I tried to envision

what that particular smile might look like, though I really couldn't. I

didn't think a jawless maw that gargantuan had any muscle at all to maneuver

that flailing chin in the first place.

Lincoln skeleton, so-on; so-forth. Every one of them was strung up by the

back of its neck, feet swinging, head looking down. I really wanted to ask

this guy how he comes up with all this and where he gets it all. If he knows

that last night's rain washed the color off of most of his little

knick-knacks. I have to hand it oto him, though. The slew of morbid decor in

combination with his dirty, run-down, cobweb covered home gives it a true

horror movie feel to it.

Later that night, I had nearly passed out while finishing up some of my work

when my doorbell rang again and again until I reluctantly rose up and walked

toward my front door. It was past midnight.

I opened the door. It was my neighbor. No, not whatever lived next door, but

the fellow who lived behind me on the other side of the canal. He was

disgruntled. He was upset and threatening me about something but none of it

sank in because one of the skeletons hanging from my neighbor's tree was

staring right at me, jaw wide open.

It was smaller than the other skeletons around it. A gleam of moonlight

revealed that a small string tied through a hole bored in the top of its

skull was its support. I got goosebumps when I noticed that its eyes were

still intact.

I then tuned in to the man yelling at me.

"You listenin' over there," He asked.

"Oh...yeah."

"The hell you tryin' to pull? You almost gave my wife a heart attack with

that mask."

So, apparently, my son and I aren't the only ones who have spotted the

neighborhood missing link. How could he possibly confuse that thing with me?

"And don't try to smooth-talk yer way outta this one, pal. I saw you jump

clear over that fence of yours - the hell you managed to do that, I'm still

wonderin' - and crawl right back into yer basement."

"...I'm terribly sorry..." I improvised. "I don't know what's come over

me... If there's anything I can do-"

My heart sank. I thought about what he said.

I don't have a basement.

"Wait here," I nearly screamed.

I sped off into my house. I bolted down the hall. I began to spasm as I

neared the guest room door. My trembling hands applied their convulsing

energy to the doorknob, then turned and flung the door wide open to reveal

my son, sleeping, facing the wall, just as I had left him. He normally

doesn't sleep with his head all the way under the blankets, but I was too

flustered to notice. I jogged, reassured, back out to my bewildered guest. I

didn't know what to think anymore.

"Sorry...I just-"

He interrupted.

"Aww, save it. I, for one, do NOT care at all about your problems. You just

stay the hell away from me and my family. Ya hear?"

"Yeah...sure..."

A calming chuckle dug its way into his angry tone right after I noticed the

freshly familiar bottomless blue eyes stuffed inside the head of that

skeleton.

"I gotta hand it to ya, though. I nearly died laughing when I saw you

runnin' around wearin' that little kid's Buzz Lightyear costume."