THE FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN
CHAPTER 2- HALLOWEEN IN HADDONFIELD


HADDONFIELD
OCTOBER 31ST
HALLOWEEN

Awooooooooooooooooo....Werewolves of London!

The famous Warren Zevon song blared loudly from Sherry Robinson's night stand radio as she slowly came to and awoke in her bed. Yawning, she reached over and adjusted the volume, but didn't turn it off entirely. Sherry squirmed a bit under her blue bedspread, but managed to stretch out her arms and legs out to nearly the full length of the queen size bed. Sighing, she rolled over and immediately glanced at her cell phone, which had no messages, and crawled out of bed.

Awoooooooooooo!

Sherry, wearing a yellow Tazmanian Devil night shirt with red shorts, scurried down the short hallway to get to the bathroom and prepare for her big day. Now 17 years old, Sherry Robinson, the daughter of the former Sheriff Donald Robinson, had managed to put her life together and move on from the tragic past that claimed her father and so many others. It also cost her her mother, who just couldn't handle the loss of her husband, and left Haddonfield (and Sherry) behind not long after Donald's funeral.

Enter the new sheriff, Joshua Barnes. Eager to help Sherry move on from her dreadful past, Barnes adopted her at age 7, and the two had been inseparable ever since. Even though Barnes knew he would never be a suitable replacement for her real father, he did his best to take care of her out of respect for his friend. Sure, there were speed bumps along the way, but Sherry was now an honor-roll student, president of the student council at Haddonfield High School, and in line for a full athletic scholarship at the University of Illinois. Somewhere above, they both knew Donald was proud.

As she vigorously brushed her teeth, Sherry kept an ear tuned to the radio. Just as 'Werewolves of London' was ending, the DJ got on the air and made a brief announcement:

"DJ Drake here on WKNB celebrating yet another year of Halloween in Haddonfield! We'll be coming at you LIVE tonight from the Haddonfield Rave, part of the big 'Festival Of Samhain'. But first, some breaking news...WWAR reports that a wave of violence broke out overnight at a club outside Haddonfield, resulting in several deaths. According to reporter Kerry Carson, the alleged incidents occurred at the Rabbit in Red Lounge, but no other details are available at this time. More on this as we get it. Now, back to the music, with some Ray Parker Jr..."

Hearing that, Sherry immediately perked up as she rinsed the toothpaste from her mouth and washed her face. Back in her room, the radio began playing Ray Parker Jr.'s holiday-appropriate anthem "Ghostbusters", which served as the background music of her morning. As soon as the report finished, her cell phone blew up, with several text messages causing her phone to vibrate and beep loudly. When Sherry heard it, she quickly dried off and retreated to her room to check it.

The first message read, 'OMG! DYJ hear that?' and was from her best friend Sienna St. Clair. Smirking, Sherry simply texted back to her, 'Unreal...C U soon'. Many other messages similar in nature followed, so she skipped over most, and scrolled down to one from her boyfriend. Brandon Farson, the captain of the track team, texted, "U listenin 2 KNB?' Unnerved, Sherry replied back, 'Hey babe...heard it...ready in a few'. As soon as she saw the confirmation that the text went through, she finished brushing her hair and got dressed. Sporting an orange Haddonfield High track t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, Sherry grabbed her backpack, checked herself in the mirror one last time, and headed downstairs.

In the kitchen, she found a note on the marble counter, along with a stack of waffles piled on a plate. The note read: "At the station...waffles sounded good today...J".

It didn't take Sherry long to put two and two together and realize why Josh wasn't there. She would have preferred to have her breakfast with him, but since he wasn't around, Sherry opted instead for a granola bar and headed out the door, her navy and yellow varsity jacket in hand.


***


Outside, Halloween in Haddonfield was starting out like any typical Midwestern autumn day. A slight chill coated the air as a gentle breeze blew some multi-colored leaves across the browned and dying lawns. The sun attempted to peek through the overcast gray sky at times, with little success.

Sherry Robinson snapped up her jacket as she sat on her doorstep munching on her granola bar. The cool air always helped her wake up in the morning, so she was clearing her mind and plotting the events of the day ahead, including the big festival later that night.

As she sat there, she couldn't help but get the feeling that she was being watched. Looking around, the short, yet buxom beauty didn't see anything but the dying days of summer unfolding around her. Maybe it was just this damn holiday making me paranoid, Sherry thought. Understandably, she always seemed to get the heebie-jeebies every year around this time, even though she only had a vague memory of what had happened when she was a kid. Part of her still did not understand why Michael Myers did what he did, and took her father away from her. But as time passed, she gained a difficult acceptance, and came to realize just how blessed she was to have an adopted father like Joshua Barnes.

The sound of an approaching car shook Sherry from her train of thought. She smiled as she got to her feet and realized that the approaching sky blue pick-up truck was that of her boyfriend, Brandon Farson. Sherry skipped down the front sidewalk and got in the passenger's seat. Inside, Brandon, the Caucasian 18-year old senior track star at Haddonfield High, was blasting Megadeth's 'Never Dead' on his radio, but he turned it down as his girlfriend hopped up into her seat.

"Hey baby," Sherry said, greeting him with a soft kiss on the lips.

"Hey love," was Brandon's reply as he pulled away from the curb and headed down the road. "Did you hear what happened last night?"

"Uh, a little bit," Sherry informed him. "It's probably just some asshole trying to make a name off of this town. Happens every year."

"I'm not so sure," Brandon asserted. "The police are being tight-lipped about it. Have you talked to Josh yet?"

"No, he was already gone when I got up," Sherry stated matter-of-factly. "I'll call him later. I'm sure he's busy with the investigation. It's nothing to worry about."

Just then, an updated radio report came over KNB, and Josh turned the radio back up:

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. Police have identified one of the victims of last night's brutal attack at the Rabbit in Red. Madison Mauberry, 28, formerly of Haddonfield, was among those found dead at the club last night. Ten years ago, Mauberry survived the infamous 'Hell's Night' Massacre by serial killer Michael Myers. More to come...stay tuned..."

Hearing that name sent a shiver spreading down Sherry's spine. Madison Mauberry was a definite blast from the past, on a day she clearly didn't need one.

An awkward silence filled the truck as Sherry and Brandon just looked at each other unbelievingly.

In an effort to relieve the tension and awkwardness in the air, Brandon reached over and quickly changed the radio station. "I don't know about you, but I need some wake-up tunes."

After a brief silence, Three Days Grace's "Chalk Outline" blasted through his speakers mid-song, and Brandon smiled at Sherry as he drove away from Lampkin Lane and ventured toward town, where a new day at Haddonfield High School awaited both.

Unbeknownst to either of them, a mysterious figure appeared on the sidewalk in front of Sherry's house. The figure was clad in a long black trench coat and black fedora with silver-tipped designer boots, complete with spurs on the back. With a click-clack, click-clack of the spurs, the figure started to follow after the truck. The slow, casual gait of his walk was surprising, considering there was no way he'd ever catch up to Brandon's truck.

At the same time, Brandon, sensing he was being watched, looked up in his rearview mirror. But when he did, just like that, as quick as it had appeared, the figure was gone.


Proceed To Chapter 3
Back To The Lair Of Horror