Tricks, No Treats
written by: Kerr Pelto
“Alexa, play ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’ by My Chemical Romance.”
Jerry gyrated his hips to the music reverberating throughout the cathedral-ceilinged great room. Candlelight threw ghostly dancing shadows on the walls. He hoped his attention to detail, creating a sensual ambiance, would be appreciated. He couldn’t think of a better treat on All Hallows’ Eve than spending the evening with the delicious Candy.
He walked into the hallway and paused in front of a mirror to adjust his pointy teeth. A scream caught in his throat when an identical vampire materialized behind him. Jerry whirled around, making the sign of the cross to ward off evil.
“What are you doing here?!”
“Did you not think I’d find you, Jere?”
“Karl, now’s not a good time. I’m expecting my date in about ten minutes.” With his back pressed against the wall, Jerry inched his way into the kitchen.
Karl followed, a deranged look in his eyes. “So, the time was right for you to kill my wife? You thought you were smarter than her, that she wouldn’t find the discrepancies in the General Ledger and realize you’d been embezzling from our company. You thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you?”
Sweat crept down Jerry’s forehead, streaking his meticulous vampiric makeup. He leaned back against the countertop, hands behind him, and clutched the cold marble for stability.
“She would have destroyed you.” Karl stepped in closer, shortening the gap between them. “Now I’m going to do that for her.” Light danced off the razor-sharp knife raised above Karl’s head before he plunged it into Jerry’s heart, ending a horrified scream.
A warm feeling of satisfaction flooded Karl’s body and satiated his desire for revenge. He cleaned off the large knife and returned it to the knife block. The loud door chime startled him.
“Trick or Treat!” yelled the excited children standing outside the door.
Karl exited the kitchen, threw open the front door, pelted candy at the three little ghosts, and bared his teeth. The terrified children screamed and fled, tripping over tombstones littering the yard. Karl exhaled his irritation, then looked down at Jerry’s attempt at a makeshift coffin on the front stoop. Grabbing the skeleton nestled inside, he crammed it into a large trash bin beside the garage.
Perspiration soaked his white, ruffled shirt as he struggled to drag Jerry’s body out the front door. He groaned, hoisting the lifeless body into the coffin. Picking up a nearby flowerpot of chrysanthemums, he smashed the contents on Jerry’s face, disguising it with dirt.
Headlights rounded the corner as a red BMW Coupe pulled into the driveway. Bloodred stilettos emerged from the driver’s side, followed by a svelte auburn-haired vampiress. Candy swung her hips erotically and sauntered up the steps, stopping next to the casket.
Karl, forgetting what he’d just done, fixated on the luscious body before him. The tight-fitting costume and plunging neckline left nothing to the imagination.
Candy looked up from the body in the casket, licked her full, ruby lips, and spoke in a silky voice. “Nice touch, Jerry. The blood looks real.”
Karl shrugged. “The knife helped.”
“Why does your voice sound different?”
“Laryngitis?”
Candy brushed against him as she entered the house. Karl turned out the porch lights to discourage further interruptions, then followed her into the kitchen where Jerry’s ghoulish delectables were spread out on the black marble countertop. Karl’s evening was taking an unexpected yet desirable twist. Candy could turn out to be a real treat. He came in close and hovered behind her.
She felt Karl’s hot breath on the back of her neck and recoiled at his unspoken intentions. “I know what you did.”
Karl was confused. Did she realize the body in the coffin was real? Did she know he wasn’t Jerry?
“Sorry, I don’t know what you mean. What do you think I’ve done?”
“Don’t act innocent, Jerry. The tall brunette with violet eyes spilled the beans at my party last night. Said she’d had quite the fling with a Mr. Caldwell. Do you know any other Caldwells other than yourself, Jerry?”
Candy grabbed a large knife from the knife block and whirled around. She bared her fangs and shoved the sharp blade into his heart. “No one cheats on me, Jerry.”
As Jerry’s twin brother gurgled blood and collapsed to the floor, all he could think about was the violet-eyed bombshell he’d met the night before.
Her jealousy revenged, Candy knew where she’d hide the body. She’d just exchange it for the fake one in the casket.
- Tricks, No Treats - October 20, 2024
- Dead Man’s Hand - June 11, 2023
