Welcome to Hardish

Regina Compton and Ely Phillips had gotten engaged on September 15. Due to the fact their parents lived in different states, they had been unable to celebrate the big moment with the happy couple. Now, in the second week of October, both Regina and Ely had a weekend off from work and planned to visit their parents, who lived about eighteen hours away. They loaded Regina’s SUV with their luggage, topped the car off with a full tank of gas, and set out on their way. They would drive for eight hours today, stop, and make the rest of the journey tomorrow.

As Regina navigated the car out of the gas station parking lot, Ely looked lovingly at her.

“You ready?” he asked.

“I am if you are,” said Regina, smiling from ear to ear. In response, Ely happily plugged in his iPod and, a moment later, Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again was playing, setting the stage for the road trip ahead. The SUV pulled out of the parking lot, turned towards the highway, carrying the two on their way.

As they drove, fields of green cornstalks flashed past them as did pastures full of cows, their farmers out laying down the morning’s helping of hay. About two hours into the drive, Ely lowered the music’s volume.

“Gonna try and take a nap?” asked Regina; Ely wasn’t a fan of early mornings, especially if it required long hours on the road. He nodded.

“Can you switch it to Panic! At the Disco?” she asked, and Ben did, and Willie Nelson’s Highwayman was soon replaced by Panic!’s High Hopes.

“Thanks!” Regina said brightly, and Ben gave her an affectionate scratch on the back of her head, rolled over, and was soon asleep, his light snores almost a comforting sound to Regina.

They continued this way for another hour, after which they pulled off at an exit, ate lunch, and switched drivers. As they drove, the sun slowly started to sink lower and lower in the sky, casting shades of purple, pink, and orange across the sky, as if it were ablaze.

When they were about an hour from their hotel for the evening, the car began to rattle. Regina, who was back behind the wheel, looked over to Ely, whose face had fallen.

“Shit,” he said. “We better take the next exit and see if we can find a dealership.”

Regina nodded, and after twenty more minutes, they came across an exit, which they took. They turned left at the stop sign and continued for another two miles; as they drove, the rattling sound grew louder.

At the end of the two miles, they came across the village with the supposed dealership: Hardish, population 250. The village was well-taken care of. The first thing they noticed were several banners, each labeled Halloween Festival Oct 1-3, were hanging from several light posts. There was hardly any sort of trash scattered along the empty street, and each of the windows of the businesses lining the street looked to have been freshly scrubbed. At the end of the road, Ely and Regina spotted the local Chevrolet dealership and pulled into its parking lot. As they got out, a salesman dressed in a green shirt and khaki pants came out to greet them, every single one of his white teeth displayed in a wide smile.

“Hello,” he said. “Welcome to Stringer Chevrolet. My name is Rob. How can I help you?”

“We’re looking for the service department,” said Ely, and he pointed to the SUV. “There’s a loud rattle we need fixed.”

“Oh, I see,” said Rob; his face fell in sympathy, but those teeth were still sticking out. “You’ll need to talk to Martin, the service manager.”

Martin was a shorter man with thin grey hair and, to contrast, a thick grey mustache who, unlike his sales counterpart, didn’t seem to be the most welcoming individual. Ely handed him the keys and, ten minutes later, Martin came ambling in their direction.

“Yeah, just as I thought,” he grunted. “It’s your exhaust. It’ll need replaced.”

“Damn,” said Ely. “How soon can you have the parts?”

“I would say…,” said Martin, “either tomorrow morning or early afternoon.”

“Alright,” said Ely, shaking his head. “Get it done.”

“You got somewhere to sleep?” said Martin. “You aren’t from around here.”

“No, what do you recommend?” asked Regina. Martin looked at her, his blue eyes expressionless.

“There’s the local Hampton,” said Martin. “I’ll get ya a loaner car pulled around and tell ya where it is.”

Five minutes later, he returned, handing Ely the keys to a blue Malibu. He explained where the hotel was and confirmed Ely’s phone number. Ely began to thank him, but Martin turned and left, blowing his nose into a handkerchief, an act that drowned out Ely’s thanks.

A few minutes later, Ely and Regina arrived at the hotel, where they were aided in their check-in by Phillipa, a white-haired woman. She led them to their room and left them alone, closing the door behind her. Regina laid down on the bed, stretching her arms above her head.

“Do you want to go check out the festival they were advertising?” she asked, sitting up and looking at Ely, who had sat down in a chair near the bed. He nodded and led the way back outside to their rental car.

They quickly arrived back downtown, where there were several people milling around: window shopping, talking to each other excitedly, and children running amok, chasing each other with stick-swords.

As they walked, a woman, a blue clipboard clutched in her hand, came walking down the street towards them, her attention focused on her documents. She wore horn-rimmed glasses that were situated halfway down her nose and a plain grey suit. Though Regina tried to side-step to avoid the woman, the woman, nevertheless, turned and ran straight into Regina, knocking both her and Regina off their feet and the woman’s clipboard out of her hand, where it landed on the sidewalk with a clatter; the attached documents came loose and were swept up in a sudden gust of wind.

“Ah, dammit!” she exclaimed and she leapt to her feet in a desperate attempt to re-gather them. Ely helped Regina to her feet. By the time Regina was back on her feet, the woman had re-gathered her documents and secured them back on the clipboard.

“Hello,” she said, straightening her glasses. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”

“Yes,” said Regina. “More surprise than anything.”

“All the same,” said the woman, “I’m so sorry. My name is Sarah, by the way. Sarah Rope, and I’m the mayor of this quaint town.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Regina, extending her hand, which Sarah shook. “Regina Compton, and this is my fiancé, Ely Phillips. This is a nice place.”

“Thank you,” said Sarah, and her face relaxed; Regina’s handshake had officially shown that there were no hard feelings.

“Agreed,” said Ely, shaking Sarah’s hand next. “I do have one question, though, and I hope it doesn’t come off as rude.”

“Shoot,” said Sarah, intrigued.

“If all of this…” said Ely, gesturing around to the festival, “is for Halloween, why not hold it closer to Halloween?”

“I understand the confusion,” said Sarah. “Tonight’s the full moon, and what better way to celebrate than on the night of the full moon? Are you two coming to the party tonight?”

“What party?” asked Ely, and Sarah pulled a flyer from her clipboard and handed it to him. Hardish Halloween Bash was scrawled across the top of the paper in big black letters. According to the flyer, the party started at eight o’clock, and the end time was a question mark; stay for as long as you want.

“We should be able to,” said Regina, taking the flyer and examining it. Sarah’s smile widened.

“Excellent,” she said. “I’ll keep an eye open for you.”

With that, she strode off, disappearing amongst the other attendees. Ely and Regina looked at each and continued down the main street, stopping a few feet later to try their luck at bobbing for apples.

***

By the time the sun set that evening, the wind had picked up, cold and bitter. At quarter t eight, Regina and Ely left the hotel room and started walking in the direction of their loaner car.

“Where is the party?” said Ely, and Regina took the flyer out of her pocket, unfolded it, and examined it closely. She opened her mouth to speak, but a sound from their right cut her off.

Coming up the street was a crowd of people, split in three lines. The two men who led the procession each carried torches stuck on poles raised high above their heads. The noise that had caught Regian and Ely’s attention was the group singing in unison:

“Old Witch of Hardish, we sing this song to you.
High above us on your broomstick, you flew.
As we gather to celebrate you,
We shall give you what is due.”

Amongst the group was Mayor Sarah Rope, who caught sight of Ely and Regina and broke away from the others, hurrying over to them.

“Good evening, you two!” she said, her smile growing wider at the sight of them. “We’re on our way to the party, if you’re still interested.”

Regina and Ely looked at each other then looked back at Sarah and nodded.

“Fantastic!” she said, and she grabbed them both by the wrists and pulled them into the procession. Down the street they marched, singing the verse time and time again. All the way, Regina and Ely, unaware of the lyrics, marched along, feeling awkward inside.

At last, the procession arrived at a large park, where a stage was set up; six unlit torches branched off from the stage, as if the torches were the legs of a spider. Upon the table sat a pair of a plain white folding chairs placed at either end of the stage. Also sitting on the stage was a table draped in a black tablecloth; a candle burned at each end. The group stopped before the stage, and they sang the verse once more before silence fell upon the group. The men with the torches went to the unlit ones and lit them before going up on stage, sitting in the two folding chairs.

For a moment, there was not a sound, except for the flickering of the flames from the torches. The silence was broken when Sarah broke away from the crowd and ascended up to the stage, her heels clicking against its floor. She looked out to the crowd and stretched her arms out wide to her side.

“Fellow citizens of Hardish,” she said, and the others- save for Regina and Ely- bowed their heads, arms folded in front of them, as if they were at church. Regina and Ely, not wanting to be rude, bowed their heads as well.

“Fellow citizens of Hardish,” said Sarah again. “We come together on this, arguably the most important night of the year. We begin, as we do, with a reading from the Tome.”

One of the men on stage descended off it, went around to the back of it, and returned to the stage, a large and ancient book clutched in his hands. He brought it over to Sarah, who opened it and began to read aloud.

“In the year 1452,” she said, “I, Mina Cane, arrived in the New World. I visited many settlements here and eventually established the village of Hardish. For many years, my village prospered and grew as people came and began to call it home. So long as my people obeyed me, they would prosper.”

When she finished reading, the man returned the book to its place. Sarah, meanwhile, addressed the crowd.

“And we have, indeed, prospered!” she said, to which the crowd responded with a roar of thunderous approval. “We have now to renew our relationship with Mina.”

She paused, during which time she positioned herself behind the black-clad table.

“I ask Regina Compton to approach the stage.”

Both Regina and Ely snapped their heads up in shock. The crowd now raised their heads, and every pair of eyes focused on them. Regina’s feet had frozen, rooting her to the spot.

“Regina, please come join me,” said Sarah, looking at her, flashing that wide smile. Slowly, Regina began to walk forward and climbed up onto the stage.

“Face the crowd, please,” said Sarah, and Regina did so; Ely could see that her face was pale with fright. From underneath the table, Sarah produced a plain black bag, which she unsnapped. She took from it a small glass bottle, which she opened and splashed some of its contents onto her hand. She walked over to Regina and flicked her hand at Regina, lightly coating her with the bottle’s mysterious contents. Sarah then turned to the men and nodded. In an instant, the men had gotten to their feet and grabbed Regina by the shoulders.

“What?” said Regina, momentarily taken aback as she absorbed what was happening. She then began to struggle against the men, trying to fight them off, but she proved no match for them as they, almost effortlessly, lifted her off her feet and laid her down on the table. Though momentarily stunned, Ely quickly came back to his senses and made to go to the stage. He had just taken a step though, when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist and squeezed tightly, preventing him from moving. Meanwhile, on the stage, one of the men produced a length of rope, and the other set to work, tying Regina to the table.

“What is happening?” Ely shouted, but no one answered. “Let her go!”

Sarah paid him no attention as she returned to her spot, now standing over the captive Regina. She dug into the bag again and, now produced a long, serrated knife. She raised it in one hand above her head, and the gathered crowd began to sing again; this time, the next verse.

“Old Witch of Hardish, 
To you, we owe so much.
Everything turns to gold at your touch.
Spare us tonight, we beg you, please.
Take these two to put yourself at ease.”

Louder and louder the crowd sang until a loud, high, cackle of laughter broke through the sound, and the crowd began to cheer loudly. Looking up, Ely saw, situated above the stage, someone floating…in midair. Though their features were indistinguishable, they were clad entirely in black. Slowly, the figure began to descend. The moment the figure stepped foot on the stage, the crowd fell eerily silent, and Ely was able to make out the person’s features. It was a woman, tall and beautiful. Her lips were as red as blood, and her black hair was tied in a tight braid that hung to the middle of her back.

Regina, still tied helplessly to the table, saw something else, though. Standing above her, next to Sarah, was a man, the most handsome she had ever seen. His hair was as a black as coal and combed perfectly. His eyes were a hypnotic sea-green, and she figured he could slice apples with his sharp cheekbones.

The witch stepped forward, and Sarah, as if she was in church, bowed her head and offered them the knife. The witch then raised it above his head and brought it down, burying the blade deep into Regina’s chest. Ely screamed, the sound piercing the deafening silence. Sarah, meanwhile, remained emotionless, though this was with a great effort; it was clear by the look on her face that she truly admired the witch.

The witch used the knife to cut into Regina’s chest, cutting a large hole on the left side. When the hole was large enough, she pulled the blade free of Regina’s chest and laid it on the table. He raised a fist above her head before plunging it into the hole, and there was a squelching noise.

For a moment, the witch rooted around in Regina’s chest, as if he was Marry Poppins looking for something in her magical bag. At last, she removed her fist, and there was something clutched in her hand: it was Regina’s heart, still beating until…it…slowed…to a stop.

Ely’s shriek of horror reached its peak, and he was frozen as the witch brought the heart to its mouth and smiled, flashing white teeth. A second later, it had taken a bite out of the heart, eating it as if it were an apple. For a moment, the only sounds were those of Ely’s shrieks of terror and the squelching sounds of the witch eating the heart. When the witch finished consuming the heart, he stepped aside, and Sarah stepped forward again and met Ely’s eyes.

“Bring him up,” she said, and the men holding Ely brought him up on the stage, none of them paying any attention to his attempts at escape. The torch men hurried forward and undid the knots at Regina’s arms and feet. With a great push, Regina’s body fell to the stage of the floor, where it lay, totally useless.

At the sight of Regina’s bloody and unmoving body, Ely found himself unable to move. He went limp, as if paralyzed, but he remained awake, aware. He felt the ropes now being tied to his own wrists and ankles, wincing as the knots were tightened. Once again, the witch moved so that she was standing above Ely, the knife clutched tightly in her hand. The last thing Ely saw was a flash of steel, and everything went black.

Again, the witch cut a hole into the left side of Ely’s chest and plunged his fist into the hole, retrieving the still-beating heart after a few moments of rooting around. She raised the heart above her head, brought it to her mouth, and ate it. When the heart was gone, he rose back into the air. As the witch ascended, Sarah and the crowd began to sing again:

“Old witch of Hardish,
Our ritual is now complete.
Return to your home, rest your aching feet.
Come next Halloween, we’ll see you again,
To give you more blood to drain.”

As the singing continued, the witch hovered above the stage before disappearing in a flash of smoke. Twice more the villagers sang this verse before extinguishing their torches and departing for their homes.