It was a Dark and Stormy Night--Halloween Serial Chapter Eight by Jolene Navarro

The hag glared at her, then shifted her narrowed stare to JT. “I have guests to take care of, baby brother. This is your mess to clean up. Come here, darling Mina.” She reached for the cat with hands that looked pampered and manicured. “We have people to entertain.”  The hag’s face softened as she cuddled the winged cat. “You are going to be a hit in your costume.”

Without another word, the hag turned her back and marched down the hall.

JT’s heavy sigh brought Ellie’s attention back to her rescuer. He shook his head, turning to her with a lopsided smile. His mesmerizing eyes looked a bit sad. “Sorry about that. Tracye is having a hard time letting Mandy go.”

She clapped a hand against her chest, sad for him. “I’m so sorry. Was she your—“

JT chuckled. “She’s not dead or anything. Just out of Tracye’s control. Darn girl had the nerve to grow up and get her own brain.” He flipped his cape over his shoulder, took her hand, and headed down the same hall where the hag had disappeared.

Turning the corner, she stopped, awed. A winding staircase straight out of Gone with the Wind appeared before them.  She glanced at him as he paused and looked back at her.

She pulled some words from her head. “Wow, it’s beautiful.” Okay, so not the most articulate thing to say.

He nodded and looked up toward the high ceilings. “When I saw it, I knew this was the house for me. And the sellers wanted to unload it, so I got it for a steal. Tracye’s still mad about it. It’s big, and not really all that practical, but it’s home.” He laughed, tugging on her hand. “Come on, we need to get to the shoes before they go on display.”

Watching his cape billow behind him, Ellie followed. His long fingers surrounded hers, warming her chilled hand. She lightly touched the smooth railing as they climbed the magnificent flight of steps. This was why she had wanted to be here at this party. She’d spent her whole childhood dreaming of what the big house on the hill looked like inside. Now he was leading her to a closet full of shoes in her dream home.

“Wait. The shoes are going on display? Why? If they’re collector items, maybe I shouldn’t –“

“No, no. Mandy has dedicated her life to the Peace Corps now and wants the shoes to be auctioned off. She’s asked that the money go to kids in Appalachia for shoes, clothes, books.” He winked at her. “You know, the necessities of life.”

A man that thought shoes and books were necessities of life. Her heart melted.

He stopped in front of a door and opened it. Stepping to the side, he invited her into the largest collection of shoes she had ever seen outside of Neiman Marcus.

As she stood in awe, JT brushed past her and walked along the shoes all lined up like beautiful chorus girls waiting to perform.

“What about these?” He turned, holding a pair of shining red stilettos. The light caught them, and they sparkled like rubies.

Her heart leapt in her chest. “Yes.” She thought she said it out loud but couldn’t be certain. 

He knelt in front of a winged back chair, waiting for her.

She tucked her rain-soaked party dress beneath her and sat.  He took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the bottom of her tights. His warm hand supported one ankle, then the other as he slipped ruby heels onto her feet.

Oh, she was home.

Gazing up at her, he smiled.  “There’s no place like home.”

She gasped. Had he read her mind? 

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night - Halloween Serial Chapter Two by Teri Wilson

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night – Halloween Serial Chapter Two

Teri Wilson

“Oh.” Ellie glanced at the foreboding mansion at the top of the hill and really wished it didn’t look so much like the house in the movie Psycho. “Actually, yes. I’m going to the party.”

“Super. Climb on in.” Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome grinned. At least she assumed he was tall. It was kind of hard to tell since he was behind the wheel of a fancy sports car. But he wasn’t giving off a Norman Bates vibe, and for now, that would have to be good enough. Her Louboutins weren’t going to fix themselves.

“Thank you,” she said, folding herself into the passenger seat.

“You’re welcome.” His grin widened, revealing a most charming set of dimples, and he shifted the car into drive.

Ellie tried not to stare. She really did. But now that she’d gotten a closer look at him, she couldn’t help but notice how very much he looked like Ryan Gosling. That had to be a good sign, right?

She swallowed and aimed her gaze out the windshield. The storm had really picked up. Rain pounded against the glass, and the trees outside bent sideways in the wind. Trick-or-treaters went scurrying for cover. By the time they crested the hill, the rain-slicked sidewalks were deserted.

A chill snaked its way up Ellie’s spine. She’d be glad once she was safe inside the grand house and out of this eerie weather.

But when the car reached the sweeping, circular drive, it didn’t stop. Ellie pressed her palm against the window and cast a longing glance at the mansion.

Don’t panic. He lives here. He’s probably taking you to a separate, private entrance.

She forced her lips into a brave smile. “Thank you again for the ride, Mr…um…I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

He arched a brow and gave her a sideways glance that sent butterflies swarming in her belly. “You can call me Norman.”

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night—Halloween Serial Chapter One

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night—Halloween Serial Chapter One

Lenora Worth

It was a dark and stormy night. Ellie Autumn was late for the big Halloween party since her orange VW bug had broken down on Spirit Road. Wanting to be fashionably late, not REALLY late, Ellie hurried along the narrow ribbon of a road that wound up to the big house on the bluff just outside of town.

Unfortunately, she’d broken a heel on one of her black Louboutin stilettoes. Hard to walk with one flat heel and one five-inch heel. Forced to carry her shoes in her stunning midnight black handbag, Ellie could feel each pebble and stick against her black and white striped tights.

“I’m going to this party, no matter what,” she said into the eerie wind. Everyone in Sleepy Holler wanted to meet the man who’d purchased the deserted Maze mansion and renovated it into a really nice but kind of creepy home. Ellie especially wanted to meet him since he had one quality she loved in a man. He was single.

Ellie checked her bright candy-corn gel nails and ignored the little kids running around like munchkins.(Her perfect manicure matched her car and the pumpkin-shaped sequins on her black dress.) Wishing she’d remembered to put a little more gas in the VW, Ellie sighed. “I need help. I shouldn’t be walking alone on this dark, tree-shadowed road. I’m TSTL!”

     A sleek black sportscar pulled up and stopped. The passenger-side door opened with a creak. “May I give you a ride?”

Ellie glanced into the car, her eyes meeting those of the man at the wheel. “I don’t accept rides with strangers.”

Not even handsome, dark-haired strangers with incredibly gentle but deeply dark brown eyes.

“I live up there,” he said with a smile. “That is where you’re headed, right?”