“Every year,” Cara replied. “What do you want this time?”
And somewhere, Ariaspoaa drew the first line of what would become the year’s most haunting image.
“You came,” whispered a voice like wind through bones. Cara in Creekmaw -Halloween 2024- By Ariaspoaa
She didn’t scream. She never did.
This Halloween felt different. Heavier.
The fog rolled into Creekmaw just after sunset, thick as old linen and twice as cold. Cara pulled her cloak tighter, boots squelching on the rain-softened path. Lanterns flickered from crooked porch posts—carved pumpkins grinning with secrets rather than light.
The fog ate her words. The doppelgänger nodded once and crumbled into dry leaves. “Every year,” Cara replied
The doppelgänger smiled. “Not want. Remember. Someone has to.”
Cara stopped at the crossroads where the old sycamore split toward heaven and underworld both. Someone had left a wreath of dried marigolds and black feathers at its roots. She didn’t touch it. She knew better. She didn’t scream
From its pocket came a small mirror, rimed with frost. In its glass, Cara saw Creekmaw as it truly was: drowned church steeples, lanterns floating on black water, children waving from beneath the soil.