Silas is a stone-still statue standing at the banister of his staircase. His daughters have just left for school, and the woman, the former Alia of hell, appeared before him. She said that she can’t drag him to hell anymore, but she can bring it to him, and then there was a blinding white light that filled the room. When the light of the room returned to normal, Silas had to blink spots from his field of vision.
He suddenly feels hands on his shoulders, his body jerks in panic, and he almost jumps over the banister.
“Si!” his wife says soothingly as he relaxes. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m so sorry.”
Silas turns and forces a smile. “Just jumpy I guess.”
“Well, I think I have an idea,” she says. “You’ve been sleeping so good and things are great around here. Maybe we should think about having the Halloween party this year.”
The Halloween party, Silas thinks to himself. It had been his opportunity to flaunt his wealth to his neighbors, to invite them into his home and show them all of the things he had been able to collect for his family. He spent thousands of dollars to create an experience that everyone in his neighborhood looked forward to; and they definitely looked forward to it, there was a lot of talk at mailboxes and HOA meetings about the absence of Silas and his family from the neighborhood over the past couple years.
“Halloween is tomorrow, though,” Silas says, thinking aloud. He would enjoy being reacquainted with his neighbors. With all of the hell stuff behind him, it would be a good distraction from his apparent PTSD. Of course the vision of the woman was an extension of that and he suddenly wanted to have his home filled with other people in order to avoid solitude. “Can we get it together in time?”
“I just got off the phone with the caterer,” his wife says with a smile. “I’ll be out for most of the day getting everything together, you stay here and coordinate the decorators when they get here around noon.”
Silas smiles. He loves being his wife’s partner. He forgot how good she is at anticipating his needs, and there is a big part of him that needs this. He hugs her, and when they part, he catches a nightmare vision of her melting face that only lasts a split second.
“I’m gonna go get ready and take off,” she calls as she heads back to their room. “Call me if you need anything.”
Silas decides to start his day as well and he uses the big bathroom on the third floor to shower and change into casual clothing. He has directed decorators countless times in the past as they adorned his house in whatever dressings were relevant at the time, but this morning he is slightly nervous. When he pulls the curtain on the shower, it is splattered with blood and the corpse of his youngest daughter is there with both her wrists torn violently open. He controls himself, he doesn’t react, but turns to take off his clothes and when he turns back, the bathtub is back to normal. He sighs deep and then steps inside. When he turns on the water, it is cold and it is thick and red like blood. He closes his eyes and when he feels it warm on his body, he opens them again and it is water coming from the shower head.
That is the rest of his morning, flashes of horror over the mundane. The decorators are demons when his vision flashes and their decorations are so hellish to Silas that he is sure that they have truly brought hell to Earth in his house. He stumbles out to the pool as they leave and he stares up at the sky. It is a beautiful but cold autumn day and Silas can see his breath. He manages to calm down and convince himself that the party will be good for him.
He rushes up to his bedroom to sleep and he has a pleasant dream that he does not want to wake up from. In the dream, the party is a rousing success and when he does wake, he is excited about the idea of the party and he won’t let any visions dampen his mood.
His daughters are home by five and he hugs his youngest daughter tightly.
“I love you so much,” he says as she pushes him away and goes up to her room.
His wife is home soon after and his next door neighbor Tyler is with her. They both marvel at the spectacle of the living room.
“It’s been a while,” Tyler says and he hugs Silas before he can object. “I heard you been in a bad way, glad to see you came out alright.”
Silas nods, “Me too. It’s good to be back to normal.”
“Everybody’s excited for tomorrow, the whole neighborhood will be here. My kids are so big now, you won’t even recognize them.”
The two continue their conversation in the kitchen and by the time Tyler leaves, the sun has gone down and Silas realizes that he has not had a hellish vision since Tyler first arrived.
He has dinner with his family, and goes for a walk with his wife and younger daughter around the neighborhood. The decorations on the houses are all pleasant. They walk longer than any of them mean to, it is just pleasant being together and talking to one another.
When they arrive back home, Silas is eager to climb into bed with his wife, but the whole family sits in the big living room for a movie. When it is over, he carries his wife up the big staircase and to their room. They sleep holding one another close and Silas is truly grateful for his life.
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