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Misty Lane was a quiet neighbourhood in the otherwise less than peaceful city of Stilwater. Not much happened out here in the suburbs, especially after the Ronin, who had ravaged these streets once, had been wiped out.
At the northern edge of the block, atop the hill, sat a mansion that had been owned by the Price family in the past, who had run their racing and tuning obsessed streetgang, the Rollerz, from that building. After the death of its previous owner, Joseph Price, the property had been left to rot without anyone to look after it, causing it to fall into a state of decay, vandalized by local teens tagging the place or using the large garden for parties, leaving the premises covered in trash.
However, all that was in the past. These days, the estate was under new ownership. The graffiti had been removed, the broken fences repaired, and the previously empty pool was once again filled with water.
It was a mystery who had purchased the house, the neighbours were mostly unaware of its newest inhabitants, which was uncommon in a neighbourhood where everyone knew each other. But the large garden and tall hedges made the mansion seem much more remote than it actually was.
A rumor among kids in Misty Lane said that the mansion was haunted, and that a witch was living there. They would often dare each other to trespass on the property, or even commit buzzing pranks. This was often used as a rite of passage among friend groups in the community.
If someone wanted to join their circle, they had to be brave and ring the doorbell at the evil witch’s house at midnight. But if they got caught, the witch would eat them, they said.
One such night involved a group of friends making a new classmate do the trial. Everyone had egged on the newbie to ‘be there or be square’. Hoping to make friends and impress the others, the new kid snuck out of his bedroom at night and made his way over to the address of the witch’s cottage to meet his classmates. A small group of children had already been waiting there when he arrived, loitering around the sidewalk just outside the gate leading to the house.
“Look who’s finally here,” a boy holding a water gun for unknown reasons whispered upon seeing the initiate show up.
“I was sure he would chicken out,” a girl giggled, covering her mouth.
Another boy chimed in, “He still might turn out to be a scaredy cat.”
The new kid chose to ignore their teasing words. He would show them that he wasn’t scared, and that he was cool enough to hang out with them. He knew what was expected of him, all he needed to do was hop the fence, make his way to the front door, ring the bell and get out of there.
It seemed easy enough.
He glanced up at the mansion. It was tucked away behind shrubs and trees. The moonlight covered the property in an eerie glow.
The wind whistled, rustling some leaves around the premises. There was no light in any of the windows; whoever lived there might not even be home, or already asleep, which should give him enough time to leave the property by the time the homeowner opened the door.
He nodded to himself, ready to begin his trial.
Without saying a word, he began scaling the tall metal fence, mindful about the spikes on top. He had always been good at climbing during PE, or at amusement parks, so this part was simple. The boy made it over the fence with ease, surprising the other kids who watched with interest.
They moved closer to the gate to get a better look at the newbie as he snuck towards the front door. They could see him check his surroundings as he made his way up a set of stairs.
When the boy finally reached the large double doors, he glanced back towards the gate, seeing the other kids peek around the stone arch that marked the entrance of the property. Now that he was this close to the building, it felt much scarier than it had before, causing him to have second thoughts about this whole thing.
Seeing him hesitate, one of the boys jeered, “See, I told you he would be a scaredy cat.”
The kid at the door couldn’t hear them, but he knew they would never stop teasing him if he quit now. He slowly moved his shaking hand towards the doorbell.
A loud gong echoed through the night when he pressed the button, making him freeze up. The sound scared several crows that had been sitting in the surrounding trees, causing them to fly off, filling the air with the flaps of their wings and croaking noises.
The kids at the front gate were wondering why the boy hadn’t made a run for it yet, looking at him curiously. Unbeknownst to them, a fourth figure had joined their little group, squatting down behind them and looking between the three, then glancing up towards the mansion, tilting her head.
“Something to see here?” A low female voice spoke out, causing the kids to jolt in shock.
They didn’t dare turn around at first, too afraid of who might be behind them. After a brief moment of silence, their three heads simultaneously turned to look at the source of the voice. They all began to scream in panic when they saw a pair of glowing, yellow eyes staring back at them in the darkness. It was hard to make out the features of the woman who had appeared out of thin air, they could only tell she had red hair and a scary mark on her cheek.
Before they could run away, however, the woman grabbed one of the boys and the girl by their collars, lifting them up along with her as she rose from her squatting position.
“So you’re the brats who keep ringing my door in the middle of the night!” She howled like a banshee, ready to give them the biggest scolding of their young lives.
The girl began to cry, begging the woman, “I’m so sorry! We’ll never do it again, promise!”
The boy was equally terrified at the situation he had found himself in, “Please don’t eat us!”
The second boy that the woman had not taken a hold of was frozen in fear, shivering, and unable to say a word.
Meanwhile, the kid who had rang the doorbell used the distraction to run off undetected, hoping to avoid getting in trouble, ignoring the predicament his three would-be friends were in, to save himself.
“Too late, you won’t get away this time,” the woman announced, “I’m going to cook you, eat you, and then I will pick my teeth with your bones when I’m done!”
The two kids in her grasp cried and begged for mercy, sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the second boy snapped out of his paralysis,
“L-let go of my friends… you ugly old hag!”
Those words struck a nerve. The lady’s eye twitched in irritation, “What did you just call me?”
Her voice was low, and menacing, but the boy remained brave, “Take this, witch!”
He pointed his water gun at her and sprayed her with a blast of the tank’s content, hitting her right in the face. She yelped as the liquid got in her eyes, nose and mouth causing her to let go of his friends in surprise. The woman put her hands in front of her face, attempting to shield herself from the ongoing water jet. But this wasn’t just water, it strongly smelled like vinegar.
The kids wasted no time making a run for it the second they were back on their feet. The three of them hurried down the street, trying to get enough distance between them and the witch while she was still incapacitated.
“You little shits!” Vivi screamed from the top of her lungs, rubbing her eyes to get the liquid out.
But they were already gone. The soaked witch retreated back into her estate, defeated.
After news of the past night's events had spread around the schoolyard, this was the last instance of that ritual being conducted.
From that point on, any child avoided that property like the plague. Even on Halloween, kids would steer clear of the witch’s house.