Episode 1 - Pumpkin

      It was October 1st when the first cold wind blew, and an odd chill rode in with it. Our town had always been quiet; ever since I could remember, my parents could remember, even ever since my grandparents could remember. Gramps is my favourite though, technically he’s my Great-Grandfather. He’s in a special home for the elderly and every year the caretakers give us at least 3 calls to warn us to say our goodbyes. Gramps is tough though; he says he’ll go when he wants to, not a moment sooner. We always visit him extra in October, he tends to get sick and spacey.

      I was walking home when the first one caught my eye. A pumpkin, small and white, in the middle of the sidewalk. I picked it up and looked around to see if anyone was watching for a reaction. Nope. I set the strange pumpkin on the grass and continued on. My mother always told me to leave strange vegetables alone. But my curiosity was peaked. Looking around, I noticed maybe 10 other small white and orange pumpkins scattered strangely around the area. A strange prank, but harmless fun.

      The drive was short but felt like forever. I wondered how long it would take for me to walk there and if my parents would ever allow it. When we walked into the home it felt…weird. It was eerily quiet and the common room tv echoed. My body was filled with goosebumps, but inside rather than out. I felt by the grip of Mom’s hand, she sensed it too. “Where is everyone?” I asked. The air tasted sour/stuffy/wrong as I spoke. Dad swallowed hard and walked to Gramp’s room as usual. We opened the door and walked into pure peace. There sat Gramps; slippers on his feet, smile on his face, and snuggled into his favourite chair.

      We closed the door and tried to forget about the eerie entrance. But it sang in the back of my mind, until its whispers turned to screams. “Gramps why is everyone else here being so weird today?” My parents had froze and the look Mom gave me was too familiar. I tried to appear sorry, but after I glanced to Gramps, I actually was. Poor Gramps had drained of all colours. “Gramps? Are you okay? I-I’m sorry if I upset you.” For a moment, his eyes were hollow. Lost in thoughts or memories, but completely gone. Then he looked at me, returned.

      “Oh, you know how this season makes us old farts act odd June. Don’t pay it much mind. We all get reminded then… just… move… forward…” Gramps trailed off and got distant again. Mom looked at my dad and back to Gramps before she suggested a walk. Exercise does amazing things for the body after all. When we left the room, I braced for the discomfort, but things were as they should be. Mom and Dad sighed relief but, the few hairs that stood on the back of my neck didn’t allow me to join.

      That night when the lights turned off, my brain turned on. The entire evening played through my mind. Something nagged at me, and pulled my brain back to the home, but I couldn’t place why. Everyone was reminded of what? Why had it been so empty and quiet? Or better yet, how did the common room fill up while we visited, but somehow, we hadn’t heard a sound until the door opened? So many thoughts swam through my mind, I felt like a public pool. Then it was late, really late, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Only to be greeted by the small white pumpkin.

      I woke up startled and sat straight up. The dream faded fast from memory; something about pumpkins, danger, murder, candy, a hedgehog? The terror that coursed through my veins gave me the general vibe though. I looked at my familiar surroundings, rubbed my hands on my fuzzy sheets, and tried to breath slow. But when I closed my eyes, all I would see was that tiny pumpkin and feel looming dread. That day already felt long.

      The last bell of the school day always reminded me of the water behind a breaking dam. We all pushed and shoved and jammed up in the doorway. But that day felt extra stuffed. Murmurs grew until they reached the back of the mob, where I stood. Everyone had stopped and I peered out a window to confirm what I had overheard. Pumpkins. The entire front yard of the school was littered with pumpkins of all shapes, colours, and sizes. The laughter grew as fast as my stomach dropped. Who the hell would have had access to so many pumpkins?! The rest of the week dragged astonishingly slow, and more pumpkins showed up in more places each day. Even the local news was stumped and intrigued. When that Friday finally came, I worked up the courage to ask my parents if I could walk to the home and visit Gramps alone. To my complete surprise, they said yes!

      The frigid air bit my throat while I ran. I needed to talk to Gramps and ask him questions without Mom there to stare daggers at me. I stopped. I remembered Gramps face last time I asked. Would I let my curiosity paint me as cruel? No. I loved Gramps. If he started losing colour or staring off into space, I would stop. I didn’t want to hurt or upset him; I just wanted answers. I started running again. Each foot dug deep into the sidewalk and pushed me closer and closer. Until finally, I was there.

      My hand lingered on the door handle. I felt sick and nervous to see what was on the other side. “Answers.” I whispered to myself and pushed the door open. The usual. I smiled, waved, and sped walked to Gramps. A wall wouldn’t have stopped me faster than turning into that hallway did. There, sat on the floor, in front of Gramp’s door, was a small white pumpkin. I shuddered, which turned to vibrations when I saw two more pumpkins were guarding doors further down the hall. I was early, so I took a quick look down the other hallways. No pumpkins. A strange new question I added to my list. 

      I picked up the small pumpkin and knocked on Gramp’s door. The smile on his face quickly flipped to shock, and he smacked the pumpkin out of my hand. “What did your mother tell you about suspicious vegetables!” Then he pulled me inside by the edge of my shirt.

      “Gramps! What the hell?” I gasped for air.

      “Don’t you talk like that! I’m sorry, catch your breath.” Gramps rubbed my back while I battled my heart rate. “Deep breaths now… Just- Just sit. Sit here.” I sat on the bed and closed my eyes.

      “What’s going on? You’re scaring the jeepers out of me over tiny pumpkins Gramps. You’re scaring me. I glanced to my side and saw Gramps. His face looked so panicked I had to look away. “Please Gramps. Just tell me. I can handle it.” The air froze and silence echoed throughout his room.

      “Oh kiddo, it’s too much.” I was so close, but I didn’t know if I could get him to talk. I rubbed and tapped the top of Gramps’s hand, like he would, and nodded. His laugh broke the seriousness that clouded us. “Sweet June. Sweet, sweet June. Okay. Get comfortable. It’s a story you’ve long asked to hear. You’re old enough now.” I’ve never moved faster, I scooted onto the back of the bed and pulled my knees in.

      I had waited almost all my life to hear why Gramps had such issues come October. I had to take some deep breaths to quiet the pounding in my ears. Gramps took a deep breath, “I was young, pretty close to your age now. Me and my friends would get into all kinds of trouble. We’d toilet paper houses, ding-dong-ditch, and in October we’d leave pumpkins all over. The pumpkins were Dayna’s idea, she loved those tiny pumpkins. Me, Marlin Hays, Dayna Levington, and- and- oh, he was just a little fellow. Oh, what was his name…” For a minute I thought I had lost Gramps and that I’d hear no more of the story. “JASPER!” Gramps clapped his knee. “Jasper Tillman. So me, Marlin, Dayna, and Jasper. We were as thick as thieves. The one year right before Halloween, Jasper wanted to do some ‘real mischief.’ We all went to the abandoned factory on Baseline. That big place on the hill there.” I nodded, even though I had no idea where Baseline was. “Well, we went there, and Jasper picked a spell sort of thing. Well, we went along with it. I mean, what better way to celebrate ‘Devil’s night’ than by summoning a demon? We were stupid kids. I didn’t think any of it was real, it looked and sounded like typical make-believe. But…” Gramps closed his eyes. He looked like he was in physical pain.

      “Gramps.” I rubbed his back, “I love you. You’ve lived a long life and you aren’t gonna tell me anything to change that.” His swallow was loud and hard.

      “The candles flickered, and the air got thick/sticky. But then smoke appeared from no where and we heard a deep rumbling. It sounded like words, maybe in another language. I barely had a full thought before- be- before Jasper pushed her into the circle.” Gramps held his face and grasped what hair he had left. “Poor Dayna. She had no idea, none of us did. Except Jasper. He- he- he destroyed so much of my life with guilt. There was a flash, and she was gone. Jasper threatened us to stay quiet and we just never spoke of it again. He was a lucky man after that June. Too lucky.” He shook his head. “No more. I can’t. Just… Just…June…” Gramps was so tired. “Your so smart. Please… June… Look… I need to sleep.” Gramps laid down and fell asleep.

      My head swirled with the latest information. How the heck? This was insane, how does that even link to a pumpkin prank? Then I felt it. A freezing wind blew through the room, but the window was closed. I grabbed my coat and ran. I raised my foot to step over the pumpkin in the hall and realized they all had vanished. A wave of nausea washed over me, but I knew I couldn’t stop. Carefully, I took my cell out to ask to go to the library. No answer sounded like a yes to me, I’d deal with the fall out later.

      I ran to the library and headed to the Local History section. I was there for only a couple minutes before I heard a pile of books fall. I looked over and saw a small boy, a grade younger, in the Witchcraft section. I ducked back into the books and finished grabbing some newspapers. All the tables were taken, but one had a few seats still open, so I quickly grabbed one. Not long after me, the young boy took the other seat. We struck up a cautious conversation based on our research materials and learned we had some things in common. Upon this discovery, a girl across the table chimed in, saying her grandma was acting strange too and had told her a troubling story about a man named Jasper and her sister who went missing as a teen. The table had quickly filled with a mix of local history, witchcraft, demonology, and newspapers. Working together made the burden of solving the mystery much lighter and, decidedly quicker.

      Jasper Tillman had an incredibly lucky life, but those around him weren’t nearly as lucky. Seemed like Jasper had made a deal, trading anyone he felt like for luck of all kinds. The only few to avoid that fate so far had been our great-grandparents. For being younger, Drew was very smart and an impressive researcher. Tilly was also not as stupid as she sounded or that I’d thought. The library was close to closing, so we had to disband, but at least we had a plan formed for the weekend.

      I laid in bed that night and let everything run through my mind. I felt like I had aged 10 years in the past 6 hours. Even though I tried, I knew I wasn’t going to get much sleep that night. Instead, I poured over the books I had brought home and practiced my pronunciation of the words I would need to say. After a couple hiccups, a few disappearing pillows, and a surprise new little friend (named Inferno), I had it down. Knowing the words and having Inferno snuggled into me gave me the security to sleep eventually. For the first time in a while, I slept soundly the rest of the week.

      We stood in front of the factory, terrified. “We’re just kids!” I said it, but we all thought it. “But we can do this, end this, finally.” We all nodded and began our plan. The ritual was shockingly simple but took a lot of energy. Just went we thought it was over, the ground shook. We exchanged glances and Inferno squealed a painful shriek. Deep down I knew we would have to make a trade to undo this decades old devilish deal. But I had quickly grown to love Inferno, something I didn’t plan. Inferno pushed into me gently and cooed. He knew too. I hugged him tightly and knew I could summon him again but hated the goodbye.

      Inferno leapt out of my arms and erupted into flames. The air was thick, sticky, and stale. But in a flash the air had changed and turned ice cold and thin. The busy minute had disoriented all of us. Then, silence. The loudest silence I ever heard.

      We woke up an hour later. Pumpkins gone. Erie feelings, I mean still there but maybe down 70%. It was so odd. Some people had glimmers of confusion on their faces, but others seemed fine. As if we all had the same thought, we ran. We ran fast and far, but strangely I don’t remember my feet hurting. All three of us busted into the home and raced to our grandparent’s rooms.

      “Gramps!” I pushed the door open. There he was, sitting in his chair; slippers on his feet and smile on his face. “Gramps, we did it!” I ran to him and collapsed at his feet and hugged his legs. “Gramps, it’s done!” I looked up to see him looking down at me.

      He placed his hand on my head, “I love you June.” His eyes slowly filled with tears. That was the start of an amazing final year with Gramps.