‘Restless’ by Elettra Chiolo
For someone whose birthday was on the 31st of October, Evie Darnell had never really enjoyed Halloween. The creepy over-the-top costumes, the eerily detailed Jack-O-Lanterns; none of it had ever really appealed to her. So she wasn’t quite sure how, at 11:38pm on her 13th birthday, she had found herself standing with her best friends in the endlessly snaking line outside her town’s “House of Horrors” that had been open for the past few days. Yet there she was, her thoughts clouding with worry as she half-listened to her friend Kira talking excitedly about her latest obsession. Evie’s mother had told her to be home by midnight, lest what had happened to Aunt Lenny happened to her too.
Evie sighed. Aunt Lenny. No-one ever spoke about Aunt Lenny. She, with her infamous silver tooth and thirst for adventure, had disappeared this very night, 30 years earlier, and was the reason every single one of Evie’s birthdays had been tinged with sadness and painful memories. Evie had often caught her mother with tears in her eyes, reminiscing on those happy moments she had spent with her twin, when she should have been celebrating Evie’s birthday with the rest of the family. Still, despite having never met her, Evie pitied the woman. To die on your own birthday… a birthday that Evie shared… that was a horrible thought. And to think that Evie was only a few years younger than Lenny had been that night…
Evie flinched as she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. “Evie?”
It was Daya, the youngest of the group. She spoke in a soft but concerned voice. “We should probably move forward with everyone else, or we’ll lose our spot in the line.” Daya’s brow furrowed as she noticed Evie’s distant look. “Everything ok?”
“Yeah… just thinking,” Evie replied, pushing all thoughts of Aunt Lenny away. “My mum said I can’t stay out past midnight tonight, but I don’t think we’ll get a turn in the House before then.”
“It’ll be fine,” Hester said dismissively. She was Halloween-obsessed and, having only moved to the town almost a year earlier, she had never had a chance to see its famous haunted house; Evie knew she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her long-awaited exploration of the House of Horrors.
***
The next 20 minutes passed in a blur of nerves and anticipation. Before long, the girls were near the front of the line, and Evie had almost been able to shake off the fear that had come from her mother’s warning. But as they approached the menacing ebony-black gates of the House, Evie’s heart plummeted. It was 11:58. She had 2 minutes.
“Look, guys, I'm really sorry but I don’t think we’ll be able to go through the whole house in less than 2 minutes,” Evie said, voice barely above a whisper despite there being no apparent reason for her to be afraid. “You guys go ahead; I’ll just start heading home.”
“Evie, it’ll be fine! My brother did the House of Horrors last time it was open, and he said it wasn’t even scary,” Kira said, her fingers drumming against her leg in annoyance as she eyed the group of teenage boys that had just pushed past her and were paying at the entrance. “And anyway, if we had wanted to go somewhere really scary, we would’ve just gone to the graveyard on the hill.”
Evie glanced over to where Kira was gesturing and shuddered. The graveyard, despite being next to the town’s largest – and only – church, had always seemed somewhat sinister…
Hester nodded. “Yeah, and just because your aunt died on Halloween years ago-”
“Disappeared.”
“Whatever. Anyway, you’re not going to die just because you stay up past your bedtime.”
Evie paused for a second. She didn’t want to disobey a direct order from her parents, but then what was the worst that could happen? She couldn’t get into any actual danger in the House, and even if she did, there were security cameras everywhere.
But Aunt Lenny…
No. Hester was right. Whatever happened to Aunt Lenny was in the past. And that was where it would stay.
“Ok, let’s go in,” Evie said, ignoring the stab of guilt that wrenched her gut as soon as the words left her mouth. The girls all rummaged in their bags, looking for their wallets to pay for their entry.
As she unzipped her wallet, Evie groaned inwardly, realising her mother had replaced her neat £5 note with a small cluster of spare change. Daya must have noticed Evie’s annoyance, because she opened her mouth to say something.
But Evie never heard it.
Because the clock in the town hall struck midnight.
Bong.
Evie’s whole body tensed as the sound pierced the air.
Bong.
Her hands shook slightly and her wallet fell to the ground, small silver coins spilling everywhere. She didn’t even flinch.
Bong.
Her ears rang as the cold wind whistled past her. Had it been that windy this whole time?
Bong.
The world blurred around her, the bright lights of the House of Horrors fading into a hazy grey.
Bong.
She felt light-headed, as if the path she had been standing on was miles away.
Bong.
Her heart raced in her chest.
Bong.
The ringing got louder.
Bong.
Her throat felt tight.
Bong.
Something brushed past her leg.
Bong.
She couldn’t breathe.
Bong.
She couldn't breathe. Shecouldn’tbreatheshecouldn’tbreatheshecouldn’t-
Bong.
Evie screamed silently as thin, bony hands pulled her down, down, down, under the path, under the earth, under everything.
***
The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was the sun setting behind the two tall towers of the House of Horrors. Its orange glare was surprisingly bright. Too bright…
Wait. Sunset? How long had Evie been unconscious? The events of the previous night flooded through her mind, and she shivered. What had touched her leg? Where was she? Why was there no-one here? Was this what had happened to Aunt Lenny?
Sitting up, Evie squinted at her watch, trying to make out the tiny numbers that showed both the time and the date: 4:53pm, 32nd of October. How was that possible? Surely she had misread. Groggily, she pulled her phone out of her bag and checked the date there. No matter how many times she restarted her phone, the date it displayed never changed. It was the 32nd of October. Of that, there was no doubt.
Evie tried to think logically, but every thought, every theory made her breath shake with anxiety. How was this possible? It must be a glitch in the software, or a hallucination, or-
No. Something, whether it was her internal clock or some deeper, more powerful force, told her that her phone was telling the truth. But if that was true, what would happen tomorrow? Would it be the 33rd, or would it become November? If it became November, would she return to her own world? Would she even see her friends, her family, her world, ever again?
Evie didn’t notice the tears welling in her eyes until they began to pour, a steady flow of pure sadness emanating from her eyes. The growing sense of unease that had come from this uncanny version of her world finally freed itself with one shaking sob. Evie pulled her knees up to her chin. She wanted to block out the world, wanted everything to just go away.
But a small, quiet voice inside her told her that the only way she could even have a chance of getting home was if she got up and faced her fears.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Evie got to her feet and thought about her situation. If she was in some kind of strange alternate universe, maybe she could go somewhere familiar, see if she could find anyone who knew what was going on.
She took a step and winced slightly as something crinkled under her foot. A piece of paper. Evie’s vision was still blurry, but she could make out the most important words. Every year… extra day… Restless awaken… died unfairly… vengeance… try to enter the real world… must be stopped… birthday on Halloween… not home by midnight… alternate version of your reality… defend the world against the Restless… 24 hours only… be careful…
Evie didn’t need to read the rest to know what was going on. Sure, she had ignored her mother’s advice, but the fact was that her stupid, unlucky, cursed birthday was the reason she was here, and the reason she somehow had to defend her world against hundreds, maybe thousands of… skeletons? Ghosts? It suddenly occurred to Evie that she didn’t even know what the Restless were.
There was only one way to find out.
***
Despite there being no-one around, climbing over the fence to the graveyard still felt illegal to Evie. The sky had darkened significantly during the half-hour walk to the old church on the hill, and Evie was beginning to regret having come here. But it was too late to turn back, and if she was looking for dead people, this was a good place to start. She hoisted her other leg over the fence and landed on her feet in the grass with a quiet thud.
As she gingerly perched on a gravestone, Evie’s breath quickened. Everything in this world was so… wrong. She couldn’t quite explain it, but the church, the grass, the sun just about still visible on the edge of the horizon, all of it was strange and surreal. Maybe it was the angle at which the light was hitting things, or the eerie echoes that seemed to whisper her name…
Evie took a deep breath. She had to focus. The Restless, whatever they were, could appear at any moment. And it wouldn’t be long before the sun set completely, and Evie would lose her only source of light. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, her eyes scanning her surroundings methodically.
There.
It was only slightly longer than her forearm, but the stick was sturdy and had a sharp point. Perfect. Evie ran to grab it, stumbling slightly, but as the last sliver of sun set behind the horizon and the world slipped into silent darkness, Evie’s breath hitched.
There was a hand on her shoulder.
Evie couldn’t breathe. Her fear was like a noose, slowly tightening around her neck as her cold hands shook in terror. Her entire body shivered, then tensed, as the grip on her shoulder became firmer.
It was a Restless.
Evie turned, slowly, slowly towards the Restless. At first glance, it – she, Evie supposed – seemed like a normal young woman. But as Evie’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that the Restless was anything but normal. Her decaying face had been warped by the passing of time and her teeth, at least the ones that were left, were yellow and crumbling like old parchment. If Evie hadn’t been so shocked, she might have noticed the silver glint that flashed from inside the Restless’ mouth. The young woman had a bird’s nest of straw-like strands piled on top of her head, and, glancing down at the hand on her shoulder, Evie saw that the flesh was pale and rotting. In fact, most of the woman’s skin was ivory white from years without sunlight, and parts of it were decayed and peeling, exposing veins and bone inside. But what really struck Evie about the Restless was her eyes. Evie knew those eyes; pale green irises with little flecks of grey and an almost mischievous glint that never seemed to go away.
The eyes of her mother.
But how? Her mother wasn’t dead… right? And this Restless seemed only a few years older than Evie, though she had probably been dead for quite a long time. So surely Evie was mistaken. A trick of the light, perhaps. Evie wrenched herself free of the young woman’s grip, inching backwards. After all, Evie supposed, the Restless could be capable of anything. And this one seemed particularly angry.
“I am Selene. For centuries, our- no, your family has had Halloween birthdays and have been brought here, on the 32nd of October, to prevent the Restless from entering your world.”
There was a pause. Evie didn’t dare breathe, for fear of what the Restless would do to her if she interrupted her speech. The silence hung in the air for a moment, then Evie nodded hesitantly, and the Restless continued.
“And for centuries, this has been avoidable.” Selene’s eyes narrowed at Evie’s confused expression, as though she expected Evie to know what she was talking about. “For some unfathomable reason, the Darnells who survived a 32nd of October never spoke of it, not even to those who they knew would someday experience it. This… this cruelty has gone on for too many years!”
That was it. “STOP!” Evie yelled. “Stop talking about my family like that. My mother said-”
“Your mother,” Selene cut in, voice quiet but filled with rage. “Is the reason I am a Restless.”
And that was when it clicked.
Evie had always assumed that Aunt Lenny’s name had been short for Helena or Leonora, but Selene? Although, Evie’s grandparents did have a passion for mythology…
It all made sense. Being twins, Evie’s mother and Aunt Lenny had both had a birthday on Halloween. Evie’s mother must have known somehow, about the 32nd of October, and hadn’t told her twin.
Just like she didn’t tell Evie.
No. There had to be a reason for this. Her mother wouldn’t just hide something like that unless there was a good reason.
As if reading Evie’s mind, Selene – Aunt Lenny – spoke again, somewhat smugly. “She could have saved me. She could have saved you, too.”
Before Evie could even register Lenny’s words, the Restless leaped at her, clawing angrily with her long, jagged fingernails. Evie ducked and ran towards the stick she had seen earlier, instinctively wielding it like a sword. She felt surprisingly confident. After all, she was young and energetic, whereas Lenny had been dead for 30 years. She dodged another blow, grateful for those few fencing lessons she had taken years ago, then clambered onto a gravestone, trying to catch her breath.
“Why?” she asked Lenny, her heart pounding as adrenaline coursed through her. “Why are you trying to kill me?”
Lenny grinned, her silver tooth glinting in the moonlight. “You’re the only child in the Darnell family. If I end the bloodline… the curse will finally be over. I will have carried out my vengeance. I’ll be free, and so will the rest of us.”
“The rest of who?” Evie breathed.
Right on cue, at least 30 other Restless climbed over the graveyard wall. All of them, every single one, had the eyes, those familiar pale green irises with little flecks of grey and a now furious glint that screamed revenge.
There was no way Evie would be able to hold all of them off like this. She needed a distraction. The Restless moved closer. And closer. And…
In an act of desperation, Evie pulled her phone out of her bag and threw it at one of the Restless. It hit him square in the forehead, and he let out a horrid, furious shriek. Taking advantage of the other Restless’ shock, Evie pushed through the line of angry Darnells and hoisted herself up onto the branches of a tree, then onto the roof of the graveyard shed. She knew the Restless wouldn’t give up. But here, at least, she had more of a chance.
Lenny screamed in anger, an ear-piercing battle cry that shook the air. And with that, the Restless attacked.
They scrambled towards her, trying to climb up the walls of the shed, but each time, Evie hit them down. She used a strength she didn’t even know she had inside of her, doing anything she could to keep them away, to keep herself alive.
***
For hours she kept fighting. Her muscles ached, and her eyes were heavy. But she kept fighting. Her palms were sweating, and her legs were weak from holding her weight. But still, using her improvised weapon, she kept fighting. Everything hurt. She wanted so badly to give in, to let herself slip away. But she kept fighting.
And as she fought, Lenny’s words echoed in her mind.
This cruelty has gone on for too long…
Your mother is the reason I am a Restless…
She could have s a v e d y o u t o o . . .
The words hammered against her brain and Evie cried out, a scream of anger and loyalty and pain and regret and love. Burning, unconditional love for her mother, who everyone blamed but no-one appreciated. And as the last of her scream died away, Evie checked her watch. 11:59. Just one more minute until it would all be over.
But her relief was short-lived. Lenny, taking advantage of her hesitation, grabbed Evie’s hand, yanking it slightly.
Evie’s heart skipped a beat.
She felt herself teetering on the edge of the roof for a second that felt like an hour.
Time seemed to slow as she fell.
It wasn’t her mother’s fault.
Lenny laughed, a laugh that echoed with cruelty and selfishness. Evie didn’t care anymore.
It wasn’t her family’s fault.
The stick clattered to the ground beneath her.
They were only trying to help.
Her head hit the ground and a sharp pain coursed through her body.
They. Were. Trying. To. Protect. Us.
And Evie closed her eyes for final time.
Some say she still lies there now, under the tree in the old graveyard on the hill. Awaiting the 32nd of October. Awaiting her revenge.
Restless.