Free Once Upon a Halloween by Richard Laymon

they'd get tired of screwing with me and come running out any minute, you know, laughing. But they didn't. Pretty soon I saw some kids so I ran and caught up to them, but it was just some other kids. Then I was another block away, and another, and I went around corners and hurried after kids I saw, thinking it was them, but it never was. Finally, I didn't know where I was any more. That's when I sat down on the curb and... sort of lost it. Then pretty soon you came along."
        Mandy's voice came from behind Jeff. "Didn't you ask anybody about them?"
        Rhonda looked back at her. "Not till your dad. I didn't exactly want everyone in the world to find out I'd screwed up. Besides, I kept thinking to find them. I really did think they were just, you know, hiding... playing a trick on me. But it went on way too long for that."
        "By the time they quit hiding from you," Jeff said, "maybe they couldn't find you."
        "I keep hoping it's something like that."
        

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
        
        Hunter stood near Eleanor, watching her. She was still sprawled on her back, panting for air. She was shiny with sweat and a little bloody, but her skin had lost some of its flushed redness. She kept a hand at her throat as if to convince herself she was no longer being strangled.
        When she seemed better, Hunter said, "Do you want to gel out of here?"
        Instead of answering, she sat up. Then she raised her knees and slumped forward and rested her arms on them. Her head drooped.
        "Are you all right?" Hunter asked.
        "What do you think?"
        "Can you get up?"
        "Sure." But she didn't try.
        He looked at the looped cord. It lay nearby on the carpel, gray and motionless.
        "I think we'd better get out of here," he said.
        "Do you? Really?"
        "Before something else happens."
        Head still drooping, she muttered, "What is this fucking place, the House on Haunted Hill?"
        "I don't know, I don't know what's going on."
        "The fucking cord tried to hang me, that's what."
        "I guess so."
        "You guess so." She raised her head and looked at Hunter. "Wanta help me up?"
        Worried she might try something, he said, "I'd better not get too close."
        "Forget about it," she muttered, and struggled to her feet. Swaying slightly, she fingered her throat. Then she twisted halfway around and gazed down at the cord. She stared at it for a long time. Then she murmured, "Jesus." Meeting Hunter's eyes, she nodded slightly.
        Is that a thanks? he wondered.
        "Want me to go first?" she asked.
        "That'd be a good idea."
        She staggered toward the door.
        Following her out of the room and into the hallway, Hunter watched her back. It was red with rug burn, marked here and there with small scratches. Her buttocks shifted and flexed as she walked.
        "I need to use the John," she said.
        "I don't know..."
        "I do." She pointed straight ahead. "It's right there."
        As they approached it, Hunter said, "I don't want you out of my sight."
        "You wanta watch?"
        "I just don't want you getting away."
        "Yeah, right." She entered the bathroom and turned its light on. Leaving the door wide open, she walked past the sink. She bent over the toilet, raised its lid, and peered down into the bowl. "Looks okay," she muttered. Then she turned around and sat down.
        Still in the doorway, Hunter had a full view of her. She was sitting with her back straight, hands resting on her thighs. She looked toward the bathtub straight in front of her, apparently paying no attention to Hunter. He turned his head away when she started to pee.
        "Wasn't really the cord," she said
        "Huh?"
        "Not like the cord came to life. Felt like someone was there, you know? I was all set to go. Had my hands loose, had the belt off my feet. I'm about to stand up