Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

***

She wanted to call out to him, but she concluded that she might alert unnecessary attention, and waved off the thought.

She started walking briskly towards where he was standing and was waving at cabs.

Her heart was pounding as she was getting closer to him.

A cab stopped at his front, he held the handle of the door as her eyes bulged because he was about to slip away from her fingers.

"Hey!" She yelled and increased her strides as he finally got in the cab and the driver drove away.

"Hey! Stop! Hey!' She called out and raced to where he was standing. She watched as the cab drove away and furrowed her brows.

" Damn!' She kicked at the specks of dust and noticed that the passersby were now interested in her.

"What are you staring at?" She yelled at one of the old women that quickly averted her gaze elsewhere.

She hurriedly walked back to the mall and walked past the salesgirl who quickly glance up at her.

She saw the frustrated look on Willow's face and shook her head sideways.

"Poor thing" she murmured and continued what she was doing.

Willow moved to the third row as instructed by the Salesgirl and she saw the Maleficent costume sets, she started walking around to select her choice.

She took out a set from the stand and started examining it, taking out the costume from the box as she held the horn of Maleficent and smirked.

"That is a fine costume" a voice spoke as she quickly looked up, her gaze fell on Tabitha, her boss's wife, and Lucy, their daughter.

"Oh hi, Tabitha." She managed to smile.

"You are going as Maleficent for Halloween?" Tabitha asked as Willow cleared her throat, she could not find her voice.

"Oh yeah, Maleficent. Yes" she was nervous and Tabitha noticed.

"Lucy, say hi," Tabitha told her daughter who was busy scratching the nape of her neck.

Lucy did not respond as she was busy with what she was doing.

"Hey, Lucy! Say hi to Willow. Don't be rude, she might be your future stepmother if I and your dad get divorced" Tabitha said to the kid as Willow's eyes bulged. 

She immediately understood the point that Tabitha was coming from, but she chose to ignore it. She had other things to think of than to think of Jasper (Her boss) and his family.

"Uhmm, I have to go and catch up with my friends. They must be looking for me" she said and picked the box of costumes from the floor.

"Oh no! You are not leaving so soon because of what I said, right?" Tabitha faked a smile that Willow knew was not genuine.

"Of course not" she gave a faux smile too and glanced at Lucy who was still scratching the nape of her neck.

(What the hell is wrong with the kid?) She wondered.

"If that is the case, I would be glad if you help me pick up a Halloween costume for my Lucy. I am finding it difficult to decide!" She smiled.

"Oh," that was all Willow could say as she was staring at Lucy who was still scratching, she wondered if Tabitha was not aware of what her daughter was doing.

"We were given tickets to a Halloween show. I was asked to come with a partner. Jasper would not come with me, so I decided to take Lucy along as a partner"

"May I... Can I see the ticket?" She tried to sound neutral.

"Oh yes, sure" Tabitha opened her purse and brought out one of the tickets, and handed it over to Willow, who took it from her while staring at her face.

She examined it and saw that it was the same ticket as hers.

"Nice," she returned it to Tabitha who took it and placed it back in her purse.

"I hope you do not mind, of course?"

"No, not at all" she feigned a smile.

"How about, an Annabelle costume set or Regan from The Exorcist?"

"Oh, why? Why didn't I think of that? Of course, we would go with the Annabelle costume set. You are such a lifesaver"

Tabitha turned to Lucy who was still scratching.

"You see why I said you should be nice to her? She would make a good stepmother" she smiled and looked up at Willow who held a stern look on her face.

"If that is all, I would be on my way now" she was about to leave as Tabitha called her back.

"Willow?" 

"Yes?!" She stopped and turned to face her.

"Do you mind? Umm, leaving Jasper alone? You know? He is a married man with a kid. And I know he might be a little bit extra most of the time but--"

Willow did not allow her to finish up her speech as she spoke.

"I think you might have to take a look at what Lucy is doing to the nape of her neck" 

Tabitha stopped what she was saying and glanced at Lucy who was still scratching.

"Oh my God! Lucy! I thought I asked you to stop scratching that!" 

"What is she scratching? What happened to her?" Willow was now interested.

"Oh, do not mind this silly girl! She fell on her play toys three days ago and had a slight cut at the nape of her neck. She was taken to the hospital as the bleeding was much and I could not stop it using first aid,"

"And?" Willow asked as Tabitha gave her a look.

"Of course she was taken care of at the hospital and the bleeding stopped" Tabitha was giving her a weird look now.

"Have you tried looking at what she has been scratching at?"

Tabitha scoffed and held Lucy by the hand so that she would stop scratching.

"Of course not! That thing is plastered"

Willow quickly squatted next to Lucy and made her turn her back.

"What are you doing?" Tabitha was confused as Willow took off Lucy's shirt, revealing the plaster at the nape of her neck.

"Are you nuts? What the hell do you think you are doing to my daughter?"

Willow completely ignored her as she took off the plaster from Lucy's neck before Tabitha pulled her away and she landed on her butt.

"Oh my God!" Tabitha closed her mouth at what she saw on her daughter's neck.

"What is it?" Willow stood up and dusted her butt as she gazed at the nape of Lucy's neck.

Her hunch was right.

The nape of her neck was decaying and spreading, it was just as what was happening to her foot. Except that, there were no green maggots in Lucy's case.

"Was it like this when you took her to the hospital?" Willow interrogated as Tabitha was still in shock.

"No! Of course not! I have to take her back to the hospital!" She picked Lucy's shirt from the floor and started putting it on her.

"No! Do not take her back to that hospital! I guess they are looking for something. That is what they want you to actually do--"

"Are you insane? Just shut up!" Tabitha grabbed Lucy's arm as they walked away. 

Willow watched as they left as her heart started pounding.

What she just saw had made her confirm that she was not going crazy as what she saw the previous night at the hospital, was true.

She picked up the box of costumes and started walking away from the row till she got to where the cashier was.

She saw a lot of customers, lined up to pay, she used her eyes to scan the hall, but she could not find Tabitha and Lucy.

"Hey! Willow! Where have you been?" Hazel who was at her front noticed and spoke to her. She did not notice that her friends were in the queue as she was lost in thought.

"Oh! Hazel!" She managed to say and looked at her left at who was calling out to her. 

It was Piper and Billy on the other queue.

"Where the hell have you been? We have been looking all over for you!" Piper asked.

"Oh, I was just around, looking for a costume" she gave a faux smile.

"Yikes! What have you got over there?" Billy asked, looking at the box she was holding.

"Oh, this is a Maleficent costume set. I am mimicking Maleficent for Halloween"

"Is that not what your sister wore for Halloween three years ago?" Billy asked as Piper nudged him to stay mute.

"What?" He mouthed to her as she rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Yeah, you are right!" Willow cast her face down.

"Willow, I am glad you are actually doing this" Hazel squeaked as the man that was in front of her in the queue looked back at her.

"Oh, sorry" she whispered to the man who faced his front.

"Yeah, I am glad too" she sucked in air.

"So, what have you guys got?"

"Oh, I got the Carrie prom outfit, I just wanted something sexy" Piper was proud of herself as she showed Willow a bag and dangled it.

"Oh, nice!" 

"And I got the nun deluxe costume!" Hazel smiled at the box she was holding as Willow nodded at her and glanced at Billy who smiled.

"I am going on Black and White Horror Zalgo Morph suit!" He winked at her as she smiled.

"Yeah, that is swell and creepy!"

"Willow, did you see Tabitha and Lucy? We saw her and she asked after you" Hazel spoke.

"Yeah, that lady seemed like someone interested in you" Billy added.

"I saw her at the Maleficent costume set row," Willow said as she remembered what she saw at the nape of Lucy's neck.

(Should I tell them about it? Will they believe me? No, I will not tell them. They will end up saying I was going insane again) she concluded in her heart and decided not to tell them.

"Come on Willow, what did she say to you?" Hazel nudged. It was as if they have been talking to her and she was lost in thought.

"Oh, she only asked me to select a costume for Lucy for the Halloween show. They are also coming"

Piper observed her and noticed that she was still holding some information back.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's it," she said facing her front without looking up at Piper, but Piper knew that she was not telling the truth.

"So, what did you pick up for the little girl?" Hazel asked.

"I just suggested the Annabelle costume set and Regan from The Exorcist. And she chose the Annabelle costume set"

"Oh," Hazel nodded as she was called upon as the next in line to pay her bills.

They kept mute as they took turns to pay for their costumes.

"So, we would meet by 9?" Billy asked.

"Emm, should we not go earlier than 9? Because that is the actual time the show is starting. And we need time to explore the environment. And also, I would not like to miss a bit of the show" Willow spoke as Billy was genuinely surprised.

"Okay, I do not know how or what Piper did to you, but either way, I am glad that you are interested in the show" He confessed.

"So, we are going by 8, then?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, 8 is fine by me," Piper said.

When they were done, they left the mall as Billy, Hazel and Piper rode on the car home after Willow had refused to go in the car as she preferred her bicycle.

***

It was sunset when Willow got to the cabin, as she was riding home, she saw a lot of people walking in the street, dressed up for Halloween. They all seemed happy and carefree.

She wished she could be that happy about Halloween. But then, she had a task she has to fulfill.

She parked her bicycle close to the cabin and walked to the door. She took a look at the sky and admired the twilight as she sucked in air.

"Tonight" she murmured and touched the doorknob. She opened the door and walked into the cabin as her heart was heavy because she might or might not return.

***

TBC