Ileana Lallain was chosen as the winner of our Halloween Story Contest. Her story “How I ended up in Hell” was inspired one of her story that she  was writing already. Congratulation Ileana for winning the contest!

“How I Ended up in Hell”

Have you ever wondered what comes after death? Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to die? Be thankful you don’t know. Be thankful you are still alive. Be thankful you’re not me.

You know that person you occasionally see, that one who’s all alone and looking like the most miserable person alive? You want to talk to them, but you don’t, you just stare at them. You’re lost in your thoughts and forget to look away until after their eyes meet yours, pleading for you to come over and speak to them. They saw you. They knew you were there. But you didn’t say anything. You didn’t go over. You just looked away and watched them out of the corner of your eye until they looked away.

That’s what happened to me. I was helping Lily with her Chemistry homework, going over electron configuration when he caught my eye. He was sitting alone, looking like everything in his life had simultaneously fallen to pieces. You know, that dejected puppy look?

I should have gone over and talked to him. I should have asked him what’s wrong. I should have. I know I should have. As soon as he looked at me though, I pretended I had never noticed him. I pretended he didn’t exist.

I never should have. I never EVER should have. Doing that was the biggest and last mistake of my life.

Halloween was two days away. I left the house to meet up with a group of friends, listening to my mother yelling out the door about my curfew and to be careful.

I was dressed as a bat queen, with large bat wings fastened to the back of my dress. I had made the costume myself, using wire to make the outline of the wings and draping black fabric over them, loosely fastening them so they flapped a bit as I walked. The dressed was simple, layered black pieces with long flowing sleeves. I bought the fangs at Party City and ordered red contacts on the internet. I wore plain black boots that zippered up the sides, though I didn’t zip them up all the way, to give them a more flowing effect.

People stared as I walked past them, either because they liked my costume or because they thought I was too old to be out on Halloween. I didn’t care.

My friends should have been waiting for me at the end of the block by the time I made my way down. I was three houses away from my own and six away from the end of the block when he found me.

“Hey there Nicky” a voice says from behind me. “You’re costume is oddly suiting.” I couldn’t recognize the voice, though clearly they knew me.

A cold feeling started crawling up my legs, like they were being encased in slow moving ice. The houses and the people around seemed to be dimming, as though someone was dimming the lights that kept them visible.

“I know you saw me.” The voice had gotten lower and had a scratchiness to it that had not been there.

The ice cold had reached my head and I should have been shivering but my body was not moving.

Heat, unbearable heat, heat more scorching than fire replaced the ice, all at once. A scream rested in my throat. I was unable to open my mouth and let it out. I am melting. I must be melting.

The realization came to my mind: this isn’t real. None of this is real. I must have dozed off. This must be a dream. All of this must be a part of my imagination. I’m not really feeling this.

Bullshit, I know, but at that time, I needed something to grasp, some hope. I just needed it.

Everything disappeared and I turned around. I wasn’t moving. Something else was forcing me to turn around.

Red eyes. Long white teeth with black at the ends.  A wicked smile. Pale skin dotted with red and black. Long dark claws. Strong arms ready to tear me apart. The figure cloaked in black. This was what I saw when I was turned around.

His harsh voice said, “Why did you do that Nicky?” His smile got wider. “Why didn’t you help, Nicky?”

I couldn’t speak.

He continued, “I know what you’ve done. I know you better than you do. I know all your sins.” There was a pause. “IT’S TIME TO PAY NICKY.”

Everything except him got dark. Pitch black is bright in comparison. The world was way darker. It was a malicious dark, teeming with evil. If I could have shivered I know I would have.

The only feeling for a moment was like being on an elevator going down.

Blood. I could only see blood. My blood. My blood was visible. It was flowing, a deep crimson stream. There was blood flowing down my arm.

Then came the pain. I couldn’t dare to look at my shoulder because I already knew all I would see would be a gaping hole.

Screaming, not screaming, I couldn’t even tell anymore. I wanted to die. I wished I was dead. The only thing I wanted was to die and MAKE IT STOP.

MAKE IT STOP.

MAKE IT STOP.

“PLEASE FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE MAKE IT STOP!” I couldn’t tell whether I kept that in my mind, or if I screamed it at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t hear anything except his voice and the blood rushing past my ears,  making a pounding noise.

“It’ll never stop Nicky. This is what you deserve, don’t you understand? You wicked, evil girl.” His voice, his speech pattern, but not his face. Not his mouth moving to say those words. That’s not him. What the hell is that?!

I could see the flesh on my arm so clearly, as though it was glowing. Glowing red, glowing purple, bruising, burning, tearing off to reveal red flesh underneath. The red flesh blackening.

I was turning to ashes. I was being burned.

I couldn’t tell anymore. Is there pain? Am I feeling pain? Am I even alive? Have I ever even existed? Those thoughts had passed through my mind.

“LIES LIES LIES.” He yells, his voice screaming through my head, bouncing back and forth between my ears. “YOU’RE NOTHING BUT LIES.”

Is that true? I thought. Is my entire existence a lie? Did I never really exist?

Then, everything stopped. I couldn’t see anything. He wasn’t there. I’m not even sure I was there.

When I woke up, I was here. That’s the end of my story.

I turn to you and ask, “So what did he do to you?”