Lorraine Baxter\u2019s Hallowe\u2019en Party. That\u2019s how I thought about it in the week leading up to it. Afterwards, people called it a lot of other things. They called me a lot of things too, and I understand that, I was the only one left to blame.
It was just one of dozens of Hallowe\u2019en parties that year, it was before the holiday got Americanised, before Trick or Treating, before dressing up in supermarket costumes, before pumpkins. But it was still Hallowe\u2019en, a night different from the others, and this year it was on a Saturday.
We were third years \u2026 yeah, I know, the dreaded Third Years, or Year 9s as that group is known now. Old enough to have got settled in and cocky at secondary school, but just young enough to be outside the reach of external exam pressure and thoughts of sixth form and careers. It\u2019s a dangerous age, you feel immortal, omniscient and utterly invulnerable. Every little gang of friends was planning a party, and our lot were meeting up at Lorraine\u2019s house. Her parents were going out, and had said she could have a few friends over. Her big brother had agreed to stay in, just to keep an eye on things. We didn\u2019t mind that, Greg was quiet and bookish, and was guaranteed not to be annoying.
Lorraine lived four miles away, I knew the way there like the back of my hand, mostly suburban estates and main roads, but there was that one stretch by the railway and the old coal depot that seemed to be longer than the half mile it actually was. I remember glancing down at it from the top deck of the bus on the way to Lorraine\u2019s, it was already dark at 6:30 pm, but a flicker of green light caught my attention for a second. Probably marsh gas from the coal mines, but it didn\u2019t usually burn green, and it rarely caught fire at this time of year. Spooky though, and I decided to tell the girls about it later. I got off the bus, wrinkling my nose at a sudden stink rolling in from the direction of the canal, and walked the last ten minutes to Lorraine\u2019s house. A faint light came from her upstairs window, the rest of the house was dark. I knocked twice before the hall light came on and Greg answered the door. \u2018Ah, Paula. The new girl.\u2019 He stepped out of the way. \u2018They\u2019re in Loz\u2019s room, go on up.\u2019
I winced \u2018New Girl?\u2019 I\u2019d been at Woodside for over a year. Sure, I\u2019d transferred a year late, when me and mum moved from Yorkshire, but I\u2019d made lots of friends, and didn\u2019t think of myself as \u2018New Girl\u2019 anymore.
Lorraine\u2019s door was shut to, I could hear music, and voices, and I hesitated, not quite ready to just barge in. I knocked, firmly, and heard a small scream, then giggles as the door opened and Lorraine grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room. It was decorated with pentagrams made from orange yarn and toothpicks, a broomstick was propped up in a corner, and my four best friends were standing in front of a rickety card table, hiding something.
\u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019
\u2018Ouija board\u2019 Lorraine said, she was smiling, excited. \u2018I bought it in Manchester last month. Don\u2019t tell anyone, OK? It\u2019s just a game.\u2019
\u2018We were waiting for you.\u2019 Marie offered. \u2018You\u2019ve not missed anything. We have to make a circle around the board, and put our hands on the \u2026 thingy.\u2019
\u2018Planchette\u2019 Lorraine said. \u2018It\u2019s a planchette. We put our hands on it, and the spirits move it.\u2019
I snorted. \u2018Can\u2019t the spirits move it without our hands being on it? I mean, it\u2019s probably easier for them to move a few grammes of plastic than to take over our hands \u2026\u2019
The glare that I got from Marie told me that she was prepared to take this seriously. Not just a game then \u2026 I sighed and took my place between Bridget and Kath. There wasn\u2019t much room, and our elbows kept nudging at each other.
Lorraine put a red scarf over her table lamp, making the room even darker. She switched on her tape deck, and I jumped when the music from The Omen came on. We\u2019d watched it together the year before, and it had thoroughly creeped me out. Marie saw my reaction and smirked. \u2018Scaredy cat \u2026\u2019 she mouthed. I stuck my tongue out at her and put my hand on the planchette. \u2018Me first.\u2019 I said firmly, finding myself with a point to prove. I\u2019d seen this stuff in horror films, and managed to jerkily spell out \u2018S A T A\u2019 before Lorraine squealed at me and took my hand off the plastic marker. \u2018Not funny!\u2019 she said. I put on an innocent expression and said \u2018What? It\u2019s just the spirits ordering satay sauce, you know? Chinese food \u2026\u2019
Marie glared at me and put her hand on the planchette. Lorraine had picked up a notepad and pencil and started to jot down the letters. \u2018O A K T R E\u2019 Marie stopped and said \u2018Oak Tree?\u2019 The planchette moved swiftly to \u2018YES\u2019 and I scowled. \u2018Let someone else have a go.\u2019 I suggested, but Marie shook her head. Quite violently, as I recall. \u2018R D M U R\u2019 Lorraine looked up. \u2018That doesn\u2019t spell anything \u2026\u2019 I swallowed and whispered. \u2018RD \u2026 Road. Oak Tree Road.\u2019 Marie looked straight at me. \u2018M U R?\u2019 she asked, and I knew that she knew. I knew that somehow she knew why mum and me had moved sixty miles and across the Pennines, why I\u2019d changed schools at the start of the second year, and why there was just me and mum. This wasn\u2019t funny, and I was suddenly very aware that Marie was not my friend. I backed away from the board. \u2018I\u2019m not feeling well, I\u2019d better go home.\u2019 I managed to blurt out, before backing out of the room and running downstairs. I was fumbling at the door, trying to open it, when Greg wandered downstairs. \u2018You OK?\u2019 he asked, with what seemed like genuine concern. \u2018Yeah, fine. Just need to get home.\u2019 I said. I stood back whilst he unlocked the door and then I fled. Greg shouted something after me, something about walking me to the bus stop, then I heard a scream and the slam of the door. I didn\u2019t look back, I wasn\u2019t amused. I wondered if they were all in on it, or if it was just Marie, jealous of my friendship with Lorraine.
I stood at the bus stop for half an hour until a passing motorist stopped to tell me that the bus drivers had called a strike and there wouldn\u2019t be a bus home. He offered me a lift, but I wasn\u2019t quite that daft. I waited until he was gone before I started to walk home. It was going to take me an hour, it was cold, drizzling and very dark. Much darker than it should be. Apparently a bus strike wasn\u2019t enough, there\u2019d been a power cut too, and the street lights were off. The green glow from the coal depot wasn\u2019t right either, but I was too angry to be spooked by it. I\u2019d been through too much to be scared of a weird light. That stench from the canal was stronger now, and I picked up my pace, the night was getting more and more unpleasant. I didn\u2019t realise how tense I was until I\u2019d cleared the railway stretch and found myself on the main road, lined with pubs and takeaways. The takeaways were shut, but some of the pubs were still open, lit with candles and bustling with trade. It was early enough in the evening for the sight of a thirteen year old girl to be unremarkable, but people were staring at me. I realised then that I was crying, and I wiped at my eyes. An older woman tried to stop me, she looked concerned, but I veered away and tripped over a loose flagstone. I was bleeding when I got up, but not too badly, and I walked faster, breaking into a run for the last quarter mile and banging on our front door for what seemed like hours. By this time I was sobbing. \u2018Paula, whatever\u2019s the matter? I wasn\u2019t expecting you home yet \u2026 why are you bleeding?\u2019
\u2018There\u2019s a power cut, and the buses are on strike and, and Marie \u2026 Marie knows about daddy and she was mean.\u2019 I realised that I sounded about six years old, and took a deep breath. \u2018I\u2019m OK, I just fell over, and I\u2019m cold and \u2026\u2019
\u2018Well, the power\u2019s back on now. Let\u2019s run you a hot bath and then we can have some supper together and listen to some of your records. How does that sound?\u2019 Mum always knew what to say.
\u2018OK\u2019
And that was it, I thought, as I went to bed an hour or so later. I was tired but Mum had calmed me down, she\u2019d got the whole story out of me, and explained that there were always going to be people who would try to provoke a reaction from me about what happened to Dad, and I would always have the choice of walking away if I wanted to.
We both slept late on Sunday, we were woken up by the police. Just one car, outside. I freaked out, and started sobbing when Mum let the officers into the house. A man and a woman. Just like when Dad \u2026 like when we lost Dad. I think that\u2019s what made it worse, they thought I was crying because I already knew, that I was crying because I was scared of consequences. They knew that I\u2019d been seen walking home covered in blood. They knew that I\u2019d been there.
And even though other people had seen Lorraine\u2019s house filled with a weird green light, even though they\u2019d smelled something monstrous and obscene filling the street, even though the window in Lorraine\u2019s room had been smashed in from the outside, I was still questioned. There wasn\u2019t enough evidence to arrest me though. As if I could even have done what was done. Especially to Greg. It was in all the papers. Look it up. But you won\u2019t find it called Lorraine Baxter\u2019s Hallowe\u2019en Party.
Copyright Jeanette Greaves, 2021
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lorraine Baxter\u2019s Hallowe\u2019en Party. That\u2019s how I thought about it in the week leading up to it. Afterwards, people called it a lot of other things. They called me a lot of things too, and I understand that, I was … Continue reading