Matthew, an only child, was not thrilled when he found out that his family was moving to Arizona, especially not in the beginning of the school year. It was the week of Halloween when he got the pleasure of moving to his new house. 

“Why couldn’t we have moved a week later, I have no friends, so now I have no one to spend Halloween with,” Matthew complained for the hundredth time today.

“You can spend Halloween with us,” his mom suggested, but Matthew rolled his eyes. 

Matthew looked at his new house that was nothing but normal, his neighbor’s house, however,  had a certain aura to it. The house looked to be very old, unlike the other houses in the neighborhood, and had a gothic style to it. As Matthew was unpacking he heard a loud knock on the door. He peeked from his doorway to see who was at the door. When his parents opened the door Matthew saw the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on; she had pale skin with long black hair.

“Hi, I’m Cordelia, I live in the house next door and my family saw you just moved in, your family is more than welcome to come over for our annual Halloween party on Halloween,” Cordelia smiled. 

“Thank you so much, we have a son your age who was just complaining about not having anything to do on Halloween,” Matthew’s mom answered.

The rest of the words spoken between his parents and Cordelia flew in one ear and out the other, as Matthew was mesmerized by Cordelia’s beauty. 

Matthew went to school for three days that week because they had Thursday and Friday off. He made one friend, Oliver, who was in most of Matthew’s classes. 

“What are you doing for Halloween?” Oliver asked.

“Going over to my neighbor’s house Cordelia, her family invited mine over, I’ve never seen her at school though maybe she goes to a private school,” 

“You mean your neighbor with the creepy house?” Oliver’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah,”

“You cannot go over to her house, when people go in they don’t come out, I’ve never even seen her parents, they are majorly creepy and probably insane,” Oliver warned.

“You’re joking, somebody as beautiful as Cordelia could not be insane, you’re just jealous I get to spend Halloween with her,” Matthew scoffed.

“I’m not joking, if you don’t believe me ask anybody here or even search up the last owners of your house, Cordelia’s family is the reason they moved away,” 

Despite the warning from Oliver that sparked a small fear, Matthew pushed the feeling away and decided this Halloween party could bring him closer to Cordelia. 

It was Halloween and Matthew was becoming increasingly nervous about the party. After doing some research the previous owner’s of his house claimed they heard screams and other creepy noises constantly coming from Cordelia’s house. Still, Matthew wanted to talk and get to know Cordelia before making any rushed decisions. 

“Go ahead and go over to the neighbor’s house. We will be over there in just a minute,” Matthew’s parents told him.

Matthew walked over to the house and stood on the front porch contemplating what to do. Just as he was about to go home and follow the advice of his friend the door swung open. He still had the option to run, but the second Matthew laid his eyes on Cordelia it was no longer an option. He followed Cordelia into her house like a lost puppy.

“S-s-so, what s-s-school do you go too, I never s-s-see you around,” Matthew attempted to make small talk.

“I’m homeschooled,” Cordelia answered in a sultry manner that should have been Matthew’s red flag to leave.

“Ohhh s-s-so how long have you lived here, this house is pretty old,”

“Longer than you can even imagine,” Cordelia smiled and scooted a tiny bit closer to Matthew. 

Alarms went off in Matthew’s head, Cordelia’s teeth looked sharper than most, but Matthew was frozen in his spot captivated by Cordelia. 

“Halloween is my favorite holiday, I get to see more people than usual and get fed more too,” Cordelia snapped Matthew’s mind back to reality.

“S-s-speaking of people, I thought this was a party, where is everyone?”

“They haven’t arrived yet you’re earlier than most,” Cordelia again inched her way closer to Matthew. 

“Where is the bathroom!” Matthew shot up from his seat suddenly. 

Cordelia showed him the bathroom leaving Matthew alone with his thoughts. 

“I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I should’ve listened to Oliver, this is it this is the end,” Matthew paced in the bathroom, talking to himself. 

There was no way to exit the bathroom, but Matthew thought that maybe if he stayed there long enough his parents would arrive and save him or Cordelia would forget about him. Minutes passed when loud knocking pounded the bathroom door. Matthew froze.

“Come on Matthew, what’s taking you so long, I just want to get to know you better,” Matthew heard Cordelia’s sweet voice on the other side of the door.

Matthew knew something bad was going to happen and started pacing faster. He started looking for somewhere to hide, knowing Cordelia would find a way in. Cordelia’s banging got louder and louder, Matthew didn’t have much time left. Hiding in the bathtub, the banging stopped. Matthew almost let out a sigh of relief when he heard a strange noise outside the door, almost like a transformation. Then he heard wind and a flash of light appeared from outside the shower curtain. 

“Come out Matthew I know you're in here, don’t make this harder than it has to be,” Matthew knew the voice belonged to Cordelia but the voice was different. Matthew didn’t dare to move or take a breath. Silence came. Matthew squeezed his eyes shut, a feeling of horror filling up his body. When nothing happened Matthew opened one eye slowly.

“Peek-a-boo!” The face of Cordelia appeared in front of Matthew, but instead of the beautiful Cordelia he knew, she was a monster. 

Cordelia sunk her fangs into Matthew’s neck, drinking every drop of blood of his now lifeless body. 

“What a great snack, I can’t wait for my meal,” Cordelia returned back to her human form, waiting for her next guests to arrive.