- tomas and imenan stood on the corner of the street, lit by the spotlight of the street lamp, and watched as people left the mall and retrieved their cars. they watched those people drive away, and they watched others enter the parking lot, leave their cars, and walk across the dark lot into the building. it was as if they could not believe they were looking at reality. it would never have occurred to them that a cemetery could disappear.
“what do we do now?” imenan gestured across the street. “it has been too long, and this is one change that is not positive.” he sighed and turned away, back the way they had come, but tomas stopped him.
“now,” the vampire said, “we might as well go inside.”
tomas squared his shoulders, stepped off the curb, and crossed the street with a determined stride. imenan hesitated only a moment, and then followed.
though it was late, the shopping center was as full with people as any saturday afternoon. they were dressed as superheroes and cartoon characters and monsters, costumed in their day dreams and their nightmares, their wishes and their fears. underneath the happy chatter, the sound system was playing suitable halloween novelties, and every store did business with small candies and free items. tomas and imenan wandered dazedly through the crowds. this was no quiet graveyard; this was not the hallow’s eve they remembered.
the human tide fetched them up against a large sign, the directory to the mall. they stood there for a long moment, watching the merriment. tomas turned this way and that, gazing in every direction at the people who earlier this month had jumped in fright each time he had slowly opened the lid to his casket with a creak. imenan found himself returning the smiles given to him, though he wasn’t sure why.
a little child, almost hidden by the cumbersome and colorful costume she wore, stumbled near imenan, tripped up by a dangling accessory. without a thought, he swiftly reached down and caught at her shoulder, steadying her. the mother beamed at him, the little girl cried out a shrill, chirping thanks, and then they were past him. he watched them go, as stunned as any visitor to the haunted house. imenan looked at tomas, to tell him what had happened, but tomas was engrossed in the map on the sign behind them. the vampire glanced up at his friend, excitement almost enlivening his face.
“imenan, look!” tomas laid his hand against the lower portion of the illuminated board. “this is where the trees still stand, and here...” tomas spread his hand, stretching his fingers out to measure a length on the map, “here is where the statue of the mourning angel would be, if it still stood.” he glanced again at imenan.
“don’t you see? here the statue and here next to it, the housden crypt.” tomas punched his finger down at each point. “from the housden crypt, to the darnell grave, and then vaughn, and hopper, and fisk!” his tone was triumphant, his finger pointing firmly to a shoe store. a smile crept onto imenan’s face as he began to understand.
“harold’s grave was just across from delbert fisk, which would mean...” the mummy looked closely at the map, tracing the path from the show store to its neighbor. “this is the store where harold’s grave used to be!”
imenan and tomas gazed at each other for a brief moment, the anticipation they felt earlier suddenly rekindled by their discovery. as one, they began to make their way through the crowd, moving as swiftly and as easily as they had slunk through the shadows of the town. as they dodged the revelers, tomas wondered if harold would still be there, but before he could ponder the question too long, they had reached their goal.
they stood in front of the coffee shop that had replaced their friend’s grave.
they were spotted before they could even take a single step across the threshold.
“tomas! imenan! what are you waiting for?! come on in, boys, make yourselves at home!” they were welcomed by a booming voice, one filled with so much cheer it was impossible to resist. they entered, and were astonished to see their friend harold behind the counter. he towered over the display of muffins and scones, beaming a broad grin at the vampire and the mummy, as big and bluff and bearded as they remembered him. “it’s been so long since you fellows have come by to chat! let me get you something, and then we’ll sit and have a nice long catch-up!” harold laughed then, amused by their expressions. “come on now! what will you have? i’ll make it for you myself!”
there was nothing for it but to make their selections. imenan remembered all too well that harold was never one to take no for an answer. the mummy peered at the menu board, reading the choices through the nearly transparent figure of their friend. tomas ordered right away, naming his favorite without hesitation. once imenan decided, harold quickly and expertly made their drinks, and grabbed a small sample-size cup of the shop’s strongest brew for himself.
the three old friends claimed the comfiest chairs for themselves, and talked and sipped at their cups (except harold, that is, who occasionally raised the tiny cup to his face, inhaling the rich fragrance without imbibing), sharing the stories of the years apart. harold told the tale of the construction of the mall, and the sloppy removal of the graves that left him and a few others behind. his great laughter transformed the tragic story into an adventure. tomas and imenan told harold about the differences they had discovered in the new halloween, and about the stresses caused by the increased interest in the haunted house. harold commiserated with them, and told them about his own job, about how much he enjoyed it and the interesting sights it brought him every day.
tomas had to admit that he liked the bustle of the shopping center. no one was staring at him, expecting him to perform like a trained bat. it was quite refreshing. he liked watching all the people, too. he had never before realized how interesting they were.
“it must be a pleasure to help people,” imenan said, somewhat wistfully. harold gave a mummy a hard look, then treated tomas to the same close inspection.
“that’s the ticket! it’s the perfect thing!” he pounded the overstuffed arm of the chair, making no sound. “you, and you,” he said, pointing at each of his friends in turn, “need to quit working at the haunted house, and come work here, with me!”
they stared at the ghost.
“yes, yes! it’s perfect! i know all the stores that are hiring! it will be a snap!” and he silently snapped his fingers, as proof. tomas and imenan exchanged a look, but, as they already knew so well, harold was never one to take no for an answer. they decided they were happy with that fact.
and so, by the time the christmas decorations had replaced the spiders and pumpkins of halloween (that is to say, in no time at all), imenan found himself helping customers at the large electronics store in the mall. he had discovered an aptitude for the systems and gadgets they sold there, and had become the one everyone came to with questions. plus, the blue shirt looked very nice against his linen wraps.
tomas had settled into a position at the movie theater, working the late shift and the midnight showings. he wasn’t very good at making popcorn yet, but excelled at being an usher. his manager commended him several times for his old-fashioned courtesy; the customers were always saying good things about him. and tomas was free to sneak into any of the movies playing. he had become addicted to watching the stories being played out on the screen.
and every night, when the front doors were closed and locked, and the last straggling credits-watcher had left the theater, the three friends would take over the comfiest chairs at the coffee shop, and talk until dawn.
at the other side of town, the last road still went up to the hill, and was still traveled heavily every autumn. it seems that an empty house is just as good a haunted house as one with a vampire and a mummy in attendance.
