3.

O n Halloween night, Jacqueline found herself wearing a white ballgown with fake blood on it. She stood in the mirror next to Emma, who grinned at her.

"I told you that you looked beautiful," she said.

"Beautiful? I'm covered in blood."

"So? It's spooky."

Emma wore a matching dress. Her hair was curled perfectly, and she had dark eyeliner and bright red eyeshadow on. Despite the zombie aesthetic of the dress, Emma looked very "clean."

Not Jacqueline.

She hadn't wanted to go all out, but she'd decided that if she was going to go to a party, she'd just go ahead and make it count. This meant that her hair was messy and ratty. Her eyeliner was smudged, and so was her lipstick.

She looked good, she thought. She hadn't felt like she'd looked good in a long time. Her dark hair hung past her shoulders, and even though it was messy, she felt feminine in a way she didn't often experience.

"I'm glad you like it," she finally said, allowing Emma to adjust her dress. Emma tied a ribbon a little more tightly, and then she took a step back to admire her work.

"Perfect. Let's go."

Emma took Jacqueline's hand and led her to the front of Jacqueline's apartment. They went outside, and then down the exterior staircase. Jacqueline's apartment was on the second floor of a small fabric shop that had been around for decades.

MOLLY'S MAKER MARKET was a place where you could have clothing hemmed, tailored, or even copied. Once, Jacqueline had brought in a dress she loved and asked the owner, Dane Molly, to make a duplicate. He'd been able to make her copies of the dress in red, blue, and green. Now Jacqueline had a collection of clothing she loved, and that also looked wonderful on her.

"Is Dane working tonight?" Emma asked, peering into the lit windows.

"I'm not sure," she said. Jacqueline walked up to the window and peered in. She tried the door, but it was locked. "I don't think so."

"Strange," Emma said. "You sure? I could have sworn I saw someone in there."

They walked past the building next door. Like Molly's, the store had been the same for as long as anyone could remember. Destiny Carpentry was at least half a century old. Rumor had it that the original owner's son had vanished one day. People suspected Old Man Destiny had killed his son, Zeke Destiny, but nobody really knew. Mr. Destiny had sworn he was innocent, but the company had fallen on hard times.

"Dane told me about this shop the other day," Jacqueline said, stopping.

"Destiny Carpentry? It got new owners recently. Didn't it?"

Jacqueline nodded.

"Mr. Destiny finally had to give up the store. He lives in an assisted living facility now."

"The Sunflower Center?" Emma asked. Her mom was the manager.

"Yeah," Jacqueline said. "I feel bad for him. He spent his entire life insisting that he hadn't killed his kid."

"I bet that's what all good killers say," Emma said.

"They could never prove it,." Jacqueline wasn't convinced that Mr. Destiny had actually done it.

"Again, that just means he was good at it."

Jacqueline didn't reply because she was too busy staring into the window of the shop. She'd never seen anyone in there before, but there was someone in there now. Tall, shredded, and staring right back at her: Jacqueline couldn't tear her eyes away from the masked stranger.

"Who is that?"

Jacqueline's heart started racing. Who was inside of the carpentry shop?

"Where?" Emma peered past her. "I don't see anyone. Anyway, we're going to be late. Let's go."

Emma once again pulled her by the hand, and led her into the night, but Jacqueline looked back. There had been a man in there. She was sure of it.

And he'd been wearing a pumpkin head.