The man collapsed to the ground twitching violently and foaming at the mouth. Through the thick frothy bubbles, a deformed spider crawled out, proceeding to cover the poor man in an impenetrable web. The only thing of the man that was visible was his dead, pale blue eyes, glassed over and beginning to yellow.

            Once the spider was content with his kill, it crawled out of the cracked window, leaving the mutilated body. It crept up the tallest apple tree in the orchard where the moon’s light shone most intensely, before disintegrating into a fine black powder.

            The next morning, the news was flooded with reports of an unknown man, found dead, fully encompassed n an unknown web-like substance. Once removed from the barrier t was clear the body went through immense torture before finally being rewarded with death.  

            The unused farmhouse where the man was found was burned to the ground by the owners of the property who claimed the man’s soul lived on in the house with malevolent intentions of revenge.

            Mr. Crutcher, the old silver-haired man who owned the apple orchard killed himself two months later. He said he could no longer endure the dreams of snarling eight-legged creatures, and inhuman screams that now haunted his once peaceful sleep. He left his wife a widow and his children fatherless. Naturally, the orchard became too much of a responsibility for the poor old women and the property became bankrupt and left to rot.

                                                                ***

            Fifty years had passed since the dead man plagued the town of Willowsville, and the tale of crazy of Mr. Crutcher and the tragedies that surrounded became an old story the young people giggled over and dared each other to go into the old abandon orchard at the edge of town.

            Bethany (Bunny) Carini and her boyfriend Ezra Moses sat through their AP European History teacher drone on the entire period on the impact the black plague had on western Europe, counting down the minutes until the bell and they were free to proceed with their Halloween plans.

            The second hand ticked slower and slower with rotation around the clock until it finally reached 2:40. Ezra and Bunny collected their books and separated, going to collect their backpack and homework from their blue lockers. The pair then reconvened and walked to their normal place by the vending machines where they routinely waited for the rest of their friend group.

            Dean Bradshaw arrived first slapping Ezra; his best friend on the shoulder and wrapping Bunny in a one-armed hug.

            “It’s Halloween! And it’s a Friday!”

            Stella and Vivian snuck up behind Dean signaling with their finger at Bunny to stay quiet. Stella stood up on her tip toes and whispered “Boo”, in his ear.

            He whipped around and grabbed her hand twisting it around.

            “Just you wait until we get to the orchard and I’ll get you back for that one,” he laughed releasing her red hand.

            The group of five walked out into the chilly Maine air, trudging through the fallen leaves littering the parking lot before piling into Bunny’s blue Honda nicknamed Carrot.

            Bunny turned up the radio playing China Anne McClain’s “Calling All the Monsters”, a classic Disney channel song.

            Bunny and Stella sang along in the front seat while Vivian started her homework in the back. Viv was probably the only person who didn’t start her weekend homework at 6 PM on Sunday. Ezra was turned around talking to Dean who had the misfortune of having to sit in the trunk. The crew rotated who had to sit in the way back each day and today was Dean’s. Lucky for Bunny she never had to since she was always driving.

            Stella reached and turned off the radio once the song changed.

“What's the plan for tonight?”

Vivian looked up from her homework to answer. “We’re going to Bunny’s for dinner because Mam C is the best. Then we go to Tate McGee's Halloween bash…”

            Tate was the president of the junior class and hosted a huge Halloween party each year. The torch of the party had been passed through all three of the MacGeee children and Tate, the youngest was up next.

            She continued, “We stay until about midnight and then we go to Crutcher’s Orchard.”

            “I know but are we just going home after?” Stella prompted.

            “My mom said we can stay at my place as long as we all sleep in the basement,” Bunny explained.

            “Mama C coming through once again,” Dean called from the back, “If we make t that long…” he taunted.

            Bunny rolled her eyes at Stella, shaking her head. The car rolled in the driveway and they all trotted up the porch steps chatting with each other as young kids do. The Carini’s lived in a spacious five bedrooms modern Victorian with only two of the bedroom’s being occupied. Bunny’s parents had intended to fill their house with children, but unfortunately, Bunny was the only one they were blessed with.

            For dinner, Mrs. Carini made the five 11th graders homemade pizza and blood-colored fruit punch. Mr. Carini worked long hours and was merely a rare visitor to the house. This didn’t seem to bother Bunny or her mother as they were almost happier when he wasn’t present.

                                                           ***

            Once again the group of five piled into Carrot once again. Mrs. Carini stood waving on the porch.

            “Be safe. If there’s alcohol don’t drink any…. But if you do don’t drive, and don’t do anything Vivi wouldn’t do,” she yelled at the car as they drove down the driveway.

            This time it was Stella’s turn to sit in the trunk, the top of her poofed hair peeking from the top of the seats. Her costume was a very scantily dressed pirate. Vivian was in the shotgun seat dressed up as Snow White, next to a Cinderella dressed Bunny. The boys occupied the back, also dressed as pirates. Clearly, Vivian and Bunny had alternate ideas and boycotted the group costume.

            The McGee lived in a gated estate and in order to get into the party, you had to know the password. Without it, you weren’t allowed to enter.

            Bunny rolled down her window and pressed the buzzer.

            “Password,” a child’s voice came through the intercom. No doubt Tate paid some middle schooler big money to man the gate this year.

            “Spiked apple cider.”

            “Shhh… not so loud. You don’t want anyone to overhear.”

            “Oh sorry, spiked apple cider,” Bunny whisper yelled.

            Once Bunny has parked Carrot the group climbed the opulent front porch of the McGee mansion. The shudders were painted a rich raspberry color, complementing the deep charcoal grey of the shingles. Once inside the marble floors gave way to two identical staircases curved to lead to an overlying balcony. A grandeur crystal chandelier was fastened overhead, illuminating the room.

            Loud music was coming from the right side of the mahogany staircase. The room was crowded with high schoolers; mostly just sophomores and up, it was rare freshmen would be given the password. A group of soccers players swept Ezra and Dean away. Before leaving, Bunny reached up and left a peck on his cheek.

            Stella, Bunny, and Vivian made their way over to the orange tableclothed refreshment table. Stella helped herself to a glass of apple cider from the crystal punch bowl.

            “Mmm, Viv you’ve got to try this…” she said handing the cup her.

            Vivian grimaced as she swallowed the drink. “Nope, not for me,” she said hoarsely.

            No doubt the cider had actually been spiked as the password said. A blonde haired came up behind Stella tapping her shoulder. She spun around, happy to see him.

            “Well hello there,” she said grabbing another cup of cider before disappearing with him.

            “Come on let's go dance,” Vivian pulled Bunny to the crowd of people, after abandoning the cup of cider. Loud music blasted through the room, the drum beat, reverberating off the walls.

            Towards 11:30 Dean and Ezra reconvened with Bunny and Vivian, and they four went off to find Stella, no doubt alone somewhere with that blonde haired boy who neither Bunny nor Vivian had ever seen before. Bunny knocked on the first bedroom they came too.

            “Hey Stell, are you in here,” Bunny called through the door receiving no answer. She peeked it open a crack revealing a couple that did not include their friend.

            Eventually, by the fourth room, they had found a flustered and disheveled Stella and were headed back out to the car. Some of the cars had been covered with cracked eggs some prankster had thought would be funny, but luckily Carrot remained pristine. This time it was Vivian’s turn to sit in the back.

            Stella hummed to herself, a practice she usually did when she was tipsy.

            “Off we go…,” Bunny said in a sing-song voice.

            The winding road grew increasingly dark the farther they drove to the edge of the town; closer to Crutcher’s farm. Crickets sang eerily creating a chorus with Stella’s drunken humming. Bunny drove through the decrepit front gates, rusted open, invaded with vines. She slowly pressed her foot on the brake, exhaling before putting the car in park.

            “I’m not getting out first,” Vivian broke the silence.

            “On the count of three…” Bunny started.

            “One...Two…Three,” they said in unison before bursting out of the car all at once.

            Chests heaving and on high alert, the high schoolers looked around for any sign of the dangers said to dwell in the orchard.

            “What do we do now?” Vivian whispered.

            “We go to the farmhouse.” Dean turned so he was looking directly at his friends. “Where the unknown man died.” The wind howled around them, and the moon shone dimly through the thick clouds. It was full.

            Ezra grabbed Bunny’s hand as they went down the path leading to the house. Once they arrived, they paused right in front of the porch steps.

            “Are we sure we want to go in? It looks kind of dangerous.” Vivan reasoned.

            “Of course we’re going in.” Dean insisted, going up the stairs and jiggling the doorknob. “It’s locked.”

            “Let’s go around back,” Ezra suggested tugging Bunny with him.

            In the backyard, there was a lone apple tree which surprising was full of the ruby red. fruit. Some laid rotten on the ground covered in ravenous horse flies.

            “I wonder why the tree is still here. All the others were chopped down when the land was sold,” Bunny pondered aloud.

            “I dare you to eat one,” Ezra joked to Dean.

            The brown-haired daredevil plucked one of the apples off the tree with no hesitation before biting through the thick skin of the apple. He chewed twice before spitting it out. He used to phone flashlight to examine the apple. It appeared to be colored with some sort of grayish black power, adulterating the apple.

            “What is that?” Vivian asked.

            “No idea, all I know is that it tasted like shit.”

            The group made there way up the back porch steps, and once again tried the door. This time it swung open, the hinges creaking. The door has probably never opened for decades.

            Underfoot, the floors creaked as the group explored hesitantly through the first floor of the house. Cobwebs lined the ceiling and the moldy furniture was covered in a thick layer of dust. The air was thick and a musty smell lingered. Ezra and Dean started to go up the creaking staircase.

            “Should we really go up there?” Vivian asked her voice unsteady.

            “Come on Viv, that’s where they found the man.” Dean taunted.

            The three girls followed the boys up, Vivian trailing behind. The second level consisted of a single room with one cracked window embedded in the far wall. The five kids sat in a circle in the center of the room.

            “Is anyone there?” Dean urged a spirit to talk.

            Nothing happened.

            “Heeelllloooo?”

            A gust of wind blew through the window, chilling the stuffy room. Suddenly, Dean fell back from sitting upright. He body contorted and his face began to turn purple. Vivian screamed for help, but of course, there was no one for miles who could hear her. Saliva bubbled from his mouth, wetting his grimaced face.

            Bunny and Stella clung to each other in the corner of the room and Ezra pushed Vivian, who was hysterical towards them. He knelt down beside Dean and felt his forehead.

            “It’s warm. I think he’s having some sort of seizure. I’m calling 911.”

            Ezra put the phone on speaker.

            “911, what’s your emergency.”

            “Hi, I think my friend is having a seizure. I need an ambulance,” Ezra did his best to stay calm.

            “Where are you.”

            “Crutcher’s Orchard…”

            “Okay, I'm sending one right now. What’s wrong with your friend.”

            “He’s unconscious and twitching, spastically. And there’s foam coming out of his mouth...”

            As Ezra spoke those words, a black furry spider crawled from Dean’s mouth. Ezra dropped the phone, cutting off the connection with the 911 operator. He darted to the other side of the room with the three girls. The spider looked like it was beginning to spin a web connecting Dean’s nose and blue chapped lips.

            “We gotta get out of here,” Ezra whispered, sweat dripping down his forehead.

            Before anyone could argue he was pulling Bunny down the stair. Stella and Vivian were close behind. They saw the ambulance pulling in the driveway of the farmhouse. It came to a stop and the four pointed at the house and told the EMTs to go upstairs.

            They waited for them to bring him back down for what felt like days. Instead of a stretcher, they brought him down in a body bag. Bunny wrapped her arm around Vivian, allowing her to cry into her shoulder. Stella patted her back, while Ezra stretched his arm around all three of them.

            A police car soon followed, asking if they needed to call their parents.

            “We’ll be fine. I have a car.” Bunny replied.

            “Do you know what happened to him?” Vivian asked, choking on tears.

            “No, it appears he might have had an allergic reaction, but its unknown why.”

            The ride home was done in silence. This time everyone got a seat.

                                                          ***

            The four remaining, Stella, Bunny, Vivian, and Ezra graduated soon after. Each one attended Emory University in Georgia. About as far away from Maine as you could get. They stayed friends, bonded forever from that horrifying experience. They never returned to Willowsville to see if the papers would tell of a person wrapped in what appeared to be a spiders web. But most importantly, that fateful the spider once again crawled through winder and disintegrated among the lone apple tree, waiting for another group of careless kids to venture into Crutcher’s Orchard.