Halloween inspired short story

He was about ready to burst with excitement. Jack was getting ready for the best night of his life. He still couldn't believe Candace had agreed to go out with him. He'd been trying to ask her out for years and finally got up the courage to ask her this past Wednesday. She'd said yes almost immediately. Afterward, it was everything he could do not to jump up and do a fist pump. or pass out. at least until she was out of sight and earshot. He finished brushing his unruly ginger hair back from his face and made sure there was no food stuck in obvious places in his braces. He was hoping to get as far as second base tonight, and he wanted to be ready. Contrary to the teasing from his friends, he'd been on dates before, but never with a cheerleader with an awesome body. Who cares if it was a pity date? A date was a date. They had also teased him about the fact that her last boyfriend had disappeared, calling her a black widow and applying other less than imaginative labels. Her previous flame was the quarterback of the football team and had not been seen in months. No one knew what happened to him. He shook that thought out of his mind and tried to mentally prepare himself for his date.

Candace slipped her up dress over her hips and pulled the zipper up the side. She pulled her sandals onto her feet and put the final touches on her hair and makeup. Eyes as yellow as her blond hair stared back at her from the mirror. She dabbed a little bit of perfume on her neck and wrists and blew out a puff of air she'd been holding in her chest. Tonight was her date with Jack. He'd been bugging her for months, years really, but it had really started to bother her recently. Over the last few weeks, he'd been following her around like a forlorn puppy, asking to carry her bag to practice, her lunch tray and anything else he could do to just talk to her. Even if she was interested in him, which she wasn't in the least, his desperation made him extremely unattractive. She finally agreed to go out with him to end this annoying chapter of her life. He had finally arrived pick her up and knocked on the door. She heard him enter and her dad and brothers were giving him the business in the front room. Her mother had never been a part of her life. She'd been gone since Candace was small. Her father and brothers were very protective of her as the only girl, and truthfully, she liked it that way.

She walked into the living room and everyone fell quiet and looked at her as she entered.
"You look great, Candace. Are you ready to go?" asked Jack.
"Yeah. Let's go, Jack. Dad, I'm sure I'll be home on time. In fact, I promise." She cut his admonition short before he could say it out loud.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't." her eldest brother quipped.
She rolled her eyes and dragged Jack out onto the porch. The full moon shone brightly. She shivered slightly and walked through the shadows it cast on the sidewalk to Jack's car. He opened the passenger door for her as she expected, and she experienced the first stab of guilt. He really was working hard for this date. She steeled her resolve. She couldn't have him following her around like he had been.

He took her on a typical high school date. They ate dinner at the local hangout and then saw a movie. It was October, so they decided on a slasher flick. He made the choice hoping if she was frightened, she would jump and hide her face in his chest or shoulder, or at the very least, press herself against his arm. In actuality, she seemed to thrive on the gore as the characters were picked off, in increasingly fantastic fashion.

At the end of the movie, it was Candace who suggested they drive up to Sandy Mountain. Sandy Mountain was where all the kids went to make out. As he drove, he became increasingly aroused and became anxious he would get too excited too fast. He needn't have worried. As soon as he parked and turned off the lights, she pounced on him. Her hands worked inside his shirt as her tongue lashed into his mouth. He tasted blood as she mashed his lips into his braces, and that only seemed to fuel her excitement. His hands found the hem of her shirt, moved under it, and his hands cupped her breast over the satiny material of her bra. He squeezed and kneaded and pinched and she seemed to lose herself, growling as he worked his hand under the material to touch her skin.

Her hands came up to his neck, and she was scratching him as she clutched at him. He was too aroused to care. It happened in an instant. Candace snapped his neck back quickly, he almost didn't hear the snap of the breaking bone. She drew her hand across his neck opened a large gash with her fingernail. He couldn't feel it because his spinal cord had been severed, but warm, rich blood flowed down his arm and chest and pooled in his lap in the bucket seat. His head drooped awkwardly against the window as his unsupported muscles failed and the blood drained from him. As his life dimmed, he saw a dense shadow in the woods, a pair of eyes reflecting the moonlight. With his final breath, he rolled his eyes to the passenger seat and saw Candace was gone.

****************

Candace padded into her living room just before midnight. "See, I told you I'd be home on time." she said with a smirk. 

"Did you finish your date?" her dad inquired, his yellow eyes gleaming.

"Yes of course. He tried to get fresh with me at Sandy Mountain. You'll find him there."

Her padded out of the room, sniffing the air as he did. Her brothers followed him single file, and they all disappeared into the night.

*****************

The next morning, the police found Jack's car on Sandy Mountain, covered in blood, but there was no sign of Jack. Local law enforcement said the amount of blood they found in the car ensured Jack would not have survived whatever happened. His body was never found. They found the quarterback's letter jacket in the trunk of Jack's car. It was supposed Jack was responsible for the quarterback's disappearance-an act of jealousy, and a vigilante exacted vengeance for it. Due to lack of hard evidence, including either body, nothing was ever confirmed. Over the years, there were others, mostly young men, who disappeared in that area. It was assumed they were either hunting mishaps, or a bear or a very large wolf was responsible, even though no animal or den was ever found close by. Only Candace and her family knew the truth.