The day before Samhain, Enyd sat on the front step of her house, watching the fog roll in over the distant woods of Darkmoore Lake. The town was alive with the spirit of the festival. House after house was decorated with jack-o-lantern, orange and black streamers, and different types of skulls, skeletons, and other monsters to fit the season. 

Only Enyd's house stood plain and grey, with the one jack-o-lantern Enyd had carved herself flickering with a store-bought electric candle that she had wedged into its core to give the impression of a lit candle flame.

Enyd sighed to herself. It was just once a year, but her parents didn't have time for her and her sister, what with the economy being so bad, as their mom would say. Enyd felt she could escape these old tales and live out her mini Samhain.

Her house stood empty of decoration, which made her want to look out more and more at the mysterious lake. If she went there, she could bring back a little seasonal magic with her, and even if it was just something only she could see, it would make her feel more a part of her hometown's culture and traditions.

Enyd glanced at her old bicycle leaning against the side of the house, a plan forming in her mind. It would be so easy to ride to see the lake at twilight. Her parents wouldn't be back from their jobs until later that night, and Saoirse had locked herself in her room while chatting on the phone with her friends. Enyd imagined that Saoirse was probably planning their costumes for a party tomorrow while the kids went trick-or-treating. No one would notice if she slipped away for a bit.

Enyd popped back into the house and grabbed a flashlight and her jacket from the coat closet inside the door. She shrugged on the jacket, pushed the flashlight into the pocket in the inner lining of her coat, and then grabbed her keys and left, locking up behind her.

A cold wind whipped through the area as she walked down the patio steps to her bicycle, causing her hair to fly about. Enyd tied her hair into a bun and pulled her jacket tight as the air grew cooler. 

The calm, crisp wind brought the scent of earth and fallen leaves, mingled with the distant smell of burning wood from town chimneys, filled her nose as she unchained her bicycle and dropped the chain into the basket.

Enyd hesitated at the edge of Bog Lane, her heart beating a little faster than usual, but the thrill of the unknown tugged at her to start cycling forward. It was only a 10-minute right out to Darkmoore Lake. What could it possibly go wrong?

Something Enyd always enjoyed as she pedalled down the narrow lane was how quickly the world around her seemed to change as she left the cosy confines of the half-wall barrier between the town and the untamed forest and meadows of Riddleplain. 

The sounds of the city faded into the background, leaving only the rhythmic creak of her bike wheels and the occasional rustling of leaves.

Enyd left at about three o'clock in the afternoon; however, as she got closer to the lake, the sky seemed to get darker.

 The woods loomed in the distance as if they could sense her intention to explore them. They were drawing closer to her as she drew closer with every turn of the pedals. Was it in her mind, or did it seem like their dark branches were reaching out towards her like skeletal arms, beckoning her forward?

The road curved, and she could make out the shimmering surface of Darkmoore Lake through the gaps in the trees. The lake, a vast expanse of dark water, seemed to mirror the sky, making it difficult to discern where one ended and the other began. It seemed quieter here.

The sound of wrens quietly chirping could be heard in the tree canopy, and the low ribbit of toads in the bog was almost comforting as she road over the bridge that connected the town road to the country road and cut past the lake on its way to the next town.

Enyd slowed her bicycle and stopped at the entrance to a small path leading into the woods. 

Ahead, the undergrowth parted. Stretched before she was a grassy dirt path that cut through the meadow and disappeared into an arch of trees, which formed an arbour with their branches.

Enyd started down the dirt lane but stopped just before passing through the rusty gates that hadn't been maintained in years. She had seen the path many times before but had never dared to ride down it. 

Today, though, something felt different. It wasn't just Samhain's approach or the stories that lingered in her mind—it was something else that made her heart flutter in a strange mixture of fear and excitement.

She left her bike leaning against the bushes that flanked the rusty old gate and stepped onto the path, her heart pounding in her chest.