It was Halloween, the night that the veil between life and death was at its thinnest. I was hurrying home with groceries to prepare for the 5th annual Halloween party my husband and I were hosting. Umbrella in one hand and three sacks full of groceries in the other, I hunched over as people do in the rain, and raced through the semi-crowded street. I kept my head down, eyes on the ground. I was always "sensitive" to the spirits around me, but today was the worst. Hence why we held a party. I would be surrounded by live people, and lots of alcohol, both of which helped to block out the spirits.

Spirits can sniff out the "sensitives" around them. Most spirits want to be seen and heard, so once they sense you they are attracted to you like iron to a magnet. It could be quite overwhelming, especially to the young and inexperienced. Unfortunately for me I had been very young when I first developed the sensitivity, and to make matters worse no one in my family was a "sensitive", which meant I had no training and was not prepared at all.

But now at 30 after 25 years of dealing with needy spirits I was more than capable of handling them on any normal day. Halloween, not so much. My husband, not a "sensitive", rather a very understanding, caring man, had come up with the party two years after we married, and it had worked.

As I walked the few blocks to our house I could feel the spirits around me, trying to get through the block I had built in my mind. The block, mine was an image of a brick wall (I know original), would only hold up for as long as I could concentrate on it. The more pressure against the block, or the more distractions, the more it would crumble and they would get in. I could feel and see the wall crumbling around the top. I picked up the pace, I had to get home fast. My house was a safe place, my mind would calm and I could rebuild the wall. As long as I was out here it would keep crumbling.

I had to stop at a crosswalk while the car traffic passed. Standing there I nervously shifted from foot to foot, "hurry, hurry,"I whispered to the crosswalk light. I needed the little glowing white man to appear so I could cross. I laughed at myself, a glowing white man, like a ghost! The exact things I wanted to keep out. Shit, not good, my mind was wandering, the wall was crumbling more and now I could hear them. Voices of the dead begging me to listen. They talked over each other like children, yelling, crying, begging.

"Listen to me! I have to get in touch with my daughter!"

"He killed me! I want justice!"

"There is no peace! No peace!"

"Help me get to Heaven! I know you can help me!"

"Don't ignore me, I need you! I'll kill you if you don't help me!"

On and on the voices bombarded me. I felt like a ton of bricks, from my wall, had fallen on top of me. I couldn't move. I was jostled from behind as the glowing white man appeared and the crowd of living people moved forward. Not me, I could barely move, I inched my way to the wall of a building and leaned on it as I tried to calm myself and build my wall back up.

I took deep calming breaths, I closed my eyes and pictured the bricks going back up, mortar in between. Eventually the voices were muted, now they were just a low hum. I was okay. I could keep moving. It was a temporary fix, but it would last me the 5 minutes to my house.

As I continued on I focused on the excited chatter and laughter of the kids in their costumes, under umbrellas with bags or buckets in their hand to collect candy. There were little super heroes, cops, magical creatures, animals, devils, monsters, all of them having a good time, happy to be out with their friends and families.

I smiled, reinforcing my wall as I walked. Tonight would be fun, I would soon be safe with my husband at home. I just had to make it home.

I turned the corner onto my street. A man in a black jacket with a big black umbrella was on more doorstep. Someone for the party? They were early, the party wasn't for another 3 hours. I needed that time to make all the finger foods and drinks. Oh well, I thought, Mark, would have to entertain whoever it was while I got things ready.

"Hi," I called out as I approached the steps, "You're early, but that's okay you can come in out of the rain, have a drink and warm up by the fire that I'm sure Mark has going."

The man turned at my voice. The grocery bags fell from my now limp fingers, the umbrella hung down at my side. I gaped at the figure before me. The dead didn't look like him, neither did the living. He was a body possessed. A human body, or any animals body really, that has been possessed by another spirit begins to decay, think zombie like. But a possessed body is much worse than a zombie, because they are smart, they are capable of thought and planning. And this particular body was possessed by someone I knew.

"Hello, Katie." His voice was a snarl, harsh and eery, "I've waited a long time for this. My revenge. And how apt that it happens tonight. Mark will appreciate the irony I'm sure." With that he opened the door to my house and walked in.

I could follow him, for Mark, or I could run and hope he didn't find me again.