The Lady of Shadows

Every Halloween, the villagers locked their doors before midnight. According to legend, the Lady of Shadows walked the empty streets, followed by the laughter of invisible children. Lucas, Alice, Thomas and Marie decided that this year they would discover the truth.

They waited near the fountain until the church bell struck twelve. A woman in a long black dress appeared at the end of the road. Wherever she passed, windows opened by themselves and candles went out.

The teenagers followed her into the forest. There they found the ruins of an old school destroyed by fire many generations ago. The children who had died there had never been properly remembered, and the mysterious woman had been their teacher.

The Lady was not hunting the village. She was trying, every Halloween, to lead somebody to the forgotten ruins so the children could finally be named. Alice discovered a rusted metal box containing the school register.

The group carried it back to the village. The next day, the mayor agreed to place a memorial beside the church with every child’s name. On the following Halloween, no doors slammed and no ghostly laughter echoed through the streets.

But just after midnight, Marie saw a woman in black standing beside the new memorial. This time she was smiling.