Keeper of the Thin Veil
A Strangewoven short story
By the time Eli realized he was lost, Halloween had changed.
Ten minutes earlier, the night had been full of everything Halloween was supposed to be.
Children ran from house to house beneath strings of orange lights. Plastic skeletons dangled from trees. Inflatable ghosts leaned sideways across lawns. Somewhere nearby, a speaker played creaking doors and distant screams.
Eli had been following his older sister.
At least, he thought he had.
She was dressed as a witch. So were approximately nine hundred other people.
He had followed a black pointed hat around a corner, pushed through a group of teenagers dressed like zombies, and discovered that the witch he’d been following was about six years old.
Now the crowds were gone.
The decorations were fewer.
And nothing looked familiar.
Eli pulled his phone from the pocket of his astronaut costume.
The screen remained black.
“Come on.”
He pressed the button again.
Nothing.
He remembered his father’s voice from earlier.
You have twenty-three percent. Stop watching videos.
Twenty-three percent had apparently been plenty until it wasn’t.
Eli looked behind him.
Then ahead.
He could go back.
Except he wasn’t entirely sure which direction back was anymore.
“Great.”
A gust of cold wind sent dead leaves scraping across the pavement.
Eli started walking.
He wasn’t scared.
That was important.
He was eleven years old.
Eleven-year-olds did not get scared because they accidentally walked down the wrong street on Halloween.
They became concerned.
Eli was becoming extremely concerned.
Then he saw the man beneath the streetlamp.
And decided being lost wasn’t his biggest problem anymore.
The stranger was tall.
Very tall.
He stood perfectly still at the edge of the sidewalk.
At first Eli thought he was wearing a mask.
Then the stranger turned toward him.
The skull wasn’t white.
It was aged ivory, darkened by time, with tiny cracks running across its surface. Colorful patterns covered it—deep reds, turquoise, gold, blue, and green arranged in elaborate flowers, curves, and geometric shapes.
Some were brilliant.
Others had nearly disappeared.
They looked less painted than remembered.
His clothing was even stranger.
A faded embroidered waistcoat sat beneath layers of cloth that didn’t seem to belong together. One shoulder was covered by a weather-beaten cape repaired with dozens of different fabrics. Tiny beads, old buttons, bits of metal, and carved charms hung from cords around his waist.
Nothing matched.
Yet somehow everything belonged.
His boots looked ancient.
And in his left hand he carried a battered metal lantern.
Inside burned a small amber flame.
Eli stared.
The skeleton stared back.
Finally Eli said the only reasonable thing he could think of.
“That costume is awesome.”
The skull tilted slightly.
“Thank you.”
Eli blinked.
The voice wasn’t spooky.
It was quiet.
Tired, maybe.
But kind.
“How’d you do the face?”
The stranger touched one decorated cheekbone.
“It took some time.”
“How much?”
The skeleton seemed to consider the question.
“A great deal.”
Eli nodded.
Adults were weird.
Even on Halloween.
Especially on Halloween.
The stranger looked past him toward the empty street.
“You’re far from your people.”
Eli immediately straightened.
“I know where I’m going.”
“Of course.”
“I do.”
“I didn’t say otherwise.”
Eli narrowed his eyes.
The skeleton waited.
Finally Eli sighed.
“My phone died.”
The stranger looked at the black rectangle in Eli’s hand.
“That happens.”
“And I might’ve followed the wrong witch.”
“That happens too.”
“You’ve done that?”
“More than once.”
Eli looked at the skull again.
“You’re really committed to this character, aren’t you?”
The stranger’s jaw shifted slightly.
Eli couldn’t tell whether skeletons could smile.
Somehow he knew this one had.
“Come,” the stranger said. “We’ll find your way.”
They hadn’t gone two blocks when the skeleton stopped.
Eli nearly walked into him.
“What?”
The stranger held out one arm.
A little girl dressed as a ladybug came racing down a driveway toward the street.
A car turned the corner.
The skeleton lifted the lantern.
Its flame brightened.
The girl stopped.
Not because the skeleton shouted.
He didn’t.
She simply looked toward the strange light.
The car passed.
Her father came running down the driveway.
“Lucy! You can’t run into the street!”
The girl pointed.
“Look at the skeleton!”
Her father turned.
But the stranger had already lowered the lantern and stepped back into the shadow of a tree.
The man apparently didn’t notice him.
Eli did.
“That was weird.”
“Yes.”
“How’d you know she was going to do that?”
The stranger started walking again.
“Children are very predictable.”
“I am not.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You followed the wrong witch.”
Eli frowned.
“That happened once.”
“Tonight.”
Eli decided he didn’t like this skeleton nearly as much as he had five minutes ago.
They found the dog three streets later.
A small terrier wearing a pumpkin sweater came charging from between two houses, dragging half a leash behind it.
The skeleton crouched.
The dog stopped.
Eli expected barking.
Instead its tail began wagging so violently that its entire body shook.
“Traitor,” Eli whispered.
The skeleton held out one bony hand.
The dog sniffed it.
Then licked it.
Eli stared.
“Okay. That’s disgusting.”
The skeleton scratched behind the dog’s ears.
“His name is Pickles.”
“How do you know?”
The skeleton pointed toward the dog’s collar.
“Oh.”
They walked Pickles back to the address on the tag.
An elderly woman opened the door.
“PICKLES!”
The dog exploded with happiness.
“Oh, thank God!”
She scooped him up and looked toward Eli.
“You found him?”
Eli turned.
The sidewalk immediately behind him was empty.
The skeleton stood beyond the reach of the porch light.
Watching.
“Yeah,” Eli said slowly. “We did.”
The woman looked where he was looking.
“We?”
Eli turned back.
The skeleton raised one finger to where his lips would have been.
Eli understood.
“Me and Pickles.”
The woman laughed.
“Well, thank you.”
Eli hurried back toward the skeleton.
“Why didn’t she see you?”
“She could have.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
The stranger resumed walking.
“She didn’t need to.”
That answer bothered Eli.
Mostly because it didn’t answer anything.
Halloween grew quieter.
The decorated houses became scattered islands of orange light surrounded by darkness.
Eventually even those disappeared.
Eli stopped.
“This isn’t right.”
The skeleton stopped too.
“My house isn’t out here.”
“No.”
“Then why are we going this way?”
The stranger wasn’t looking at him.
He was staring toward an alley between two houses.
The lantern flame flickered.
Amber.
Amber.
Then blue.
Not ordinary blue.
A pale blue-white light filled the lantern, cold and bright.
Eli stepped backward.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Something moved inside the alley.
Eli heard scratching.
Then breathing.
Not human breathing.
He moved closer to the skeleton.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
This was not the answer Eli wanted.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“Aren’t you supposed to know?”
The skull turned toward him.
“Why?”
Eli opened his mouth.
Then realized he had absolutely no idea.
The skeleton handed him the lantern.
“Hold this.”
Eli nearly dropped it.
“You want me to—”
“Stay here.”
The stranger walked into the alley.
Without the lantern.
Without a weapon.
Without anything.
Eli’s heart hammered.
The pale flame pulsed inside the glass.
Then something screamed.
Eli jumped.
It wasn’t an angry scream.
It sounded frightened.
The skeleton’s voice came quietly from the darkness.
“Easy.”
Another strange cry.
“You’re lost.”
Silence.
“I know.”
Eli stared into the alley.
The skeleton emerged slowly.
Something followed him.
Eli couldn’t decide what it was.
It was about the size of a child, but moved on four thin limbs. Its body was covered in dark feathers that shimmered green and violet whenever the lantern light touched them.
Its face looked almost like a fox.
Almost.
Two enormous black eyes stared at Eli.
Eli screamed.
The creature screamed.
Both jumped backward.
“Stop,” said the skeleton.
Eli pointed.
“WHAT IS THAT?”
The creature made a series of chirping noises and hid behind the skeleton.
The skeleton looked down at it.
Then at Eli.
“I believe it asked the same question about you.”
Eli stared.
The creature peeked around the skeleton’s leg.
It looked terrified.
Eli lowered his hand.
“Oh.”
The lantern burned brighter.
The skeleton took it gently from Eli.
“It’s not supposed to be here.”
“Where’s it supposed to be?”
The stranger looked toward the darkness at the end of the alley.
“Elsewhere.”
That was another terrible answer.
But Eli was beginning to understand that terrible answers were probably all he was going to get.
“So what happens?”
“We take it home.”
Eli looked at the creature.
Then at the skeleton.
“You’re taking me home too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Which one of us first?”
The skeleton considered this.
“You are considerably less likely to bite me.”
The creature clicked its teeth.
Eli nodded.
“Fair.”
At the end of the alley stood an old wooden fence.
There was nothing unusual about it.
Until the skeleton raised the lantern.
The blue flame stretched upward.
The shadows between two fence boards widened.
Eli watched them become impossibly deep.
For just a moment he could see something beyond them.
Trees.
But not the trees behind the fence.
Huge black trunks rose beneath a violet sky filled with more stars than Eli had ever seen.
The creature chirped.
The skeleton crouched beside it.
“There.”
The creature didn’t move.
“Go.”
It looked up at him.
Then toward Eli.
Eli gave a small wave.
“Happy Halloween.”
The creature chirped again.
Then bounded toward the fence.
It passed between the boards without touching them.
The darkness snapped shut.
The lantern turned amber.
Eli stared at the ordinary wooden fence.
He was silent for a very long time.
Finally he said, “That was not a costume thing.”
“No.”
“And you’re not wearing a mask.”
“No.”
Eli looked slowly up at him.
“Are you a monster?”
The skeleton became very still.
Far away, children laughed.
A porch light flickered.
Someone shouted, “Trick or treat!”
The skeleton looked toward the sound.
“Tonight?”
His decorated skull turned back toward Eli.
“Aren’t we all?”
Eli smiled.
“That’s actually pretty good.”
“I’ve had practice.”
Twenty minutes later, Eli recognized his street.
Then his house.
Then his mother.
She was standing outside with his father, his sister, and two police officers.
“ELI!”
His mother ran.
Eli barely had time to brace himself before she wrapped both arms around him.
His father joined her.
His sister started crying while simultaneously calling him an idiot.
Everyone began talking at once.
“Where were you?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“Your phone!”
“You scared us half to death!”
Eli turned toward the sidewalk.
The skeleton stood beneath a maple tree.
The lantern glowed amber in his hand.
“My friend helped me.”
His mother looked.
For a moment, Eli thought she couldn’t see him either.
Then her expression changed.
She did.
She saw the tall skeletal stranger standing beyond the porch light.
She lifted one hand.
“Thank you!”
The skeleton bowed his head.
“Happy Halloween!” Eli called.
The stranger raised his lantern.
Then turned away.
Eli watched until darkness swallowed him.
His sister wiped her eyes.
“Who was that?”
Eli looked down the empty street.
“I don’t know.”
And somehow that felt like the right answer.
Much later, Halloween ended.
Porch lights went dark.
Plastic ghosts sagged silently in yards.
Children slept surrounded by candy wrappers.
Parents finally stopped worrying.
On a hill overlooking the town, the skeletal stranger sat beneath an old tree.
He placed the lantern beside him.
Amber light danced across the intricate colors covering his ancient skull.
For a while he watched the town.
Another Halloween had passed.
Another thousand little dangers.
Most never noticed.
That was good.
The stranger picked up the lantern.
His thumb brushed across a dent in its battered metal frame—a dent older than anyone sleeping below.
For the briefest moment, he remembered another hand holding it.
Smaller than his.
Human.
Weathered.
Holding the lantern out to him.
A voice from impossibly long ago seemed to return with the autumn wind.
Will you carry the light when I cannot?
The skeleton bowed his head.
When he raised it, the memory was gone.
Only the lantern remained.
“Another year,” he whispered.
The flame flickered.
He stood.
Somewhere far below, something moved through the darkness.
Perhaps nothing.
Perhaps not.
The Keeper lifted the lantern.
A faint smile seemed to touch his decorated skull.
“I’m still carrying it.”
And somewhere beyond the edge of the world, something answered.
Not with words.
With another light.
For only an instant.
Then it was gone.
The Keeper stared into the distance.
He had been carrying the lantern for a very long time.
But for the first time in centuries—
he wondered if he was the only one.
