#happy halloween !!! be safe !!! i hope you have fun in whatever you do dear !!!

[willowser]

🧙 🪄 Trick or treat!

you catch satoru by surprise, once the front door flings open.

it's late—later than he said it would be—and his uniform is creased and worn and a little dusty, not as black as it was before he left this morning. on the surface, he appears unharmed, but there's a careful way in which he moves his limbs, like something is aching deep within him.

the blindfold is still covering his eyes, but it shifts with the raise of his eyebrows, and then relaxes when you smile at him brightly. the sight of you—sitting on the living room floor, a bucket of candy near your knee, movie paused on the screen—releases him in some small way.

"well, well, well," his voice is rougher than it usually is, raspy like too early mornings or late nights after an argument, but the edges of his lips curl up just enough. "what have we got here?"

you make a point to throw out your arms, careful of the kitty headband tucked into your hair. you rattle the plastic pumpkin filled with all the sweets that he loves, in an attempt to lessen the weight he's wearing.

"happy halloween!" you sing, and when he steps a little further into the house, you pat the spot beside you enthusiastically. "i've got tricks and i've got treats, so pick which one you want first!"

satoru lets out a small, quiet laugh, nothing like how it usually is, and he tugs the blindfold off with hands like lead. there are dark bags under his eyes and—now that you're thinking about it—you're not sure how much sleep he's had in the last week; too many times, you've rolled over in the night to get more comfortable, only to find him staring at the ceiling.

there is a litany of secrets still surrounding him, and you know this is one of them.

"c'mon," you encourage, though he's already shuffling out of his shoes and peeling off his shirt. you open your arms for him, and it doesn't take another word before he's practically crawling into your lap, the giant that he is. "trick or treat first?"

satoru gives a side-long glance to the film brought up on the screen; something dark and red and (hopefully) spooky. they're not his favorite movies, you know, but he's yet to say anything about it and you think it might be because the cuddling in between is a little too worth it.

he leans forward to rest his forehead on your shoulder with a quiet sigh, before raising back up with a small smile. "do you really have to ask?"

when you cup his face in your hands, it's a little cold and sharper than usual—but you press a kiss to both cheeks, and then both eyelids, and then a final one to his lips, as soft as can be.

the darkness on his face doesn't lighten like you'd hoped it would and he doesn't say anything—both so very not-satoru of him—but the gleam in his eyes shines a bit more heavenly, ethereal in a way, and you think maybe the treat is all yours.

[whomitconcerns]

Dear Future Love,

I just finished getting ready for a Halloween party! So happy Halloween love! I hope you like this time of year it’s cozy and cool, especially the dressing up for parties and stuff.

We should do matching outfits at least once and then we can do whatever, I personally suggest power rangers they are literally my childhood.

Anyways stay safe and have fun love!

From,

Your Ever Patient Love.

[cutelittlevamp]

Among you - Part 1

Happy Halloween^^

I’m sorry that I’ve been so inactive this month but I’m hella busy (for the people, who send in requests: I didn’t forget about you. I’m sorry it’s taking so long)

So, I wanted to post this when I’ve finished writing all the parts but I decided you get the first one today, even though it’s not really interesting now. There will be more happening in Part 2

This is an Among Us Story with a shy Purple!Reader and two yandere imposters - no, I will not name them^^

This story was inspired by @pastelbirb ‘s yantober story :) It’s great^^ You should check it out

______________________________________________________________

You had always been the shy member of the crew and most of your time you spent alone, either in your room or doing your tasks. The only other crewmember you had some contact with was Yellow, but she was like a big sister to everyone and just couldn’t bear to see ‘precious Purple’ sitting all on their own every lunch.

You were fine though, as you had always been more of a loner. The only one on board you had some trouble with was Red - he really liked to make fun of you - but the ship was big and now that you had spent almost a month here you knew how to avoid him.

Everything was more or less fine until one day - you were fixing the wires in the storage room - when an alarm went off. It startled you quite a bit and you weren’t sure how to react at first until you noticed some of your fellow crewmates hurrying through the room towards the cafeteria. That was right, you were supposed to go there when an alarm occurred, you remembered.

You were the last one to join the meeting, standing a little behind everyone else. The first thing you noticed was that Pink was crying. Apparently they had found their friend Orange dead in the upper engine room. Yellow was trying everything she could to calm down the pink crewmate while the rest of the group - especially Red and Brown - started to have a very heated discussion.

The killer must be among you. There was no other solution.

You were starting to feel nauseous. This had to be a bad dream. A really bad dream.

As the ‘discussion’ started to turn into an argument it was Blue who calmed the situation down again by holding onto Brown, so she couldn’t jump over the table to strangle poor White.

“Would you all calm down now, please?” His voice echoed through the now quiet room, the only other things to hear were Pink’s sobs and the beeping of the machines. There was just something about him that made everyone else shut up - or maybe it was just Green standing slightly behind him, glaring everyone down. “Let’s sort things out. Pink found poor Orange” Pink sobbed louder again “in the upper engine room. So, the question is, where was everyone else while it happened?”

A heavy silence fell over them until Black swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke up: “Me and Yellow saw Orange in the medbay about one hour ago. Everything was fine then. Yellow stayed and I went to Navigation. Pink was there with me for a while before they went to check on the engine.” “That’s true,” Yellow added. “Orange left a little after Black had, right when Red and Brown came in to do the body scan. We were all still together when Pink walked past the open door towards the engine.” Red and Brown only nodded in agreement. 

“So, that counts Black, Yellow, Red and Brown out,” Blue stated calmly while looking at everyone in turn. “Oh, and Pink, of course. As for my part, Green and I were in communications and I saw Purple pass by the room towards storage just minutes before the alarm went off, so it couldn’t have been them either.”

You were never so happy that somebody had noticed you passing by a door as on this particular day, even though you hadn’t seen either of them when you passed by communications earlier. Letting out a quiet sigh you looked at White. He was the only one who hadn’t said anything until now. “Stop looking at me like that,” he snapped when he noticed that everyone was staring at him. Surely Brown would have tried to jump at him again if Blue had let go of her. “I didn’t kill Orange, okay?! I was in admin! I couldn’t have done it!”

“In admin,” Yellow repeated, looking somewhat hopeful. “Did you, by any chance, watch the map then? You would have seen everyone's location.” White shook his head. “No, I had trouble with that freaking card swipe and didn’t pay attention to it.”

Another heavy silence fell over them. If everyone is telling the truth, you thought, nobody could have done it. Something wasn’t right here.

After a while Yellow excused herself to bring Pink to the medbay. The moment the two of them were out the door Brown fixated White again. “I still think White is really sus,” she exclaimed. “Yeah,” Red agreed immediately. “Nobody can confirm you were in admin!” One could have cut through the tension in the air and Black had long joined you outside the circle. Blue was still holding on to Brown, so her friend Red went for White instead. The white Crewmate threw his helmet at the other. “That damn card swipe shows you the time when it was done in the system you idiots! Just look it up!” With that he stormed out the room and Blue finally let go of Brown. She went over to Red at once to pick him up from the ground. The helmet had hit him on the head and he was bleeding slightly. The two of them followed Yellow and Pink to the medbay.

“I really have to clean out O2. Excuse me,” Black mumbled and hurried down the same hallway as White. That only left you, Blue and Green. Clutching your helmet you took in a deep breath and faced your fellow crewmates. “Blue, you …” He turned to look at you and so did Green. You swallowed. Green scared you. “You said that you saw me pass by communications.” Blue smiled at you, tilting his head. “Yes?” “It’s just … I looked into the room as I passed it by and … and …” The raven haired male patted you lightly on the head before you could finish. “Don’t think too much about it.” There was a dangerous glint in his yellowish eyes. “Still, it’s good that we get to talk to you in private, Purple. Isn’t that right Green?” Green just nodded. You had always thought of him as frightening as he was taller than everyone else on the ship and only rarely said a word. His black eyes didn’t help either.

“Why?” you stammered, shifting your weight uncomfortably from one leg to the other. “Well, you are always on your own and we both agreed that, especially after what happened to our dear Orange, it just isn’t safe to let you roam the ship alone.”

He had a point, but the thought of staying with him and Green didn’t sit well with you. Raising your free hand you wanted to refuse but Green took your helmet from you and started off towards the storage room. While you were looking after the tall man, confused, Blue took your hand in his - a little too tight for your liking - and went after his friend with you in tow.

“You still have to finish fixing the wires, right? And the stuff in electric that Red and Brown told you to do for them.” “How do you even know that?” Even though Blue seemed nice, as he was always with Green you had never really talked to him before.

“Like I said before, don’t think too much about it, honey.”

Whatever was happening here, you didn’t like where it was going at all.

Part 2

Part 3

[1-800-imagine]

spooky movie hcs

yachi x reader, bokuto x reader, goshiki x reader, aran x reader

✎ warnings: scary movies and jump scares, but nothing explicit.

✎ inside scoop: happy halloween folks!! let’s wrap up the spooky season with some spooky movie headcannons 🎃 i hope everybody had a fun and safe halloween this year!!

✎ disclaimer: please also note that in yachi’s headcannon (and a little bit of bokuto’s) i do allude to henry selick’s coraline and other spooky films, which are obviously not of my work. 

YACHI HITOKA:

i don’t see yachi as much of a horror movie goer 

it’s the paranoia and the overactive imagination.

in my opinion, the most horror you’d watch with yachi would be tim burton i don’t like him as a person but nightmare before christmas slaps hard or other claymation films.

however, even the characters like other mother can be terrifying

i mean, because they are.

although movie nights weren’t something routine between you and yachi, it was definitely something you could get some getting used to. this time around, yachi went all out for the festivities -- fun treats and pretty decorations arbitrarily placed along the living room. 

the two of you are quick to settle into your mini marathon of movies, and you guys have grown quite comfortable with the first film of your selection. however, you may have spoken a little too soon. as you and yachi watch the once “normal” looking woman with button eyes transform into a creature with spider-like features, things begin to roll downhill. 

yachi swiftly flips herself over so she could face you, instead of the screen. you pull her closer to yourself as she pulls the fuzzy blanket over her eyes. both of you  are enveloped in a sense of warmth and comfort -- contrasting the rather unpleasantness on the screen. 

you watch as the creature beyond imagination is locked behind the portal doors. only then do you proceed to shift your gaze back down to yachi, who’s still hidden under her makeshift shield. “it’s over,” you notify her. the blonde uncovers herself from under the blanket. “are you sure?” she interrogates. “would i ever lie to you?” your rhetorical question assures yachi that everything’s going to be alright.  

GOSHIKI TSUTOMU:

so here’s the thing about goshiki: he may play the uninterested, “this doesn’t scare me” card, but in reality he’s truly terrified

if you’re the type to get scared watching horror films then he’ll do his best to comfort you

but that plan doesn’t get him very far

and it’s actually quite easy to tell that he’s scared too 

as you grow more tired of watching horror films, you begin rest your head on top of goshiki’s chest -- this way you’re able to get a good earshot of his heart rate. though his face may look all stoic, the fast pace of his heartbeat is a dead giveaway that the male is in fact quite scared. 

“you’re not scared are you?” you tease, a smirk slowly appearing across your face. “n-no,” he confidently responds, “of course not.” the previous quivering tells you otherwise. 

“mhm,” you shrug, “sure.” your somewhat sarcastic words earn a rather confused response from goshiki. “what’s that supposed to mean?” he queries. “oh nothing,” you suppose, “just the fact that you’re not scared of spooky movies.” 

a small pause overwhelms him -- it’s even more suspenseful than the film being played in the background. “you’re terrified” you finish your thought. even though the two of you were the only ones occupying the room, goshiki shushes you, “i am not scared,” he denies. “it’s okay ‘tomu,” you assure, “because we can be scared together.”

BOKUTO KOUTAROU:

much like yachi, bokuto definitely isn’t a horror guy either

and don’t get me wrong here, but bo is also one to be scared watching tim burton movies i mean there are quite a few scenes that still give me nightmares

especially during “jump” scares

through majority of the movie, he’ll be calmer? but he’s still clinging on to you for dear life

and i touched on this briefly, but the jump scares with him are very chaotic

the ominous creaking of wooden floors plays over what was once “comfortable” silence. as footsteps grow louder and louder, you can feel bokuto clinging onto your side tighter and tighter.

now, bokuto can get quite clingy from time to time; however, it has never reached a point nearly like this one. this time around, you can barely maneuver around in the male’s grasp -- stuck in whatever position you chose to lounge in.

the footsteps continue to race forward, and suddenly an arbitrary figure pops onto the screen. a loud yelp escapes bokuto’s lips. as the male jumps up from his seat up off the couch, yellow and white popcorn kernels fly through the air with him. meanwhile, you do your best to remain calm and shield yourself from all the airborne buttery snacks.

grey and black spikes peak up from behind the couch. “psst. (y/n),” bokuto innocently whispers, “is it over?” you respond with a small nod of your head, followed by an even smaller giggle. the once terrified facial expression that painted the male’s face morphs into a pout. “that wasn’t funny (y/n),” he sulks.

ARAN OJIRO:

supposedly aran is quite the patron of older films like this a canonical thing and i’m honestly living for it.

that being said, i think he’d really enjoy watching some of horror classics

i actually see him as the type to really enjoying these films for their mastery in being so realistic i’m sorry my inner film nerd is starting to show 

and sometimes aran may even get too wrapped up in watching a movie

you look up at aran, whose gaze is continued to be locked onto the screen. he’s so focused on what’s playing on the screen -- baring a similar expression to when he plays volleyball. trying not to disturb his viewing, you simply just return your stare back onto the illuminated screen. 

a mysterious figure drops from the top of the frame -- completely out of nowhere. it was a basic jump scare, yet it had you frightened. you look back up at aran for comfort, only to see his eyes still fastened onto the film. he’s so entranced -- it’s enlightening, so you let out a chuckle. 

the male finally looks down to you, at his side. “what’s so funny?” he whispers. his once focused expression shifts into something more confused. “it’s just that,” you answer, “you’re so entranced by the movie -- it’s cute.” an uncomfortable silence drapes over the two of you; though, it’s nothing to worry about as it is followed by a familiar chuckle. 

once more your gaze shifts up to aran, but this time there’s a luminous smile gracing his face -- a smile brighter than the screen his eyes are seemingly glued to. 

[tomatada-witch]

Hii !! Id like to join the ask game! Do you have a fave horror movie? I just watched Halloween 2 and it was so good im telling u!! ALSO THIS GAME SEEMS SO INCHRESTING!! 🧟‍♂️

Hellow! Of course you can join!! Hnmm,,,,Does corpse bride count ;;? I am terribly scared of horror movies even chuck gets to my heart! So I didn't know about Halloween 2 until now after googling- IT LOOKS SO SCARY I am really glad it was good!! I would probably die if I saw it!! Also I am really glad you like this game! So without further ado! L҉e҉t҉'҉s҉ ҉d҉i҉v҉e҉ ҉i҉n҉,҉ ҉s҉h҉a҉l҉l҉ ҉w҉e҉?҉ Order of the cards

Death

Six of chalice

King of pentacles

Eight of swords reversed

Six of swords

So what exactly happens on your first day of the zombie apocalypse? Well, This is like a new era for you. We have death that represents new beginnings and a big change of personality in order to survive. It’s funny this was the first time I read this game and death came here. You may lose someone dear to you, but apparently, it’s a must for you to actually survive this apocalypse. As you go out of the house you have to embrace yourself and accept that you will suffer but this is a very needed thing because whatever you left on that house was a necessary thing for you to keep on- as in cutting ties with whatever held you back.

So next we have what will stop you from getting what you want, like supplying weapons and this is a very interesting thing! The six of wands are talking about somebody from the past and your own self! So your heart will betray you- You are on the lookout for food or supplies and you see an old friend, somebody that meant a lot to you from your childhood- so your first instinct is to help them. This is your pure heart and innocence coming in so you get a bit reckless about yourself in order to protect them- but guess what? Both of you guys will manage to survive and you join a bigger team with supplies and weapons!

The king of Pentacles tells us that you guys have built a fort, or found a house that is very secure, you guys settle in, and for a moment, it’s all fun and games, nothing bad is happening, you guys have food, weapons, hot water, electricity, honestly a very comfortable staying...you guys forget the zombies, peace, and quiet is what you have now and there aren’t any zombies on the fence because you have been very sneaky- until hell breaks loose of course!

You start hearing screams and you guys find out your leader was bitten and already trying to kill somebody. You show no hesitation in killing your leader with a gun, again by this time you have accepted the world you are in and are confident enough to call everyone out. “ We aren’t safe here anymore”

The screams and the bullet attracted more zombies and what use to be a safe place, not is a maze with a lot of zombies at least is what the eight of swords reverse tells me- This represents only delays, frustration and some of your team are getting a bit crazy since they found happiness and a moment to rest for now all of that to go to sh*t again. There is a lot of frustration here and some of them don’t accept you as a leader, resulting in delays, you guys get stormed by zombies. Sadly in this part, your path of the light in this case is close to zero.

In this confusion, only some of you manage to get out, you including but you were bitten, you keep this a secret until you start feeling something. You guys keep running because there are still zombies after you- The six of wands tells us about a transition which I believe is yours, from alive to death. You call the rest of the gang and explain, you show them the mark and those who didn’t respect you, now do they leave you a gun and say their goodbyes. This only takes a few moments because when you turn your back, the zombies are near you, So it’s safe to say that you didn’t survive. I hope you liked the result, don't forget to feedback and please stay safe and sound!!

[evengayerpanic]

Halloween Decor [Spookstober]

Day 7 of 13 Days of Spookstober: Warehouse 13.

It's the first Halloween that there hasn't been an artifact on the loose and Myka is determined to decorate the B&B completely for Trick or Treaters, if only she could get H.G. and Claudia to stop interfering.

_________________

“What if we set it up so that the skeleton lights on fire when the kids come up the sidewalk?” Claudia grinned from ear to ear, turning her notebook towards H.G. to show the older woman the mock prototypes she had roughly sketched out.

The smile on Helena’s face lit up excitedly. “With some pyrotechnics, we could make it a real show!”

“I know where we can find some leftover fireworks!”

“I could tether them to the house wiring, all we’d have to do is flick the light on the porch and it’d go off!”

“We could rig them to the skeleton as well so that it looks like the smoke show is coming from him, it’ll be completely rad and absolutely terrifying!”

“I’ll start on the bluepri-”

An expectant cough cut Helena off from speaking, and had the two glancing behind them and over at Myka, who looked less than amused by their elaborate Halloween decor brainstorming.

“We are not setting the house on fire.” She was firm, her voice authoritative and just slightly mothering as she glared at the two. “No discussion, not happening.”

“But Myka-”

“No!” The brunette woman glared between her girlfriend and surrogate sister. “Do you remember when you two exploded the Christmas Tree?”

Claudia let out a small laugh at the memory, or more specifically, the look on Myka’s face when their small artificial tree shot six feet into the air and combusted, causing everyone around it to have to duck for cover.

Her laugh was quickly cut off by an elbow to the stomach by Helena, who at least had the decency to look somewhat sorry by the event. “We calculated our nitrous wrong, it was only supposed to sparkle, be a real Christmas miracle, right Claudia?”

Catching on to the writer’s words, Claudia nodded quickly in agreement. “We won’t make that mistake again, Mykes, we promise we will be extra careful.”

Myka looked between Helena and Claudia, both of them flashing her pouty lips and clear wishful thinking. “You won’t make that mistake again-”

They both began to smile, looking hopeful.

“Because you are not setting the house on fire.”

“Aw come on Myka!” Claudia groaned.

“Please, darling?” Helena begged.

With a final shake of her head, Myka had made her decision, choosing instead to pass a box of decorations behind her to the two of them, over listening to their pleas for her to reconsider their idea.

“Enough, make yourselves useful and start sorting.” Myka smirked as she turned back for another box.

“All this stuff is lame though, there’s nothing scary!” Claudia huffed under her breath as she pulled out some cartoon-ish ghosts and a playful-looking Frankenstein head that was made for a door.

“I must agree with Claudia dear, isn’t Halloween for spooks and ghouls?” Helena complained as she pulled out a colourful witches hat and shoes.

“Trick or Treating is for little kids, okay, we’re not going to scare the hell out of a bunch of small children with whatever you two had planned... Got it?”

“Aww, no fair.” Came the groan in unison.

_________________

The very next day as Myka hung a few pleasant looking ghosts around the front yard of Leena’s Bed and Breakfast, she let out a gasp as her hand came in contact with a cold red liquid spurting from one of the ghost decorations, specifically from a large wound in it’s head.

Catching her breath, Myka jumped down from the ladder and let out an angry yell. “Claudia Donavan! Helena Grace Wells! Come here, now!”

Laughing, the two girls appeared from behind one of the other trees that Myka had decorated, high-fiving until they saw the angry look on Myka’s face. 

“We are NOT making our house some sort of freak fest, got it? It’s our first Halloween where we aren’t chasing after an artifact, and I would sort of like to see some adorable young kids in cute costumes...” The two had enough shame to look thoroughly chastised, nodding as she yelled. “Do I make myself clear?!”

“It was a really good set-up...” Claudia mumbled taking the bloodied ghost and walking away with it.

The attempts to get some scary decorations into and outside of the Bed and Breakfast didn’t end there though, no matter what the women had agreed to.

An hour later as Myka was setting up cute pumpkin lights along their front walkway, she nearly knocked herself out, getting shocked as the light emitted a tiny electric storm inside the glass bulb. Helena admitted that she may have gone slightly overboard.

Three hours after that, she let out a scream as the pumpkin she was setting out on the front stoop starting spilling out dozens of fake but actually moving robotic spiders. Claudia was the one who came running out of the house, gathering up ‘her precious babies’ before Myka could trample them.

Myka had almost had enough when she came across the Michael Myers doll in the basement of the B & B.

_________________

“Claudia, Helena, that is it, that’s enough!” She let out a shriek, watching the life-size collectible sit in a chair menacingly, eyes not leaving it until she heard the clatter coming down the stairs and fast approaching.

The two troublemakers skidded into the room, joint expressions of worry worn across their lips as they rushed to her side quickly.

“What is it, Darling?”

“What did we do now, Mykes?”

“This...” Myka trembled, pointing a finger at the being in the corner just past their noses. “This is enough. I asked the two of you for a nice happy, cheerful Halloween and you give me this?”

The two stopped speaking immediately, freezing to stare at the stunning replica that leered in the corner.

“Claudia?” Helena asked, her question unspoken but immediately understood by her young protege.

“Wasn’t me... Helena?”

“Heavens no.”

“Uhhh, Myka... That isn’t our work, that’s, that’s something else entirely.” Claudia’s whisper was frantic, worried. If it wasn’t their work, then what?

Myka rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not falling for that... You two have been trying to get me for the past two days.” She crossed her arms over her chest, turning her back to the life-sized Michael Myers. “I’m not falling for it.”

“Uhhh, Myka...” Claudia warned, her eyes widening as the previously thought to be life-sized decoration, shakily got to it’s feet and took a step towards them.

“Myka... Myka...” Helena whispered, her own heart clenching fearfully as it lumbered threateningly closer to them.

“I’m not going to fall for it-” Myka was cut off by the sound of a loud groan, and the unmistakable shuffle of footsteps behind her as the Michael Myers lunged.

It was then that Claudia screamed, her voice uncharacteristically high pitched. “RUN!” 

Claudia and Helena took off out of the basement as fast as they could, the power of fight or flight kicking in and both of them choosing flight. As they sprinted, they both shared possibilities for the lumbering beast Michael Myers that stalked them. 

"Carpenter’s Camera! Puts people inside of his movies?”

“Nicotero’s brush? Makes creatures come to life!”

“What about the dream carousel, spin it once and you receive your greatest dreams, spin it twice and you live with nightmares? Myka, didn’t we bag and tag that last month...” Claudia froze as only silence responded back to her.

“Myka? MYKA!”

Helena stopped running at that moment, grabbing Claudia quickly to stop her from running as well. “We need to go back for her, what if she was caught?”

“What if we get caught?” Claudia argued, though secretly she knew that she wasn’t about to leave her bestfriend behind, no matter how scared she was.

“She’s the love of my life, Claudia...”

“Alright, let’s go.”

The two retraced their steps to the basement, hearts pounding in their chest and ears perked up ready to hear all manner of horrifying sounds.

What sound they didn’t expect, was laughter.

Peering their head down the stairs, Claudia let out an angry yell. “PETE!” She screeched, practically flying down the stairs to attack her male bestfriend the moment that she saw him pull the Michael Myers mask off.

“Myka!” Helena yelped, flying down the stairs as well to gather her lover in her arms, stopping only once she realized that the brunette was also grinning.

“What’s going on?” Claudia voiced angrily.

“We got you!” It was Helena’s turn to let out a screech of anger as her girlfriend proudly proclaimed her victory.

Helena stepped back from Myka like she had been slapped, her cheeks growing bright red. “We thought you were hurt, that you had been killed!”

Claudia also looked red and upset, her heart still pounding in her chest from the adrenaline. “What happened to not scaring anyone for Halloween!”

“I never said that.” Myka explained, wrapping an arm around the still trembling Helena, the smile on her face infuriating both Inventor’s incessantly. “I said I didn’t want to scare the little kids... Scaring two big overgrown kids is a bit more fun.”

Claudia pouted, smacking Pete in the arm once she realized that the two of them had plotted against her. “That’s not fair, you both are mean!” Still she couldn’t help the small smile growing on her, relief filling her as she realized that they all were safe.

Myka mirrored her smile, shrugging her shoulders.

“Next time you’ll learn not to mess with me.”

[jadespeedster17]

*Laces fingers together with a smirk* Soooo, lots of people do Sanders Sides Halloween stuff, right? Well here’s my AU on this. Based kind of the Goosebumps movie, in that it’s about characters coming out of books, but it doesn’t follow the same plot except getting characters into the books again. You’ll see.

The Forevermore Night! (Forevermore AU.)

this AU mostly is a reader insert, would make it a choose your own adventure but I’m bad at those. 

So, characters and plot, won’t spoil too much for plot but here’s the basics.

PLOT: You are an average college student getting by for another Halloween alone as usual watching scary movies, scrolling through Tumblr, and maybe going by yourself to a haunted house. That is until a package from your dear friend overseas comes in, it was your late/early birthday gift. Inside the box you find a series of books that your friend thinks you’d really like.

The Forevermore Series.

Supposedly it’s about different types of creatures who each haunt the reader in a choose your own adventure style. Seems pretty fun. And looks like there are 7 in total, perfect for a night of Halloween in your house. 

The books normally come individually, but your friend got them in a bulk in one giant book. They always did know you. Halloween comes tomorrow as you settle down to get a headstart in reading. However, upon opening the book a ringing fills your ears and you’re out cold. 

Upon waking the book in blank, and the seven characters turns out are very alive and seeking to cause mischief and find themselves a new host. 

Now you and the writers of the books, Joan and Talyn, have to round of the characters and get them back into the story before you become their next host and may or may not cause the world to be plunged into the world of the Forevermore. With you as the King/Queen leader as a puppet for the creations. 

However, something it’s quiet right, these people don’t act like book tales but rather real people. And Joan and Talyn refuses to answer any questions about how or why they are alive. Just that they were put into the books for a reason. There is more questions than answers, and you aren’t sure who your trust or who is telling the truth. 

Because if they were put into the books, that would mean they used to be real people. But if that’s true... then why were they put into the books in the first place? And why are they so afraid that a man named Thomas got out?

CHARACTERS

Patton Hart aka The Doll Maker - Ever been afraid of dolls as a kid? Yeah here’s a reason why to be afraid. Each doll is made with special care and crafted by hand when made by the Hart Family. Made from all sorts of materials and made to look however you please. With such life likeness it’s easy to see why they are famous and so expensive.  Patton loves each and every one of the kiddos he crafts, making sure only to have the best. Even if that means plunking the eyes from a naughty child to use for the perfect child. Or making a bad kid suffer so that the good kid can gain such soft skin. Naughty children should know better, but his kiddos are always well behaved. And always make the family happy. Parents deserve good children, the world does too.  And who is going to miss such bad children anyway? Certainly not him or their parents, not when they have their perfect kid. And besides, bad kids make perfect parts for his little kiddos.  As for teenagers and young adults, well Patton still has use for them, some parts are useable, but he always does need extra hands around the workshop. After all, it isn’t hard to rework the brain, and they are always so much nicer once he’s done.  Yes, he love his kiddos, of all ages. 

Roman Prince aka The Happy Ending - Every fairytale deserves their prince, their knight in shining armor, their hero. Such is Roman’s story, ‘The Happily Ever After’, the tale of a knight who saves princes and princesses, by basically kidnapping and enslaving them to his kingdom. The princesses bring much to his land, brave souls looking to rescue them, and the princes are pretty things to look at, which Roman loves. He is their hero, he saved them all and brought them to a place where they will always be happy. There is no time here, no pain here, no need for trivial mortal things. They are forever here, forever young and happy.  Roman is such a nice knight to them, but some do need to be punished, he hates having to harm the ones he saves. But they need to know the outside world is horrible, here they are safe with him. With his powers to create whatever he wants, snap thing into existence, he’s very powerful.  Prince of the Forevermore with his brother and previous king. He always is looking to add to his collection of pretty things. That or a good fight, which ever comes first. 

Logan Adams aka The Mad Scientist - What would the world be without ethics on testing and creating? Well Logan is a good example of what happens when you throw our morals and feelings. Logan has made far advancements in the scientific field, if it wasn’t for the fact he likes to trap people for testing his newest creations.  Logan is passive about life, being he found a way to make himself immortal he tends to disregard those who aren’t. Honestly mortality is just so stupid, when your life is condensed into a century at most. You have to play games to escape his traps, and use logic should he ask you do anything.  To him, it’s all a game, he’s only interested in the end result. But he does enjoy a challenge, and if you can outsmart him, color him impress. He may even offer up a golden liquid to you as a reward. After all there aren’t many who can outsmart him. 

Virgil Spider aka The Welcome Home Party - Remember that haunted house you were always afraid of? That always seemed like no one lived there. Then one day you gather up the courage to peak inside and see if it is haunted or abandoned. As you walk in the house seems lively, the hallway lit up in a nice warm glow. And you turn to see someone coming down the stairs.  It’s your older brother, Virgil. Right, this is your house. You’ve lived here since you were a kid with your big brother. He’s happy your home asking what took you so long. What ever did take you so long? You can’t remember, but it doesn’t matter.  Your big brother is always better than most other peoples brothers. Virgil always knows how you feel, and always does his best to make you happy. He gives the best kinds of hugs, and only ever opens up to you. You love your big brother after all, and he loves you too.  Virgil loves all of his family, he loves to hold you, love the way you smell, the way your blood tastes on his tongue. You always seem to get weaker and sleepier each time Virgil holds you. Maybe you should rest for a bit, Virgil says he’ll keep watch, so no monsters come. You can trust him, he’s family. So what if he’s part spider, he’d never hurt you.

Remus Prince aka The Slimy Monster - There is a reason these books are rated for young adults. And it’s not just the gore and such, it’s when you read Book 5, that’s when it’s becomes clear. Remus is a slimy monster with eight tentacle like appendages. He lives in a camp for young adults in the lake, and the stories told of him are meant to keep campers out of the lakes at dark.  Not that it always works, as most college students think they know everything. So when allured out to the water by the sweet sound of a siren, they don’t think twice. Guess that’s why so many go missing. Remus loves his trinkets and toys, he loves to drown them when they loose their usefulness. And he also loves the sounds they make when he does use them. By this point he’ll have enough children to make his species the dominate ones. Life is great for this sea monster, and it’s about to get even better. 

Janus Silver aka The Great Magician - Everyone loves to watch magic shows right? Loves to get their palms read, the cards look at, and their futures unfold. Some people also love to go see hypnotists and see if they really can use a pocket watch to put them under. Ofcourse there is the risk factor and you have to sign a form to make sure you can go in. No one ever reads them anyway, just sums up your a willing participant.  Called up to the stage by a handsome man that wears a half mask, taking your hands in warm gloved ones. Leading you to sit down, and just to relax. You do funny things on stage under his guide and such, unable to stop yourself. But not that you want to. Suddenly you find each time after you wake up in strange places. You start to lose hours of time, unable to recall what you were doing. Your mind is no longer your own, you respond to commands on the snap of gloved fingers. You obey, that’s all there is too it. And soon, your mindless, you’re his doll, his puppet, you do as he says. You’ll believe whatever you tells you, his little sleeper agent.  What’s his goals, honestly no one knows, the two faced snake only speaks in riddles and lies. We can only hope he just likes to have people under his control and that there isn’t a deeper plan. Such as pure anarchy, or even starting the purge. Who knows what’s going through his mind. Moral of the story, always read the fine print.

Thomas Sanders aka The King and The Host - Not much is known about him, his story is still in the making. He’s locked far within the pages, but that’s what they want you to think. You’ve seen him alot, he’s in each of their stories. Even if you don’t know it. Put together the pages, it makes his story of what happened to him. That’s what he wants you to do after all, help him out. He’s been trapped for years, they trapped him with them. It was an accident, he swears. Question you should ask is... do you trust him?

Want to know more, I take asks! :D

[anaclarachavez]

Things I did when I was a child

I keep thinking about my childhood lately. Some of the work I do in therapy requires me to go back to those days and really pay attention. I feel like Murnau's Faust (a much less darker version, of course): hovering over my old schools, trying to listen to my childhood conversations with friends, amazed at how light and cheery I remember life being. Would it be safe to say that I won't ever be as unafraid as I was when I was a child? I think it would. And I'm ok with that. But every once in a while –when I'm not sure who I am– "I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free", as did Catherine Earnshaw when she yearned for the untamable spirit of the Yorkshire moors.

***   

I thought it best to put these adventures and amazements in words, in case my memory once fails and I truly don't remember who I am: - I loved Maleficent. One Halloween I dressed up as her for a school show. I didn't have time to change my shoes, so I very proudly sported my black outfit and make up with white girly shoes. I was LIVING. Whenever I see the photo I feel my true nature shining through.

- I used very weird words for a small human. Like the time I called my kindergarten classmates "abúlicos". To this day, I’m not even sure I know what that means.

- My mom had a go-to fruit lady near our house. And whenever I made an appearance, she would give a guayaba (guava is not a good word). This went on for many years. Some time ago, I went back there for... reasons... and the lady recognized me and, true to form, gave me said fruit. It felt like a gift to the Anaclara of the past.

- I used to do cartwheels anywhere and everywhere large enough to fit an over enthusiastic seven year old.

- I had this beautiful Russian friend named Polina, and we lived nearby so I hung out at her place sometimes. We made up a dance to “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. I thought we were so cool, but for some reason, maybe her Russian demeanor, she didn’t seem like a very happy kid to me. Never saw her again.

- I adored drawing. The joy of drawing felt like very few.

- I thought about having a career as a bird-watcher. - When I moved to England we sometimes took a shortcut to my mother's University. And it was muddy. Real muddy. Unaccustomed to the realities of British weather, I thought such mess to be the funnest time of all. Sometimes I would wear some plastic bags over my boots to avoid childish disasters, and I was even more amused by this. - My dear, dear mom let me dress up however I saw (un)fit. So I wore a spice girls crop-top, some glittery hairbands, a cow print vest and, of course, black mini-skirts over trousers.  - I danced. I danced every minute of every day. - My lovely teacher Mrs. Thompson thought I was very creative but "too chatty." An accurate assessment if I’ve ever heard one. - I used to play a hand clapping game with my friends. We once made up some lyrics and choreography. It started like so: "I met a girl in Sweden, called eye-shoe-Shalyla. All the boys in the football field said 'I love eye-shoe-Shylyla’"  - I earned a badge for winning three chess games in a row in our junior school chess club. Anya Taylor... who? - Music classes were the best. We sang "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens. And a song about socks: "Black socks, they never get dirty, the longer you wear them the stronger they get..." - I got a kick out of beating boys at running fast. But I never had very close friends who were boys. They didn’t seem as appealing and fun as the girls.  - I had a purple bike that made some sort of odd sound when it rolled too fast. I thought it was unique and my parents could always tell when I was arriving home because of it. I rode it to see my friends. I made so many friends and so easily. No self-consciousness, no weird insecurities, just pure eagerness. - I loved to sun bathe. I very frequently over did it and suffered the burning consequences of feeling invincible. But those tans though. - Bonfires. Bonfires were magical.

- I vividly remember where I was the first time I saw a mobile phone in action: it was 1999 and I was in a double decker in London. One person suddenly “rang”...and a few seconds later we could hear the other guy chatting with him downstairs. It was equal parts ridiculous and amazing. - Me and my mom would walk down to a market near my house and buy some cheese empanadas that I have since idealized as the perfect empanada.

- I had a bright orange goldfish who I named “mi amigo.” How cute is that? I also had a pair of ducklings who followed me everywhere.  - I was constantly braiding the girls' hair in class. I found it relaxing and wasn't really aware I was shamelessly turning the classroom into a hair salon. - One of my first childish grudges was against the man who drove the ice-cream truck: I once gathered my pennies and asked for some very specific sweets. The small paper bag of these gummies cost fifty pence, and I when I got back in the house and opened it, they were not the sweets I had asked for. Such betrayal. It felt infuriating. I didn’t buy anything for weeks, until my mom convinced me to forgive the poor distracted man. 

- Whenever my family and I travelled to a foreign place, I was mesmerized by my father’s ability to know where we were going, how to pay, where to stay, how to find the way if we got lost. This, I think, gave me the confidence to be alone anywhere in the world and (try to) find a way. 

- Arriving to Antwerp remains one of my favorite memories in life. I couldn’t (can’t) get over how magical it was. I was tired, so tired, because we walked for what seemed like forever, but I still couldn’t sleep that night because I was so excited to be in a city that felt like a fairytale. Who knew what we were going to encounter the next day? (tourists, mainly). 

- I spent my 9th birthday in Barcelona but against everyone’s wishes I decided to stay in my cousin’s house and play The Sims all day. 

- My aunt lived in a very large house with doors everywhere. One door led to a small room, a corridor almost, which was preserved as such because it had beautiful original wood framing. My aunt collected witches and they all lived in there. One of them had a sensor that made her laugh whenever someone walked by. I was terrified of walking through that dark room, sometimes I even crawled so the witch “didn’t see me.” And now I love witches. 

- I once decided lamps were very boring and that I was going to decorate  random lamps and make them fun. And I did. A couple of them are still lying around, looking worse than they ever did in the first place.

- The best part of dancing in the Nutcracker as a little girl, was that we got to buy new dolls for the show. And styled our hairs with shiny voluminous Shirley Temple curls. 

- During Nutcracker season my friends and I used to tell horror stories backstage. A popular one was that the human sized nativity figures which were stored in the theatre’s warehouse were in fact haunted. Legend had it, a girl  once went in there and saw their eyes move from one side to another. 

***

It is hard to pinpoint when you cease to be a girl. The best I can come up with is this: my joyful childhood was over when I started looking at these as memories rather than possibilities. 

I don’t feel like a child anymore (at least not everyday) but I definitely don’t feel like a grown-up either. Most of the time I feel like a strange kind of grown up, but I find so much charm and peace in honoring my child self. I know that my Maleficent-costumed-persona is very proud of this lack of staidness, and whatever I do, I’m always secretly hoping I don’t betray her. 

[thebeautyofdisorder]

The Undone & The Divine (BBC Dracula) - Chapter 5

A/N: Okay...this took far longer than I expected it to, but to be fair for five minutes I was almost convinced to take a break and leave it at four. Five minutes is giving it too much credit, I think. But, either way - here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I labored over the last bits of this for far too long wondering if I was getting too ahead of myself, but... what the hell, right? Please reassure me with comments.

Rating: still T, for blood, language, and a bit of dubious consent/alluding to adult concepts 

Pairing: Dracula & Zoe/Agatha Van Helsing

Chapters 1 & 2 Here - Chapter 3 Here - Chapter 4 Here

Can be found on AO3 - Right HERE -

Chapter 5

It was another two weeks before Zoe saw sunlight again. Not out of any kind of vampiric repulsion, but purely due to the epic workload she had set up for herself. She knew as much as she hated to admit it that Dracula was right. She had a limited amount of time to make good on her intentions and an expanse of scientific ground to break, more than she had ever envisioned for herself. 

Worse, there was a level of occult knowledge that she needed to reacquaint herself with since she’d tossed it in the bin twenty years prior, but Agatha was at least useful in that respect. Granted 1897 was not the most ideal cut off, but it gave her a decent groundwork. What wasn’t useful was the obvious glee that overcame her in the presence of the monster Zoe had been taught from an early age was basically the devil incarnate. And it’s not as though the nun even disagreed with the assessment, save her belief in the literal devil causing a bit of a contextual conflict. 

Zoe had always took pride in her stoicism, but Agatha was quite the opposite. She’d always found some sort of wicked, curious amusement in everything, even in the face of death – and vampires, apparently. Not that she didn’t have a very personal reason to be interested now. No, ignoring Dracula was no longer an option. Understanding him was the only way to fully understand herself, and whoever else the Count was no doubt soon to add to the ranks of the undead. 

As much as she detested to admit it, she could feel herself changing – slowly, but surely evolving past the limits of what it had always meant to be human. Everything was different – the way things smelled, looked, tasted, felt… there wasn’t a sense unaffected. And with it had grown subtle, gnawing hunger that she was determined to repress – or, currently, find a safe way to sate. And she was close. So close. But without a few more key bits of information from the beast himself, there was no way to be sure.

She had let him be for now, since she knew they at least had time in that regard. Dracula was many things, but a total idiot was not one of them, and no doubt he’d taken notice of the pattern just as easily as she did. The longer he spent with each victim, the more ideal the transformation after death. Instant kills were a 50/50 shot at best. If he was on the lookout for another ‘bride’ – even if he’d found one, there was no way he’d waste his newly renewed hope by getting overzealous. Zoe alone seemed to be the outlier of that unspoken rule, but ingesting so much of his blood (and also being on death’s doorstep already) seemed to have been the push.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know where he was. In fact, she found that if she let herself focus on him too long she couldn’t seem to avoid getting a sort of passing ‘update’ of his current actions – whether she wanted it or not. Just the person she wanted to be mentally connected to. Though whatever the connection was, it seemed to be a two-way street as opposed to the sort of controlling thrall that he had over certain others. At least she hadn’t caught herself doodling ‘Dracula is God’ in the corner of any of her notepads, thank fuck for that.

After a couple of weeks, however, the peaks at his consciousness were becoming more involuntary – either that, or he’d found out a way to push them at her deliberately, which wouldn’t surprise her in the least. An array of miscellaneous throats, mostly – with the occasional face to go with them even, but a strangely short order of corpses. Not too surprising given his renewed intent to procreate, but she expected the body count would be still reasonably…abundant. 

Despite knowing she should be relieved, Zoe felt a creeping sense of dread. How many people did he intend to turn? To keep up with his usual appetite he’d have to be keeping a menagerie of donors. Willing donors. For a brief, mindless moment she wondered to herself how the hell he was managing that. Her own voice (more or less) answered in a clipped mocking laugh, echoing out loud in the silence of her office. 

Tall, dark, handsome, well dressed, charming – in a snakey sort of way with no particular sexual preference, in a city full of jaded, power starved people longing to escape from their problems, with a cynical attitude toward life and death?  Christ’s sake, they were in the age of the opioid epidemic and the man was walking heroin. Literally. The world was doomed. 

Ready or not, it was about time she stopped making things so easy for him, Zoe decided, packing up her latest round of experiments and locking them away. Just because she couldn’t kill Dracula (yet) didn’t mean that she couldn’t distract him - a thought that she was well aware originated more with Agatha than herself, but the scientist in her was still fully willing to embrace. 

The methodology was...negotiable, they'd settled on vaguely as Zoe found her way quickly home to her flat. 

Once she decided to figure out his location, it didn't surprise her that the count was 'on the prowl', but she did have to roll her eyes at his choice of venue. Apparently he was going to make following him inconvenient. It definitely wasn't a club she could just waltz into dressed like a science professor and blend in. 

But this is good, he won't be expecting your intrusion. 

...Or he's expecting me to show up in a lab coat and give myself away Zoe countered internally, becoming arguably far too comfortable with disagreeing with her own inner voice as she yanked out a little black dress from the back of her wardrobe and tossed it on her bed, along with her far more lived in leather jacket.

Fine. This was fine. If she could keep randy 20-year-olds focused on studying science instead of each other on a regular basis, she could certainly handle putting a wrench in a 500 year old man-child’s seduction techniques. 

------

Of the numerous intrigues and conundrums the 21st century had wrought upon the Count, the notion of the vampire being not only a cultural topic of admiration but practically a fetish was one he had never seen coming. He was actually embarrassed it had taken him this long to fully comprehend and, in turn, utilize this phenomenon. It was true none of his earlier victims had really been surprised when his teeth sank into their necks, but the full scope of it had never really ‘dawned’ on him until baring his fangs had inspired one too many bouts of earnest excitement. It was frankly hilarious, not to mention convenient, though truth be told he was beginning to miss the charms of inspiring unholy terror. 

Not that the initial euphoria didn’t quickly evolve into proper panic once the reality of exsanguination occurred to them – if he allowed it to. He sometimes did, particularly since he was losing patience with being told it wasn’t Halloween just before ripping into their throats. He opted not to keep those idiots around, more often than not. The undead didn’t need any more denial in its ranks - Zoe was already proving to be so far immune to his influence in every way, he did not need any more deviance. 

It luckily hadn’t taken Dracula long to finally hit the smorgasbord: an entire dark room, filled almost entirely with dozens of willing, believing victims. So many nocturnal souls, full of wickedness and naïve delight at the mere thought of a creature such as him walking amongst them. Many of them even liked to already call themselves vampires, some in jest and others in actual earnest - artificial fangs and all! It was downright adorable. Now why should he, of all people, ruin their fun? 

It never took very long to capture someone’s attention, and that particular night was no different save for the fact that his potential prey had suddenly turned their attention away from him and was having some unknown words whispered in their ear by a woman he vaguely recognized as the bartender. 

“I…um, I need to go. Emergency,” The young woman stated in the broken persistence easily identified as that of an unpracticed liar, and she dissolved hurriedly back into the darkness from whence she came. 

Dracula’s head tilted briefly in confusion, but then in realization he sighed as his eyes scanned and locked in a glare on the slender figure at the far end of the bar who was smirking at him. 

Striding over with exaggerated reluctance, he leant against the surface at her side.

“What did you tell her?” 

Zoe shrugged, still clearly pleased with herself. “Just enough to make you sound revolting. Not exactly hard to do.”

“No one likes a cock block, Dr. Helsing,” he accused with a raise of his brows, looking down at her.

Zoe chuckled aloud. “I think we both know your cock isn’t something to worry about,” she replied, eyes rolling at his apparent need to show off his modern vocabulary. 

“Ouch,” he rumbled, amusement still glinting in the black pools of his eyes despite his attempt at a pout. “Should I be offended?” 

“Is there even anything to be offended about?” She found herself asking, and briefly cursed Agatha’s ever-greedy curiosity.

The Count’s brows shot upwards, in either genuine surprise or a good ploy of it as he turned his body to face hers. “Are you asking if I’m, as you say, ‘fully functional and anatomically correct’? Oh dear, now I am offended.” It didn’t falter his smile.

“I just assumed you saw everyone as little more than happy meals with legs,” she said in, granted, unnecessary explanation for the question. Never in anything she’d seen or heard of his attempts to seduce or charm did he seem to be in pursuit of anything but dinner.

“I’m a man of many appetites, some just supersede others,” he replied simply, at first, though quickly amended. “And certain aspects of being a vampire does make it difficult to find a partner who will remain conscious or even survive the experience through to its conclusion.”

“Sounds like a self-control problem to me, though...I wouldn’t have thought the killing part to be an issue for you,” she uttered in return, more of Agatha’s intrigue popping out without her consent. 

His eyes narrowed knowingly, as they always seemed to do when he sensed Zoe’s words were not always her own, though it didn’t stop him from responding.

“I may be undead, but I am no necrophile. I told you I like the lively ones, and I meant that. Even if the vast majority are ‘happy meals with legs’ that’s no reason to ignore what’s between them. Where do you think all that blood flows to when you’re aroused?”

“Sorry I asked,” Zoe clipped, eyes rolling again in sheer avoidance of his probing gaze.

“Maybe I ought to try some restraints,” he mused thoughtfully, ignoring her comment entirely and refocusing on his current ‘conundrum’ she’d been so kind as to bring to the forefront of his thoughts. “I fed from an interesting little dominatrix the other night…”

“For them or for you?” Zoe found herself snarking back, beginning to wonder if it was a better or worse choice to let a nun have this conversation in her place.

“Oh, them. It would keep them conscious a bit at least. When your saliva is a sedative, over-eagerness just breeds trouble. I don’t even know if they make anything strong enough to restrain me. Silver…if you believe the stories, though I’ve never tried it.” His brow quirked upward lasciviously at her, an obvious lure. “Perhaps you would do the honors?” 

“Perhaps I should try to stake you, just to be sure. You never know, I could get lucky.”

“Now, now. We both know you’re not going to do that. Come on Agatha – don’t think I don’t know when it’s you, you always were a curious cat - if things went your way I’d still be locked in a box to prod at for the rest of eternity, all for the sake of extending your morbid curiosity. I was extending a courtesy with that offer. It could be the closest you’d get to satisfaction in that regard. Or any regard," he drawled, punctuating his already not-so-subtle meaning by moving in closer still, deliberately intrusive. He lived to infuriate. 

Agatha’s first instinct was to aim a slap at his absurdly smug face just for the audacity, regardless of Zoe’s opposing instinct to ignore him entirely. Apparently the nun won out, though the speed in which her hands zoomed forward was an impossible thing, and as Zoe feared, a grave mistake. The older vampire caught her hand in his massive fist before it came within an inch of his flesh, with a look of pure satisfaction. In the same gesture, his other hand shot to grasp her throat and by the force of the movement alone urged her back from the bar and into the shadows just beyond it. The music was melancholic, but loud and just chaotic enough to drown out the faint growl erupting from his throat. 

“Ooh. Look at you go. I think my blood really did do the trick, didn’t it? None of my brides, before or after their full transformation, could even come close to my speed. And you’re already halfway there. Not to mention completely immune to my power of suggestion yet still able to locate me, it seems – very, very irritating, but impressive. Any fangs yet?” 

Struggling briefly in his grasp, she bared her teeth at him spitefully, showing off her teeth’s lack of points. 

“Aw. What a pity,” he sighed, letting go of her hand, but kept her neck in his grip – not squeezing, but present and unmoving, nonetheless lest she try to attack him again.

 “Still trying to fight it, aren’t you? Zoe’s just a stubborn thing, she wants to prove me wrong. But you…you are trying to protect her. From me…herself, I don’t know, but it’s only going to end up driving her mad.” 

“It’s completely feasible to resist the blood lust,” Agatha persisted, meeting his steely gaze with her own. “She’s figured out how it works, what the vampiric body needs to function.” 

“And I suppose you’d be the expert at resisting lusts, wouldn’t you?” His fingers tightened minutely around the long column of her throat, and his words were a harsh whisper that’s effect on her body mocked the very virtue it was pretending to praise. 

“For once, Dracula, stop flattering yourself,” she spat, turning her head as much to look away from him – at anything but him - as his hold would allow.

“I never flatter myself. You stop elevating yourself. You’re not a nun anymore, you’re just another wayward soul. You’ve died twice trying to rid the world of me and we’re both still here. Take a hint.” 

“Perhaps I’m still here to stop you,” she suggested, finally turning back to face him with a challenging lift of her brow.

The Count met her challenge with a look of utter acceptance , his face leaning down to hers in what to anyone else would be a clear threat - and to anyone else, it was exactly that. To a normal, non corrupt human his kiss meant instant submission, the predator incapacitating his prey. 

“Then, by all means, stop me.” 

She stood stiff in the face of his intimate approach, for a moment able to ignore any further context and simply prod at him. 

"Your delusions won't work on me anymore," Agatha reminded him blandly, pushing breath out with each word just because she could. 

This gave him pause for all of a moment, but it was seemingly only to observe her stubborn face with faint amusement. 

"Good," he uttered against her lips with mocking simplicity, but before she could take another breath he was kissing her hard and to his utter relief, didn't get limp, clouded acceptance in response. 

She let out a frustrated growl of her own in protest, more human than beast, though her attempt at clamping her lips closed in protest came a moment too late. He'd captured her lower lip between his own and she felt the sharp scrape of his canines as he pulled, still prominent without the animalistic haze of hunger. 

Her initial will to resist buckled to make way instead for an aggressive refusal to be dominated - whether those forces had names or were shared equally between the Van Helsing women, he couldn't say, but instead of allowing him to ravage her mouth unopposed, or even to attempt to fight or flee as the Count half expected, she'd responded with equal fervor - out of lust or spite or both. Her blunt teeth bit down hard where his had only nipped and her previously limp hand found its way to the back of his head and anchored itself in his locks to counter the tightening of his grip on her neck. 

The snarl that reverberated from his throat and into her mouth was every bit as bestial as hers was human, and his grip tightened dangerously just before forcing her backwards and away from him like he was embracing an open flame. She barely caught herself before crashing into a wall, but still looked on with unadulterated satisfaction as Dracula looked twice as shaken as she did in the face of his first kiss in 500 years that didn't end in immediate surrender. Men - alive or dead - were all the same. 

After a moment, he caught himself, letting out a wicked chuckle in the face of her smirk. "We'll make a monster of you yet, Van Helsing," he assured her raggedly, bluster gradually returning to his stance and the set of his jaw as he watched her.

Zoe - and fully Zoe at that moment righted herself from where she leaned against the wall, adjusting her jacket, the satisfied look still in her eyes. 

"Happy hunting, Count Dracula. Just don't expect me to make it easy for you."

And without looking at him again, she walked passed where he stood and headed in a leisurely stroll towards the exit, forcing her heart rate back to its normal deathly calm. 

----

I’m not even sure what to say to this other than either I’m sorry or your welcome. I’m just going to tag everyone who’s nerding has inspired me to continue, regardless if you’ve showed any interest in reading or not. If you want to be tagged, let me know

Tag List: @charlesdances @bellamortislife @carydorse @break-free-killer-queen @imagineandimagine @my-fanfic-library @punk-courtesan @ohveda @wannabebloodsucker @hoefordarkness @mymagicsuitcase @crazytxgradstudent @itendedbadly @theplumsoldier @gatissed @allfandoms-writings @littlemessyjessi @vampiregirl1797 @desperatefrenchwriter @iloveclaesbang @ss9slb @dreamerkim @mephdcosplay @violetmarkey @alhoyin @thozaarmitage @girlonfireice@cipherwheeldecoder @crowley-needs-a-hug @mr-kisskiss-bangbang @iloveclaesbang

[tarotdeckshuffle]

Hello again! I'm continuously loving your writings! Since it's officially spooky season and me being a pumpkin baby, could I request the chocobros reaction to a sinister haunted house? Maybe s/o loves horror and creepy things and drags the babies to mentally torture them because it's fun to see them freaking out 😁

OOhh!! I almost forgot to get this one out!! I love Halloween and have been wanting to write something like this for awhile! So thank you for submitting the request!

Taglist: @idiotflowerex, @laststory1013, @sayaoqueen, @jophinabean, @mysme-already

If you like what you read, please consider supporting me on Patreon or buying me a Ko-fi!

Noctis

Acts very nonchalant before entering. 

Doesn’t think this will be a big deal. 

He’s not a child, you know.

But you see him swallow when you lay eyes on the greeter,

An old man with gory makeup, making it look like his head is nearly severed from his body,

And dark circles around his eyes. 

He jumps and squeaks at every single jump scare,

But he’s not doing so bad. 

Sure he’s scared, but he’s keeping it decently under control.

You laugh after each scare and he just pouts.

Until you’re nearing the end.

A clown with an ax jumps out in front of you,

Laughing psychotically. 

It’s huge yellow eyes staring down at you hungrily. 

Noctis loses it. 

He lets out a high pitched scream and WARPS out. 

Leaving the actor stunned that he just did that. 

You and the clown star at each other, stunned.

Before you start to laugh and run to catch up to Noct. 

Outside, he’s sitting on the steps,

Caught between shame, fear, and indignation. 

When you ask if he’s ok he just glares at you. 

“Do you want to go get a milkshake?”

“Yes. And you’re paying.”

Prompto

You pick out a haunted maze to take him to

But don’t tell him what the theme is. 

He makes no bones about it,

He’s scared.

Doesn’t do horror well.

But he says he trusts you…

You get to the corn maze.

The dead stalks tower above you,

Crinkling in the wind. 

You begin your walk through.

Everything is dark and you’re completely alone. 

“This isn’t so bad…” Prompto squeaks,

Jumping as the wind makes the stalks move. 

He starts to hum as you round a corner.

And that’s when you’re noticed. 

It starts with a soft growl

That slowly turns into a moan. 

“Did you hear that?” Prompto is already sweating. 

He looks around for the source of the growl.

All is silent.

When a zombie actor bursts from around a corner of the maze!

Growling and grotesque,

With outstretched hands.

Behind them, a never ending stream of more actors move!

Rushing towards you!!

Prompto screams and grabs your hand,

Bolting around the opposite corner. 

You continue through the maze, hand in hand,

Prompto screaming at each spook before running in the opposite direction.

You make it to the exit, not even aware of how you got here. 

Finally free, you stop and double over to catch your breath.

You can’t stop laughing as Prompto glares over at you.

“ZOMBIES?! Why did it have to be zombies?!”

“What? You don’t like a little zombie escape?” You choke out. 

“NO! They’re creepy and humanish and there’s too many of them and...and…” He spits out. 

You continue laughing as you take his hand. 

“But we made it out…” You pull him in close for a kiss.

He smiles into your kiss. 

“You’re going to pay for that. I don’t know how yet, but you will.”

Ignis

He’ll do whatever makes you happy,

So he agrees to go to a haunted house with you.

This guy doesn’t seem like he’s easy to scare, so you’re going to have to try hard.

You do your research and pick out the scariest haunted house you can find!

It’s located in an old prison, so it has to be good!

Ignis is good through most of it,

Doesn’t flinch at the jump scares and greets the actors!

But there is one thing that starts to get to him.

This is an absurdly long tour,

But by a few minutes in, Ignis keeps looking over his shoulder,

Snapping his head back at the slightest sound. 

“What is it?”

“Oh...it’s nothing.”

You continue on.

A few minutes later, you hear him mutter,

“It’s still there…”

And after you round a lit corner,

You start to realize what it may be:

There’s a shadow following you.

It’s always there, it’s shape slightly morphing each time it moves,

Sometimes its just out of sight and sometimes it’s right behind you,

But it’s always there.

You’re near the end of the tour when Ignis pushes you!

You turn back, just in time to see long shadowy fingers pull back.

Ignis clears his throat. 

“Instincts. I apologize.”

You enter the last hallway, the door out is in sight!

When a maniacal laugh echos through he hall.

What had been a small shadow following you grows in size.

“You think I’m going to let you leave?”

A guttural voice asks.

The shadow has grow to tower over you,

It’s shape morphing to reveal a mouth lined with teeth. 

Ignis grimaces and bolts!

Grabbing your hand and sprinting for the final door. 

You make it outside, chased by that laugh. 

The door slams behind you.

Ignis stands for a moment, staring at it, ready to strike. 

Finally, you whisper, “It’s alright dear.”

Ignis moans. “I should know that…”

You laugh and pump your fist in victory!

“I scared the great Ignis Scienticia!!!”

Ignis simply scowls at you.

“Is that truly an achievement worth being proud of?”

“Yes!! Now let’s go view our photos!” You grab his hand and head towards the gift shop. 

“There where photos?!” He squeaks. 

Gladio

Agrees to do a haunted house with you, 

Promising to “keep you safe” through it.

You simply laugh,

Because you have th perfect one in mind. 

You arrive and stare up at the old structure,

It’s a haunted hospital,

Inside an old time hospital!

It’s perfect.

Gladio looks like he’s staring death in the face:

Absolutely terrified.

This man hates hospitals to begin with,

So this is going to be fun (for you). 

He always refuses to go to a hospital,

Instead opting to “let the wound heal naturally”

Or  treating it himself. 

The whole buildings freak him out. 

But he goes in, just for you.

You hear him muttering “It’s all fake” over and over again. 

Once inside he jumps at every little scare,

Gorey nurse with a giant needle?

NOPE NOPE NOPE

Straight jacket patient?

HE’S OUT

By the end of it, he’s shaking. 

You leave the hospital with your goody bag.

You ask jokingly how it was,

and he responds,

“Eh, not the worst hospital I’ve ever been in.”

Want a bonus? Cause I do...

Ravus

You are in an actual abandoned house looking for rebels against the empire.

But your info was bad,

This is a tonberry nest!

And Ravus hates those little bastards!

He was chased by one as a child. 

Wide eyed, terrified, he cuts down the first one to jump at them. 

“I think it’s time to go.” He won’t go any further than that.

It’s sort of adorable to find what he is actually scared of,

But he has good reason for it. 

Luna

Would pretend to be scared to make you happy but is tougher than you are. 

Likely has watched way too many horror movies to be scared by much of this crap. 

Nyx

Gets way more scared than he thought he would and warps out of there within minutes. 

Cor

Sits outside drinking as you go through the haunted house,

Hoping and happy when you rush back to his arms. 

Ardyn

Runs the best haunted house ever!!!

Aranea

Yells “FIGHT ME” at every actor that scares her and punches a few. 

[tetsuwan-atom]

@brigadeleadxr - CHRISTMAS GIFTS (Unprompted)

It’s pretty dark, but not too late, he had to get out of a friend’s party that lasted a bit too long this Christmas Day. Winter does make the nights shorter after all. Thanks to Halloween, Bowen actually knew where Haruhi lived, not that it was really important for anything except for times like this. After all, it was that time of the year for gift giving, he did want her to have this very special gift.

~~~~~

BANG, BANG, BANG. Three LOUD whacks on the front door. Not too hard to damage anything but certainly enough to alert those inside. Slowly, did he scurry off, nervously, shivering a bit at the same time. He might still be seen walking off in the distance. Man, it was cold, even with a nice thick jacket on.

By the front door was, a big-ish box. Not too big but, big enough.. and man was it heavy. The wrapping paper was a dark purple, with shiny starts on it. There was also an envelope taped to the top of it.

'Haruhi Suzumiya'

It wrote, in such neat writing. There was also writing underneath. 'Open the box then open the letter'.

What was in the box?

...

It's a garden ornament, probably as big as one of those garden gnomes one would get, except this is a frog.... a superhero frog, in superhero costume and cape, in a proud stance. The costume was yellow and orange.. with a big sunflower motif in the centre. It also had a cape, a dark blue, with what looked to be white stars on it. The way it was done, it didn't look like this was how the statue originally came.

...Were all these modifications hand painted? The head looks like original paint.. as does the base.

The note, which came with it, read as follows, also in the same neat handwriting.

'Dear Haruhi

I bought this some time ago as soon as I saw it in the shops. It really screamed something I should get for you. I decided to make it something unique for you, however. I remembered the sunflowers in the clubroom, along with that big frog costume for Mikuru. The stars on the cape also glow in the dark. I managed to find special paint for it. I'm still practicing my painting skills for my model railway stuff. I'm not sure if you noticed but, I'm really into trains. :)

I’m very confident the Super Star Sunflower Frog will keep you safe. Feel free to come up with a new name for it. I hope you enjoy him as much as I did making him for you. I'm happy with whatever you want to do with him, keep him at home, stick him in the clubroom, he's a really cool dude.

Thank you for all the fun I've had in the SOS Brigade, I'm really grateful for your friendship and being apart of something so awesome.

Merry Christmas, Haruhi. I hope we can all have fun together in the new year.

Yours sincerely,

Bowen Chuuno.'

[cecilspeaks]

155 - The Heist, part 3

Leave no stone unturned. Leave no rock unpivoted. Leave no pebble untwirled. Welcome to Night Vale.

My brother-in-law, Steve Carlsberg, is still in jail, wrongly accused of the recent bank heist. But I am happy to have my husband Carlos back home. The Sheriff’s Secret Police had only taken him in for some questions regarding the robbery of the Last Bank of Night Vale. Sheriff Sam had deemed Carlos a person of interest, which I’ve been saying for years, but Sheriff Sam meant it differently.

Carlos said while he was being questioned at the police station, he saw the other bank employees who were there the day of the robbery. Genevieve Daly, the new bank teller, was being asked if she saw anyone other than Steve Carlsberg near the vault that day. Carlos said she was stone faced, unhappy with the interrogation. Susan Willman was there, crying, as the police asked her who else, other than Steve Carlsberg, could have a key. And security guard Jesse McNeil was there looking quite ill, almost seasick, according to Carlos, as the police tried to badger him into implicating Steve Carlsberg.

Carlos has been home for a couple of weeks and in a terrible funk. He said Steve has a nearly impossible case. The police are convinced of Steve’s guilt and all their evidence points directly to him. Carlos hardly has any energy or emotion to work, or even leave the house. I feel awful for Steve too, and we are doing our best to support him and our family.

I tried cheering Carlos up by telling him my favorite science jokes, like two chemists walk into a bar and one tells the bartender, “I’ll have an H2O” and the other says “I’ll have an H20 too,” and the bartender says and sighs.. [fed up] “It’s been a long day guys,” and then the two chemists nod and say, [embarrassed] “Yeah oh god yeah sorry, just a couple of waters thanks.” And then later they make sure to tip very well. But Carlos didn’t even crack as mile, let alone laugh, and I asked him how his doorless fridge experiment was going and he’s welcome to work on it here, in his home laboratory. I don’t even mind if he keeps staining everything green with that weird gel he’s been using. “I ran out of gel, Cecil,” he said, prone on the couch not opening his eyes. “I couldn’t work on that, even if I wanted to. which I don’t.” Hm. I wanna curl up on the couch too, stay home from work. But I know that would be terrible for Carlos. There are many times I’ve felt flat or depressed, and Carlos has been there for me, keeping me company, taking in my sadness and reflecting back not a false smile but attentive eyes, a listening posture that makes me feel heard and understood, and that’s what I want to be for him. Besides, I think Steve can beat these charges. Steve may have been the only one with a key to the vault, but they cannot prove he opened the vault, as he was locked inside his own office during the robbery. And besides, Steve keeps very detailed accounting so they wouldn’t be able to find the stolen money, not even if he had taken it. Steve Carlsberg is… [moved] the nicest man in Night Vale. He’s a good boss, breaking his foot to get free to try to protect his employees. He’s a fine father. A loving husband. And a perfect brother-in-law. It’s just not... it’s not possible. You know, if someone on the inside did this, it was probably Susan. Susan Willman is the least trustworthy person in that bank, if not in this whole town. So if you’re going to…

[loud scary noises] Station Management just slit a memo under my door gently, reminding me about libel laws. The memo is written in fire on a sleep tablet, and there’s a snake curled around it so, uhh.. I’m going to leave my Susan WIllman theory alone. But. Let’s just say that there was an untrustworthy person in that bank, and that her name was Su..anne Wilt..son. Yes, Sue-Anne Wilson, yes and this hypothetical jerk was always complaining at PTA meetings about her own personal problems, rather than focusing on the agenda, let’s just say. And this Sue-Anne Wilson once accused Steve Carlsberg of censoring her, when Steve was just trying to finish the meeting in a timely manner so that the basketball team could se the gym for evening practice. This person might well hold a grudge against Steve Carlsberg and want to not only steal from him, but frame him for the crime. 

Or, what if the Sheriff’s Secret Police… [loud scary noises] was doing a really great job, so great that they didn’t have a lot of arrests to make because the town was so safe. And of course, [chuckling nervously] they would never need to frame someone for robbery! So they would look like they were solving one of the major crimes in recent memory. Or maybe it was space slugs. Some distant aliens from across the galaxy somehow found our solar system and spotted our Earth, and then randomly chose Night Vale, and for whatever reason, they really wanted our money, so they went down inside the bank vault while the building was on fire, and without the safe key they entered the locked room because these space slugs can crawl through walls, and then they stole all the money. I don’t know! I feel helpless.[loud scary noises fade out]

Reading the news and getting angrier and angrier, but you know there’s little I can do about terrible things that keep happening. I’m sure you can’t relate. Maybe a community calendar will cheer me up.

This Saturday, the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex opens its annual Haunted Halloween Hayride. There was complications this year, because Ghost Union Local 31 went on strike for an increase in pensions and maternity leave. Teddy Williams, owner of the Desert Flower, argued that ghosts cannot retire nor get pregnant, but the union countered with vaguely human faces muttering in the shadows while Teddy screamed, and eventually, a deal was truck.

Sunday morning is the pie eating contest at the Night Vale fair. Contestants will be competing for a top prize of a 1991 Buick Le Sabre, autographed by former US presidential hopeful and Illinois governor, Adelai Stevenson.

Tuesday afternoon is a tedious song. Wednesday night is the high school dance team’s statewide semifinals at the rec center. Our own Night Vale High School is competing that night. Their top rival is Red Mesa High School, who will be performing a jazz routine called Tommy Tunes Broadway: an upbeat medley of classic show tunes. Night Vale’s dance team will present (--) [0:09:21] postmodern masterpiece (-): contemplative blend of sculpture opera and dance defined by its explosive physical bursts, chanting, and (contra-) movements born of a 22-member ensemble, who express the human body as a multidimensional art installation. Good luck to all dancers!

And finally, Thursday is sick, so Friday will be covering Thursday’s shift. Eh, except for the part about the haunted hay ride. That did not cheer me up.

I’m getting word that the Secret Police have made a breakthrough in their bank heist investigation. Or maybe they found the real thief and can let Steve Carlsberg go? [clears throat] Sheriff Sam said the lab reports came back, the fingerprints were inconclusive as their top suspect Steve Carlsberg worked at the bank, so his fingerprints were everywhere. But the lab reports did detail a strange goo police found on the vault walls. This goo, a light green gel, was also found on the walls of the cells that the other robbers had escaped from two weeks ago. So maybe my theory about space slugs is correct. No wait. The lab reports showed that this unusual chemical can render certain metals intangible, allowing people to reach through walls without breaking them. [stutters] Police believe whoever used this greenish goo used it to rob the bank’s vault and to free the prisoners inside the abandoned mineshaft outside of town. The Sheriff then said they discovered this exact same chemical on Steve Carlsberg’s property. They discovered it inside the shed behind the house, and that this is the final piece of evidence that links Steve Carlsberg to the robbery of the Last Bank of Night Vale. They believe that, oh no… Um, that Steve did not act alone, that he had an accomplice, a scientific mastermind who created this chemical for him. Who generated a complex concoction that enabled them to walk through walls stealing whatever they wanted. They have a warrant out now for Carlos’ arrest. I’ve gotta call Carlos. I- Oh, it looks like he left a voicemail.  

[beep] Carlos: Hey sweetie, it’s um me. So listen, I have um, I so-so I’ve just been arrested. No biggie, no biggie, I’m fine. This is actually good news, because I wanted to talk to the Sheriff anyway about all this, so that-that’s great. And um, I do have some new thoughts about what happened at the bank, and they’re really interesting, so they’re driving me downtown to meet with uh ooh, ouch, those cuffs are a bit tight there, officer… officer (Q. Fortier). Ah, that is a beautiful name. I-i-is that Franchian? If you don’t mind, Officer Fortier, I’m going to just finish my voicemail to my husband. So Cecil. When I get downtown, I’ll explain everything to them, Steve and I clearly did not do this and that’s what I’ll tell them, they’re police! [chuckles] You know, they just wanna know the truth, and uh ooh uh, oh Officer Fortier, I am not done with my call yet. Uh sir, what-what are you doing with my pho- [beep]

Cecil: I… I… Let’s go to the weather.

[Good Luck with That” by Fathom All the Animals https://fathomalltheanimals.com]

Cecil: Listeners, we now go live to Steve Carlsberg’s press conference at City Hall.

Steve: This has been a difficult month for me, and for my family. I thank you all for hearing me out today. I’m glad to know that these criminal charges are behind me, and I think Sheriff Sam and their secret police, as well as their Overt Police, for listening to reason and overturning the charges against me. [sadly] But of course, I’m sad to learn about their most recent arrest. Breaks my heart to know that such a dear friend of so many years, someone who’s been in home many, many times, someone I consider family, could betray me, my bank, my town in this way. I don’t even know how to talk about such a breach of trust by someone so close. [crying] Carlos! Oh Carlos. Thank you Carlos, for your brilliant and thorough evidence that put Jesse McNeil in jail today. Our security guard of nearly 50 years committed a heinous crime, and he nearly sent the two of us to prison for it.

When Carlos arrived in my cell this morning, he was all smile saying he had figured it out. He called the Sheriff over and said, “Check Jesse’s skin for the same chemical they found on the doors.” Carlos had been experimenting on the gel that allowed him to reach his hands into refrigerators without opening the door, and thus lowering the temperature of the food inside. He’d developed this chemical. He’d developed this chemical in his temporary lab in a shed behind our house. The problem with the chemical wasn’t its effectiveness and intangibility. He had been able to make that work. No, the problem with the chemical is that it stained everything it touched a dull green, including skin. Carlos showed me his own hands, which were green from the fingertips to about halfway up his forearms. He said the last few times he had seen Jesse, Jesse looked ill. Not like a flu or cold, more like seasick: queasy, green in the face. Carlos didn’t put it together right away, because we all felt sick about not only the robbery, but the false charges against me.

The police report also showed that none of the cash tills on the teller wall were affected by the fire that broke out during the robbery last month. Which means the fire had to have started on the opposite wall, which is by the front door, Jesse’s usual station. The smoke from the fire and the three robbers waving guns provided a distraction for Jesse to cover himself with Carlos’ intangibility gel, sneak downstairs past my office, where he had locked me in earlier than day, and then unload the cash from the safe and carry it into the alleyway behind the bank where his car was parked. When the fire trucks arrived, Jesse ran deliberately in front of their hoses so that the gel would all be removed from his body before the police began questioning those of us who had been inside during the robbery. But, as Carlos pointed out, the gel stains the skin for a long time, water alone won’t remove it.

Sheriff Sam brought Jesse back in for questioning based on Carlos’ statements, and found Jesse’s skin was the same dull green as Carlos’ hands. But unlike Carlos, the green stain covered Jesse’s whole body, not only his hands, indicating he had used it to walk through walls, rather than merely reach to a door.

Carlos explained that he had Jesse in his lab many times, Jesse and all my employees come to my house regularly for dinners. Like I said, they’re family to me. Jesse had taken an interest in Carlos’ science projects, so Carlos showed Jesse his doorless fridge experiment. Not long after that, Carlos noticed that the rest of his intangibility gel was gone. He thought he had just run out, even though he had made plenty of it. Never occurred to Carlos, until he saw Jesse’s green face a few days ago, that Jesse had stolen it to remove the money from the vault and his criminal colleagues from their jail cell. While I was the only person with the key to the vault, Jesse as a security guard was the only person with master keys for the rest of the building. My office door is never locked, so I don’t carry a key for it. Jesse knew this and locked me into my own office. Then his three collaborators Richard, William, and Emma created a fake robbery of the cash tills to distract from his heist of the vault. Sheriff Sam was impressed with Carlos’ explanation and arrested Jesse McNeil on the spot. Jesse turned to Carlos and Sam and said: [very deep voice] “I guess I’m going to jail now.” Sam said: [Sheriff Sam voice] “Don’t flatter yourself!”

Anyway, I finally get to return home, thanks to my brother-in-law Carlos. Thank you Susan Willman for managing the bank in my absence. Abby, Janice, I’ll be home in a few. Can’t wait to see you both again. Oh, oh, maybe I’ll bake some scones tonight! Carlos showed me a way to do it without letting the butter too warm. Oh-oh yeah!

Cecil: I’m so relieved and so glad they put the right person behind bars. And I have never been so excited to try one of Steve’s scones. That really is neat.

Stay tuned next for someone playing on a saw. No, ahem, (-) that, with a saw. It’s just someone playing around with a saw. Enjoy.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Wisdom ages like fine wine. Knowledge ages like Boston lettuce.

[lay-d-l]

HAPPY belated HOLIDAYS

hi @temptationmirror i'm your secret santa ( @wolfstar-secret-santa ) !

first thing first, i want to apologize for this being late, i needed more time to finish it

second, i hope you like it, cause honestly, it could've been soooo much better

here goes nothing... :

September 1st 1977. No seventh year student liked the idea of this being the last time they take the Hogwarts Express as students.

I went through the platform and found my friends. First thing I saw were Remus and Sirius, snogging each other (see @upthehillart 's pic). Which is quite sweet considering it took ages for them to get together. Lily and James... just stood there blushing.

Just when I got to them, Remus and Sirius finished their session. Gazing into eachothers eyes, they were smiling like idiots. I looked at Remus in confusion. "Peter is already in the compartment, we wanted to wait for you." he said. I smiled, and nodded my head in thanks.

I was about to hug Lily but the train decided it's time for us to go. "This is our que!" James said eagerly, and with that, we went in.

***

I woke up to sound of chattering. I got up and saw Marlene and Alice talking. Marlene smiled at me: "I'm sorry we woke you up." 

I laid back and turned to my nightstand. I sighed, loudly. "What?", asked Alice. I pointed at the clock. "Shit!", they said in union, "Lils get out of there, breakfast is about to be served!" 

"Coming!", a voice came from the bathroom.

"L, are you coming?", asked Alice.

I just nodded my head and closed my eyes as I heard the dorm doors shut. After five minutes of blankly staring at ceiling, I decided to get up and dressed, but, of course, I could not find my uniform, instead, I found a not-so-covering piece of lingerie and a Slytherin, Slytherin robe. 

***

As I, quite seductively might I add, walked through the Great Hall, every single pair of eyes was set on me. 

Coming near the Gryffindor table I started walking a bit faster. Luckly, they were sitting close to the door. On my side of the table were Marlene, James, Remus and, bullseye, Sirius. I walked up to him and said: "Can I have a minute of your time?" 

"What's fun in a minute?", he said, slowly turning his head towards me

"Oh, trust me, you're gonna like this minute!", I muttered and sat onto his lap.

"Sirius, dear, why, oh why do you propel this fate upon me, whereas I must look so slutty?"

"Well someone has to do it, right?" He smirked.

"Well, I must say, I quite li-" I saw his face, "Minnie is behind me, isn't she?"

"Miss Castle, I believe you should be in your uniform. May I ask, where is your uniform?" 

I turned around and smiled at her, "I'm sorry professor, but you know it's our last year and I think the famous Marauders wanted to make last-year-first-day prank." 

"Whatever you plan on doing keep it decent." she winked at us."Shame on you! If you do something like this again, there will be consequences." she announced. 

"Our schedules?" Sirius asked.

"Here. Now off you go" 

"Will do professor, will do." we said in usion.

***

After classes were over, we found ourselves sitting around one of the tables in the common room. "We have no other classes until after lunch, why don't we play a game?" James proposed with a mischievous grin. A loud "NO!" came out of Lily and Marlene's mouths. "After that fiasco with L from that morning, I'm not playing anything with you lot." continued Lily.

"Oh! That reminds me, can I keep it?" I asked, "Or, I can give it back, I thing Moony would like to tear it off you."

"No thanks." Remus chuckled.

"Moony would love to tear it off me, but I'll have to refuse. It pains me to say this, but it looks better on you." 

"Did thee Sirius Black said someone looks better than him?!" Marlene posed.

"I did!" he said, fake fainted and started laughing. "Okay, that's great and all but still have an hour to kill before lunch, we should play something.", Peter announced, "why don't we play Pictionary or something?"

"But there's seven of us, we need an even number of players", Lily said.

"I had enough games for today I won't play" i said, "I'll sit around at laugh at you lot." 

James, Sirius and Marlene whispered between themselves, when James asked: "What's Pictionary?" 

***

I was out, walking 'round the lake when I decided it was too cold for me to be out so I went to the library.

I was walking through the muggle section of the library trying to find a good book to read when I found Remus and Lily sitting in a corner reading. I came up to them, sat down, waiting for one of them to look up. When Remus did, I nodded my head at the book he was reading. He said: "Picture of Dorian Gray." 

"Is it good?" I asked.

"One of my favorites.", he said.

"What about you Lily?"

"I don't know.", she said desperately, "I just picked up a radnom book, and flipped pages…"

"Are you okay? Is something wrong? Is it Petunia?" Remus asked worriedly.

She put the book down, trying to compose herself. "It's James actually…" 

"What do you mean 'It's James', is something wrong with him?" I questioned.

"No… I… maybe, just maybe, he isn't that bad. After the accident with Sev- well you know, he started acting differently. He's a good lad. And I thought I could give him a chance? I don't know, just don't tell anyone will you?" 

In that moment I heard something fall. Hard. I promised Lily I wouldn't say a thing and excused myself. 

I got out of the library and saw James standing over the stair railing. "James, are you okay? I heard something fall."

"Did you heard what she said?! She said she might give me a chance!" he yelled.

"Blody hell, James, don't yell! I promised I wouldn't say a thing!" He truned toward me, smiling like a dork.

"Merlin's beard, let just go…" I smiled to him.

***

I woke up, came down to breakfast, late, as always. Walking into the Great Hall, everyone was talking, which was odd considering food was on the table. Looking around I saw my friends and lounged toward them. 

"Why is no one eating?" I asked, putting a piece of bacon in my mouth.

It was Peter who answered: "Dumbledore just announced that we're having a Halloween party, two free weekends, one now one before Christmas, except this Saturday when we have a Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, and there's gonna be a best costume competition (spoiler alert, Sirius won)." 

"Well," I said and sat down, "that is a reasom not to eat."

"So, who are you going as?", asked Marlene.

I looked around, waiting for everyone to say their costumes. James and Sirius, as always, are going as Dumbledore and Minnie. Peter is going as a rat. Frank and Alice have no idea, but it's going to be a couple's costume, Marlene  and Lily are also going together as Disney princesses, Aurora and Ariel, pretty sure that's Lily's idea. Remus is going as a comic book character Tony... Stank? Stark? Something like that. Then Marlene asked me: "What are you going as?"

"Well, there's this muggle movie that came out this year, it's called Star Wars. There's a princess in it called Leia Organa. I'm probably gonna go as her."

***

Week before Halloween, Marlene, Frank, James and Sirius were busy with practice so the rest of us were using our time to study. 

When the weekend came all of us were excited for the first match this year. 

I was strolling through the Entrance Hall with hands full of food I implored form the house elves. The match was near its end so I didn't bother climbing up the stands. I sat down and looked at the brooms, when the Hufflepuff seeker flew past me, Marlene was on his tail. It was too fast for me to see, but I'm pretty sure they crashed but we got out victorious. What I did see is Lily, running into James' arms and kissing him. 

When the party and the euphoria were gone, and everyone went to bed, Jily, as Sirius likes to call them, stayed in the common room. And the rest of the bunch, myself included, sat in boys dormitory, playing games and joking around.

***

We were walking past shops in Hogsmeade when it started snowing. Boys went on the plain close to the Shireking Shack to make a snow-wolf. While we continued out Christmas shopping. 

When we came out of Honeydukes, Alice asked us: "Beside Frank and me, who's staying here for the holidays?" On which Lily said: "I'm not going back until I have to, Petunia's been a real pain in the ass…" 

"That and it's not safe with 'The Dark Lord' roaming, so I'm staying here too." Marlene added.

We stayed quiet for a while, the possibility of a war in our lifetime was heavy on us, we're just kids…

I spoke: "I'm going home, it's been a while since I saw my father…" 

Next week went by fast, no exams, no papers, just excitement for the upcoming holidays. 

When I got home it was late so I went straight to bed, when I woke up there was a letter on my desk. I took a letter opener and saw a single piece of paper, with eight different  handwritings saying: 'HAPPY HOLIDAYS.' 

[tinycamembert]

team bonding

This started out as me just wanting to write about a scene based on the splat jam drawing from yesterday and it turned into many more words basically of me being mushy about how much I love this team. 4 little drabbles, the name shows the POV! All characters belong 2 @bottledupcomic / @tamarinfrog

I’m posting on mobile so sorry if there are formatting issues!!

———

1. Whinter

"What about this one?" Vadelma asks. On the plate lie four small pastries, sample size for her teammates, little berries nestled in the center of the flaky dough and melted chocolate drizzled over top. Whinter tries his best to admire it for half of a second before he shoves the entire thing in his mouth.

"Mmhmph," he manages, white hair flopping in his eyes as he empathetically nods his approval. To his left, his teammates are just as absorbed in the taste testing as he is.

"What's in the middle?" Marian asks, studying the half of the pastry left in her hand. Logan has already finished his and is eyeing the plate on the counter with extras.

"Raspberry compote," Vadelma says, fiddling with the plate as she watches her teammate's reactions. "It's not too much? That's what I wasn't sure about, adding that but then also putting the berries on the top? And then the chocolate—"

"It's perfect," Marian says.

"I love it," Logan agrees. He has a smudge of chocolate on the corner of his mouth. Vadelma smiles like a sunbeam.

"Great!" She says, scurrying back to the counter. "You all can have the rest, then. I'll make a brand new batch for customers later." The plate with the leftovers has six pastries.

"In case your parents want to try," Vadelma says to Marian, placing two gingerly in her outstretched hands.

"For your dad," she hands one to Logan.

"And one for your mom, one each for your brothers," Vadelma continues, this time to Whinter. She gives him quick little wink as she hands him the last one. "I put extra chocolate on this one for Cloud. So don't let those pesky brothers of yours take it."

"Oh, I won't." Whinter tries to wink back, but he's not sure if he winks so much as blinks really fast with both eyes. Not like it really matters. He knows that Vadelma already knows how much it means to him.

2. Logan

"Ha!" Marian crows, triumphant from her kneeling position on the floor. She had started the race leaning back on Vadelma's legs, but as the match progressed she ended up hunched forward over her controller, focused on the racing game on the screen in front of her.

"There's still another lap," Logan points out on Marian's right. He's not exactly feeling the pressure of competition, considering Whinter still is figuring out what all the buttons on the controller do and Vadelma is perfectly content to stay in the middle of the pack. Logan zooms around a corner and takes a jump off to a shortcut on the race map, which lands him safely in front of Marian again.

"Wh—you can't do that!" Marian exclaims. "That's cheating."

Logan grins slyly. "It's strategizing. Not cheating. You can see the path break off, you just chose not to take it."

"I didn't know it was a shortcut. But fine," Marian huffs, leaning forward further as she concentrates. Logan hears Whinter snicker behind him. Marian would never be able to complain about Logan taking shortcuts if he called it strategy. He's pretty sure it would go against her entire team philosophy, even if right now they were just playing Mario Kart. Whatever! Didn't matter. He was still gonna win.

"Ooh, Vadelma got something," Whinter announces, and Logan hears Vadelma's telltale giggle behind him. It is not a comforting sound.

"What did—hey, no!" He yells, but it's too late. Vadelma launches the blue shell, and the beepbeepbeepbeep of the timer starts to play in his corner of the screen as his doom rapidly approaches. Marian cackles beside him.

Marian isn't too far behind him, and neither is the blue shell—so Logan slows down.

He times the move perfectly—just as Marian catches up to him, she realizes her mistake, and the blue shell comes crashing down on them both, Logan's kart spinning in the middle as Marian goes careening off the edge.

"Logan!!" She shrieks, as he crosses the finish line all alone and Whinter howls with laughter behind him.

"Oh dear," Vadelma says, her voice choked up like she's trying very, very hard not to laugh. She gives Marian a pat on the back as consolation. "Well, I tried my best, dear!"

Marian waves her hands around in the air as if trying to shoo the loss away. "No, no," she says, her cheeks red, a smile threatening to break its way onto her face. "You know what? It was a good strategy."

3. Vadelma

"Oh! And one last thing," Marian says, as Vadelma pours her captain a cup of lavender tea—another one—now almost an hour into this team meeting. She wishes she had brought the coffee pot over for herself. Honestly, Vadelma could listen to Marian talk all day about anything, but this supposedly "super quick" team meeting Marian called had devolved into a lecture about punctuality and new bottling plans and Vadelma's eyes were starting to droop.

"It's September 1st," Marian says, slapping her hands on the table as a form of punctuation, "So— it's almost Halloween."

Whinter lets out a long-suffering groan, thumping his head on the table. Logan pats him on the back. Marian narrows her eyes.

Very subtly, or so she hopes, Vadelma pushes the cup of tea a little closer in Marian's direction.

"You've been brainstorming costumes since July," Whinter grumbles. "What else is there to talk about?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Marian says, and pulls out her phone.

Vadelma peers over Marian's shoulder as she opens YouTube, and Marian scoots a bit closer and angles the screen towards Vadelma, looking pleased that her teammate is interested. The soft edges of her hair tickle Vadelma on the cheek.

Well, Vadelma is definitely interested. Maybe not in exactly what Marian is showing her on the screen, but it's fine. She watches anyways. The title of the video reads I Put a Spell on You.

"Um," Vadelma says, about a minute into the video. It looks like a dance number from an old Halloween movie.

"So... you want to do these costumes?" She asks. Please, just the costumes, she thinks.

"Well, yeah," Marian beams, passing her phone across the cafe table to Whinter and Logan so they can see what she's talking about. Marian takes a moment to adjust her glasses as they watch, and Vadelma and Logan exchange a look of barely concealed terror.

"Singing," Logan mouths. Vadelma widens her eyes in response and gives him a rapid shake of her head. She had the same thought.

"Marian." Logan says flatly. "What is this?"

"Hocus Pocus," Marian says, but the boys' faces remain blank. "The movie. That's the name of the movie? Hello?"

"Never heard of it," Whinter mumbles, still transfixed on the screen.

"That settles it," Marian says. "We'll do a team movie night so we can watch it. And then we can figure out who is going to be who."

Okay, a team movie night would be fun—

"And we can practice the dance some other time," Marian finishes. She takes a pleased sip of lavender tea.

Well, at least she didn't say singing. Probably. Vadelma will go along with it, and so will her teammates, because they all know how much it means to Marian.

"Like you said, it's almost Halloween," Vadelma says. "Would you like to get out the decorations?"

4. Marian

"Oh, no no," Marian says, feeling her cheeks flush darker by the second. "Don't sing. Please don't sing."

"But it's your birthday!" Whinter protests. "We have to sing."

"There's too many people in here!" Marian blusters. People in the cafe were already looking over when her teammates paraded out the cake Vadelma had made, no doubt having toiled over it for hours beforehand—at least Vadelma did. Marian is doubtful that Logan and Whinter had helped much beyond stealing fingerswipes of icing off the top of the cake while Vadelma swatted at them with the frosting pipe.

The mental image makes her grin for a moment before she's jerked back to the present, where her teammates, despite her protests, are now singing.

Happy birthday to you...

Happy birthday to you...

Everyone is looking over now, and to Marian's horror, other people are joining in.

Happy birthday, dear Marian,

Happy birthday to you!

Other cafe-goers clap as the song finishes, and Marian fights the urge to bury her face in her hands and laugh and strangle Vadelma and Whinter and Logan and cry with gratitude all at once.

"Thank you," she giggles, wondering if her face has ever been redder in her entire life. "You idiots."

"You're welcome, dear," Vadelma beams. "Try the cake!"

"We all worked very hard on it," Whinter says solemnly, and Vadelma must jab him in the back with her nails, because he lets out a yelp and Logan snickers at the spectacle.

The cake is beautiful. It has three layers and light blue icing slathered generously all over the top and sides, piped with darker blue waves that flow gracefully around the outside. There are rainbow sprinkles on top, which Marian guesses is the aforementioned hard work that Logan and Whinter said they put into it.

"The icing has lavender in it," Vadelma adds. "We thought you might need it."

Marian smiles like an idiot. She has the best teammates in the world, even if they embarrass her to death sometimes.

"I'll have some, but everyone else has to have some, too." she concedes. "This is way too big to eat by myself. Besides, it'll taste better if I can share it with all of you."

———

[awriterorsomething]

The Carnival

It was that time of year again. The leaves were changing colour, the air was getting cooler, and every store you walked into had a seasonal section; filled with scary masks and black and orange decor. It was the best time of the year. Molly Thatcher was convinced that the feeling you get when that first cool breeze hits you was the best feeling in the world. During these autumn months, she would be thriving. She would watch all the scary movies, drink all the hot chocolate and cider, and spend her free time enjoying the weather.

Molly was sixteen years old. She lived with her mother; her father passed away when she was a baby, and she had no siblings. She was homeschooled, and all her friends lived in a different city, ever since her mother forced her to move to where they were now. She was an introverted girl, to say the least.

One afternoon when Molly was going through the news section of her internet browser, she noticed a short article saying there was going to be a fall carnival coming to town, starting that weekend. There was rarely news about where she lived, so this was surprising to begin with, but a carnival? She thought that was ridiculous, in the best possible way.

On the opening day of the carnival, Molly woke up early, showered, scarfed down breakfast, and biked as fast as she could to the spot where everything was being held at. She was thoroughly excited. She only wished her friends could be there with her.

As soon as she got there she locked up her bike and ran inside. It was a Halloween wonderland — it was everything she had hoped for.

The smell of carnival food and decaying leaves settled underneath her nose. The different sounds of the games and rides were echoing throughout the park. Every direction she looked there were people dressed in, surprisingly well-made, costumes. She saw vampires, werewolves, witches, clowns, and much more. A huge smile widened across her face. It had been a while since she felt this happy.

Molly spent the entire day going on rides and eating junk food. She watched all the characters interacting with everyone, and laughed from a distance whenever they would give someone a scare. Nothing really scared her, not anymore at least. She grew up on horror movies and chilling stories written up on the internet, and she enjoyed reading up on the folklore surrounding different types of monsters.

As she sat down to take a rest, one of the characters had sat beside her. It was a man dressed as a vampire.

“Hello Miss,” he said, showing off his pointed teeth.

“Oh, hi.”

“I noticed you watching my friends and I scaring the kiddies around the park, you like scaring people?” he asked, his voice low.

Molly felt a little uncomfortable, but she thought, they were in a public place, and this guy was probably just trying to do his job, so it was probably safe.

“Yeah, I guess so… being scared is fun, especially knowing it’s all fake.” She took a sip of the drink she had sitting next to her — her taste buds danced as soon as the pumpkin spiced beverage washed over them.

“Interesting,” the vampire said, with what seemed to be an impressed look on his face.

He continued, “how would you like to see our night show? It’s kind of like, a VIP only event, and I have a feeling you’d have a good time.” He smiled at her, showing his teeth again.

She gave an unsure smile back. “Um…”

“I don’t need an answer right now, I’ll let you think about it. You still have some time before the sun starts hiding.” He got up from his spot next to her, “either way, go have some fun. I hope we see you later,” he said, then brought his cape in front of his face with one arm, and winked. Molly laughed as he proceeded to walk away.

By the time it was time to close up the carnival, she decided she would take the offer, and stick around. So, she went to find the vampire. It wasn’t long before she did though, he was standing near the exit, giving people one last scare before they went home.

“Hey!” she called.

The vampire noticed her and smiled, “you decide to join us?”

“Yes! Thanks for inviting me, I just can’t get enough of this place,” she exclaimed.

“Neither can I,” he said.

After a few more minutes of saying goodbye to the guests, he took Molly to a large tent near the middle of the park. As they walked in, Molly noticed that there were two other people there. They sat in foldable chairs in front of a small stage.

“Go on, find yourself a seat. The show will soon begin.”

Molly counted three rows of six chairs, and she chose to sit right in the front. She wanted the best view she could get. The other two kids, both boys a bit younger than Molly, were sat one row behind her, though they weren’t sitting next to each other.

She eagerly waited for the show to start.

Before long, the lights closed in on the stage, and Molly started clapping; she was the only one doing so.

The vampire walked out onto the stage.

“Welcome!”

Molly ceased her applause. She felt like the only guest in the room.

“I’ve brought you here tonight because I could tell that you were special. You love fear just as much as we do, and we thought, what a way to celebrate than to throw our own little party!” He held out his arms, showing off the width of his wondrous black and red cape.

“Are you ready for a show?” he asked the small audience.

Molly nodded her head excitedly.

“Let’s begin!” The curtain closed, and the lights went out for only a second before moving over the seats.

Before the show really began, a vendor dressed as a mime came by and gave each of the kids a small bag of popcorn, and a stick of cotton candy. No charge. Soon after, the lights went out again and the curtain opened up.

Standing on the stage was a woman dressed as a witch. She had a cauldron standing in front of her and she was stirring it. Smoke seeped out from inside the pot, and you could hear whatever was inside bubbling.

“Good evening children. As you can see, I’ve brewed up something special for our special guests.” She stopped stirring and put one finger into the liquid, she lifted it to her mouth and tasted it. “Mmm, that does taste divine, would anyone like to volunteer to be my judge?”

Molly shot her hand up.

“Hmm, what about you, dear?” The witch pointed to one of the boys sitting behind Molly.

Molly’s face dropped in disappointment. The witch saw this and nodded at her as she gestured the boy to come onto the stage. Molly smiled.

The boy made his way onto the stage without a word.

“Now, I hope you’re ready for the treat of a lifetime. This recipe is over a hundred years old!”

The boy grinned, and the witch poured some of the liquid into a cup using a ladle that was previously set beside the cauldron.

“There you go, take a nice big drink,” she said, exposing rotted teeth.

He put the cup to his mouth and slowly starting sipping. The more he drank the better it started to taste, and he downed the entire thing.

“Wow! That was great! Thanks!” His voice was childlike.

“Would you like some more?” the witch asked, handing him another cup she had filled while he was drinking the last one.

“Oh, yes please!” He grabbed the cup and gulped it down. “That was almost better than the first—”

He froze. His eyes were wide and distant.

In a split second, he transformed into a small goat.

Molly gasped, but she started clapping out of amazement. This was the best magic trick she had ever seen. She wondered how the witch pulled it off.

The other boy in the audience slowly started clapping as well, although he felt unsure about the whole thing.

The witch bowed, then put a leash on the goat and walked off the stage with it. The curtain closed again.

Not long after, another show began. This time a clown stepped onto the stage, and he brought a large spinning wheel with him.

“Hi there, kids! Nice t’meet ya!” He took a frivolous bow, then gestured toward the wheel, “would anyone like to come up here and try out my wheel of fun? I’ll strap ya in real tight so ya won’t come spinning off!” he chuckled.

Molly raised her hand again, stretching as high as she could, but the clown looked past her.

“You in the back… yes, you… come up here young man!”

“I… I don’t know…” said the boy.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” the clown insisted.

The boy stood up cautiously and made his way to the stage. He was nervous — you could tell by the way his hand was shaking when he reached for the railing alongside the steps that led to the stage.

Molly was starting to feel frustrated. Why would they invite her if they were just going to ignore her? She kept thinking to yourself. She became so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t realize they already strapped the boy onto the wheel and started spinning it. She snapped out of her trance when she heard the clown let out a roaring laugh.

“Oh, what fun! Isn’t this so fun?” The clown turned to Molly and saw she wasn’t as happy as she was when she first got there. He frowned and turned back to the spinning boy, who was now yelling, but it was hard to differentiate between it being a fearful or an excited type of yell. It didn’t really matter anyway, not to the clown at least. He was too upset to care, and he was determined to make Molly happy again. With his back still facing her, he took three silver objects out of his back pocket.

Molly curiously adjusted in her seat when she saw whatever was glimmering against the lights above.

The clown took two steps back, raised his hand full of the shining objects, and threw them directly at the spinning wheel. Molly flinched, as the boy abruptly stopped yelling. Then the wheel began slowing down.

“Ta-da!” The clown turned around and took a bow.

As the wheel came to a complete stop, Molly saw what had been done.

She aggressively stood up from her chair, spilling her popcorn all over the floor in the process. “What did you do?! You killed him!” she yelled while gesturing towards the stage.

The boy, still safely strapped in, had three knives sticking out of his torso; small pools of blood surrounded each one, staining his fall themed shirt.

The rest of the characters started walking onto the stage, all of them with a confused look on their faces.

“We were just having fun… I thought you liked fun…” the clown said, frowning. A woman dressed as a werewolf put her hand on the clown’s shoulder to try to comfort him.

“Fun?! You’re all insane!” Molly started running away from the stage, but before she could make it to the exit, all the lights went out, and someone grabbed her from behind.

Molly woke up in a small room, surrounded by too many characters to count. They were all leering over her, waiting for her to come back to consciousness.

“Where am I?” she asked, still in a daze.

She was sitting on the floor, and tried moving, but they had her in what seemed to be a straight jacket.

“Let me out of here! Let me go!” She was struggling now.

“Oh, we can’t do that… you’ve seen too much,” said the vampire, as he pushed his way through the crowd of people.

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” she pleaded.

Ignoring Molly’s efforts to convince them, the vampire said, “it’s such a shame… we all thought you were the one; that you were different. I guess not.”

“What are you talking about? You killed that boy! And what happened to the other one?!”

The vampire laughed, “I thought you liked fear, Miss Molly. Don’t you like watching people get scared?”

“That’s not fear, that’s murder! You’re all murderers!” she screamed.

All the characters seemed to laugh now, and as they did that, Molly started to see their true forms. They were all disgusting, dirty, and real. She could really see it now. She didn’t know why she couldn’t before, she thought they were all actors, but the only act they put on was disguising who they really were. The werewolf was slobbering and growling; the clown had blood red eyes and sharpened teeth; the witch’s skin was bubbling with warts; and the vampire (the ring leader) now had pointed ears, the skin of a corpse, and long fangs dripping with saliva. She couldn’t believe it. All the stories she read, the movies she saw, and the research — it was all real.

Through the growling, moaning, and laughing, she could barely hear herself crying.

“Are you scared, Molly?” the vampire asked, now with a significant accent, as if he just stuffed a wad of cotton into his mouth.

She didn’t respond.

“Let’s get to the point: Molly, we can’t let you leave now. We were never going to let you leave, if I’m being honest. We thought you would want to stay, but now — unfortunately — we have to do this the hard way.” The vampire leaned toward Molly, and she turned away from him. She could smell his rancid, coppery breath.

He continued, “we want you to join us, Molly. We want you to be one of us. You could scare people forever,” he flicked one of his fangs with his thumb and winked at her. “We really do think you’re special. Those other two were just for show, we knew we wanted you, but we needed some volunteers to prove to you that you’d enjoy our work… though, I suppose you didn’t enjoy it,” he scowled. “That doesn’t matter though, I know eventually you will like it, or else we’ll just have to kill you!” he laughed, and everyone else laughed with him; the room was booming with noise.

“No… please don’t. I don’t want to stay here, I want to go home…” she wept.

“Oh, that’s another thing, if you refuse to join us, we’ll have to go after your mother, too It’s just a formality,” he shrugged.

“What?! Stay away from her!” Molly screamed, struggling to break free of the jacket.

“We’ve done this sort of thing before, we don’t mind doing it again.”

Some of the other monsters started cheering.

Molly was sobbing, her tears leaving miniature puddles on the floor.

“It’s okay, if you join us you won’t have to worry about anything ever again. We’ll protect you, and your mother will be safe. We can even give her some good luck, isn’t that right my witchy friend?” He turned to the witch from the stage show.

“Oh yes, my girls and I could most definitely do that,” she said with enthusiasm.

“See? Everything’s fine — everything will be fine, I promise.”

Molly looked up, rubbing tears out of her eyes; her sixteen years of life flashed before them. She saw her mother, her friends, and the sadness that loomed over her; something she never really noticed, until now. She didn’t want to be sad anymore, and she didn’t want her mother to be sad anymore, either. Maybe this would be a good thing, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

She sat there, sniffling and thinking.

“Well…?”

“Fine. Fine, okay? Fine!” she blurted out.

“Really?! Huh, that was easy. I knew there was something about you.” he said, smiling bigger than ever.

She surprised herself when she agreed.

There was no turning back.

Molly was nineteen now. It had been about three years since she was recruited. Since then, a lot had changed. One of her friends in the carnival had altered her mother’s memory so that it was like Molly never existed; the same with all of her friends from back home. Molly was like a ghost now, but she was surprisingly happy. She wasn’t at first, that was for sure. She spent countless nights crying and regretting her decision; she missed her mom and her old life. But eventually, she decided it was time to toughen up. The vampire who brought her into the community promised to turn her once she was of age, so they waited until she was eighteen to do so. Since then, she’s been very well fed, and she’s been having more than enough fun. Her love for scaring people really did flourish after joining the others. The vampire was right, she would learn to enjoy all of it, even the murderous parts. Her life was better than it had ever been before. She didn’t know that this was what she needed until it happened to her.

And soon it would be her turn to start recruiting.

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[2ndaryreactsandscenarios]

Finding The Magnificent (Chapters 5 & 6), Seventeen Mafia AU/ Happy Halloween!

Who’s ready for the next part of Finding the Magnificent!

First and foremost, a HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all you lovely ghouls and humans out there! I hope you are all safe on this wonderful Halloween. 

Second, I present another part to the Finding the Magnificent Series! You can find the links to the first two parts below at these links:

Part 1 (Chapters 1 & 2): 

  Finding the Magnificent (Seventeen Mafia AU) Part 1

Part 2 (Chapters 3 & 4): 

 Finding the Magnificent (Seventeen Mafia AU) Part 2

Now without further ado, I present the next part of the series. I will throw out this little note as the author, that I may feel subject to change somethings around story wise and may update chapters now and then. I will usually give a heads up if I decide to do so though. Thanks for listening to me babble. Have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night wherever in the world and whenever in time you may and now, here is the next chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Easy Fish

Dino walked into the police station and into the cell room. He walked past all sorts of drunks and people begging innocence. He stopped at one of the rooms, in the depths of the station. In the cell was a man with his back hunched. When he heard Dino’s footsteps, he threw his head up. He raced up to the cell bars.

“Okay, look officer. Don’t you think this is a bit extreme for a little speeding? I was just a smidge faster than I should have been. I admit that was my fault, but come on. You can’t just chase me down and lock me up because I didn’t pay.”

“Actually we can, Jun. This isn’t your first time speeding, or getting a speeding ticket. You’ve gotten multiple this week alone, and you have paid any of the ones you got this entire month.”

Jun shrugged his shoulders and gave Dino puppy eyes.

“It’s not my fault the speed limit is dumb and so low. Come on~!”

“What if I offered you a way out?”

Jun peeked at Dino. “I’m listening.”

“A job. Where you're a driver. You do the jobs right, and you get off scot free. Sound good?”

Jun laughed. “And if I refuse? Not that I’m refusing.”

“Then I leave you in this hole to rot.”

Jun shivered playfully at the words. “Oh~ Scary! Wouldn’t expect that from such a young cop! Something tells me you don’t like being a part of whatever you’re a part of.”

“And you won’t either.” Dino opened the cell and motioned for him to come out.

“Oh, so I just come out. Like the cameras won’t pick me up?”

“You’ll be fine. Someone is hacking them for us. As far as they know you’re still bellowing in your cell.”

“Ooooh, I like this. It’s like a spy movie or something! Awesome… Hey, just so you know I wasn’t bellowing...”

The8 was scoping the area from the rooftop in the dead of night. He had a week to get the people on his list done and killed, and he had one score left. A nice bow on top. A low life, but with a small bounty on his head.

“Umm, what are you doing~?”

Without turning around, The8 reached for the gun in his back pocket. Unfortunately, he came up empty. He looked to see it was gone, and looked up to see Hoshi holding it.

“Wah, this is so scary. Isn’t it scary?” Hoshi pointed the gun at The8. The8 sucked in and held his arms up.

“Who do you work for?” The8 asked.

“I don’t know yet. But, they want me to come and get you. They need you for a job.”

The8 groaned at him. “So does everyone else, get in line. I’m busy.”

“Sorry, but that wasn’t a request really.”

The8 glared at Hoshi who smiled at him. “They said if you don’t come to just leak your location to the cops.”

The8 laughed. “You really think they can catch me?”

“Well, it’s hard to run when you're dead. I’m just following orders. Come on, just come so I don’t have to shoot a gun.”

The8 sighed before looking at his setup. “What’s in it for me?”

“What do you earn doing this? The same thing, except buckets more of it!”

The8 pondered this before smiling at Hoshi.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Hoshi nudged his shoulder. However, once Hoshi nudged him, The8 grabbed the gun from Hoshi and aimed it at him. Hoshi opened his eyes wide in surprise and slowly held his hands up, angry with himself. The8 sighed and lowered the gun.

“It’s no fun killing the messenger. But, I suppose I’m interested.”

“Um, I’m a part of the team too…”

“Really? Aren’t you a little careless for this sort of work?”

“I’ll have you know I’ve successfully robbed banks all over the place! I even took your gun a minute ago…” Hoshi mumbled out his defense.

Hoshi frowned as The8 returned to his sniper rifle. He looked through and waited till he saw his target. His target, a middle aged man, looked successful and in good health. He was walking with a woman, arms linked together.

“Is there a point to doing this anymore? I just told you about a bigger and better job! Just leave him.”

He pulled the trigger and the target was down. Screams filled the streets below. Hoshi flinched at the coldness of The8 as he joined him with his gear packed.

“That man, was with his mistress. At least that was what I was told. I guess it doesn’t matter. Regardless, I’ve gotten my money tonight. That way I have something to show for the evening in case you waste my time with this.”

Sirens soon echoed the streets. But by the time that all happened, both The8 and Hoshi were long gone.

Joshua arrived at the pub in a snazzy suit and tie. As he entered the bar he saw nothing but the wealthiest of partiers. He walked past them and sat in front of the bar table. He turned in his chair to take a look at the partiers of the evening. While most of the people were drunkenly talking to one another there were two people of interest around, Joshua thought to himself.

“Welcome sir. Can I get you anything?” Joshua turned and glanced at the bartender. Make that three people, he thought.

“A water please.”

As Mingyu walked away from him, Joshua looked at the other people of interest. One was lounging around with the wealthy, and the other was laughing with the wealthy. Joshua laughed at this, because he knew neither of the two were even close to wealthy. Mingyu placed the water on the table and glanced at Joshua.

“Any concerns tonight sir?”

“I’m dying to know when the life of the party will get here.”

“Excuse for imposing dear sir--”

“Please do. Enlighten me.”

“Those two men you’ve been staring at so intently are the life of the party. One is a well known MC of the area, and the other has connections all over the city. The reason why people are here is because of them, sir.”

Joshua hummed in response, never once taking his eyes off of the two men.

“Hmm. I see. So you know a thing or two. Too bad I know a little more than you do.”

“What do you mean sir?”

Joshua pouted his lip before leaning back against the bar. “It’s still boring don’t you think? Everyone is getting drunk now.”

“I suppose you are right sir.”

“Your name is Mingyu? You can call me Joshua, no need for the over the top formal stuff.”

“I couldn’t sir--”

“So Mingyu--”

Joshua leaned his head back far enough to make eye contact with Mingyu.

“Should I help make this place a bit more fun?”

Before Mingyu could inquire to what Joshua meant, a gunshot broke through a nearby window, quickly sobering up the guests.

“Aww, you didn’t hit anyone!” Hoshi yelled in The8’s ear while they were on a building with a clear view of the scene.

“You told me to make a scene, not to kill anyone!” The8 yelled at him.

“Shut it you two. Make sure they don’t leave!”

As the room was stampeding to leave the establishment, The8 fired more shots to speed the process up. Joshua had turned to face Mingyu at the bar who stood there with a frightened expression. Mingyu wanted to run, but his feet wouldn’t let him.

“I’m glad you aren’t trying to run or something. Then I’d have to actually use this thing.”

Joshua opened his jacket to reveal the gun stashed away.

“They aren’t really my thing.”

Mingyu felt a cold sweat form over Joshua’s nonchalance.

Once the room cleared and the shots stopped, the security doors shut in the establishment.

“No no no, wait some people are still inside!!!” Vernon ran up to and banged on the security door.

“Careful. You set off the alarm and the police will swarm the place. We'll all end up in prison.”

Seungkwan paled at the mention of the word.

“B-But we didn't even do anything wrong!”

Before Joshua got the chance, a laugh echoed the room. Hoshi and The8 walked in from behind the counter. “What a load of garbage. Hey everybody, clap, clap!”

“How is it even possible that your here right now?” Joshua mused.

“You should look at The8’s tech. We used it to get here. I don't even know how we're here right now. Maybe I'm dead… Am I dead, Joshua?”

“I’m starting to wish you were…” The8 sighed.

“Is this where the party is at??!” Jun entered from the opposite side of the bar and Dino followed behind him.

“You brought a cop to this?!” The8 reached for his gun only to feel an empty place. He whipped his head to Hoshi who held the gun up and smiled coyly.

“It’s okay, he’s one of ours.” Hoshi smiled.

“Okay, so you a;; are here.” Joshua ignored Hoshi and The8’s bickering. “But we are still missing a few players.”

“Can someone please tell me what's going on?” Vernon walked up to Joshua.

“Why don’t you take a seat for now kid?”

They all turned to find Woozi with DK behind him.  Despite the obvious height difference, DK seemed so much smaller compared to Woozi, who seemed to tower over him. Not only over DK, but over everyone.

“Everyone, take a seat. We should all get on the same page.”

Chapter 6: The Flush

In the center of the room there were two sets of curved couches. On one sat Dino, Hoshi, The8, Joshua, and Jun. On the other sat DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Mingyu. While one couch seemed to be relaxed and at ease, the other seemed tense and worried for their fate. In front of both couches stood Woozi, who seemed uninterested by every single person in front of him. He took a breathe, and then he spoke.

“Some of you know why you are here. Some of you don’t. It doesn’t really matter I guess. I’ll explain it simply. You are all going to be a part of a crew. This crew will execute high stake mission with a handsome reward in it for you if you succeed. The reason you were all selected for this little group is because you all have some dirt on you and provide some use to us.”

They all looked away in shame. All except Vernon. He raised his hand.

“Umm… I don’t know what kind of people you all are, but I haven’t done anything illegal. I’m just a normal guy.”

“I guess you still believe that even though you’re sitting here with us.”

Woozi walked over to the couch of people who seemed tense. He looked at Vernon.

“Vernon. You know everyone and their mother. You have friends all over the place. And some of those friends of yours have less than respectable jobs. You connect them to where they need to go, and they keep treating you nice. Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You act like a nice guy, but in truth you’re just as bad as the rest of us. To save your own skin you throw your connections under the bus, and when the dust clears and the cops arrive you run. You get away with it over and over again. So I guess you can consider this your comeuppance.”

Vernon sighed and crossed his legs.

“I don’t think you get it. I haven’t done anything illegal myself. Why should be punished because of what others did? Even if you force me to help you, don’t think I won’t run the minute things get ugly.”

Woozi stared into Vernon’s eyes and saw nothing but a sincere coldness in them. He smiled at Vernon and leaned in close to his ear.

“Go ahead. Run away like you always have done. Because I swear if you do, you’re fate will be worse than death. You think your ‘old friends’ will let you off easy if they find you?”

Vernon snickered. “Yeah right. They’re all hauled off to jail.”

Woozi stood back and nodded his head. “You know what, you’re right! Dino. Where exactly are his friends?”

“They’re currently underground and in hiding. The police can’t seem to find tabs on them as of this moment.”

Vernon’s confidence seemed to finally fall as panic set into his face. “What do you mean… underground?”

“Exactly what he said. Underground. On the streets. Capable of getting you anytime they want.”

Vernon started to breathe heavily as he started to recall the thugs he double crossed. He was only giving them what they deserved after being their servant for so long. So why does life have to be so unfair? Why punish him for serving them justice they were long overdue?

“Look. For now, your only option is to stick with us. For you, it’s probably your only chance of staying alive.”

Vernon looked at Woozi as he tried to calm himself down. “Justice wasn’t ever going to do anything, so I did. They deserved it…So why am I suddenly the bad one here?”

Woozi looked at Vernon coldly as he walked past him to Seungkwan.

“Because it’s the sick world we live in. Even the good get punished like criminals. The only way to survive is to be a good criminal.”

Seungkwan panicked when he saw Woozi glance in his direction.

“Now onto you.”

To Be Continued...