*It’s here, it’s here! It’s FINALLY here! Hooray, hurrah, Hallows’ Eve is here! There are 31 Halloween tales in this story, all of them are my stories that I’ve dreamed up for this year! Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*
Tale One-Better check your candies
Lauriel Loughty put the last of the Halloween candy in the bowl, for the hour was getting late and the children were waiting. From the roof to the floor, her house was covered in Halloween decorations. She herself didn’t care much for the holiday, for there was not much for her to do, but her children did. That was why she always got safe candy and spooky decorations. Halloween was better when everyone was safe and happy!
Her husband, Hendrix, was outside, fixing up the Halloween decorations. Only a few more hours and then everything would be perfect.
Lauriel got out of the kitchen with her bowl of candy and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, careful to not disturb her twelve year old son, Dax, and her six year old daughter, Nola. The both of them were watching Halloween cartoons. In a few hours, her children would leave to go Trick-or-Treating. In a few hours, she would have to give out candy to other people’s kids. In a few hours, everything would change.
In fact, it was the first night that Lauriel let her kids go Trick-or-Treating by themselves. Dax was old enough to take Nola, so she wasn’t too nervous about it. The both of them were good at listening, they knew what was right and wrong.
“Since we’re going by ourselves, why don’t we go to the house that has all of the creepy decorations? A house with scary decorations always has the best candy!” Dax said with excitement in his voice.
Lauriel couldn’t help but smile as she opened the door and placed the candy bowl outside. She’d sit on a chair next to the candy, of course, so that there wouldn’t be any funny business. But that wouldn’t be until a few hours later. For the moment, she would fiddle with Jack-o-Lantern streamers in the house so that she’d overhear her kids. What? Their conversations were funny.
“But aren’t they going to kill us? My friends said that the house is full of creepy weirdos who like to put razor blades in candy! I don’t want to die!” Nola cried out, her voice shaking with terror.
Ah, poor Nola! Bless her little innocent heart, she was scared of Halloween decorations! But it was very wise of her to be worried about razor blade candies, because that could happen at any time. It was good to be cautious.
“No, Nola. They’re just people. Nobody has ever died like that. Your friends are just trying to scare you, don’t listen to them.” Dax said reassuringly.
Lauriel frowned a bit. While she was glad that Dax was attempting to comfort Nola, but his words were wrong. Anybody could die from razor blade candy. That was what she and Hendrix learned while growing up.
“But everybody says-“
“Think about it. Really think about it. Every year you hear people tell you to check your candies for razor blades. But do you ever hear of anybody dying from it? No, you don’t. That’s because it’s a myth. You have nothing to worry about. It’s too outrageous for that to happen in real life.” Dax said nonchalantly.
Lauriel’s good-natured mood went out faster than the devil could make a deal. That did it! How could Dax say something so naive? How could he just lie to Nola like that? Razor blade candies were a real thing that everyone should have feared.
“Why do you say that, Dax? Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. Maybe it’s happened and you didn’t even know about it.” Lauriel said as she turned around, hands on her hips.
Dax’s eyes had flecks of boredom in them, but they were on the edge of anger. He was about to yell if the conversation went any further and Lauriel wasn’t in the mood to deal with that.
“Why do you care? I just don’t want her to be worried about something that might not even happen.” Dax said with a shrug.
Why did she care? Why did she care? Because it was taught to her for her whole life! Because it was the truth! Because how could he just say that it wasn’t real when it could one day become real?
But before Lauriel could say another word, there was a knock on the door. Hendrix opened it, but through the door’s open crack, Lauriel overheard him giving a child a piece of candy before heading inside.
Nola grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. The knock from the Trick-or-Treater was the signal for her and Dax to leave for their own candy adventures.
On they went, Dax in his grim reaper costume, Nola in her ghost princess costume, the two of them dressed up as beings greater than them.
They were still children underneath the face paint. They were still children who didn’t know any better, who needed to learn…but how?
……………………………………………………..
Lauriel spent most of the Halloween night absolutely miserable, lamenting in her mind on how her children didn’t listen. She listlessly gave out candy to the children who didn’t even bother to ask if she was okay, who were too wrapped in their own joy to even care.
Hendrix had asked to take her place numerous times, but she declined, for she did not feel like getting up from her chair, from losing sight of all of the children who didn’t even have a speck of fear in their eyes, so unlike her generation.
Once the sky was beginning to grow dark and her candy bowl was sparse, Lauriel called it a night and headed inside.
Hendrix was sitting on the couch, watching some kind of a movie about a mother who was crazy but who turned out to not be crazy but maybe actually was crazy. The movie was under the genre of “psychological horror” and there were trailers of it constantly being overplayed. It was supposed to be “disturbing” but it was really just confusing.
Hendrix patted an empty seat next to him and Lauriel sat herself down on the spot, eating what little candy was left and paying no attention to the movie.
Why did horror movies show parents as villains? All they wanted to do in life was protect their children and give them lives that were worth living. That wasn’t an easy thing to do. People acted like parents didn’t have dreams of their own, like they weren’t once wide-eyed children who weren’t afraid of what the world had to say. Of course Lauriel loved her children, but sometimes, it just felt like she was wasting her life. Hendrix felt it too, he talked about it with her.
What was the point of raising kids if they wouldn’t listen? If they were so determined to go out and mess things up all because of something they felt for a few seconds? Lauriel only wanted to do what was best for them but they would look at her like she was a monster. Something that should be locked in a dungeon and forbidden from speaking, because her words “hurt them”.
Razor blades were small. Easy to hide in candies. It wasn’t completely out of the question for someone to hide razor blades in there.
“Hendrix? Can I ask you something?” Lauriel asked. Her voice had a sleepy cadence to it from being out on the chair at the front porch, but she wasn’t going to let her tiredness win. She couldn’t afford to sleep when there were important things to do.
“Sure, honey. What is it? Do you want me to turn off the TV? I can do that if you’re tired. We’ll just wait for the kids to come back and then we’ll all get ready for bed. I can snuggle you while you sleep. Would you like that? You just seem out of it right now.” Hendrix said, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.
Lauriel shook her head, a smile and a slight blush creeping up on her face. He helped to make her feel slightly better, but her idea would lift her mood tremendously.
“No, it’s not that. It’s about the kids. Before they left, Dax was telling Nola not to worry about razor blade candy. He said it was a myth. Can you believe that? Razor blade candy, a myth?” Lauriel said.
Hendrix shook his head and grinned the kind of smile that was more gritting his teeth than smiling.
“He told Nola that? Really? I thought that he would know better than to do that. Dax actually talked about it with me when I picked him up from school. He said that his teacher told him that. I tried to tell him that teachers don’t know everything, but he didn’t listen! He kept going on and on! At least Nola just talked to me about Halloween crafts. He went on a whole shtick about how “adults were trying to scare kids with lies”. “ Hendrix said, huffing in annoyance.
“I know! He’s disrespecting us! Remember when we were kids? When our parents were warning us? We didn’t like hearing them talk about it, but it was for our own good. He needs to learn. They both need to learn. Pretty soon, Nola might be that way. She’ll start thinking highly of herself and that’s not good for her health. They have to learn their lessons or else they will be hurt.” Lauriel said.
Hendrix leaned back on the couch, his brown eyes glittering with curiosity and a question. There were slight wrinkles under his eyes and his stubble was beginning to gray, but Lauriel didn’t mind. Their bodies may have been growing older, but the love was still there.
“How are we going to get them to listen to us?” Hendrix asked.
Lauriel beamed, her tiredness slipping away. Anytime he wanted to hear her out was a good day, for over the years, she had truly felt connected to him. Good thing that “anytime” happened to be “every day”!
“Razor blades aren’t that hard to hide. What if we each slipped one into a bar of candy and handed it to them? If they’re still alive we’ll rush them to the hospital and then they’ll have learned their lesson. They’ll be more cautious. If they die, then we’ll just tell everybody in town that razor blade candies killed them and then everyone will be vigilant on Halloween. Besides, we’ll have more time to ourselves. Remember how wonderful life was before the kids?” Lauriel asked.
He didn’t say a word, he kept his eyes steadily on the screen. The mother on the TV was going on a race of mismatched words, her voice on the verge of tears. For a moment, she wondered if Hendrix would leave her. If he would condemn her for saying such words.
But then, he flashed her the full, wide, white smile of his youth and pulled her close, showering her face with kisses.
“I love it! Lauriel, by god, that just might work!” He cheered between the kisses.
Lauriel giggled for the first time in a long time. She hadn’t been kissed like that from him in years, as they had grown too busy for such things. But then, why was she worried about his reaction at all? He was first and foremost her biggest supporter. There was nothing she could ever do to make him stop loving her. He said so in his vows.
Finally, things were looking up.
……………………………………………………..
A few minutes later, Dax and Nola got home with bulging bags of candy and huge smiles on their faces. Nola had excitedly told Lauriel and Hendrix about how Dax was right, how the candy wasn’t full of razor blades at all, but Lauriel and Hendrix gently told them both that they hadn’t checked yet, and that it was the “parents’ job to make sure”.
The kids rolled their eyes, but the parents made them hand it over. Lauriel turned on the TV to a Halloween cartoon special so that the children would be distracted.
Once they were in the kitchen, they each took out a random chocolate bar and unwrapped it, both of them sliding their own razor blades from the bathroom into the bar, ever so surprised at how effortlessly it was done. Of course, they had cleaned the blades beforehand. They weren’t disgusting.
They had both walked into the living room with the candy bars, Lauriel announcing to the children that they could eat one candy bar before bed, the first time it was ever done.
The parents handed the puzzled kids the bars and since the children didn’t bother to check, they choked on the candy, their eyes full of pure frenzied fright, for they never imagined such a thing to happen.
Lauriel told police later that somebody in the neighborhood must have put the razor blades in the candy. They searched in all of the houses, including in the Loughty family house, but found nothing. It was a good thing that Lauriel reminded Hendrix to put the spare blades in the razors so that things wouldn’t look too weird.
It was quite a beautiful thing that she had thought everything through, because after that one Halloween, parents and children alike feared razor blade candies. They were treating it as how it was supposed to be treated! With trembling terror!
With the children gone, Lauriel and Hendrix didn’t have to worry about anything. They had each other and their values, no children to stain either.
Maybe in another world, they would have been a close-knit family. But no matter! There was no love stronger than high school sweetheart love.
With the children gone, Lauriel and Hendrix could have fun on Halloween, just like they used to!
Lauriel cared about Halloween again.
Tale Two-Nothing a good day at the petting zoo can’t fix
Brixley chewed the eraser on the top of her pencil. She had a good ghost story right there, but how would she end it? What would be the perfect ending that would really wow her english teacher?
An idea blossomed in her mind. Of course! The ghost girl would have a Halloween party at her house! It was a cute and funny ending, perfect for Halloween!
Brixley got to writing, her heart beating with joy. The good thing about Halloween was that ideas flowed out of her easier, as though the plastic decorations and cheap costumes was enough to fill her with life.
Right next to her, she overheard her friend group talk amongst themselves, ignoring the writing assignment that they were supposed to do. They were all going to the movie theater to watch a horror movie. They did it every year for Halloween, never once asking Brixley if she would like to come. It wasn’t like she was upset with them or anything. She usually spent Halloween with her family at a local event. Sometimes her boyfriend tagged along.
But it would be nice if they asked her. If they included her in something. She knew that she wasn’t exactly the most social one out of them all but that didn’t mean that she didn’t want to have fun once in a while.
Brixley handed the looseleaf paper to her english teacher, Ms. Mancini, and then went off to her friend group.
It wouldn’t hurt her to ask, would it?
“Can I come to the movies with you?” Brixley asked.
Her four friends, Darya, Fia, Cuan, and Ryu stared up at her as though she had transformed into an unsightly creature. What? All she wanted to do was go to the movies? What was the big deal?
“No. It’s too scary for you. You’ll get nightmares.” Darya said.
Nightmares? Was she for real? Brixley watched horror movies from time to time, just not every horror movie.
“It’s not going to be too scary for me. I like horror movies! Besides, aren’t horror movies supposed to scare people? Can’t I come with you guys?” Brixley asked.
Her friends exchanged looks with each other. Looks that said there was something deep shared between, something that Brixley wasn’t let in on.
“You wouldn’t understand. You’re too innocent. This horror thing is our thing. You would just cry constantly. Remember last time?” Fia asked.
It wasn’t like she was being rude or anything. It was the truth, but it didn’t mean that Brixley didn’t like horror movies. She just felt for all of the characters. Sometimes she even felt for the antagonist, if they were sympathetic enough. Her feelings added to the experience.
“You think I’ll ruin it?” Brixley asked, trying to keep the anger away from her tone.
But seriously, how could they ever think that she wouldn’t “get it”?
“Don’t take it personally. You wouldn’t ruin it, it’s just not for you.” Cuan said with a smile, as if he were trying to dissuade any worries.
“You can come with us when we’re doing anything else. Just not this one thing. Trust me, this is for your own good.” Ryu added.
“For her own good”. Did he really need to say that? As though she were a child who would break into tears at any second.
Her friends went right back to their conversation, all of them huddled around Darya’s desk. They didn’t glance in Brixley’s direction, for in their eyes, the matter was settled.
Brixley would never, ever be invited to watch a horror movie with them.
…………………………………………………….
As Brixley walked home from school, she tried her best to look at the bright side of things. The Halloween decorations were up, the little kids would be out Trick-or-Treating soon, the leaves had all dried up into calm browns and blazing reds.
But with every decorated house that she passed, Brixley was reminded that her friends didn’t even want to celebrate Halloween with her. What? Did they always think that she was too much? Did they even like hanging out with her? Did-
There was only one house in the neighborhood that wasn’t decorated. Her boyfriend’s house. Fabian’s house.
He himself adored the holiday, but his parents didn’t believe in it. They claimed that it was a “devil day” and didn’t want anything to do with it. Of course, they also prayed for Fabian too, from how he dressed like a ghoul and from how he sang as though he had a thousand voices.
Speaking of which, Brixley could hear him singing in his garage, his gargling voice amplified by the microphone. Though she didn’t understand a single word in his songs, she got the gist of them all. Every single one of his songs had something to do with blood and guts.
But he wasn’t all that bad. Those were just his songs.
Brixley opened up the fence door and walked inside. She’d watch Fabian for a few minutes and then she would leave to go home. Her family was waiting.
Brixley walked down the stone path and into the cabin-like garage, where Fabian’s black lipstick smeared mouth slightly spread into a smile as he sang.
In a way, his strangled, “demonic” voice was adorable. Fabian’s singing voice was that of a little goblin who just wanted a kiss!
Brixley unfolded a rusted old folding chair and sat down, taking in every detail of Fabian. His green eyes lined by sharp eyeliner. His white and black painted face. How he dressed in rips and tears. How he had acrylic claws and sharp teeth dentures. How he dressed like a steak knife personified.
How he didn’t seem to care what others thought.
After Fabian was done with his song, he walked up to Brixley and asked:
“What’s wrong?”
Contrary to his singing, his voice was soft and smooth, like caramel and chocolate candies.
But she couldn’t get swept away by his voice. She couldn’t let him worry.
“Nothing is wrong! I just wanted to see you sing.” Brixley said far too quickly for her own liking. Hopefully he wouldn’t prod anymore.
Fabian stared at her, seeming to limit the amount of times that he blinked. Brixley noticed that her legs were crossed as well as her arms, something she only did when thoughts were racing in her mind. He could see it too. He knew what she was feeling.
Yet still, she hoped that he wouldn’t ask.
“Your body is all tense and tight. What’s on your mind?” Fabian asked.
He pulled up another chair and sat in front of her, awaiting for her response. It really wasn’t all that big of a deal and he would probably be annoyed with her, but she couldn’t let it linger any longer. It was rising within her, she had to let it out or else she would be stressed the entire night.
“My friends don’t want me to go watch a horror movie with them at the theater. Ever. They say that I cry too much, that I wouldn’t get it. That I’m “too innocent” or whatever. You know how when something big happens in a movie and I start bawling? My friends don’t like that. It’s not that they’re wrong or anything, and maybe I’m just overreacting, but-“
“You’re not overreacting. They seem to think of you as a little kid, when this is in fact who you are. Are you sure that they are your friends? Do you like hanging out with them?” Fabian asked.
Brixley chewed the bottom of her lip, trying to come up with an answer. Fabian was twirling a strand of his black hair, a sign that he was intently listening, waiting for her answer. His parents didn’t like seeing him do it, as they said that it “ruined his hair” but he always did it naturally, just as Brixley always chewed her the bottom of her lip naturally.
She couldn’t let go of her friends. Sure, they drifted off in groups away from her, but it wasn’t like they were trying to exclude her or anything. They were her friends! To stop being friends with them would greatly hurt their feelings! They didn’t talk to her about certain things, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t important to them, right?
“Tell you what, Brixley. Why don’t I take you to the local petting zoo? It will only be for a few minutes and then I’ll take you back home so that you can hang out with your family. Would you like that? Would you like to have your mind taken out of your friends?” Fabian asked.
Brixley lit up, a smile spreading on her face. She uncrossed her arms and legs, shards of hope cutting away her inner despair.
“I’ll have to ask my parents, but I’m sure that they’ll let me go!” Brixley beamed.
“Even if they say no, I hope that you will have a Happy Halloween. You deserve it.” Fabian said as he got up from his chair.
He gave Brixley a kiss on her forehead before she got up from her chair. Though he left behind a black lipstick stain, she didn’t mind.
It was a reminder that he loved her.
…………………………………………………….
“Can I please go to the local petting zoo? Fabian invited me.” Brixley said.
She had just gotten back home. Her little brother, Amell, was in the living room watching Halloween cartoons, wrapped up in a world of autumn carelessness. Brixley, on the other hand, was in the kitchen with her Dad, who had just filling up the plastic candy bowl. (She washed her forehead first, for she couldn’t have his kiss on her skin forever.)
“Only a few minutes? Did you talk to your Mom about it?” Dad asked.
Brixley shook her head. She hadn’t got to talking to Mom about it yet, but she was going to.
“Honey! Brixley has something to say!” Dad called out.
A few seconds later, Mom came downstairs after having fixed up the upstairs window decorations that everyone passing by would see.
“What is it? What do you want to talk about?” Mom asked, smoothing down her frizzled hair. Every time that she worked on the decorations, she worked so hard that her hair would get all messed up.
“Fabian invited me to the local petting zoo. He said that it would only be for a few minutes. Can I come? I’ll come back just in time to go to the Halloween Festival.” Brixley said.
“If you’ll only be gone for a few minutes, then you can go. If you take too long I’ll call you. Understand?” Mom asked.
Brixley nodded.
“You can go. But come back soon!” Mom said.
As Brixley walked into her room to change into her Halloween costume (so she wouldn’t have to do it when she got back), she promised her parents that she would return, and wished her brother a spooktacular Hallows’ Eve.
Already, she felt her bad mood from school subsiding.
…………………………………………………….
The time had come. Brixley was in the passenger seat of Fabian’s 1950s black Cadillac, dressed in her bloody nurse costume. Fabian was dressed like a plague doctor, complete with the beaked mask. No, his parents didn’t approve.
But who cared? They were going to the petting zoo! They were going to see cute animals! They-
When they arrived, no cars were parked. Nobody was around.
Neither of them said a word. Fabian led Brixley to the inside of the petting zoo, where all of the animals were kept tucked away in their cages. Brixley smiled at how much of cute little potatoes they looked like, especially the bunnies. Even Fabian squealed in excitement!
But still, nobody was around. Usually the petting zoo was packed. Yet for some reason, they were the only living souls there.
“What’s happened? Why is it so quiet?” Brixley asked.
Fabian shrugged. It wasn’t normal for nobody to be around, but maybe it was just an oddly quiet night.
The both of them were about to leave, the fun of having seen small animals fading away, but then, Brixley’s eyes caught upon something quite strange.
It was an abandoned, depleted looking shed, covered from roof to floor in cobwebs. In all of the years that Brixley went to the petting zoo, she never saw that shed before.
“Brixley, what are you doing? Do you really need to go into that shed?” Fabian asked, his voice rising with concern.
“I’m just going to check it out! That’s all!” Brixley said as she opened the door…
And had found a room full of limp bunnies lying on tables, all tied up with cords wires, blood being sucked away.
“What is all of this?” Fabian asked once he joined her.
Brixley didn’t say a word. What was there to say? Dead bunnies were tied to tubes! Their lifeless eyes stared back up at the ceiling, hints of pain, but…
Why? Who would do such a thing? What was the point of it all?
The shed door slammed shut. Brixley jumped, startled by the sudden noise.
But that was all they heard before the dim lights went out. Fabian and Brixley bumped into the different bunny tables, unable to find their way out of the shed.
Then came the change. The agonizing, prolonged change.
Both of them could feel their teeth sharpen, elongate. Fabian’s mask and sharp teeth dentures fell off into the dirt.
While he was used to claws and teeth, Brixley could feel her fear rising up, overtaking her, burning her, and then…
The dim lights went back on, they both had screaming, screeching headaches. The both of them turned around to look at the only mirror that was present. A shattered, broken mirror on the ground.
Brixley screamed, Fabian tried his best to console her.
For staring back at them was none other than two bunny humanoids, complete with wild eyes and protruding ears.
But how, exactly, had the change happened?
Tale Three-The truest of all love
“Would you still love me if I was a worm?” Lindsay asked.
She was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Kyrin’s car. Kyrin was driving her to the school’s Halloween party. Lindsay’s mind was full of excitement for the frightful festivities until that one thought flickered in her mind.
Yes, she knew that the worm question was nothing more than a mindless trend, but still, she sometimes lay awake at night and wondered if anybody really loved her.
Lindsay had long, luscious blond curls, hair that she was proud of. Her face was covered in layers of makeup, makeup that wasn’t really needed since her skin was as clear as the Caribbean Sea, but that she chose to wear because she liked how it amplified her features. She loved bright colors because they brought her comfort. She was a cheerleader and proud of it, for bringing about school spirit in the form of singing and dancing made her feel like she was in a musical.
Lindsay loved who she was, but at the same time, she hated it. She loved talking to people, she loved to see them smile. She never thought of herself as extremely popular, but she knew enough people to be considered popular.
But while she was adored in high school, she was ridiculed in middle school and elementary school. In middle school, she was a lanky theater kid with blistering red acne spots and a nasally voice. Nobody invited her to social events then. In elementary school, she was the theater kid who “cried a ton.”
Lindsay had changed a lot since those times. She learned not to get emotional over certain things. Her acne faded away. She didn’t join the theater.
But it wasn’t like she hated being a cheerleader or she didn’t like wearing makeup. She loved both! In fact, Lindsay wanted to be a cheerleader for the sake of trying something different and she started wearing makeup for herself.
Yet that didn’t mean that she didn’t consider what life would be like if she still was the tearful, pockmarked theater girl of her past. If the people at school only liked her because she was nice to everyone and didn’t share her inner turmoiling, troubling thoughts.
So yes, she wanted to know if Kyrin would still love her as a slimy, struggling Earthworm of the dirt.
Kyrin smiled and shook his head, his greasy, shoulder-length brown hair whipping around his face. He then opened his mouth and said a variation of what he already told her countless times:
“Why do you ask these questions? Of course I’d still love you!”
Lindsay rolled her eyes. No, he still wasn’t getting it. She had fallen for him for his kindness and his good looks, but of course he wouldn’t get it. He was always the “weird kid”. He had red pimples dotting his pale face since the sixth grade, he was as thin and tall as a plastic skeleton decoration. In fact, people described him as a “garbage gremlin” and didn’t understand why Lindsay was with him.
But he didn’t care what they all thought of him. That was what made him all charming and that was why he would never understand what it was like to be her.
“It’s easy for you to say that when there’s a thin chance of me actually turning into a worm. But what if I actually became a worm one day? Would you still love me then? If I didn’t look the way that I do now?” Lindsay.
“Yes! Now, don’t think about it anymore. We’re going to have fun, alright? Fun.” Kyrin emphasized, grinning at her in a good-natured manner.
Lindsay wouldn’t bring it up again, but she was still thinking about it. As she sat in the passenger seat in her bunny Halloween costume, thoughts so unlike her cutesy getup festered in her mind. Kyrin was the only visibly cheery one in the car, humming a cheesy Halloween song to himself as he drove. He, the skeleton with the sunshine demeanor.
It was going to be fun. There was no reason to worry so much, because they were going to a party and parties were places where everybody was happy.
It was going to be fun!
……………………………………………………
When they arrived at the party, Lindsay made the extra effort to be kind to everyone, even Kyrin’s best friend, Peggy, who she was absolutely certain didn’t like her from all of the dirty looks that Peggy would give her.
After a few hours, Lindsay couldn’t take it anymore. She went to the hallway to think for a bit, to have a moment to herself. To breathe.
Goodness, why couldn’t she just be happier? She was at a party, she was supposed to have fun. It was Halloween, the most exciting night of the year, yet she couldn’t even talk to people for a few hours.
“I don’t get why he likes you.” A familiar, ever-so-bothered voice said.
Lindsay looked up from her hands. She didn’t expect Peggy to be in the hallway too, yet there she was in her ghost girl costume, ever so grim and ghastly.
“What’s up?” Lindsay asked, trying to sound as pleasant as she did at the party.
But playing a character wasn’t as fun as it was in theater.
Peggy looked her up and down with a scowl on her face. Lindsay wished so deeply that she could sink away into her flesh, disappear from human perception. Everybody had their own thoughts about her no matter how she portrayed herself, yet she still hoped for the better outcome.
“You’re fake. You’re out here because this all ruins your perfect image. You’re the cool popular chick who thinks that the whole world revolves-“
“And how do you know that? You never even talked to me!” Lindsay cried out. She couldn’t just let Peggy go on with those lies, could she?
Peggy frowned and still, she continued in a softer tone:
“When did you meet Kyrin? Last year? You’ll break up with him soon. He’s not cool enough for you. He won’t understand, though. He’s blinded by your beauty. He doesn’t understand that I know him more than you do, that he deserves to be with me, that we were made for each other.”
Lindsay shook her head and laughed humorlessly. So Peggy was just going to tell Lindsay what she was when all she ever did was give her weird looks and never once talked to her like a real person?
“Did you just decide to hate me because I’m different from you? You could have become Kyrin’s girlfriend before I met him. Long before high school, you could have told him how you felt. You had all this time and you didn’t do anything. It’s not my fault that you were too nervous to do anything. You can’t just think all of those things about me either. You don’t know what I’ve gone through. You-“
“What was the worst thing that ever happened to you? Couldn’t decide what shoes to buy?” Peggy snickered, her eyes holding a glint of mockery.
Lindsay had a ton of words that she wanted to say, many words all constricted inside her that were begging to be poured out, but her parents taught her better than that.
“I hope that you have fun tonight.” Lindsay said, heading back to the gym.
She could only walk a few feet before she was completely still, before she couldn’t move her limbs.
Why couldn’t she move? Did she freeze up? Did her nerves grab her by the legs and overtake her body? What if Kyrin saw her? What would he think of her then?
“You take away all of his energy. Because of you, he’s no fun. You’re such a leech. You’re no good for him and for anyone. The only thing you will ever be good for are your looks and you know it.” Peggy snarled.
What? What did she mean? Peggy really thought that about her? She would really go so far as to spout those awful words to her? And why couldn’t she move? Why did her legs feel so tightly bound? Why were the lights getting so big and distant? And why did drinking blood sound so wonderful? What…what…what was going on? She felt so…so…so horribly ugly…she couldn’t explain it, it was just there…
Lindsay heard Peggy being pushed away. The school hallway looked so much more vast and infinite, like it held a million dimensions that any unsuspecting soul would get lost in.
Then, she saw Kyrin pick her up and felt him run a finger along her body…her body? But her body didn’t feel quite like hers. It was slick with slime and…and…was that a thick black tail that she saw?
“I can’t believe Peggy turned you into a leech! I mean, I knew that she was reading those occult books in the library but I didn’t know that it was the real deal. They should really get rid of those books now that I think about it. I mean, why is it in the school library? The books have gotten straight to Peggy’s head! I pushed her to the ground, see?” Kyrin asked.
He turned around, towards where Peggy lay. Lindsay would have gasped in shock if she could move her mouth, for blood poured out of Peggy’s head onto the linoleum ground.
“I think I may have pushed her too hard though. I’m gonna get some help, but yeah…I think she’s dead. To think that I just came out here to drink from the water fountain, only to find Peggy turning you into a leech! I always knew that Peggy was insecure around you, but I never knew that she would go this far!”
Kyrin paused, turning away from Peggy. He looked down at Lindsay and grinned. Why did he still smile at her? She was so horrid, so disgusting.
“It doesn’t matter though, because you’re still alive. You deserve all of the love and joy in the world. Your love is truly boundless. I don’t think that you understand how much you truly mean to me. Lindsay, I said that I’d love you as a worm and even as a leech, you are still my girlfriend. My lovely leech girlfriend. Now, I’m going to buy some occult books and try to change you back, because I venture that you don’t like this change one bit. It’s going to take me a while to really get a hang of all of this magic, but I’ll try my hardest for you. Lindsay, I love you as a girl and as a leech. I’m sure that you’re starving after all of this stress, so I’ll let you eat. I’m going to protect you, okay? I promise.” Kyrin said.
He then brought Lindsay over to his neck, where she gratefully drank away at his soft, sweet blood.
No, she didn’t like being a leech. She absolutely abhorred being a parasite that fed off of blood.
But at least Lindsay knew that she was loved beyond her exterior. After all, wasn’t that what anybody wanted?
Tale Four-Contorted words
“Blissot welcomed the rot of her Sins as she crumbled to the ground, for if to embrace the Unholy was a Sin, then she’d let the misery be her magic.”
Sylvaine smiled as she typed out the last words of the final story on her typewriter. It was the perfect way, the only way, to end her novel series about Blissot, a woman who had gone down the path of darkness to become a witch.
Ever since she was fourteen years old, she had written a series about Blissot the witch, a girl who grows up to commit unspeakable acts of evil. It was a way to get all of her unpleasant thoughts out, so that she would be able to soak up the happiness that was in the world more. Very few people read her stories, but that was alright, because at least she was getting her thoughts out. Sylvaine would continue to write, for it filled her with life.
She reached over for the box of her cigarettes and lit a match, watching the smoke trail off into the ceiling. If only her happiness lasted outside of her writing. If only she didn’t live in such a depleted apartment with mold on the walls and peeling paint.
Why did Armand stay with her? All Sylvaine had going for her were her written words. She couldn’t hold a conversation very long because she would be thinking about her writing, for writing had become the only way for her to live. It wasn’t her soul that she was pouring into her work anymore: Her work had become her soul. She and her stories were interconnected forevermore and to quit would mean that she would have to face the grueling reality that her whole life was falling apart.
Why did Armand love her? Sylvaine wasn’t going to be beautiful forever. Soon, she would grow old, her ideas would dry up, and she would become the miserable husk that she truly was underneath her youth and imagination.
Sylvaine coughed suddenly, a restricting feeling rising and twisting within her chest. She dropped the cigarette on the ground and watched as the smoke rose from thin, ghost-like shapes to violent, outraged orange creatures. She coughed as though she were hacking up a lung and fell from her chair, still coughing, still burning.
All of her hard work! Gone! It was burning away…her hands…her hands…why did her skin look like it was melting off? Her fingernails…so dirty…the room..so blurry…only orange…her lungs hurt so much…everything hurt…
Tears welled in Sylvaine’s eyes, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the fire or her fear. Perhaps both.
Where was her willpower? Her strength? The kind of control she had in her novels? Why couldn’t she pick herself back up like Blissot could? Why couldn’t she rise from the ashes all anew?
The last thing Sylvaine saw was Armand amidst the flames, kneeling down to sit next to her and cradling her in his arms.
…………………………………………………….
Sylvaine found herself lying on her stomach in a garden of wildflowers, a blue sky glittering as though there were gems tucked away in the folds of the clouds. She could hear birds chirping and bees buzzing, but…where was she?
Sylvaine turned over to her side and found Armand sitting next to her, a look of sadness in his amber eyes. His black hair was still smoothly parted, his tuxedo wasn’t blemished at all.
But wasn’t he in the fire?
“I can’t stay here for long, so I’ll try and make this quick: I’m a demon. You died from excessive smoking and from your apartment burning down. I was supposed to kill you a long time ago but…you’re not a Sinner. You were never the most cheerful person, but my papers exaggerated greatly about you. I came to love you, Sylvaine, and I still do. But I can only visit you here in Heaven, I can never overstay my welcome.” Armand said.
A demon? But how could that be? Then again, that would explain a bit on how he wasn’t tarnished from the fire and how his teeth looked far too sharp for it to be considered “normal.”
Armand pressed his claw-tipped fingernails (no, they were claws) up to his lips, as though he were contemplating what other otherworldly things Sylvaine should know about. She suspected that he was hiding his full demon form from her, which she wished that he wouldn’t do, considering all of the unsightly things that happened in her life, but she knew better than to prod.
She wasn’t the slightest bit surprised that she had married a demon. Going to Heaven was a shock, yes, but Armand being a demon? As mundane as the Daily Paper.
“I can allow you to visit Earth for one day or night. I suggest you look down, for if you focus hard enough, you can see the Earth underneath Heaven’s grass and flowers. Think about it for a long time. I’ll tell you all about human life as it goes on and I promise you, Sylvaine, you are the only human I will ever be in love with.” Armand said.
He kissed her on the lips and she kissed back, the pain of her cigarette addiction all gone, for no longer was she bound to her physical body.
Sylvaine was beginning to understand how much Armand loved her. Not entirely, but it was still more so than before.
Maybe over time, she would feel more fulfilled.
…………………………………………………….
As the centuries went on, Sylvaine watched from Heaven as her stories gained popularity and movie adaptations. Sylvaine herself was talked about in the world, but she was more of a name than a person. Everybody on Earth knew her as “Sylvaine Phelan, author of the Blissot books. Born in 1900, died in 1924. Lived and died in tragedy, but oh, wasn’t she brilliant!”
Sylvaine was fine with that for a while. Of course, it bothered her that the Blissot books were forever unfinished, since the final manuscript got lost in the fire, but she never thought about it too much.
That was, until Armand came in Heaven and told her that a movie about the final story of Blissot’s life was to be aired in theaters on October 31st, 2024.
Sylvaine didn’t quite believe him at first, for how could anybody make a final movie about a book that didn’t exist?
Yet still, she agreed to let Armand give her a physical form so that she may get to visit Earth for one last time.
Sylvaine gave Armand a goodbye kiss before she descended to Earth, a place that had become more complex and fantastical than the years she was alive.
Earth changed greatly since the time of Sylvaine Phelan.
…………………………………………………….
Sylvaine appreciated Armand for giving her the form of a plain, unremarkable woman, as it was easier for her to slip into the movie theater unnoticed by everyone.
And goodness, was Armand right! There was a movie about Blissot’s final chapter, but it was all wrong. Blissot didn’t let the Undead Unholy take her down, she denounced her witchcraft life and married the man next door.
All of her optimistic mayhem was gone, flushed away. Watered down. She was just like any other woman in the crowd. She wasn’t a character anymore. She was an everyday person who lived a content life.
Her story was ruined.
Sylvaine could feel her physical form ebbing away, she could see her skin peeling off. Her teeth were rotting away, the scent of mildew was rising around her.
Everyone gasped as they turned to look at her, as they saw her in the flesh.
But Sylvaine wouldn’t let panic win. She was the author and she had the right to end things as she wanted.
“I am Sylvaine Phelan! The story of Blissot ends with her accepting the witchcraft life! Now, feel the wrath of the fires I felt in my final moments!” Sylvaine cried out in her raspy, cigarette-coated voice.
She could feel all of her emotions that had numbed within her bloom out of her in full force, just like the days and nights she typed on her typewriter.
From her decaying fingers to the ceiling of the theater, fire crawled all around her, burning away the audience, burning away the screen, burning away her nightmare.
The flames were tearing through her ragged body, but it didn’t hurt, for physical pain had become obsolete for Sylvaine.
Her time was running out, so she had to make the most of it.
Sylvaine closed her maggot filled-eyelids and focused all her energy on Armand, the man who loved her beyond how she presented herself as an author. The man who loved her for her soul.
Armand, listen to me. I need you to find something to write with. Anything! You know about all of this modern stuff, you should find something to type out a story. Now, you’re going to write Blissot’s final story. You’re going to do exactly as I say. You will write under a pen name. I’m sure you already have many identities from the different centuries, so this won’t be too hard for you. Please, Armand. It would make me the happiest woman in the world.
It took only a few seconds for Armand to reply.
As you wish, Sylvaine.
And just like Blissot, Sylvaine let fate engulf her, swallow her whole.
For in the end, nobody can run from what is their destiny. They can only try to bring out the beauty in the bloody.
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