Halloween 2020: Choose Your Spooky Outcome: Chapter 2
Tempting as it is to learn more about the Halloween magic that Victoria is so familiar with, and much as you love a night of fun partying, after what you went through last year, there’s not another destination that can compare with The Between. You have no idea what’s waiting for you there… well, perhaps some idea, but certain hopes are too dangerous to grasp tightly. Regardless, you do know one thing for certain about whatever is waiting for you in there: that it’s waiting there for you. After the call on the Phantom Phone using mostly Sheryl’s voice, that much is certain.
One way or another, this is the year you get some answer about what the hell has been going on. By the time you don your gunslinger outfit, nearly coughing on the clouds of dust billowing from the coat and hat, Victoria has changed into a fancy dress, but a hood conceals most of her head from sight. Jim, in the meantime, has made himself a drink for the road. You’re not entirely sure what’s in it, but you can spot three bottles of liquor, two empty baggies, and several pill bottles next to the blender. Evidently Jim was prepared for Halloween boozing on the go, as he has the entire icy concoction in a gigantic mug of novelty sizes reading “#1 CEO”. Ridiculous, yes, but it does technically go with his outfit.
With Jim occupied by chugging his drink and then suffering from crippling brain freeze, a pattern which repeats itself several times in a row, Victoria ushers you both out to her waiting limo. She pauses long enough to speak with a spider on a tree branch outside your home, then you’re all off, driving through the city. Then further, past town, out toward the boonies. Bit by bit, the scenery grows more remote, until it feels like you’re at the very edges of civilization.
The limo finally pulls to a stop in front of a gas station, the late afternoon sun gleaming off its windows. Already waiting in the parking lot is a familiar car, the front door opening as soon as your limo appears. From within comes Thad, wearing something like a toga, except one that’s been custom fitted to his muscular frame. Paired with just the distinct sandals on his feet, you’d have said he was a gladiator. But the giant fake lion-pelt encircling his shoulders like a cloak hints at something a touch more specific.
“You look awesome!” Thad calls, helping you out from the limousine before offering a hand to Victoria as well. Jim has already crashed out the other side’s door, face stuffed inside a now empty mug, licking the sides for residue.
“Thanks, just wish there wasn’t so much dust.” You go to start brushing some off, but your hand is stayed by a sharp cluck of the tongue from Victoria.
“Do not dare wipe that away, it was no small feat gathering so much earth from other realms.”
You look down at the dirt on your hands, smeared there from the huge duster weighing you down. “When you say other realms…”
“Suffice it to say I do not mean across something as ephemeral as state lines,” Victoria answers without answering. “What we are doing tonight is no simple trick or hasty charm. Crossing to The Between requires substantial power, it took time to lay proper preparations. Time that will be wasted if we do not hurry. There is but a single chance for us to enter, and it fast approaches.”
Rustling from around the limo gives you a slight warning before Jim comes barreling into view, mug still wedged on his face. With a swift motion, Thad snags your roommate and easily pops the mug off with his free hand. Jim blinks rapidly, as if stunned by the sudden light, then looks Thad over properly. “Hercules, nice choice. I almost went with the better version, Beercules, but I couldn’t get the keg pants welded together right.”
“Good to see you too,” Thad replies. “Anyone going to tell me what tonight is all about? I don’t mind getting messages via spiderweb, mind you, but they tend to be light on details. Just an address and a command to hurry.”
“We’re trying to cross somewhere,” you explain, offering what little you know. “I think that all these magic items that keep popping up are connected to…something. Something that’s been reaching out. It’s going to be dangerous though, so if you-”
Thad cuts you off, smile fixed firmly in place. “So if I want to make sure my brother gets home safe, I’m staying right here by his side.”
You nod, mind momentarily haunted by visions of Thad’s dead body from your first Halloween together. Whatever charm that blesses Thad’s life makes him powerful, not invulnerable. Then again, Victoria has been pretty clear that this is a step above her league as well. None of you are truly safe going down the road, which makes it all the more important to have one another as backup. Whatever you’re facing, at least it’s not alone.
“Follow me.” Victoria commands you all, walking out to the middle of the street. It’s a crossroads, and an oddly scenic one at that. A lake to the northeast, gas station to the southeast, overgrown forest reaching the very edges of the street on the southwest, and field of corn to the northwest. As you’re taking in the sights, Victoria adjusts your footing, putting you in the dead center of the road.
“Hear me, watchers unseen, walkers unknown, keepers of the way.” Victoria’s voice is unexpectedly powerful, carrying more gravity than even her usual intense tones. “We come before you seeking passage. We wait at a place of transition, a crossroads between the wet and the wild, the bountiful and the devastated. The traveler has garbed himself for the journey, made his peace, and bid farewell to his world. We beseech you to open the path for one prepared to walk it.”
Concerning as a lot of that “bid your world farewell” stuff is, you can’t help noticing the wall of darkness that suddenly seems to be barreling toward you. It’s huge, no ending in sight, sweeping across the entire landscape. It takes a few seconds to realize what you’re actually seeing: sunset, from a magical perspective. The line of light and night, the point where day loses it’s grip, that’s why Victoria was hurrying you along. Understanding doesn’t make it any less scary as the darkness keeps surging forward, engulfing you all entirely.
It feels like you’ve plunged into a river of shadow, no sensation save for the cold darkness rushing past. Finally, when the air grows still, you dare to open your eyes. The road is there, only not what it once was. To your rear, the road leads down, sloping like there’s a hill. At the bottom, you can just make out the lights from the gas station.
“The way we came,” Victoria says, her voice a sharp contrast to the foggy darkness encircling you all.
“That’s a good name for an instructional porno,” Jim adds, he and Thad both slowly shaking off the surge of shadow.
Trying to get your bearings is no easy task. It feels like the middle of the night, only the barest of lights to see with. Squinting, you peer at the other three streets on the crossroad, searching for a sign of where to go.
Within seconds, you catch the small piles at the edge of each road. On the left, a multi-colored array of wrapped candies, blues and reds, greens and yellows, even a few round orange ones. To the right, a handful of apples, bright and delicious even through the fog. Directly ahead, this pile is the varied in shape, and the most distinct. Bones, it’s a pile of small bones. What type of creature they belong to, you have no idea, and that’s probably for the best.
The others are waiting, and this doesn’t feel like a place it’s wise to linger. Better pick a pile and see what it’s path holds in store.
Don’t forget, this year there’s also a Discord to join up with your fellow readers.