Halloween 2021: Choose Your Spooky Outcome: Chapter 5
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Considering that the noises are still going, you’re starting to suspect the cause is a problem better dealt with sooner than later. Still a bit reeling from your talk with Victoria, you turn down the hall toward the sounds. “Seems like there might be Halloween fuckery afoot. If anyone here is qualified to help, it’s us.”
Victoria accepts your reasoning without protest, the two you briskly walking your way in the direction of the sounds, navigating the hallways by noise. By the time you arrive, all the yelps have died out, leaving only moans and groans. Along with the sound of heavy breathing, panting really. As you both round the final corner, a striking sight meets your eyes.
Thad is the only one standing, everyone else has been knocked to the ground. Towering above them, your brother’s white shirt is now ripped across the front, making the ensemble even more fireman-calendar-esque. In his hands he’s wielding a thematically appropriate fire extinguisher as a club, and based on the dent in it’s bottom he can swing it with serious force.
Upon seeing you and Victoria, Thad visibly relaxes, without growing entirely at ease. “Glad you two are okay. Did you see that thing go past?”
“No such luck,” Victoria replies. “Can you describe what it was you saw?”
“I wish. Damned lights flickered and died before it struck. At first we thought it was just a power outage, then people started getting knocked over, others yelling that they felt something running between their legs. It almost got me twice, the third time I was ready.”
“Did it scratch you in return?” You point to the swipes in Thad’s shirt, and he turns from serious to mildly flustered.
Adjusting the shirt to minimize fabric gaps, Thad sheepishly explains. “That happened before, actually. Some of the attendees have been partying in the parking lot already, and one was a little… enthusiastic upon seeing what she mistakenly believed was an exotic dancer.”
“Wow, people are going a lot harder at this than I expected,” you note.
“One of the few human constants is that almost no one likes high school. Many need the liquid courage just to walk back through those doors of their own volition,” Victoria theorizes.
Tucking the fire extinguisher under one arm, not yet putting it away, Thad shakes his head. “What are you talking about? I had an amazing time in high school.”
A chorus of groaning draws your attention to the floor. The attendees are more fully waking back up, and from the mass a horrified voice rings out.
“Ugh, why the fuck am I wearing these mom-jeans?”
Okay, so not the reaction you were first expecting when they woke up from a supernatural attack. Maybe the rest will be more normal.
“Are these orthopedic shoes? The hell was I thinking?”
“Was I always this tall? I remember feeling closer to the ground.”
“Where’s my hair? I know it was here, don’t lie to me, where is it!”
You, Thad, and Victoria stare at the assortment of standing souls, many of whom are staring into the nearest reflective surface, touching their clothes, faces aghast.
Finally, Victoria snaps out some instruction. “Boys, give me your theories.”
“Minds wiped?” Thad proposes.
That guess hits a bit close to home, enough that you’ve already considered it and thought of a rebuttal. “But none of them are panicking. If you woke up in a decade-older body with no idea what happened, most people wouldn’t take it this well. Definitely not an entire room full.”
A mildly annoyed voice breaks through your conversation, yelled to the room at large. “Anyone have lip gloss? For some reason I only packed lipstick colors good for funerals and job interviews. Nothing fun enough for a reunion.”
“Merlin’s assessment is spot-on; they clearly have memories of coming to this place and why they’re here. Yet Thad is correct that they were affected by the attack. My current hypothesis is that their personalities have been reset to ten years ago, bringing their respective tastes and eccentricities along too.”
One of the other attendees has managed to make it out of the reception area, poking his head into the halls. “Holy shit, you know what I just realized?”
All three of you turn, waiting to see if this poor man is grappling with the existential crisis of having ten years worth of mental growth wiped away. “This place has a fucking open bar, and no one is carding!”
Considering he has just made this announcement to what are effectively the mental equivalent of teenagers, to say it is well received would be quite the understatement. Cheers ring out as the crowd surges up the hall, those that aren’t sharing in the enthusiasm swept along by force and momentum.
For a moment, they try to sweep you all up in the movement as well, but a glare from Victoria convinces them to part. Some instincts have nothing to do with age, they’re hard-wired into the mind for survival. Once the crowd has moved past, she walks over to the registration table and grabs several badges.
“Thad already has his, here are Pumpkin and Jim’s, along with my own. And yours Merlin, though there was an issue with the registration. For some reason, they were only able to find your student number.” Victoria hands over a piece of plastic with a clip on the end, much fancier than the stick-on name-tag you were expecting. Hers bares her name, while the two in her left hand simply read “Guest” and the one she’s offering you boasts a familiar sequence of numbers.
“I do appreciate you both actually coming by to get checked-in, but should we do something about all of that.” Thad motions down the hall, where you can still hear the hoots and hollers of excitement. Something tells you Jim is about to get an infusion of new drinking buddies; you only hope your classmate’s livers can handle it. “Feels like we should go after them, keep an eye on everyone.”
“A responsible, but perhaps inefficient, use of our time,” Victoria counters. “We are aware there is a threat within the school, and it has been here recently. We also know that it attacked and fled, indicating it got or achieved whatever the creature wanted. Our addled classmates no longer appear to have whatever this thing seeks, they have a reasonable chance at safety on their own if we were to spend our time attempting to hunt this creature down.”
“Thinking along that route, trapping it might work too,” Thad counters, touching the rips in his shirt. “Hard as it came at me, I bet it still wants a taste. Maybe we can lure it out?
The sounds of soon-to-be revelers are fading fast, if you want to keep up you’ll need to get a move on. Whatever you decide, better make your selection soon.