Fright in the Nite
Chapter 1
The Pumpkin King
By Animeguera
Restless tossing and turning. Her eyes were closed but her mind was opened to a whole other world. Her imagination was turning her in to this whim of the night…
Darkness surrounded the forest trees. The scaly branches reached out to grab her. They had scars like eyes and knotholes like mouths. Smoke crawled up from the ground engulfing the whole terrain. "There were howls of wolves and cries of babies. The blonde didn't know where to go. She had no one with her she could recognize. What a perfect time to be alone.
Creeping past the trees, she hit a stone. The soft ground made her fall. Looking up at the guilty rock, she saw it was a tombstone. All around her, there lay tombstone after tombstone. One read: Home Sweet Home.
Where was she? As she lay there, the soft ground began to rumble. It lifted her in the air; she rolled to one side, landing next to another tombstone. A horrific creature emerged from the moldy earth. Although the temptation to scream was great, the ability was lost…
Scrambling to get away from the zombies or whatever creature dared to emerge next. She ran away from the trees to what appeared to be a town. The stones were the streets and the village seemed antiquated. There must've been a festival at the time; she could hear the faint mumblings of song. A cheery yet eerie song. She walked closer, her voice still lost. Her footsteps echoed on the cobblestone, she could see she was not the only one sneaking to see the festival. A woman, very pale, dragged herself closer to the people standing on the edge of a street. Her hair was deep blood red. Her arms were skinny; however, in the light, they appeared to be stitches all on her body. Her neck was connected to her body with an ugly stitching.
The blonde went closer to the crowd and could hear the faint sound of the song:
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
Pumpkin song? She missed the rest but strained to hear more.
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green
Halloween? Halloween wasn't until next week? Or was it last week? She could remember exactly what day this day was. A costumed man as a werewolf appeared and began howling. And as if speaking to her said:
Aren't you scared?
Were they talking to her? She couldn't respond before a group of women dressed as witches spoke, or sang:
Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night
Who were these people? They apparently loved the idea of Halloween. She couldn't take much more. As a tree that was near her began to speak.
Everybody scream! Everybody scream!
So, without a trace of will, she screamed. Loudly and shrilly. Her scream echoed through the town but no one could hear it except her. The darkness consumed her as the screamed faded into a whisper of breath.
As she closed her eyes, images of a clown with the face torn away haunted her…
"What's wrong?" A soft voice echoed into her mind. Who was it? Was it more strange townspeople with the strange craving for Halloween?
Before her, she saw a pair of dark blue eyes staring at her with concern. Then just as son as the concern was apparent it left without a doubt. The eyes were as lifeless as the voice who spoke to her appeared to be.
"Relena, are you okay?" The voice was monotone. She only nodded. Just wondering herself. Where she was before. Was it a dream. And who the hell was the Pumpkin King?