The Return Of A Legend
Characters: Max, Allison, Danni, Binx, Winnifred, Sarah and Mary,
Timeline: One year later on All Hallows' Eve and the trio are remembering their strange night.
Synopsis: It's been a year since he'd unleashed the town legend on the entire town and risked saving his sister's life by sacrificing himself. Now Max must face a repeat performance of the previous Halloween as some new members of the town break into the Sanderson sister house. Now knowing what to expect, can he, his sister and his girlfriend, along with their friend, Thackery Binx, protect their junior population or will the Sanderson sisters finally win.
Disclaimers: Nothing of the movie belongs to me, the story belongs to me, everything else belongs to Disney.
Warnings: I'm going to do this story in the first person point of view of Max as he deals with his one year term of life in school and settled at home. But this is going to be the movie from his point of view as he recalls his first Halloween in Salem, before he and his sister and girlfriend go for their night out that night, before things really get going.
Chapter 1: Trick Or Treating
"Hey guys come on, we're going to be late." I said to my friends and Jay looked at me. "What's the rush man?" he asked and I smiled. "Our annual story of our town legend, last year I didn't take it seriously enough, this time I want to hear it." I said and he chuckled. "I'll say you've turned into a supernatural junkie man, but this is worth it every Halloween." he said and I gave him a shove in the shoulder and we got into a playful wrestling match, before our coach called out with an amused tone in his voice.
"Alright guys knock it off and break it up. Max, Jack is showing up from the museum, so he and I are in there in Caroline's classroom while the debate after the story ends okay." he said and I nodded to that. "Who's our latest skeptic this time, because in the space of one night, I've turned from that and into a love for supernatural studies on town legends in a year?" I asked him and he sighed as he answered me.
"By the looks of it it's another kid from your hometown in California son, but you've turned into one of us in the space of a week. Hey nice pendant where'd you get that from?" he asked and I smiled as I took it off. " I did some added research here coach, turns out these are a symbol to ward off evil, so if our latest pulls the exact same stunt I did, I'm wearing this in case Winifred tries to blast me a second time, if they let the trio out by lighting the candle a second time." I told him and he nodded.
"Just what is his problem exactly anyway, it's been a week since he moved to town, he's acting like you did when you moved here Max?" Jay asked and I sighed. "Growing up in California they see certain legends as a bunch of Hocus Pocus. As you once said they're very health conscious in L.A., so to them Halloween is just a conspiracy by the candy companies to rot a person's teeth and their brains. With a night here and unleashing the town legend on the junior population of the town, I changed."
"To us Halloween became a time to really enjoy the holiday, trick or treating, scary movies, Halloween parties, we get a night to just relax and have fun, but to us it's ancient, cool and mysterious, because our local legend was created on Halloween, it's also the one night of the year where the spirits of the dead can return to earth. Jack O' lanterns were created from rutabagas and turnips, the old ritual was created and using a different type of squash and from there it's a holiday that brings back the old rituals of the past, our town history is important, but none more so than when the Salem witch trials came to the fore. As to that, he just sees this holiday as a hoax, I see it as a chance to study the old rituals and learn more about history." I said and he smiled at that one.
"Yeah I kind of figured you were going to say that Max, your mother loved the holiday as well and now you're the one taking history seriously with the fact you reopened the museum again to learn more about it. But what's the lesson here that you learned last year?" Coach asked and I smiled. "Only by the past can you create a better future and while life changes the one thing that doesn't is your bonds with your friends and family." I told him and he smiled at that as he answered me with a gentle smile on his face.
"Yeah exactly, that's what we wanted you to learn last year when Caroline told you that legend, only by the past can you create a better future for yourselves, and you did that, by using your knowledge of the legend did you prevent a genocide, because while Thackery failed his test you passed it with him and Allison at your side and he got a shot at redemption while doing it."
"You love the holiday, because being a local is in your blood, and you learned from his past enough to prevent them doing it again. You recreated your life by becoming a witch hunter, joining the team and really making ten friends in the space of year, while the duo and their gang changed as well and you're all on the varsity team here as well and you've become the apprentice to our town historian and you're engaged to Allison now. That's what letting go of the past does for you now. As to that, I'm very proud of you son, you've shown what it means to be a Salemnite now as you matured from it."
"And you guys are my prize players now, I'm proud of you son, alright see you in class in a bit." he said and I nodded as the duo and I headed for class. "What are the chances some idiot actually does try that this year anyway, seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing, just like Santa Clause and the North Pole, we don't have to see the legends to know they're true, we just know, as town locals?" Ice asked and I sighed gently.
"If it's Derek Walters who's moved to town, and he's only in our history class Ice, it's going to take his unleashing the trio on us a second time to get him to understand, but in one year your life can change and in doing so, we all joined the football team, I'm dressed like you are now, I'm into the town legends, I love anything that has to do with the supernatural and I'm a Puritan and witch hunter now. Derek was me when I moved to town, this me is from a year's worth of changes, as to that."
"If I have to give that lecture to him, I'm making it clear he does do that and I'm the one killing him if they target my sister a second time, he's still stuck on the California conspiracies of life as a skeptic, he's holding on to the past and he hates it here, because his friends are on the other side of the continent. Our lives change and you got to make the best of it, nothing's permanent if it takes talking some sense into that me its going to be a very long night." I told him.
"Yeah well at this rate, if Binx decides to let us know there's trouble, it means it's going to be a very long night here." Jared said and I nodded in agreement to that. "Every legend we thought was a fake was true, because though we grew up on this stuff, we never really believed it till you unlocked the door man. As to that, and to repeat what you said Ice, 'Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing', we don't have to see the legends come to life to know they're true, we just know."
"Our town was known for the witch trials, we're puritans and witch hunters, we take anything that has to do with black magic seriously, but just because it seems fake, doesn't mean it is. What I will say though if we got twenty skeptics running around this town and one of them decides to debunk that legend, yet again, it's going to take the eight of us and Allie to make sure they never take another life if our parents are indisposed again." Jay said and I nodded in agreement as we took our seats then.
Sitting there at at my desk, I was listening to my history teacher with a smile, listening to the legend she was telling us I was enjoying the added history lesson to it, as to why. The story was the legend of the Sanderson Sisters, which now that I'd seen face to face was now completely believable as she reached the punchline I exchanged grins with my girlfriend Allison Cooper. "Poor Thackery Binx, neither his mother his father, nor anyone else, ever knew what became of him those three hundred years ago."
"And so the Sanderson Sisters were hanged the Salem townsfolk, now there are those who say that on Halloween night, a black cat still guards the old Sanderson house, warning off any who might bring the witches back to life." she said, before throwing a lasso at Jenny Peterson and she jerked as I applauded along with our class. "Well Binx, you've just been immortalized on the big screen buddy, you're getting the recognition."
"Don't worry this is never happening twice and if someone breaks in that book is never getting opened again." I said softly and the coach looked at me. "What was that son?" he asked and I smiled as I looked at him, Mrs. Walters and Professor Roberts, who was my mentor in town history and I answered him with a smile. "Just reflecting on last Hallowen coach, I've never enjoyed town history that much till I moved here, with that, the added jolt in the punchline really serves to speed up the adrenaline in this Mrs. Walters."
"Looking at it after a year of living here and seeing it with my own eyes now, but this story just never gets old mam." I told her and they chuckled at that. "That's the thing about town legends son, it's just seems like a bunch of scary stories till you see the source of said legends for real and once you do it changes your perspectives for life and you want to learn everything about them after that. Thats why Briarville and Springwood tried to prevent theirs from taking lives, but while Springwod couldn't, Briarville did."
"As to that growing up a skeptic can get dangerous, but once you see things from a new angle, let go of the anxiety and the grudge and move forward in life you can accomplish anything as long as you learn from the past to make a better future for yourself. So what did you learn from the added research into this exactly, since you're our town experts and you saw said legends yourselves?" Mr. Roberts asked smiling and I explained that.
"The spell she used that night was to create the black flame candle, the spell she created it from was 'One All Hallows Eve and the moon is round, a virgin will summon thee from under the ground', like the Legend of Trantor the Troll on the movie. Though not related to the person who buried or hung said legend. They choose the person who decides to be stupid, get too cocky and the victim decides to debunk that theory in the legend. Retrospect here the victim in question grew up a skeptic and doesn't believe in the paranormal or the supernatural and sees it as a bunch of Hocus Pocus."
"The theory was they were waiting for the right person to break in and decide to debunk that portion of the legend and light the candle. After doing a bit of research on the book after it ended, and from the pieces we gathered that night, they were looking for someone who never took this legend seriously enough to be naive and arrogant enough to light the wick and Binx himself was guarding the house the entire time to prevent a come back, because he wasn't risking that legend getting turned on my generation."
"As for the potion she created that day to kill Emily Binx, it was meant to show the victims life force and they could sustain eternal youth by stealing it from children, unfortunately she never got a chance to use it that day, because Binx's parents hung all three of them to prevent this prophecy from coming true at all costs. Problem is that if you don't grow up on believing in the supernatural it results in spectacles like this."
"Binx was forced to live out the rest of his life as a cat and suffer the guilt of not being to save his sister at the time and for three hundred years he guarded the house every All Hallows Eve to prevent a skeptic virgin and teenager from lighting the candle. To him he was looking for the right person to do so and said person was just like him, a fifteen year old virgin who had a younger sister like himself and they were just beginning to get used to life in a new town and were skeptics up until that night."
"Said virgin would, once he saw what he was up against that night, would be able to delay long enough for dawn to strike and they would be destroyed forever, because without the life of children the spell could only keep them alive for one Halloween night, which was from till dawn, so when the sun came up they were dust. For that fifteen year old he was more than any normal one, because to him selflessness meant protecting the thing that mattered the most to him and said something was his baby sister."
"And his new girlfriend, and just moved here from another state, but he, or rather I, was determined to prevent them from taking any more lives. But by sacrificing himself to save his friends he showed, that the safety of others meant more to him than his own life. Binx had a second shot at redemption by joining with a virgin to protect their latest victim and make sure that that they never took her life it takes several tricks to keep them guessing till dawn the following morning." I said and Allison finished that for me.
"With the trio in the 20th century they don't understand things and while said virgins created several distractions they're trying to get used to life in this century and learning that everything they once knew had been replaced by things they don't understand. For us All Hallows' Eve had become a night of frolic and fun, and more enjoyable, because we could enjoy the holiday by use of scary movies and wear costumes."
"Have parties and just enjoy a night of frolic, Binx knew eventually that the candle was going to be lit, but he was waiting for the right person to do so. By putting our heads together for this, we delayed till morning and he was guarding our sister from getting taken. But for the poor idiot who lights the candle, it meant he had to risk being taken himself now as for Binx, he gave his life to save his sister, my sister-in-law."
"Having learned enough from the museum I pieced together everything needed and Binx filled in the blanks, and the black flame candle will eventually be lit once again, but one All Hallows Eve that changes life for everyone is enough to make the locals more paranoid when you get a skeptic teenager from another state moving here and with that. All legends have a basic truths to them but if not taken seriously can be incredibly dangerous for the person who is a skeptic, as to that just be careful or you can get in over your heads here." she said and he chuckled as he answered her.
"Nice work you two, I'm proud of your conclusions to the research, so why was Binx searching for the right person?" he asked and I smiled. "Because losing his sister had him feeling so guilty that if it meant saving someone else's sister it was a shot at a second chance at redemption. As to that my sister was his second chance and I was just like him, my sister means so much to me, I'd give my life just to protect her and he felt the same way, because though it had been 300 years, he wanted a second chance."
"Though separated by three hundred years of changes we were two sides of the same coin and if he couldn't save his own he'd save someone else's sister. Just frustrations of moving and trying to get used to a life in a town where supernatural legends are true can be incredibly dangerous, if you're a skeptic, or used to be a skeptic and watch out for the added punchlines or they can scare the life out of you all in one night." I said and my class started laughing at that as she smiled at my conclusions of the legends.
"Good point as to that, everyone with it being All Hallows' Eve, I want you to be careful and remember, that though said legends are strange it's considered helpful to know how to handle things and with that, enjoy tonight kids just be careful." Mrs. Andrews said and I looked at her. "What are the chances of that legend coming true twice in two years anyway?" I asked her and she smiled as she answered me.
"Your choice in names for the movie certainly were perfect for it honey, everything we thought in magical spells was like this or abra cadrava, but hearing that they're version of it, it's like you're listening to a song or something, so whoever's going as a witch around here be ready, because we got added trouble thanks to our local legend and them doing it here in Salem is one heck of an advertisement to get visitors now, as to that."
"If we get kids that don't take it seriously enough extremely high and if you're doing the added research, just try to stay out of trouble and boys I suggest you watch the added crude statements or it's likely to turn you into the victim, like what happened last year." she said and I started laughing at that. "That's the truth, just what did you guys say to her if it landed you in a bird cage exactly?" I asked the duo and he chuckled as he answered me. "I said she was an ugly chick, but looking at it now, I should have kept my mouth shut." Jay said and I nodded as she answered that.
"Can of worms Jay, you just barely missed killing yourselves at the time. Like any teenager getting cocky and rude can cause added trouble as to that Halloween can be fun, once you're free of the added skeptics, but legends can be dangerous and with that fact in mind, watch out or it's going to reveal more than you'd ever expect here once you get used to it." I said and Mrs. Andrews added on to that with a smile of amusement.
"Somebody better stop screwing around with the added scares in the punchline though, because the last thing we need is someone breaking into the house a second time, because an up all night party at the town hall was enough to exhaust every adult and parent in town honey." she said and I started laughing. "Yeah sorry about that, when I said they were back she hit you with a dancing spell and that had you and every adult in town dancing all night." I told her and she nodded with a smile.
"I should have realized that the lyrics to the song were actually a spell, was that why you said to cover our ears honey?" she asked and we nodded. "Their singing is actually a spell, that's why Elder Binx said cover their ears, they weren't risking getting put a spell, and once I learned why he said that I knew I had to get you to listen to me, otherwise every kid in town was in danger at the time, because you weren't around to protect them." I told her and she nodded to that as Allison smiled as she answered that..
"With the movie everything that happened that night was recreated for it, though thankfully Bette Midler isn't really a witch, but she's a wonderful singer, nice choice honey, as for Sarah, and Mary, Billy, Binx, we got Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, you chose the perfect people to play the trio and your self, your sister, me and everyone who was involved in the move to recreate the results of your first halloween here."
"But that was great, looking on it now we can laugh about it, though a serious situation then, looking on it now it just make our union more real honey, we chose after that to get together, because we just found our other halves in each other when we dealt with the legends coming to life in one night." Allison said with a smile and I nodded to that
"Yes well by learning the added research you guys just filled in the blanks son, was your sister working on her own research of this, if she decided to do a book report on it?" Mr. Roberts asked and I nodded. "Yeah, after reopening up the museum, we decided to work on the added information and do a bit of digging at the time and we learned a lot from it, but tonight is All Hallows' Eve, a full moon and a year since, everyone be careful or we could a have repeat performance okay." I said and they all nodded in agreement to that.
The following morning after the fiasco I called a conference of the town and explained everything to them on what had happened the night before, and needless to say my parents were shocked that everything I mentioned had been proven correct and in the year since, I chose my career of town historian and my girlfriend Allison had decided on the same and we decided to do further research on what we could learn and what our friend Binx told us it was enough to piece together everything for the movie.
After the mayor and Mrs. Walter gave us the go ahead and this furthered our popularity in town when the Disney company asked for exclusive rights to our version of the story and it made our town very popular as well. "Hey Max you on for joining us at the party tonight at the gym?" My best friend Jared Parker asked and I shook my head.
"Can't Jare, I promised I'd take my sister trick or treating and Allison and I are going to the movies afterwards, because tonight's the opening night and we got tickets for the best seats in the house." I told him and he nodded. "Man I forgot that the movie just hit the theaters, well if they're showing this at the theater seeing it for real is going to be an eye opener, because every detail was right there in the story bro." Adam Patterson said with a grin and everyone started laughing. "Yeah well I got them to run his life story, just before she hit punchline here Adam, before that over did it and things start from there."
"But every detail of our lives that night that you didn't see just got got unearthed and Bette Midler plays Winifred so be ready you're going to love this." I told him and he started laughing. "Just what was all the shouting about exactly, because I could hear your sister yelling at someone?" Rick asked and I shook my head. "Like Binx I got blasted when I warned them to let her go, from there it took several blows and Alison hit Mary in the head with a frying pan." I told him and they started laughing at that.
"Don't tell me, they thought of the sprinkler system as the burning rain of death, because you had a lighter and set off the fire alarm, you locked them in the clay furnace and tried that and then used the fact that we dropped back one hour on dawn approaching, she's on holy ground and the sun comes up, and with that fact in mind, exactly how times do we need to kill these three, because this is getting ridiculous?"
"For gods sakes alright to repeat what I said, let's keep the trouble to a minimum tonight shall we." Professor Roberts said with a chuckle. "If they were Fred Krueger it takes multiple cases of over kill professor, but it just goes to show that knowledge is power, and salt is a purifier to ward off evil, secondly everything they once knew got replaced with everything we know, and thirdly just use the fact that their superstitious against them and you'll get them every time." I said and they chuckled as he answered me.
"Nice touch in history lesson son, because this just gets better and better, you keep anything from last year's escapade though?" he asked and I nodded smiling. "Yeah the lighter I used that night, but to repeat lieutenant Freeling, tonight is one of the worst nights of the year, for a cop or a fireman, because of all the pranks, practical jokes and riots as to that, never mind phoning the cops, we got to deal with it ourselves."
"With it being a Friday and tomorrow's a weekend, it's going to be a very crazy night tonight, if some bonehead skeptics decide to break in, but do that and you unleash the horror from within. So with that play it smart and stay safe." I said and they all nodded in agreement before I heard a sarcastic mutter to that from the guy right behind me.
"Give me a break." I heard and turned to the guy who muttered this and she sighed as she said it as he was dressed like I had been when I moved to town. "Ah ha and here we go, we seem to have another skeptic in our midst. Honey you know this boy, because he's dressed and acting like you used to, before you became one of us over night with meeting and stopping our town legends?" she asked and I nodded to her gently as I turned in my chair to look at the black turtleneck tied dyed shirt wearing kid behind me who was also wearing everything I used to wear and didn't anymore.
"Yes I do fact of the matter is he went to my high school and was on the football team with me. L.A. locals see this stuff as bunch of Hocus Pocus, because they grew up skeptics and don't believe in the supernatural and paranormal. As to that, I grew up in the space of one night once I saw what changing my attitude would mean, saved my baby sister and saved our town from a trio of Fred Krueger like want to be's. And with that I think I just found my old self hiding in the broom closet with the skeletons."
"Alright guys this is one of the exhibits here, Exibit A: dressed as a kid from California and growing up a skeptic on what Halloweeen really is and why it was created. While exhibit B is now dressed in the clothes of a town local: I'm dressed in varsity jacket, wearing a red and white striped turtleneck, and blue jeans and I'm wearing a pendant with the ancient symbol of protection against any evil spirits and ghouls."
"I love anything that has to do with the paranormal and supernatural, I have a part time job working at the house and museum of said legend and I'm the apprentice to the town historian, with my girlfriend and future wife, as we became soulmates in just one night, and I've run extensive research into said legend after meeting it face to face and have, in the space of year, turned into a town hero and stopped the source of our town legend by saving my sister's life by giving up my own."
"Now with that fact in mind what's the lesson here that I'm trying to say, what's the lesson we gained from this story, it's connected to who I became after last Halloween?" I asked and Jared smiled with a firm look on his face. " That things change, life changes, you hold to the past you'll never be able to move forward and make better future for yourself, and while life changes, the things that don't are your bonds to your family and friends. And with that Walker just what is your problem you've been here for what, a week and you're still holding on to the past, here's a piece of advice: L.A. is your past, Salem is your future now, life changes and with that you got to make the best of those changes."
"This is your home now, so it's time to get used to that, or you'll never get a chance to start over and become a local and make some new friends." he said and Jay patted me on the shoulder and I smiled as I said it. "Derek like me, I didn't like it here at first, but in one day I changed my life, I heard this story, thought it was just a scary story, but my biggest change came that night when I unleashed it on the town."
"As to that, my sisters advice was its time to move forward, this was my home now, so it was time to get used to that. As to that I decided to follow up on her opinions, met Allie for real after walking right into the front hall of her house. She got to meet my sister and I decided if I was going to change I should at least see this house and from there my life was set in stone. As to why it's because we went to the house and one foolhardy decision results in the changes necessary to make me want a second chance and I start over and really give it a go at life here in Salem and with that, Derek, that's my lesson to you."
"Excuse me, Derek but just what is the catch exactly, not believable enough, because while we grew up in the state that is known to be health conscious they don't take history too seriously when its only two hundred years old, and are not the witch hunting capital of the world and with that fact in mind here because you're outnumbered here in Salem and we all take these legends seriously, because we've seen it ourselves."
"Fact of the matter is that for a Puritan in this town we deal with protecting our younger generations from the evils of the supernatural and this happens to be one of them, as to that you act like this and try to debunk it-it's going to result in more than you'll ever know and with that fact in mind here, what your problem exactly?" I said as I turned to him, I was now dressed in my varsity jacket of the high school football team and my team-mates were all over the room along with my girlfriend and her friends.
"And while I'm on the subject Derek I'm making it very clear here, you decide to debunk that theory and history and wake them up a second time you won't have to worry about them killing you, because I'm going to do it if they target Danni a second time here, because she just barely missed taking her that night, and the curse they put on Binx broke when I saved her life that night. If I'm what I think and I'm a half Salemnite it's your the outsider and I'm the local here and I've grown up." I said sternly to him.
"What I never wanted a change and you're a traitor, you grew up in California how can you believe this, just how can you believe this stuff, it's just a bunch of scary stories and your mother is a total wash out as for your sister she had it coming at the time and you're dating this tramp." he snapped and I turned around at that as I felt my anger shoot through me at that as I stood up at that as he stood up at the exact same time and I grabbed him by his shirt. "You asking for a knuckle sandwich, nobody talks about my family like that, shut up Walters, that's my wife you're talking about you jerk."
"As for the rest of it you haven't spent a year relearning everything you could have, you're not the son of a local, or possible Salem born, and just as you probably considered I'm a mama's boy nobody talks about my mother like that so back off you fool, you didn't spend a night making sure your family never gets torn apart, or spent the entire night making sure you never lose the most precious thing in your life to you."
"And you just about gave up when they got their hands on her finally, let alone your best friend, who is now a cat, is released from the spell, and he finally dies right in front of you and see your sister break down when doing it, so again shut up, in case you haven't noticed you're surrounded by my entire gang in here, so watch it." I snapped at him as he shoved me away from him and feeling myself shaking from repressed anger and pain, he shoved me and I grabbed him by the arm and Jay quickly grabbed me.
"So what's the problem, did they turn you into a wuss now, because this is stupid it's a bunch of crap, you're a total washout thanks to a year here, and as for her, is she really worth letting go of your roots Max, she's brainwashed you." Derek snapped and that did it finally and I shoved him against the wall as the fight went physical and the guys quickly surrounded us as I heard Jared shout. "Whoa, Max stop, calm down man!" Jared quickly said as Ice repeated the remark as he and Jay grabbed me and pulled me away from him.
"Max stop!" Ice shouted as they separated us. "You trying to get taken apart here you idiot, he's been through enough already you jackass." Jay growled as he looked at me then. "Easy man, cool down bro, that was uncalled for." he said as Allison stood up and pressed her forehead to mine and I pulled her into my arms as my teacher looked me softly. "Alright freeze both of you, son calm down okay, and young man that's enough, you take one swing and you're both getting detention for a week, that's enough." Coach snapped firmly as she looked at me as I shifted position and moved to the window.
"Still holding it in baby?" Allison asked and I nodded. "Yeah, you girls are my entire life, I can't lose you, either of you, like that. His insult was cutting way too close to the truth, you never took away anything you changed me, I owe you guys everything. I love you Allie." I told her and she pressed her forehead to mine gently. "Love you to my mate." she said and she pulled me into a hug as our teacher decided to ask then.
"Flashbacks honey?" Mrs. Andrews asked and I nodded to her. "It was way too close mam, just when I thought they won finally I remembered a key thing about science that night and realized with the fact we're on eastern time and daylight savings time was at six thirty, I had an hour before the sun came up and decided on a tanning salon style sunlamp catch, before destroying the potion a second time like Binx did."
"Two times in one night it was way too close. Like Bill Denbrough I still suffer the near loss of the one thing that is most precious to me in my family, and that's Danni, Allie's my everything, but Danni is my entire world, I can't lose her and not like this, I decided there was only one option left and that was offer myself in her place by taking the potion myself, so being the sacrifice to save every kid in town was enough to stomach at the time."
"But for him to insult my family and my first week and that cruelly it just drove the memories home of how close I lose a piece of my family, in that way and I lost the best friend I could ever have had when I decided to light the damn candle. Binx was the first true friend I made, it didn't matter he was a talking cat, we understand each other even with the changes." I told her and she and my mentor both nodded with gentle looks as the coach answered that as he pulled me into a hug and I burrowed into his arms gently.
"Easy son, it's okay, don't rise to the bait." Coach said gently and I closed my eyes before I sighed as the coach gave a warning to him at that. "Watch it young man, that's completely uncalled for and if you so much as takes a swing at him you're getting detention for a week next week. He's right you can't hold on to the past forever, you got to move forward, he used to be like you, before he changed that and moved forward." he said sternly and Mrs. Walker got ready to give the lecture I turned to my mentors.
"You're a L.A. local, not a Salemnite night Max, you're the traitor!" I heard and I turned to him and I looked at him. "No I'm a Salemnite now, if my mother was born here and my sister and I took the positions we were supposed to have Derek, you're the traitor, and the outcast if you don't get that attitude checked at the door right now. I'm here for a chance at a fresh start, you can't hold on to the past forever and I decided to immerse myself in town history as a result of a fresh start now when I did further research into things."
"I'm engaged to a local, I have friends and my life is here now. So for the first time you've moved from your way of thinking to a town that sees the paranormal and supernatural as more than just a hoax, what's the problem exactly, what, oh I see, so for the first time you're not automatically the best and brightest pupil at what you do, you hate it here, because you're the new comer, well get over it, there are more important things right now." I said and he stood up at that and Jared and Jay grabbed him before he could take a swing as Ice, Rick and Adam moved behind me as he struggled to get free of the duo.
"You traitor, how can you say that Max, you were like me, a member of the team, a member of the gang, what happened to you, did they brainwash you the last year since you left?" he snapped and I shook my head my head. " No I just spent a year growing up after seeing for myself what letting go of the past does and I've matured into who I am as a result." I said sternly and the Professor ended the fight with a stern growl in his tone.
"Freeze Walters, that's enough, you're walking a fine line from getting suspended for a week for that attitude, now that's enough. Son, I understand what you're feeling right now, but show me a man who resorts to violence and I'll show you a man who's run out of good ideas." Professor Roberts said gently and I nodded as I got the message in what he was telling me then. "Son you've learned enough that you remember what Eric, David and I taught you the last year, so what's the lesson here now." he added and I nodded to him.
"Violence is a last resort and look for all the outlets, before its used, nice try Derek not going to work, I know that was provocation to resurface my old conditioning of life in L.A., not going to work here though, okay guys you can let me go now." I said and and they released their grip on my jacket as I sat on the top of my desk then and turned to look at him. "Quick to violence and getting into fights when you're an adolescent male, ignoring my true nature, the fact I hated being an older brother to an eight year old."
"Seeing Halloween as a hoax and conspiracy, not believing in magic, not wanting to look deeper than the surface, hatred of changes and not wanting to move forward with your life. As I said its going into a history now or where she comes into it. That's the old me, the new me grew up, I accepted the changes, I made friends, I'm apart of a new team, a new gang, I found my other half and she's worth the loss of the old ways, in fact I'd do anything, be anything for her, she's my entire life and love her with all my heart."
"I love my baby sister and I'd protect her with my life, I've seen things most can't and did what others can't do, that's the true nature of life here, things change, nothing's permanent and while I spent seven years indoctrinated into the old ways of a slightly dangerous portion of L.A., the underlining message with Disneyland right there was anything is possible if you believe in it. Every single one of his movies had a hidden message to it, up to an uncluding the one focused on my first Halloween here."
"That message is seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing, and while I'm on the subject, we saw Starwars as another good liner here, here's the message though, calm, serenity control is the way of a Jedi knight, and anger and aggression is the way of a Sithlord. Which where is Profesor Roberts remark comes into it now. 'Show me a man who resorts to violence and I'll show you a man who's run out of good ideas', underlying meaning, violence is never the answer and every option must be looked at, before you use it."
"You want to live here, here's the first rule of life in the jungles of a Salem High School it's we don't resort to violence unless it's out self defense Derek, you're outnumbered thirty five to one in here and with that fact in mind. You see this stuff as a hoax and conspiracy, I see it as a way to study the ancient rituals and learn more about the country history and why the holiday was created, I'm no longer a L.A. born, I'm a Salemnite, a Puritan."
"You never know what life throws your way, but this is gods work and he's saying you need a shot at a fresh start and getting away from the in crowd of the old ways and being open to everything this town has to teach you as to that. That's why I'm in the exact same history class with you along with my friends Derek, so cool it and listen to me, alright let him go." I said and they let go of his arms and slumped into his desk then.
I didn't have to see the look on my teachers faces to know they were satisfied of the way I responded to his provocations then in attempt to resurface my old life. "Well there you have it Walters, nothing you say or do is going to resurrect the him you remember, that version is gone and in his place is a man we can be proud of to call our brother and gang member, our team-mate, L.A. is the past, Salem is home." Jared said to him firmly and I looked at him with a smile at that, before looking at the professor and my teachers gently.
"Before you say it professor, coach, mam, you better let me give this lecture, I wouldn't give up the last year since the move for anything. I'm happy now and I'm one of you so with that, it's time I had a chance to talk some sense into who I used to be, before we have a repeat performance and the trio are back on the loose." I said and they nodded as I heard someone walk into the room and looked up to our principal and I knew he was waiting to hear my lecture, to the guy and the past version of myself and hid a smile.
Hearing my declaration everyone in the room smiled as she said it for all of them with a smile. "Well why don't you say it for all of us son, you changed in the space of one week and those changes turned you into a local overnight, so go ahead say it for all of us." she said smiling and I nodded as I turned in my seat and looked at him firmly, before I could though Mr. Jackson answered that with a gentle smile as he looked at the sextet surrounding me and raised an eyebrow at this.
"Alright what happened in here exactly if Allison and the boys have you surrounded?" he asked and Jay answered that. "He tried to provoke him into a fist fight sir, using Allie and his family in order to do that before we intervened. It's an attempt to resurface the old conditioning of life in a slightly dangerous town by deliberately provoking a fight here. Unfortunately for him, the new ways won out here. He's one of us no matter what Walters tries now." he said and he nodded as he looked at me gently as he answered that.
"Maximus, with that attitude you've really come along way in one year and this is the type of attitude I prefer, you and your family are complete equals so just say what we think to the old you as you're now a puritan and professional witch hunter now." he said gently and I nodded to that. "You're lucky you delayed for two hours though Sir, I was busy in the underground catacombs and we ended up right below the street your house in on." I told him and he chuckled at that as he answered me.
"Nice touch, I thought they were a trio of adults dressed as the Sanderson Sisters not realizing they actually were. Well that explains why they were afraid of our dog, wait till my wife here's this though, she's going to find it pretty funny." he said and I started laughing at that. "Yeah two hours delay at your house, the concert, I locked them into the arts and crafts clay hardening room in the cellar, that gave us five hours and then several more practical jokes after that." I told him and he nodded smiling.
"Out of curiosity, how did mom know to get in touch with you guys exactly, you accepted the enrollment automatically when she chose this high school, what's going on exactly Sir?" I asked and he smiled. "Let's just say that we knew each other in another life son. Once you see things from another perspective you choose to return to your roots when the time is right, as to that, you just found your way home without realizing it." he said and whatever that meant I had to talk to my mother that night as Jared looked at me.
"I take it Danni's opinion was what changed you last Halloween?" Jared asked and I nodded. "Yeah one year to the day and I've accepted everything that comes from moving here and this is home now. So to repeat that Derek, and I know what you're going to say here, 'I hate it here, I hate this place, I miss all my friends and I want to go home', well here's the problem now, you're no longer living in L.A., you live here. This is your home now, it's time to get used to that and move on with your life and look to the future."
"I'm just going to repeat her exact words here but, 'this is your home now, so get used to it', I was holding in a lot of anger at the move and I didn't want a change at all, though I get more freedom here, no crime, peace and quiet and a life and a new shot at happiness I wasn't ready to let go of the past and that's why the duo here and their friends chose to make it harder, because I was hanging to the past till finally it comes to a head that night." I told him and he looked at me with a look of teenage pain in his eyes.
Saying that I sighed as Allison ran a ran through my hair and I leaned against her, since we were sitting close together and I was right next to her, with the duo on my right, Jared in front of me and Adam and Rick next to me on the left. " Why can you accept this, it feels like a piece of my heart got ripped out from being separated from our team back there. The guys want you back like I did when you left, with you gone a piece of our football team fell apart?" he asked sadly and I explained that to him gently.
"It's because I understand the feelings you're holding in here, we were just starting high school last year and though we were on the junior high school football team, my parents decided it was time for a fresh start and chose to move here. It's not easy to change directions when you've made twenty five friends in the space of year, I know that, but if you hold on to that you'll never be able to move forward."
"At one one point I felt the same and getting into a fight with my quintet here was the game changer, she said what I just did it in those words and gave me a second chance after a fight between us, because we never fought at all, she's my baby sister and I doted on her. I said what you just thought and her remark was 'Well this is your home now, so get used to it.', that fight was enough I knew I had to patch things up between us."
"If it meant making her happy it was time to change the attitude and we changed our lives by facing up against a legend I unleashed and working together, we, Allie and my best friend Thackery Binx destroyed the witches by delaying till morning. But that's where letting go of the past leads you, she and I developed our brother/sister bond so tightly I'd never just let her go, like Jo March she loves her baby sisters so much she'd never let go."
"And while the Puritans are a 100 years prior to that its the exact same thing, everything we see in our siblings changes us further as do added changes when your life throws you a curve ball you're not ready for, but if you take it you can change your future. Binx's words on that were ' You'll never know how precious she, or he, is, till you lose them.'. He's right too she's so precious to me I'm not giving her up without a fight, she's my entire world, and Allie my everything, the girls are my entire life." I told him gently.
"But all this stuff on witchcraft, black cats and witches and stuff, come on, it's a bunch of scary stories." he said and I heard the coach mutter to that remark. "Stuff, oh boy here it comes, go ahead son you better do Allison's remark to that one." he said and I gave a mental nod as I answered that. "What's wrong exactly Derek, not believable enough though, because this story may seem like a bunch of Hocus Pocus for whoever never saw it clearly. It's all real, just like when we see things nobody else can. Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing, we don't have to see the source of the legends to know they're true."
"We just know, that's what being a believer in everything that you can't explain means, the plagues in Egypt 5000 years ago, that's gods work, just because we can't see him, or Satan it doesn't mean that they're not there, just because we can't see ghosts it doesn't meant they're not following us around. I've taken this lesson to heart ever since I moved here, but that's the difference between us now, I'm not holding on to my old life I've created a new one, made new friends, I'm happy now, but you got to let the past go."
"And if you're not careful and release your burden, you're going to catch added trouble around here, us locals take this stuff seriously and for my girlfriend and myself we're class experts on this, you see said legends resulted in a spectacle last year that nearly killed my baby sister and frankly a skeptic who is determined to prove said legend wrong is asking to open a can of worms here. As with that in mind here, since my old self was a bit dense, but opening that can you get in over your head and added trouble around here."
"A skeptic coming to town and sees the supernatural as a bunch of hocus pocus is asking for trouble, which is where you come into it, you're me when I moved to town last year, this me is from a year's worth of changes and seeing the acts of ghosts, talking black cats, witches and zombies and everything connected to it as it comes alive. And as you can see I changed because I spent one night facing it." I told him and she hid a smile.
"You know what Jay and Ice's original nickname for me was when I moved to town?" I asked and he shook his head. " We called him Hollywood, because to us that's our way of saying he was an outsider. But after he saved not only us, but our entire junior population, by destroying the witches and the potion, we saw him as an equal and we changed while doing it, he's our brother and he's a local, he's no longer Hollywood the L.A. outsider, he's the town hero and expert of our legends now." Ice told him firmly.
"The legends are true, like any myth about the Greek and Egyptian storylines, the bible stories, you dig a little deeper and it reveals more than you'd ever expect, Binx was my best friend when I moved to town and at one point I used to be like you, before I got in over my head, and unleashed the legend on the town population and it took every piece of knowledge I knew of the fact they'd been dead for 300 years to get rid of them."
"As to why they saw the firemen as witch hunters, a overhead sprinkler as a death trap for burning rain and they don't understand that once the month comes to an end its lights out for them, because they're from three hundred years in the past and knowledge is power, if used correctly, as such you can say it's a bunch of hocus pocus all you want, but that's where we differ from each other, I've seen the legends come alive and I have to save my sister by offering myself as a sacrifice to save her life by giving up my own."
"Look at me, I left California to start a new life and I was like you at one point, a skeptic, saw Halloween in the way you did, a change I didn't want and in one night I change my life, I found my soulmate, I met who became my best friends and it changed me from a health conscious skeptic and into a town historian with a future of becoming an archeologist. Life changes you if you accept the changes, but hold onto the past and it's going to destroy you." I told him and he scoffed at that as he answered me.
"Oh come on Max you're from L.A. like I am, how can you believe this stuff about black cats and witches and stuff. Halloween was invented by the candy companies, it's a conspiracy." he said and I smiled. " Actually no it's not, Halloween is ancient, cool, mysterious and you look at it from a different angle you'll learn more than you'll ever know, because Salem is the home of the oldest colonies of the Puritans, as to that."
"Along with the fact it's the witch hunting capital of the world, which I might add is where the house comes into it. Because it just so happens that Halloween is based off the festival and feast of All Hallows' Eve, it's the one night of the year where the spirits of the dead can return to earth. I've seen with my eyes just how dangerous it gets when a skeptic decides to cross the line and tries to prove that it's all bunch of hocus pocus."
"And break into the house, that legend brought my girlfriend into my life and my sister and me together and even deepened the bond. Every legend here in town about the witches is true, if you look at it with a clear head instead of looking at it with the eyes of a skeptic, my girlfriend and I spent the entire night preventing said legend from turning this town into open season, because it's like the Fred Krueger legend on the movies."
"Any legend has a basis of truth to them if you look at it closely enough you'll learn more than you'll ever expect, and you'll notice that I've been wearing a pendent around my neck to protect me from whatever spells they cast now, I'm dressed as my friends are, no tied dyed peace symbols for me, I'm dressed like the guys are and I'm wearing a varsity jacket of the football team, and that pendant, it's the ancient symbol to ward off evil, the pentagram. I take the legends seriously, because I've lived it now."
"In one night I changed from being like you and turned into a local town hero, along with my girlfriend, because we saved the entire junior population of our town and I take pride in the fact I can call Salem my home now, because in just one night you can change your life forever, if you choose to do so and let go of the past and look to the future. These legends and stories are meant to teach that knowledge is power."
"But here's where it gets dangerous: if you haven't lived the legend and see it come to life for yourself and you unleash it on the unsuspecting townsfolk you're going to put every child at risk, as to why dream realities and the supernatural can be dangerous. Heather Langenkamps character saw where the source of their jump rope song came up from, because it's source was a real person and he was extremely dangerous."
"Camp Crystal lake, also dangerous, every horror movie borrows off the source of its legends by digging deeper into it, but when some unsuspecting idiot who grows up as a skeptic decides to debunk these things and gets it into their heads to break the rules than it turns into a shooting gallery and Fred Krueger is the perfect example of that, and the victims every time are a bunch of kids and teenagers afterwards as well."
"His legend was was created at the time and it was that he was a child killer that got arrested and was released on a technicality and the block parents decided to take justice into their hands and burn him at the stake, but he gets turned into a dream stalker and his biggest weapon is fear. So with that one kid gets the life scared out of them and they infect their friends and it starts spreading like the flu, which I might add is what killed sixty teenagers in that series, before turning into a bloodbath, had it not been for my quick thinking the town would be a shooting gallery, which brings it to Briarville."
"Trantor the Troll was buried alive by the great grandfather of Ernest P. Worrel and made a prophecy that one of his descendants would bring him back on the night before All Hallows' Eve and that's just like our situation, some stupid idiot, who's a skeptic, decides to debunk the legend, lets out the monster and it turns into a full scale fiasco as it takes multiple attempts to catch the monster and quick thinking to end the nightmare of it."
"For a local they enjoy this stuff, because they grew up on the stories about the legends and this town hates witchcraft with a passion, because its taken multiple lives. Binx's father was a member of the council when our town was born and settled, so back then the puritans if they found a witch of the Sanderson Sisters caliber they decided it was burning at the stake, being drowned or being hanged. To prevent them from killing kids."
"As to that 300 years ago the town Elders hung the trio for taking the children of one of their own and decided to lock, bolt and barricade the door shut to prevent the black flame candle from ever being lit and unleash the horror from within on the children of their descendants. Binx was the son of a elder and he was furious that he lost his daughter and didn't know where his son was or what happened to him, because he'd been turned into a cat and made immortal." I said and Allison finished it for me then.
"For us locals it's cool and interesting that we get a chance to enjoy a good story every Halloween, for a skeptic that has the mind of kid, once you unlock the ancient door and everything that lurks inside it you get in over your heads and it takes a bunch of kids to decode and head off a massacre before it takes a life and you get too cocky it lands you in a bird cage if you make inappropriate remarks to said legend, by calling them ugly and she sold her soul to the devil for eternal youth." She told him firmly as Jay answered her with a bemused smile at that.