Goosebumps Adventure!

Chapter 3: Halloween Party Bonanza

Keller Household

Courtney was lying on her bed, with her boots off as she crossed her feet and looked up at the ceiling. Justin had driven her home after they had left the store. When they had stopped at her house and she had gotten her stuff off, thanks to Justin, her mother had pulled in with her brother. When her mother had seen Justin, she acted like any mother would; she gushed all over them like they were a couple. Courtney just moaned in frustration as she muffled her face into a pillow as she muffled, "God! Why does Mom have to be this embarrassing?"

She then took the pillow off her face as she started to stare at the ceiling again. She then looked at the key that rested around her neck, and took her right hand to lift it up to her eye view. She twiddled with it a little, getting a good look at it for a while to get an understanding of what had just happened. The owner of the store, with a pretty mysterious name John D. Stranger, knew a lot about her and just gave her this key. She thought to herself as she looked at the dangling key, 'The key to that book, the Book of Goosebumps.', she raised an eyebrow at it as she asked herself, 'But why can't I read it? Why bother having it up the shelf if he's not gonna sell it?'

Just then, the door to her room opened up, causing her to jump up by surprise. She turned and saw her brother Max, all dressed up like a pirate as he jumped up and down. He was in joy as he smiled to his older sister, "Courtney, look! I've got a pirate costume! A real pirate costume!"

Courtney just smiled at her brother's joyous attitude as she smirked, "Wow, me harty. In what pirate booty are we be huntin' this year?"

Max smiled as he played along with his sister and joked, "Booty? I thought we were looking for Halloween treasure, like candy…not shoes."

Courtney laughed at that little joke and sat up, "So, Squirt…you ready to go out on the town this Halloween?"

Max smirked as he crossed his arms at her, "Are you ready to take me out this year?"

Courtney gave him a fake thinking look in her face as she crossed her arms, "Hmmm…well, I don't know. I probably have a lot of stuff to do. Probably have to work." She then saw Max's face began to distort to a look of disappointment. That's when she smirked at him, "I'll see if I can get out early." With that, Max jumped at her, hugging her and praising her with 'thank-you's' all over her.

But then Max asked her, "Hey, you want to take your boyfriend with us?" He smirked as he saw that clueless look on Courtney's face, "You know, that brown haired boy with the cool-looking go-kart."

It was then that Courtney's face went bright red, nearly covering her pale face, "Wh-What?" She shook her head as she looked at her brother seriously, still blushing though, "Max. That boy's not my boyfriend."

Max smirked as he broke loose of his sister's grip. He then walked towards the door as he smiled at her, "Okay, then how about your friend who's a boy?" Courtney threw a pillow at him, but he escaped as he closed the door. He popped up before he closed the door finally, "Aw come on, I can tell he really likes hanging out with you." And with that, closed the door to leave her sister in thought.

She lay back on the bed as she thought about what her brother had said. She thought about it a little, and then to even her surprise, let out a small smirk at realization. Justin had been a great help to her, and seemed really nice to her all day long. Even though he was a little sarcastic at times, he was also pretty funny when he wanted to be. She wasn't sure about it though, but maybe it was okay to have a friend once in a while.

The Next Day

Amityville Junior High

Lunch Time

Everyone was walking around, getting their lunches as they were scarfing down their food. One student was currently in line for her Sloppy Joe; it was none other than Courtney as she scooted along for her Sloppy Joe. The Lunch Lady set it on her tray, but not before someone bumped into her. She wasn't aware who it was until he spoke up, "Oh, sorry about that. I was just…." A little surprised by this turn of events, she saw it was Justin. He then looked surprised himself as he smiled at her, "Hey, Working Girl, how you've been so far?" He saw Courtney half-smirk at that title, thinking about her job at the Halloween Store. She was still in disbelief that she had gotten the job so easily that day.

Even though she didn't think of Justin as an official friend, just yet, she felt it would be impolite to shrug him off. She just simply replied, "Mmm. It's been good so far." She then turned over to Priscilla's table, and saw the sassy girl give her a death glare, before snuggling back into her boyfriend's lap. Courtney returned to Justin's gaze as she replied, "Though, lately…the prissy princess over there's been giving me a lot of attention lately."

Justin shrugged it off as he took a sip of MD Red soda, "I wouldn't worry about it…too much." Courtney shrugged at it as she was about to take a bit out of her sandwich. But was stopped when Justin made a comment, "Though you might be a little careful. She's been known to get even by playing a lot of terrible Halloween pranks on people."

Courtney scoffed at that, "Oooh, I'm really scared. Justin…I happen to be starting a book on Halloween pranks; there's no way she could out prank me." Courtney was about to take another attempt at biting her sandwich, but then was stopped as the Announcements were made.

ATTENTION STUDENTS! THIS FRIDAY, October 29, IS THE ANNUAL HALLOWEEN DANCE PARTY. REMEMBER TO PRACTICE NOT DANCING TOO CLOSE TOGETHER, BECAUSE I WOULDN'T WANT TO SEPARATE YOU ALL.

That earned a row of laughter as the Principal went on, ALSO, ON A LATTER NOTE, WE HAVE THE RESULTS OF THE MISS PUMPKIN QUEEN PAGENT. AND THE WINNER IS…tension was building up for the girls in the cafeteria, and all around the school as they awaited the results. Courtney was just sighing at this boring play out; she still couldn't believe that everyone was getting worked up about this. She was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, until the announcement was finished…

PRISCILLA WRIGHT! CONGRADULATIONS!

Everyone at the jock's table cheered on their leader's girlfriend, while Priscilla bowed and thanked everyone. Justin and Courtney just shook their heads as Courtney asked, "What's so great about this Pumpkin Queen thing?"

Justin took a sip from his soda as he explained, "Ah, it's some kind of Amityville Junior High tradition they play on before Halloween." He explained to her that it was a custom here, sort of like the Halloween Prom Queen for the Halloween Prom. He shrugged as he took a bite out of his pizza, "They state that it's a beautiful Halloween tradition here; the dance, the lights, even the piñata."

Courtney was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, until she heard that and asked, "Piñata?"

Justin shrugged as he explained, "It's some goofy gimmick they have as the grand finale for the dance. Only the Pumpkin Queen can bust it open."

Courtney raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Priscilla, "Priscilla?" She shrugged, and after all that, finally took a bite out of her sandwich. However, as she did, something was a little odd about it. The first bite; it felt like something was wiggling around in her mouth. She spat her chunk out as she looked at her sandwich, "What the…?" She opened it, only to stand straight up and scream at the top of her lungs.

Justin looked at her as he asked, "What? What is it?" He then looked at the sandwich as he looked disgusted. There were worms in the sandwich; worms that were still alive and wiggling. Courtney was spitting out her sandwich as fast as she could; it was only then that the two teens heard the laughing and giggling. They heard it coming from the Jock's table as they saw Josh laughing his lungs out, but what they saw really stuck it to Courtney…Deep.

Priscilla mockingly waved at Courtney, with an evil smile and snicker to boot. Priscilla mockingly asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought a witch needed more protein in her diet." Courtney gritted her teeth at this, silently swearing that she would get her back, and pay it back in full…twice as much.

Stranger's Halloween Store

After school, Courtney came straight to work, and began the series of the day's duties. Right now, she was up on a ladder in the library, placing the books in alphabetical order. She was starting on S for now and was later on, going to move to T. However, as she was working, she still fumed about the prank that Priscilla had pulled on her. Hearing all that laughter on her, the looks that everyone gave her, she felt right then that she wanted to die.

It was while she was stacking and organizing the books, her attention was turned back to an object of much desire. On the one display shelf, she saw the book entitled, The Book of Goosebumps. She still didn't understand why no one was allowed to read the book at all, much less buy it. Just knowing that much made her want to read it even more so now. She pulled the key necklace up, and then back at the book. She thought to herself, 'Maybe…just maybe after hours….' But shook that thought aside as she got back to work.

It was while she was finishing up on one section and climbing down off the ladder, that Elsa came in. When Courtney turned around to see her, she was a little flabbergasted on what she just saw. She saw her, carrying twenty books in two stacks…but held them up by only one arm. Courtney thought and asked herself, 'What. Does. This. Girl. Eat?'

Elsa turned to her and asked, "Do you need anything, Courtney?"

Courtney shook her head to stop staring at her, and replied, "Huh? Oh, no. Thanks anyway." But before Elsa could leave, Courtney decided to ask her a simple question, "Hey, Elsa? Have you ever been picked on before?"

Elsa stopped for a moment, and then a pained look came on her face. She remembered way back then, before Stranger and she had come to America. Angry mobs, torches, pitchforks; people throwing stuff at her, cursing at her and claiming or demanding she died. All of her life, when people found out about what she was, they would treat her like a monster and drive her out of town.

Courtney looked at her fellow employee and saw the spaced out look of pain on her face. She walked over to Elsa and asked, "Elsa?" The girl woke up from her trance state as she looked at Courtney who asked, "You okay?"

Elsa shook off the spaced face, and smiled to her, "Oh, nothing; it's nothing. But yeah, I was. That's why John home-schools me."

Courtney asked, "Oh, I see. The store owner's your grandfather?"

Elsa shook her head as she answered, "No, he's more like my brother."

Courtney raised a much confused eyebrow at that answer. She shrugged and went back to work, but not before she bumped into someone. She looked and saw it was Mr. Stranger himself, as he asked, "I heard you had worm sandwich today, Miss Keller."

Courtney, a little startled, asked out of frustration of him popping up and knowing something that she didn't tell anyone, "Is this gonna be a recurring thing with you?"

Stranger merely shrugged as he answered, "Probably." He then walked over to one of the reading tables and placed on it. He then turned around and asked Courtney, "I figured that you might have had a bully at the school fed you that sandwich."

Courtney nodded and growled, "Yeah, and I want to get even with that witch."

Stranger then walked over to Courtney and padded her shoulder, "Well then…within that bag, is the instrument of your vengeance." He then walked and headed towards the door that led out of the Library section of the store. But not before he gave her a bit of advice, "Of course, how you implement the instrument…I leave that to you, Miss Keller.", and with that said, he was out of there.

Courtney turned her attention to the bag and walked over to it. She opened the bag to reveal three Thermos sized plastic containers. The plastic revealed that whatever was in there was black and brown, and moving around. Courtney smirked at this, while Elsa looked a little freaked out by it. Courtney smirked as she looked to Elsa, "You know, Elsa…I'm beginning to like your brother/boss even more now."

Elsa sweat dropped as she nervously chuckled, "Well, eh…that's a relief."

As Courtney looked at the containers, a thought struck her on how to use whatever was in them. She turned to Elsa as she asked, "You got a costume at the ready?"

Elsa nervously nodded, not sure if she liked what Courtney was thinking on, "Uh, kind of."

Courtney walked over to Elsa, and looped an arm around her neck, holding her close to her. "Then put on your dancing shoes, and expect Justin to come along for the ride…", she said as she held up a container, and smiled, "…because we're gonna attend the Halloween Prom."

The Next Night

Amityville Junior High

Halloween Prom Night

The Halloween Prom was being held in the gym stadium, where everything was going swimmingly. The whole place was decorated in Halloween decorations, the buffet tables were loaded with Halloween foods and sweets, and even a cauldron was used for the game of bobble apples. A huge stage was set up, and a band dressed up like skeletal zombies were playing a song entitled, October 31st.

The students were all over the place, dancing to the music or socializing with one another, discussing on what they were gonna do on Halloween night. They were all dressed up in Halloween costumes, so there were a number of creatures roaming around in the school.

During the dancing and the socializing, everyone didn't even notice the three new occupants that came into the room. It was none other than the trio themselves; Justin, Courtney, and Elsa, all dressed up and rarin' to go on their little prank. Courtney was dressed in an Elvira like dress, but had vampire-like dentures in her mouth, showing that she was dressed as a sexy vampire girl.

Justin was dressed in a nearly torn, but sewn back together jacket, black pants torn in the knees, and a white button up dress shirt. His skin had been painted pale, and his hair was dyed black, and was wearing combat boots as well. Like Courtney, he also had vampire dentures, showing that he was a modern day vampire, and not those ridiculous Count Dracula costumes that the other students had.

Elsa had on the most realistic costumes that the two teens had ever seen. She was dressed up as the bride of Frankenstein, minus the sticky up hair of course. She had a long white dress that went down to hide her feet, bandaged arms and hands, and two bolts in her neck. Courtney had to admit, they were the most realistic thing that she had ever seen on someone.

Courtney looked around the room, trying to see if the target was nearby, and was interrupted by Justin tapping her on the shoulder. She turned and asked, "What?"

He pointed in a different direction as he stated, "Target at Seven o'clock." They had spotted the target, one Priscilla Wright, who was dressed up like a medieval princess, dancing with Josh, who was in turn a knight. Just seeing her smirk like that, made Courtney's blood run cold with anger. Tonight, she was about to get her just desserts.

She looked to the others as she asked, "You guys remember what to do?"

Justin nodded as he smirked, "We've got a pretty good idea."

Elsa nervously nodded, "Well…I, uh…okay."

The three teens made their move as they headed to where they knew where the piñata was being held at. They searched all over until they found out that it was behind the band stage. However, it was guarded by two sixteen-year-olds; that's where Elsa came in as she walked towards them, innocently. She seductively pouted as she smiled, "Hey, boys." And then in an instant, they were smitten by her as they walked over to her.

The first boy asked smoothly, "Hey, can I get you a soda?"

The second one asked, "How about a few Trick or Treats?"

Elsa, trying to resist the urge to gag at what she was doing, smiled at them as she led them away, "How about a little dance first, boys?" And with that, they were off onto the scene. That gave the duo the chance to get to the back to where the piñata was kept at. When they found it, Courtney was actually a little impressed by the Pumpkin piñata. It was pretty big and decorative for the dance; Courtney almost felt sorry for doing what she had to do.

But she did it anyway as Justin handed her the bag with the three containers, "Okay, let's load them in and be done with it before they come back." Courtney nodded as she opened the first container, and dumped all the contents inside as fast as she could. Then she proceeded with the second and third containers, while Justin kept a lookout. He was looking out there, and saw Elsa distracting the boys as best as she could. Though on her end, she seemed to be having a great time dancing, but a terrible time with the two boys.

Courtney put the containers away as she walked up to Justin and reported, "Mission accomplished. Let's go get Elsa and wait for the Queen's reaction." With that said the two took the bag, topped the piñata off, and ran out of there. Justin gave Elsa the high sign, and with that done, she dumped the two boys. She ran over to them as they mixed into the crowd, staying close together to be sure that they could see this together.

Elsa didn't know this Priscilla, but she felt that this was a little cruel to be done by someone. She didn't really know why John let this go on; to her this was just mean and evil…well, maybe not evil but it was still mean. She turned to the two teens as she asked, "Um, guys? Don't you think this is a little cruel to play on someone?"

Justin looked at Elsa, and gave her a dumbfounded look as he asked, "Are you kiddin' me? Trust me; Priscilla had this coming for a long time."

Courtney looked at her with a glare as she stated, "She…put worms in my sandwich. A little cruel? Oh no, if she wants to play like that. She's gonna get it twice in retribution."

And after those two answers, the band stopped playing and everyone was applauding for a great performance. Then a portly fellow, in his mid forties, brown hair going slightly bald, and dressed up like a Mexican for Halloween. This was Principal McKibble as he made his announcements, "How about those Skeletons, kids? Give a round of applause for those Skeletons, folks!" Everyone did so as the whole place was filled with whistling, clapping, and hooting and screaming. After all that was over with, McKibble announced, "Happy Halloween everyone! As your principal, I'm proud as tonight that we're gonna continue to carry on a special tradition." He smiled as he stated, "Tonight, may I present to you…this year's Pumpkin Queen…Priscilla Wright, come forth and receive your crown."

Everyone applauded, including the three scheming teens as they awaited the end results, as the queen walked up. Priscilla smirked as she skipped on up there to the stage, where two girls were awaiting her. One of them had a crown, and the other one had a scepter.

When Priscilla stepped up to them in the spotlight, the first girl with the crown walked up to her as she said, "Here is your glory.", and with that, she was crowned.

The second girl walked up to her as she handed Priscilla the scepter, "And here is you power." And with that done, everyone applauded her as she took a bow and gave them all a smile.

Priscilla then looked to 'her' people, and announced, "I command a mighty pumpkin, to feed my loyal subjects." And with that said, that was the signal. As she said that, the Pumpkin Piñata lowered down to Priscilla, and Principal McKibble walked over to the Pumpkin Queen. And everyone around the room started chanting, "SMASH IT! SMASH IT! SMASH IT!"

Justin and Courtney clapped together, in order to get her going a little bit faster with the hitting. Courtney only smirked at this as she thought, 'That's right, Pumpkin Queen…smack that pumpkin for all it's worth. Because the real treat is what's inside.'

It only took around six to eight whacks for the piñata to finally start cracking. And after the final whack, the piñata busted open, spilling candy…and also Egyptian cockroaches. They landed on Priscilla, as she screamed and freaked out in utter terror; going around in circles. Everyone in the gym looked at this in complete disgust as they saw Priscilla going around in circles on the stage. She did that, until she fell off the stage, and fell face first into the Halloween party four-stacked cake.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone looked at Priscilla face first in the cake. It was only until Priscilla pulled herself out of the cake and looked at everyone pretty shocked and PO'ed that it happened. Courtney could hold it in for any longer, so she giggled at this, which later on erupted into laughter. Everyone followed in on it as they all laughed too, including some of the teachers who couldn't help themselves. Priscilla was fuming mad as she figured that she knew who had done this to her; she looked at the girl that she identified as Keller and would crusher her, just like she crushed her tonight.

However, unaware by anyone, someone in the crowd had their eye on Courtney. Hidden within the crowd, was a very familiar character that only two people in town knew about them. It was the same woman back in Transylvania sixty years ago; very attractive Asian woman, long silky raven black hair that was pulled back to expose her forehead, and went down to her back, slim and slender figure in a very sexy black satin dress. And the very same eerie ruby red eyes; like a pit leading into danger and fear.

It was none other than Revolta, and her eyes were on Courtney.

She had a good look at her, and saw that around Courtney's neck, was the key that opened the book. She seductively and evilly smirked at Courtney as she thought to herself, 'So Johnny boy passed the key down to someone else now.' She lightly chuckled to herself, 'This makes things so much fun…and so much simpler for me to do.' And with that thought passed, she disappeared into the crowd, almost as if she disappeared out of thin air.

Next Chapter: Don't Read Aloud!