Hello everyone! So, this is a story idea that came to me randomly one day. What if Virginia Hall was in Escape the Night? Cuthbert and all?
Prologue: An Invitation
"Letter for Miss Hall!" The mailman said cheerfully. Virginia Hall stood in front of him.
"That's me," she said, in her old Baltimore accent. She took the letter from the mailman's hand. "Thank you," she said. Then, she closed the door and limped back inside.
"Who was it, honey?" Her lover, Paul, yelled from the kitchen.
"The mailman! He wanted to give me a letter!" She yelled back.
Virginia hobbled into her study, at the back of the house, and opened the letter. Inside, was, of course, a letter.
It read:
My friends,
I am going on an extraordinary adventure, and I'm in need of your help, and so are hundreds of others. This is not an invitation to a ball or a dinner party, it's an invitation to embark on a dangerous mission. It may sound impossible, but there's a town trapped in the 1970s, and very soon, everyone in it will be dead unless we do something about it. There's a dark séance that will take us back in time, but for it to work, you must choose a personality reminiscent of that era, and dress like them. The people of Everlock will know their role and place, but you will be operating without knowledge or understanding of what's to come. This Friday the 13th, the doorway to Everlock will be open, and we will only have that one night to complete our mission.
Joey Graceffa
"What the hell?" Virginia muttered. "We are in the 1970s. It's currently 1977." Indeed, it was currently 1977. Which meant that this letter was either from a crazy person who just wanted attention, or it was from… the future?
Virginia was a fan of everything supernatural. After all, how else could she have survived her amputation in Turkey? So, she was intrigued by this letter. She didn't know who this 'Joey Graceffa' person was, but something about this letter made her want to trust him.
But, there was that part about, 'this is not an invitation to a ball or a dinner party,' implying that this had happened before. She didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't leave innocent people to die. That just wasn't in her nature. She stood from her writing desk, shuffled out of her study, and went to find Paul (while concocting a plan of what to say to him). He was still in the kitchen.
"Paul, my love?" she said, as she entered the kitchen.
"Yes, Virginia?" he said back.
"I'll be gone this Friday. We won't be able to have our night like we planned. I just got a letter from the bureau. Apparently, they want me in."
"That's too bad. But I'm sure there will be plenty of nights ahead." He grinned.
"Paul… I might not come back alive," Virginia said morosely.
His grin faded. "What? Surely, you can't be serious?"
"I am serious. And don't call me Surely." She said, quoting her favorite movie. Paul laughed, amused at her sass. He had always loved that part of Virginia. This phrase was also a passcode. A request.
Let me know what you guys think!
Btw, I have no idea if 'I am serious, and don't call me Surely' is something from before 1977, but for the sake of this story lets say that it is!