Cory found himself tackled to the ground! But the instant he saw the hideous beast, his panic faded and turned into a DIFFERENT kind of panic. For that was a face that he knew all too well…
"L-LISA?!" He screamed. "What are you DOING? You can't be seen like that!"
Quickly, before anyone could come rushing in (he was hoping no one heard), he yanked the monster inside his dorm and slammed the door shut. The monster only laughed before suddenly reverting back to a human form.
"Come ON, Cory buddy!" Lisa snickered. "This is the only time of the year when you're legally ALLOWED to scare the pants of people!"
"Seriously, that form's meant for the OTHER guys, not normal people!"
"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist! Besides, I had some time before Jessie got back."
Ah, right. Lisa had a roommate.
"You're not…a THING with him, right?"
At this, her eyes widened and nearly punched him.
"One: Jessie's a HER, and Two: No! Just friends!"
"Oh. Short for Jenny or Jessica?"
"Jessica. And before you go any further, no. Seriously, friends."
"Okay…" Cory tried to find a way to change the subject. "So, I'm starting to see a pattern here. He sent something LAST year, and the year before that. And the year before THAT, even though it was delayed, and finally the year after THAT!"
"That was just FOUR, buddy." Lisa says. "And relax, we beat them all!"
"Yeah, well, he TENDS to work up some super crazy plans every Halloween! Remember the Wardenclyffe Incident back in 2018?"
"Ugh. The only reason I'm playing along is that I've been getting SUPER bored! We haven't even FACED something major for a whole year! And going after the normal ones is getting…old."
Ah, there it is. He was worried he had begun to think like her younger self.
"Well, whatever he's got planned, I'm SURE it's gonna be big."
That's when he noticed a student passing by.
"Uh…the-the-the point is, Robert's got the BEST parties! It's gonna blow last year's out of the water! A major massive event! And one night only, so it CAN'T be missed!"
All clear. Phew! Who knew the truth could be the best lie?
"Oh yeah!" Lisa adds. "Speaking of birthdays, guess who's turning 18?"
It couldn't possibly be them. Theirs were on May 18th, Lisa two minutes after Cory.
"She's not like most others." Cory stated. "There's no other family like hers that's so…unordinary."
"Relax, when you've had a habit of lying, no one will believe anything if you accidentally slip out! Now she does it for a much BIGGER reason!"
She paused. Someone could've heard them…
"Heh. Sorry."
"Well, we pay her a visit when the sun starts going down." Cory says. "Until then…you DID finish your work, right?"
"Ugh, these quizzes are KILLING me…" Lisa groaned. "I miss it when I look into lore for the FUN of it."
"Is…that a yes?"
"Of COURSE it is! And I'm thinking we could give that statue the…Egyptian treatment…"
Cory sighed. Of course SHE would be one of the pranksters. Thankfully it was all harmless, and didn't even give the janitor a hard time. She made even April Fools seem like a nightmare.
"Well, you do you." Cory stated. "I'm gonna see how the town's getting ready."
"Alright! Meetcha at the ushe place!"
She only raced off as Cory headed back into his dorm. Checking to see if anyone was looking, he took a book jacket off of one particular book he had disguised: One with a green glowing G.
He flipped through the pages. Ever since last Halloween, it was finally complete. In that book were all the oddities he and all his friends encountered. And it all began with that creepy house in the middle of the woods. And ending with that deathly being called the Haunter.
However, it was the insides of the front and back covers that seemed to puzzle him. They showed a full blood red moon. Just what did it mean?
He managed to translate some of the language. It was in either Latin (or another ancient language) or a mass of gibberish. And in the very middle of the book showed seven stones circling the red moon. But the words were too crazy or insane to translate.
Oh, why was he worrying? It was a holiday! He only closed the book, pushing it aside for another day before putting it in his backpack.
"Alright, buddy." Cory only stated. "Let's just see how haunted Hollowville is getting…"
…
The woods were still and calm in the afternoon air. The leaves fell as if raining flora corpses. Beautiful and elegant, even in their last moments. But as the seasons cycled, they would be reborn to live and die once again. One generation after another.
The teenage girl with shadowy black hair, pale white skin, and big black eyes with short eyelashes heard the leaves crunch under her feet. Sure, she HAD plans to study abroad in college with her younger brother, but that wasn't so easy when life was so…complicated. Plus, having to work full-time in the family business could be…exhausting.
Maybe it was her desires that were speaking. To just find a way to get away from it all.
Maybe she was mentally running away. The pressure was just so much. But how could one run from oneself? Someone wanted her to go down the left path. Others wanted her to go down the right path. She just wanted to go straight ahead.
Who was she? For real? Who did she REALLY want to be? Just once, she wished she could stop lying to herself. She wasn't sure WHO to believe anymore.
Yes, she had friends. Family. Even loved ones. But she wasn't completely like everyone else. She wasn't even one of them…at all.
She felt like a facade. A mask. To cover up what was really inside. Something that others tried forcing out of her. Even at an early age.
She took a deep breath. She just needed a moment. Alone. To herself. No brother, no mothers, not even her girlfriend.
She was now an adult. Having come of age. Her future had so many possibilities. Why did most of them…feel like curses?
Suddenly, there was a howl of wind. She whirled around. Whatever had been there…was gone.
She headed over. A footprint. One that was…slightly hot.
This time, she saw something. A blazing blur racing past, smacking her hard against the face. She yelled and fell to the ground. Damn, that hurt.
She pushed through the pain and got back up. Seriously? This was happening NOW?! She only growled at this. She was NOT in the mood for this…
That's when her senses sharpened. To beyond the levels of mortality. Time seemed to slow down, and she heard every footstep like a hard bang against a door.
The fiery figure dashed back through the woods, readying another inferno punch. Lucy felt both fear and rage course through her blood, the primal emotions triggering a feeling of intense stinging pain. One she knew all too well.
Her teeth grew into long sharp fangs. Fur growed all over her body as her skin began to burn aflame. Wings sprouted from her back as her clothes faded away, as if to become part of her body. Her eyes became a glowing orange sharpened as the seventh sense triggered. Her hand became claws, and her feet became talons.
She grew dark black and molten. In a mere split-second, her human mask and costume she always wore was tossed aside.
She turned to the attacker, roaring with unbound fury as she threw a punch. It dodged, slamming a knee to her chest. She coughed up blood as she flew up, but used her wings to catch herself, countering with a loud scream. The figure staggered and covered his ears as she kept the duration going…
And that's when something snagged her by the leg!
Before she could react, she was slammed to the ground hard enough to normally break her bones. She coughed some more and stood up again, facing a second foe…
The demons. Demons she knew all too well. The succubus pulled the whip away to release her, then prepared it again. The demon from before zipped back up.
More emerged. The tank. The elder. The thief. The berserker. And the trickster. Seven against one. She was greatly outnumbered. Cornered. Nowhere to run.
That fear forced her. To push herself. And even threatened to make her lose herself.
Screaming in sheer anger, she let forth immense fire from her mouth, and the berserker took it like a champ and forced her to block a knee, and then a downwards sword slash. She blocked and parried, but let out sharp yells as each hit cut her. That cursed blood dropped to the ground and sizzled away like lava.
Angered, she backhanded the sword away, prompting the demon to throw a fatal punch. She caught it and broke the bones with a single bite before kicking the warrior into a tree.
She screamed as there was a sharp pain in her back, and then she turned around to grab the thief by the neck, he was gone. She pulled an arm back to elbow the ambusher in the jaw, then transitioned it into another backhand to swat it like a fly.
The trickster fared no different. Grabbing the scimitars in her claws and fighting the pain, she kneed the female demon in the groin, making her squeal in pain before ferociously headbutting her.
Next was the fat one with the second mouth where the gut was. The maw opened wide and tried sucking her in. She dug her claws and talons into the ground to resist, countering with a charged-up hellfire blast right into the vulnerable target, making the hungry demon feel his stomach explode before collapsing with a BOOM!
She dodged a heavy club slam before rushing up it and kicking the old demon in the face before a double-handed overhead slam managed to break something. She yanked the club away and managed to break the demon's guard with it, finishing by throwing the opposite and pointed end at him, managing to impale it.
Finally, the speed demon ran close circles around her. It made it hard to breathe, and she fell to her knees. All the while, she was being blitzed from all directions, leaving very little time to block. When she managed to, she felt her guard slowly weakening. With another primal roar of demonic and monstrous race, she unleashed her dormant demon magic to blast the racer, sending him flying through trees before tumbling into the dirt.
All that was left was their leader. She cracked her whip and charged, readying the spikes on her weapons while showing her claws in her spare hand. That whip had struck her back and body constantly during the torment the demons called training. It hurt like hell, but she was supposed to endure it.
She fought with claws, talons, fangs, magic, wings, and fire. But the demon was far more skilled and slammed her to the ground after wrapping her whip around her neck. She felt herself get savagely beaten within an inch of her life, despite all her anger and fear. Finally, a blade from a high heel punctured her skin before a flip kick broke her jaw and sent her flying. And another kick sent her crashing into a nearby boulder, which cracked and broke apart, collapsing on her.
The darkness and pain consumed her. But she felt her heart beating as she coughed and felt herself throw up. It was possibly her own blood. Shit, it hurt so much…
Already she felt her healing factor kick in. When she staggered back up, she had lost her fiery and molten demonic appearance. Now she looked like a humanoid vampire bat with glowing red eyes. She grabbed her shoulder and screamed as she forced it back in place with a SNAP! The pain stung, forcing her onto a knee.
"You have begun to get sloppy, Lucille Dark." The lead demon snarled. "And thus a disappointment. I expected more from the Spawn of Satan."
"He…" Lucy felt herself throw up some more (she had told her friends once they proved they could keep secrets). "Couldn't he choose from his MILLION other kids, Lushara?!"
"My dear sister Elinoris is the most rightful descendant of the King. It's almost an INSULT that she chose to marry a…mortal beast."
Lucy growled, but a stomp to her head forced her down.
"That monster blood within you nearly TAINTS the blood of Lucifer. Lesser Makai warriors I have trained even saw you as unfit. They called you a bastard abomination. Are you TRYING to prove them right?"
Her birth mother. Lynne Dark. One of the legendary monster hunter families in the world. The Darks. Their ancestry dated back to Ancient Romania. And she was a Shapeshifter (or as her friends called her, a Blender). A monster that could take a human form.
She fell in love with Lucy's second mother Ellie, a succubus from Nether, and soon they married and had two children. With the blood of both Lucifer in their veins. And since Randall was the younger child…
Luck and God had HATED her ever since her birth…
"You can't force me!" Lucy struggled to no avail under Lushara's heel. "I'm eighteen today! No one can tell me what to do!"
"I am not FORCING you. I am TRYING to prepare you to take our king's place when he steps down from his throne. You have now become of proper age to take that crown."
Shit, not THIS again.
"I said I'm eighteen, not eighteen THOUSAND! I've never lived as long as the rest of you super-ancients! Besides, he's lived forEVER! What makes you think he'll step down NOW?!"
"One billion million years old is a lot, even for HIM. His end is drawing near. Try as you might, destiny catches you faster than ANY monster. Why else would your mother train you and your brother to become Hunters?"
"Which one?"
Lushara growled and yanked Lucy up by her neck. "This is your LIFE, not a game! You can't turn the page just to peek at what is to come! No, YOU will be an even greater queen than even the Nether Lord was! You will be both feared AND respected!"
"But I don't want to be a demon OR a monster! I JUST WANT TO BE HUMAN!"
That earned her another slam into the ground.
"Stop trying to delude yourself." Lushara stated in anger. "You were NEVER human! You were born from two supernatural beings, and being a weak mortal is NOT in your blood! You were one of us the moment you emerged from your mother's womb! You are the best of both worlds, and the ULTIMATE creature across all realms! No matter how hard you try and fit in, the mortals of this world will NEVER accept you. The only friends you can make are those that live just as long as YOU can. The demonic blood courses within you. Tell me, if you chose to live in this world, what will you have after THOUSANDS of years?!"
Lucy only paused. Damnit, she felt herself crying tears of anger. It just wasn't fair!
"I…I'd still have Mom. And Randy. And…even all of you."
"That's only family. Mortal adolescents here tend to cut themselves off. But the only friends you need lie within Nether. Don't you GET IT, you idiot? SHE is only a weakness…"
Lucy screamed in rage and threw herself upwards. She lunged to grab Lushara, only to get her hand broken before being thrown into the dirt.
"Don't…you DARE…talk about...her…like…that…"
"Oh please. I've had HUNDREDS of concubines. You'll understand when you're older. Now GET UP."
If she had the energy, she'd curse right now. Lucy heaved herself upwards, now a panting and gasping mess before reverting back to her human form.
"Don't worry 'bout it, you'll do FINE!" Primor chimed in. "Think about it! The glory of battle, the thrill of the hunt! The new Nether Lord ushering a new eternity of peace and honor!"
"Yeah…great…" She only replied. Primor only looked at her.
"Look, I promise you'll find a way to make it work. Fusing two lives together isn't easy but…maybe, just MAYBE…you might be able to squeeze in a third there…"
"Really? How?"
"Hmmm….beats me."
"Argh, you're such a fu-."
That's when she heard her phone vibrate. Primor only raced off to join the other Seven Deadly Sins. The best of the Makai race. And it was just a KILLER to have them as her trainers.
Lucy only looked at her phone (thank God it wasn't cracked). A text from Dylan.
Ready and Set. Waiting to go. Dina's got something special (don't worry, it's not 18+).
She only smiled. Dina Beckerson. That lizard Blender girl had been her first friend since she moved to Hollowville. And the first monster she met since her own family.
Ever since they became teenagers they had begun being a thing. She was a ray of light and hope in Lucy's world of darkness. She made her feel like she was a bit blessed despite all these curses.
Yeah, that would be
Lucy paused. Even after all this time, Dylan was still a kid physically. Since she couldn't figure out how to say it, she just put down a barfing emoji instead. However, the thought of it since she WAS 18…
But it WOULD be nice. She's always had the urge…
Dylan only responded with a barrage of barf emojis.
OK, OK! FINE! Ugh…
She only pocketed her phone and headed off. The sun was beginning to set. Hopefully this would take off all the pressure…