Author's note: Sooo yeah….this chapter is super long. 7430-something words. I could have cut it into two chapters but decided against it. Do you like long chapters or short ones? And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!
Thank you 2002 for your review! I like the long reviews. Those are so much fun to read. And yes, I'm trying to stick to a weekly schedule of one chapter a week at least, with a goal of two a week if I can (or if they're shorter ones). But I have college applications to stress about so I must be careful where I put my time.
claudiaramirez2527-sorry about the cliff hangers. They're just so much fun to write and set up the next chapter well while keeping a faster pace. Of course, that's annoying if I take a long time between updates. So I'll try to not make you wait in agony too much. :P
(Then again I literally killed off my main character already soooo…..agony? Eh.)
Mariemullinax—Me too!
Hint: I would suggest having "This is Halloween" ready to play later on in the chapter.
Chapter 7
This is Halloween
Anna woke up in a small attic bedroom with charcoal gray paint and a bed that was too small for her lanky frame.
"Oh. My head," she hissed as she sat up with shut eyes.
And immediately regretted it when the top of her head hit the slanted attic ceiling.
"OW!"
She winced and rubbed her sore skull as she surveyed the room. How did she get there?
Anna crossed her spindly legs, opting to stay on the small bed for the moment, and stared at her hands.
Yep. Bone.
"I need a mirror," she muttered, gingerly swinging her legs off the bed.
Her feet touched the hard, wooden floor and she almost recoiled at the sharp sensation. She stood still for a moment, taking in the detail of her skeletal feet.
With a thick swallow, the girl shook her head and tried to take a step.
"O-okay. Ah!" Anna gasped as she lost her balance and sat back onto the bed. After taking a moment to regroup, she tried again, this time more mindful of her center of gravity.
She stumbled toward an old vanity dresser on the other side of the small room. The glass was cracked, but that didn't impede her ability to see herself for the first time.
She choked back a strangled gasp as a memory came shooting through her skull at the sight.
Needles. Glass. Blood. Heat. Burns. Blisters. Her. A skeleton.
Don't you recognize yourself?
Anna supported herself on the dresser and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing the small headache away. Finally, she raised her eyes again.
What kind of memory was that? Was that even a memory to begin with? She shook her head and focused on the mirror.
It was so bizarre seeing her expressions on a face she didn't recognize, even if she couldn't remember looking any different.
She didn't have any eyes, which wasn't as much of a surprise as she thought. However, it was disconcerting having empty black craters instead of real eyes.
Anna opened her mouth for inspection only to jerk back and duck from the mirror.
She shouted at the face she accidently pulled, almost biting her tongue. She had a tongue apparently, along with wickedly sharp teeth she was sure were not there a moment ago! She had freaking fangs!
Anna slapped a hand over her mouth and stared at her wide socketed expression in the mirror with horror. Cautiously, she stood up, lowered her hand, and bared a weak grin at the mirror.
They looked like natural teeth now, though oddly spaced and slightly crooked. But she still had a tongue. What even…? Where did it go? She didn't have a throat. The long, forked, serpentine tongue was there when her mouth was opened then gone when she felt the underside of her jaw, which literally had nothing there.
She gave up after a couple of frustrating tries and stepped back to observe the rest of herself.
Anna eyed her unusual form in the mirror critically. She was so dirty. There were smudges of dark gray stuff (soot perhaps?) all over her bone from head to toe, but there seemed to be more on her left side. Her hair was a mess too, and she was afraid to comb it out with her fingers as if the slightest touch could pull it out. Hair didn't attach to bone, right? So how did she have any?
The clothes she came in—if they could be called that anymore—sat on a chair by the bed, a pile of crinkled, sooty, black rags that looked vaguely like a dress. Instead, she now wore a poorly fitting nightgown.
That's right! After the strange monsters couldn't find anything for her to wear, one of the odd looking women mentioned borrowing something from "Sally." The other skeleton, Jack, ran off for a few minutes and came back with a white nightgown that at least was the correct height.
He must have looked rather silly running across the square with a nightgown in hand.
Anna grimaced as she turned around in front of the mirror. It certainly wasn't ugly. It just looked so ridiculous on her new stick figure body. It kept slipping off her shoulders and hung off her torso awkwardly. The worst part was that it could easily look like an actual dress if she had a belt, but there wasn't anything besides furniture in the room. And dust.
Dust is mostly dead people skin, by the way.
She blinked and snickered. That was a weird thought.
"Don't worry skelly. We'll get Harlequin to fix up something just for you as soon as possible!" Helgamine (that was her name right?) said.
Who, or what, was Harlequin?
The…monsters…seemed kind enough, but Anna didn't say much throughout the entire exchange. It seemed to concern them a bit. Jack ended up introducing her.
The shorter witch took her upstairs and showed her the room, throwing (literally) a few wooden crates out into the hallway while claiming they usually just used the extra room for storage. She told Anna to make herself at home then left to speak to the other two downstairs.
She was back a second later, handing Anna the nightgown. The woman stayed for a little to make sure Anna could handle it before leaving again.
Anna meant to eavesdrop on the adults (at least she thought they were adults) after changing clothes as quickly as she could, but that proved to be a bit more complicated than she expected. She kept catching the fabric on her floating ribs and hooked it on her shoulder bones more than once. She was exhausted and frustrated by the time she managed, and the bed was welcoming, even if it looked like a prop from an asylum horror movie—striped off-white sheets and suspicious stains included.
She didn't remember falling asleep, and she didn't know how long she was out. Hours? Minutes? Days?
It was dark outside at least.
She turned from the vanity dresser and shakily walked toward the large circular window across from the door. She climbed on the old window seat and wiped off the thick layer of dust (dead people) with a sleeve.
The street below was empty and lit by lampposts and torches that glowed an eerie orange. There were buildings in the way, but Anna could see a little of the town square with the creepy fountain.
Where was everyone?
The town seemed small from the road she was on earlier, but she now realized that was an optical illusion made by the odd shapes of the buildings. Regardless of the size of the town, there should still be people out and about right? Unless it was very late maybe. What time was it?
"Meow?"
Anna jumped and looked behind her with a sharp gasp, the unfamiliar panic and fear from earlier having already frayed her imaginary nerves.
Is this what ordinary people dealt with? Fear just popping up at random times, making one react before they can think of a more reasonable approach?
It was just a cat.
Said cat was skinny and jet black with acid green eyes. It sat primly next to the door it had nosed open.
"Um hi?" Anna muttered. Maybe she could control these new emotions better if she kept herself a little muted.
"Can you talk too?" Anna asked the cat, thinking of the bird from earlier.
The cat tilted its head and walked over, stopping at Anna's feet. It stared at her curiously for a moment before it shook its head slightly.
"So you can understand me, but you can't talk."
This time the cat nodded.
Okay. Stop being surprised Anna. You can roll with this…
"Do you live here? Are you a familiar?"
She was in a house belonging to two witches after all.
Another nod. Then after staring at her critically for a moment, the cat lightly head-butted Anna's bony leg.
She hesitantly reached down to scratch its back.
It purred contently and jumped up on the seat next to her before climbing into her lap.
"Um hello there. I'm not so sure I'm a very comfortable person to sit on. I don't seem to have a lap right now."
The cat didn't seem to care and curled up into the hammock made by the nightgown.
"Ok." What else could she say? "So, I don't know you but would it be alright to ramble a little? I don't think I'm quite sane at the moment."
The cat looked at her with a look that clearly said, "Of course you aren't sane."
"Well, I think I'm dealing with this rather well. I mean, I'm not freaking out about you understanding me at least."
The cat glared at her.
"Okay well, I did run away before and acted crazy with that bird, the..uh...Gatekeeper? Not a normal bird. He broke his neck and seemed fine with it," she said matter-of-factly.
The cat seemed bored with the conversation now and curled up comfortably, not minding when Anna shifted.
She stared down at it.
There was silence for nearly a half hour while Anna quietly calmed her thoughts (again) while her new friend slept.
"You're awfully friendly. We've only just met."
"Rrow," the cat purred.
"Do you know where other…people are?" the skeleton asked, "I'm not like, waiting to be eaten or anything right?"
The cat looked at her in annoyance before yawning and stretching. It climbed out of her lap and hopped to the floor.
"That was a short cat-nap," Anna chuckled, "Told you I wasn't very comfortable."
The black cat sauntered over to the door and stood there for a moment, turning to glance at her.
Anna tilted her head and shakily stood up.
The cat immediately left.
"H-hey wait!" Anna called, doing her best to follow quickly.
She shouted when she tripped over a leg of the bed.
"Ow! Darn it!" she hissed and lay on the floor. Jillian would have laughed and called her a klutz if she was here, like the mean little brat of a sister she was.
She got up, unaware of the memories that had settled into her subconscious.
The door was the next issue.
She first tried to use the doorknob but lost her grip. The metal just slipped from her hard fingers, so she grabbed the edge of the door itself to pull it open.
Thank goodness it wasn't latched closed, or she'd be trapped.
The stairs were horrible!
They were tiny and ridiculously steep. How on earth was she able to get up them in the first place? She must have been a lot more tired than she thought if she didn't even notice tripping the million times it would have taken her to climb them. She also had to duck a lot. Was she always this tall? Or was everything else just short?
The cat was sitting on the table in the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by dozens of weird looking talismans, herbs, bones, and whatever else one could imagine on a witches table. Except for body parts...
Oh never mind… there was a jar of what looked like pickled toes next to the cat.
"'Missing toes,'" she read the label aloud.
The phrase was crossed out and underneath someone had written 'Mistletoe?' with a giant question mark next to it. Next to that jar was another jar containing dried plants and a label with 'MISTLETOE' in all caps and a skull and crossbones symbol underneath.
Anna grimaced and clicked her teeth together.
"You wouldn't happen to know how I get out of here would you?" she asked, glancing around the room.
There was an entrance to another hallway on the left and a curtain covering an opened door on the right.
The cat looked at her strangely again. Did she mean the house or the town?
"Meroww?"
Anna shrugged, "Nevermind. Where is everyone?"
The cat didn't give her any kind of answer, instead decided then was the right time to start licking itself.
Anna rolled her eyes, far calmer than she had been since she first woke up. She felt a little more like her old self again- the sarcastic joking teen that she always was before…something…happened. Or at least she thought she was. Was she sarcastic?
She still wasn't sure what that "something" was. She died? What even was death and how did she know what it meant? Okay. Leave that for a little later.
She distinctly felt that earlier was much more confusing than the present. And it wasn't completely because of waking up in a strange world, though that played a large part of her (admittedly) slightly psychotic behavior earlier. No. She was scared because she didn't know who she was. A name is not a person after all.
There had been an itch. And nasty little itch in the back of her mind that kept telling her she forgot something, and it drove her crazy.
Anna chuckled, making the cat glance at her. She couldn't help it.
If Mark were here, he'd tell her—
"ARGH!" Anna froze and caught the table for support squeezing her eyes shut as little pieces clicked together in her mind. It was reminiscent of what happened upstairs yet much worse.
It hurt, like a part of her was trying to keep her from remembering while another part was forcing its way through anyway, like a dull knife. Whoever was holding the knife was stronger, though. Much stronger.
Anna hissed like a snake as a headache tore through her skull. She fell against the table, knocking a jar off as she lost the wherewithal to remember how legs worked.
The jar shattered on the floor beside her.
The cat jumped in surprise and yowled as it slipped off the edge of the table and hit the floor, the smelly contents of the jar staining its fur.
Anna didn't notice.
Her life. She remembered. Why couldn't she before?
Mark! He was with her, wasn't he?
…She remembered him…
Everything…was there. Everything about her life was suddenly there as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. Except, she wasn't really awake yet…
There were still bits missing. Lost memories. But she could mostly remember her life now. Her family? A brother and sister. Twins Jillian and James. Her mom and dad. She went to school. She had friends. She had a cat. Her birthday was…on Halloween…and until that morning she hadn't the ability to feel fear.
Now she remembered what Halloween was. She hadn't understood the bird before.
Halloween! Her favorite holiday! And this town?
The worst of the pain subsided eventually, but there was still a dull throb.
"What on earth was that?" Anna snapped at no one in particular when she could talk without feeling like she was about to pass out. That was awful. And now she was actually nauseous. Can skeletons throw up? She didn't want to find out.
She was human! That's what she couldn't figure out. By God, she used to be human! Albeit, one that was a little messed up in the head. She wasn't sure about it before, but that explained why she had those odd moments of understanding that she wasn't supposed to look like this.
She now realized that the tidbit memories that kept popping up earlier were out of place before.
Oddly, now that she wasn't human, she could feel fear. How's that work?
Something happened. Something wrong. And she still couldn't remember what it was, but she knew the memory was there. She also had a vague idea what it was about.
How did she die?
That's what she couldn't grasp. The answer, the memory, was just out of reach.
Something, probably the same "knife" that made her remember everything else, told her that wasn't a memory she would want to go looking for. But she had a hint.
There was an intense heat. And fear. Panic. Loss.
She knew what those feelings were now. And they were telling her not to push.
So she let it be.
For now.
"Meoooow?" the cat whined from next to her feet. It stared up at her half annoyed, half curious. And wet.
Anna looked down at it. "I-I have to leave."
What?
That was the clear question on the cat's whiskered face.
"Someone... was in danger…and…I…" she stopped, not entirely sure what to say. "My brother and sister. They…they were in trouble. I need to know that they're okay. I have to go home."
She wasn't even sure what danger they could have been in, she just knew that it was there.
The cat looked at her in utter shock, probably the most emotion anyone could ever see on a cat…
Did she remember who she was before? That's impossible! The most anyone ever got was bits and pieces and maybe how they died after they had been dead for a while.
"I-I have to go," Anna said, pushing off the table and walking to the curtain. She almost tripped on the cat when it ran ahead of her.
She stopped short of entering the shop. She wasn't paying attention before, but now she got a good look.
If R.L Stine, Stephen King, and Tim Burton could get together to run a Halloween horror shop, it would be like the freak show grocery store she was standing in. It was small but well stocked from what she could see.
She eyed a shrunken head distrustfully as she skirted around the coat hanger it hung from. She bumped into a shelf with hundreds of little glass bottles and hurriedly stabilized it before anything fell.
There was a clatter, and Anna looked up just in time to see the cat wiggle its slim body through a partially opened window. There were bangs and another noise that sounded like the cat had landed on a trashcan outside.
She started toward the door, putting the brakes on when something caught her socket.
There was a basket of ribbons on the floor by a rack. It was filled with the extra lengths of ribbon that no one ever wanted from the very end of the spools.
Glancing around to see if anyone would pop out to stop her, Anna deftly bent down without losing her balance and pulled out a long, wide piece of black satin ribbon.
It was too short to be used for much else and a little frayed at the ends, but Anna figured since she didn't have much of a waist anyway it could be useful to her.
She was just going to borrow it, even if she doubted anyone would care if she took it. She knew nothing about this world. Maybe stealing someone else's trash was a punishable offense.
She tied it around her waist, annoyed that the only "waist" she sort-of-not-really had was the rest of her spine below her ribs. It was only a couple inches thick, so she was left with an awful lot of leftover ribbon when she finally managed a sloppy bow on her left side above her hip bone. Her fingers didn't seem willing to cooperate.
She didn't trust herself to handle scissors if she could find any, so she let the excess fall down her side.
She looked at herself in the reflection of nearby mirror and smiled, pleased that it looked like she was wearing real clothes now.
Anna tried to open the front door, but she couldn't get a grip on the doorknob.
"Who needs skin," she deadpanned, "No big deal. Just grip the stupid doorknob without any traction in your fingers. Basic physics you idiot!"
She eventually got it open by using the sleeve of the nightdress like a glove and slipped out into the street quietly.
There was no sign of the cat.
She didn't know where to go, but the end of the street seemed like a good start. The other direction was a dead end anyway.
Heh. Dead end...
She shook the smirk away.
Yes, she was still trying to wrap her around the idea of being a skeleton, of all things, but it was easier if she tried not to think about it too much.
Her bare feet hit the ground with soft clicking sounds and Anna briefly worried about stepping on nails without any shoes on. The sounds made her wince, afraid that someone would hear her. She wasn't sure what to expect from other creatures that might live in such a freaky looking town. It was at least populated by skeletons, suicidal birds, and stereotypical witches.
She walked by each house, paranoid about the doorknobs turning and someone stepping out.
She miraculously didn't have problems walking if she concentrated on where each foot went.
Anna passed a house with a door shaped like a coffin lid when she stepped back out into the town square.
She walked toward the fountain and stood next to it as she tried to decide what to do next. The trickle of the water accompanied her thoughts.
Home. She had to make sure everyone was alright. Maybe if she went back to where she woke up that morning, she might find some way back home. Or she could try to find that Jack person. The witches seemed to respect and slightly fear him, even if one swore at him for coming in when the store was closed. Maybe he was the one to ask how to get back.
Back where? That was the real question.
"Now, where do you think you're going, missy?" a raspy voice suddenly said.
Anna spun around.
There was one of the witches from earlier leaning on her broom staring very far up at Anna expectantly. She looked Anna up and down while the skeleton stood stock still.
"Well, you're up much earlier than expected. I was sure that sleeping spell would have lasted longer."
Now Anna could remember. This witch, the shorter one with the name Zeldabourne, had given Anna a drink she claimed was apple cider shortly before taking her to the spare room upstairs.
"Then again, it's not like we had many skeleton test subjects to choose from and Jack, well…" the witch chuckled to herself, "Only in my dreams."
"You…you drugged me?" Anna asked incredulously as she shook her head, deciding not to think too much on that last sentence.
"Just a mild sleeping curse sweetie." Zeldabourne waved her hand dismissively. "Much safer than those drugs I think you're referring too."
Anna sputtered slightly but wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.
"How did you know I was out here." She glanced around. "Where did you come from?"
"I sent Trouble to keep an eye on you and to come get me from Town Hall when you woke up," the witch explained. She cackled lightly. "Hee hee. The Mayor's going to throw a fit about you waking up before we're ready.
"Trouble?"
"Merow."
Anna looked over her shoulder to see the cat sitting behind her with something Anna could have sworn was a smirk on its face.
Traitor…
Zelda saw the glare in Anna's sockets, "Don't blame the cat dearie. He's just doing his job."
Anna looked back down and stepped back a bit, put off by how small the woman was.
The makeshift ribbon belt Anna wore caught the witches eye.
"Well aren't you resourceful," she commented.
Anna shifted a little. "Hope it's alright…"
Zelda waved her off and cackled again, "Not like I needed it. Next time ask, though, sweetie. Some of us don't take kindly to someone taking our throwaways. You'd be surprised what monsters are willing to trade around here."
"Sorry, ma'am," Anna said.
"Eeych. Don't call me ma'am! You're going to make me feel as old as I am!" she turned on her pointy heel and started walking across the square toward a large, important looking building. It was as off-kilter as the rest of the town. "Don't just stand there! Come along!"
"Er. Okay," Anna said, wringing her hands for a moment. She followed the witch, Trouble racing ahead and darting through the door as someone opened it a bit.
Anna couldn't quite see them clearly from where she was, but she saw the figure at the door freeze before turning around sharply.
The skeleton couldn't tell before, but with the door opened she could hear music drifting through the air.
She jumped as a voice shouted from inside, "SHE'S COMING!"
Zeldabourn groaned, "Clearly, someone can't wait to meet you…"
"Wait…" Anna was cut off as the witch suddenly hopped on her broom and vanished inside, flying through the entrance like a model rocket gone haywire. Skeleton Anna stood in the chilling mist of a Halloween Town afternoon wondering what on earth was she supposed to do.
She stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the door. They, whoever or whatever they were, were obviously expecting her to go inside.
But she had to leave! She couldn't stay there. She had to make sure her siblings weren't hurt. She had to make sure Mark and her friends were okay…
She shifted from foot to foot.
With a sigh, she realized it wasn't like she knew how to get back home anyway…
She climbed the steps, understanding that she wasn't actually prepared for whatever she was probably about to see.
"Just don't scream," she muttered to herself, the stinging reminder of her freak-out that morning haunting her.
A second after she pushed the door open, Anna suddenly remembered she was barefoot, looked like a burnt cookie with a bad hair day, and was wearing nothing but a nightdress with a poorly tied ribbon.
She…was not sure what she was expecting, but this wasn't it.
The room was empty...
What?!
There were people in here seconds ago!
The place was darkened, but there was still plenty of light, though dimmed, to see that the large room with pews and a speaker's stage was empty.
There seemed to be electrical lights, but there were all off at the moment. Instead, torches with dull orange flames were the light.
She stood agape and a little disturbed in the silence.
This is one of those moments in a movie where she would yell at the stupid main characters to turn around and run for the hills.
She waited for a second, her silhouette blocking the rising moonlight.
She could feel fear now, right?
Then why wasn't she afraid?
She looked around once more with wide sockets before picking up a foot and taking an exaggerated step forward.
SLAM!
She jumped away from the heavy door with a startled shout, bumping into the closest bench.
There was an electrical crackling as light from above suddenly turned on, shining down on her with a blinding light.
She took a step to the side to peer at whoever was behind it, but there was no one there.
"Who's there?" she said.
Well, that got a reaction.
There was a faint sound of hushed snickering.
"No one but me," a voice whispered from right behind her. It was like someone leaning over her shoulder.
A chill went down her spine.
She gasped and spun around, but there was no one there…literally.
Anna looked around, eyes locking on shadowed corners and the flicker of slight movement under benches. She looked up at the whispering sounds coming from the ceiling. She wouldn't have even noticed if she wasn't paying attention.
Something caught her eye, and she swallowed.
The once empty stage now had a figure on it.
A scarecrow with a pumpkin head and straw coming out the seams hung limply from a makeshift cross structure. Thatch and tinder surrounded its feet.
That wasn't there a second ago.
Then the music started.
"Boys and girls of every age…"
Anna jumped in surprise and looked around for the source of the singing.
The spotlight from the rafter above swung around to land back on her. Or at least, she thought it was on her.
She looked to her side to see her shadow on the wall behind. It wasn't alone.
There was another shadow beside hers, standing very close to her stiffened shape. It looked wispy, and light shone through in place of eyes.
But no one was actually standing beside her.
"Holy-." She didn't finish her thought as she misjudged a step and fell back into an empty seat with a grunt.
"Wouldn't you like to see something strange?"
Another popped up beside the first shadow.
"Come with us, and you will see…"
And another one…this one with two heads.
"This our town of Halloween!"
She scrambled to her feet to stand in the aisle but ducked when something swooped from the ceiling.
"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night."
Cartoonish, sheet-like ghosts curled in the air above her head like mist under a ceiling fan as the music swelled.
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright.
There were more voices now. Everywhere.
Anna couldn't see them, but they were all in the same room as her just out of sight, popping into view when it was their line.
She could hear Jack too, his voice among the others, but she couldn't tell where he was.
It's our town, everybody scream!
In this town of Halloween
The chorus quieted, and Anna shrieked and jumped on top of one of the pews when something furry grazed her foot.
I am the one hiding under your bed
Curiosity got the better of her as she leaned over the armrest and looked under the bench.
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!
And that's exactly what she saw. Nothing else really. Just a black, shapeless, mass that looked…happy…even while gnashing their teeth in time to the music.
Anna smiled shyly and gave it a small wave.
He waved back.
Anna's skull snapped up as someone else popped up behind the bench she was on.
I am the one hiding under your stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair
Anna wondered if that was a real spider as the strange creature ducked out of sight again.
He wasn't there when she looked over the back of the seat.
As more came into view (and started staying there), she realized they…honestly looked kind of cool to her. Scary…but not to her if that made any sense.
Every time she jumped or shouted was because she was startled. Oddly enough, it wasn't their appearances that got to her, and that seemed very strange in her opinion since her newfound emotion of fear was so uncontrolled to begin with.
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
She backed up to see if she could catch where the "bed" and "stairs" monsters went but gasped when she accidentally ran into someone.
The Vampire Brothers mildly pushed her away before she could trip on one of their cloaks.
In this town, we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
In this town, don't we love it now?!
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!
Anna started at the booming voice coming from the loft above her. She craned her neck to see a stout man with a tall hat and disproportionate thin legs dancing and spinning around.
She stepped back in confused instinct when she noticed his head wasn't quite turning with the rest of him at some points. And at others, it kept spinning though he had stopped.
Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll…
To her credit, she was expecting that next jump scare, so she only jerked a little.
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green
However, what she didn't know was that it was such a big deal to the monsters that she laughed after that one. Now they knew she was enjoying the song.
She giggled and grinned as the werewolf asked her…
Aren't you scared?
Anna held up two fingers in a pinching motion.
"YEP!" she said with a grin.
She was tapped on the shoulder and turned to see familiar faces joining the growing crowd.
Helgamine and Zeldabourne flew around the room on their brooms, swinging low to make some monsters duck, Anna included.
Well, that's just fine!
Say it once, say it twice
Take the chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream
How the heck could she not see a large TREE in the room with her!
The hung wooden skeletons that she thought were decorations suddenly rasped their line.
In our town of Halloween
A creepy clown rode his unicycle in haphazard circles around her.
I am the clown with the tear-away face
Wow, did she jump with that next trick.
The clown suddenly ripped off his face!
Here in a flash and gone without a trace
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
The "who" is a person? That explained the snickering earlier. And the disembodied voice. Anna's grin widened. Did she make a joke without realizing it?
I am the wind blowing through your hair
She really wasn't expecting that one…at all…
Now it seemed the freaking wind was someone too.
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
The room was full of creatures now. Every shape and size. They were all so weird looking, and the dancing of a few of them made her back up toward the stage to avoid being clocked. They followed, forming into a scattered half-circle around the base of the stage.
Someone tugged on the edge of her nightdress/dress, and she looked very far down to see several small creatures staring at her in curiosity.
Children, she realized.
Tender lump- lings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
Then a couple whom she assumed were the parents of the zombie boy closest to her came forward and looked directly at her.
The mom grinned creepily but kindly while the father reached out and shook her hand before she knew what was happening.
That's our job, but we're not mean
in our town of Halloween
In this town
Don't we love it now?
As her attention was drawn back to the man with the tall hat and clicking neck, she noticed the orange silk badge on his suit.
It said MAYOR.
Everyone's waiting for the next surprise!
Then, every single one of them pointed behind her…
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your SKIN!
Yet another startled yelp escaped her as it seemed, from her perspective, the stage behind her exploded in fire.
She lost her balance trying to turn while stepping away and fell, but someone, she wasn't sure who, caught her and pushed her to her feet.
The scarecrow she didn't think was alive was dancing around crazily. It only stayed on the stage for a couple seconds before jumping around the room, somehow without losing its balance as it teetered through fiery twirls atop the headrests of benches.
This is Halloween, everybody scream
Won't ya please make way for a very special
guy
Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now
What?!
Was that scarecrow the skeleton she met earlier? Jack?
And Pumpkin King? That sounded important…
However, something was wrong. There was a grip of panic tugging at her now.
Why now?
She was shaking now and no longer laughing.
She stared wide-eyed at the fire that should have caught other things on fire as the scarecrow danced. However, nothing else seemed to catch. She couldn't even feel any heat.
But the terror was rising. She wanted to stay but at the same time leave. It was an awful feeling.
And she didn't like it.
The fire…it was…she just wanted to get away from it.
The scarecrow reached out to her, and for a moment her hand was on fire as she scrambled to keep up with him as they spun around dizzily.
But she pulled away sharply with a shout after a second. The slight edge in her tone was lost in the noise.
But some of the monsters seemed to notice this even if she didn't see their concerned glances.
Amidst the flurry of motion, the scarecrow noticed too and backed up, his fire fading as the chorus was sung.
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Suddenly, all light went out, and the whole room plunged into darkness.
Anna could still sense creatures all around her, but the most she could make out were vague shapes as her sight struggled to adjust.
Children voices whispered next to her, and she tilted her head in confusion. They seemed much farther below her than before.
In this town, we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
Torches burst, electric lights clicked.
The entire room exploded into bright, clear light and Anna suddenly found herself standing on the stage next to Jack in his normal(?) clothing wondering how on earth she got up there.
La, la, la, la-la la, la, la, la-la la, la, la, la-la la, la-la la, Wheeeeeee!
She was still blinking owlishly before she realized the song was over and everyone was applauding.
"WELCOME TO HALLOWEEN TOWN!" everyone shouted, their voices loud and cacophonous.
She couldn't help the smile that came back and clapped with everyone else, grinning like a madwoman and slightly hopping from foot to foot.
"Annalise Grisholme, everyone!" Jack suddenly announced loudly as he carefully took her hand and whispered, "Take a bow, Miss."
She looked at him in surprise, "But I didn't do anything."
The monsters laughed at that.
"Why, don't you see?" Jack said with a grin, "Just coming here is deserving of applause."
Anna stared at the crowd in front of her in shock but did as he said and stage bowed toward the town.
The crowd cheered louder if that was possible.
"Well?" Jack said as everyone quieted, "First impressions?"
"I think I died and landed in a Disney musical," she blurted without even thinking.
That earned Anna a round of cackling and hoots.
"Hee hee," Jack laughed, "Oh my…that certainly a new one."
After that, the crowd got to moving the benches out of the way to clear the floor, and someone brought in a table with food while someone else, the zombie mom from earlier, practically ordered Anna to sit on the stage and wait. Every time she got up to try helping, she got snapped at by a monster.
They weren't rude, but they seemed very insistent that she not do anything.
She wasn't quite sure how long she was there, but the party went on for hours. She didn't specifically fear any of the monsters that approached her, but there was still a sting of nervousness she couldn't quite shake off.
Almost every single one of them wanted to meet her, with a few exceptions, and it wasn't long before there was a small group around her at all times.
"This is all for me?" she asked incredulously, and a little embarrassed, when there was a break in the welcomes and introductions.
The Mayor had just came up for the third time to welcome her and apologize for their hurried performance before going to speak with someone else.
Anna thought he was crazy. The song was great!
"Of course!" one of the witches said, handing her a cookie with moving eyes painted on.
Anna noticed that the two witches she met earlier seemed to be keeping an extra close watch on her.
"But…" Anna's thoughts trailed off as she stared at the cookie and another thought occurred to her.
"It's just a spell, dearie," Helgamine said.
"It's not that. The eyes are actually really cool. It's um…"
"Oh spit it out."
"How… am I able to…"
"Eat it?"
Anna nodded.
The witch suddenly rolled her eyes and yelled behind her.
"JAAAAACK?!"
Anna's sockets widened, and she instinctually covered her face with her hand as creatures turned to look at them.
The skeleton-man was over in a second, hand in hand with another monster.
He deftly wiped a few crumbs off his suit.
"Yes? What's the problem?"
The lady next to him flicked another crumb off his bowtie without a single word.
"I think our new little skelly here forgot how she drank cider this morning without any problems…"
"What?" Jack said in confusion, not quite getting it. Or not hearing. The room was a bit loud.
"She has some concerns."
"Oh. Don't be too concerned about losing a limb or two." Jack said, missing the cider prompt, "It is actually much easier for a skeleton to reconnect them than most other monsters."
Helgamine looked a slight bit annoyed.
The woman with the red yarn hair and stitches sighed and smiled.
"She means eating, Jack." She said as Anna snickered a little.
"Oh…" Jack said, "Oh! Yes. We can eat." He nodded toward Anna. "You just won't want to eat very much. I don't have much of an appetite myself, but we may be different. No monster here really needs to eat Miss Anna. You certainly won't die from starvation. That would be rather redundant. But you can eat."
"…Can I get hungry?" she asked curiously.
"Yes. But you'll just always feel that hunger until you eat again. You'll never die from it."
"Never" is an awfully big word, she thought.
"That answer your question?"
In response, Anna stuffed the small-ish cookie in her mouth whole and gave them a silly grin.
They chuckled at the teen's now carefree and slightly impish attitude, pleased that she was so accepting of her situation.
"I'd like to introduce you to-."
"Your girlfriend?" Anna said, remembering a second later that interrupting was rude.
"Is that the term these days? Then yes," he gestured to the woman next to him. "Anna this is Sally."
"Hello," Sally said, taking Anna's hand but not quite shaking it.
Her voice was soft and kind, a bit of a contrast from some the rougher voices Anna had been hearing.
"Hi," Anna said, "I think I took your nightgown…"
"That's okay!" Sally said quickly, "Keep it as long as you need. I have another one and I can always make another if I have to."
"Thank you…I…uh…" Anna briefly wondered if she could blush in embarrassment without blood. She shook her head, deciding not to mention how she might have walked in naked if she wasn't already dressed and thinking clearly. "Thank you…"
Sally shrugged, "Of course! But it's not like you could fit anyone else. Even my clothes seem a little short on you."
Anna frowned.
"That's been confusing me," she said hesitantly, "Um…how…tall am I?"
There was silence for a moment before a monster that had a mouth that went around his whole head burst out laughing before the cyclops next to him hit him on the shoulder in attempts to shut him up.
Anna put her hands up, "I'm asking because…everything seems… a lot smaller than it should be."
A few monsters that overheard her were laughing so hard now that they had to be supported by whoever they were next to.
Even Jack was giggling like a child.
"Oh my. Finally! Someone who can relate!"
"Hey!" Sally said, "I'm almost as tall as you!"
"Almost, my dearest friend. There's still at least a foot between us."
"Hee hee. At least," Helgamine cackled, "HA! Last time I checked, Anna dear, I was about 135 centimeters."
Anna stared down at her for a bit.
"Um…I'm from the U.S.…"
"Four and a half feet." Helgamine looked at her oddly. She remembered where she was from? It was obvious to the rest of them that she was from America, based on the accent, but the fact that she knew that was curious.
"What?!"
"And I am about 8 feet," Jack said, also noticing her mention of the U.S.
"WHAT?!" Anna said in disbelief as they laughed at her reaction. She was only a couple inches shorter than him!
"I was 5 foot 5 inches at most!"
"Well, that's obviously changed." Jack laughed at Anna flustered expression.
The "lively" celebration went on for a long time, and Anna soon forgot about asking how to get home.
Little did she know that for every laugh that greeted her in this new world…there was yet another grieving sob in the last one…
Author's note: For those of you wondering, Anna adjusted so quickly because even with the unfamiliar shock of feeling fear for the first time in years, her soul was always supposed to feel comfortable in Halloween. She's not completely comfortable yet, she just died for Pete's sake! However, she had fun watching the citizens sing the song for her (except for that one part) and that's a big deal to them.
Apologies for mistakes. If I catch them after I've already updated, I'll likely correct it in the next update.