Prompts for this chapter: Day 1-3 Trick, Treat, Scream, Laugh, Mutant, Cryptid.
! Warnings for this chapter !
Mentions of infanticide.
Challenge for you: How many horror references do you get? :)
Notes: Hey, everyone! I'm so excited to post this finally! This is the first multi-chaptered story I've started in… 14 years? So I hope I'm not too rusty (also, oof… this wasn't beta-ed).
As for the content below, part of the second campfire story is based on true events.
Large italicized sections reflect someone's narration.
Chapter 1: The Midnight Society
The candies were running low and the woman felt her stomach drop. The next batch of kids would be knocking on her door any minute now. She could already hear their tiny voices and giggles getting closer.
She rushed all worried to the kitchen and opened every cabinet and drawer looking for a single treat or anything remotely sweet. She scoured through every single box with a thoroughness that would make the Box Ghost proud. Until finally- there! At the back of the pantry, rested a lone bag of granola bars.
Let's get real, tho: they were probably expired.
But she thought, "Hey, there's chocolate in them. It's low-calorie, but they're still sweet, right? Surely the kids wouldn't mind."
Yeah, bad call. She was doomed.
The sound of the bell startled her and she almost dropped the candy bowl, if you could still call it that at this point. She tried to arrange the little offerings to hide the granola bars underneath the remaining off-brand assorted candy mix, which she probably bought from the Wall-2-Wall Mart for some other event earlier in the year.
Talk about not getting ready for the occasion, huh?
When she finally opened the door, the kids yelled an overexcited "trick or treat", which should've been her first warning. They immediately went digging into the bowl, dodging the granola bars like pros and conforming with the yucky remaining candy until there were none left.
Some of the now grumpy kids mumbled their thanks and probably some inappropriate words for their age out of earshot. When they left her porch, she noticed a small boy dressed like a pirate still standing by the door. "Oh, I didn't see you there," she said, but the kid didn't say anything back. He stared at the woman, giving her the puppy eyes to get some candy. But when he saw the bowl, betrayal crushed his soul: all the woman had left were the expired granola bars.
The woman was like "oh, honey, I'm so sorry, I ran out of candy," and the kid just stared with an eerie look. She didn't know why she got goosebumps all of a sudden, her palms all sweaty, and her mouth dry. The kid didn't stop staring and he didn't move from his spot by the door. The woman apologized again and closed the door on the kid's nose.
The bell rang again minutes later. She figured it was another group of trick-or-treaters and she reluctantly opened the door. Sure enough, some new bunch of kids asked for candy and were disappointed to find only the horrible granola bars. They left the porch with even more swearing directed at her. When she was about to close the door, she noticed the same pirate kid standing silently in the same old spot as before, making her almost jump out of her skin.
She asked the kid if he was waiting for someone to pick him up or something, but the kid didn't say a word or even blink. She apologized again before she closed the door.
The bell rang once more and—
"Yeah, yeah, the kid was there. Again," Sam Manson's bored tone cut through the narration. "C'mon, Tuck, you always recycle the same story each year."
The techno geek shot her an annoyed glare. "Hey, it's not hard to believe. Everyone hates granola bars, no matter how much chocolate you pretend to put in them."
"Tucker," Sam began slowly, with a pause she inhaled deeply, "Look, if you really want to make a good horror story, you have to look into your deepest, darkest fears. You need to understand the root of those fears and twist those emotions to make others tremble at your inner demons."
There was a moment of silence as Sam's intense stare bore into her friend's quizzical look. Tucker then turned to Danny with pleading eyes. "Dude, back me up here… Youngblood almost made you go crazy. He is kinda creepy, am I right?"
Danny's face was barely visible against the light from the small campfire, but the unimpressed look was still evident. "C'mon, Tuck. Even I'm scarier than that," he scoffed.
"Klemper is more terrifying than Youngblood," Sam retorted, grabbing a granola bar from her backpack. Tucker pointed a finger accusingly at her, the protest dying in his throat as the girl bit into her snack with a satisfied grin. "Want some?"
The bespectacled boy crossed his arms and leaned back on his spot against a tree log. Surrounded by the cover of the endless oak trees, the trio had aimed to enjoy a beautiful starry sky without the city lights or the interruptions from the Halloween festivities. It had been so long since they had taken a night off, a chance to just have fun and not worry about anything.
At least that's what Danny had claimed.
"I still can't believe you preferred a night camping out here than a horror movie marathon at Sam's place," Tucker grumbled to allow a change in topics.
Sam hummed in agreement, her inquisitive stare now on the half-ghost sitting in front of her. "I still can't believe Clockwork told you to take a break today. Isn't this the most haunted night of the year?"
Danny gave them a small smile. "Guys, c'mon… if this were the only chance you've got to come to the land of the living for your 'unfinished business', would you want to waste it fighting against Phantom?"
Tucker furrowed his brow. "But wouldn't that be why it's dangerous to leave Amity Park unprotected? You know, since there are all sorts of ghosts visiting who wouldn't know any better?"
"Nah," the Fenton boy replied with a shrug, staring at the dancing flames. "It's all in good hands. I'm not supposed to meddle today."
Before Sam could voice her own concerns, a snapping sound caught everyone's attention. It had come from the woods, echoing in the barren surroundings. The involuntary silence that had fallen upon the three friends was filled with the ambiguous crack of leaves and branches being slowly stepped on. For all they knew, this could just be an animal, but they couldn't be entirely sure. Despite the isolated location they had chosen, it wouldn't be impossible for someone or something else to be drawn by the campfire.
A shiver ran down the goth girl's spine. There was a feeling of danger lurking about, something darker than the unlit forest, waiting for the right moment to attack.
But Danny's ghost sense hadn't gone off, so there was that small reassurance at least. He remained alert but hadn't moved into a defensive pose. Of course, it was difficult to unnerve someone as used to eerie situations by now, much less with something as mundane as the crunching sound made by the dry autumn leaves.
The cracking suddenly stopped.
Despite the shared alertness, Tucker decided to break the tension. "Alright, fess up, Sam. You totally planned the eerie surround sound to tell us some cursed Halloween story," he joked.
The Manson heir rolled her eyes. "As if I needed any cheap tricks to make you wet your pants in fear."
Danny chuckled. "I can go check if it makes you feel better," he offered, getting up before he got a reply.
Tucker gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure? We can all go, dude."
"And leave the fire unattended? Smokey would be so disappointed," Danny replied, shaking his head.
Sam snorted. "Go on, before it's Ghosty Bear who makes an appearance."
"I'll be right back," Danny said as he walked towards the sound and disappeared, engulfed by the darkness of the woods with each step he took away from his friends.
After a moment of silence, Sam and Tucker exchanged glances. "He just jinxed it, didn't he?" Tuck asked.
"Figures the kid with ghost powers would forget all those horror movie tropes," Sam replied. When she noticed his friend's pensive look, she scooted closer, shoving him lightly with her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about Danny. We're the ones who should be on alert now that we don't have an overpowered kid with us."
Tucker's frown remained, looking deep in thought before speaking. "Didn't you find it weird?"
At her questioning look, the boy moved his hand to gesture at the general direction of their campsite.
"The trip?" Sam asked. When Tucker nodded, she considered her reply for a moment and sighed. "Well… yeah, kinda. But I figured he's stressed. I mean… it's, what? His third Halloween as a ghost? Besides, if there was something really bad going on, we'd know."
The boy focused on the fire. "Guess you're right. But I still think he's not telling us the whole story."
*Snap*
The sound returned from a different direction this time. Both teens stood and turned towards the source, but they couldn't see anything. Sam grabbed a wrist ray from her backpack while Tucker searched for the lipstick blaster in his.
Those were definitely footsteps. Could this be a trick from Danny? Some elaborate prank to try to scare them?
No, the sound was different than before. There was probably more than one person walking closer. The two friends shared a look as if weighing their options to make a joint, silent decision. They waited patiently, listening closely, as the steps approached and—
"What the hell are you doing here?" a familiar voice almost yelled behind them.
Though Sam Manson would never admit it, the two teens jumped slightly in surprise before they turned around to meet the newcomer. "Valerie!" Tucker said as he clutched his chest at the sight of their classmate. "You scared the shit out of us!"
Sam lowered her wrist ray as she assessed the situation. There didn't seem to be any immediate danger, but there was also no reason for the other girl to show up in this part of the campgrounds in her civvies.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.
Val turned off the light coming from the phone in her hands, shoving the device into the pocket of her jacket, and crossed her arms defiantly. "I asked first."
Sam opened her mouth to retort but was cut short by a new familiar voice. "Oh, no, not these losers."
The three teens turned around to see Dash Baxter reaching their location, with part of the A-listers trailing behind him; Paulina had a scowl on her face and a hand on her hip, while Kwan hugged a shivering Star under his letterman jacket.
"Oh, no, not these jerks…" Sam groaned back, earning scoffs and complaints from their new visitors.
The goth wondered why all of the sudden their classmates had shown up. Valerie was easier to explain, but the others didn't make any sense. Weren't they supposed to be at a party or something? Or at least the four A-listers had flaunted how there was a Halloween event that was so exclusive no one else at Casper High had been invited to attend.
(Sam wanted to call bullshit since she was sure the Mansons didn't know about it either.)
The popular kids got closer to the campfire and Sam was finally able to discern the subtle costumes they were wearing, with Dash sporting some zombie makeup, Paulina having half of her face painted as a "Catrina", Kwan looking like a vampire, and Star wearing cat ears with whiskers drawn on her cheeks.
"What are you guys doing here?" Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow at Valerie as well, but she was too distracted with her phone to notice.
"Like it's any of your business, Ghoul-ey," Dash barked and glowered at the smaller teen, using his height to intimidate him.
Kwan stared at the ground uncomfortably. "We were heading to a party but… got lost," he admitted, earning a glare from Dash. Kwan didn't care or notice as he tilted his head curiously at the other classmates. "What about you?" the "vampire" jock asked.
Tuck discreetly shoved the small ecto-weapon he was holding into a pocket in his cargo pants. "We were camping."
Paulina smirked, giving an eerie impression with her half-skeletal face. "Is it really camping or were you making some weird voodoo for the evening?" she asked while taking a seat on one of the logs around the campfire.
Sam growled her response and clenched her fists, ready to drag the cheerleader into the woods. "Oh, I'm gonna hex you, all right…"
Ignoring the rising tension, Star took the cue from Paulina and sat on another log with her boyfriend. "What about you, Val?" the blonde asked.
Valerie, who had opted for the silent approach to avoid questions, glanced past the A-listers and then at her phone. "I… was meeting someone here." At the knowing look shared between Star and Paulina, Val made a disgusted face. "Ewwww! Nononono… nothing like that."
'We're wasting time…' the goth thought. Valerie was not going to say the truth if she had to hide her identity, while the A-listers were useless and would only think about themselves. If Sam and Tuck wanted to get to Danny to figure out what was going on with their improvised class reunion, they needed to get rid of the others somehow. Val could protect those jerks, right?
Sam made a show of rolling her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Okay, now that we're all clear this isn't where you're supposed to be, mind getting lost somewhere else now?"
Her friend took the hint and gave an understanding nod. "What Sam means is we were just hanging out, eating snacks, and telling boring horror stories, so it's not much of a party for you to crash," Tucker tried to explain.
Dash glanced around suspiciously. "Hey, where's Fentonio, anyway? Too chicken to hear your lame stories?"
The two members of team Phantom tried not to show their concern. They still didn't know what the first sound had been all about and Danny was taking too long to return. If he hadn't detected anything near to the campsite, what could be out there aside from ghosts?
Tucker shrugged noncommittally. "He's taking a leak," he said, earning a snort from the bullies.
Paulina turned to look at Dash. "Can we take a break here? I think I twisted my ankle back there…"
The quarterback huffed in annoyance and muttered something inaudible as he sat on a tree stump next to his friends.
The Latina massaged her ankle and stared at Tucker. "So you're telling scary stories?" she asked and suddenly perked up as if struck by inspiration. "I got a lot of stories and legends my mom and aunts used to tell."
Sam wanted to kick them out of their campfire circle. They had to go and find Danny, but another part of her didn't want to move from there. The woods held a creepy aura as if the darkness would devour any of them if they so much as dared to look away from the comforting flames dancing in the middle of their gathering.
Tucker prompted her to sit down with him on the timber in front of the A-listers. "Sure, we can hear a story while you recover, right Sam?" he replied. When Sam gave him a questioning look, he glanced pointedly to Paulina's feet, making the goth clench her teeth in annoyance.
He was right. Paulina wouldn't leave anytime soon. At least not until her ankle felt better.
Valerie dropped her hands in exasperation and sat on a rock shaped like the most uncomfortable beanbag. "So, what, we're gonna be The Midnight Society now? You want to submit a story to the fire for our approval?"
Dash scoffed. "That's lame." He ignored the way Kwan whispered how he thought it was a cool idea, which got him a pat on the back from Star.
Paulina crossed her arms. "I don't need validation or approval from anyone, so you're going to listen to my story whether you like it or not."
The group of teenagers had varying degrees of interest in whatever tale the girl was about to narrate, but no one opposed her offer to focus on something else while each waited for different things.
Or waited for different people. Sam just hoped Danny wouldn't take too long.
"Good," the cheerleader said. "Cuz I'm about to tell you the story of La Llorona."
"Wait, wasn't that a movie that came out like three years ago?" Star asked her bestie.
Paulina scoffed. "That movie was lame… I'm going to tell you about the real deal. This happened to my abue Letty."
Begrudgingly, Sam settled around the campfire with everyone else. She would still turn around at different intervals to keep watch on the direction Danny had gone to. Tucker gave her a reassuring pat on the back of her hand.
When Paulina felt satisfied to have most of their attention on her, she lowered her tone.
So okay, apparently you've already heard of La Llorona. There are tons of versions out there and it's considered a popular legend in Mexico. But it's not just a legend. My abue Letty saw her. And worse… she heard her.
Before I tell you about that, you have to know La Llorona's story first.
So, Llorona means, like, literally: crying woman. The version my mom told me was that she used to live in her lovely home with her husband and their three kids. But one day, that picture-perfect home broke apart when the husband left.
She cried for days because ese cabrón wasn't even going to pay for child support. So now she had to take care of her children all alone. With no family or friends or anyone close. The woman slowly went crazy, until she decided to make things easier; more bearable.
She told her kids one day to go with her for a walk. So they went to the woods, the small kids holding hands, trusting their mom to keep them safe from any danger.
Until she decided to drown them. One by one, her three little kids were gone.
When she realized what she had done, she cradled their bodies and cried. Her cries were so loud and intense, saying "¡Aaaaaay, mis hiiiiijooooos! ¡Aaaaay, mis hiiiiijooooos!" over and over and over. She then began to walk down the streets of the town she lived in, calling for her kids as if her cries could bring them back.
"Aaaaaay, mis hiiiiiijoooooooooos…" many heard her moan. Some say they can hear her voice after midnight, a woman dressed in white, with long black hair, cursed by her guilt for eternity. Every night she appears out in the streets, floating with no direction, looking for her children.
So anyway, cut to hundreds of years later.
My abue Letty used to go every year to a procession dedicated to some saint I don't remember. That's not the point. She was with her sister, walking on the street with a bunch of members of their community, to honor their saint together. But suddenly, they noticed there was a woman among them dressed in white who began to walk ahead of all of them until her feet were no longer touching the ground.
Everyone felt a chill run up their spines as the woman began to walk on the air higher and higher until she was three stories up and began to screech in such a horrifying way. My abue says it felt like nails on a chalkboard, a burst of agony and despair, like the creepy lament left from an ambulance far away. And after her gut-wrenching scream, she disappeared. But the echo of her cries never left.
So now, whenever they go to processions, they always make sure they don't have an extra companion among them.
A boy's sudden scream tore their attention away from the cheerleader and everyone jumped on their seats.
It came from the woods, from the same place Danny had gone to.
But it couldn't have been Danny. Sam knew his screaming well…
The goth was the first to react on instinct, getting up to rush towards the forest when a hand stopped her. She turned to face Tucker, who made a placating motion with his other hand.
Before she could think too much about it, another sound came closer to the illuminated area, dissipating her fight or flight instinct as she realized this wasn't a threat.
"Oh, my god! Did you see the size of that spider?" a young male voice spoke.
"That was a cricket, you moron!" another said with annoyance, this one sounding more familiar as it drew nearer.
"Dude, I told you we were lost," a third voice spoke, closer now.
The rustling of leaves signaled everyone about the imminent arrival of more visitors. Three familiar faces came into view once they reached their campsite. It was Nathan, followed by Mikey and—
"Wes?" Tucker asked dumbfounded at the sight of such an odd trio. The Weston kid had never been friendly with the other geeks in tow.
The boy in question held a video camera in his hands, which he promptly lowered once he saw his tense classmates. "Brilliant, we come for a spooky video and end up bumping into the loser trio," the redheaded (ex)basketball player grumbled.
"Oh, look who's calling the kettle whiny," Dash mocked as he recovered from the scare a few moments ago. "Can't believe we're in a geek convention."
"This has bad idea written all over it," Mikey whimpered.
Sam's tension didn't recede all the way; if anything, the situation intensified the sense of dread that had followed Danny's departure. This was too much of a coincidence. "Let me guess," she drawled. "You got lost and followed the light of our campsite?"
The two geeks and the school's conspiracy theorist looked confused. "Uh, no?" Mikey said as he pulled up his phone, a map shown on its lit screen. "We planned to come here?"
Valerie glared at Wes before her frosty voice spoke. "Oh, how convenient, isn't it, Weston?"
Wes made a dismissive gesture with his free hand. "It wasn't my idea, okay?"
Sam stared between him and the huntress, noticing an unspoken argument in their intense glares.
"Yeah, we found Wes on our way here," Nathan spoke as he took off his glasses to clean them with a piece of cloth. "We were dared to look for some creepy footage for the yearbook committee and figured this wouldn't be as haunted as the rest of the town is now that it's Halloween."
The rest of the town? But wasn't this supposed to be Danny's night off?
Tucker raised an eyebrow at that as well, looking pointedly at Sam. "Oh-kay, and why were you looking for this exact spot?" Danny had told them this was a safe and hidden place too, but now they weren't so sure. It could still be an elaborate prank, right?
"I just thought it would be a cool location," Mikey said as he pulled a scrapbook from his messenger bag. "Here's where Wilfred Itchtock drew most of his inspiration."
The boy opened the small book on a specific page and gave it to Tucker to see. The other teens in the campsite tried to look at the contents from their respective spots, but they were too far to read the information and pictures included about a famous movie director who specialized in suspense and thrillers.
Sam knew this filmmaker well. He was famous for creating some of the most acclaimed cult movies in the horror genre, but he was also well-known for being a complete jerk with his cast and crew. And for getting too immersed in his stories.
That's why he died in the end alone. Or so everyone believed, since his body was never found.
"So let me get this straight," Dash began with laughter bubbling behind his words. "You three losers actually had the balls to come looking for scary footage?" The jock began to guffaw obnoxiously, as if he hadn't been almost pissing his pants mere moments before with the scream of one of the same "losers" he was mocking.
"Are you done, Baxter?" Sam spat at the quarterback.
Dash wiped tears from his eyes as he tried to control his outburst. His friends stared at him worriedly, not finding what was so funny about the situation.
Either Dash was too dense to read the mood or he was a genius at dissipating tense situations. No luck on the latter, though.
The campsite had fallen uncomfortably silent, with only the sound of the burning logs and the chirping crickets nearby filling the chilling atmosphere.
Tucker motioned the three new classmates to take a seat at the log he had previously occupied with Sam. He shared a knowing look with her and nodded, standing firm next to his friend.
Sam licked her lips. She didn't even know where to begin… "Something's up," she said bluntly.
Valerie rolled her eyes. "Geez, what would give you that idea? It couldn't have been the huge coincidence of everyone coming here."
Mikey tilted his head. "She's got a point," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's highly unlikely to reach the same destination at the same time by pure luck."
Everyone shifted uncomfortably on their seats. So they had noticed, at least.
Sam turned to Tucker. "We should totally call Danny," she tried to whisper.
Star scoffed as she heard the goth's words from her spot. "Yeah… good luck with that."
"Meaning?" Tucker asked.
"There's no signal," Val replied with a glance at her phone. "No data, no GPS, no SMS…"
"So, no SOS?"
"This is serious, Foley!" Valerie barked back, making the other teens flinch.
Sam stood between the huntress and her friend. "Relax, Val, he knows it's serious," she said with a glare at Tucker, who smiled sheepishly.
This was worse than they thought. If they couldn't find Danny or call for help without heading into the impending doom in the woods, what were their options? She hated waiting for something to happen. She also hated not knowing what was going on. They could try questioning their classmates to try to piece all the information each had about this place.
The "why today" felt obvious. But why here? Why them?
"Oh, boy, it's the curse, isn't it?" Nathan's voice broke her thoughts.
"The what, now?" Paulina asked with furrowed brows.
Mikey patted his best friend on the shoulder and took a paper bag out of a pocket. While the curly-haired boy controlled his breathing, Mikey turned to face the others. "Uh, remember we told you about this movie director? Wilfred Itchtock?"
"The only itch I have is to punch your sorry faces," Dash grumbled.
Kwan hushed his teammate. "Wait, I think they're trying to tell us something important."
"Uh, yeah, thanks, Kwan," Mikey replied with uncertainty, adding in a softer voice, "Man, that's so weird…"
The sound of Nathan's paper bag stopped and the recovering teen took another deep breath before talking. "What Mikey wanted to say is that Itchtock came to this exact same spot because he believed there was a mutant mushroom or something in the forest," he explained.
"Mutant mushroom? C'mon, Nate. It was totally a cryptid. A creature. Not some shrooms."
"I'm not having this conversation again, Mike."
"Can you get to the point already?" Sam interrupted the bickering friends.
The two teens mumbled an apology and Mikey was given a nod by his friend to continue. "Okay, so about this cryptid…"
Itchtock believed strange creatures were living in Lake Eerie, earning its name in creepy monster blood. Some said there were some spirits protecting nature, making this place impossible to harm or destroy. He would constantly come to get inspiration for his next works. So once he learned about a constant folk tale surrounding this place, he became obsessed with one particular creature living in the forest.
Itchtock took a break from his last suspense movie and decided to explore the story diving deep into the woods. He learned a hermit was living here. Someone who scared people away. Think about Blair Witch without actual murders. So he decided to find this person and learn more about what he was protecting. Nate thinks he was protecting some overgrown, mutant mushrooms that are supposed to grant you immortality. I think there aren't enough sources and there's no way they had mutant anything before 1963.
No one is sure this hermit was actually a person. Some have resorted to calling them a cryptid because no real evidence has been seen of their existence. And now that we know ghosts are real, who knows what kind of spooky thing could be lurking out there?
Anyway, the story says the mysterious hermit didn't like Itchtock getting close to his territory and he cursed him. After that visit, all his movies flopped. There were weird accidents in his movie sets, people seeing strange things, stars dying in weird circumstances after their movies hit the theaters, and all kinds of creepy things.
Soon, no one wanted to work with Itchtock anymore. So he came here one last time, where he said he had gotten his inspiration before everything went downhill, but no one saw him ever again. Some say his spirit still wanders these woods, looking for a good horror story.
Sam blanched. She had been so immersed in ghost hunting with Danny, in researching the villain of the week to make the connection to this place. Of course, she had known about Itchtock's curse. But nothing had come out of it in the three years the portal had been open, so she forgot all about it.
But had anyone ever been to this place before?
Star suddenly yelled, making everyone turn in her direction. The blonde pointed her manicured finger at the campfire, its flame flaring more than before. "There was a-a-a-a… a face in there…"
Everyone stood up from their spot. Sam and Tucker tried to lead them to a safe place away from the danger, as they often did during ghost attacks to help their best friend. Valerie ignored their signals and took a protective stance in front of her classmates.
No one dared to say a word as they waited for the fire to return to normal.
But, for some strange reason, no one had suggested leaving the campsite.
