Happy Halloween 2009!

Chapter 53: Arachnophobia

"Don't you think you've had enough?" the bartender questioned me. I sighed, gulping down my eleventh beer.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I admitted. I handed him the money to pay for the drinks, and set off.

It had been two weeks since we'd gotten out of the-I forced myself to think the name-stronghold of security. It had been a nightmare. I now knew how long we'd been down there- five days. Five days of solid trekking through four floors of horror led by merciless, evil horsemen. I fingered Pestilence's mace thoughtfully. I'd given it a wash, scrubbed it down, and made sure there was no trace of slime or filth on it.

I took off my weapon belt, and looked at all my weapons. I had my emergency steel sword, Silverlight, my scythe, a brand new iron dagger (the old one was destroyed by vampires), my Easter carrot hammer, my stone Barbarian hammer, and my new massive, bulbous mace. There was also an empty pouch that was used to contain my jewellery- my ghost-speak amulet, my amulet of defence, my Christmas ice amulet, and my lucky sapphire ring.

After reequipping my weapon belt, I decided to go for a walk. I was still depressed, thinking about the awful things that happened down there. I think I might be going towards permanent personality change. I killed so many down there; I saw so many disgusting things happen. We stopped Master Samuel carrying out his plans, but I wondered if it was worth the damage we caused to ourselves and others around us. I remembered, with a twinge of stinging remorse, Tom the explorer. I stepped casually out the Blue Moon Inn, looking up at the moon-shaped sign above me. I looked around. It was Halloween today, and tonight there would be trick-or-treating. Pumpkins, fake bats, and wooden, painted skeletons hung around Varrock. I trotted up the street, and just as I was about to pass the guards, Osrie1, Amy11, Capablanca, and Sin turned the corner that lead to Aubury's rune shop/the top secret Glory Trooper base. They greeted me cheerily.

Sin had spent most of his life living down in the Stronghold of Security, warning explorers to the danger ahead. Of course, he'd been to the surface several times, but he'd never properly observed the beauty of nature. He was flabbergasted as he went up with us. Aubury had permanently marked him as a member of the Glory Troopers, as well as Clayguy7, and Haldir6. Aaron, a surviving explorer that went down to the stronghold, and came up with us, didn't want to be marked as a Glory Trooper, however grateful he was towards us.

"Where are you going?" Osrie1 asked casually. He was wearing his warlock costume that he got last year, at Halloween. Amy11 was wearing a witch costume, the obvious female version of the costume. She looked really pretty in it. Capablanca wore his grim reaper hood, and he held a scythe. I couldn't force myself to look forward to Halloween-I was too shaken by the disturbing events in the stronghold. Nevertheless, I would go trick-or-treating, because I couldn't say no to free sweets.

"I'm going for a walk," I replied.

"Can we come?" they asked simultaneously. I nodded.

"Where are you going?" Amy11 asked.

"Just a stroll to Draynor, mainly to see if there's any event going on," I answered, bored. They nodded, and we set off.

I decided to use my shortcut that I discovered. You had to wander past the grain field, down the grassy hill, past the mine, and there were rocks in a line across the river Lum. When you hopped across those rocks, you reached a muddy hill, and when you climbed up that, you appeared by the house that the three-headed dragon had wrecked. I went down that route, the others following me. I appeared in Lumbridge.

I looked around at the city. It hadn't changed much since my days living here-the only difference was that it was more populated. People gathered in droves, chattering, trading, and sometimes even fighting. The stone walls still stood, sturdy as ever. Even more decorations surrounded me, hung up in between the buildings, on the buildings, and I could see some inside the buildings. I grimaced as I passed a decoration that looked disturbingly like Death of the four horsemen of the stronghold.

I walked casually past the shop, past Farmer Fred's infamous sheep farm, and past the windmill. I turned left at the turning, straight towards Draynor village, instead of taking the goblin-infested mud path.

Draynor Village was also in the Halloween mood. More decorations hung around me like bats. A massive wooden ghost was plastered on the wall of the Draynor bank. People that I passed in the streets wore scary costumes. I saw the familiar smiling face of Diango, the toy stall owner, among hoards of shoppers. I walked towards him, forcing a grin.

"Hello, my friend! I haven't seen you for months since you left for Varrock! How are you?" Diango exclaimed, patting me on the back.

"I've been fine, thanks," I replied. "Say, Diango, have you heard of any event that's going on because of Halloween?"

"I don't know," Diango replied, rather serious. "I don't think it's fully set up yet. There is trick-or-treating tonight, though. I'm selling pumpkin pots to keep the candy in, if you are interested."

"How much do they cost?" I asked.

"4gp per pot," he replied. He took one out from under the counter. It was very big, and hollow. The plastic eyes stared at me, spookily realistic.

"I'll buy five," I said. The others stared at me gratefully. I paid, and handed the pots around. Diango smiled.

Just then, I heard a yell coming from the path that led to Falador. Everyone from my gang spun around. Diango raised an eyebrow.

"I think you should check that out," he said, sounding nervous. I nodded, and ran towards the path. I ran down the path, the others following me. I arrived at the person who was yelling, gasping for breath. I noticed that the area seemed to get darker. I looked around, confused.

"Excuse me, did you…" I began, but I was cut off at the sight that awaited me.

A massive, swirling black portal stood there, towering above us. That explained the darkness. The portal stood on a black stone, with a picture of a raven standing on a scythe engraved into it. The portal rim was gold, with evil shapes of ravens, spiders, and scythes moulded onto it. The portal itself seemed to suck light and life out of the atmosphere. My stomach dropped. No wonder this person yelled when he saw this.

The person himself stood there, looking nervous. I noticed he wore sacred clay armour-something I'd only seen in ancient books Aubury showed us. He held a solid sacred clay sword, and an orange cape hung on his back.

"Hello, I am Ballbags32. I came to Draynor from an area in the wilderness called Stealing Creation-it is almost the only safe place in the whole area. I came to Draynor for the fine trick-or-treating candy, but instead I find a portal of darkness! I yelled for assistance," he said, introducing himself very well. I shook hands with Ballbags32.

"Hi, I'm Mainiac97, and here are my friends, Osrie1, Amy11, Capablanca and Sinlimitless1234," I said, proudly introducing my friends. "I wonder what this portal is. I've never seen anything like it."

Ballbags32 took a dart from his pocket. "I'm a tad handy with darts, if I do say so myself," he admitted. He threw the dart into the portal. The dart disappeared from view in layers of infinite darkness. "It seems to lead to somewhere, but what we need to know is if the place is safe, and if there is a way to some back," he pondered.

Our question was answered a second later, as a person was sent flying out of the portal. The person sat up, dusted himself off, and glared in the direction of it.

Ballbags32 leaned forward without hesitation. He touched the portal. Yelling, he floated in the air, and was dragged into the portal. I wanted to save my newfound friend. I jumped head-first into the portal. I screamed as I was dragged through suffocating darkness. All I could hear were moans and screeches. I instantly regretted my decision, knowing what I was facing now couldn't be good.

I appeared, dirty and very disgruntled, at the feet of Ballbags32. He laughed, and helped me up. I heard another four thumps as my other four friends appeared. I saw we were somewhere completely different. The sky was black and purple, with twisting shapes forming in it. We were in front of a colossal mansion. The wood was rotten, and the windows were filthy. Rotting Ficus trees stood there in their pots outside. The gravel underneath my feet led to a large door with a golden knocker in the shape of a raven. We approached the door nervously; it opened by itself with a creak.

The entrance hall must have cost a small fortune. Expensive furniture surrounded me. Dirty, creepy chandeliers hung above me, even scarier then the decorations that hung all over Varrock, Draynor and Lumbridge. We went into the main hall, and saw several people inside there, walking around, looking at the house curiously. Dust rose from the creaking, rotten floorboards. There was a strong smell of damp in here. A dirty fireplace was nearby, full of smouldering logs. There was someone sitting on a black throne ahead of us. We approached this person carefully, and we were shocked out of our minds.

Death sat on the throne, twisting a death rune in his hand. It wasn't the stronghold of security Death-this one was worse. This Death was the real, actual Death. He wore a black cloak, and he was literally a skeleton. A reanimated skeleton. He held a scythe that couldn't be compared to mine-mine was just a lump of wood and metal compared to his.

"Greetings, mortals," Death greeted throatily. "I am Death. Every Halloween a portal to my humble abode appears. I am in need of assistance."

"You want our help?" I asked shakily. I was frightened of Death, not only because he was Death, but because he reminded me eerily of the Death from the….I didn't need to say it. "What do you need help with?"

"I am having disagreements with the queen spider," he answered curtly, staring at me as if I was something unpleasant on his shoe. "She seeks war, because I refuse to fill my beautiful home with disgusting cobwebs. I have sent all the other curious mortals to tend to different matters."

"Why don't you just kill them?" I asked. "After all, you're Death."

"I can't abuse my powers," he answered. "She's not due to die by me, yet. However, if she is murdered, then it won't count."

"Right," I answered. "What do you want us to do?"

"Your mission isn't as simple as others," he answered. "Yours is a bit harder. I will open up a portal to the spider's home-the birthplace of all spiders. Simply, it is the spider dimension. They won't respect any humans in their dimension, so be prepared to squish any spiders that go your way. I want you to go to the spider queen, and give her this." He handed me a scrap of paper, which I pocketed. "I wouldn't try squishing any of the giant spiders, especially not the spider queen's herald. You may have to resort to violence to get to the queen, but do NOT attack the queen herself, or she will kill you! Do you understand?" I nodded, afraid to say no to this menacing figure.

Death was about to open up the portal, when a humongous figure smashed the door of its hinges. The door floated up, whacked the person across the head, and reattached itself. The person walked into the light. It was Madrey1. He wasn't wearing his usual Guthan's armour-he was wearing black, evil rags, and he was wielding a scythe, exactly the same as mine.

"What's the quest? You want me to do more chores? Where is my reward?!" Madrey1 barked. Death chortled.

"Madrey1, you're just how I remember you the last time I needed help," Death said. "Except you have more of an attitude. Now get out. I won't be spoken to like that." The door flew open. Death shot a black ray at Madrey1, who was sent, screaming, into the portal. The doors closed gently. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself laughing.

"Right, I'll open up the portal," Death said. He sat up, and dust fell from his bones. He twirled his finger in mid-air, and a small circle appeared. The circle opened up big enough so a man could fit through, and webs spun themselves inside the circle. The circle turned purple, and webs sprung out, connecting it all together. The finishing result was a portal.

"OK, in you go," Death said. He pushed me into the portal. I had the sensation of being forced through millions of sticky ropes. All I could see was darkness, and webs. I heard clicking sounds, and I saw a spider crawl past me. I screamed. I'd now discovered I had arachnophobia, as well as alektorophobia. No, wait, I wasn't scared of spiders. I just didn't like them. But arachnophobia sounded cool!

I landed with a thump on a bouncy, elastic surface. I stood up, and saw it was a floor made of webs. I looked around. All I could see was darkness. Webs hung around me, and a path made of webs spread out in front of me. I heard several thumps that came from behind me, signalling that the others had arrived. I yelled as a spider ran down my leg. I tried to step on it.

"Wait!" the spider yelled. "Don't hurt me!" I picked it up suspiciously.

"You're our enemies. Death sent us to pass a message on to the queen spider," I said.

"I'll help you!" the little spider cried eagerly. "I can take you there instantly, instead of you across the spider dimension to her. I don't like the spider queen-she's a bully. My name is Eek, by the way." We nodded. Eek crawled on my head. He spun a web, connecting all of us together. "Cobweb teleport!" he yelled, and we were dragged through another teleport though the spider dimension. My face got caught in several rope-like webs on the way. Eek the spider cried out an apology. I daren't open my eyes, in fear on what I would see.

We landed with a thump on another sticky, bouncy surface. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes. I looked around. We were surrounded with spiders. They hissed and clicked at me angrily. I heard a loud hiss, and the crowd of angry spiders parted. A large red one walked through, its legs about the same size as me.

"Greetings," it hissed. "I am the spider herald. Humans are not allowed in our dimension. Eek, you must go too, I expected better off you. I'm sorry, but we must dispose of all of you, before you destroy our home." As soon as the herald said that, a massive glob of webbing went in my face. I pulled it out, coughing, and I was greeted by a hundred spiders jumping on me at exactly the same time. I struggled to pull them all off. Osrie1 used a fire strike to burn some of the spiders attacking him.

"Fire strike!" I grunted, and a small explosion of flames sent the spiders attacking me flying. Several cinders landed on the web floor, and the floor went on fire. "Oops," I whispered to myself.

"RUN!" Ballbags32 bellowed, and we ran, crushing loads of spiders on our way. Flames licked at my heels, and Eek dug into my pocket, quivering. I saw a ladder of webs. I lunged towards it, but the spider herald jumped towards me, hissing.

The flames had reached higher-enough to burn me to a crisp. "You're burning our dimension!" the spider herald screeched. "I must protect the queen!" At that, it knocked me over with its leg. I stood up, and took out Pestilence's mace, or now my mace. I swung it around in a threatening way. The spider herald quivered. The weapon may not be as powerful as it was, but it sure looked dangerous. The spider herald backed off, and bumped into Amy11. Amy11 screeched.

"I hate spiders!" she screamed. At that, the spider herald jumped-jumped into a towering inferno of flames that were spreading, showing how useful a woman's arachnophobia could be. I watched with disgust as the spider herald was burnt to a frizzle. Its screeches of pain were very unpleasant. Just as I was about to climb the ladder, a thick strand of web caught me, and dragged me up. Screaming, I was trapped in a cocoon of webs, hanging above the most gruesome and horrible spider of them all.

This spider was very obviously the spider queen. She was massive, black, and disgusting. Hairs sprouted in every area possible from her body. Her pincers clicked together angrily, dripping poison, big enough to crunch me into pieces.

"You've killed my spider herald and set the square table of spiders on fire!" the spider queen hissed, obviously angry. "Explain yourself!"

"Death asked me to give you a note, and that spider was threatening to kill me and my friends," I choked, unable to breathe because of the web cocoon. I had to do something to protect myself." The spider queen hesitated, obviously resisting the urge to slaughter me. This was scary-very suitable for a Halloween event.

"Very well," she clicked. The webs holding the spider cocoon loosened, so I could get the note from y pocket. She shot a strand of web, catching the note in it. She shot several webs, using them to balance the note so she could read it with eight black, unpleasant eyes. She did a sound that sounded like purring.

"This note tells me Death wishes to see me, to settle matters between us," she informed me. "Once I've settled the argument with Death, I'll settle my argument with you." I gulped, knowing that I was doomed. The queen spider shot a glowing web at thin air, and a portal opened up, similar to the portal that took us here. She scooped up my friends and a dozen large spiders with some web, and jumped into the portal. I was forced though the unpleasant sensation of being dragged through cobwebs.

We reappeared in Death's living room. The curious bystanders jumped, screamed, and ran towards the portal leading back to Draynor. Dust exploded from underneath us, a tangle of humans, spiders and webs. Death stood up.

"Spider queen," he said curtly.

"Death," the spider queen replied coldly.

"We have matters we need to discuss involving the state of my house," Death said conversationally. "You want me to fill it with unpleasant cobwebs. Otherwise you would be offended. Can we sort this out?"

"Well, I'll leave you alone, on two conditions," the spider queen replied. "One: if you allow my assistant spiders to web up your living room, at least. Two: I want to take these humans back to the spider dimension. They killed my herald, which angers me very much. I want to deal with them myself." I stared at her, wide-eyed. Death shook his head, and I'm sure if he could have facial expressions he would look shocked.

"I can't sentence humans like that," he said. "I'll accept the first condition, but you will leave these humans alone."

"If I kill them anyway?" she challenged. "You can't kill me, since my death isn't due by you. They have no hopes at all when it comes to attacking me. What are you going to do?"

Death chuckled. "I can't kill you, but I have a friend who can," he answered. He whistled, and I beard booming barks come from behind a door. The door burst open.

A skeletal, large, furious dog was standing there. Its teeth were like daggers, and there was a dark red glow coming from its eye sockets. It growled at the spider queen. The spider queen hissed, and turned around to retreat (with us) to her dimension, but the portal had closed. She spat us at Death's feet.

What happened next wasn't pretty. Death clicked his bony fingers, and the dog lunged for the spider queen. She spat web in his eyes, but he didn't have eyes to blind. His teeth made contact with her leg, and her entire lower torso was ripped off. The portal opened again. The spider queen, screeching her last screech, was thrown into the dimension. Blue blood dripped all over the floor. I heard scuttling and hissing coming from the portal. The other spiders had seen what Death had done to their queen! The portal was closed instantaneously. Death's dog went back into the room he came from, chewing on a part of the queen's leg.

Five minutes later, Death coughed.

"It is reward time," he laughed. I never knew Death had a sense of humour. "You are more then deserving of a reward, because of your bravery. You marched into an unknown dimension to face an army of spiders. You killed the queen's herald. A new queen will replace the old one, but the spiders won't bother me any more. I couldn't have done this as well without you. Here's your reward." He went into a nearby cupboard, and took out several cloaks, and several tubes. He handed them to each of us.

The cloaks were cool. They had a pattern of webs on them, and the background was dark. They felt comfortable. I slipped my Easter cape off, and put this new, darker one on. The tubes were shiny, black tubes made of metal. They were closed by lids.

"The cloaks look good," Death observed. "They don't do anything in particular. They don't look scary to you, or me. But to others, they will look terrifying. It is perfect for trick-or-treating, which I presume you will do, or if you want to scare off weak-willed enemies. Open the tubes, then," he urged.

I pulled the lid off mine. Dark smoke filled the atmosphere. I breathed in the smoke by accident, and coughed.

"Those are my proudest inventions," Death said. "They're the handy-dandy Death smoke distracter. If you're in a sticky situation, pardon me for my fun pun, use that smoke distracter. It will fill the atmosphere with dark smoke, which will give you a chance to escape. You can use it five times-you would have been able to use it six times, but you used my free charge. Put the cap back on, and you can then use it wisely."

We thanked him several times, and then left his spooky house. Back in Draynor, it was dark. Perfect to begin trick-or-treating. I went to the bank and I picked up my warlock costume. I went to Diango, and picked up my two extra rewards that I'd missed-this year I picked the Death hood and the jack-o-lantern mask. That made my total Halloween rewards a skeleton set, a warlock set, a Death hood, a scythe, and my scary cape. I put away the Death hood, and I put on my cool jack-o-lantern mask. I stuffed my Easter cape in my pocket, to join my shell of peace, and….eek! I'd forgotten about Eek! I took the wriggling spider out of my pocket.

"Sorry, Eek," I apologised. He jumped up in my hand.

Don't worry! I hated my job back in the spider dimension! Now I can see the real world!" he laughed gleefully. I placed him on my head, so he had a clear view of Draynor. I took out my pumpkin pot from my bag, intent on filling it with candy. We set off, to knock on the doors, scare the people, get the candy, and enjoy this year's Halloween with our new friend, Ballbags32.