Chapter 18: Halloween Scare
Halloween. In Jack's opinion: the best holiday of the year. Sure, Christmas was more celebrated and it had presents and cookies, but Halloween was the one night a year where the playful spirit could truly let his mischievous side free and not get into trouble. Well, at least not as much trouble as he would usually get into. Spirits tended to let his behaviour slide on this particular night.
The fact that he wasn't there should have been some indication to the Guardians that something bad was going to happen, but they were too mesmerised by the sight that greeted them when they entered the Pole.
It was deadly silent - no elves nor yetis were about (though toy production was supposed to continue as normal). It seemed as though an eerie red light had been cast over the whole place, giving off a spooky, sinister glow. A thick, heavy smoke was coating the entire floor, wafting around the rooms and dulling their senses.
Dark shadows of frightening shapes slithered up and down the walls, looking more ominous than ever. They may not have been the shadows of the Boogeyman, but that didn't mean the Guardians liked them. Hundreds of carved pumpkins, depicting way too lifelike horror-filled faces, decorated every inch of the Globe room, which was also heavily littered with many gigantic spider's webs. Large black crawling beasts stood, territorial of their contraptions, daring the elder spirits to come closer and see what would happen.
Unsurprisingly, no one dared move an inch. Numerous sets of glaring red eyes stood out amongst the darkness, looking as if they were staring straight into their souls.
Loud thrumming noises reverberating from every corner of the room only stood to make the Guardians more anxious. Tooth shuddered at the unusual feeling of a cold chill creeping devilishly up her back, ruffling her feathers and clinging tightly to Bunnymund's arm, she stepped backwards, away from the large monsters - only to stop at the feeling of a warm gust breathing down her neck. Bunnymund's fur stood on end as he felt it too, though they were too scared to turn around, their limbs paralysed in fear.
A low, dull moaning erupted from the corner of the room and a thunderous roar exploded from behind them, leaving a ringing sensation in their ears. As if on queue, all the lights immediately went out, leaving them in complete and utter blackness. Not even the eyes of the spiders were glowing anymore - it was an abyss of terrifying darkness.
"North, is that you?" Tooth's shuddering voice rang out across the murky dullness as she felt a strong, sizeable hand harshly grip her arm. The only response she received was a vast silence. "Guys?"
Not a single sound could be heard over the thrumming of the fairy queen's heart, which was beating violently out of her chest. Her pulse quickened with every second that passed, agonisingly slowly, tormenting her.
Her breath hitched in her throat as the hand grasping her wrist grew tighter. Trying in vain to release herself from its death grip, she didn't even hear the quick pattering of feet behind her, becoming closer and closer.
If she could see, she would realise that she wasn't alone. Though it wasn't her fellow Guardians keeping her company, they had somehow magically vanished into the night sky, leaving Tooth alone with a room full of petrifying monsters. Monsters that you couldn't, or wouldn't dare, to dream about, else you would not sleep for fear of nightmares.
Snarling zombies, blood dripping from their mouths, missing limbs and staggering towards her, the reawakened corpses fuelled by their ravenous appetite. Colossal ogres, unusually quiet, making their way to the centre of the room, the disgusting stench of their mouldy feet filling the room. The large, inhuman, man-eating being suddenly no longer just an old folklore tale. Grotesque gorgons, hairy werewolves, blood-thirsty vampires, all awaiting their evening meal.
The swarming monsters crawled towards her, yearning for a taste of her sweet fairy flesh, their minds filled with greed - the gnawing pits of emptiness in their stomachs driving them forward. Tooth fidgeted and wriggled and squirmed, trying to escape the grip of one monster, not realising that there were hundreds more behind her.
The creature holding her was strong, but her will power was stronger and she used all of her force the throw the thing off of her. With a triumphant thud echoing from where the creature had landed in a heap, she sighed in relief, brushing herself off and flattening her feathers.
In the distance, a foreboding clock began to tick, continually getting louder and louder, until it became overwhelming. Tooth gripped her ears in panic, the blood rushing straight to her brain as the incessant hammering continued. And then, all of a sudden, as quick as it had started, the persistent noise stopped.
Slowly removing her hands from her ears in solace, Tooth looked around. In spite of the blackness, she could make out a few figures in front of her. Assuming the figures were the Guardians, she stepped forward.
Only to shrink back in fear once she saw what was in front of her.
Hundreds of dark gleaming eyes, staring straight at her with vicious intent. No sound could escape her throat before the herd piled on top of her, crushing her, immobilising her under the great weight. She tried to scream, but found her voice was not working.
She was too afraid.
The monsters kept coming in waves, piling on top of her, squashing her, until there was no defined shape surrounding her, just a mangled mash of bodies. Drool splashed down onto her forehead, the ruthless, savage zombie licking his lips in delight. She was going to be a tasty dinner.
Dreadful howling erupted from outside, the thunderous wind angry at the night. The sky was pitch black, the moon nowhere in sight. A pulsating drumming echoed in the distance, as if it were a clock counting down the seconds until her doom. Somewhere in the background, a ghastly, high-pitched laughter echoed, filled with terrifying delight.
Bang, bang, bang, went the wind, smashing ferociously against the glass windows of the Pole. Thud, thud, thud, sounded the beating of her heart, her ribcage about to explode from the pressure. She were so scared she thought she would faint. Bodies crammed around her, jabbing, snarling, begging to get a taste. This was it, she would be eaten, she wouldn't escape, she would -
"Tooth!"
"Huh?" She immediately shot up, obnoxious light infiltrating her vision as she opened to her eyes to see a worried Jack Frost peering over her. Exasperated, she looked around, her head flying all over the place. Where was she? Where were the monsters, how had she got out?
"Hey, are you okay?" Jack's anxious face stared straight back at her as she came to the realisation the there were no monsters; there never had been. It was just a dream, she had been here at the Pole the whole time. She must have fallen asleep. She sighed shakily, the fear of the nightmare still haunting her. But she was okay, it wasn't real. She nodded weakly and smiled up at the winter spirit, who didn't look entirely convinced.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, just a dream." To prove her point, she sat up beside Jack and looked him straight in the eye, the panic on her face slowly diminishing.
"Okay, if you say so," It was cute how caring he was "if you're alright to be alone, I'm going to go - I've meeting up with Seth."
She gave him a dead-panned look, but chuckled slightly. "Don't cause too much trouble!"
"I can't promise anything!" She sighed light heartedly as the troublesome spirit leapt into the air and flew out of the open window - who knew what he was going to get up to tonight. Brushing her feathers down, she settled back down into the large sofa, attempting to get a few hours of proper sleep before the teeth collection demand picked up (it was Halloween after all, and children were far more likely to lose their teeth at this time of year).
The mid afternoon sun shone in the distance, lighting up the room with a faint orange glow. Breathing steadily, she reassured herself that she was fine, her earlier panic was not real, she was alone and she was safe. However, for the life of her, she couldn't shake the undeniable feeling that something, somewhere, was still watching her. Looking around the room one last time, she settled down and told herself that she was overreacting.
Though, if she looked a little bit closer, she would have seen the pair of blood red eyes staring right back at her.
I know it's not till tomorrow, but happy Halloween everyone! Please make sure you all stay safe if you're doing anything and have a lovely day :)