Special Spooky Special Blog
I’m not much of a horror buff. I get spooked way too easily, and I don’t really enjoy that specific kind of adrenaline pumping through my system. It’s why I stay away from the usual Halloween festivities in town.
I’m not against dressing up in costume or anything. Zyl does that with me at almost any chance she gets. But making me look like some grotesque zombie? I’m gonna pass on that. I get antsy just from putting on a witch outfit, which in and of itself is pretty telling.
It’s Halloween, and my landlord has been prepping the entire complex to be one gigantic haunted house for the past couple of days. I’m absolutely terrified on what he’ll come up with.
3 floors of theatrical, directed insanity and madness. I hope nothing too crazy is gonna happen. Last year’s event was a bit over the top with the escape room.
“Hey, are you alright? You’ve been spacing out for awhile.”
I don’t know how much I’ve been out of it, but it’s only now I’m realizing Zyl’s been trying to get my attention.
“Huh? O-oh, uh, I’m good. Just a bit anxious about going home.”
“I’m sure James will tone it down this year. You can only do so much with a haunted house only taking up a small portion of the complex. At least you live on the higher floors.”
“That’s what I’m actually afraid of the most. Screams close by can be pretty scary. But muffled, indistinct screams can be just as haunting. I think James planned that.”
“You’re thinking too much. He’s not gonna go out of his way to spook you, you know that.”
“But if it’s conveniently something that DOES spook me along the way, he probably wouldn’t shy away from it.”
“...That’s not fair, Rai. I can’t really retort that, you know. If he does anything suspicious, just give him that glare I thought you. He buckles really easily from it.”
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Also, if you want, you can come by my place for the night. You know, in case if he DOES try to do something stupid.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass. I promised James I’d at least help out decorating the party room, and that’s gonna take all night. He offered to help me out to mitigate the craziness tonight.”
“If you say so. Offer’s still on the table though. If you yell REALLY loudly, I’ll come in with my special breaching package.”
“Please don’t bring explosives.”
“The only explosives I’m gonna bring are these!”
Zyl tries to flex her arms to show off her nicely toned biceps.
“Aw, I feel so loved. Thanks babe.”
The train is approaching the next stop. The next stop is: Rackam. If this is your stop, please prepare your belongings.
“Alright, here’s my stop. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Ye. Again, I’m not joking. Say the word, I’ll bust in and swoop you away from all those evil ghooooouls and gooooblins. Woooooooooooo.”
“Haha, I’ll keep that in mind. See you around, Zyl.”
“Take care, honey!”
“Sweet, good work Rai. Thanks again for helping me out with prepping the party room.”
“You said that if I help you, you’d lay off on the spooks this year. I hope you’ll keep your word, James.”
“I’m a man of my word, Raina. I’ll make sure your room’s extra soundproofed from the noise here.”
“Though, I will admit that it might not be enough to block all of the noise. It might still come out muffled.”
“If I don’t notice it while I’m reading, that’s good enough. Anything else you need help with here?”
“Nah, all that’s left is just catering, and I got that covered. I’ll let you know if I need any help.”
Seeing as my work here is done, I say my goodbye and immediately retreat to the cozy and warm recess of my apartment.
On my way up to my room, I see plenty of people getting ready to go trick or treating. Kids running around with their various monster costumes, parents watching over them with their own festive make up, even people my age getting dressed up for the occasion, probably going to Halloween drinking parties or something.
I retreat to my room with, treating myself a nice cup of hot chocolate, a pair of the coziest slippers I could find, and a random novel I picked up at the library. I got a bowl of candy too just in case I get any trick or treaters knocking.
As I get cozy, I notice the outside chatter getting quieter. I guess James’ noise canceling spell is working it’s...magic. Heh.
I think this might be the first time I get to enjoy a nice, peaceful and quie—
The lights turn off
“Aight.”
And like clockwork, I get a message from James:
Hey, Rai. Sorry, looks like I tripped a breaker when setting up some lights. Think you can come down to the first floor? I could use a second set of eyes.
Yeah he’s trying to get me outside of my room to spook me.
Maybe if I don’t respond, he’ll think that I’m already asleep and he’ll move on.
A new message pops up:
I know you don’t go to sleep until the dead of night. The sun’s only just begun to set. Nice try. Can you help me?
Mind reader, much?
And another:
If you don’t help, I might be inclined to forget to turn back on the spell that keeps your room soundproofed when I get the power back.
Evil. You’re an evil landlord. This is extortion.
I send a new message:
Fine. You win. I’m coming downstairs.
He sends back a little heart. You’re a devil.
Getting my shoes, not bothering to put on my usual outfit, I stumble through the dark in my PJs to my door. Man, this place turns near pitch black without any lights. The city’s night life barely illuminates my room.
Slowly creaking my door open, the hallway doesn’t fair much better either. The only source of light are a few emergency exit signs. It feels a lot more cold and ominous, despite the lively decorations bouncing light off from the signs. Not a lot of people outside, either. I guess a lot of them already went outside for their own plans for tonight.
I swear to the Astrals above James, if you have jump scares planned at any corner, I’m gonna move out.
Elevator’s obviously a no go, but the fire exit stairway is on the other side of the hallway. Plenty of chances for James to set up some scares.
And yet...
...no scares.
By the time my anxiety over him setting me up washes away, I’m already at the first floor where James is trying to get the power back on.
“Ah, there you are.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t set up any tricks along the way.”
“What, you don’t trust me? I DID say I wouldn’t play any pranks on ya this Halloween.”
“How many times have I trusted you to NOT do prank me, yet do it anyway?”
“Well, in uh...my defense, I did actually set up a spell to help you out. Though one of your friends at the lab had to help me with that.”
“Who, Sara?”
“Ah, yea the real nice one. She was the one who helped me out doing all the complicated calculations and mumbo jumbo when it came to creating the spell. Helped me get it wired to our power grid too.”
“Think you can help me hold up this pane-”
SMASH
“EEE!”
Startled by the loud crash, James and I look to where the source of that sound came from.
“JAMES?”
“Uh, that’s not me. Maybe someone accidentally walked into a wall and dropped something?”
“HEY! ANYONE THERE?”
Flashlight in hand, James calls out to anyone near the lobby entrance, aiming his light to find anyone there.
And then someone surprisingly responds in kind. She sounds like a middle aged woman, probably one of the newer tenants.
“Oh! James, I’m so sorry. I seem to have dropped the beer jugs you wanted me to get. Could you be a doll and roll the glass bin over here with the broom?”
“Sure thing! Be right there!”
“James, shouldn’t we get the power back on first?”
“Getting the power back on will take a lot more time than it is to sweep up some broken glass. I don’t want anyone getting hurt in the dark.”
We get the bin and broom from his office and head towards the north end of the floor.
“Oh, Rai, can you get me one of the trash bin lids from my office? I need to secure this when I put it outside.”
“Yeah, no prob. Be back in a bit.”
Semi-sprinting my way back to his office because I don’t want to stay in this eerie dark, I grab the lid and head back.
Only to hear the ear piercing screams of a man and a woman, abruptly being silenced.
And the scrape of metal against the wall.
A shadowy, hooded figure emerges, their footsteps echo with a gross, slimy texture.
Did. It just.
Too late, the figure lunges over me, cutting off my escape from the lobby entrance. Holding a spell circle, it glows with a threatening red aura, creating a wall blocking the lobby entrance and the elevators behind me. Brandishing two bloodstained knives, it sprints at me.
I ran. I ran away. I didn’t think about where I was heading, I just needed to get away. What’s there to think about?
My landlord’s likely dead, and this...thing is out to kill me, whatever it is.
I try to pull out my phone to call for help, but the assailant catches up and kicks it away.
The figure tries to thrust their knives into me. I dodge, attempting to parry the knives with the lid I still held.
“SOMEONE! ANYONE, HELP! THERE’S SOMEONE TRYING TO KILL ME!”
I scream and scream, trying to get anyone to notice, but no one hears my calls for help. The attacker continues their assault as I continue to keep my guard up. The strikes feel…odd, as if they don’t have the power I expected it to have.
I try to circle my way around the hallway, pass the assailant and get to the exit. The figure tries to throw their knives at me, which I’m able to block away. But by the time I lowered my shield to get back into a sprint, the killer is already in front of me, trying to punch me in the gut. I try to protect myself with the shield, but the sheer power of the punch forces me off balance as I fall to the floor.
I scramble on the ground in terror, unable to get back up on my legs. The killer pins me down, pulling out another knife.
“Oh. How I’ve yearned for this moment,” whispers the killer.
“W-what do you want!?”
It was the first thing my scattered, panicked brain could muster. My mind was in a daze, unable to make anything coherent.
“This knife is gonna cut this so well! I’ve been meaning to use this blade for a special occasion, but never did I imagine it’d be used like this! Now, how shall I cut it?”
Listening in, the killer sounds like a younger version of the middle aged woman who called for help.
“Heheheh. HEHEHE, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The screech of her laugh stabs my ears as she pushes the blade down.
For a brief moment, time stopped. The crushing silence held my lungs hostage, but I realize I was the one holding my breath.
The lights turn back on, blinding me at first until my eyes adjusted. Focusing on the situation at hand, I realize now that the killer didn’t stab me. Instead, what lies in front of me is...a cake. The knife slides out, creating a small slice of the sweet smelling pastry.
The hooded figure pulls of her hood, revealing a certain blond, blue eyed girl I know.
“Happy birthday, Raina!”
She exclaimed this very proudly with the brightest smiles, sharing with me the slice she just cut with what appears to be a rubber knife.
I feel like...I should have seen this coming. That I knew that this was all a prank. But it went beyond a prank. This is just mean.
“Okay, first. Sara, get off of me. Please.”
“Oh uh, sure thing Rai.”
“Second. Can I have that slice of cake?”
“Yeah! It’s for you, so dig in!”
“Thanks!”
I take a bite of the cake, and I taste vanilla with a hint of coconut and raspberry. Nice, I like the aftertaste.
“Mm. This is pretty good.”
“James got it from the bakery in the main city district. You know, that big one next to the plaza squa—”
“THIRD.”
I hear her audibly gulp, as if she was prepared to face the consequences. Good, this won’t take long.
“I thought things were a bit suspicious when the lights first went out, but I’ll admit, I wasn’t thinking about getting pranked when the only thing I thought was ‘Oh gods, I’m gonna die!’ running high on that good ol’ fight or flight response.”
“Immersion’s really solid. You REALLY sold it. Why, I think you broke my phone with that last kick!”
“O-oh, uhm. Actually, it’s fine. I picked it up as you circled around me, and no scratches! H-here you go.”
“Aw, thanks Sara. I appreciate it.”
I pull Sara by the collar out of sheer rage when I got in range.
“THIS. WAS. NOT. COOL. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS EVER AGAIN.”
I think I went a bit overboard, because Sara’s on the verge of tears. I let go of her, putting some distance between us.
“I...never mentioned to you about how I don’t like scary stuff, did I?”
“N-n-no. I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that you didn’t like these kind of thrills. Maybe that’s what James wanted to sa— Oh crap, James! I forgot about him!”
Oh right, James. From what I think she was about to say, seems like James didn’t have a part in this.
“Where’s James, Sara?”
“I, uh, had him behind a barrier I created. I’ll terminate that spell now.”
Holding a small spell circle in her hand, she crushes it, turning off the spell and removing the wall that blocked the entrance, as well as a wall behind us leading to the elevators. James comes tumbling through as the wall dissipated from the elevator section, as Zyl comes in from the entrance.
James, with his hoarse voice presumably while trying to get in, yells with all his energy. “SAAAAAAARA!”
“Uuuu”
“I couldn’t hear much from that wall, but I could hear enough of what you did to Raina. That. Was. Awes-ACK.”
Huh, giving him this glare DOES work. Thanks, Zyl.
“Try that again, James.”
“TERRIBLE! I was trying to tell you to NOT do anything rash with your plan, Sara! You can’t go around pretending to murder people!”
“Gah! I’m so sorry! I should’ve listened to you before I jumped in on this plan! I thought it’d be an unorthodox way to hold a surprise party for Rai!”
I’m not too sure about holding a surprise party by trying to murder me, but I guess in her head it would’ve made sense if I liked the thrill of fear. If I had the knowledge that I’d be in an active haunted house attraction, it’d make sense.
Wait a sec.
“Um, Sara, did you by any chance think that it’d go well if I knew I was walking into a haunted house? Like, a place where I would expect these theatrics to take place?”
“Huh, what are you talking about? Isn’t the haunted house thing James is doing already underway?”
Oh gods I’m about to lose it.
“Sara, my haunted house doesn’t open until like, 8pm. It’s only 5.”
And just like that, Sara turns into a puddle of regret and guilt. She falls to her knees, begging for forgiveness.
“I’m soooo soo so so so sorry! I thought the commotion outside my room meant that the haunted house was open! I thought that if I snuck in through one of the hallway attractions, it’d be fine!”
Zyl chimes in.
“Sara, you didn’t think that it was weird that only James and Raina were the only ones in the lobby?”
“N...no. Now that I think about it, it did seem weird.”
Sigh. This is too much for me.
“Okay, Sara. I got a deal for you. I might let this whole thing slide as long as you do two things for me.”
“O-okay. What can I do?”
“First, don’t ever do this again.”
“Of course. I-I won’t ever do this again.”
“Second, you’re going to help me with any project I get thrown at in the lab for the rest of the year. Got it?”
“Mm. Okay. *sniff*”
“I’ll take Sara to her room.”
“Okay, thanks James.”
James escorts Sara to the elevator, probably to lecture her about how he learned her lesson a bit differently and more violently.
“I think you’re being a bit too nice to Sara.”
“She didn’t know I wasn’t into horror stuff, no one was actually hurt, and she’s visibly shown that she’s learned her lesson. I won’t be TOO hard on her.”
“She ATTACKED you! That’s not something you should take lightly!”
“Her attacks didn’t seem like they were trying to connect to me aside from a punch that put me off my feet, but I wasn’t hurt from them. Didn’t…you teach her how to do that?”
“Oh uh…hm.”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
“Anyway, how’d you know I was in trouble Zyl? Did James call you?”
“Yeah, there was an unusual amount of interference in the call, though. That was the first sign I knew something was up. I’m glad it’s nothing too serious, though. You doing alright now?”
“Sigh. I’ll be fine. Didn’t think I’d get spooked by a co-worker of all people, though.”
Replaying what just happened, if this was an actual killer who tried to do this to me, I’m pretty sure I’d be dead right now. I think that’s the thing keeping me spooked.
Happy birthday to me, I guess.
Hey there, thanks for reading! This was something I intended to write as a small little distraction for myself while writing the main story, but it developed a bit bigger than what I was expecting it. I sorta kinda wrote this uh…today. In like 6 hours. This wasn’t last minute I swear.
Anyway, there’ll be a new production blog coming in some time next week. It’ll cover a couple of characters I’ve introduced here, so look out for it!
Have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone! Don’t be like Sara here.
Please don’t be like Sara here.
