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It was All Hallows' Eve...
No, it really was!
...and a group of five strange creatures were strolling through a gloomy forest.
There was a black cat with the sneakiest glint in his eyes, his long silky fur swaying with every graceful step he took. The moon's eerie glow reflected from his razor sharp claws that were ready to scratch your eyes out.
A mummy with a crazed stare, his tongue hanging from his mouth like an extra limb. His whole body—as well as the splintered baseball bat he was carrying—were wrapped with barbed wire, warning you to stay away.
A crow with daunting pitch-black eyes, a hidden scythe conveniently tugged under the black feathers of his wing. If you made the wrong move, you'd end up decapitated.
A nun—the most sinister looking nun you have ever seen—with bandaged hands and a machete dripping with blood. This mad sister was not to be played with, no number of Ave Marias were enough to save you.
And what-seemed-to-be a Mad Hatter. No, not the Mad Hatter you're familiar with but one straight from your nightmares. If his soulless eyes weren't enough to freeze you with horror then his chainsaw drenched with guts surely was.
“I could really use something to eat”, mumbled the Mummy, drool dripping from his chin.
“If it was up to you, all you would do is eat”, snorted the Nun, causing the others to laugh ghoulishly.
“I'm feeling a little peckish too, though”, purred the Cat after a while, scratching the fur under his chin in a thoughtful manner.
The group came to a halt, each and every one of them now mulling over the idea.
The Hatter looked around, scanning their surroundings, “I wonder if there's anything to eat around here.”
“Shhh”, the Cat suddenly hushed them, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. “You hear that?”
The wind carried out a quiet melody, like a delicate voice of a maiden humming silently. It sounded almost otherwordly—as much as it could to such a strange party of companions. In awe they all listened, wondering where it was coming from.
After a moment, the Crow spread his wings and took off, flying above the treetops to see if he could locate the source. “I see movement,” he croaked. “In the graveyard, not too far from here.”
Sniffing the air, a sinister grin appeared on the Nun's lips, “I smell.. human.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”, smirked the Mummy, licking his lips as he started to make his way towards the cemetery in a sluggish manner. Deep chuckles resounded from the group as they followed in their hungry fiend's—I mean, friend's—footsteps, the Crow gliding with the wind not too far above them. The closer they got, the more distant the voice sounded until it vanished, and all that remained were quiet whispers.
As they arrived at the graveyard, surrounded by the aging tombstones they found her. She was resting on top of a newly dug grave, her long blonde hair tangled and her white dress muddied, the material clinging to her small frame because of the light drizzle.
The Crow landed on a nearby tombstone, sitting on it quietly as he watched the maiden with his head slightly tilted to the side.
“Fair is this one”, the Mummy was eventually able to mutter, closing his jaw that had dropped upon laying his eyes on the beauty.
“I've seen prettier ones”, the Nun huffed, flipping his hair in a dismissive manner.
“Surely she doesn't compare to your beauty”, the Cat flattered, rubbing his head to the Nun's arm. Pleased with the compliment, the Nun awarded the Cat by scratching the back of his ear. The Cat purred contently, his sharp fangs protruding from his mouth as he smirked in satisfaction.
“Would you two like to check into a motel?”, the Hatter rolled his eyes, “Or can we proceed to kill this wench?”. Pulling on the chord, he started his chainsaw that—with a rusty roar—came to life.
To the Cat's disappointment, the Nun retrieved his hand as he raised his machete. Running his tongue from the hilt to the tip, he left a clean trail on the already dried blood on its surface. “Let's do this”, the Nun then cackled.
The Crow hopped off the tombstone and joined them, drawing out his scythe. They circled around the maiden, their weapons—and claws—ready to strike, hunger in their stomachs and lust for killing in their eyes.
Just as they were about to end the fair creature's life, she stirred awake. They all jumped back a step, noticeably startled by the sudden movement. As she opened her eyes and saw the horrid sight in front of her, she screamed, backing away as far as she could until the cold craggy surface of a headstone hit her back.
“W-What are you?”, she was able to gasp out.
The fiends looked at each other, not quite sure how to answer.
Eventually, the Crow spread his wings, dropping a shadow over them all and with a deep threatening voice he said, “We're your worst nightmare.”
The rest of the group started snickering which made the Crow pout, downheartedly lowering his black feathers again and giving his trusty companions a disapproving look.
“I'm sorry, my fair maiden”, the Mummy spoke as softly as he could with his hoarse voice as he took a few steps forward, the head of his baseball bat scraping the wet soil as he dragged it behind him. “But we're here to kill you.”
“Weirdly polite you are for a murderer”, the maiden smiled and such a beautiful smile it was that it caused the Mummy to blush under the bandages on his face. The Mummy lowered his head, gazing at his feet sheepishly.
“Off with her head already!”, bursted out the Nun, evidently annoyed by the delay in their plan. He raised his weapon above his head and with all his might he swung it. But just as his blade was about to hit the pale skin of the beauty before them, his arm stopped—as if a spell had been casted over him. He trembled throughoutly as he tried to take control over his own body once more yet it was in vain.
The Cat hissed loudly, instantly jumping forward for an attack. The maiden gently rolled her wrist, swaying her delicate hand in the air and the feline froze on his spot midair. The Crow croaked in shock.
Having watched the scene unfold, the Hatter emerged from behind the Mummy.
“I suppose the real question is..”, he began, scrutinizing the maiden from head to toe. “What are you?”
A wicked smirk rose on the maiden's lips and the silence of the night was broken by a high-pitched cackle that echoed all around them. The ground beneath their feet started to tremble as the maiden effortlessly rose on her feet, her movements so graceful yet horrifying at the same time. She drooped her head, her long hair covering her face and for the longest time the group stood still, barely even daring to breathe as they waited for what was to come.
Eventually the maiden lifted her head, her piercing eyes glowing from between strands of hair. Her once beautiful features had morphed into ones of a ghoul, her sharp teeth glistening as she licked her lips, her bone-chilling grin going from ear to ear as if cutting her face in half.
She let out a blood-wrenching scream and in that moment the spell that had momentarily taken over the Nun and the Cat was broken. The Cat landed on his feet—as a cat would—, him now sending a deadly glare in the ghoul's direction. The Nun rubbed his arm as he lowered his suddenly heavy machete, his whole body feeling sore in the spell's afterglow.
“You thought of me to be an easy prey, did you now?”, the ghoul mocked, breathing heavily, her ribcage visible through her shredded dress. “A helpless young lass, all alone in the middle of a deserted cemetery.”
“Not necessarily, no”, the Hatter hummed thoughtfully. “A delicious one for sure”, he smirked lopsidedly before continuing, “But there is never such a thing as 'easy prey'.”
A deep chuckle could be heard from beside him as the Mummy raised his voice in amusement, “What about that one kid that had lost his mom and you offered to find her for him, only to take him down the alley to slice him in ha—”
“Thank you, that'll be enough!”, the Hatter interrupted him, the Mummy falling silent in an instant, dropping his gaze at his feet as if in shame. Sighing out loud in slight irritation, the Hatter rubbed his temple only to then turn his attention back on the ghoul once more.
“Delicious, you say?”, the ghoul pondered, spewing out a blob of unidentified black goo.
The Hatter grimaced at the sight, “Not anymore you're not. I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole in your current state.”
His remark seemed to anger the beast as she started breathing sharply through her gritted teeth, her breath fogging in the chilly night air.
“But Old Rusty Betty over here though..”, the Hatter raised his chainsaw in the air for the ghoul to see. “It's just dying to cut into your rotting flesh.”
“You're the only ones who are going to be doing any dying tonight”, the ghoul snarled.
“Let's just see about that”, a grin on his face, the Hatter turned on his chainsaw once more. “What do you say boys and nuns..”, he turned to look at his friends. “Shall we have a little bit of fun with this not-so-lovely creature tonight?”
Loud excited shouts filled the air as they all raised their weapons for battle. The ghoul let out a shriek before attacking, launching at the Hatter who swung his chainsaw, nicking the ghoul's chest in the process. Yet the ghoul had been quicker, her teeth now digging deeply into the Hatter's arm who let out a desperate cry.
Lucky for him, he wasn't alone. The Cat jumped on the ghoul's back, sinking his teeth into the flesh of her neck as the Mummy hit her to the side with his baseball bat, cracking a rib or two in the process. With a maniacal laughter the Nun plunged his machete into the ghoul's leg, forcing her to drop down on her knees, taking the Hatter with her as her bite was too strong, her never letting go of his arm.
The Crow saw his opportunity as the ghoul stumbled to the ground, instantly going for her eyes and pecking them out of their sockets. The ghoul cried out in pain, finally letting the poor Hatter go as her body twisted and turned in shock. Her arms flailed in the air as she tried to grab the Crow yet it was no use.
The Hatter looked down on his ripped arm. It was throbbing in pain, blood oozing out of the wound and so staining his favorite velvet jacket.
“You bitch!”, he spat in the ghoul's face. “Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this.” Old Betty seemed to laugh in a mocking manner—at least the Hatter was—as he raised it above his head. “Grab her limbs”, he ordered the others who instantly obeyed.
With the ghoul screaming in agony, black stinky blood and ooze spurting out of her body, the Hatter cut off her limbs one by one. Once his mission had been completed, he put Old Betty to rest so he could admire what he'd accomplished. His brows furrowed as the ghoul's eyes found his, the creature still clearly breathing and smirking even though all she had left of her body was her head and torso.
“Now what the hell is wrong with this bloody old hag?”, the Hatter let out a sigh of defeat.
“Allow me”, the Nun gently pushed the Hatter aside. There was a silvery flash as the moonlight hit the blade as the Nun finished off what he had intended to do earlier before the ghoul had taken him under her spell. The ghoul's head separated from her body as the machete cut through her neck with a swift move.
An eerie silence fell over the graveyard once more.
The group of unlikely friends stood unmoved, just taking in the brisk nightly air with content smiles on their faces, their eyes directed at the bright full moon decorating the October sky.
“Beautiful night, isn't it”, the Cat murmured after a while, as if nothing at all had happened. Sticking out his tongue, he licked his paw, trying his best to get rid off the sticky substances on his silky fur.
“It sure is”, the Nun chimed in after a while.
“What do you say we go and grab something to eat?”, the Crow suggested with a grin.
“Now that's the best idea I've heard in a century!”, the Mummy cheered, throwing his arms in the air in delight, at the same time kicking the ghoul's head into the distance, causing everyone to laugh.
They started to make their way towards the cemetery gates, these five strange creatures, their voices as they chattered echoing from the headstones that stood forever silently.
The End.
“Ruki, your story sucks”, Uruha booed, running his fingers through Aoi's hair, the other guitarist's head resting on his lap as they were occupying the couch of Ruki's living room.
“Yea, that's not scary at all”, Aoi chuckled with his eyes closed, clearly enjoying the treatment he was getting.
Ruki huffed, seemingly offended by the criticism he was facing. “You tell a better one then!”
“Not gonna bother”, the black-haired guitarist waved his hand in a dismissive manner, stifling a yawn with the other. “But I cough up scarier stuff than that.”
“Thanks for that mental image”, Ruki cringed, falling silent for a moment before raising his voice again. “But Reita was scared by it!”, he pointed at the bassist who was sprawled on a leathered armchair, stuffing candy into his mouth like his life depended on it. Clearly startled by the sudden mention of his name, Reita's eyes got round with surprise.
“No, I wasn't!”, the blonde tried to defend himself, his words being a series of mumbles because his mouth was so full. Ruki shot him a disapproving look.
“Well I, for one, thought it was scary”, Kai emerged from the kitchen with a smile on his face, holding a bowl of popcorn.
“See!”, a proud grin rose on Ruki's lips at the acknowledgement.
“Pfft, that doesn't count”, Uruha snorted. “To Kai, even My Little Pony is too scary.”
“Hey, I resent that remark”, Kai's brows furrowed as he slumped down on an unoccupied armchair. “Though you do have a point”, he soon continued with a chuckle as he laid the bowl on the coffee table. “But c'mon, does every Halloween story have to be scary?”
“YES!!”
Startled by the guitarists' unified answer, Kai stared at them for a while before turning towards the vocalist. “Sorry Ruki, I tried”, he shrugged his shoulders with a small giggle.
“Fine, let's just watch the movie then! Sorry for trying to liven up this gathering a bit...”, Ruki grumbled, looking around the room for an empty seat, only to find none. “Can't even find a seat in my own living room, can I!”, he wailed dramatically before eventually—with a stern pout—settling down on the floor between Reita's spread legs, his arms crossed over his chest in protest. The guys surely could suck the fun out of Halloween.
As Uruha put on the movie they had all agreed upon watching earlier, Ruki could feel a pair of strong hands being placed on his shoulders as Reita began to massage him gently. Little by little Ruki could feel his annoyance being washed away. The bassist always seemed to know how to get him to unwind.
“It might not have been that scary..”, Reita's deep voice whispered next to his ear as he leaned over. “But I always love your stories.”
A soft smile rose on Ruki's lips at the words. He rested his head against Reita's right hand that still laid on his shoulder as he directed his eyes at the TV where a teenage girl was being brutally murdered.
“You're kinda obligated to like them, though”, Ruki chuckled quietly. “Otherwise I'd kick your ass.”
“Perhaps”, Reita shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “It's a good thing you're a natural story teller, then.”
“Comes with the job”, the vocalist threw his head back so he could see Reita's face. The bassist gently grabbed Ruki's chin, tilting his head even further back so he could press his lips on the smaller man's. Ruki closed his eyes at the contact.
“Get a room!”, he could soon hear Aoi holler as a handful of popcorn was thrown at them.
“Oh, shut up”, Ruki laughed as he pulled away from the kiss, showing the guitarist his tongue in a childish manner.
It was All Hallows' Eve, and this group of five peculiar beings finally settled down to enjoy the most frightful night of the year together. The bright full moon shined through the curtains that swayed with the gentle autumn breeze coming through the slightly open window. And if you listened closely, you could hear a quiet melody and the fairest of voices being carried with the wind.