Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A fire crackled in the hearth, the light reflecting in the eyes of those surrounding the source of warmth this chilly autumn night. Overhead the stars danced across the sky and the moon was large and full, with an orange tinge that was appropriate for this time of year. 

“And you’re sure that this won’t cause… I don’t know the end of the world?” Luz asked warily, “because I think we’ve all had more than enough of that.”

“Nah,” Eda dismissed with a wave of her hand, “this is all just for fun.”

“There is some historical significance to it,” Lillith interjected before Eda could completely corrupt the youth, “apparently traditionally the stories were used to sooth the restless spirits and allow them to come closer to our world. It originated in the Dreadw-“

“Bla, bla boring history stuff,” Eda interjected, “the point is we gather around and tell some spooky stories. None of the details matter.” With a smirk she held out a flashlight, “what really matters is, who wants to go first?”

Chapter Text

“Well if you’re so disinterested in my historical insight, perhaps I should entertain you all with some gruesome true tales of my adventures in the coven, though, in hindsight an immoral and evil institution, I did get some spooky stories out of it, and what’s spookier than spending most of one’s life working in an evil castle for a dark lord.” Luz seemed a little uncertain. 

“Are you sure you want to be telling us all these? Given they, y’know, actually happened.” 

“You all defeated The Emperor and nearly died in the process. Hearing a scary story, however true it may be, hardly compares to that.” Lilith looked around and realized that at least two of the present teenagers had done more than ‘nearly’ die, but nonetheless continued.

“Besides… have you ever heard a true scary story from the perspective of the monster.” Lilith had hoped it would intrigue them all, but it merely sparked disinterest from her assorted friends and family, her nephew pointing out his apparent boredom and disdain for her former life. 

“Look, is this gonna be some story of you hunting down some criminals in an especially spooky way, because that’s just gonna be boring and remind me why I really did not like you for most of my life.” Everyone else present was too polite to say it, but Lilith knew well why King thought it. 

“Oh no King, such a tale would be boring and distasteful, as would the time I went looking for a missing scout and found he’d been made into a stew by rouge members of the potion coven… after they invited me for dinner.” 

“WEH? Eating people! Tell us that one, tell us that one!”

“Not much to tell, I found out after dinner there was a fight, I arrested them all and then felt very ill for a month… all very boring, just another day on the job… no this is a more interesting story, from inside the castle itself… one that very much aligns with this idea of, what was it, trick or treat.”

“Okay Lily, I’m intrigued.” Lilith smirked at her sister's interest, this was a tale of a prank after her own heart after all . 

“It was twenty years ago, and I had just been promoted to a job in the castle, internal security, making sure none of the other scouts were stealing things otherwise engaging in activities they really shouldn’t.”

“So a narc on the narcs.” 

“Someone has to watch the watchers, but in truth there wasn’t much overly nefarious to get up to in that place, outside the castle I might have been looking into scouts extorting the innocent but in there… I was counting silverware to make sure none had been stolen from the cafeteria, checking inventories after the logistics people had already been over them to ensure they weren’t pilfering, and keeping watch over the internal deep vaults of forbidden things. Remember all those wild magic artifacts we dug up from the castle ruins last month? Protecting those was the best part but in truth it may have been one of the dullest assignments possible, it was away from Flora so I was trying to be happy, only my new boss was even worse.” 

“What could be so bad about them because… well Flora seems pretty insufferable as a boss from what you’ve said about her.” Her niece's observations were pretty astute. 

“Oh you’ve met her, short, red, hands for hair, unparalleled ability to look down on others despite being knee height…” Luz’s eyes widened in horror, whilst Hunter burst out laughing.

“You used to work under her full time! I had no idea, no wonder she always hated you when you got promoted to head witch over her. That’s… I can think of no worse fate… seriously, I think she was the most abrasive awful person in a coven full of abrasive people conditioned to act awfully to each other, you included.  That might have made me be less, I don’t know, irritating to you as a kid.”

“Would it?” The former golden guard’s snark now displayed itself in full across his now visible face.  

“Nah not really,” In truth Lilith had been pretty awful to him as well, beyond not realizing the full extent of Belos’ mistreatment and frankly enabling the abuse by means of willful ignorance (one more thing she looked back on with guilt ridden hindsight), she had been outright demeaning, disrespectful and constantly undermining him in front of the rest of the coven, and he had given back as good as he was able to give… Lilith wasn’t going to fault him for being an abrasive little shit as a child, she’d been one as an adult. 

“Anyway, yes… I was subjected to her management for over a year until one fateful month… the great storm of EI 36.” 

“The month-long deluge of boiling rain?” It was an infamous event when it happened, seem as a sign of divine anger, both from failing to follow Belos’ law and from the act of following itself, more than one rebellious sect had formed in the aftermath that had to be dealt with, such groups had been the last form of organized resistance resistance against Belos Lilith ever saw in her career in the coven. 

“Indeed… now that storm had been a disaster for many… trapped inside without reprieve, many ran out of supplies living in their own homes when deliveries of food couldn’t be achieved, in the castle this was not so bad, enough of us knew plant magic and could feed ourselves… and the coven beyond it did their best to coordinate delivery of food to people trapped in their homes alongside the plant coven quickly growing as much they could with the fields wiped out… Inside the castle things were dire, just enough of the basics of food but… deprived utterly of certain luxuries, they were rigidly rationed, with Kikimora naturally being put in charge of this… collecting everyone's private little stashes for ‘safe keeping and distribution in the name of morale… apple blood and other liquors being taken causing the most discontent, especially as there was never as much going out as had been taken in. Which caused… much discontent to a castle full of witches who hadn't been able to leave for several weeks… and raised my suspicions, especially with how Kikimora had taken personal interest in the stockpile.” 

“She was stealing from it!” 

“Of course she was Edalyn… and it didn’t take me long to prove it either… not many people realized I still had Micheal here with me in the castle, Kikimora certainly didn’t… I received reprieve from Belos to let me keep him on recruitment which, well in hindsight Belos had already met him in Deadwardian times now that I think about it which meant he didn’t want to mess with the timeline, but he was only with me because of that reprieve so… I’m not going to think about that paradox. Either way it wasn’t too hard for him to make his way through the vents and watch Kiki in the act, but that created more problems… she was my superior, and it would have been the word of me and my palisman against her… and even if it had prevailed well, even in the coven nobody likes a snitch… I had to deter her and get some payback in some other way.” 

“How’d you do it?”

“I spread a rumor, that head witch Osran had stored a large stockpile of  amandibliano apple blood in the lower vaults for when he visited.. He’s a known snob on such matters. It was believable enough but most wouldn’t dare to steal the apple blood of a coven head… most coven scouts anyway.” Eda laughed. 

“Yeah… yet more proof they’re not my kind of people. That is the good stuff…”

“No, they were almost universally horribly corrupt and would have been willing to steal anyone else’s booze if they thought they could get away with it… they just knew better than to touch the booze of the head oracle. Kikimora always had a certain… overestimation of her own competence. So all I had to do was have Edgar follow her through the vents after dark, and when she went down into the basement I discreetly followed. But I hadn’t just been waiting around whilst waiting for Kikimora to make her attempt, I’d been practicing a little construction magic in the meantime… so as the little demon made her way down into the grim depths of that foul castle, I followed her in silence, guided by my raven in the vents as she made her way to the casks, in truth barrels of vinegar with an illusion on them… but one that would hold up well enough until one got close enough to touch them. I had them stashed at the end of a dead end corridor, in relative plain sight and Kiki went for them but… as she went to examine them up close… I spring my trap. A quick spell and in a instant a wall of masonry blocked the corridor, and I heard a shout of surprise from the other side cries offering revenge and myriad agonising punishments of torture, petrification and other kinds of painful, several ‘’do you know who I am’s  and the like before she started trying to break down the wall with magic but…well it’s not that hard to cast a spell rendering masonry immune to magical harm to a point and sturdily built wall like that wasn’t something Kiki was going to be able to break through without magic titan bless her. And we could all enjoy a few blessed weeks without her.”

“Wait, you just left her there!” Luz seemed shocked whilst Hunter and Eda burst out laughing alongside Amity.

“Honestly fair… she had me thrown down a pit once… and tried to murder both of us and the parade Luz… she was only stopped by Terra Snapdragon… do you know how bad you have to be for HER to say that you’re being too awful to teenagers?”

“Okay you… may have a point.” 

“Tried to assassinate me when I was her boss, twice, then tried to hand me over to Belos, then actually handed you over to Belos. Knew about the day of unity and the collector and then didn’t try to do anything about it, sure she told King about them but… nobody else. And she knew about what Belos was doing to me and might have known what happened to the grimwalkers… Look I know we’re all about short trials and then letting people do community service since well… the alternative is awful and counter productive  but… you wouldn’t get many people complaining about awful and counterproductive happening to her is all I’m saying, least of all me.” 

“Okay, just… this all seems excessive for a workplace prank.”

“It wasn’t that excessive, she survived… obviously. Of course it took a few weeks for her screams to be heard but she was eventually rescued, and she had magic to cover food, water and basic sanitation whilst down there but all those weeks of darkness with nothing but her own thoughts and strained voice from screaming for help,  the dark all encroaching and boring at one’s very thoughts, creeping into everything, corrupting even the happy memories one tries to focus on to banish it one’s on shame at the foolishness of falling on for it gnawing at you, teasing you apart in your very soul!” Lilith looked around, all present, even Hooty, looking at her with grave concern, even Hunter and Amity turning from their prior ease with the matter to a look of horror

“Perhaps I was rash, it was a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone other than her and Belos himself… and maybe Odalia...

But in the meantime…well somebody had to be head of internal security, and as her second in command I gladly took charge of the situation, and morale noticeably increased once there was no blatant theft, and then the rain stopped the next week and I continued in my post… even got a promotion out of it whilst Kikimora was… well getting bricked up behind a wall by an unknown subordinate didn’t put her in the best light in Belos’ eyes, she was quickly reassigned, as was I though she got sent down to the toes and it took her a year to salvage her career, whilst I was got the promotion to deputy head witch when things got reshuffled after… Hunter’s predecessor died.”                

“Did Kiki ever suspect it was you?” Lilith pondered Luz’s inquiry for a moment. 

“Perhaps later, but at the time, I remember her level of scorn for then Golden Guard was even more than usual, they didn’t get on beforehand but he’d have never done something that harsh, but at the time I was above suspicion, her meek little bookish yes-witch who was good at doing what she was told her barely disguised hatred for me came not from that incident, but the fact I surpassed her, if she ever thought it was me I doubt she had any proof for it beyond the obvious and circumstantial I was much more awkward back then my uh how do I but this… assertiveness only came to the fore once I had the actual authority to back it up.” 

“You mean being an open massive dick to everyone who didn’t agree with you if it would help you get what you wanted?” Lilith knew her sister wasn’t wrong and she sighed. 

“Thank you Edalyn, yes that’s what I meant still those days are behind me at least… as far as anyone knows… who’s to say what or whoever else might be hiding down in the depths of The Castle’s foundations and how they got there… down in the depths nobody can hear a thing, and there can be no escape. Now Luz what was that you were saying about your human history teacher not liking the report you have on the Wittebanes last week.”

“Uhh nothing nothing.” Luz’s denial was quick, and Lilith was glad the story had been spooky as intended, even if she saw her niece get a contemplative look in her eyes as if she was considering it. 

“If you say so, I may not have always been to you, but do know if any so called educator over there causes you any problem you will always have your favorite aunt on hand to help in any way I can.”  There was a brief tense silence, only for Amity to break it.

“Uh Ms Lilith now you mention it Professor Hermonculus has been rather uh… irrational harsh in his marks of late, well even more than usual. ” 

“Why Amity, why didn’t you mention that before. I’m always willing to help my favorite student.”

‘Hey, no murder to impress teenagers you screwed over by making cheat in a duel or threw off a bridge once, committing crimes is my gimmick go get your own.” Camila now raised her voice, with shock and scorn in her eyes as she rose to her feet. 

“Threw off a bridge! I knew about a duel you made Amity cheat in  but this is the first I’ve heard about a bridge.” In that moment Lilith knew she was no longer the scariest one around the fire.

“I think that’s a story for another time, Mami.” Camila’s suspicious eye did not leave her even as she returned to her seat, so Lilith was relieved when it became Raine’s turn to tell their story instead.

Chapter Text

“I think I might have something,” Raine admitted, leaning back slightly as they held the flashlight close to their face. 

“Can’t just talk about your time in the emperor’s coven, Rainestrom, that's cheating.” Eda reprimanded.

Raine shook their head, “this wasn’t from my time in the coven,” they proclaimed, “this was from a long long time before that. Before I even went to Hexside. Back when I lived on the knee.”

Closing their eyes they began their tale.

Back when I was a child there was a story about an old bard teacher. She was obsessed with the piano and composing what she called her masterpiece. Every day after class she would work on it, sometimes well into the night. Apparently one time a teacher came in early and she was still there muttering under her breath about how it was ‘all wrong’. 

She spent years working on that song, until the day she died. Another teacher found her slumped over her piano, fingers still poised to play,  as cold as ice. Some say her last words were “I’m out of time. It’s not done yet”.

Now, like most kids, I never really believed those rumors. I just assumed that it was a story. The kind you tell to freak out the younger students. There was an empty old office with the nameplate scratched off, but it could have just been a coincidence.

At least, that’s what I told myself when I finally took the dare. I wasn’t the first one to be dared to do it. In all likelihood I won’t be the last. As far as I know I was one of the only to take it. My hands were shaking as I reached it towards the door long after school ended and I was alone. It was… unlocked, and to be honest a bit of a letdown. The office looked like any other, desk, bookshelf, a few chairs. There were a few crumpled papers with sheet music, but none of them had more than half the notes they needed. After poking around for a little bit, I turned around and left. It wasn’t until I started heading home that things got strange. 

A song, one that sounded half finished, began to echo from nowhere as I walked down the empty streets. No matter where I went it still sounded like it was coming from the same distance away. Far, yes, but moving nether closer or further away from me. The music sounded like it was piano, which made even less sense. What was someone following me around on a rollaway piano, playing away? If yes, why? And more importantly, where were they? After all, like I said before, I was completely alone. 

My speed did increase slightly at this fright, but I didn’t see a single other person the entire time I walked. And that music still continued to follow me. 

The next morning I woke up far from well rested. It wasn’t loud, but when you’re trying to sleep, it’s impossible to ignore a haunting, unfinished, song coming from everywhere and nowhere. I tried to talk to my family about it the next morning. Said I kept hearing this song and wondered if it was one of the other kids pranking me. All I got was a look of concern as they proclaimed they didn’t hear anything at all. 

Now, for those of you who don’t know much about bard magic perhaps that doesn't sound too out of the ordinary, but I knew better. You could make music that would only affect one person, but to make one that only could be heard by one? As far as I know that’s impossible.

Things only got worse when I went to school. The other kids teased me, saying that I chickened out and that they could tell. I tried to tell them that I had gone inside. That I had seen just a boring old office and left. 

Trying to catch me in a lie, they dragged me towards the room and pointed inside. Everything was covered in a layer of dust, undisturbed for what looked like years. There was also a piano that I knew hadn't been there before. The door was locked tight. 

As I looked into this room, out of nowhere the music got louder. Before it was barely audible, to the point where I had to really concentrate in order to hear it at all.  Now it was still soft but hard to not hear. One look at my classmates made it clear I was still the only one who could hear it. 

This continued on for two weeks. This half finished song followed me getting louder and louder, to the point where it was ringing in my ears and I couldn't hear anything else around me. Perhaps, that fact is what made me finally snap. After everyone left school for the day I went back to that room. Like before it was unlocked. Unlike before the piano was there. Its keys were polished and shone, being pressed by unseen fingers. Playing the very same melody that haunted my every moment for the past two weeks. 

“What do you want from me?” I demanded looking at the keys being played by no one.

The keys stilled, leaving my head empty of music for the first time since this whole thing started. For a moment I just stood there in silence, only my heart pounding in my ears for company.

Then a dry raspy voice answered right in my ear, “finish… the… song. Make… it… perfect.”

What else could I do? I played like I never had before. Taking the tidbits that had haunted my every step and turned it into a complete piece. It was beautiful, the best song I’ve ever played in my life. As my fingers continued to move I couldn't help but cry at the pure beauty coming from the keys. 

Once I had played it to the end, the keys started to move again, all on their own. They took what I thought was already perfect and made it even better. Just for a moment, I thought I saw an older witch sitting there, a smile on her face as she finally completed her masterpiece. As quietly as I could, I left, the music stopping the moment I closed the door.

“So was it her?” Luz asked, “the school teacher? Or her ghost?”

Raine shrugged, “I don’t know,” they admitted, “not too long after that I moved away and never heard that song again. Never had the nerve to play it afterwards too.”

“What do you think would have happened if you didn’t finish it?” Hunter asked.

They smiled, “nothing good I’m sure. It’s just luck that I was able to complete it at all.” There was a moment as everyone thought of what could have happened. Raine cleared their throat, “I think that’s enough reminiscing out of me for today though.” They offered the flashlight, “now the real question is who wants to go next?” 

Chapter Text

“Who wants to go next?” 

The words settled over the group, and Vee raised her hand slightly nervously. Eda seemed amused. “You, huh? Didn’t think you’d want to.”

“Hey, I can be plenty scary!” Vee pointed out, and Eda rolled her eyes.

“Alright then, knock us out,” The Owl Lady teased, and Vee’s eyes narrowed.

“Lay off her, Eda,” Luz said, glaring at the witch, and she gave a cackle. “So, sis, you’re up.”

“Um, yeah, it… It’s actually a spooky thing that happened at Reality Check that I think might be Demon Realm related, to be honest?” The basilisk said nervously, wringing her hands, “But so, basically, legend had it that a horrible monster roamed the forest around the camp.”

“Probably Eda,” King pointed out with a chuckle, a soft weh! as Eda bapped him on the head lightly.

“Nah, this was a long time ago, older than even her, it’s why it was a free camp, they couldn’t get people to trust that it wasn’t haunted or anything, so they just sucker you with merch when the summer’s up,” Vee explained, and as if to demonstrate her point, gesturing vaguely to a pin on her jacket, illegible in the dark eerie atmosphere. “You, you can’t see it, can you?”

“I can see it,” The Collector added, absently doodling in the sand on the ground around them, and Vee looked at them. “What, I can?”

“Wait wait wait, but a haunting lasting that long?” Amity asked sceptically, “Me and the twins had to help clear out the whole manor just last month, dealing with a ghost isn’t hard , breath too loud and they scatter.”

“Ghosts aren’t hard, but this wasn’t just a ghost, not a regular one anyway,” Vee assured the audience before her, “Supposedly, this wasn’t some spirit clinging after death, but rather some lost soul chained to the campgrounds themselves.”

“Who was this ghost, then?” Hunter asked, leaning forward in curiosity, “If they’re around this long?”

“One of the counsellors when the camp first opened back in the forties, no one remembers his name,” Vee said, voice lowering the slightest bit before the campfire glow. “He was apparently really nice, but when the entire camp was threatened by a bear, he took up arms to hunt it down and keep everyone safe.”

“Did he get it?” Willow’s voice cut through the dark, and Vee tilted her head in thought.

“Well, the bear was never seen again,” She started, before continuing Luz’s optimistic well that’s good , “But neither was the counsellor, who had got lost in the forest and whose body was never found.”

“Wait, they just didn’t find it?” Willow asked, “How dense was the forest?”

“Not that dense, not that big. Talk was said that maybe he ran off, or that he was eaten, but people could’ve sworn they heard for years the sound of him calling for help deep in the woods.” Vee answered, before frowning. “Nowadays, we’re not allowed in the woods.”

“So they admit it!” King said triumphantly, “They know there’s a ghost?”

“Well, they say it’s for safety, lots of old rotten trees, wildlife, that sorta stuff.” Vee explained, “Now, I had heard the story maybe my first few days at camp, started asking questions to try and fit it, but for awhile it was that: a story, a little hazing ritual of the new kids. Then, things started getting weirder.”

“Good weird, or bad weird?” The Collector asked cautiously, and Vee looked at him with a bit of a wide grin, almost eerie in the candlelight.

“Well, it definitely wasn’t a good weird,” She vaguely replied, “It started in the last week, one of the kids, I think it was Dana, came running up to one of the supervisors, talking about the ghost in the woods. Now, Jack, he sat us—

“Whose Jack?” Luz asked, and Vee chuckled.

“It was supposed to be you who met him,” Camila teased, and Luz blinked confused.

“He was our cabin counsellor and he honestly was great, I think you’d have liked him, Luz,”

“Still dodged a bullet,” The good witch commented, and Vee shushed her, smiling wide.

“Anyway, Jack, he sat us down and explained that there is no ghost, he isn’t real, all that jazz.”

“But a ghost in the Human Realm is impossible,” Gus pointed out confidently, “Every single one of those ghost harasser shows is fake, that’s what you said,”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be impossible,” Vee tentatively agreed, “But that didn’t explain why the camp was colder , despite being middle of June; that definitely didn’t explain why all the bees and mosquitos seemingly went into hiding; and that didn’t explain the way you could hear voices in the forest, seemingly lost.”

The campfire fell quiet, the only sound around them being the absent flickering of the campfire, the crackle of wood curling into itself. Vee took the silence as a motion to keep going.

“That didn’t change the way me and the rest of Cabin Seven heard someone creeping around outside that night,” Vee then added, voice lowering again, a faint whisper above the crackling fire. “Heavy footsteps crunching against leaves and wood and what might’ve been bone , the way we heard it knock against the door of Cabin One, Cabin Two…”

“Oh, Titan,” Hunter hissed through his teeth, and Vee nodded.

“Yep. It was going to get to us in no time.” The basilisk confirmed, and with uneasy breath, she kept going. “Masha, Charlie, Dennis, they all hid right away, but part of me thought I could fight it off, ready to stand my ground. But as it reached our cabin door, knocking loudly, the silhouette of a man barely visible in the tinted, frosted glass; I froze. I couldn’t let it in, I realised, and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“I thought you were gonna fight him!”

“Yeah, only if he was magic, which I wasn’t sure of!” The basilisk defended with enough fervor that more then one set of eyes widened. 

“T-this is just a story, right?” Gus asked gently, and Vee simply grinned wider.

“Before I could question the choices, the sound of cracking glass filled the room, shards falling to the floor in a gentle crinkle. A long wrinkly-armed cast in shadow reached into the room, hand twisting to grab at the doorknob.”

“Run!” Hunter shouted, and the noise jumped everyone but Vee, who turned to face him.

“Run where, he was blocking the door, wasn’t he?” She asked, and at the way his face lost colour, she continued, “I’m not sure what happened exactly after, because while I couldn’t run, I could hide, and that was when I dove under the bed, because maybe I could fight it but let’s not take chances, and just in time, because I wasn’t even done blinking away the dust I had disturbed when I saw heavy rubber boots hit the ground, and I could see the figure making the rounds, flashlight shining onto empty mattresses.”

“‘Ava? Check. Chloe? Check.’ He rattled off, name after name we didn’t recognise, people who weren’t campers anymore, hitting each bed with the light as he went,” Vee said, leaning a little forward to cast her face a bit better in the light, slowly turning to watch each person’s expression. Hunter seemed more on edge than anyone, aside from maybe Amity; while on the far end, Eda and Camila, both with expression that made it clear they saw through whatever they thought Vee was pulling.

“Moment by moment, I held my breath, second by second not even daring to think too loud, and I saw the rubber boots step right up to my bed. He stopped, tapping his foot as he leaned, I thought he might’ve seen me, and then…”

“‘Ashley? Check.’ He said sharply, ruffling the sheets, before turning, military style, one foot planted before the other as he turned around in time with something, and he made his way to the door in a stoic march. He clicked his fingers against the wood, it sounding more like bone then flesh, as he sternly told all the long-gone campers not to wander into the woods.”

“I feel like he said more than that,” Willow pointed out, and Vee snickered.

“‘Don’t go into the woods, if you know what’s good for you. Greater men have gone missing, you know,’ he told us, ‘And even greater ones are hungry.’”

The words fell over the clearing, slightly unwelcome, before… “With that cheery message, he exited the cabin, but none of us, not me, not Masha, no one, were willing to move, barely willing to breathe. The seconds turned into minutes, and we eventually crept out from our hiding places, scared that he would return.”

“Did he?” Amity whispered, and Vee waved a hand dismissively.

“Nah, morning came without anything other than all of us being exhausted , we barely slept a wink, and we got ready for our days and left. Things seemed normal, no one was talking about our visitor…”

“I sense a but,” Eda added, grinning, and Vee pointed finger guns at her. “What’s the but?”

“But Davis, one of the staff at the camp, had ‘gone home early’, supposedly he had come down with food poisoning.”

“Don’t spread rumours, mija, it was food poisoning,” Camila reassured the listeners, and Vee tilted her head to the side.

“And only him? We all ate the same stuff at camp, didn’t we? Everyone hated him but it’s not like food can hold a grudge,” She asked, and she watched Camila’s face slowly fell, even revelling the tiniest bit in how Eda’s expression flickered. “And I swear, I could hear the sounds of Davis asking where he was from the edge of the trees for the rest of the camp, just knowing that the woodland ghost had claimed yet another victim.”

The words fell over, and seemingly no one dared to speak, before finally, Vee clapped her hands together with a loud bang, giggling a little as the rest of the listeners jumped at the noise. “But hey, he’s stuck at camp, no need to be afraid.”

“Yeah, just a story,” Hunter mumbled, and Amity snickered.

“You seem incredibly scared of a story,” Amity pointed out, and Hunter glared at her.

“And you’re not shivering? Besides, grimwalkers aren’t meant to be real either,” The blond hissed at her faintly, before jolting quickly with a boo! and earning a scream from the witch.

“To be clear,” Luz started with an air of confidence that started to slowly unravel, “This is just a story, r-right? There isn’t actually any monsters in the human realm, because if there are, you really should’ve said so.”

“Sure, yeah.” Vee said with a grin, as Luz’s eyes narrowed. “If that helps you sleep, sis.”

“Mija,” Camila started sternly, and Vee had the most innocent expression, enough that Luz’s gaze stared hard for a minute, before the human’s cracked into a smile.

“…you’re messing with me.” Luz finally said, and the two of them held a small moment of quiet before breaking down into laughs, Vee’s slightly unintelligible I had you for a moment echoing amidst the two.

“It’s official, I need you to help sell stuff,” Eda teased, “Gimme five,” She said, leaning over a little, good hand outstretched for Vee to clap, “Aaah, we need more good liars in the marketplace.”

“Oh, you all looked so scared,” Vee grinned, “Oh, I spent weeks figuring out how to get you all—”

“You spent time plotting this?” Amity pointed accusingly, face growing slightly red, and Vee started giggling more and more.

“Well, we shared stories last year, and Luz cut me off then,” The basilisk said, “I wanted to actually finish a story this time.”

“Yeah, but why did you spend weeks?” The Collector asked calmly, tapping their chin as he looked at the doodle in the sand he was making, “If this actually happened to you?”

Vee’s face flickered to that of slight guilt, “Oh, no no no, Collector, it was just a story, none of its real,”

“No, it is, the camp would be about two hours that way, right?” The starchild said, pointing vaguely to the north, and suddenly, everyone went stock still.

“How did you know that?” Vee asked, voice cracking nervously, and the starchild shrugged.

“It’s a weak spot, things fall into the green place all the time, the cold was heat leaking out,” The Collector calmly explained, not seeming to notice the worrying expressions forming around them, too busy using a blade of grass as a sandpit-paintbrush as they spoke, “A brown-haired person fell in right before the Day of Unity, tall, bit thin?”

“T-t-they what?” Vee stammered, and the Collector looked up at her, a genuinely-innocent grin staring back. “Wait, so,”

“I thought you were making it up?” Luz spluttered, as she leaned against Eda’s side.

“Davis did leave camp early,” Camila mumbled, and the Collector spoke over the two of them.

“Yeah, it’s a bit rare, but twice in a hundred years makes sense.” The Collector added, before looking at the sandpit drawing again proudly. “Look, I drew a bee,”

“T-that’s nice, Collector,” Luz stammered, patting him on the shoulder as fondly as she could with a thousand-yard stare. “That’s a nice bee,”

“Thank you!”

“I, I might not tell a story next year.” Vee shakily said, and Eda nodded in understanding.

“…okay, yeah, who's up next?” Eda added in a shaky voice, and Vee nodded solemnly.

Chapter Text

The crackling fire was the only thing that sat between the group and complete silence. It was hard to tell what Luz was feeling once she heard the end of Vee’s story. There was that chill down her spine, that sense of wonder, that lightness of inspiration that welled up inside her chest.

But there was also dread.

How, she wondered, how could I beat that!

Yes, she was a writer. Fanfiction or not, she still liked to write stories. She even helped write a book with King!

But what story was there to tell?

There were always stories about Belos, but he’s gotten much more attention than he deserved. By the Titan, she was so afraid when she died. The Collector was almost killed.

What if she didn’t make it in time? Would they have crumbled just like she did? That surely wouldn’t haunt her.

“Luz?”

Her heart leapt out of her chest and a small yelp escaped from her. There was tension in her shoulders and she was poised like a wind-up toy ready to spring. But as she saw the concerned looks on Gus and Amity’s face, she relaxed.

“Are you doing okay, batata?” Amity asked.

“I’m fine,” Luz told her.

“Well, it’s your turn,” Gus said, “i-if you’re up for it, that is.”

“Oh no, I’m in!,” she chuckled, “I just need to think, that’s all.”

“Are you sure you’re doing alright, Luz?” Steve asked, “you kinda seem out of it.”

Then Luz said at length, “I might be a bit nervous.”

A loud snort came from Eda, “Nervous about what, kid? You’ve done this whole song and dance before.”

“I mean, I’ve never had the chance to tell stories like this,” she said with a smile that faded as soon as it appeared, “I’ve never had friends to share them with anyhow. What if it’s bad?”

“Who cares if it’s good or bad,” Vee said, “it’s all for fun anyway.”

With that, her confidence began to return. The smile reappeared on her face as she began to think of how lucky she was that these people were in her life. A hand wrapped around hers as she turned her head to see Amity. Heat spread from her nose to the tips of her ears as her awesome girlfriend smiled back at her.

“I’m sure whatever story you tell,” Amity said, “it’ll be amazing.”

She wouldn’t give this up. She wouldn’t give any of them up in a million years.  Then she remembered a story a friend told her a long time ago. Before she moved to Gravesfield.

“Alright,” she said, “I think I’ve got something.”

*

There was once a young girl named Luzura.

“I wonder where I heard that name before,” Hunter interrupted.

“Just let her tell the story,” said Amity, slightly annoyed.

Luz cleared her breath.

Now, Luzura had a father who she dearly loved. They would always play together and tell jokes. He would pretend he was a monster and chase her around, then at the end, shed his disguise and swoop her up, saving her from the monster.

Then one day, he died.

Luz took in a shaky breath. This was a point in the story where retellings started to diverge, but she was the one telling it now.

He got sick. Before he passed, Luzura would visit her father, and he would start to wither and decay, looking more and more like a tree without water, starved of its nutrients. And after he passed, the girl was devastated.

She visited her father’s grave often alone, despite warnings from the people around her. There were whispers of bear sightings, or at least some other creature lurking about, but she didn’t care. Without her father, who would she have?

One day, she visited his grave, alone as she always did. As she kneeled before the gravestone, she began to speak.

“I wish you were still here,” she said through her tears, “I wish you were still around and we would play our games like we used to. I don’t know who I am without you. I don’t know who can help me.”

As she sat with her thoughts, Luzura heard a rustling. She turned, expecting to see her mother, or maybe another mourner. However, as she gazed towards the woods at the edge of the cemetery, she saw…something. A black outline against the setting sun, but it almost looked like-

“Papi? I..is that you?” Luzura asked, slowly rising to her feet. As she looked closer at the figure, a feeling of unease began to creep up on her, but then came a voice, a voice that made Luzura want to run full tilt towards the figure. It was her papi’s voice.

“Luzura, I’m here! Just for you, mija!” His voice carried on the winds, and the fact it sounded almost hoarse didn’t upset Luzura. Of course his voice would be different, he had been sleeping for so long. Luzura ran forward, but still that pesky logic kept creeping in, and as she got closer it got louder. Was this some dream, one she had almost nightly since her papi had passed? 

“Luzura, I’m here! Come closer, mija, so I can see you!”

No, her papi had really come for her! It had to be! His soul had come back from Heaven just for her! She ran up, and gave the figure a hug.  

“ Papi, you’re back!” Luzura yelled, but something was off. The figure she was holding was cold. Not the warmth her papi usually radiated. Luzura looked up into her papi’s face, and his eyes. Oh, dios mio his eyes! Instead of the warm brown she had grown up with, they were black pits, as if he had nothing there to begin with. One of his arms felt like it had 4 or 5 extra bones in it, elongating it past what would be normal. Then the voice spoke again, and it chilled Luz to the bone. 

“Lu-zur-a…I’m…Here! Don’t…you…recognize…me?” Luzura took a step back, and then the figure did something that made it finally click for Luzura that this wasn’t her papi. It tried to make some kind of face, but it wasn’t right. It was horrible, the bones shifting and reforming, like the entire face was made of silly putty. Luz took one step back, then two, and before she realized it, Luz was running through the woods, away from the thing that was pretending to be her father. It was at that moment, the creature revealed itself.

Unfolding like an origami crane, the creature screamed, taking to the treetops. It looked like some sick parody of a scarecrow, with long, thin limbs that ended in horrific claws. A body that looked more like burlap than flesh, as bits of wood and metal stuck out of it. It moved on all fours, like some grotesque spider, moving from branch to branch with a surprising speed. 

Luzura ran as fast as she could, but she could hear the creature behind her. The screams, the horrible skittering sound of its limbs, but worst of all she heard it speak every now and again, and it still used his voice.

“Luzura, I’m here! Come…out…mija!” The voice croaked, and Luzura felt like she wanted to throw up. Now that she had come to realize the creature wasn’t her papi, she heard the mocking tone underneath the words, as if the creature couldn’t help itself but to gloat over its victims. After dropping off something, Luzura doubled back, hoping to throw the creature off. Whatever this thing was, she was pretty sure getting caught by it wouldn’t be a good thing. 

The creature keened as it moved closer to its prey. It ached for the feast it would partake in. Another form added, another piece of life. It would end her suffering, her loneliness, as she joined with it for all eternity. Memory. Thought. Emotion. All together. Inside. As the creature came to find its prey, it realized it wasn’t her. It was her bag. The creature roared, tearing the bag to pieces before returning to the hunt. It was hungry. So very, very, hungry. 

Racing through the forest floor, Luzura felt her heart pound in her ears with each step. The creature cried in the distance and she knew she outsmarted it, but she needed to get away. So very far away. But where would she go? Where would she run?

It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was lost, but she was determined to escape, to just keep moving. Then, she saw something flicker in the corner of her vision. Her shoulders tensed, her breath caught in her throat. Then, fear drove her to turn away from the source and keep moving onward.

She wandered aimlessly through the forest, hoping that somehow, some way, she would escape. That she would break free of the clutches of this thing, this monster. But it would never let up if it kept itself hidden in the treeline.

Another flicker in her vision, this time, on the other side. Frustration brewed within her and she turned away once more and broke again into a sprint.

“Mija!”the thing cried, “come back to me mija!”

“You’re not my dad!” she said, “get away from me!”

The creature darted left and right, circling its prey. The beast was ravenous, and its hunger was its only master, making it grow impatient. It could play this game for a while and the girl would eventually tire out, or it could lead her -- somewhere else.

With a great leap, the beast crashed in front of Luzura and made a grab for her. Luzura, being as quick as she was, slipped out of the way and ran in the other direction yet again. Was this going to be her fate? Was she going to be chased forever by some monster that shared the face of a man she loved?

Suddenly, she broke the treeline. She could see the city just ahead and her heart lightened. Though that didn’t last long as she realized that she was looking over the side of a cliff.

Her eyes stung as she held back her tears. So, this was it, wasn’t it?

No, it wasn’t. She turned to face the treeline and the monster burst out with a deafening screech, mocking her with that twisted face. It leapt toward her and she dove under the creature as it was sent barreling over the cliff’s edge.

Luzura huffed and wiped off her sleeves. It was time to go home.

She turned to leave and suddenly, she found that she couldn’t move her legs. Even lifting them off of the ground required serious effort.

Then dread settled in when she looked down.

The creature had its appendages around her feet.

Panicked, Luzura ushered in all of her strength to move, but she couldn’t. The creature took the opportunity and yanked her feet, knocking her on her stomach. She clawed at the hard dirt and dragged her body away from the cliff’s edge, but she would only be pulled back. She screamed, but there was no one to hear her.

Then she fell.

It was a lovely summer afternoon when the local police were called a few miles out from the city for a report of some young girl who died on the side of the road. When they arrived, they were shocked to discover the scene they witnessed. The girl’s arms were splayed out on the rocks. Her middle was torn open and her ribcage was shattered. From the girl’s attire, they determined the cause of death to be self-inflicted and any postmortem wounds were caused by the local wildlife, who shattered her ribcage and ripped out her heart.

As the officer finished writing the report, he wiped the sweat off of his brow. He was glad he was called over here at the end of his shift, since he’d be able to see his wife. Though, as he sat with his thoughts, he heard a rustling. And then the monster called as the voice of his wife.

*

Silence filled the air after Luz finished her story and her companions stared with their mouths agape. It was Eda who finally filled the silence, clapping slowly at first, then picking up as everyone else joined in.

When everyone was done and they got to chatting again, Eda inched her way over to Luz, putting her now only hand on her apprentice’s shoulder. 

“What’d I tell ya, kid?” She said with a smile, “You got this.”

Luz chuckled and she flushed a bit. “Thanks, Eda,” she said, “I needed that.”

“You know, I know you told me you lost your pops,” Eda told her, “but I never figured you’d ever run into those Voice Snatchers when you came to the Isles.”

“Look,” Luz began, “It was just a story that I heard a long --.”

Then she paused as she finally took in what Eda just said.

“Wait! WHAT?!”

Chapter Text

It felt like the blink of an eye and the stars began to fade and the sky turned the pink of dawn. The fire had turned to embers and more than half of those around the fire were in various states of dozing. 

Yawing, Eda stretched and grabbed the flashlight from where it had been discarded. The batteries had long since died out, but still a light shone within. Spirits, she knew, ones who had participated in the activities. As the sun began to truly rise they left, returning to whence they had came. 

All in all a successful all hallows eve in her opinion.