(October '16) Prompt #2- "Halloween"

[Kris]

October's 2nd prompt is "Halloween"



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[ArtisticVicu]

“Trick or treat!”

He glanced towards the front of the house they were passing, seeing the small chorus of children before the front door all dressed in a different costume. Only one of the parents was on the porch with the kids, the others hanging back on the walk chatting. A fond smile pulled at his lips as he looked forward again.

At the end of the block, someone was waving. His fond smile broke into a grin and he waved back, easily recognizing his best friend and the rest of the gang.

She tackled him when he was close enough, her fake faerie wing smacking him in the face and covering it in glitter. “You made it!” she exclaimed, slipping away from him. She took one look at his face and broke out into giggles.

He gave her a playful glare as he wiped what glitter he could off his face.

“Here,” spoke a calm, stern voice. He jerked slightly at the sudden feel of bristles on his face but he held still and waited as the brush took the glitter from his face more efficiently than his hand. He smiled to the girl dressed as a witch, offering, “Thank you.”

She tucked the brush back into her bag, the rest of the gang settling around them.

“Ready for this chaos to begin?” teased the young man dressed in actual full armor.

“Where’s your sister?” asked the other young man of the group who was dressed as an elf from Lord of the Rings.

“Bringing the twins,” he easily supplied, sticking his hands into his pockets. “She was helping them fix one of the wings.”

“Who crunched their wing this time?” teased the faerie.

“Dynasty.”

The witch scoffed. “Again?”

He shrugged. Not like he had anything to say towards it. The knight looked over his shoulder and perked up. “Hey, there they are.”

The group looked down the sidewalk he had walked up to see a young adult walking with what appeared to be two young teens. The young adult was almost the spitting image of him, excluding a few details in the costume. They were both wearing black suits but his had a white vest, black shirt, and white tie versus the black vest, white shirt, and black tie of the other. They both had the same black fedora and same freaky mask, though he wasn’t currently wearing his like his twin was. He flicked his fingers at her and she signed right back, their white gloved hands easy to see in the dim light of night.

The two young teens bounded over, their feather wings bouncing behind them and their halos bobbing over their heads. They were dressed in the same white toga, a golden medallion on opposite hips depicting the same symbol. The knight grinned at the pair. “I hear you broke a wing, Dynasty.”

The male of the two teens made a face, snapping, “I didn’t break it. I rumpled it.”

“Oh, is that all?” the witch challenged. The elf placed a hand on her shoulder, a silent warning that the entire crew noticed but didn’t comment on. There was no need to.

He turned his attention from his twin to the male angel. “Dynasty,” his gaze moved to the female angel, “Destiny, you two sure you want to wear that? You guys look like you’re 13. 14 at best.”

“Yep!” came the unison chime. The faerie giggled.

“Can’t blame them,” she replied, beaming at him when she met his gaze. “They are just downright adorable.”

He chuckled, shaking his head as his own twin stepped up to his side. “Alright. Let’s head out before we’re even more late than we already are.”

“Not gonna be late,” the female angel chimed, bounding to the lead with her twin following suit. He chuckled, glancing at his twin. She dipped her head in acknowledgement, a sign of reassurance with her face obscured by the mask. He moved his own mask from around his neck and placed it over his face.

The group of eight wandered the streets, the angels leading the way. There were many comments from those that passed them about the costumes and how cool some were or how impressive others were or, in his and his twin’s case, how creepy they were. Most of the talk was in whispers behind their backs but some actually stepped up and offered the compliments to them directly. It was a good sign for the evening.

By the time they reached their destination, it was clear the party was already in full swing. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, he followed the others up the steps, his hand reaching back for his twin. Her hand slid into his and gave it a squeeze. He took comfort in the fact that she didn’t pull her hand away after that.

The place was loud and packed but the energy was high and the music was pulsing. There were many types of costumes from professionally made to thrift store throw togethers. Some of the thrift store ones were rather impressive and there were a number he could see just in the first room that were handmade and had been done with skill.

The angels kept going, passing through the first room into the kitchen. The gang followed, none of them lingering. They found their other cohorts chilling in the much calmer space of the kitchen.

“You guys made it! Sweet!” said a dude dressed as a surfer. He had gone for the wetsuit look rather than just the swim trunks, which was probably wise. The surf board was leaning up against a wall but he knew that the surfer would leave it behind for where they were heading.

“Of course we made it,” chastised the faerie playfully, hugging the Catwoman that had stood up the greet them. “We are so excited.”

“Who’s first haunted house is this?” asked Catwoman, looking to the rest of the group.

He watched as the faerie, witch, elf, and angels raised their hand, along with the surfer and the doctor tucked into the corner beside the surfer. Catwoman’s gaze swept over the raised hands quickly, eyeing the Batman and Superman behind her as if not believing them.

Superman offered a smile, replying, “We went to one last week.”

Even from under the mask it was clear Catwoman had arched an eyebrow at the Batman. The man shrugged. “My sister got us in for free.”

“So how far is this haunted house of yours?” the witch asked, her arms crossed.

“20 minute walk, if that,” the surfer supplied, getting up. “We’d best get going before we get blocked in by the party.”

“We coming back?” he asked, shifting to the side with his twin as the surfer moved to lead the way, the other three that had been sitting near the surfer standing.

The surfer gave him a wicked grin, one promising mayhem and fright. Or, at least attempted to. He didn’t take the look seriously. He knew the surfer too well to take it seriously. “If we survive.”

He rolled his eyes in good humor, moving his head to convey the motion that was hidden by his mask. The witch slapped at the surfer’s arm, gaining a giggly laugh from the surfer in turn. The large group filed out of the house and back onto the street, heading beyond the house and the neighborhood.

Sure enough, not even 20 minutes later, the group was coming upon a haunted house that was massive and oh so enticing. He squeezed his twin’s hand still tucked into his own and she squeezed back. He was excited and he could tell she was too. They both were excited to see just how scary this house could be. It had been a long time since they had had a good scare, let alone so many friends to share it with.

[m139]

Halloween
(same story line as Birthday (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=82916&p=2814604&viewfull=1#post2814604) prompt)

It was Halloween. That time of year when everyone put on masks. Well, perhaps not everyone- but everyone here at this party save a couple of the chaperones here or there- everyone was wearing a mask. That was the fun of it right? Pretend to be someone you weren't, even if everyone knew it was you. Or perhaps, if you were lucky enough, melt into the confusion of the flashing lights and the darkness until no one could distinguish you from the next person.

She, too, wore a mask. It was a beautiful purple mask, fully covering the top half of her face. Strapped on tightly, her expressive features were mostly covered- if anyone asked her anything, they would have to read their response with only the help of the eyes and the lips. And her eyes- what eyes! They were a light brown, at times almost grey. However, in this light, they seemed almost a green. And they also seemed, surprisingly, sad.

Could it be that it was because she was sitting out this dance, when all around her people were whirling and twirling? No, that could not be it, because just earlier, when she had been dancing, the guy noticed it, too. Hidden beneath the layers of laughter, the light small talk, the lifted step, there had been something he could not quite but his finger on- her smiles just did not match up with the rest of her body's actions.

Did she seem to sigh too much? Perhaps it was that. Or perhaps it was the way she seemed to look past the people she was talking too. Or maybe it was the lighting. It could be just the night. But was it?

No. It was simply that it was just so much harder to hide the sadness tonight. There was so much joy here, so many smiles, laughter, jokes- how beautiful it was. or, at least, how beautiful it was on the surface. She had no doubt that those emotions they felt were true. But she also knew that the foundations of those emotions- the truth on which they though they stood was not solid: rather, it was a bunch of well weaved lies, fit together so well and so long that the truth was undiscovered.

A totally alternate timeline had been created. Were there terrible tragities in the last two centuries? Well of course there were. Even incredibly unethical ones. Those times were terrible. But did they know exactly what happened? What truth there was in those science fiction stories? Did they know just how deep a wound humanity had suffered then?

No, and likely, they would never know. Stories had been invented, lies had been told, and all was already fading away. There were not that many left of natural age. And there were not that many left of the extended life granted by those strange experiments that left so many dead. At least, there should not be- but... there was always the chance that, despite her and her allies' best efforts, the experiments had not been wholly stopped. Still, it was not as if she could do any more.

Indeed, sometimes it seemed as if all she could do was sit and watch. Sit and watch the memories of what her childhood might have been. Sit and watch as slowly the world began to turn to extreme ideas again. True, it was slow- but there were signs. Must society always tend toward destruction?

She could tell them, of course. She could tell them that such an idea was dangerous, that it would only lead to tettible things in the end. But would it do anything? Learn from the past, they always said. But even back in the days when history was true (although the veracity of such things could never be truly free from doubt), society had still made the same mistakes- over and over again. Perhaps society as a whole was truly insane?

Sometimes, it seemed like that. And then sometimes, it seemed like there were only certain people. People who would think, if she did tell, that opening up such human experiments would not be such a bad thing, but could actually be good. And some of those people might not only think such a thing, but actually do it.

It was for this reason- never mind that oath- that she remained silent. Right now, those few did not know it was possible. True, they knew the lower rungs. But if they knew exactly what had happened- She shuddered. Perhaps some of this fear was for herself as well. Would they even find her fully human? And even if they did, what did it matter? If one has no reason to treat humans different from mere units for the sake of study- what did it matter what exactly she was?

Perhaps it was this, too. Perhaps she was afraid for herself. But she doubted it could be traced to only that. If there was one thing that she knew, it was that there were compex motives for everything. It was not just for herself that she remained silent. Nor was it only for the purpose of not informing those who might do harm on society.

There was something more. Something...

Suddenly, someone tapped her on her shoulder. She turned her head, and found herself looking at one of the members in her class, his face hidden behind a green mask. "Excuse me," he began, "May I have this dance?"

She nodded in assent, and, taking his hand, stood.

As she whirled around the floor, her feet lightly touching the ground, smiling, with her little laughter and her sad eyes, she knew the other reason that she could not tell.

If they knew the truth, would they be able to be happy? They joys- sweet innocent joys- could they remain? Which was better, the mask or reality? Which one would they wish for, false blandishments or true pain? She did not know- but now, in this masked holiday, where fiction and reality mixed- she could only wish for them what had been denied to her.