A Twisted Halloween: Terror is Trending

Chapter 2: A Big Party Celebrating Us

It has come to a shock to Lilia and the ghost to hear that Grim, Trinket, and Sereia have never heard of Halloween before.

Lilia kneels down to Grim, "Goodness gracious me. How could someone in this world have truly never heard of Halloween?"

"Is it really that big a deal?" Grim asks.

"Sure it is! It's one of the biggest events in Twisted Wonderland," Albert says. "It's like a big party, celebrating US!"

"As in... ghosts?" Grim asks.

"Mm-hm," Lilia answers with a nod.

Then explains, "Halloween takes place on October 31st. It's a day when the ghosts that've departed this world for the hereafter pop in for a visit. It's more than simply the ghosts who have chosen to linger on our side, like the ones you see here. ALL ghosts come to our world for Halloween October 31st. Those of us among the living set up fancy decorations and treats to welcome our incorporeal visitors. We also dress up in frightening costumes to suit the occasion. Very important, that bit."

"Why's that?" Grim asks.

Trinket tinks.

Patrick explains, "Well, not every ghost is polite and courteous like us."

"Some of 'em tie your shoelace together when you're sitting down, and swap around all the salt and sugar in your kitchen..." Albert adds.

Then John says, "Some of 'em turn all your shirts inside-out or take all the ink out of your pens."

"See, Halloween's prime time for spectral shenanigans," Patrick adds.

Then Albert says, "They don't get many chances to deal with the living once they're off in the hereafter, and that puts 'em in a real pranking mood."

"I mean, why wouldn't it? Getting to visit the real world again gotta be a hoot and a holler," Patrick adds.

"Isn't that kinda... pretty, tough?" Grim questions.

"Khee kee kee," Lilia chuckles, "I find it simply precious. Most of the aforementioned pranksters will disperse if you offer them a treat. But sometimes you get evil spirits mixed in - the kind that do much worse things."

Lilia smirks at them, "Surely you guys can recall one such interloper with a mean streak?"

Then calmly says, "Eye for an eye, ghost for a ghost... Halloween costumes are a guise intended to ward off evil spirits by scaring THEM before they can scare YOU."

Sereia becomes scared and hides behind Briar in fright. Trinket then hides inside Briar's pocket.

Then Lilia happily says, "Or at least, that's what the stories say. Nowadays, people just dress up for funsies!"

"So is it supposed to be scary or not?!" Grim asks, freaking out.

"Don't worry about TOO much sense of it," Patrick says.

"Halloween's been this way since way before we started haunting the place," John says.

"Your average Joe can't see us, so don't sweat what we're gonna be up to on October 31st. Just think of it as a day to have fun and cut loose with your friends!" Albert says.

"Huh. Guess that doesn't sound bad," Grim says.

"And the thought of wearing costumes sounds kind of fun," Sereia replies.

Then Grim becomes confused, "Wait, whaddaya mean people can't see you ? Thought you all come back on Halloween to visit."

"Some ghosts linger here due to powerful attachments or personal motives, but most of them move on to the hereafter," Lilia says. "Hence, the ghosts that wander the corporeal realm are quite unstable in nature. They aren't visible outside of magically suffused locations like Night Raven College."

"Huh, I figured there were more ghosts just wandering around off campus, too," Grim says, surprised.

"Yea. I figured that too," Briar replies.

Patrick chuckles, "Hee hee hee. We're pretty rare, believe it or not."

"But hey, does it really matter if people see us or not?" Albert replies.

"Yeah! Halloween's fun whether you can see the ghosts or not. That's what matters," Patrick says.

"Mm-hm. Indeed it is. This time of year puts a skip in my step, even with these old legs," Lilia replies.

Then Albert says, "Okay! All together now, let's hear it!"

Lilia and the ghosts cheer, "Happy Halloween!"

"Yeesh. This energy is... a lot," Grim says, surprised.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

Grim turns to Briar and asks, "Hey, Briar, Tanzanite, Jasper, ever hear of Halloween before this?"

"Of course we do. We used to celebrate it at our home," Jasper says.

"Yes. It's always fun every Halloween," Tanantie says.

"Sure I do. Where I come from, we celebrate Halloween," Briar says.

"Oh, you have Halloween in your world, Briar?" Albert asks, excited to Briar.

"Talk about a coincidence!" Patrick says.

Then Lilia says, "As a matter of fact, while the details differ, there are Halloween traditions among every race. Humans, fae, ghosts, you name it. It's not altogether that those traditions persist similarly in Briar's world."

"Um yeah. The way you celebrate Halloween seems pretty similar to how you celebrate Halloween, only we don't have real ghosts there. At least not from what I see," Briar says.

"Huh. Is it really that big of a deal?" Grim asks.

Then grows excited, "I didn't know about it before, but now that I do, I'm gettin' pumped!"

"It sounds fun," Sereia says.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

"See? There you go!" Lilia says, "Actually, Night Raven College has its own special festivities for the event."

"Oh yeah. First I've heard of it," Grim says.

"Me too," Briar says.

"Really? You didn't know?" Lilia questions.

"No," Jasper answers.

"Well, we have a month until Halloween. I'm sure one of our professors will go over it. Perhaps even tomorrow!" Lilia happily says.