Scary not Scary (The Holidaze Book 3)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

As shocked as Devinah was, she followed him. She followed George, no, Salem back to the Halloween Holidaze. George really was Severson's son. The Higher Gods actually got something right and that shocked her just as much as Salem's reveal.

She tried to examine all she had heard in the last few minutes, but her mind boggled. It was hard to believe that any of it was the truth, but it was the truth that George had wanted to hear, and he surely received it.

With a deep breath, she went to face Salem, not the George she thought she knew and understood. In that moment, she missed the timid George when she didn't know who she would face now.

Devinah found him standing in the doorway to the King of Halloween rooms. With his shoulders slumped, all she saw was his defeat. He hadn't expected anything that had happened today.

"I don't belong in these rooms. This was my father's rooms," he said as he sensed her presence.

"You are still the King of Halloween. These are the king's rooms," Devinah told him, but he shook his head.

"Gardemon!" he called out with more authority in his voice then Devinah had ever heard.

"Yes, Sire?" the zombie said as he shuffled towards them.

"Where are my rooms?"

"I do not understand. These are your rooms," Gardemon peered at him curiously.

"No, these are my father's rooms. I can't remember how to get to my room, Gardemon, and I need your help."

The zombie scrutinised the figure before him. With a guttural exclamation, his eye fell out of its dead socket only for Gardemon to hastily push it back in. He stared harder wondering if what he saw before him could possibly be the truth.

"Salem?" Gardemon asked with a hope never heard before in the Halloween Holidaze.

"Looks like you had it right and I was Salem all along. Lead on."

George, no, he had to think of himself as Salem now, turned in the same direction as Gardemon. The move made the zombies arm fall off. For the first time, instead of feeling horrified, he found humour in the situation.

"Let me help you with that, Gardemon," Salem said as he reached for the arm, which immediately crept away from him.

A full-blown laugh escaped the newly labelled Salem. He knew that he was starting to enjoy the Halloween Holidaze more than he had before. Now he could see it for what it was without his mother's influence upon him.

"This place isn't just about scaring, is it?" Salem asked as he stared around him with newly opened eyes.

Gardemon turned to him after retrieving his arm, "it is much more than simple scaring could ever be."

"It's actually fun and I couldn't see that as George, but as Salem I get it. Scary can be fun."

He looked between Gardemon and Devinah while grinning the wildest, brightest grin. Devinah stepped back in astonishment, overwhelmed by the sight.

"This place isn't evil or gloomy or terrifying, its fun. How have I missed the fun?" Salem, as he now accepted himself, exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure you know the reason why, George, uh, Salem," Devinah replied.

"My mother," Salem agreed with a nod, "was it all just because I gave my father more attention? The words she spoke..." Salem trailed off.

"Let me show you to your rooms," Gardemon interrupted, "I am happy to discuss your mother there."