NECROCITY TIMES - Issue #1 - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

WPRS Short - This is #Wattoween

Sasha looked down at the orange flyer in her hand then up at the towering abandoned warehouse. The windows were long cracked from harsh winters. The door to the entrance hung off its hinges and creaked back and forth in the cold night wind. Despite her better judgment, she pulled her scarf up over her nose and hugged her heavy winter coat and entered. Thick layers of dust covered the furniture in the front office. Mold grew down the wall from stained splotches in the ceiling tiles and spread across the cracked, peeling plaster walls like rotten green veins.

She sucked in a deep breath through her scarf and took a seat in the receptionist's chair. This was the place on the flyer. "The Best Halloween Party EVER!" it promised and so far she was the only one to show up. Some party. It was probably a set up. She stood and expected someone to come out of the shadows with a gun to demand her purse and the single digit bills, train card, and lipstick she carried in it.

Last time she ever tried to make friends at college.

A yellow scrap of paper taped over the face of a picture frame on the desk caught her attention.

"LISTEN," it said in block letters above a black ear piece.

Sasha looked around once, then twice, and slipped the ear piece in.

Wattpad's reading every page
Making authors feel slightly deranged
Scream 'update' like a banshee
This the night of Wattoween

She stared at the earpiece in shock. "What the..."

Sasha put the earpiece back and walked towards the front door. The sound faded. She turned around and marched for the double doors to the warehouse and the sound grew with every step. She tried to wipe away the grime and dust from the windows, but couldn't see. The chain on the door was broken, hanging rusty and limp. She sucked in a deep breath and threw the doors open.

The sound grew into a chorus. Shadowy figures swirled around her in the dark warehouse.

This is Wattoween! This is Wattoween!
Paranormal's better than Fright~!
This is Wattoween! Everybody read your screen
Click for treats till it's late into the night
Don't you frown, everybody screams
On the night of Wattoween...

Sasha pulled the earpiece out and chucked it to the concrete.

"What the hell?" she said, breathless.

"Hey! Ouch!" cried a voice from the speaker.

Sasha scrambled to retrieve it and fumbled as she stuck it back in her ear.

"Hell-...Hello?"

"Hey Collective!~" said a woman the happy sing-song. "Oh, wait, it's just you. Sorry, old habit."

"Who are you?" asked Sasha.

"I am Agent #2 of the Wattpad Paranormal Research Society."

"What? You're real? I thought that was just a club."

"Oh, we're more than a club. We're Wattpad's best kept secret society."

Sasha trembled on her knees in the dark warehouse as the shadowy figures surrounded her. They tilted their heads and whispered to each other.

"Um, you're friendly, right?" asked Sasha.

"Super friendly. Well, I am. Magistra is uh...extant."

Sasha cupped her hand around her ears and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I'm not sure I believe you."

"You can't see us? Oh, hold on, let me fix that."

"What are you going to- OW!" yelped Sasha. Some shock zapped her brain and sent stars across her vision. When she opened her eyes, she saw smiling faces of various humans, vampires, ghouls, and ghosts.