Ghosts in the Pumpkin Soup

Chapter 9: Harvest Hill

If there were ever a Halloween Town, this would be it. Harvest Hill was a dark and grimy town, its stone and wood structures were twisted in some eerie fashion, and the lamp posts consisted of impaled Jack O' Lanterns. James and Elyse wandered through twisted roads and the hustle and bustle of underfolk society.

"Good day, you look tasty!"

"Oh shit!" James was startled by the skeleton that popped out from the pink barrel outside the candy store. He held out his fish in a defensive stance, ready to go hard on this cannibalistic creep. Wait—if a skeleton eats a human, does that make it a cannibal? How can flesh give a skeleton sustenance? What if it isn't a human skeleton? My gods.

"Chill, he's only joking." Elyse assured him, then she hurriedly pushed him along, waving off the hungry skeleton.

Some time passed before James felt safe enough to lower Sam to a benign position. His arms were hurting anyway. All different kinds of underfolk were here, just like the first city he visited. Some ignored him—others eyed him with curiosity or desire. James could swear on his manga collection that that giant slime monster drooled at him.

"Uh, why are some of these folk looking at me like they're about to pounce on me?" He couldn't help but ask Elyse in fear of one wrong turn ending in his demise.

"Most folk, especially the less humanoid ones, are attracted to the smell of pot... like sexually attracted." James didn't really know how to take that. He discretely sniffed his soiled shirt.

"Hey kid, how many bones ya' got?" A shady looking ghoul beckoned James.

James thought for a moment. "Oh... about 206, I suppose." A twinge of pain followed a quick smack to the back of his head.

"Not your bones, you dolt! Bones." Elyse said.

"Yeah, okay."

"It's Inferan currency."

"Of course, it is."

James soon found himself inside what he assumed was the witch's version of a Home Depot. Never has he seen so many occult items in one place before. In fact, he hasn't really seen many occult items at all. The ceiling was left wide open for a reason unknown to him. Probably because it smelled like shit in here.

"Finally!" Elyse presented James her new broomstick.

It featured a slick black finish and tubes that filtered an orange liquid into the twigs at the end, causing them to glow a brilliant amber. She was quite pleased with it.

"Is that seriously a thing?" James asked for his only knowledge of witches came from the TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and even then, he only tuned in because he didn't have cable.

"We can technically ride on almost anything. Midworlders came up with the silly idea, and witches started using broomsticks because we thought it was hilarious. The more you know." Another witch, who was browsing potions, noticed Elyse and her face brightened like a flashlight on electric steroids.

"Sister Elyse?!" The young witch spouted cheerfully. She was practically foaming at the mouth. This witch must really look up to Elyse to warrant such an explosive reaction to her very sight, James thought. Elyse's ears perked up and celebrated the approach of her friend. "Is this—?" Her slender finger pointed dead-on James, failing horribly at her intended subtlety.

"Yeah, this is the guy who let loose The Eidolon." Elyse whispered loudly. Whatever look the young witch gave him next was somewhere between curiosity and spite.

"Anyway, I was hoping you would—" She went on the tip of her toes to whisper something into Elyse's ear. Then Elyse turned and whispered into James's ear.