This is Halloween - The Great Holiday Mystery

1. The Plea Has Been Heard

Day 1 – Morning

‘Please, Chiron!’

The centaur didn’t stop, slinging his bow across his shoulders and starting off towards the Archery range, ‘Absolutely not.’

Piper, Annabeth and Hazel ran after him, pleading for a change of mind. The girls had an idea, and they weren’t going to rest until it was approved.

‘But, Chiron,’ Annabeth yelled.

‘No, child,’ Chiron stopped and turned to face them, towering over in centaur form. ‘This is a very bad idea.’

Hazel clasped her hands together, ‘But, it’s for Halloween! We have to do something!’

‘This is the perfect plan!’ Piper exclaimed. ‘Come on, Chiron.’

Piper bat her eyes and looked up from under her lashes, turning on the charm. She smiled sweetly, and wrung her hands together, rocking back and forth.

‘You really want this too, don’t you , Chiron?’ she said, charmspeaking slithering through her words.

‘Want this,’ Chiron’s eyes turned glazed. ‘Why, yes, I do.’

Annabeth nudged Piper and shook her head. The daughter of Aphrodite sighed and slumped, the magic vanishing.  Chiron’s eyes cleared and he blinked in confusion. He spotted Piper with a guilty smile and scowled at her disapprovingly.

‘Piper,’ Hazel muttered. ‘You can’t use charmspeak. Don’t you remember what happened last time?’

The memory of Frank as rabbit washed over them, and they all internally shivered.

‘I’m sorry, children, but we can’t afford it,’ Chiron said kindly. ‘The camp simply doesn’t have enough money.’

‘We can use our own money!’ Annabeth suggested. ‘Percy can help, he’s got his job in New York.’

‘I can get some from Dad,’ Piper agreed. ‘I won’t have to ask for much, and he’ll be willing to help if it’s for camp.’

‘I wonder if I can find any buried money,’ Hazel wondered. ‘If so, I can help too!’

Chiron sighed, ‘I don’t know, children. A Halloween party? This is probably too much work.’

‘We can do it!’ Annabeth insisted. “We’ll get the boys in on it. We can do this, Chiron.’

The centaur looked away, apparently thinking. The day was still young, and the three girls held their breath in hopes that this holiday dream would come true. The silence dragged on and their hopes began to dwindle. Eventually, finally, Chiron sighed.

‘You have four days, including today, until Halloween,’ he told them sternly. ‘You have that long to prepare.’

Piper, Hazel and Annabeth pumped their fists and cheered, ‘Yes!’

‘But!’ Chiron raised his voice over theirs, ‘I have conditions.’

The girls fell silent and listened to their mentor obediently.

‘Everyone must be back at their cabins by twelve pm,’ Chiron said. ‘This is a strictly supervised party. Keep alcohol away from Dionysus’ children, no revealing clothing worn by the Aphrodite cabin, and the Hermes cabin is grounded to the camp until it’s over.’

Annabeth nodded, ‘Sounds fair.’

‘You three will be responsible for whatever happens,’ Chiron informed them. The statement was clear, but the undertone was heard by them all; if something bad happens, it will be your fault.

‘We understand,’ Piper smiled. ‘Thank you, Chiron!’

‘We better tell the boys,’ Hazel squealed, latching onto Annabeth and Piper’s arms and taking off. ‘Come on!’

The three of them ran off, giggling wildly. As they ran off in search of their friends, Chiron sighed. Trotting off to the Archery range to begin his morning lesson, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this party would end in a disaster.

‘A party? Oh yeah! King Leo’s in the house!’

Piper whacked him over the head, interrupting his breakdance moves and knocking him over. While Calypso helped him, cinnamon hair hiding a smile, Frank and Jason cracked up at him.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Leo grumbled. ‘You’re just jealous of my beautiful girlfriend.’

‘Ahem?’ Jason loped his arm around Piper’s waist and pulled her close. ‘Daughter of the goddess of beauty right here.’

‘Ahem?’ Leo mimicked, doing the same with Calypso. ‘Immortal daughter of a Titan over here.’

Both Calypso and Piper chuckled into their hair as their boyfriends battled it out in a glare fight. Percy, Annabeth, Frank and Hazel watched awkwardly from the sidelines, the smallest of grins on their faces. The staring contest wore on and on and on and on and on, until finally Calypso and Piper nudged their boyfriends over and broke their connection.

‘Calypso!’ Leo whined. ‘I was winning!’

She shrugged, ‘It was getting boring.’

‘Anyway,’ Annabeth interrupted cautiously. ‘This party, we need your help.’

Leo perked up instantly ‘Hell yeah! I’ll build a disco ball half the size of the moon!’

‘Maybe a regular sized disco ball will be okay,’ Annabeth advised. ‘What about the rest of you?’

‘I’m in,’ Percy smiled. ‘Anything for you, Wise Girl.’

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Sighing, she leaned into his touch. Piper flashed a goofy grin and tipped her head to the side.

‘Aww, that's so cute!’ she cooed. Then frowned and hit Jason’s shoulder. ‘Jason, why aren’t we cute like that?’

‘Because I’m not cute,’ Jason said bluntly.

Leo grinned, ‘Well I think you’re adorable.’

‘Guys!’ Hazel yelled over them. ‘Come on, we’ve got four days until Halloween. Four days to get this party up and running.’

‘We’ve got this,’ Annabeth declared. ‘We’re gonna make this the Halloween party of the century!’

‘We can have party games!’ Hazel cheered, clapping. ‘And streamers and balloons!’

‘But also lots of creepy decorations,’ Leo put in. ‘Skeletons and spiders and cobwebs.’

Jason nodded, ‘We’ll have to let everyone know. Put up posters so they can get costumes together.’

‘The Aphrodite cabin can take care of that,’ Piper said. ‘We’ve got endless closets of costumes, and mom would probably lend a hand if we told her it was a party.’

Annabeth grinned, ‘Okay then. I’ll be the planner. Piper, you and your cabin will organize costumes. Hazel, I want you, Jason and Frank to do posters and decorations. Leo and Calypso are on disco ball and DJ booth duty.’

‘What about me?’ Percy asked.

‘You gotta stay by my side,’ Annabeth smiled. ‘To help wherever you can.’

Percy laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders, ‘Sure. That’s the reason.’