This is Halloween - The Great Holiday Mystery

6. The Messy Mess Hall

Day 3- Afternoon

‘Lookin’ good, Zhang,’ Jason nodded at the poster Frank was putting up.

‘Yeah,’ Frank grinned. ‘Turned out pretty good.’

Calypso had helped him cover the perimeter of the poster in a black oval crisscrossed in white that shimmered in silver glitter, like dew on a spider web. A jagged black spider hung from a thread in the top right corner.  In pointed, blood red letters read the words “Halloween Party!” Below it, in equally red but smaller less fancy printed font were the details of when and where.

Hazel kissed his cheek as she carried a cardboard box passed, ‘You did wonderfully.’

Blushing, Frank finished tacking up the poster, moving on to the cabins area to stick up the rest.

Jason clapped his hands and rubbed them together as if getting ready for a workout, ‘You ready?’

Hazel dug out a pulled string of cotton wool from the box and stood up, ‘As I’ll ever be.’

‘Awesome,’ Jason grinned. ‘Let’s go then.’

With a firm grip on the winds, Jason picked Hazel up off the ground. The daughter of Pluto squeaked a little as she felt her feet leave the ground. Jason floated her up to the top of a pillar where she quickly attached the end of the cotton with an excessive amount of stick tape.

‘Okay, done here,’ she yelled down.

With a nod, Jason floated her over to the next pillar where she stuck the other end. She flashed the son of Jupiter a thumbs up and he deposited her neatly on the ground again where she sighed with relief.

‘Don’t like the air?’ Jason asked innocently.

The look she sent his way was all the confirmation he needed, and he chuckled a little. Hazel rolled her eyes and shoved the box his way.

‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’ve got work to do.’

‘I know, I know,’ he pulled a couple of fake spiders from within the cardboard confines. ‘If you spread the cloths over the tables, I’ll hang up the rest of the spider webs.’

‘Deal,’ Hazel nodded and grabbed the folded cloths.

Jason picked himself up and floated to the middle of the cotton already strung up, placing a few of the black bugs along the length of it and sticking them with a bit of tape. Hazel busied herself with straightening out the table clothes, making sure there were no creases in the pumpkin and spider patterns.

‘Looks amazing, guys,’ Annabeth gushed, stepping into the Mess Hall, Percy in tow. Both wore awed expressions.

‘Thanks,’ Hazel smiled. ‘We think so too.’

Jason came to a land behind Annabeth, a small black spider sitting in the palm of his hand.

‘Hey, Annie,’ he teased.

She growled a little as she turned, ‘How many times; don’t call me- AHHHHHHHHH!’

With a god awful shriek, she swatted the spider from Jason’s hand and grabbed Percy’s shoulder, forcing him in front of her. Percy, looking as confused as ever, simply blinked as Jason cracked up and Hazel tried to hide a smile.

‘Not funny, Jason Grace,’ Annabeth scowled. ‘Not funny at all.’

‘That’s because you weren’t watching it,’ Jason laughed.

Percy sighed, ‘Come on, man, don’t take advantage of her fear of spiders.’

Jason grimaced in apology, ‘Yeah, sorry, Annabeth.’

Annabeth sighed through her nose, ‘Finish decorating this place by the campfire tonight and I’ll forgive you.’

He saluted (did he pick that up from Leo as well?), ‘You got it, captain.’

Annabeth nodded, ‘Everything seems to be under control here. Aphrodite cabin?’

‘All taken care of,’ Percy assured. ‘I checked in with Piper earlier as the Athena cabin was going through. She seemed a little shook up though.’

Annabeth took a few notes down on her clipboard, ‘With that much responsibility, I don’t blame her. DJ booth and disco ball?’

‘Almost ready to go, last I checked,’ Percy said. ‘Leo’s installing them tomorrow morning while the girls are getting costumes.’

‘Decorations, costumes, tech stuff,’ Annabeth checked off her list. ‘We’re going good. Right on schedule.’

Percy nodded, ‘You really need to take a load off.’

‘Not until this is over,’ Annabeth insisted.

‘Annabeth-’ Percy protested.

They walked off, arguing. Hazel and Jason exchanged a look that said neither of them knew what was going on. Sighing, they set back about their work.

‘Jason, where did you put the carvings?’ Hazel asked after a while of silence.

Jason pointed to the outskirts of the Mess Hall to a stack of orange. Hazel nodded thanks and walked over to collect. As she bent to pick up a pumpkin, she noted a piece of paper tucked underneath and her blood ran cold.

‘J-Jason?’ she managed.

‘Hazel?’ he came to a rest beside her, floating from above. ‘What’s up?’

She showed her the folded note and his features went slack as realization sunk in. He shook his head.

‘No, no way.’

With shaking hands, Hazel opened the paper and they both silently read the four simple words that caused their hearts to stop.

You will sleep forever.

‘You will sleep forever?’ Hazel repeated. ‘W-what does that mean?’

‘What do you think it means, Hazel?’ Jason asked after a moments hesitations. ‘Sleep forever means death.’

‘Someone’s targeting us again?’ she closed her eyes. ‘Please no.’

Jason sighed, ‘We’ll have to tell the others.’

‘No,’ she grabbed a hold of his wrist. ‘Don’t scare them.’

Jason scanned the words, a feeling of dread weigh his feet down like his shoes were made of iron.

‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘You’re probably right.’