Finally, the day of Halloween came, and Fiona was super excited. She put on her explorer outfit and made sure everything was all good. She had her hair done up nice and wore a hat that looked like it was from a safari. Around her neck were some binoculars that weren't real, but they made her costume look cool. She also had a map poking out of her pocket. When she saw herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile because she looked amazing.
"I'm looking sooo good right now, I bet Evie's got on some weird outfit," she thought to herself, all smiles as she snatched up her phone to do a video chat with her friend.
After the phone rang a couple of times, Evie finally answered, looking pretty ticked off on the video call. She was like, "Whaaaaat?" but it totally sounded like she didn't really want to talk.
Fiona flashed her a mischievous smile. "Hi there, adventurer! So, what's your costume this year? Lemme guess ......something dull and uncreative?" she giggles.
Evie let out a big, dramatic groan, and in the background, something smashed, making her cringe. "DO I HAVE TO?!" she yelled, totally fed up with whatever was happening.
Before Fiona had a chance to say anything, another loud smash came from the direction of Evie. "IF YA BREAK ANYTHING, I SWEAR I—" Evie screamed, really mad, her words abruptly cut off as her phone slipped from her grip and made this super annoying sound when it hit the floor.
For a quick second, the screen displayed a wild scene of pandemonium: a flurry of folks sprinting every which way, stuff thrown and scattered all over the place, and a distant voice hollering as people chase like mad man or something that didn't quite make sense.
Fiona let out a big sigh and shook her head after ending the call. "Gosh, it's chaos again at her place. Why are hostels always so loud whenever it's a holiday season?"
So, Fiona just slid her phone into her pocket and picked up her trick-or-treat bag. She felt like rolling over to Elysian High a little ahead of time, 'cause they were throwing this Halloween festival deal before the actual trick-or-treating tonight. She was totally hyped to catch some early spooky vibes at the school.
"I just hope Evie survives the war zone long enough to show up," Fiona muttered to herself with a chuckle, smiling a bit as she walked into the super nice, cool fall air outside.
As Fiona headed to school dressed as an explorer for Halloween, she couldn't help herself from stopping at some of the houses she passed by for a little early trick-or-treating. The holiday spirit was just too much fun to ignore, and her trick-or-treat bag started to get heavier with all the different types of candy she collected along the way.
As she arrived at Elysian High School, the Halloween festivities were well underway, even though it was just 7:45 in the evening. The schoolyard was packed with students dressed in a variety of costumes, and the air was alive with laughter and conversations. Fiona took a moment to look around, and her gaze eventually fell upon a figure she recognized. This person was a bit out of place, awkwardly leaning against a tree at the edge of the crowd.
"Richard!" she exclaimed, hurrying towards him.
He looked over at her, his face devoid of emotion, his mummy costume hastily put together. "Hey, Fiona," he said.
Fiona leaned her head to the side, eyeing his outfit with a smirk. "Mummy, huh? So classic. What did you use? Tissues from the bathroom?" he giggled at her own tease.
Richard heaved a big sigh. "Guess what?" he said. "Out of budget. I had to get crafty and use some really old bandages my dad had stored away from his wrestling coach days."
Fiona couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, that's one way to put it," she said, smiling. "So, where's your buddy?"
Richard let out a heavy sigh and gestured with his thumb at the cluster of cheerleaders near the punch table. They were all dolled up like extreme Bratz dolls, with sparkling outfits and makeup that was seriously over the top. "There," Richard muttered.
Fiona caught sight of Ethan, standing out in the midst of the gathering, as he chatted animatedly with a bunch of cheerleaders. Decked out in a full vampire getup, with his hair slicked back and a plastic cape fluttering around him, he bore a closer resemblance to a misplaced lost party entertainer than a brooding bad boy he was aiming for.
Fiona couldn't believe it. She just had to shake her head and give Richard a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Wow, your vampire bad-boy buddy is really turning into a clown, huh?"
Richard nodded with a heavy sigh and buried his face in his hands, mimicking the dramatic gesture of a soap opera character feeling ashamed. "I know, right?" he said, rolling his eyes. "I told him to go full-on Joker if he was going to be dramatic. But what does he do? He sticks with a plain old vampire. And not even an interesting one, just a cliché, run-of-the-mill bloodsucker."
Fiona plays on Richard's drama, consoling him like he's a little kid, saying, "There, there. Bad vampire, bad buddy. Poor litle mummy Richie."
Fiona couldn't resist letting out a smirk as she took a picture of Ethan with the Bratz group. "I bet he thought being a vampire would win him some points with the cheerleaders," she said, teasingly.
Richard sighed heavily and shook his head in a dramatic fashion, a look of pity in his eyes. He gently wiped away a tear with the extra bandages his mummy costume had wrapped around his wrist. "It's just too much," he said, "It makes him look like he's trying way too hard."
They both erupted in laughter, their playful teasing briefly overpowered by the energetic tune that filled the school hallways through the speakers. Fiona glanced around, feeling her excitement build with every beat of the music.
Richard looked over the sea of people, his eyes moving quickly from face to face, searching for a familiar one. "Where's Miss Creep?" he asked narrowing his gaze suspiciously. "No costume? Or did she ditch us all for something better?"
Fiona gave a little shrug, and her safari hat bobbed gently with the movement. "You know how it is at her hostel during the holidays—absolute chaos a madhouse." Then she checked the time on her phone, noticing it was only 8:23. "But hey, let's give her a call first. Maybe she's on her way?"
Fiona grabbed her phone and quickly opened the video call app, smiling with excitement. It took a couple of rings, but soon Evie's familiar face popped up on the screen, looking just as exasperated as she usually does.
"Evie, where are youuuu?" Fiona playfully whining dramatically. "Are you ditching me?!"
Evie's eyes rolled so dramatically that it was almost like you could hear the sound through the phone."Do I ever ditch you? Stop being a drama queen."
Richard leaned into the camera's view, giving a sly grin. "Sup, Evie. If ya don't show up soon, I'm gonna mummify Fiona with all the leftover bandages I've got."
Evie raised an eyebrow, her expression darkening. Then, without warning, she held up what looked like a bloody cleaver. "Oh, don't worry. I'll be there soon," she said with a terrifyingly calm tone. "Just as soon as I'm done murdering some assHOLE!! I TOLD YA NOT TO TOUCH THAT VA—"
The call abruptly ended, leaving Fiona and Richard staring at the blank screen in stunned silence.
Richard's eyes went wide, and his face looked like a ghost under his bandages"Is she… is she actually gonna kill someone?" he asked, all scared-like.
Fiona just kinda laughed awkwardly, trying to play it cool. "Uh… maybe that's her Halloween prop? She did say it's super chaotic there, right?"
Richard shook his head, his voice shaky. "I dunno, Fiona. That didn't look like a prop."
Fiona patted his shoulder reassuringly, though she didn't seem too convinced herself. "Relax, she's just being Evie. Chaos is her natural habitat."
"Yeah, but chaos with a meat cleaver, seriously?" Richard mumbled under his breath, his gaze instinctively flitting to the school's entrance. The very thought of her materializing there, brandishing the thing, painted an eerie picture in his mind's eye, one that sent a shiver down his spine despite the muggy evening air.
Fiona giggled lightly, her voice a ghostly whisper amidst the spooky vibes. "C'mon, Rich," she teased, "it's just Halloween. You gotta admit, a pinch of fright is kinda the point of the night."
Richard grumbled, his bandaged mitts shielding his eyes like a scaredy-cat caught in a flashlight beam. "This," he sighed dramatically, "is not what I had in mind for 'fun'."
As Richard and Fiona were in the midst of a heated debate about Evie's usual chaos, Damien suddenly popped up with a mischievous grin, shouting "Trick or Treat" This took them by surprise, and they both let out matching screams of "AAAHHHH!!" It was so startling that Fiona ended up jumping back, gripping her toy binoculars as if they could protect her from some kind of monster, and Richard almost stumbled over his own tangled costume bandages.
Their outburst drew a wave of stares from the surrounding crowd. After a moment of awkward silence, Fiona awkwardly waved to everyone. "Sorry, sorry! Just a little… Halloween spirit!"
Richard rubbed the back of his neck, muttering under his breath. "More like Halloween trauma."
Damien chuckled, his usual unsettlingly calm demeanor making it worse. "Ahaha, it's just me, guys." He reached up and removed the hockey mask covering his face, revealing his smirking expression. "Jason Voorhees, at your service. Pretty fitting for Halloween, don't you think?" He glanced at their costumes with an amused glint in his ember-like eyes.
Richard groaned, glaring at him. "Now I completely understand why Evie says she hates you. Seriously, why do you always pop up out of nowhere?"
Damien shrugged without a hint of remorse, his smile growing broader. "I'm just observant. I was actually around here the whole time, right by Ethan and the Bratz squad over there." He gestured casually toward the cheerleaders and Ethan, who was now dramatically twirling his cape. "You two were so caught up in your little chat, you didn't even notice me around."
Fiona shivered, clutching her arms. "You really need to give people some kind of warning before you do that. I think my heart just skipped three beats."
Damien leaned slightly closer, his grin mischievous. "Well, isn't that part of the Halloween experience? A little scare here, a little thrill there."
Richard rolled his eyes, stepping protectively in front of Fiona. "Yeah, well, there's a difference between 'fun scare' and 'hospital visit.' You're lucky I didn't drop dead, or Fiona would've had to use those binoculars to find a lawyer."
Fiona giggled a little bit to herself, trying really hard not to burst out laughing. "Come on, Richie," she said, "Don't put ideas in his head. He might actually show up as a ghost the next time just to scare us all over again and finish us."
Damien raised his hands in mock innocence. "Hey, I'm just here to enjoy the festivities… and maybe give a scare or two. It's Halloween, after all."
Fiona sighed. "Yeah, well, please tone it down. I don't need more reasons to regret inviting you to anything."
Damien winked. "Sure, no promises."
Damien was totally smiling in a sneaky way when he checked out his friends dressed as an explorer and a mummy. He laughed kind of creepily, "And look at you two—an explorer and a mummy. Did you plan to pair up? How cute."
Richard shook his head with a groan. "Cute? No wayI" Out of nowhere, as if there's spotlight point at Richard for a drama and sad violin play that mr. Krraby play, "Huhuhu, I was trying to pair up with Ethan, you know, like Hotel Transylvania—the mummy and Vampire vibe. But nooo! I'm stuck here as just a lonely mummy, while Vampire over there," he gestured toward Ethan, "Sob, sob, is TOO busy trying to get bitten by the Bratz squad." Spotlight off.
Fiona burst out laughing. "Ahahahahaha! Richard, that is like... The Saddest Halloween team-up story I've ever heard. A mummy abandoned by his Vampire!" Fiona lean on the tree to catch her breathe from laughing hard.
Damien chuckled, his ember eyes sparkling with amusement. With a sympathethic pat on Richard's shoulder, "There, there Richie, well, at least you've got an explorer to keep you company. Maybe Fiona the Explorer can help you find your missing partner."
Fiona raised an eyebrow and play along with her binocular pointing at the Bratz group. "Oh, I found him. He's busy playing the tragic lead in his own vampire soap opera."
Richard rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. He should've gone full Dracula—classic, spooky, dark. Or be a Joker! Instead..." Richard gives his deep sighs, "My buddy is like a 'lost party entertainer'! Please just... get him out of there!" Richard pull Damien like a drama character asking for help, "It's honestly painful to watch."
Damien nodded thoughtfully didn't mind being shaken by the act of Richard in this sitcom-like drama. "Hmm, tragic lead does suit Ethan, though. Maybe he's method acting for a Halloween romance drama." says Damien calmly with his smiles unwavering.
Fiona and Richard couldn't help but groan in unison.
"Come on, don't encourage him on!" Fiona blurted out.
Richard sighed heavily, crossing his arms over his chest. "Honestly, Damien, I'm already regret for bringing him in the first place."
Damien just gave a little shoulder shrug, his smile spreading even more across his face. "Hey, I'm just here for the entertainment. And so far, you two already giving crack me up more than the entire Halloween festival."
Fiona let out a breath and kind of rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Well, let's just keep our fingers crossed that Ethan doesn't decide to sing to one of the Bratz dolls. I'm pretty sure the festival couldn't take that much awkwardness."
Richard shuddered. "Or the aftermath. Those girls look like they'd destroy him for trying."
Damien chuckled, leaning casually against the tree. "Well, in that case, I think I'll stick around. Watching Ethan fail might be the highlight of my night."
Fiona rolled her eyes. "You're impossible, Damien."
Damien smirked. "That's why you invited me, isn't it?"
"Definitely not!" Fiona and Richard said in unison, making Damien laugh even harder.
Damien tilted his head slightly, his ever-present smirk widening. "By the way, where's your supposed-to-be partner, Evie? I've been waiting to see my favorite victim," he said with a chuckle that sent a chill down Fiona and Richard's spines.
The two of them swapped nervous looks, their foreheads glistening with sweat.
"Aah… well, Evie's gonna be late, I guess," Fiona said, trying to sound casual. "She's, uh… caught up in some chaos."
Richard nodded quickly. "Yeah, chaos. Big chaos. Just… hope she didn't actually bring a cleaver. For real."
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