This is me @ all of you.
O.K. PART II TIME.
"Hi Harley," Amelia smiled, taking the hand he offered. He pulled her through the hole and blew a bubble that popped with an echo.
"What's your name?" He asked, twirling his spray-painted metal bat like a baton.
"Amelia," she said, growing accustomed to the dried chocolate on her legs. "I need help finding a key. I'm not sure what it looks like, but it was supposed to be in that shed."
He took a green gummy bear from out of his blazer pocket. "This is a key. Is this what you want?"
"Yes, please." He dropped it in her hand. She hid it in her sweatshirt, gasping when she felt another small slice of paper. Another clue. She snatched it and angled it so that the moon would illuminate the next riddle.
Taehyung made a hmph sound. "That's easy."
Amelia pursed her lips. "I must be missing something. These riddles are intense."
"Ascend the steps to a darkened room?" Taehyung laughed. "That means go upstairs."
Well... Amelia guessed that was easy. But, it still would have taken her at least fifteen minutes. Speaking of the time...
"Do you know what time it is, Harley?"
Taehyung turned and stared at the moon. "What time is it, guys?"
Amelia quirked an eyebrow. They were alone. Hoseok and Yoongi were already back at the house. What was he going on about? To whom?
"No," Taehyung whined, "I'm asking for the time."
"What's that?" He craned his neck towards the sky. He shook his head. "Nope. I'm not going to kill her. I could and it would be very easy, but I don't think I should--"
Amelia furrowed her brows. "It's fine, forget I asked--"
"twenty-eight minutes until midnight!" Taehyung beamed, skipping ahead of her on their walk back to the mansion.
Okay... She let him go, walking a few paces behind. His character was supposed to be a basketcase; a few fries short of a happy meal. But thinking about it now, she had four humans under her wing. A pirate, Santa, a Care Bear, and Harleen Quinzel. Besides them, there was also one key and a little less than half an hour.
Three boys to go.
"Hey, you might wanna keep up," Taehyung yelled. "Horseman is getting a new head from the pumpkin patch and when he comes back he's gonna burn the house down lookin' for us."
Amelia scurried to catch up. When they reached the house, he held open the door for her. Seokjin and Luca waved to them from the bottom of the steps. She met her small group at the bottom, somewhat proud of her progress.
Taehyung stuck his hand out eagerly for a handshake. The other boys stared at it. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Harley Quinn."
"Who's Harley Quinn?" Seokjin asked, turning to Yoongi.
The Care Bear narrowed his eyes. "Let's just say he's wild about Cocoa Puffs."
"What?" Seokjin furrowed his brows.
"He's crazy," Hoseok said. Politely, though, he shook Taehyung's hand.
"We're supposed to go upstairs for the next key," Amelia said. "You guys ready?"
Luca jumped from Jin's to Taehyung's arms, rubbing her head and ears against his shirt. "I should have known this is who you would be."
Their Harley Quinn smiled and kissed the kitten's head. "I love your cat. Have you ever thought of getting a tiger? The white ones with stripes are so nice, and they're also the rage this season."
"I don't think I have any of those in my gift bag," Santa said, digging through his sack.
"They might have one upstairs," Amelia said, smiling humorlessly. "Please get a move on."
Yoongi was first to journey up the steps. Next went Seokjin, then Hoseok, and finally Taehyung. Amelia took her place in the middle of the group on purpose. In the movies, those positioned in the center got snatched last when haunted houses did the weird stuff. It didn't matter if this was a Halloween Court. She still was not getting killed.
The second floor was as wide as it was long, a row of doors lining both sides of the wall. Some of the doors were rusted, some of them were pristine. Some of them were splintered, some of them were painted different colors. Amelia wondered which of them contained the key or another human.
"What's the plan of attack?" Yoongi asked.
"We could all split up and open one," Hoseok suggested.
"And get ambushed? I think not." Amelia shuffled to the front of the group, examining each entry. If they were anything like the rest of this ghastly Court, then none of her party would like what rested behind them. But, they still had to try. "I'll try a door. You guys stand guard."
She approached an old, chipped burgundy door with a golden knocker. It resembled a hotel door. Opening it, she wasn't surprised to find that the inside mirrored an old motel room. Two dusty twin beds lined the wall. An old TV atop a dresser sat at the opposite end. The mustard colored wallpaper was completely awful and a roach crawled from one foot of the bed to another. The old light on the ceiling flickered, and completely died, shrouding the room in darkness. Amelia raised an eyebrow, daring to peer her head inside.
The lights beamed to life, the wallpaper drenched in splashed coats of blood. The beds had been slashed, the TV's glass shattered. Amelia screamed, rushing to shut the door.
"That room is cancelled."
She put a hand over her heart, settling her nerves with a deep breath. It was time for another one. Her next choice was a door with floral stickers and white paint. The tiny doorknob was crystal. She waved the boys closer before opening it.
It was a little girl's room. A large, canopy bed pressed against pink, striped walls. A window spilled moonlight onto the carpet floors through an alcove. Plenty of drawn pictures and crafts hung over her writing desk with tape or nails. Toys littered the ground, plenty of doll clothes and parts spread about randomly. However, it was the little figure with long, black hair crouched before a dollhouse that made Amelia swallow.
The child sniffled and wiped her little nose. She grabbed her dolls, but must have decided against it because they fell lifelessly inside the house soon after.
"Hello," Amelia said. Taehyung tried to catch a peek from over her shoulder.
The little girl froze. "No one wants to play with me."
Luca meowed in Taehyung's arms. "Is that one of the humans?"
Amelia shrugged, stepping over the threshold. "Where's your mom and dad?"
"They left me," the girl cried. "And now there's no one to play."
Amelia held her breath, taking a knee. "Are you lost? I'll play with you."
"You'll play?"
The girl's head turned slowly, so that she glanced over a small shoulder. Except, it kept turning, not stopping where a human's typically stopped. It rotated until her neck completely twisted, and like an owl, she could glare at Amelia without moving. A smile spread on her thin lips, a row of sharpened teeth gleaming in the moonlight.
The blood drained from Amelia's face.
The little girl's body spun to right her head, sprinting towards Amelia. "Play with me!"Â she growled like a tiny beast, pudgy hands reaching for Amelia's neck.
Thoughtlessly, Amelia shot upright, cocked her foot back, and kicked. Her foot connected with the little demon's jaw. The creature flew back and landed atop the dollhouse. Instead of the sharp edges of the dollhouse's wooden ceiling drawing blood, popcorn kernels leaked from her open wounds. Her skin deflated, her maniacal face flattening like a bag of grain. Yoongi snatched Amelia back by the collar and slammed the door.
Horrified, Hoseok scowled at Amelia. "You kicked a little girl?!"
"Did you see that thing?" Amelia countered. "That was not a little girl."
"You didn't have to hurt her," Hoseok said.
"We can debate moral dilemmas later," Yoongi snapped.
"Land ho! What about this staircase?" Seokjin yanked a string from the ceiling, a wooden ladder unfolding from a hatch.
"An attic!" Amelia ran to the ladder. "This is brilliant!"
"We do not have much time, Amelia," Luca said. "We must proceed."
Amelia nodded, urging the rest of her group to follow her up the trail. She climbed effortlessly, her excitement renewed at the prospect of a new find. Except, when her head surfaced in the attic, she paused. Quickly, she glanced at the others and put a finger to her lips. She helped each one of them up all the way and crowded them into a corner. Without saying a word, she pointed at the silhouette before the attic window. He had his hands on his hips, but were they really hands?
The boys and Luca gawked. One arm was human. The other was thick. One half of the limb red and another half blue. It did not have a hand, but it was a big gummy stub.
Seokjin whispered, "Is his arm a gummy worm?"
Amelia nodded gravely.
"Then who is that?" Seokjin motioned to a boy on the table. More like a stone slab. He struggled and fought against black licorice restraints. On a smaller table next to him were scissors, large knives, tweezers, and other tools. At the table's feet were bowls of magenta and purple fluids. Jam and jelly, Amelia realized, because it shook as the man at the window turned and took heavy steps towards the table. He wore a white lab coat. A burlap sack with two holes for eyes covered his face. From his pocket, he drew a piece of hardened sugar sharpened to a point.
For a sacrifice, Amelia thought. A human sacrifice.
The candles on the floor and symbols on the wall told her that much.
The boy went still at the sight of the candy dagger.
A coarse, grating voice groaned from beneath the burlap sack. "Any last words?"
"We don't talk anymore. We don't talk anymore," he sang. "We don't talk anymore, like we used to do."
Wait. Why was this so familiar?
Amelia turned to the group, unsure of what to do. "I don't know if he's one of the humans."
"Does it matter? He's about to die!" Hoseok couldn't even hide his frustration.
"Then we need a plan!"
Behind her, the voodoo man raised his sweet blade. Taehyung, the first to notice, stood suddenly. Amelia was too slow to stop him from running out of their corner. He tackled him to the ground, forgetting about the bat. Amelia stood, commanding the others. "Someone free the sacrifice!"
Seokjin drew his rapier. "Fire in the hole!"
Amelia turned to Hoseok. "Grab another weapon!"
Santa nodded, digging through his gift bag. His face lit up as he touched something. He pulled it out quickly, and tossed a handful of confetti towards the fray. His face fell as he dug through the bag again.
"Confetti? Seriously, Hobi?"
"I'm not always sure of what I'm grabbing," he admitted.
Yoongi and Luca hopped towards the table. The cat got to work on the licorice restraints, biting off chunks and spitting them out on the floor. Yoongi, on the other hand, frowned.
"Charlie Puth?"
The famous singer smiled, tears glistening in his eyes. "You can either hate me or love me, but that's just the way I am."
Yoongi scoffed, clawing at the licorice. It was wrapped tighter than it looked. "Do you only speak in lyrics?"
"I was young, I was dumb, I was so immature."
"Okay, be quiet." Yoongi secured a better grip and continued to pull.
Taehyung circled the voodoo man, clutching his cheek where he'd been scratched by his long nails. Seokjin studied voodoo man's movements, finding no patterns. He simply moved, weaved, and bobbed in a series of swaying and sidestepping. Refusing to give up, Seokjin aimed the skinny blade at the burlap sack. The half candy, half man monster slammed his gummy worm onto the sword. The weight was enough to knock it down. Taehyung lunged again, getting frustrated as he dove through air.
Amelia watched from afar, her nails drumming against her thighs in anticipation as Hoseok drew and drew from his gift bag. By now, a shirt, toilet paper, a nail painting kit, a remote control monster truck, and a newly wrapped Barbie doll were on the floor. Santa, sweating now, dug through his bag again and pulled a bottle of whiskey.
Amelia jumped up and down. "I was so wrong to compare you guys to the other guys!"
Hoseok threw the bag at the ground. "It's the luck of the draw--"
"And you're losing, Santa! You're losing." She ran hands through her hair, staring at the useless objects at her feet.
What did people in movies do?
A lightbulb lit up in her head. She was either a genius, or an utterly miserable idiot.
Voodoo man darted past both Seokjin and Taehyung, surging towards Charlie Puth with the candy dagger. Yoongi punched the burlap sack before he could come too close. The monster's human arm dropped the sugar, reeling back. Luca snarled and hopped onto it's face. Her claws ripped through the mask. Rotted, green skin became visible through the rips. Taehyung grabbed Luca before the monster could reach her.
Amelia shoved the cork back into the bottle of whiskey, wiping the alcohol from her hands on her shorts after. She flicked the piece of cloth that had been wedged between the stopper and the bottleneck, satisfied to find it soaked. "Hand me a candle!"
Hoseok jumped away. "Is that a molotov cocktail?!"
"You've seen one of these before?" Amelia asked.
"I live on the North Pole, not under a rock," Hoseok said.
Amelia shrugged. "Call it a cocktail if it works. Now hand me a candle."
Hoseok drew a candle from the ring of flicking flames surrounding the slab. He flinched while handing it over, already covering his face. She waved the candle underneath the piece of cloth. It lit easily, searing through the fabric like a fuse.
Yoongi and Luca helped Charlie Puth off the sacrifice table. The voodoo man roared.
"Taehyung! Jin! Move!" Amelia aimed. The men, just barely hearing her orders, shifted out of the way as soon as they saw her makeshift bomb. She threw the glass with all her might. It shattered against his lab coat, engulfing him in a bonfire that reached the ceiling. Flying embers caught on the wooden planks in the floor, on parts of the table that had torture tools. The entire back of the room blazed, Voodoo man shrieking and yelling as it ate through his clothes, through his alien arm, through his sugary insides.
Gray smoke billowed through the attic, overwhelming Amelia's lungs. She put her hands on her knees to cough and breathe from the ground. Through watery eyes she found Luca running towards the exit with the others on her heels. Hoseok pulled her by her sweatshirt hood to the ladder.
She continued to breathe on the second floor. Ash coated the inside of her lungs, and it marked the faces of the others when she peered up to check on them. Seokjin pat Yoongi on the back. Luca crawled to Charlie Puth, who sat on the ground with his knees underneath him. Hoseok took off his Santa cap and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"We didn't get the key," Amelia said.
The panting boys shook their heads, frustration brewing in the way they suddenly changed positions.
"He was fast," Seokjin said.
Amelia pleadingly looked to Taehyung. "Please tell me you have this one too?"
Taehyung smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Sugar."
The human girl leaned against the wall, crestfallen. "That's it then."
Charlie said--sang, "Yeah, I've been through it all, yeah."
Yoongi yawned. "What do we do now?"
"Nothing," Amelia said, biting her lip. She was about to cry. "We can't do anything."
"No more treasure?" Jin's shoulders sagged when she shook her head.
"You won't see me crying if tomorrow never comes. God only knows I've been through it all."
"I'm so sorry, guys." Amelia buried her face in her hands. "Please make him stop."
Luca lazily gestured to Charlie. "You should at least see if he is one of our objects. We did nearly lose our lives to save him."
Amelia wiped her eyes. "The ring only works once. If we waste it on him..."
"But if you find that it works. Imagine the hope that comes from this moment." Luca sat on her hind legs, waiting expectantly.
The girl dragged the gummy ring from her pocket. "Are you sure?"
"We have nothing to lose. Neither time nor opportunity."
Amelia sighed, wiping her eyes again and lifting the ring to her face. The colorful world faded to black and white through its lens, and as she focused on Charlie, a steady, red glow warmed the spot where his heart beat. His face changed too.
"Jeon Jungkook?" Amelia smiled weakly.
He grinned at the name like he knew something the others didn't. Beside herself, Amelia ran to his side of the hallway and wrapped her arms around his neck. When she pulled away, he pulled a white gummy bear from his jacket pocket.
"I got so much to do and not enough time."
Her jaw dropped, her tears starting all over again. Luca chirped, running in a circle before leaping. The cat said, "We have to find the last two! Hurry!"
Amelia stood up, trying to gather the others.
Seokjin asked Taehyung, "Where are the bathrooms?"
Harley Quinn shrugged. "Try that door," he said, pointing to a door with two locks. Amelia followed his gaze, rushing to it with both gummy bears. Like the Witch's magic from earlier, the treats glittered in her palm and melted, forming one green and one white solid key. Feverishly, she shoved them into their locks and shoved through the door.
Park Jimin was on the other side of the doorframe poised to knock. When he saw her face, he smirked a bit. "Finally," said Jimin, "someone came to get me!"
The room he stayed in shimmered with autumn sunlight from tall windows. Trees colored orange, gold, and brown rustled in a wind outdoors. White couches faced the view. Everything in the room was white. Except for the boy, who was red with accents of white. He wore a jumpsuit that hugged his muscled figure, a white belt cinching his waist and white diamond patterns on his chest. Tied to his face was a mask that rested on the back of his head, but Amelia knew who he was without the extra layer.
"I did not take you for a power ranger," she said.
"Have you seen the rest of my squad?" He stuck his head through the doorway, making her step back. Finally noticing the others, he chuckled and offered them a warm smile.
"Red Ranger," Luca said. Jimin raised an eyebrow at the talking cat. "The rest of your rangers are in Amelia's pocket."
Amelia, catching the hint, dug into her pocket for the third clue.
"Got it?" Amelia asked.
It was Luca that spoke up instead. "It says 'Descend into the pits of Hell' and if you recall the three realms, it clearly gives us directions."
"Elaborate," Amelia said.
"Heaven is upstairs. Earth is bottom floor. Hell is underground. We need to get to the basement."
Amelia grabbed Jimin's hand. Flustered, the Red Ranger let her pull him. "Say no more."
They dashed down the steps to the living room. The party still raged. She could barely hear her own thoughts over the music. Jungkook waved a hand to get their attention. He then jogged to a green door at the end of a short hallway. Amelia signaled that she would be going first, pushing Jungkook behind her and grasping the handle.
One more member.
The door opened with a creak. Shadows plunged down a rickety wooden staircase. She sighed through her nostrils and dove in.
Her bare feet made the floorboards whine as she descended. If she were trying to keep her presence secret, it was futile. Especially with seven others at her back. Luca matched her pace at the front like a fearless companion; a prized steed that went into battle with her. If they lived through this, she would thank her.
She shivered as her feet touched cool, smooth asphalt. As if it had been waiting for her to fall into place, a ball of white light blossomed up the base of a tree, pouring down the branches and roots like syrup until it illuminated the basement. Green grass grew through concrete. Pumpkins encircled the tree's base. And hanging from the suspended stems were candies of all kinds. The leaves rustled and fell soundlessly.
Aurora leaned on the trunk. "Come in," she said.
A wall of blackness remained behind the Witch Queen and behind Amelia's back. Skeletons crafted from red and white stepped from them, carrying circular shields and pointed spears. They stood at attention in unison, the holes in their skulls facing the Queen; a militia of peppermint.
"You were not supposed to make it this far," Aurora admitted. She lifted two fingers to her glossed lips and whistled. From the darkness, the Headless Horseman trotted into view. His new pumpkin head was not a regular Jack-O-Lantern. The smiley face was now turned upside down. Amelia tensed alongside her newly assembled group. "But it is no matter. I will have your life one way or another."
Amelia raised her chin defiantly. "I have the keys and humans. Let us go."
"You also have two minutes to spare, but that is not enough time. I will show you why I favor beasts over human beings. Beasts are more rational in the ways which they hunt and live. Emotional ties are not primordial. They have been added to the biological spectrum by human arrogance and insistence on being different." Aurora detached from her tree, still keeping a hand on the bark. "Why embrace the complications of humanity when you can let loose? Embrace your true nature?"
Amelia sighed. "Aurora, please. I did what you asked."
"If you were a beast, this would not affect you," Aurora said, using two fingers to beckon another pair of peppermint soldiers. They carried a wizard from Hogwarts in their sticky hands. The boy's round glasses were cracked, the lightning mark on his forehead still visible. He didn't have a wand, but his school colors were enough to echo the legacy of Ravenclaw, the academy for the academically gifted.
It felt like she was in free-fall, the way her heart plummeted to her knees. A peppermint soldier used a knuckle to wake up Namjoon. He blinked himself to reality, looking at the others, looking at Amelia without the smallest hint of who she was. But she knew him, and that was all it took.
"Hurt him," Aurora said.
A white fist crashed into his chest. Namjoon heaved air, thrashing as though he could grab the spot that hurt. Amelia trained her face into neutrality.
"Stop that," said the human girl.
"My final key. Wicked things come in threes." Aurora took a large whiff of the chocolate, mint, and fruit scenting the air. She shuddered in pleasure. "Sixty seconds."
Amelia's mask broke. "What?"
Namjoon grunted as one of the guards jabbed the butt of his spear into his cheek. He loosed a long cry that drowned in despair. Amelia couldn't help but look, catching him spit a bit of blood onto the bright grass.
"Stop hurting him!"
Aurora snapped her fingers. Pink foam simmered through the concrete. The boys at Amelia's back shouted as the goo rounded over their shoes and legs, setting into bubblegum as thick as elastic.
"Fifty-four seconds." Aurora's innocent features were menacing. "Pick my favorite candy the tree."
Amelia glanced at the branches. Caramel apples, lollipops, gumdrops shaped like raspberries dangled overhead.
"Time slips slowly, tick tock, tick tock. So many keys but just one lock. The final choice that lies beneath are sweet secrets, stuck between your teeth."
Another damn riddle! Irritation flared in her chest. When would this be over? She did everything.
"Choose carefully. Be wary where you tread. One false move, you'll wind up dead. A demon unleashed, a beast untame, the golden lick of charm'ed flame."
Namjoon screamed. She flinched, but did not look behind her.
"Seven souls in the balance are strung; sky of white and silver tongue. Lost in limbo, trapped midair, With waning eyes and dulling hair."
"Please, tell them to stop." Amelia shook, the candies morphing into the same things. She could remember neither the taste nor the feel. She could barely even remember their names.
"Thirty seconds."
"Amelia, focus!" Luca shouted.
Aurora giggled. "So pick your poison, which will you choose? So much to gain, so much to lose. Watch the darkness close without warning. Blinding is the yellow sky of Mourning."
"Twenty seconds."
Amelia frantically searched the tree. The answer did not lie in what she liked, because the Queen could like anything. She ruled over this domain. What could garner so much favor in a Court of Confections? In a Court made of these items?
She'd seen everything. Zombies made of chocolate, peppermint soldiers, a girl made of popcorn... The candied apples decorated one of the food tables in the living room. She'd passed them earlier. It couldn't have been the gumdrops. There were so many gummy things in this realm it probably came second nature.
"Ten seconds."
Amelia looked for the one thing she hadn't seen, and it draped from a branch to the far right, directly above Aurora's head.
"Candy corn," Amelia said.
The Witch Queen's smirk vanished. The tree's light pulsed, the foundation of the house shaking from tremors. Amelia lost her footing, accidentally running into the tree. Sprinkles of dust fell from the old ceiling. The upper floors whined, one side of the house communicating with the other.
"It's gonna fall!" Hoseok cried.
He and the final five rushed Namjoon, who laid lifelessly in the fake pasture.
A teal ring of light tore the tree trunk apart. In the center were long coats, warm gusts, the smell of New York. Jungkook's townhouse.
Luca shouted over the clinking and crackling. "Go back to Anaphiel! I will bring these boys back to where they belong."
The Witch Queen released a guttural scream, a sorrowful wail filling the cracks and crevices of her Court. "I will have you! I will have all of you!"
A piece of ceiling fell on the top of her head. Amelia looked away from the mess.
"I'll see you at Jungkook's?" Amelia yelled.
Luca nodded, furiously meowing instructions to the harmless humans that ran around the basement.
Amelia stuck one foot through the portal, already feeling the heat from the other side.
"Amelia," Luca snapped. She looked back. "Say anything about this to anyone, and I mean anyone, and I will wipe your memory."
"I won't," said Amelia. The portal sucked her through a vacuum, spitting her out on the coat closet floor. She rubbed the side of her face, swearing at how hard her cheek hit the tiles.
"Should I even ask for an explanation?"
Amelia rolled onto her back, locking eyes with Namjoon. He held a book in one hand and a mug of steaming coffee in the other.
"You're an angel, right?"
"How many times are you going to ask me that?" The corner of his lips quirked.
She sighed through her nostrils, closing her eyes. "I will always ask if you're there to answer."
"Happy Halloween, Amelia," he said, chuckling as he strode past her and back to his suite.
:::
(A/N) Spooky reader,
I hope you enjoyed! It was a blast writing this and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I hope you get all the sweet treats you deserve, and if you don't celebrate it, I hope you still have a wonderful October 31st.
It's also 2am so if something isn't italicized, oh well lol.
So this girl, bblues-
Let me tell you guys about her. She is the kind, generous soul that wrote every ounce of poetry that was in this special. She has a gift for analogies and imagery and it blows my mind because she literally never runs out. Not only does she have a heart of gold (Grey's pure heart is shaking in its boots) but she is also super supportive and an all-around stellar human being. Thank you, C, not only for the dedication, but for just being you!
TTS Fam, thank you for spending some of your Halloween time with me.
Next release: 11/6 (November 6th) - maybe earlier
Bonus feature: