SPOOKI SPOOK

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Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Our footsteps rang loud in the forest, as twigs and dried leaves snapped beneath our feet. The abrupt crackles seemed to cause a stir in the darkened forest; the flutter of wings echoed around the forest’s canopy, shockingly close to our heads, and the chirping of insects increased in intensity, until all that was left in my head was an incessant ringing.

Eeeeeeee.

With a jolt, I realised that I was now squealing along, my voice unnaturally loud in the deserted undergrowth. Silhouettes of the other Trick-or-Treaters were almost indistinguishable from the looming trunks of the imposing trees as they ventured further through the dense thickets of trees.

A hand materialised out of the darkness, curling around my wrist, and I shrieked in panic, fervently trying to wrest my arm away. “Help me!”

“Do not fear, Lady Sakura.” Now the figure—the owner of the mysterious hand—came into view. It was Kagero. Relief flooded all my senses, and I took a shaky breath to calm myself and my hammering heart.

“We must proceed, Lady Sakura,” Kagero said calmly, as the bubbly chatter from behind her faded.

I nodded and picked up my pace to hurry after the group, sensing Kagero darting through the trees within the shadows. We were now ploughing through the forest, each step taking us deeper into the heart of the forest. The air was permeated with the dampness of the soil and rotting undergrowth, mingled with a sickly sweetness from the abundance of candy that the others had obtained.

It was the night of Halloween, and I was going Trick-or-Treating with a group of eight other characters in dress-up.

I disliked crowds, and I disliked scares, but for some inane reason, I had agreed to the others on their Trick-or-Treating adventure.

Perhaps it was my envy at how all my siblings had gotten exciting new outfits and exclusive visits to tropical islands. I didn’t want to be left out of the fun.

And fun was what I was going to get, my cowardice be damned. To my relief, I was with a huge group, and Kagero and Jakob were excellent retainers (and Niles… Well, I’m sure he has his merits). They would do a fine job keeping everyone safe.

Our group advanced through the ominous forest in disquieting silence. Even Mia and Nowi’s exuberance had diminished. The only lights we had were the pale moonlight struggling to filter through the dense canopy, and the eerie orange glow from Mia’s Jack-O-Lantern. As Mia drifted past the trees, the Jack-O-Lantern would sway in tandem, its carved face grinning cruelly at me.

“I think we’re lost,” Nowi’s voice piped up shakily. Her voice from above startled me, and I tripped over a gnarly tree root before catching myself. An uneasy feeling washed over me, but I quelled it.

Everything was unsettling now, in the depths of this sinister forest.

“Not this way,” Myrrh’s voice agreed with a hint of annoyance. “We should have gone that way.”

The darkness was all-engulfing. Everyone’s figures blended into the ebony surroundings. Beyond the faint splashes of colour where the illumination from the lantern settled on, it was impossible to make out who anyone was.

“Let’s just keep going,” Niles’ voice drawled. “If all else fails, at least we have each other for company.”

His words were more unnerving than comforting.

“Yeah!” Mia exclaimed, her voice piercing in the stillness, and I winced. “We’re all in this together! I have my big boy—Uh…” She raised her Jack-O-Lantern to her face, scanning her surroundings. Her large eyes were dilated and gaunt on her normally-cheerful face.

The orange pumpkin shifted around, illuminating a few of the others’ pale faces. Henry was there, grinning. He always looked pale, so it was normal. Jakob was there too, his skin looking as if he hadn’t gone out for the entire month. Nowi’s huge beam, contorted by the light, stretched out her face disconcertingly. Myrrh’s wings cast spooky shadows across the ground behind her, and what looked like a rat bounded off into the shade. Niles lolled languidly by a tree, his expression sanguine as if we were discussing the weather.

“Big boy?” Mia’s voice called with a slight waver.

“M’here,” a gravelly voice rumbled, and scraping sounds ensued as Dorcas shouldered his way through the trees. I felt him rather than saw him. The earth trembled with each of his steps. He was a beast of a man, standing so tall that Mia’s lantern only flashed his hulking upper torso.

“Seems like… we’re all here?” Mia asked. Her brows furrowed, and the Jack-O-Lantern swung about once more, its light reflecting off the same tense faces.

Henry, Jakob, Nowi.

Three.

Myrrh, Niles, Dorcas, Mia.

Seven.

Me.

Eight.

“W–We started with nine,” I said, my voice cracking. The imprint of a slender hand on my wrist started to burn with the memory of earlier.

“Kagero’s missing,” Jakob pointed out.

“Kagero! KAGERO!”

We had been yelling her name for the past hour—or at least, it felt like that. Without a watch, I had no idea of the time.

All the woodland creatures had been frightened off by the noise, their flutters, scuttles and cries of astonishment now fading away into the dusk, yet the insects chirped louder than ever, expressing their rage at their interrupted rest.

Eeeeeeee.

The screeching of the insects were the only noises that responded to our clamouring.

“Kagero would have come to us by now,” I whimpered. “She’s not here…”

“Where could she have gone?” Jakob wondered. “It’s unlike Kagero to wander off on her own without informing anyone.”

“Maybe she was drunk?” Nowi suggested anxiously. “Or she fell asleep?”

I shook my head, feeling the pricklings of tears form. “Kagero would never— She’s one of the best at her job!”

“How about we split up and search?” Mia suggested. “We can cover more ground that way.”

“Nyahaha!” Henry laughed gratingly. “This spells a recipe for disaster!”

He was ignored.

“Sounds fine,” Dorcas remarked.

“Ah, I sure would love to encounter the body of a beautiful lady in the dark woods,” Niles purred.

He was ignored, too.

“Alright,” Mia commanded. “I’ll go with big boy here. Myrrh, you can go with Nowi. Jakob can go with Sakura, and uh… well, the two funny ones can go together.”

A presence slid up beside me, brushing against my shoulder gently. I jerked away instinctively, my pulse rocketing, and glanced up at the scarred face of Jakob.

“Let’s go, Lady Sakura. Kagero awaits.”

Jakob and I trudged through the forest, his leaden feet dragging through the undergrowth noisily. The night air was stifling, with columns of cool and warm air descending upon us at the same time. Heavy tendrils of wind seemed to coil around my legs, weighing each of my steps down. My skin crawled with unfinished goosebumps.

“W-Where are we going?” I managed to ask through chattering teeth.

“I’m not sure,” Jakob’s voice, coming from somewhere diagonally behind me, itted. “It does appear that Kagero isn’t around. Mystifying.”

“W-We never should have split up,” I wailed. “That’s always a bad idea. We should go back.”

Jakob made some grunt of affirmation. “The others should be heading back by now too. Come, Lady Sakura.”

We turned back in what I assumed was the correct direction. Jakob fell in step beside me, still lugging his bulbous weight on his leg. The heavy scratching noises on the ground made it sound as if something large was crawling after me. I shuddered, and pressed forward, focusing on the pitch-black willowy trunks before me. Shadows seemed to dance across its ebony surfaces.

The wind howled; a high-pitched, hair-raising moan that seemed to be mocking me. Its icy fingers raked my exposed skin mercilessly, each stroke chilling my flesh. I pulled my paddle closer to my chest, taking comfort in its solid edges, as I tried to steady my breathing.

Eeeeeeee…!!!

My blood curdled.

That wasn’t the cry of insects.

That was— Nowi.

“Nowi!” Jakob had caught on to the same thing, and he broke into a run.

“Wai—” I tried to gasp, but my chest felt so tight the words would barely come out. My legs shot forward automatically, my ears straining to tell the direction in which Jakob had rushed off to. It was almost as if Jakob was ploughing straight through the trees, while I stumbled behind, blindly reaching forward to feel my way about. Whenever my finger brushed against roughened bark, or the wispy fronds of leaves, I would stifle a scream and turn away. Once, I thought the unknown object moved.

Nowi’s screaming was still coming from the same direction, which was a positive sign. My toes curled in the socks, my legs beginning to ache from the strain and stress. I wanted nothing more but to curl up in the safety of my house, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, and the merry burning of a fireplace before me.

That dream was not to be. Instead, I was stranded in the dismal forest, with unfriendly insects intent on chasing away us intruders, and mysteriously vanishing retainers.

I realised I had stopped moving, my hand propped up against a flaking tree. A feather-light object scuttled across my hand, and I screamed, flailing my hand to dislodge it. It flew off with a buzz, zooming terrifyingly close to me. I doubled over, my hands flying up to shield my face. Long strands of grass brushed against my flesh warningly.

Go back, they whispered.

But I couldn’t—I didn’t even know which way was out. The imposing trunks bordered me on all sides, obscuring any signs of the surroundings beyond its foliage.

“Jakob!” I cried out desperately. “D–Don’t leave me alone!”

My voice was instantly silenced the moment the words left my mouth. When I peered upwards, at the inky sky, I could see tendrils of branches splayed out, twisted and gnarled menacingly like claws.

The forest’s only sounds were the furious insects.

Eeeeeeee.

“A–Anyone?” I mewled. I took another shaky step forward, feeling the earth shift beneath me.

“Jakob, please…” A terrified tear slid down my cheek.

I was so lost and alone. Nowi had stopped screaming. Jakob’s shuffling was gone.

It had only been mere minutes, but the dense forest had silenced them as if they had never been here.

What was going on? Was this some kind of cruel joke?

“Jakob, if this is a prank, i–it’s not funny!” I tried again, injecting as much fury into my voice as I could muster.

The finger imprints on my wrist, and the gentle caress on my shoulder, tingled in response.

I didn’t know how much time had ed. My sniffling and splatters of tears on the ground were now my constant companions, overriding the screeching of the insects.

Kagero. Jakob.

Two of the most loyal and trustworthy people I knew had vanished into nothingness. And I was certain of it—there was no way Jakob could have made it that far without me hearing him, especially with that weight on his legs.

Somehow, people were disappearing in this forest.

I had been traversing this forest alone for quite a while, too, and I hadn’t encountered anyone else. It was abnormal. Where were Nowi, Myrrh, Niles, Henry, Mia and Dorcas?

More tense minutes ticked by, my feet sluggishly dragging themselves through the detritus. My ears were starting to get used to the ringing, and it was nothing more than an annoying background noise.

A flash of colour from above startled me. I stiffened, shifting my attention towards the source, my eyes disbelieving after facing an eternity of only smothering blackness.

Orange? Yeah, it looked like it.

A part of me prayed that it was a sign of sunrise, but I would have no such luck.

A Jack-O-Lantern smirked at me from where it dangled in the treetops. Its light flickered, throwing the forest into utter darkness, then illuminating the verdant surroundings with a sickly pallor, elongating all the shadows around it. And right next to it, sat a hunched figure with unkempt purple hair, perching unsteadily on a broomstick.

“Mia!” I gasped. Elation washed over me; finally, someone!

Mia’s expression, from what I could make of it through the intermittent flashes of light, was haunted. Her eyes were hollow, and the smile on her face had been replaced with despair.

“Gone…” she murmured dazedly, her voice getting snatched away by the draft that had just started. Chilling whistles darted through the branches, tickling my frozen skin. Her eyes were wide but unseeing. “All… gone…”

The light went off, leaving me to gape at the spot where she had been hovering.

“Go…”

With a herculean effort, the Jack-O-Lantern lit up with a splutter of oil, revealing Mia…

Or at least, what was left of her.

Half of her body had seemingly dissolved, the remnants grinding themselves into dust. Fissures spiderwebbed across the remaining half of her dreary face, and as I stared, even more parts started to break off and drift into the sky.

“Mia! No!” I surged forward with newfound vigour, leaping up to grab onto her flaking flesh. They ed through my hands with a harmless buzz.

All the while, Mia continued to dissipate. The fragments spiralled upwards, evanescing into the gloom.

A gloom that seemed more intense, and more vengeful, than the rest of the minacious forest.

Dismay coiled in the pits of my stomach. I choked, “Mia—”

The Jack-O-Lantern winked at me, as its eye vanished, and then the entire forest plunged back into blinding darkness.

I don’t know how, but it was then I knew—the gloom had set its sights upon me.

It was coming for me.

Holding back a wretched sob, I turned on my heel, and ran.

Whatever had happened to Mia—and presumably everyone else—could not happen to me. It couldn’t. I had to get out, and return to my siblings. Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, Corrin, Azura.

The memory of them caused a wave of emotion to surge up within me.

If only I hadn’t come to this forest. If only I had stayed home, and waited for my chance to go out when I was older, like my siblings.

And now, I would never get the chance…

The unknown entity—the void—slammed into me, sending me reeling, my fan nearly skidding out of my hands. Foreboding coldness seized my entire being, and greedy fingers wound themselves around me, tugging me backwards.

“No… No!” I scrabbled depravedly on the forest floor in a bid to get away, my fingers dredging up mud and insects, but the void was strong. It consumed my feet first—the freezing, so cold that I lost all feeling in my extremities. My legs lashed out, meeting only stabs of frigid air, before they no longer responded to me.

I gasped brokenly as the coldness swathed my torso, feeling pinpricks of ice where my skin started to crack and fall apart.

Wind roared in my ears, causing my hair to whip across my face painfully. The air was infused with the salt of my tears, and the metallic tinge of blood from my fingers, scraped broken and raw.

And then the pain was gone, replaced by an even worse sensation—the numbing realisation that I was going to fade away into oblivion, and no one would ever know what had happened.

My arms dissolved, halting in its futile attempts to escape.

Then, my face.

I couldn’t see much to begin with, but now, the darkness was definite.

Light.

Finally, there was light. Light, and cheerful music, a far cry from the indiscernible screeching from earlier.

Was this the light at the end of the tunnel? I’d have to go forward to find out.

Meanwhile, a girl curses colourfully at her phone after getting her pity percentage for Halloween Jakob ruined by Halloween Sakura.

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Thank you for reading! Lots of love to BEST BOI and my HAMSTERS for ing me as always.

#SpookyStory

Picture credits to Stock Photos from various websites. Disappearing girl picture belongs to Alexandra Cameron.