A Halloween Story

     A shriek and then an outraged scream came from an upstairs room. The Poogle, named FantasyTrinity, called Trinity, giggled. BreakingWaters, usually called Waters, chuckled along with his younger sister. “What did you do this time?” he asked, winking at the Poogle.

     “Just messed a little bit with Flamestrike’s Halloween costume,” Trinity replied. The red Shoyru flew down the stairs, flinging the last of the spyders out of his Starryberry costume.

     “Trinity...” Flamestrike grumbled. “You know I hate spyders...”

     “Maybe that’s why I put them in there,” Trinity replied cheekily. Waters cracked up. Their last sibling, a Pteri called Avianwarrior, or Avian, flew down the stairs wearing a Uni mask and a white sheet. The four grabbed their Trick-or-Treat buckets and walked out the door.

     “See you guys later,” Flamestrike said as soon as he spotted a couple of his friends. He flew away. The group soon split up, Trinity finding her friends Sunmelody, Songatrix and Telaelia. Waters went with a couple of his friends and so did Avian.

     “So, how’s it going?” Trinity asked Sunmelody, a yellow Poogle and one of her best friends. Songatrix, or Songie, was another great friend. And also sort of Trinity’s mentor in pranking people. She was a master and Trinity was her apprentice. Songie was a Ghost Poogle so she didn’t really need a costume. Sunmelody was wearing a Mazzew costume. Telaelia was a red Poogle and she was wearing one of the outfits the Darigan Yooyuball team wore.

     “We haven’t been to very many houses yet.” Sunmelody grinned at Trinity. “But we’ve still managed to pull quite a few treasures.” She showed Trinity the contents of her bucket. Trinity nodded in appreciation.

     “This is my house.” Songie grinned, waving at a brown house on a hill. Along the stairs leading up to the house, there were many things lying around, traps and things just waiting to be sprung on an unsuspecting passerby. Trinity trod the steps carefully. She knew of Songie’s preferences and jumped over every third stair. She heard a shout and a thud as someone fell into a ditch that the ninth stair opened up to.

     Trinity knocked on the door to Songie’s house and one of her siblings, the Gold Tuskaninny Carisha, opened the door. “Trick-or-Treat,” Trinity said. Carisha smiled and put some hard candy in Trinity’s bucket, along with some hard candy in her friends.

     “You don’t get any, Sis.” She smirked at Songie. Songie rolled her eyes and as Carisha closed the door, an outraged scream sounded from behind it.

     She smiled evilly as the four proceeded to the next house. As they were heading back, Trinity and her friends were grabbed off the streets and stuffed in sacks. She heard astonished screams from her friends.

     A long time of practice had taught Trinity how to hold her scream. She swallowed it now as she felt herself bump against the spiked back of some Neopet. A Draik perhaps? Or maybe a Chomby. Trinity felt around in her pocket for the thing that allowed her to Neomail others. But it didn’t work, nothing worked. When she was finally freed, she found herself in a pitch black room, with nothing in it. Or so it seemed.

     The floor was hard and unforgiving. She felt her friends move around her, exploring their prison. She noticed a slight hazy glow and knew it was Songie giving off the glow. She approached her, trembling slightly.

     “Songie, do you know what’s happening?” Trinity whispered, scared stiff. Songie didn’t say anything, just stared at the ceiling. She appeared to be whispering something to herself and then a flash of yellow and a Neomail disappeared. “They work in here?” Trinity asked, perplexed. Songie nodded but held up one paw, telling Trinity to wait.

     Trinity did as told, very confused now. What was going on? She felt someone move by her side.

     “Why are we here? Have we been... kidnapped?” Telaelia asked softly. Trinity shrugged. Sunmelody was shivering violently.

     Suddenly, a door was flung open and light was shone into the room. It was revealed to be an empty pantry in someone’s Neohome. “You,” a mutant Draik said, pointing a molted claw at Trinity. “Follow me.” Trinity got up from the floor and did as told, grimacing at the revolting stench coming from the Snot Ixi walking on her left. She was surrounded by revolting looking creatures. Mutant JubJubs, mutant Lupes and a mutant Mynci.

     She was led into a large tavern like place, where a mutant Aisha sat in a throne-like chair. “State your name,” she commanded.

     “FantasyTrinity the blue Poogle...” Trinity replied, her voice trembling. The Aisha smiled, as well as one could with mutant lips.

     “Hmm... you have an interesting name. Tell me, what connection do you have to Songatrix the Ghost Poogle?” the Aisha asked.

     “She’s my friend and mentor...” Trinity answered, not wanting to lie in case this was a life or death situation.

     “And what does she teach you?”

     “Pranking others...”

     “Very interesting. You may go.” The Aisha dismissed her and she was thrown back into the room. Sunmelody was then taken out, followed by Telaelia. Finally, it was Songie’s turn. She didn’t come back for a very long time and the three friends were beginning to get worried.

     A quiet tap on a nearby window made Trinity turn around. She smiled in relief when she saw Faeriedust, her Mazzew, there. Faeriedust opened the window and climbed into the room. There was a note tied to her collar. Trinity opened it, her paws trembling.

     This is what the note said:

     Gotcha!

     Trinity blinked in confusion. Gotcha? She smiled slightly, suddenly getting the whole picture. “What does the note say?” Telaelia asked curiously.

     “Nothing,” Trinity lied, crumbling the note. “It doesn’t say anything. It wasn’t even a note. Faeriedust likes to carry blank paper around with her.” Trinity reeled. In her mind, she was forming a plan. Songie was then brought back to the room.

     She saw Faeriedust and nodded slightly. The Mazzew winked and scurried out. “Hey! Where are you going?” Sunmelody called. “Go get help!”

     “There’s no need.” Songie grinned.

     “I knew you were up to something, Songie.” Trinity giggled.

     “You’re a smart Poogle. That’s why I took you as my apprentice. Now explain to these others what you think happened.” Songie’s grin grew wider.

     “She planned this,” Trinity began, pointing a paw at Songie. “It was all a set-up. The ‘guards’ are other Neopets in costumes.” She smiled. “This was all a well thought out plan. She’d have her friends capture us, and then interrogate us to make it seem like a real kidnap scene. That’s why she was so calm.”

     “Very good.” Songie smiled. “When Halloween is over, I promise I’ll take you to the Trick Shop in Neopia Central.”

     Well, they were soon “released” and then they continued their Halloween Trick-or-Treating. In reality, it had only been a couple hours, though it had seemed like days. The guards revealed themselves to be an array of other Neopets, all of them laughing and joking.

     Trinity joined in the merriment easily, clutching her Mazzew. When she got home, her siblings were already there, drinking warm Hot Chocolate. “How was it?” Waters asked, stirring his drink.

     “Oh... it was okay.” Trinity smiled blissfully as she climbed the stairs.

The End

Thanks to my friends baby_everything2, little_lady_goddess, and _ilovepokemon_32 for letting me use their Poogles, x_Sunmelody_x, Songatrix and Telaelia.