One Night A Year

They are all right.

A pack of friends were gathering at the edge of the graveyard: Falylk the Ghost Ixi, Joleix the Zombie Aisha, and Muiiks the Transparent Kougra. 364 days a year they are stuck here, unable to go past these four walls. It could get pretty boring sometimes; although there were always new faces it wasn’t enough to keep things interesting. They were the unlucky ones doomed to this monotonous existence.

Their monitor, a Wraith Usul named Wiindago, was nearby waiting for the last visitor, a boring Oil Paint Cybunny, to rush away before nightfall. He was right too; it could get scary around these parts for some. Wiindago was lucky; she could go where she wanted, even leave Haunted Woods.

The three of them stood eagerly waiting for nightfall. They watched as others crawled up from the ground, out of their caves, or from wherever and more monitors started appearing.

“So, ladies, we have a long night ahead. Best get going,” Wiindago rushed up. “You know the rules but I have to say it anyway: one, no straying from the Woods; two, no touching non-Woodsies; three be home before dawn.”

They did know the rules, but they had never had a plan before.

With a wave of her staff a glowing light flashed and created a ring which allowed them to exit the graveyard.

“Alright, finally!” Falylk cheered.

To any outsider, or non-Woodsie, they were a scary trio. On one hand, they didn’t mean to be but on the other, they would really get a kick out of making things tip over or making scary noises when people visited their home in the graveyard. This was the one night a year they could be not scary and scary at the same time. One night a year everyone was scary so nothing was scary. One night a year everyone was free to be themselves.

They had been planning this for months. There was a haunted castle nearby that had gotten a lot of visitors afraid. They needed to know who, how, and why.

It was practically a stampede of Neopets rushing out of the graveyard. Some were going to the castle too. Others wanted a more normal time, with shopping and food and games. A few didn’t care to leave at all.

“Well, the path is this way. It looks like some others are already ahead of us,” Muiiks said.

Joleix stood there for a second and looked around at everyone being happy and free. It was peaceful in a way. Neopians who were often seen as ugly, creepy, scary, or otherwise not worthwhile were out and about with no one to judge them. She saw a few non-Woodsies look on in horror and scream. One fainted. Another took off running hoping to get to a different land. Scary to them, beautiful to her.

She debated staying behind at the last minute.

“Come on already!” Falylk shouted.

Joleix did not realise the other two had took off.

“Coming, I guess.”

They followed the path for a while and realised that those they were following had disappeared.

Suddenly the back of a Faerie Grundo appeared. He seemed out of place, too pretty for these parts.

“Oh, excuse me. Are you lost?” Muiiks tried asking the Grundo.

The Grundo said nothing.

Falylk nudged Joleix. She nudged her back.

The Grundo slowly turned around. His eyes were black. He slammed his staff down.

The three of them jumped back in shock.

“The castle you seek knowledge from is just up ahead,” the Grundo boomed. “Be careful, for not all is as it seems.” With that he cackled and flew away.

They stood there for a moment.

Joleix broke the tension. “Well, you’ve taken me this far, let’s get a move on.”

“Considering our day-to-day I thought we would have seen it all.”

They opened the door and the lights were flickering in the main hall. They could make out a skeleton and some bats. As they continued through the hall a Mutant Techo with an axe and glowing red eyes suddenly appeared. The lights went off again and when they came back on he had disappeared.

They pushed open the nearest door and saw a gorgeous chandelier made of skulls. A Lenny looked up from his papers. “Oh terribly sorry, I must finish my research and I need this room to myself. But welcome to the castle! I find myself returning every year.”

They didn’t want to be rude, so they left. They opened a few more doors and it was mostly cobwebs and skulls, occasionally more bats.

“Oh, welcome. Come in, won’t you?” A friendly Halloween Gelert surrounded by potions ushered them inside. “I’m trying to come up with the best formula for spooky fog. Nothing is quite as good as the real thing, but I think here in the Woods we never have enough fog. We really need to make sure to constantly be exceeding ex-spook-tations. You three look like you come from the graveyard, right? This will be perfect for any schemes for you also.”

The four of them tinkered away for a bit. Some fog worked, some exploded, and some did nothing more but dye their clothes. It was a lot of fun, and the trio definitely had some ideas for all of the successes and failures for the next 364 days.

“We only have so much time, we must go for now. We will come back next year, but we really want to see more of the castle. Thank you for the fun time!” Muiiks beamed.

They stepped back into the flickering hallway. The Techo appeared and disappeared again with the lights.

The next room they opened was a library. An origami eyrie was sitting in the room with a spirit board.

“You know those things aren’t real, right? I’m real,” Falylk spat. She couldn’t help herself, these things always irritated her. It was originally made by a toy company.

The eyrie tipped his hat. “I mean no offence, m’lady. But I am not of your kind. I do not fear your kind, I know I am supposed to.”

“Whatever.”

“Hey, guys, it’s getting late. We really should get back. You know we have to be back before dawn,” Joleix said nervously.

“It’s fine, there are some good books in here,” Muiiks grabbed one and flopped down on the floor next to the eyrie. “Live a little.”

Falylk grabbed a book too and curled up in a chair.

Joleix sighed and glanced around the shelves.

After what seemed like five minutes the eyrie flapped his wings. “You have 5 minutes to get back.”

“WHAT? How long were we here?” Falylk exclaimed.

“Three hours.”

“Oh no oh no we are not going to make it back,” Joleix fretted.

The three of them bolted out of the room and made their way to the front door.

Or was that the front door?

No wait, this must be the door.

Or do we need to turn left?

They were lost, and every second counted.

Woodsies may not fear each other or the woods, but they do all fear one thing: daylight.

It was never brighter than the day after Halloween; the moon setting on all the debauchery and chaos, exposing to the normies what the Woodsies were up to. It made them feel the most vulnerable.

But all daylight was bad without their protective covering that allowed them to play host in their land or travel to other lands.

As they finally found the right door and rushed out they heard the fluttering of faerie wings and that familiar cackle.

They ran even though they knew they couldn’t make it. They wanted to make the effort in case they somehow could bend time or space, getting themselves 30 minutes away in what was now 4 minutes.

Suddenly Wiindago appeared and blocked their path.

“I TOLD YOU BEFORE DAWN. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AT DAWN AFTER HALLOWEEN HERE IN THE HAUNTED WOODS?”

Falylk, Joleix, and Muiiks glanced behind her and saw everyone rushing around getting back to their homes. Trash was strewn about. Toys were automatically running around without an owner. Games were going quiet one by one. Joleix saw the Techo from the castle rush into a tree. The beautiful fog was dissipating.

“DO YOU?”

This was the first time any of them had felt fear.

They finally understood what visitors would see in their woods.

They saw what was so scary.

Your light becomes dark, your safety turns to threats, and your friends become enemies.

Some say that what you are afraid of is all in your mind. Others say there is nothing to fear. A few have said the only thing to fear is fear itself.

They are all wrong.

     The End.