Haunted Houses on Halloween? The Horror!

Seth drove along the heavily wooded road to the house everyone was talking about today. He suspected that the House was filled with particularly nasty geists based on the reports. Some people left in hysterics, others left unchanged, but impressed by the realistic haunted house.

Seth hadn’t even heard of any reports of a haunted house being planned until recently. He and Darwin had decided to check it out for themselves, but they couldn’t risk someone coming in unexpectedly. So they had brought crime scene tape and placed police lights on the dash of their van. Most people wouldn’t fuck with a police investigation, and anyone that would; probably wouldn’t be smart enough to go to the cops to report two teens with bows hunting in a haunted house.

Seth parked up close to the door, not liking the weird aura emanating from the house. It was in complete disrepair. Something that should almost certainly be condemned, not turned into an attraction. Strange.

Seth motioned for Darwin to come with him as he brought out the tape and began wrapping it around the front porch. He hoped that this would be enough. Lightning crashed over the house, even though the moon was full and bright. Strange; but whatever.

Seth pushed open the door, revealing a decrepit version of a Victorian era living room. The paintings on the wall seemed to be watching him. Seth was already feeling uncomfortable before even stepping inside… He wondered what could be causing such an outpouring of fear. He gripped onto his crossbow, and looked to Darwin. ”I don’t like the look of this place, Darwin.”

Darwin glared at Seth as his ass came off the floor of the van "Could you try to hit less ruts?" The archer went back to filling a few flasks with salt and silver, as well as his holy water balloons. "I'm going to bring a few night vision potions, just in case.." The Rad-Van finally grinded to a terrible screeching halt, which was followed by Darwin writing 'get new brakes' on the whiteboard.

The back doors of the van flung open, once again, with an annoying screech, revealing Seth's face. Darwin took to writing 'grease the hinges' on the whiteboard as well, before grabbing his bow, dagger and bandoleer of equipment. "I get you're trying to keep the kids out...but I don't think bright yellow caution tape keeps them out, it just attracts them." Seth shoved the door open, revealing the dark hallway in front of them. With two cracks, Darwin produced military grade glowsticks, slipping one into Seth's hood. He knocked an arrow, and slid between Seth and the doorway, motioning him to follow.

Seth wasn't wrong though..something in the building felt very off. The paintings eyes literally followed them as they made their way down the hallway, and the darkness seemed to be almost sentient, leaving their vision to a mere 6 foot radius. "This isn't just some spirit, Seth. This is something way, way way worse." Darwin let go of the bow string, letting the arrow hang as he tried different doors. The knobs would turn, but the door felt as if it had a boulder on the other side, barely nudging. It almost seemed as if whatever was there, was guiding them directly where it wanted them, just like a haunted house at Knott's Scary Farm. [Double EXP]

Seth and Darwin got maybe halfway across the living room before the front door suddenly slammed shut behind them. They could hear the thump of the lock engaging, trapping them in the house.

A few seconds later the glow sticks that Darwin had so helpfully used suddenly went out, plunging the whole area into complete darkness. A moment later the light returned, though now instead of an old house in complete disrepair it looked like it was brand new as music floated through the air, giving it a homely feel.

Seth had been focused on the paintings; ensuring that the characters didn't jump out of their canvases and attack them. What? Weirder things had happened in his line of work.

He then jumped when he heard the door slamming behind them. He fired an explosive arrow at the door, noting that it didn't even seem damaged by the blast. "Oh my god. That was cheap, geist!" He yelled at the room around him.

He didn't know what the hell was happening, but he knew he didn't like it. "Stay calm, Darwin. We still have light and weapons. We can still do this." That's when the darkness seemed to swallow the glow-sticks. "Okay, we still have weapons..."

When the lights returned; Seth was surprised to hear Mr. Sandman coming from all around them. Seth went over and checked the fireplace, only to see that it was now alight with flames. Seth shoved his crossbow onto his back. "Interesting..." He muttered as he went around the room.

As the light was engulfed by darkness, and snuffed out, Darwin let out a blood curdling shriek "I don't think we've got this, dude." Darwin put away the arrow he had knocked, sliding a breach arrow onto the string. He pulled the string back, loosing it at the door. The room rattled violently, but seemed unaffected. This was the final straw, Darwin turned to Seth "What did we get ourse- DON'T WALK AWAY!" The teen stayed close to his friend, sliding a silver arrow onto the string, holding onto the bow as tight as possible. "Illusions? Time travel? What do you think we're dealing with here." He let go of the arrow once again, letting it hang onto the bow, and he began to sprinkle salt at the walls, wondering if something would occur. "Should I draw a ward for magic? Or do we keep moving?"

Seth turned to Darwin. "We are fine, okay? There is no reason to freak out. This is just another ghostie that is fucking with us. It's probably not even all that powerful." He said and began searching the room, checking the pictures for any signs of ectoplasm.

Finding none, he glared at the walls. "I'm thinking either spectral energy, or some kind of illusion. But... I don't know." Seth sighed, and continued checking the room for any sign of ghosts.

"Let's just... Let's see what the next room has to offer." Seth said and moved towards the door of the kitchen.

Darwin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright, Alright...let's go check the other room I guess." Darwin trailed close behind Seth, sliding through the kitchen into the next room. It seemed to be a dining room, set and readied for a feast. He looked over the food, stomach rumbling..turkey, ham, fruit, vegetables, hell even some cheesecake. "Whoever set up this illusion is a real piece of shit, y'know that?" The archer grumbled away from the table, ignoring the wonderful  smell of the feast.

He gripped his bow tight, making sure the wrist loop was connected, this was no time to go losing his weapon. Darwin made his way around the room, looking into cupboards, checking the decorations for any clues of what may be going down. "Not even all that powerful, huh? Because this is a fully corporeal illusion as far as I can tell." He lifted a small figurine of a vampire and waved it in Seth's direction "It's honestly quite impressive, at least to me."

As soon as Seth spoke about how it wasn’t even that powerful, a flash can been seen from outside. This was followed by a near instantly thunder, throwing off the calm that the house was trying to project.

As Seth starts towards the kitchen, a low whisper begins to travel through the house. Though it was just audible over the music that was playing, it was still far too low for them to understand what was being said.

That all changed the moment that Seth opened the kitchen door. The illusion seemed to lose form, revealing that all the food that Darwin was actually rotten and moldy. For Seth though, all he could see was a clown inches from his face, blood dripping down it’s face. As it smiled, all of it’s teeth were razor sharp as it whispered at Seth. “Do you want to play?”

Just as sudden, the clown vanishes and the illusion snaps back into place, the whispering gone and everything seeming as if it was normal again.

Seth had to admit, he hadn’t seen it coming.

Though Seth was afraid to admit it; he had a phobia of clowns. Mister Bloodjangles here was definitely something Seth wanted to avoid.

Seth dropped his crossbow and screamed at the top of his lungs. He exploded from the kitchen, back to the living room. He began hyperventilating. It was like that damnable circus all over again.

Seth just had to breathe, that’s all. His chest got tighter, and tighter. All he could do was breathe as he nearly threw up all over the floor.

Once he got his composure back enough, Seth turned to Darwin; heart still pounding, and eyes still wide. ”I take it back. This thing is freaking powerful.” Seth said, and began reaching for the handbook that he always kept in his back pocket. Searching for a monster that made sense in this context.

”Maybe it’s a Phobophage? Seeding is with fear so it can devour it, along with any tasty life forces?” He asked Darwin tapping frantically on his book.

Darwin jumped, not because of the sudden change in scenery, but due to the blood curdling, girl like scream that came from the other room. Darwin watched as the crossbow landed on the ground, and promptly disappeared. He jogged his way back to the living room, to find a shaky, freaked out Seth. "Illusions, got super pissed off that you called it weak?" Darwin used his free hand to shift to the F section of the book "Ever stop to think that it's fae? And not some killer clown from a small town?" he then sifted through the rest of the book "Maybe some juiced up ghost? A..heaven forbid..trickster?"

Darwin sifted through his utility belt, sighing. "We'll have to troubleshoot it, just like Melvin always does, try different things..I don't have any iron shavings left because SOMEONE DECIDED TO PLAY WITH A MAGNET...and salt didn't work last time I tried it" He snarled, looking towards Seth. "What else are fae weak too? And don't say insults because look what it got you last time..and how does one even attempt to kill a trickster?"

The archer took his time, looking around, for any sign of another being"Alright, maybe we can ward this place against magic..if that'd work..I think I ha-" He looked for his chalk "What did you do with my chalk."

Seth was surprised by Darwin's sudden realizations. It was a trickster, which meant... crap.

"Darwin, if this thing is a freaking Trickster; we are well and truly flubbernucked. Let's just... I think if we play along,
maybe it will just let us go. Or maybe if we just... Don't entertain it?
Act bored. Just ignore anything it throws at you."

Seth held his book up in front of him defensively, knowing it wouldn't do anything against a powerful fae or a trickster.

When Darwin asked about his chalk, Seth searched around. "Wait, you didn't bring your chalk?!" Seth asked accusingly. He shrugged it off and checked his own pockets for any chalk, finding he had none; he sighed. "From now on, we check all of our equipment before we enter into anything." Seth looked around the room, trying to see if he could find anything that they could use to draw with.

"Candles!" Seth said and quickly started moving towards them. "We could use them like crayo- and they're gone..." Seth muttered as he watched all the candles in the house disappear.

Darwin grumbled "Maybe if you'd stop practicing ward drawing with the chalk that's in my belt this wouldn't be such an issue." He looked around, as the candles disappeared almost as if by command. "So do we explore, or do we just stay here until it finally comes out?" It seemed as if whatever was messing with them gave him exactly the answer he needed. A thump echoed from the basement, causing Darwin to look over with a sigh "It wants us to go down there..so let's stay right here."

Darwin stood next to Seth, thumping his foot on the door impatiently, while peering occasionally at the book. "Are you seriously looking at succubi..? I mean I get it, they're naked..but really?" He looked away from the book, ignoring Seth's pervy nature. His attention drifted to the bandoleer of potions that hung across his chest, when two yellow colored tubes caught his attention "I HAVE POTIONS OF FEARLESSNESS." He grabbed Seth "IT'LL INCREASE OUR ADRENALINE RESPONSE, SPECIFICALLY THE FIGHT PART OF IT." He slipped a vial into Seth's hand and chugged his own...the taste was sour yet spicy, causing him to gag a bit.

The moment that the boys stepped onto the first step going down into the basement, the whispering started up again. It was still far too low to make out what was being said, though it did seem to get louder the farther down they went.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they are looking at a rather normal, if dimly lit, basement. Though…something does seem to be hanging on the far side of the room.

Seth took a swig off the foul tasting potion, not really feeling the effects right off the bat. As far as he could tell; this thing was a foul tasting energy drink.

He sighed and walked down the stairs, glaring slightly at the ambiance. Seth stumbled on one of the steps however; and ended up tumbling to the bottom. Breaking the rest of the potion before he could finish it.

Seth stared at it; and groaned. This couldn’t possibly get worse.

Seth noticed the thing hanging as he got up, and stared at it suspiciously. ”Zoinks, Scoob. What do you suppose that is?” He asked, referencing an old TV show he had seen as a kid.

He slowly crept up to the thing and poked it with one of his silver arrows. If the thing responded; Seth could simply stab it.

Darwin winced as Seth went tumbling down the stairs, shattering the other half of the concoction "Well that's not good.." He mumbled to himself. When only half of the potion is consumed, it tends to not work as intended. Instead of causing the individual to be fearless, it heightens their paranoia, as well as their flight response. "You uh...you okay bud?" Darwin called out, slowly making his way down the stairs, as to not follow what Seth had done.

Darwin looked towards the corner that Seth had been staring at "Ghost? Maybe?" The archer followed behind Seth, pulling out a salt shaker. As Seth began to poke at the being, Darwin flung salt in its direction "Hmm."