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A mouthwatering aroma of fried foods and upbeat live music filled the air, intermingling with a heavy flow of conversation coming from every direction.
People mingled in an endless variety of costumes, from slutty to innocent to gruesome.
The atmosphere reminded me of Mardi-Gras, but for Halloween and without random titties being flashed. Those were out just for the hell of it or to enhance a costume. Asses too, I’d seen more cheeks at this festival than I had at any of the strip clubs our group ventured to. The weather here gave people a lot of liberties. It was mild, slightly nippy once it got late at night.
Banners and orange lantern lights ran from the rooves of the close-knit stores and across the sky above us. Top-grade horror props from Ghostface to Siren Head were placed appropriately throughout the festival stops, with Jack-O-Lanterns carved by locals glowing outside storefronts.
We’d stumbled upon a fanatics’ paradise.
“What’s the plan for today?” Collin asked.
Alex retrieved the festival map from the inner pocket of his black garb and dramatically shook it open.
“I say we grab some food, and then we hit that bar people keep talking about. I can get some shots on the way,” Jacob replied.
“Does that work for you guys?” Alex checked.
I nodded, moving aside so a couple donning bumble-bee costumes could easily pass our group. “Sounds good to me.”
“Where are we eating?” Bellatrix questioned.
“How about Hell House?” Tyson suggested. “They have that sign with their specials, and I could go for some good kababs.”
We agreed unanimously and began making our way towards the eatery.
I sat between my sister and Tyson, sipping my water as I looked over the menu. If we were going out drinking tonight, I didn’t want to stuff my face, but I knew better than to get drunk on an empty stomach.
“Do you see anything?” Bellatrix asked.
I slid the menu over and pointed to one of the appetizers. “Do you want to split the Pennywise Wings And Fries?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, we should get that too,” Alex said to Jacob.
Collin grinned and looked across the table at Tyson, the costume make-up on his face giving him an overall metallic sheen that made his green eyes pop. “Guess that means me and you are buddying up, Ty.”
“Lions don’t share their food with trash cans,” Tyson smirked.
“I’m…I’m not a trash can. Dude, have you ever even seen the Wizard of Oz?”
“I saw The Wiz, almost the same thing. I had the biggest crush on Lena Horne.”
“I bet. Do you know what you’re getting?”
“Yeah.” He flipped his menu closed and passed it over to me.
Our waitress re-approached with a smile. Her costume was one of the best ones I’d seen yet. She’d gone for a classic in being The Angry Princess from 13 Ghosts. It was all thanks to my vast knowledge of horror movies for knowing who she was supposed to be within seconds.
“Are you all ready to order?”
I looked around our booth to make sure before answering. “Yeah. Go ahead, Alex. We’re getting the same thing as you two.”
He ordered for the four of us and let Collin and Tyson speak for themselves.
Our server jotted everything down before taking the menus, walking away with an assurance the food would be out soon.
After she walked away, Jacob looked around the restaurant and nodded appreciatively. “You know, I like this place. Not here specifically, but the whole village.”
“Yes, it passed the vibe check,” Alex agreed. “I mean, Look at this booth. Someone took time and effort to add this scary dude to the design. I wonder how they operate normally. Do you think they keep this up all year round? That would be tedious, also incredible. Every day is drag day.”
“So, are you saying I should fill out random shit more often?”
“Absolutely not. We have four days left. That’s plenty of time for us to go missing.”
“Go missing?” Bellatrix and I echoed in unison.
His hazel eyes darted around the room, doing a quick scan of the other patrons before he leaned across the table, signaling for us to mimic him.
He began to speak in a low voice, practically whispering. “I didn’t want to scare you guys, but on the drive here before something awful and evil took away my 5G, I found some articles that said nearly fifty people have gone missing from around the village, rarely locals.”
“And you’re just now telling us this?” Tyson hissed.
“I told you, I didn’t want to scare you guys. Truthfully, I forgot all about it until we went through that fourth horror house last night.”
“That doesn’t scare us,” Bellatrix stated.
“You guys would join a cult for fun. Of course, it doesn’t,” Ty jested.
I laughed and leaned away from our suspicious huddle, toying with the end of my braid. “We’re not that extreme. How long ago did these people go missing?”
“Not recently, over the past three years or so.”
