Hallow One Shot Challenge

The night air fell heavy around the boardwalk as the breeze blowing in from the sea carried with it the rotten stench of dead fish. Thinking themselves too old to be trick or treating this year, Finn and Sebastian found themselves down by the docks, watching the fishermen bring in the day’s catch. Growing bored, they jumped down from the wall they sat on, and began slowly picking their way down the boardwalk. Finn made a point to kick every piece of trash he could, while Sebastian tried to work out how much money he had in his pocket. Disappointed with what he found, Sebastian wandered over to a wall he didn’t remember seeing the first time they walked by. On the wall, there was a poster for a carnival. Sebastian normally prided himself on knowing everything that was going on in their tiny nothing town, so he was instantly annoyed that he had never heard of this carnival.

“Halloween night only! Free Admission! Come one, come all to the Varly and Co. Carnival of Terror!

His interest piqued, Sebastian called Finn over to look at the poster.

“Well, what are we waiting for? It’s not like there’s anything else to do around here. Besides, it’s free!” exclaimed Finn, as his face lit up with excitement.

Racing down the boardwalk, the boys could see the faint outline of a Ferris wheel in the distance. Slowing down as they neared the entrance, they noticed that there was no one else around.

“That’s weird, if it’s free, how come there aren’t more people?” wondered Sebastian, as they stood nervously in front of the ticket booth.

“Who cares, let’s go!” exclaimed Finn, as he grinned at Sebastian and took off running.

Winding through the carnival attractions, Sebastian noticed some children off in the distance. But every time they got near any of them, they were suddenly nowhere to be found.

Stopping to stare at one of the carnival workers, Sebastian couldn’t stop himself from shivering. The workers didn’t move around much, and seemed to be almost made of stone. He thought he saw one of them grinning at him, but when he turned to look more closely, the worker was staring off into the distance somewhere.

Snapping out of his reverie, Sebastian realized Finn had disappeared. Heart pounding in his chest, and too scared to shout, Sebastian spun around in circles, scanning the closest rides. Finally, he found him looking gazing in rapture at the hall of mirrors.

Punching him in the shoulder as he came up behind him, Sebastian took a deep breath “you nearly gave me a heart-attack!”

“Let’s go in there,” breathed Finn, unable to take his eyes off the doorway.
Grudgingly, Sebastian followed Finn though the opening and into the maze.

Walking from mirror to mirror, Sebastian couldn’t help but start to have fun. The first one made their legs really long, the next made their legs really short. They turned a corner, and suddenly there was a never-ending line of Sebastian and Finn look-alikes, each smiling with the same goofy grin.

Feeling himself relax, Sebastian followed Finn through a mirrored archway, and the two boys found themselves faced with two pathways. Sebastian got a weird feeling from the one on the left, it looked like a dark tunnel, and he was nervous enough already, but Finn really wanted to go that way.

“Come on Sebastian, the other way looks boring! There has to be something cooler this way!”

Not wanting to split up, but refusing to go down the dark passage, Sebastian turned around and started walking down the brightly lit corridor.

“Fine, have it your way, but I’m going down here! I’ll see you at the exit!” Finn yelled as he started down the dark tunnel.

“This isn’t so bad,” Sebastian thought to himself, as he turned the next corner and saw himself as a giant at least 12 feet tall. “I could actually make the basketball team if I really looked like that,” he laughed to himself.

Suddenly, from what sounded like behind him and in front of him at the same time, he heard Finn scream, followed by the sound of broken glass. About a minute or so later, he heard another scream. Rooted to the spot in terror, Sebastian shut his eyes and listened. He thought that maybe with his eyes closed he could figure out which direction the sound was coming from. Hearing a scream even more terrifying than the last two, Sebastian turned around and ran back the way he had come. He skidded to a stop in front of the dark entrance Finn had gone down.

“Finn?” he called out softly, “Can you hear me?”

He heard his own voice echo back, and then silence.

“Finn?” he called a little more loudly. Straining his ears, he thought he could hear crying.

“I’m coming Finn!” he shouted, and mustering up his courage, he put one foot into the dark tunnel.

As soon as he entered the tunnel, he wanted to turn back. The entire thing was mirrored, and everywhere he looked a very dark and angry looking reflection of himself followed. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that all of his reflection’s eyes were glowing a ghastly shade of yellow.

Creeping his way down the tunnel, he came to a fork in the path. “Finn?” he called out. “Where are you?” Thinking the crying was coming from the path on the right, he tentatively took a few steps forward, and then heard the tremendously loud sound of a door slamming shut behind him. Spinning around in place, he gaped at the big door in shock. Desperately, he tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. Spinning back around, he noticed, for the first time, that he was in a six-sided mirrored room. Each panel of wall was a different kind of mirror, save the door he came through. In the first mirror, he saw a man who looked strangely familiar. Looking more closely, he realized it was himself, but at least 10 years older. Wondering what the trick was, because there was no way this was real, he turned to the second mirror. The second mirror contained the same man, only a couple decades older. He looked very tired and sad, and it frightened Sebastian that he somehow managed to mirror his own movements. The two of them walked toward the third mirror, and Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks. The oldest man he had ever seen was staring back out at him. Trembling, Sebastian shut his eyes and tried to tell himself none of it was real. Turning toward the fourth mirror without opening his eyes, he took a step forward and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes as slowly as he possibly could, Sebastian looked in the mirror and screamed. The old man from before was staring back out at him, but rotted and covered in insects. He looked like he had been dead for years, but he was still standing there, mirroring Sebastian’s every move.

Slamming his eyes shut, Sebastian gulped down air and tried to calm himself down. Turning toward the final mirror, he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Transfixed in horror, he found himself unable to cope with what he saw. It looked like him, but there was something very wrong. The eyes were yellow, and the face had the evilest of grins. Sebastian knew for a fact that he was not smiling at that moment, and as he stared, the mirror version of him started to walk forward. Holding up a fist, the mirror Sebastian knocked on the glass, and incredibly, the real Sebastian heard the knocking sound.

“This cannot be real, this isn’t happening,” he thought to himself as he tried to get his feet to move.

The mirror Sebastian bent down and picked up a rock. Wondering where he got it from, Sebastian could do nothing but watch in horror as the mirror Sebastian laughed and threw the rock as hard as he could. The mirror between them shattered, and Sebastian heard himself screaming as the world turned black.

Slowly waking up, Sebastian realized he was hearing something, and wondered what it was. As he gradually came into consciousness, he realized the sound was Finn crying. Sitting up suddenly and looking around in the darkness, he called out “Finn!”

“Over here,” Finn whimpered, and Sebastian got up and started walking tentatively toward the sound.

Bumping into an invisible barrier, Sebastian looked around, wondering where he was. As lights suddenly flooded the room, he looked around and saw that he was in a big glass box, hovering in the middle of nowhere. Looking across the expanse, he saw Finn, similarly trapped. As he slowly turned in a circle, he noticed that there were dozens of glass boxes suspended in the air around him. And each one held a child, staring back at him with an expression of sympathy.

WC: 1500

The moon had risen, hanging high overhead and the mist had rolled through the valleys covering the forest when the six youths reached Hallow’s Valley. It was known as thus due to the high number of rumors accumulated over the years of the strange occurrences that took place in the deserted, treacherous valley every year on Halloween. Everything from disappearances to animal attacks, hallucinations to injury had occurred here, and the villagers had learned to stay far away from it, especially on Halloween. This year however, Robb and his friends were determined to reveal the stories for what they really were: just stories.

They all stood looking nervously down from the rise of the hill that would lead into the Valley. Brin and Morgan watched the other four’s nervous faces. Both of the girls were only here to the other villagers that Robb and the other three really had gone into the Valley, otherwise they would never be believed.

“Well, are you going or not?” Morgan said, her voice much higher than usual. Robb looked at her angrily.

“Of course, we’re going. Come on guys,” he said, and took five brave strides into the forest, turning around to see if they followed. Aleena came next, following him with a determined look on her face. Ashamed that a girl had gone in before him, Eli was soon to follow with Sean trailing behind. They all looked back at the two shadows on the hill; Brin was hugging herself, whether from the cold or fear, they could not tell, while Morgan stood still and silent.

“We’ll be back by morning,” Robb called up to them, and Brin called “Luck!” back to them. The four headed down in to the Valley, wincing at every branch that crunched under their feet, and when an owl hooted unexpectedly, Aleena let out a shriek. She laughed nervously, looking sheepish when the three boys looked back at her startled.

They walked for about an hour down deeper into the valley, and we’re beginning to relax as nothing more than night animals bothered them. That’s when they began to see the lights. Small and barely visible at firsts, little flashes of light sparkled through the trees, like a beacon. At first, they all attempted to ignore them, putting them off as figments of their imagination. Soon, however, the lights were stronger, and floated around them in circles before heading off, always in the same direction. Sean swallowed nervously.

“What do you think they are?”

“I don’t know,” Robb replied, with a forced bravado. “Perhaps we should try following them.”

“Are you crazy? Who knows what’s out there?” Eli interrupted. Aleena couldn’t help but agree with Eli. While the lights didn’t appear to be harmful, who had ever heard of lights floating around on their own? Surely they couldn’t be good news. Robb, on the other hand, looked at him coolly.

“I thought we don’t believe in ghosts and hauntings?” he mocked, and Sean nodded behind him. Eli blushed slightly but still looked unwilling to follow the lights.

“How about you and Sean follow the lights and Eli and I will head off in the other direction?” Aleena offered. Protests arose from the two boys. Her eyebrows rose.

“I thought you two didn’t believe in ghosts? Anyway, if we’re planning on exploring the whole valley, we’re going to have to split up eventually. Sean and Robb looked uneasy, but agreed reluctantly; Aleena and Eli watched them walk away, following the wispy bulbs of light. Robb gave one last glance back behind him, watching Aleena grab Eli’s sleeve and pull him in the opposite direction, looking around wearily all the while. They continued following the lights for another mile, occasionally attempting to catch or touch them, but they always flittered just out of reach, constantly calling them on and on, deeper and deeper into the forest. Sean glanced back behind him and gave out a yell of shock.

“Robb! The lights, they’re all around us!”

Robb turned back and saw to his dismay that the lights had formed a row behind them. He spun around slowly, but could see no gap between the lights. They couldn’t see anything beyond the well lit area surrounding them, as the lights were now too bright to see past. They continued walking, more cautiously now, watching as more and more lights joined the others, now blocking out the night sky as well. Robb cried out in shock when his foot plunged into the beginning of a bog, mud and grime now covering his leg as he pulled it out, looking in disgust.

“They’ve led us to a bog,” he cried in dismay, still not able to see what might lay beyond the lights.

“Maybe we should turn around, Robb,” Sean said, fear evident in his voice. At first Robb hesitated, still thinking about what the others would think when he nodded reluctantly. They turned around and heading towards the wall of light, but when they reached it, they found it wouldn’t give way. They tried pushing on it, climbing it, kicking it but nothing caused it to budge. Now the boys were growing frantic, and began crying out for help, hoping the others would come—but no one did.

Forced to continue, they walked slowly through the bog, the water and mud making it difficult to traverse. They had only gone a hundred yards when the lights went out with a sound like a deep breath. The boys grabbed each other in shock, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the new lighting, but couldn’t.

“Sean, why are there no stars?” Robb asked, his voice little more than a whisper. Sean looked up at the sky and was horrified to find no stars, no moon, nothing but blackness.

“Let’s just keep moving,” he responded, thinking maybe the tree coverage here was to strong to let any light through. They hadn’t gone more than ten feet when Sean gave out a cry, quickly muffled, and Robb was left in silence completely alone.

“Sean?” he yelled, holding out his arms and walking around, hoping to find his friend. After five minutes of frantic looking, Robb felt something grab his leg; crying out and looking down at his leg, he saw what looked like quicksand, except it formed a hand as it grabbed him and pulled him under. Scratching at the ground to try to keep himself above wasn’t enough, and he was soon pulled under, taking one last gasping breath before the quicksand covered him.



On the other side of the valley, Aleena and Eli heard the yells of fright, and froze where they were, listening intently for any other sound from their companions. Aleena clutched Eli’s arm, begging the other boys to let them know if they were okay. When they heard nothing, they hoped that they’d been able to fend off whatever it was. Aleena gulped and slowly continued walking, following the small track they’d found only a half hour ago.

They continued through the forest, still listening to any noise that would let them know the fate of the others when the trees ending abruptly and they stumbled out into a clearing. A small, wooden house, run down and ugly stood in the middle, completely dark with no sign of life. Aleena and Eli looked at each other nervously, wondering if they should approach it. Before they could decide, Aleena shrieked in fright as a light appeared in one of the top windows, flickering as if a candle had been lit. A shadow crossed past the window, and Eli and Aleena backed away slowly, horrified to go closer. When they heard the door creep open, they ran back towards the cover of the trees. Eli sighed with relief when they crossed through the trees and then gasped in horror when they ran right back out into the clearing. The door was wide open, but there was no one there. Wondering how they could have gotten so turned around so quickly, they plunged back into the trees only to find themselves back in the clearing again.

“I think we have to go in,” Aleena whispered, voice cracking with fright.

Eli looked terrified, but obviously running away was going to do nothing. He nodded slowly and they approached the house slowly and cautiously. The light was still on in the top window, but there was no shadow in sight. They entered the house, and before they could see more than broken furniture, destroyed walls and a run down staircase, they door slammed shut behind them, and at the same time the light went out, plunging the house into darkness. They both yelled and turned around, trying to open the door, which they now found locked, and as hard as they banged on it, and yanked the handle, it would not budge.

They heard the creaking of a floorboard and turned around, breathing raggedly, ears straining to hear where, and what, was coming towards them. They heard nothing. Slowly, Eli began to move towards where the sound came from.

“What are you doing?” Aleena hissed, clutching at his sleeve.

“If we can’t get out from here, there must be another way,” he whispered back.

They slowly began to walk down the hallway. Suddenly, there was empty space below their feet, and as Eli’s heart lurched, and stomach dropped from the sudden feeling of falling, he could feel Aleena falling beside him, screaming. They tried to find something to grab as they fell, but could not feel anything in reach of their fingers as they fell ever downwards.



When the sun finally rose over the Valley, Brin and Morgan were forced to conclude that the others were not coming back. While at first everything had seemed fine, no noises of disturbances, they’d heard Robb and Sean’s frightened cries sometime a few hours after they separated, and a bright flash of light had lit up the right side of the valley. They had stared at each other horrified, wondering what had happened, but did not have much time to guess when the screams of Eli and Aleena echoed back to them, seeming to grow louder and louder across the Valley.

They’d debated for hours about whether or not they should go after them, and considered the possibility that they were just trying to frighten them. Now however, this late into the morning, they surely would have been back, the Valley, after all, was not that large. Morgan thought they should go search for them, since now it was light and they’d be able to see anything coming, but Brin was too terrified, remembering the sound of their screams echoing towards them. As they turned back towards the village to share the news of the latest disappearances from Hallow Valley, they heard the howling of wolves, lonely and bitter. Shuddering, they picked up their pace, hoping only for the safety of the village.

WC: 1,824