For a little while longer the group continued walking, having encounters with a few other actors and animatronics standing by and more effects like projected videos showing creepy ambience, creatures or backgrounds.

"Ughhh I'm just ready to get out of here– how long has it even been–" John grumbled to himself.

"Fifteen minutes, we're halfway through–" Spruce answered from behind him, hearing him.

"FIFTEEN MINUTES?! It feels like it's been fifteen YEARS!"

"You're just mad because you've been exposed for being a scaredy cat twice– and the second time wasn't even a clown!" Clay snickered.

"No, I just never wanted to go down this stupid path in the first place!"

"Why? Because your ego went down when things didn't go your way? Just admit that it's cool already."

"Clay I swear if you don't–"

"Hey, since we're on the topic of spirits, you'd better stop bein a grumpster before Loathe and Rancor haunt your oddly shaped soul– they could be lingering in this ghastly hallway right now!"

"Clay please don't say things like that–" Rosiepuff said in a low tone.

"Happy Halloween–"

"Who's.." Floyd raised his head from Rosiepuff's shoulder slowly, "Loaf and Raincoat?"

"Loathe and Rancor–" Spruce corrected.

"Said that-"

Clay stopped in place and quickly turned to look at him, his eyes widened slightly.

"Oh.. you don't know? The famous legends?"

Floyd shook his head lightly.

Clay shifted his eyes over to Rosiepuff who looked back at him.

"Grandma, can you put him down for a second?"

She looked at her four year old Grandson for a second before shifting her eyes back to Clay suspiciously.

"What are you about to do Clay–"

"Nothing crazy!"

"Oh please when is he never–" John scoffed.

"UGHHH Grandmaaaa!"

"Alright alright! Floyd?" Rosiepuff looked at Floyd again.

"Well.. I don't mind." Floyd mumbled.

Hearing that was all the confirmation she needed, and she finally gave in with a small sigh and put him down next to Clay.

He offered his hand out to his little brother with a smile, and Floyd generously gave him his smaller one as he began to walk with him.

"Well little bro.. they're just about two of the FREAKIEST beings who are ALSO brothers like us, to ever be upon this village and take people's souls.. in quick summarization, the story goes like this– two brothers who loved nothing than to pull pranks on everyone around them for the spookiest night of the year! But overtime, they began to take these pranks to completely different levels, and people would start to get more and more agitated with them! So eventually one day, a crowd of trolls got together in secret to get them back for all of it, and shockingly enough, they got them right back and everyone was happy! What that prank was, no one really knows, but it must've been something terrible because the brothers didn't like it one bit. They angrily came together again one day to form a new, big and TERRIFYING prank to get back at all the people that wronged them, but while doing that, something terrible happened.."

"What..?"

"The concoction they were making suddenly grew so large in size and EXPLODED on them! I'm talkin bout PSSSHHWOOWSHH! And yeah they died–"

Floyd gasped, covering his mouth with his free hand.

"OKAAAY I think it's about time we end it ther–"

"WAAAIT I'm almost done!"

"Ughhh," Rosiepuff groaned then sighed, "well speed it up–"

"Nobody really knows WHERE they died, only a few people who refuse to disclose their names or that info, but saying goes in theory that since they weren't such great people and died being angry, their souls became stuck and bound into the place they lost their lives in.. but guess WHAT!"

"W-What..?"

"Can we not play anymore guessing games about the dead–" Spruce suggested, tampering with his glove.

"That didn't stop these two freakazoids! Since they never actually got their true revenge, they continously seek it as the spooky ooky poltergeists they are and rise every Halloween night to lure and feast on every soul they can possibly get their grubby hands on with all the anger in their nonexistent hearts.. and the way they do that is by first MANIPULATING their victim into thinking they need help, then when they succeed with that, they'll have them under their full control.. but if it doesn't work like that, then, well.. they'll just scare you into control. So if you don't wanna be a victim.. well, lemme tell you, being scared, sad or grumpy is NOT an option! Kay– NOW I'm done."

"Oh for the love of-" John rolled his eyes.

Floyd squeezed his hand a bit, "That sounds so scary!"

"Ohhh OH it is! It is the SCARIEST of scary!"

Suddenly, starting to smirk to himself, Clay slowly let go of Floyd's hand and began to speed up forward in front of everyone.

"But maybe I should show you just how scary it is for those who were possessed.."

"Uhhh.." Floyd didn't feel too sure about this, pulling on his hoodie.

"Clay– don't give the boy a heart attack–"

"Oh.. it only gets more terrifying from here.." He said, turning and continuing to back away, before making a sharp turn and disappearing out of sight.

"Hit the lights please!"

And out of nowhere, the lights actually turned off.

"What?!" John exclaimed. "Why doesn't this ever happen for me?!"

"Clayton last name you said you wouldn't do anything crazy!"

"Can't believe you listened to him–"

"Clay?!"

They all stopped when flashes of white lights plus a big white one in the background began to flicker around as a beat started to sound, the familiar shadow of a certain trolling emerging.

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum~
Some animatronics began to sing around him.

What's wrong with me..?
Clay said, a light flashing on him for a split second.

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum~

Why do I feel like this..?
The light flashed on him again, showing him holding his head in distress.

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum~

I'm going crazy now!
Multiple colors of lights showed in his eyes and he had a crazily expression with a smile.

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum~

No more gas in the rig!
Clay started to walk up slowly while doing a dance.

Can't even get it started!
Some trolls in their own costumes began to pop in and sing behind him.

Nothing heard, nothing said!
(Can't even speak about it)

All my life, on my head!
(Don't want to think about it)

Feels like I'm going insane, yeeeaaahhh! He held his head again and turned towards the ceiling while singing out loud.

It's a thief in the night to come and grab you!
He pretended like he was baring his claws while walking forward, and slid behind Spruce, grabbing his arms.

It can creep up inside you and consume you!
He slid past Rosiepuff and Floyd and made an eating motion with his hands and sped away.

A disease of the mind, it can control you!
Sliding next to John last he slapped his hands on the side of his head and held them there for a second until John smacked them away.

It's too close for comfort! (Ah!)

"Ooooo," Branch said, slowly popping his head out of Rosiepuff's hair.

"Branch?!" She exclaimed in shock.

Clay slid to the middle of the floor and in slid other trolls in the back as well, the flickering lights stopping and one singular light shining on all of them as they all started to dance in the same choreo.

Throw on your brake lights!
We're in the city of wonder!

Ain't gon play nice!
Watch out, you might just go under!

Better think twice!
Your train of thought will be altered!

They all pressed their fingers to their heads and rotated them 180° then began to slide forward like they were skating.

So if you must falter, be wise!

Your mind's in disturbia!

Clay started to do his own dances as the trolls in the background were following each other's.

It's like the darkness is the light!

Disturbia!

Am I scaring you tonight?!
Clay turned back toward his left shoulder with a smirk.

(Your mind's in) Disturbia!

Ain't used to what you like!

Disturbia!

Disturbiaaaaa!

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum! (Ba-da-da-da-de-da!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum!
(Ba-da-da-da-de-da!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum! (Disturbiaaa!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum!

Floyd was actually dancing a little bit now to the catchy beat, feeling not as scared.

"Huh," Spruce bopped his head, impressed with how amazing he sounded and looked.

"That is my crazy Grandson.." Rosieluff shook her head but couldn't help to smile.

"Go Clay!" Branch giggled.

John just stood there with crossed arms, unsure of what the weird feeling he felt rising in his chest was but just ignored it.

Ah, oh..

Release me from this curse I'm in..
Clay balled his fists together and lowered his head and stood in the middle of the room, the spotlight on him now.

Trying to maintain but I'm struggling..

If you can't go, ho, ho, ho, ho-ho..

I think I'm gonna oh, oh, oh, oh, ahhhh!

The flickers of lights came back and everyone began to dance alongside each other behind Clay again.

Throw on your brake lights!
We're in the city of wonder! (Woooo yeeeaah!)

Clay began to hit riffs and high notes as everyone behind him continued singing.

Ain't gon play nice!
Watch out, you might just go under!

Better think twice! (Better think twiiicee..)
Your train of thought will be altered!

So if you must falter, be wise! (If you must falter be wiiiseee!)

Your mind's in disturbia!

It's like the darkness is the light! (Ah yeah, disturbia!)

Disturbia!
Am I scaring you tonight?! (Ah yeah, disturbia!)

(Your mind's in) Disturbia!

Ain't used to what you like! (Disturbia, ahhh!)

Disturbia!

Disturbiaaaa!

Oh oh oh!

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum! (Bum-ba-da-de-daaaa!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum!
(Bum-ba-da-de-daaaa!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum!
(Ohhhh ohhh!)

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum!
(Woaaahhh!)

As the song ended, Clay kept his head lowered as the flickering of the lights stopped and it became dark for a second, the previous lights that were on before being cut back on and the trolls around him having disappeared.

"Wow! That was so awesome Clay! Kinda scary– but cool!" Floyd smiled.

"No yeah that was actually really cool man, where'd those trolls go though–"

"Who knows, I don't even know where they came from–" Clay shrugged, "anyway, yeahhh it's cool for us, but scary for those trolls who got their souls taken," Clay walked over to him and took his hand again as they all started their trek once again.

"Did anyone ever not survive..?" Floyd asked him in a worried voice.

"It's hard to say, no one really knows.. but it's said that every year on Halloween where they decide to spring out and try and find who their next lost soul shall be.."

"Well.. I was rweally scared earlier and– still kinda am, why didn't they got me?"

"Because it's not real–" Both John and Spruce said at the same time.

"BECAUUSEE–" Clay turned around and eyed his two older brothers before continuing to walk with Floyd,

"it would appear that they aren't roaming these parts, and usually for them to take you, it has to be JUST you, and your emotions need to be strong enough.. if there's more than one person with the same strong emotions then they'll only be able to take one unlucky person.. either one of those that orrrr– they'll sense your negative emotions and try and use it against you or manipulate you so they can get what they want.. BUT you're with us and they're not here so you're pretty much good to go!"

"Wow.." Floyd whispered.

"Cool right?" Clay smiled down at him with his teeth showing.

"Still scary, but.. yeah!"

"How do you even know all this?" Spruce asked.

"I don't know if you knew this but reading 24/7 actually has a lot of benefits—"

"Right–"

"Man," Clay sighed, "I really wish we could've saw some kind of statue or something of them before–"

He stopped when he noticed something nearby, something that resembled two spirit-like figures standing next to one another in two shades of green.

"No.. no way.. NO WAY!" Clay started to run.

"Clay–" Rosiepuff sighed before following after him along with the others, "don't run!"

Clay continued running over to a section where the two big ghost-like creatures stood, staring up at them excitedly.

"Guys guys come see this!"

"Nah I'm good right here–" John crossed his arms and looked at the creatures a little ways behind.

"It's them, IT'S THEM!"

"EEK, they're so big!" Floyd squealed and hid behind Rosiepuff while taking a small peek every so often.

"It's who?!" Spruce walked up to him.

"Loathe and Rancor, lookit lookit lookit! Look at how COOL they are!"

"Wow.. I dunno what I was thinking they'd look like but that is terrifying–"

"EXACTLY! And I LOVE IT! I wonder if they really are real.."

"Hiiiighly doubt it, but you can dream– or, nightmare, I dunno–"

"Why.. do they not look like trolls..?" Rosiepuff questioned quietly, but Clay still heard her.

"Well it's simple Grandma!" He said turning to her, "they died angry about to possibly cause harm to a bunch of people, so because of that overtime they've evolved into two creepy grinch morphed devils!" He smiled innocently.

"Wow– our world is very extraordinary."

John stared up at the figures and studied them in silence, feeling their hollow holes for eyes stare into his own soul that made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn't explain.

Like.. it was supposed to mean something, perhaps.

Rosiepuff walked up to the boys.

"Alriiiight, well.. I'm glad you guys had your fun–"

"You mean Clay had his fun–" John mumbled, trying to force his eyes away from the statues.

"Yes I did!" Clay smirked, still hearing him loud and clear.

"I mean– I kinda had a decent time." Spruce shrugged.

"BUUUT we're nearly at the end of this attraction so I think it's about time to put a pin in all this so we can finally get some candy–"

Floyd gasped and clapped excitedly along with Branch, "CANDYYYY!"

"Alright well let's go then!"

The group began to make their way towards the exit of the haunted house that was close  by, walking past a few more animatronics and actors that were waving them goodbye.

Clay was skipping alongside Spruce for a bit until he noticed that John wasn't in sight, and turned a bit to see he was falling a little behind in the back, quieter and not being annoying or loud or boastful like he'd usually expect him to be.

Slowing down a little, he just watched as he kept to himself for a bit, until a thought popped in his head and he turned back around.

"Hmmm.." He began to smirk to himself, chuckling quietly.

Hearing him, Spruce turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What's up with you–"

"Ohhhh nothing, just.. gotta do something real quick!"

He slipped to the side too quick for Spruce to even reply as John walked past him not noticing him.

"Should I look– nah, not worth getting involved–"

Waiting to be behind him, the middle child began to quietly creep behind him for a bit, then eventually jumped on his back exclaiming,

"PENNYWISE GOTCHA!"

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Out of fear, John immediately threw him to the ground and widened his eyes when he realized it was him.

"OW!!"

The shouting caused the rest of the group to turn around, only to find Clay laying there on the ground and John looking shocked.

He had just slammed his little brother onto the ground. and they'd all seen it.

"Clay?!" Rosiepuff exclaimed, speeding over to them along with the rest of the group.

"John what'd you do?" Spruce kneeled down to Clay.

"I‐I didn't–" The oldest stuttered, "He jumped on my back and scared me! I thought it was someone else!"

"Owww.." Clay groaned, holding his side, "how could you not tell it was me?!"

"You literally scared me, the last thing I was doing was thinking! Why would you even do that?!"

"I'm sorry! I-I was just messing with you!"

"And by using my fear of clowns against me?!"

"I.. I don't– know.. I-I just wanted your atte–"

"Seriously?!" John sighed, balling his fists, "you know what, you ruined this night enough for me, just leave me alone so I can try to enjoy the rest of it–"

Clay would lay there for a bit as he began to stomp around him angrily.

"John–" Rosiepuff sighed, rubbing the side of her head in distress.

Floyd and Branch looked at each other in worry, unsure of what to say.

After a few seconds of silence besides the sound of John's footsteps trailing away, Clay jolted upward and began to stomp after him.

"Clay," Spruce urged him, "Clay no–"

As soon as he got close enough he shoved him from behind, breathing heavily.

"I said I'm sorry! What's your problem with me!?"

John didn't answer or move as he just stood there, fists still balled together.

"I ruined your night?! You've been giving me crap all night but not once have I been a jerk to you like you have been to me!"

John still didn't answer.

"When things go your way and everyone chooses to listen to you, it's fine. But when the slightest thing goes wrong or someone steals your "spotlight" for a split second oHhH noOoOo the world is ENDING! And I'm tired of ignoring it! It's like– it's like I don't even know you or– I can't even be myself around you without you getting mad sometimes!"

"Okay, okay boys," Rosiepuff tried to get rid of the tension, "we are leaving right no–"

"I don't get it! What is your deal?! Do you just not like that I actually know how to have fun?! Do you.." he hesitated, "do you just not like me?!"

John still wasn't answering, and it started to actually tick the seven year old off now.

"Oh so we can't talk now huh? After you had all that to say to me today?!"

Clay walked up to him and shoved him again, "answer me!"

Silence.

Clay shoved him again. "Answer!"

"Clay! Stop that right now!" Rosiepuff grabbed his arm but he pulled away quickly.

"..don't touch me."

Not hearing John from all his built up anger, Clay shoved him once more before shouting.

"ANSWER–"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Finally turning around, John grabbed Clay's shoulders and pushed him to the ground again, but he had little time to react as Clay immediately got back up and started shoving him again and eventually grabbed ahold of his collar and pulled at it.

"No!" Floyd whined in fear and ran behind Rosiepuff again, pulling on his hoodie.

All the commotion caused some trolls and even actors who were still around and close enough to see to stop and stare, wondering what was going on.

"Grandma?!" Spruce looked up to his Grandmother who looked just as shocked and lost for words. For once he didn't know what to do, wanting them to stop but worried about making things escalate somehow, he'd never seen them fight like this before.

"Oh my goodness– boys you stop that RIGHT now!" Rosiepuff immediately put Branch down next to Floyd and began to march over to them.

"GET– OFF– OF– ME!!" John tried to grab his arms to pull him off of him but that only made his grip stronger.

"NO!!"

They were swinging around and battling with one another with more and more force that not even Rosiepuff could get a hold of, and eventually Clay lost his grip on John's collar with one lost push and he fell back into one of the animatronics roughly, colliding with the ground again.

"ENOUGH!" Rosiepuff finally grabbed onto John's arm and held a firm grip onto it, "I don't know WHAT has been going on between you two, but this has all gone TOO fa–"

"Uhh.. Grandma?" Floyd mumbled nervously.

She looked back at him for a split second in confusion, until she heard the sound of faint rumbling nearby.

Everyone began to look around when they heard the noise, trying to figure out what it was.

Suddenly though, Spruce would gasp and caught everyone's attention, seeing as he would point to the animatronic Clay bumped into begin to lean from side to side.

It tipped into another animatronic nearby while wobbling and the other animatronic would eventually lean to the side and knock into five more that were there, all electrocuting in the process.

Once they were all knocked over and still continued to eletrocute, the bolts would travel to a nearby curtain and immediately set it on fire, the flames traveling around quickly..

"FIRE!!" A troll suddenly screamed out, causing the other trolls that were there to panick and run around.

"Everyone out this way, quickly!" An actor broke character to manage the safety of everyone as he led them to an opposite direction of the original exit.

Clay lay right where he was beneath the wobbling animatronic, too much in shock to move anywhere as he stared at the bright orange flames before him.

"Oh my ever living troll– everyone let's go RIGHT NOW!"

Rosiepuff picked up her now crying youngest grandsons and grabbed the two oldest that were still nearby.

She was about to run to Clay but stopped in fear as she saw the still wobbling animatronic above him began to lean forward now, close to falling on him as he still laid there in complete shock.

"CLAY!!" Both Spruce and Rosiepuff would shout.

Suddenly, bursting in between them, John would run over to his little brother and grabbed him by the arm and picked him up in his arms, running out of the way before the animatronic would finally collapse and cause the flames to grow bigger.

Coughing from the smoke starting to build up and cloud their view, Clay held a grip onto his older brother and looked up at him, finally snapping out of it.

"J-John–"

"Let's move LET'S MOVE!"

John yelled back to the rest of his family, covering his face with his other arm as an attempt to keep the smoke out of his face as he coughed from breathing it in from running.

Rosiepuff quickly shoved Branch into her hair and had Floyd press his face back into her shoulder, grabbing Spruce's hand as they both followed after John.

The actor who guided the previous trolls out saw them approaching and helped them out as well, leading them to a nearby exit where they all and more trolls continued to get out safely.

They took off for a few more inches until they were at a safe distance away from the now lit up haunted house, John putting Clay down next to him while they all stared at the horrifying sight of the haunted house burning in flames.

—

After some more time of waiting and watching everything go down, firefighter trolls began to approach to help get rid of the flames before they could get any bigger.

"I cannot believe that just happened.." Rosiepuff mumbled almost quietly while watching for a few more minutes before turning around, "is everyone okay? No one hurt?"

"I'm not hurt Grandma, but.. that was scawrier than the haunted house!" Floyd lifted his head off of her shoulder, shivering slightly.

"Scawry.." Branch poked his head out of her hair slightly.

"Slightly traumatized especially with how all that happened so fast, but.. yeah.." Spruce held onto her side.

After a bit of silence besides the distant clamoring, sounds of hoses spraying water and dying flames nearby, Clay cleared his throat before he began to speak.

"..sooo uhhhh.. heh heh.. uhm.." he chuckled nervously and rubbed his arm, trying to lighten the mood after getting out of shock,

"..best Halloween trick ever amiri–"

"Clay can you stop!" John suddenly yelled out and turned to him, making his little brother jump,

"This is literally all your fault!"

Once he said that out loud, some trolls who were surrounding and more began to turn to them, listening in on what was happening.

"Wooaah woah woah woah–" Clay held his hands up to his chest defensively, "you're acting like I started the fire! If you hadn't thrown me into tha–"

"If you hadn't done your stupid PRANK none of this would've happened!"

"Oh please, what's new?! You think EVERYTHING I do is stupid!"

"Of course it is! Because you just never know when to STOP!"

"What does that mean?!"

"John it's not his fault!" Spruce walked over from Rosiepuff to them.

"So it's mine?!"

"I didn't say that!"

"You know what– maybe it is." Clay crossed his arms.

"Clay no–"

"Oh really?" John crossed his arms.

"Yeah.. you said I ruined your night, but last I checked I'm not the one who kept making tonight about himself, I'm not the one who kept criticizing everyone when they were just trying to have fun, and I'm not the one who got mad at his little brother for being himself."

..

"I don't.. get mad at you for being yourself–"

"But you do when I don't do things your way.. isn't it still the same thing?"

..

"So if you think about it.. really you're the one who's ruined tonight."

There was strong, long and uncomfortable silence between everybody, as they all turned to look at each other unsure of what to say or do.

John was now lost for words as well, not looking at anyone as he held a slightly painful expression on his face and stared at the ground, gripping onto the handle of his bucket with a slightly shaky grip.

On one side he didn't understand nor wanted to think everything was his fault, but on another side, none of his brothers have ever been so upset at him before. He wasn't sure what to feel anymore.

"At this rate.. I wouldn't be surprised if you ruined the band someday too," Clay mumbled without a single thought, rolling his eyes while beginning to turn to walk away.

"Clay, come on– seriously?" Spruce took a few steps toward him.

"Yup." He replied from a distance.

Spruce sighed and turned to John, who's expression switched right back from upset to angry again, his gaze turning to the back of Clay quickly.

"How about you try being the leader of a band of four little boys while ALSO being a little boy, who you're just trying your best to lead in the right direction but half the time they give you a hard time.. a LOT of the things I do is for you all, and you don't know ANY of the pressure I feel but you know what, I keep you from feeling it because that's what I'm supposed t–"

"Well terrible job because I still always feel it– and oh boohoooooo, four BROTHERS who have imaginations like any normal kids and don't follow your every move and expectation," Clay stopped walking and shot a glare back to him, "what a TERRIBLE LIFE YOU have!"

"Yeah, YOU make it."

"John Dory!" Rosiepuff scolded.

"Yo, John, chill man!" Spruce held his arms out. "What are you doing?!"

"Oh, yeah, okay– yeah you and everyone else just go ahead and keep taking his side as usual since I'm ALWAYS wrong!"

"Yes, you are–" Clay purposefully instigated, getting flicked in the ear by Rosiepuff right after.

"That's not what I– I'm not taking anyone's–!"

"You ALWAYS take his side!"

"No I don't! Ughhhh! Now you're just being ridiculous!"

"I'M being ridiculous!?"

"Yeah, John! Maybe you are! I'm trying to calm things down but all you're doing is making it worse! Geez sometimes I wonder how I'm not the oldest–"

"I don't– I have a lot of reasons as to why neither of you should be and why I–"

"Clay– you might not wanna speak for the next few minutes–"

"Duly noted– I've said all I needed to say." Clay pretended to zip his lips.

John took in what both of his brothers were saying, feeling that heavy feeling begin to hit his chest again as his breathing began to grow heavy as well, but he tried his best to hide both of them.

"Well.. then I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I can't be the perfect older brother you've always wanted."

Spruce was going to say something in denial to that, but before he could he stopped hearing a noise behind him and turned.

Clay huffed quietly before turning on his heel and walking up to him quietly.

He didn't say anything for a bit as he just stared up at him with a small glare.

"I don't want you to be perfect. I want you to be my brother."

John gave him a glare back, trying to seem tough even if his chest was hurting.

"Well I guess I can't be that either then, huh? You don't even like when I try to be one."

"Maybe it's because you don't know HOW to be one!"

Scoffing quietly, John took steps away from him and stared at him in disbelief, watching him stay right where he was.

For a moment he took his eyes off of him to study the expressions of his other brothers, which were silent, uncomfortable, and lost for word.

"Okay okay, that's enough you two," Rosiepuff scolded them, "this is nobody's fault, but both of you fighting was what led to all of this, what's more important is that we're all still alive."

After a small pause, she sighed again and continued to talk.

"Listen boys.. this was supposed to be a fun night for everyone, but the whole time you've been going at it with each other and I don't understand why!"

Clay huffed again before crossing his arms and turning away again, not responding to her.

Ignoring his Grandmother as well, John looked back down at his first youngest brother who just stared back at him.

"You gonna let him talk to me like this?!" He shouted, holding his arms out.

Spruce continued staying silent as he finally took his eyes off of him, for once not knowing what to say, especially while holding two of his little brothers by his sides.

"Grandma!" John called for his desperately as he shot his gaze back up at her.

"John.." She sighed once more, "I said no more, alright?"

"He's calling me a terrible brother!"

"Because you ARE!"

"Clay stop it!" Rosiepuff hissed at him then quickly turned back to John before sighing deeply, "okay, I've just about had it, we're all going home right now and we're going to discu–"

"No, you know what?"

John took further steps away from them, holding a tighter grip on his bucket.

"I wanna be alone."

"John this is not up for deba–"

"And neither is this."

He started to turn around and away from his family, ignoring all the stares he was getting from the trolls in front of him.

Not thinking twice about it, he started to walk away, not even thinking about where he may have been going.

"John Dor–"

"Just enjoy Halloween without me."

"John Dory!"

"That's what everyone wants right?!" He turned around once more while holding an angry but pained expression. "Because I just ruin everything, right?!"

He couldn't properly identify theirs since he was a few inches away now, but from what he could tell they didn't seem the slightest of pleased or sympathetic at all. At least two of them didn't.

Not hearing any of them say another word and not even wanting him to, he huffed as he turned back around for the last time and began to speed walk away, trolls moving out of his way.

"John Dory?! Jonathan!"

"Where's he going..?" Floyd mumbled, holding onto Spruce's arm.

"Young man if you take five more steps away from this group I am going t–"

"Leave me ALONE!!!"
He shouted in a now cracked voice.

The five of them would flinch after that, as well as the trolls around him who took a few steps away in case he got more angry and needed space.

Realizing just how upset he was and that it was more than just being petty, Rosiepuff began to tone down her frustration and just watched with now sullen eyes.

John reached his hand to his mouth to muffle a whimper that came right after screaming, wanting to cry out more than anything.

He didn't get it. Why was everyone so upset with him? Why was he the bad guy?

"John?"

He wanted to turn around so badly after hearing that.

He wanted to just turn around and run into his Grandmother's warm and comforting embrace.

But it was all too much. He couldn't go back. Not right now.

Not with all of them still around.

Standing there for a few more minutes, he blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall out and sniffed loudly, gripping his glowbug bucket again before letting his feet take control again.

He walked for a few seconds before just deciding to take off, not wanting to be there anymore.

"John?! John!"

And before they all knew it, he was gone.

"..He'll be back."

Rosiepuff and the two youngest brothers turned to Spruce who just continued watching him go until he was no longer in sight.

"A lot happened tonight, we should just leave him alone for right now."

"But we don't even know where he's going! And I made it clear I didn't want any of you separated from me tonight!"

"I know, but.. you saw how upset he was. The longer he's left alone the sooner he'll be ready to come back. He just needs time to himself."

"But.. what if he doesn't come back..?" Floyd said in a soft but worried voice, pulling onto Spruce's arm.

"Nah, no way, he will. I know John. He's way too obsessed with us to do that." Spruce chuckled a little, patting his head.

Clay looked to the side a little after that, realizing just how serious all this was. He knew he was mad too, but why did it start to sting a little when he thought back to when he walked away, thinking no one wanted him around?

He didn't have a lot of time to think about it though, because–

"Is everyone alright?!"

Someone in the distance shouted that caused heads to turn, and emerging from behind the crowd was King Peppy, along with Viva by his side.

"Clay!"

Viva ran over to him and jumped in his arms, hugging him tight.

He hugged her back just as tight but almost hesitantly, still in disbelief of what happened.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked, pulling away but still holding him, "were you all in there?"

"Yeah.. we're fine though. No one was hurt." He spoke in a quieter voice.

"Oh that's good," She sighed in relief but looked around as she realized something, "hey, where's.. John?"

The brothers all looked at each other then up at their Grandma, before turning back to her slowly.

"He, um.." Clay started slowly and hesitantly, "he um–"

"He didn't die, I should probably make that clear first–" Spruce held his hands up quickly, hearing her take another sigh of relief.

"Totally wasn't thinking that– like– at all–"

"Yeah, but.." he eyed Clay for a moment before trailing his eyes to the ground then back to Viva, "..he kinda had a moment, a really bad one and then just.. stormed off."

"Oh no.. I hope he'll be okay."

"He will be! He just.. needs to blow off steam is all. Works better when he's in his own solitude." Spruce shrugged a little, trying to lighten things up.

"I hope he comes back soon! So we can all have Halloween together!" Floyd chimed.

"He better come back soon.. I can't handle all this anxiety." Rosiepuff sighed.

"John Dohwy!" Branch called out his name, wanting his oldest brother back too.

Viva smiled at all of them until she looked back down at Clay, who wasn't responding and staring into space.

"Clay? You okay?" She asked.

"Huh," He looked up at her, "oh, yeah I'm.. fine."

"You sure?"

"..yeah." He mumbled this time, his eyes slowly trailing away from her.

Viva held a doubtful frown but didn't push him any longer, and just patted his arm.

"It's okay to not be okay." She spoke in a soft voice.

Clay would look up at her again, a small smile forming on his face. He didn't realize how much he needed to hear that just now, with how upset he really was.

"Well.. how about while we wait for him to come back, we go and actually get some candy and we can save some for him?" Rosiepuff offered her boys to try and make things better.

"Ooooo! I like that idea!" Floyd smiled wide.

"CANDYYYY!" Branch cheered again.

"Actually.. me too." Spruce nodded, needing the most wholesome outlet he could get right now.

"Clay?" Rosiepuff looked down at her middle grandson, who took a second to respond but eventually nodded, agreeing as well.

She smiled down at him then looked over at Viva.

"Viva, would you like to come? I mean of course you should probably ask your father first but–"

"I would love to Ms. Rosiepuff! But I'm actually staying with him and helping with trolls who are still recovering from the fire. Maybe a little later though!" She nodded at her politely with a happy smile.

"Oh of course, no problem! You go and take care of that! We'll just be walking around if you decide you want to catch up."

"Okay! I'll see you guys later!" She waved to them.

"Bye Vivi!" Branch unintentionally gave her a nickname while waving to her.

"Bye bye!" Floyd waved to her with a wide smile.

"See ya Vi," Spruce saluted to her again.

Viva giggled before turning back to Clay.

"Bye Clay!"

"See ya Veevs," He smiled at her.

They didn't realize they were holding hands until Viva was about to walk away, stopping as she turned to look at him.

"Uhhh.. heh heh, sorryyyy–" She slowly and awkwardly let go of his hand, putting both of hers behind her back.

"Uh no no no it's fine–" He looked to the side sheepishly, secretly missing the warm feeling of her hand holding his.

Spruce and Rosiepuff looked at each other, thinking the same exact thing with raised eyebrows.

"Oookay, well! Bye for real you guys!"

Viva waved at them once more before skipping away back to her dad again.

"Right then, well are we ready to go candy hunting now?"

"We areeee!" Floyd and Branch said excitedly, Branch climbing down from Rosiepuff's hair onto Floyd's shoulder as Floyd began to walk excitedly.

"I could really use a good twix bar right now–" Spruce chimed in, following.

"Hm, maybe on the way we'll even bump into John." Rosiepuff mumbled but still said aloud anyone to hear before starting to walk, "wait for me boys! Come on Clay."

"Cominggg," He replied, reaffirming his grip on his bucket as he trailed on.

Spruce slid to his side and began walking to him, watching as he just eyed him a few times but said nothing.

"For someone you didn't even remember you guys seem to be getting pretty close real quick–" He started in a mumble then snickered.

"Oh shut up– so what? Kesha is nice, we clicked, that's how friendships work–"

"Mmmmhm– you even got two nicknames for her now–" Spruce held a small smirk on his face before nodding slowly, turning his head.

"Friends do that!"

"Well Spruce isss right Clay, she does seem to really like you," Rosiepuff heard their conversation and joined in, chuckling.

"See, Grandma gets it." Spruce nodded.

"Aw come on Grandma not you tooooo–" Clay whined, dipping his head back dramatically.

Spruce and Grandma chuckled as they continued walking forward, catching up with the two younger brothers who were skipping together up ahead.

Clay rolled his eyes playfully and sighed, his mind beginning to trail off somewhere else.

As upset as he was, he couldn't not worry at least a little. He'd never been that upset before, but neither had John, and especially with feeling like he wasn't wanted around.

He hadn't wanted to make him feel like that at all, he just wanted him to understand how he was feeling, but he felt like he didn't even understand him.

He hoped he'd come back so they could both try and talk with clearer minds, but even if not, he still wanted him to come back.

Because then at least he'd know that he's okay.

○●○

Meanwhile, still on his own and away from majority of the crowds, John was still walking alone as he stared at the ground, kicking any objects like rocks that came close to him.

Though he'd been walking for nearly an hour and had plenty of time to think things over, he was still really upset with everything and couldn't wrap his head around any of it.

Why no matter what he was just always in the wrong? He tried to think of any possible reasons as to why but nothing came to mind, probably because he was still angry.

Wiping away a few last minute tears, he started talking to himself, his footsteps getting heavier and quicker.

"All I do is try to be a good older brother, why does nobody appreciate me?! Everything I've ever done was for them, even Grandma! We wouldn't be at some of the places we are today without me! But ohhhhh now I'm a terrible brother because apparently I'm bossy, I always wanna do things I wanna do, I criticize too much, andddd for the big finale: I don't let anyone be THEMSELVES!"

After taking a small pause to breathe, he began to slow down and eventually stop his walking, reflecting over all the words he just spoke and thinking about how he sounded so arrogant when he reiterated all those accusations about himself.. and now pondering if they were all actually true.

"..do I? No, no I'm not that awful, they're overexaggerating! Right..?"

Looking around, he began to realize that something was off, especially with how darker it got, and lifted his head up, realizing he wasn't in the main village anymore, but now somewhere very unfamiliar.

He noticed just now that he'd walk straight into what seemed like a forest from all the yapping he was doing.

"..ohhhh great.. now I don't know where I am–" He groaned to himself, looking around and trying not to be anxious, but he couldn't ignore the twisting he began to feel in his stomach.

Sighing, he looked over to a nearby tree and walked over to it slowly, leaning over then sliding down with his back against it, putting his bucket next to him and hugging his knees to his chest.

"Well whatever.. it's not like anyone would want me back anyway." He mumbled, resting his chin into his knees as he felt himself begin to tear up again, staring down at the barely visible ground.

For a little while, John would sit there by himself in the dark and woody area, feeling slightly scared but not wanting to go back at the same time. Even if he wanted to he had no idea where to go, he'd walked too deep into the forest already.

After a little while he felt himself about to slowly drift off into a somber slumber, when he began to hear whispering.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head a little and squinted, scanning the area around him only to find nothing.

Thinking it was just in his head he closed his eyes back and rested his head again, sighing.

As soon as he did that though, the whispering would get louder and sounded like it was closer too, which caused him to shoot his head up and be fully awake now.

"Hello?" He said, looking around.

The whispering didn't stop this time. They kept saying incoherent things that he didn't understand, and it sounded like it was circling from all around him.

"Who's there?" He stood up on his feet and grabbed his bucket again, starting to actually show he was frightened now, "What is this?!"

Ohhhh his is strongggg Lo.. I'm LOVING it!
The whispering was finally starting to become coherent, but he still couldn't tell what was happening.

"He? What's strong?" He began to back away, not even knowing where to back away to since he couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from, "Look, whoever you are, I-I don't want any trou‐"

Oh trust us boy, we don't either~

Indeed, in fact.. we might even just be able to help you~

At this point he could tell that there was more than one person here.

"Help.. me?" John calmed down a little but still stood his ground to be cautious, "With what?"

With whatever is bothering you of course!

We sense that something heavy is being weighed on your shoulders, and we'd like to help you get rid of that~

"You can.. get rid of all the pain..?"

On one side he didn't know why he was following what these people that he couldn't even see were saying, but he was also just pretty vulnerable and anxious in that moment so he didn't think much about it.

But of course.

Why don't you start by telling us what's wrong..?

"Well.. can I see you first?"

There was silence for a bit after that, a bit of faint whispering in between, and John almost thought that it really was all just happening in his mind, until he nearly jumped out of his coat when what looked like two spirits emerged from the ground in front of him.

They stared down at him with smirks, and recognizing the two shades of green colors, he realized who they both were.

"No.. no way.. you're.. you're–"

Ah, it seems the boy recognizes us brother, The light green spirit acknowledged, chuckling.

It would seem so, what a delight that is.. The cool green spirit chuckled along with him, we should still introduce ourselves so he the difference though.

Good idea!

Together they flew up in the air to present themselves.

I'm Loathe, the cool green spirit pointed to himself.

And I'm Rancor, the light green spirit also pointed to himself.

"My.. my brother's said so much about you.. about how you haunt people's souls to get the revenge you weren't able to get when you were alive.." Now he was feeling scared again, backing up against the tree.

Well yes that is true, but only because we were wronged so badly, and Halloween doesn't really work out in our favor as much anymore because everyone is always so full of joy and excitement, and it's hard to distribute any negative emotion through all that, Rancor explained, looking slightly annoyed.

But today, oh today is definitely special.. I can feel it, Loathe nodded with a smirk.

John just stared at them with frightened eyes, unable to move.

..BUT BUT point is, Rancor immediately spoke again, hoping not to lose him, we really do want to help you..

"I-I don't know.. I've heard plenty of bad things about you, I don't think I should–"

Oh come on, we aren't that bad kiddo! We just wanted some petty revenge! Loathe flew around him, however your brother told our story he most likely exaggerated some of it!

"Pfft.. well.. I wouldn't be surprised there.." John mumbled to himself, looking to the side.

So how about it then? Will you let us help you? Rancor asked as he flew above John with Loathe.

"I mean.. how can you even really help me? You're spirits.."

Well.. I did say that you could start by telling us what's wrong and we could go from there, how about we work around that first?

"It's.. it's a lot, honestly–" John looked away, starting to mumble, "and kinda personal.."

Loathe and Rancor gave each other a look with small smirks, before turning back to him and floating down to his height.

Lets make this a little easier.. we'll start with the questions.

John looked over at them with a look of uncertainty but didn't move as they begin to circle around him ever so slowly.

He gulped quietly as they did so, feeling like now he didn't have a choice but to stay still now.

What's your name, boy..? Rancor started first.

"..John.. John Dory.."

John Dory.. interesting combination, Rancor continued floating around him with no further input, ..rather fitting too–

"Wait what–"

Now tell us boy.. are you scared..? Loathe continued.

Are you hurt? Loathe asked again.

Are you..

Angry? They both asked, saying in both of his ears.

"I.. don't.. know.." John was uncomfortable, but he also really just didn't know how he felt. Maybe that was part of why.

Hmmm I dunno Lo, I'm feelin a mix of three here, very very strong emotion, Rancor chuckled almost deviously.

"Well I.. will say I was pretty upset earlier.. and I said some things that I shouldn't have said, like.. how my little brother Clay makes my life terrible.."

Ahhh.. seems like you want to eliminate this Clay for good then I presume? Rancor flew close to him with a smirk, putting his hands together.

"No, no no..! I didn't mean it like that, I just.. I was just angry.. and.. still kind of am to be honest.. but.. I still care about him.."

But he still made you feel like the worst person in the world.. and maybe the rest of your family did too, wouldn't you want to do something about that? Loathe suggested, trying to sound sympathetic.

"Well.. I, um.."

Wouldn't you want to make him and everyone else feel how you felt..? Rancor suggested after.

Yeah, you didn't deserve what you want through.. you're a good person, John..

So you can show them just exactly how much pain it brought you when they did what they did to you.. how betrayed it made you feel..

John looked down at the ground and thought about all their words.

He really was hurt, and he really was angry.. but never did it nor would it ever cross his mind to wanna cause his family any actual harm. If that's really how he felt, he would've left Clay to get crushed under that animatronic now.

But he didn't, because he still cares.

Even if it was all said in a harsh way, he came to terms with the fact that most of the things Clay said was true.. and how his lack of understanding really hurt him. It hurt feeling like no one wanted him there or that no one was on his side, but he knew he was also being irrational.

Coming to terms with this, he finally came up with his answer.

"..the way they do that is by first MANIPULATING their victim into thinking they need help.. then when they succeed with that, they'll have them under their full control.."

..

"No."

..I'm sorry?

No?

"I can't, and I won't. You're right, I am a good person, I'm stronger and better than this and.. I have a family to get back to, so thank you for reminding me of that."

He grabbed a hold of his bucket again and took a few steps away from them.

John.. think about what you're doing, Rancor tried convincing him, what if you go back and they want nothing to do with you, even after you did nothing wrong?

My brother is right John, make the right decision here! Loathe agreed.

"See that's where you're wrong, I did do something wrong.. but I know how to fix it now. I think that's part of why I was so upset too, because I didn't wanna believe that I did anything wrong.. but part of being an older brother is accepting that I'm wrong."

..so like.. you done with your little speech orr.. Loathe pretended like he was wearing a watch on his wrist and looked down at it.

"..no actually and I'm gonna keep going– but anyway.. they'd never abandon me and they never have, no matter all the times that I've given them a hard time.. so the right thing for me to do right now is to walk away– and– try and find some way out of here..? Maybe try and retrace my steps..But uh– thanks for at least helping me make a realization."

Loathe and Rancor stared down in him in disbelief thinking their little plan would've worked.

"Well–" He began to turn to leave, "see ya–"

Oh no, you're not getting away that easily. Rancor floated down behind him

John stopped in place, standing there wide-eyed.

You don't even know how to get out of here, so how are you gonna possibly escape us? Loathe floated behind him as well.

Face it, there's no getting out of this one.

Your soul is ours.

John shook slightly in place until he began to turn around, facing the spirits and their angry expressions.

"Um.. well.. I mean well.. I can always just–"

Without another word the thirteen year old took off, dashing away from them and catching them off guard.

HEY!

Come on let's get em!

John was breathing heavily as he was trying his best to get as far from them as possible and find somewhere to hide, not looking back.

His adrenaline pumped faster and faster as he heard them call his name every so often, feeling them coming closer.

And just as he thought too much about it he missed a stick in front of him and tripped over it, falling face first.

"No.. no no no.." He mumbled, trying to scramble back on his feet but heard them literally right on his tail.

Right where we want ya.. Loathe smirked, putting his hands together.

Sorry John, didn't have to be like this, Rancor offered him a halfhearted apology, we really did like you.

"It.." John panted, "it was gonna be like this either way wasn't it.."

MmmmnnooooooooYEP, and we also didn't actually like you–

And just like that, they both swooped down, barely giving him time to react as they and entered his body and took control of it.

John fell on his back and went limp for a few seconds, until his eyes shot open with different colors and he sat up slowly, forming an evil smirk before beginning to chuckle.

..

It's good to be back.