Summary

On Halloween night, Isaac spends some time alone as he waits to be consulted for a party occurring within a couple hours. Though a power outage cuts things short when it gives way to the entry of a supposed paranormal entity. Isaac is twenty-seven in this story.

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The frigid autumn evening emphasizes itself even further with each sigh of wind outside weaving through the crevices of this neighborhood. My couch cushions feel much more comfortable tonight, almost like a hug, even...with a delightfully welcome embrace. God, I'm exhausted...

It's been a long day today, though it still has yet to end. With tonight being Halloween, me, Skylar, and the rest of Fusion Core have the privilege of attending DarknessClan's annual party for said holiday much like everyone else. I'm looking forward to it, of course. A night of fun, food, and a little dancing with friends is likely something I've needed for a while. But...ah...I fear I might turn out to be a bit of an outcast. I've been told that Halloween is a holiday that I lack enthusiasm for...

I suppose that might be true, but can one blame me? It's more of a child oriented time of year, so it's difficult for me to really find enthusiasm towards it. Though I'm more than willing to participate in tonight's festivities...and I hope that will be enough to make a difference in the eyes of others.

Eating candy at free will without having to feel guilty is always rather nice, after all.

My hand, smelling faintly of the chocolate candies I had set up earlier to give out to the children, lazily slips from its position on my chest to dangle off the couch. Mr. Pugglesworth trots up at the sight, looking for a good stroking.

I give it to him with no hesitation. "Are you ready for the party, boy?"

He sneezes. I can't help but to laugh.

"Hah...not sure what kind of response I expected."

Some sort of cooking commercial drones silently on the television as I lay here, prompting me to exhale with a lazy sigh. "I think I'm getting hungry..."

There will be food at the party, I know, though it seems so far away from now. But I really don't feel like getting up...

Shutting off the TV, I bury my head further into the pillow I lied on and closed my eyes. The setting sun bathes the living room in a soothing orange glow that takes the edge off a slight chill I had developed. Only the perfect environment for a nap.

The event starts at 9:00, I have plenty of time.

Some time later...

WHUMP!

"Gah! Damn it..." I jolt awake. The sounds of the night shortly go dead silent while a sea of darkness consumes my vision. Strange, I don't recall turning off the lights before going to sleep...and what was that noise?

Checking the time through an overwhelmingly bright phone screen beforehand, I get up to flip the light switch...but there is nothing. Then a quick glance out the kitchen window brings to my attention that one of the street lamps is out as well...there must be a power outage in the neighborhood. It's a common occurrence here in this area during the autumn months for reasons unknown, though not something that is difficult to handle. Usually, the electricity returns within thirty minutes to an hour.

I snatch a lighter from the drawer containing my silverware. Rather than using a flashlight, I often prefer to light candles in situations like this. It feels much more soothing, and gives a much nicer atmosphere. Each delicate little flame I set radiates with warmth, burning the wax underneath it and filling the air with the mesmerizing scent of lavender. Admittedly, the power going out had me a little bit nervous, but already I feel at ease again with the gentle flutter of candlelight.

THUD!

I jump in fright again. "The hell was that?"

The same noise as earlier...a creaky footstep-like sound follows it and sends a shiver down my spine. I thought it was the house settling at first, but now I obviously have my doubts...

"So a little bit of a peaceful evening is just too much to ask for, hm?" I mutter to no one in particular. "Alright, I better go take care of this..."

Taking the lighter with me to light more candles, I trudge up the stairs and allow the darkness to swallow me up yet again. From what I can see so far, the coast appears to be quite clear. A few wispy shadows dance about in my peripheral vision as I analyze the area, feeling another slight chill grab hold of my arms and raise goosebumps along my skin. Just like normal on any other autumn evening, though I won't dare let my guard down.

I light some candles on the end table in the hall and breathe in their fresh lavender aroma again. Though without realizing it I end up leaning on the very edge of the table, and my arm rests in a warm, red sticky liquid.

Blood.

My heart drops just below my stomach. "Pugglesworth, where are you??"

He's the only living thing in this house besides me, so I can only imagine the worst...

Fortunately, however, he darts from across the hall and sits down obediently in front of me. I frantically check him for wounds...no cuts, no bruises, no broken bones. The little guy is perfectly fine. In fact, he seems confused about my concern.

Our surroundings hadn't changed much. With chilled thin air slowly being warmed, we stood completely alone in the foreboding darkness while we listened to the soft pitter patter of our own heartbeats. I should be calm, there's...nothing here.

And yet I cannot shake the feeling that we're being watched...

"Pugglesworth, where's your baseball bat?" A couple years ago for his birthday, my colleagues Jason and Bruce had decided that it would be a wise idea to get Mr. Pugglesworth a shining silver metal baseball bat as a gift. It really didn't make any sense to me, of course, but he seemed to take a strong liking to the thing...so I let him keep it. And now, if someone or something is here in this house with us, it would actually be beneficial.

Pugglesworth gives a soft yap before trotting off to the guest room, where he retrieved his bat and brought it back to me. Then, just as he had set it in my hand, we heard another deafening thump...clearly audible much like it had been a construction worker of sorts banging a hammer on the floors. In my bedroom.

I crept across the creaky floor boards with Mr. Pugglesworth in tow, stopping in the wide open doorway of my room...which I distinctly remember closing at some point. Another shallow puddle of blood stains the carpet just by the corner of my bed, and I feel my heart rate begin to quicken while my palms turn slick with sweat.

"Be careful, Pugglesworth." I whisper. "I'm not sure I know what we're dealing with here."

I finally take a couple steps into the room. Ugh, curse my poor eyesight...it's only making it all the more difficult to see in this darkness that feels thicker than fog. I'm not sure if there's simply nothing here, or if I'm just too blind to see it...

The floor suddenly creaks again as my guard lowers, then before we can react...

Whoosh.

A dark figure darts past me. The speed of this entity leaves a strong gust of wind that sends the papers sat on my desk flying from their dormant position.

I swung the bat frantically in hopes of making contact with something, but to no avail. Pugglesworth loudly yaps several warnings, though not fast enough before another figure comes speeding out of the bathroom to shove a mess of sticky silk-like material into my face. All the confusion and surprise shortly causes me to loose my footing and slip clumsily onto the floor. "Agh! Blast it—!"

The silk clings to my face like glue, and I spit and sputter when it threatens to enter my mouth. And— damn it, is that a tarantula?!

With a heave, I yank the sticky material along with it's occupant from my face while scrambling for the baseball bat after dropping it earlier...then sent the hideous creature crashing into the wall with a powerful swing of said weapon. It doesn't move again from the spot.

My heart had become the equivalent to high speed train. "What the hell was that?!"

Mr. Pugglesworth huffs and gives a gesture that can only be similar to a shrug. Well, isn't this grand?

My room's a mess, I was basically just attacked, and something has intruded my living space. What more could someone ask for?

CRASH!

I nearly leap out of my own skin...they're still here. Downstairs.

Pugglesworth barks in alarm.

"I'm on it!" I shout.

We bolt down the stairs back into the dimly lit living room, making a beeline for the kitchen where the noise had come from. I scour every possible nook and cranny for anything out of the ordinary...swinging the bat in reaction to every little sound that makes itself known. But when nothing decides to rear it's ugly head, I allow my actions to come to a halt.

And just like that, all has gone quiet.

Why do I feel like I'm hallucinating?

Mr. Pugglesworth regains his composure, and so do I. "It would be the night of Halloween when I start to hear and see things..."

Maybe there was something here...though what happened was far too much of a blur for me to come to any sort of conclusion on its identity. We'll just have to hope that, with how silent it had gone now, this entity had found its way out.

Resting against the kitchen counter, I gaze out the window into the inky pitch blackness of the night outside...hoping that it would ease the remainder of my nerves a bit more. The wind whispers softly as mine and Pugglesworth's shadows flicker in the candlelight.

My stomach suddenly makes a sound equivalent to that of a whale's mating call. I rub it a few times while suddenly feeling my energy drain ever so slightly. "Gah, I am famished..."

I haven't had that much to eat today. A granola bar or two at best, no thanks to my busy schedule. We planned to eat at the party initially, of course, but even after an hour long nap...it still feels so far away. Perhaps a nice snack would do me no harm...

The front door all of a sudden cracks open with a long, eerie creak. Startled, I take a fighting stance with the baseball bat and prepare for whatever choses to face me...but then a familiar face pokes her head through. "Isaac? You home?"

"In the kitchen, madame." It's only Eden, thank goodness. At least I can have someone else here to watch my back now if things decide to go awry again...

She steps, almost cautiously it seems, into the candlelight of the kitchen with me...gesturing back at the door with a raised eyebrow. "Did you mean to leave your door unlocked?"

"I...don't think so." I reply, in a puzzled tone. Sometimes I do if I know I have guests coming over, but I had no idea of Eden's early appearance tonight. "What brings you here?"

"I came to pick you up because you said you would come help set up for the party, remember?"

That's right. Me and the majority of DarknessClan volunteered to help with some preparations for the festivities. I suppose I just lost track of time with all the shenanigans I had dealt with...

But with such shenanigans remaining on my mind, there's not a chance I could possibly leave my house unsecured.

Whatever I had encountered is still here, I can feel it for sure now that I've seen my door unlocked...

And I'm going to have to dispose of it.

"Isaac?" Eden is still standing there. I nearly forgot.

"Yes, I remember." I finally say to her. "Erm...can I ask you a favor, madame?"

She tilts her head inquisitively as I begin to fill her in on tonight's occurrences. Everything from me falling asleep and waking up in a power outage to the potential threat of an intruder, Eden hardly misses a detail.

"So you don't feel comfortable leaving here until you sort this thing out?" She concluded.

I nod. "Correct." Then my stomach growls subtly as I quickly mask the sound with a clearing of my throat. "But I would like to have a little something to eat first to clear my head, and someone to watch my back for a moment while I do so would be much appreciated."

Eden doesn't hesitate. With a smirk while in the blink of an eye, she shifts into her animal form and takes a defensive stance nearby the kitchen, unsheathing her claws to examine them as means to intimidate the enemy...assumably. "You can count on me." She said.

I smirk back. Never a dull moment with her.

I consult my fridge and the pantry to retrieve a couple ingredients, swiftly whipping up a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich as my snack of choice. I offer a spoonful of peanut butter to Mr. Pugglesworth for a treat as I do so, he deserves it for having my back earlier.

Eden snorts while contorting her face into a look of disgust. "Ugh, peanut butter..."

"Still a critic, I see." I retort in a teasing tone.

"Not a critic." She insists. "Just an individual with an opinion."

She leaves it at that, a wise decision. Not many favor going back and fourth with me when talking about my favorite snack, and I wouldn't expect her to be any different.

The scent of peanut butter overwhelms my senses as I polish off the sandwich in just a few seconds flat, which calms my nerves and suddenly has me feeling at ease again like nothing ever happened tonight. Someone should really write an article about the therapeutic qualities of peanut butter, or perhaps I'll be the one soon...

"Hey, how come your place isn't decorated for Halloween?" Eden inquires out of the blue.

I can only shrug in response. "I did not think I was supposed to decorate."

"Well, you don't have to, I guess..." The tigress replies. "It's just that literally every house in this neighborhood is decorated except yours. You could put out, like, one pumpkin at least."

As if I have not heard that one before. I'm much too busy during the week most of the time to even think about doing something as simple as carving a pumpkin. I thought about it briefly, but it just got shoved to the back of my mind before I could even realize it. Attending this party alone would be the most Halloween related thing I've done this year, even.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, madame, but Halloween is not entirely my most favored holiday." I explain.

Eden chuckles. "Not a fan of spooky ghosts and ghouls, hm?" She waves her tail playfully when she catches me rolling my eyes. It's like everyone who goes on about Halloween has a fascination with the supernatural...

"Please, madame...don't tell me you believe in ghost—"

CRASH!

We both jump. My state of relaxation suddenly vanishes as I remember the very thing that's been giving me grief tonight. And now it's in my science lab.

"Well, I believe in that noise...which may or may not be a ghost." Eden replies to my earlier question.

I arm myself again with the baseball bat. "Whatever it is, there will be hell to pay if it lays so much as a fingerprint on my equipment. Let's make haste."

Eden dips her head, and I allow her to go first while gesturing for Mr. Pugglesworth to stay where he is. He huffs in response, but fortunately complies. I appreciate his eagerness to help, but the very last thing I need is him getting hurt tonight.

We creep down the stairs leading to the lab with darkness consuming us whole. The floorboards creak eerily under our feet as the sound of objects breaking and crashing against each other intensifies further below. This entity is reckless...lord knows what sort of force we'll have to bestow upon it to drive it out.

Eden is the first to set foot on the cold metal surface of the laboratory, ears twitching and fur prickling to detect any unusual sounds or movements. I stay where I am a couple steps above her as my heart rate once again quickens in anticipation. "Do you see anything?"

"Nothing in particular..." The tigress replies. Then I notice her squint. "I know I don't come down here much, but did you always have a big pile of blankets in the corner over—"

Whoosh.

The titular blanket that she was referring to is suddenly alive in the darkness as it flies in the air and reveals the two shadowy entities I had seen earlier tonight before either of us have time to blink. Eden makes a dive for one of them with claws unsheathed, but is quickly thrown into a rut upon getting tangled in the blanket when it was tossed at her.

I throw myself in. The dark figure clumsily ducks out of the way when I make a valiant swing of my weapon, then scrambles between my legs in an attempt to escape. Wavering shadows practically seem to be kicked up like invisible dust as we fumble about...almost rendering my vision completely blackened. Though there's no stopping me...

Locking the figure in place somehow, I collide the bat with it's head. It crumples to the floor with a pained shriek...one that I recognize all too well. "Wait a minute—"

Eden suddenly shouts. "Isaac look out!"

Too late, apparently. A big meaty bear hand lays upon my shoulder with a rough grip as I whirl around to find the other dark figure behind me. I yelp in surprise and wind up the bat for another shot, but I'm promptly apprehended by the hissing of a spray can alongside a sticky stringy substance clinging to my face...further blinding me in this insufferable darkness.

"Dammit, not this again!" What, will there be another tarantula as well?

Another shadow narrowly slips by in what little remains of my vision, and I foolishly toss myself at it without a second thought. My weapon goes over my shoulder yet another time, then I'm swinging while hardly realizing it...

BAM!

"AAGH!"

And then...like magic almost, the lights are back on.

I tear the string material off my face to find the lab a mess. Sheet metal laid scattered about amongst broken glass shards that once belong to several test tubes. A chemical experiment, one that I had been spending several days at a time on, is spilled all over my main lab table in a green sticky mess...soaking all the tools and equipment that laid in it's way. It is not toxic, fortunately, but still...I believe I have the right to be absolutely livid.

"Owww..." Eden is crouched on the floor, rubbing her nose as tiny droplets of blood appear to be trickling from a nostril.

I rush to her aid. "Madame! Are you alright? What happened?"

"You having one heck of a batting arm, that's what happened." She replies. "I was going to tackle the bad dudes, but ended with a face full of metal. If I had been any closer, you could've taken my whole nose off..."

"Sorry, it was so dark...and I had something sprayed in my face, I could hardly—" I stop myself. Just as it dawns on on me that I actually hadn't struck one of the intruders, I notice at the corner of my eye...two individuals dressed in all black, armed with cans of silly string while they sported familiar dopey looking expressions that were laced with guilt.

And I'd recognize it anywhere.

Jason and Bruce.

My incompetent coworkers.

"Heeeey, boss..." They both said in unison with an awkward wave.

"You've gotta kidding me..." Eden seems to be in the same amount disbelief as me. "I took a baseball bat to the face for this?"

My voice echoes loudly in the empty air of the lab. "What the hell are you two doing here???"

They glance back and fourth at each other several times, clearly trying their damnedest to come up with their best excuse. Though I don't think I'm very inclined to listen to whatever it may be, to be quite honest...

"It was all Bruce's idea!" Jason immediately spouted.

"Oh no...don't you tie me down here, we had equal partnership in this plan!" Bruce fired back.

Dear lord, I swear I cannot put up with these two... "I do not care who's idea it was." I insist firmly to them. "Just one of you...please tell me what exactly your intentions were tonight!"

Jason sinks onto the floor, legs trembling in clear nervousness. "Well...a couple days ago, we were in the neighborhood and we noticed that your place didn't have any decorations up."

"We knew it was because you're not that into Halloween, and we thought it'd be neat to get you more into the spirit." Bruce continued. "So we...took advantage of the power outage and snuck inside your house to spookify some things up a bit."

"So the blood on the end table in the hall...?" I questioned.

Jason pulls a squeeze bottle of red liquid out from his back pocket. "Red hair dye." He says.

"What about the silk stuff and the tarantula?"

"The silk was realistic fake cobwebs." Bruce adds. "And the tarantula was a remote control toy we got from the dollar store."

It would be just like them to do something as absurd as this. Whether it be looking for advice to create some inferior type of phone application, or bringing me a literal alien egg to inspect...there's always something new with these two. Some days I can put up with it, and on others it's just purely bothersome.

Tonight...it was infuriating.

"Um...boss?" Jason crept a tiny bit closer, then back again when he noticed the look of seething frustration beginning to form on my face. They may think their explanation was logical, but I have no intentions to let it save them.

Somewhere behind me, Eden gives a disapproving huff. "You know you guys' little plan here seemed to cause a lot of unnecessary damage, right?" She retorts. "I'd run now if I were you."

And that's precisely what they did.

With frightened yelps, the mischievous duo high tailed it out of my lab...with me hot on their heels like a wild dog at the backside of a meat truck. What a night this is turning out to be...and it's only 8:00.

I may never do anything for Halloween again...

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This is the rewritten story. Not a fan of that action scene, feel like I could've done better on it...but oh well. Took me way too long to finish this, anyway, haha...