A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 5: The Temerity!

"Settle down, please," Crowley says. "As you're aware, we are facing a crisis unlike any we've ever seen at this school. Two-thirds of our student body has vanished. We are trapped on campus, and all our attempts to leave have failed. And there's something even more astonishing..."

"The time, yes?" Rook replies.

"Ah, so I'm not the only one who noticed," Crowley says.

"What's the about the time?" Sebek questions.

"Just what time does all think it is?" Rook questions.

"Whoa, talk about a random question," Ace says, taken by surprise. "Let's see, it's just about... Oh, right. My smartphone's not working, and I don't have a watch."

"When I woke up and looked at my clock, it was close to midnight. Given the time it took to search the dorm and given everyone here, I believe it should be just past 1 a.m," Riddle answers.

"Have a gander at the clock on my desk," Crowley says.

Riddle looks at the clock and becomes baffled and confused, "... Wait, is that correct?"

What he sees is that it's 11:59 p.m.

"Are you all right, Riddle? You're unfailingly punctual; it's not like you to misjudge the time. It's close to midnight right now," Silver replies.

"That can't be right..." Riddle says, disbelief.

Then Ortho says, "you know, I thought that was strange too! I ran a three-hour update starting at 11:30, but when I woke up, it was 11:59. With my brother being gone, I figured it must have been some sort of glitch. But maybe it wasn't an error at all?"

"I can hardly blame anyone for being confused, as we are all quite defenseless when we sleep. Most people cannot tell how many hours they've slept by their senses alone," Rook explains.

Then says with pride, "In my case, however, I can gauge how long I've been out within a 10-minute margin of error. Learning to assess how long you've been unaware of your surroundings is essential for any huntsman."

Leona lowers his head as he places his hand on it, "Real creepy superpower you got there."

"Superpower?" Rook replies, "Oh, it's hardly anything so grandiose.

"I don't think that was a compliment..." Trey replies.

Then Rook explains, "I went to sleep at 11 p.m. last night, and when I sensed something was amiss and woke up, six hours had passed. With the time I spend ascertaining the situation and coming here, it should be 6 a.m. by now."

"Then it should be well past sunrise," Sebek replies, still shocked.

"And yet it's completely dark out, even though there aren't any clouds in the sky," Silver says.

"Indeed. It's quite strange," Rook replies.

Then says, "Clocks not ticking, morning not breaking... It's as if time itself has stopped across the whole campus."

This shocked everyone in the room.

Silver is the first to speak up, "Did you just say that time..."

"...has stopped?!" Riddle adds, shocked.

Then Crowley says, "It's difficult to figure out the particulars without first identifying the cause. But it's relatively safe to say that Hunt is correct."

"Half the students are gone, we're trapped on campus, and all communications are blocked. And now you're saying time has stopped? This can't be all an accident, then. We should probably treat this as some kind of attack," Jamil says.

"I knew it!" Sebek says in anger, "How DARE someone attack the school that Malleus attends! This TEMERITY! They shall pay dearly for this!"

"Y'know, it's true that princes like Leona and Malleus go here, but... Tons of other famous people do too. Uber-rich guys, celebrities, you name it. Kinda makes sense that someone would target this place," Ruggie says.

"But a lot of students from humbler backgrounds are missing too, like Cater and Deuce," Trey says.

"True," Riddle says, "Perhaps it's the work of people who want to quash promising young mages."

"Hmm. We have so little info to go on that it's hard to accurately profile the culprit," Ortho replies

Just then, Floyd says, "Oh, hey. It's still Halloween, guys."

"What?" Jamil questions.

"If it's not midnight yet, that means it's still October 31st, right?" Floyd questions. "Halloween's not over yet."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke? This is hardly the time, Floyd," Riddle sternly questions.

"I ain't jokin' here. Look, if someone wanted to nab a student, or get at their parents... Then there'd be no reason to stop the clock on Halloween, right? Sounds to me like whoever's behind this doesn't want Halloween to end," Floyd explains.

"Nonsense! What could anyone possibly gain from that?!" Riddle says, disbelief.

"How should I know? I didn't do it," Floyd says with a frown.

Then smiles, "But hey, Halloween's fun, right? Makes sense to me that someone would wanna stretch it out as long as possible."

"Considering the culprit has yet to make any demands, there's a certain logic to Floyd's suggestion. But still..." Jamil says.

Rook and Silver remain silent.

Then Ace says, "Whoa, whoa, hold the phone. Does that mean..." and makes a shocked expression. "Halloween's never gonna end?!"