A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 8: Let This One Go

Flashback:

Night Raven College, as Halloween night came to a close...

At the Ramshackle Dorm, Malleus is in front of the dorm gate to see the decorations it's been put up.

Malleus says, "I suppose this will be the last I see of Ramshackle's Halloween decor..."

He soon hears the guests leaving for the night.

A gal says, "Shoutout to everyone at Night Raven College! Thanks a bunch!"

Vil says, "No, thank YOU for sticking around and enjoying the festivities to the last."

Seeing that, Malleus says. "People are saying their goodbyes. It must be nearly time to close the campus gates. Soon, Halloween will be over..."

But someone shouts, "WAAAH! We're too late!"

"Hm? What are those voices I hear?" Malleus questions.

Then hears the sound of sniffling. Malleus walks into the gates of Ramshackle Dorm to hear the sounds coming there.

He then asks, "Who is that crying in the shadows of Ramshackle Dorm?"

He continues to hear more sobbing, and reveals themselves to be Abigail, Gregory, and Christopher. The three well dressed ghosts, who are somewhat involved in the Endless Halloween fiasco.

Christopher says, "Greetings, Night Raven College student."

"Ah, a group of ghosts," Malleus says.

Then says to the ghosts, "I haven't seen any of the ghosts on campus wearing that attire before. You're not from around here, are you?"

"That's right. We hail from a faraway land," Christopher says.

Then Gregory says, "We traveled all the way out here for one thing, and one thing only..."

Then all three say, "HALLOWEEN AT NIGHT RAVEN COLLEGE!"

"You wanted to witness Halloween at our school?" Malleus questions.

Then says, "I'm afraid you just missed it. It's over."

"As callous as you are blunt!" Abigail says.

"I freely admit this was the most fun I'd ever had on Halloween. Change is rapid and relentless in the realm of man. Doubt you'll see a Halloween as spirited as this year's any time soon," Malleus says.

"WAAAH! Now you're rubbing salt in the wounds!" Abigail cries.

"Alas, if only we'd seen the posts on 'Magicam' sooner!" Gregory says.

"Magicam?" Malleus questions, but soon remembers, "Oh, I see. You saw posts about it online."

"Yes, we saw them yesterday. Some humans passed by us holding these tiny mechanical plates. They were very excited about something," Christopher says.

"Tiny mechanical plates...?" Malleus says, slightly confused.

But quickly knows the answer, "Ah, I think I understand. You must be referring to their smartphones."

"One human was using their plate to view the 'Magicam.' And when we peered over to look..." Gregory says.

"We saw a picture of a group of ghosts having a grand old time!" Abigail adds.

"Seeing those ghosts having fun partying with humans... Well, it just made me green with envy!" Gregory says.

"We wanted to join in the fun too, so we decided to visit," Abigail says.

"That makes sense. Our ghosts were front and center during this year's celebration," Malleus says.

Then says to the ghosts, "But ghosts are always the stars on Halloween. Could you not have had just as much fun in your hometown? You needn't insist on attending the celebrations here. I suggest you gracefully let this one go."

However, Christopher explains, "The trouble is, we're forgotten ghosts."

"We have nowhere to call home. No one notices us. All we do is drift along endlessly. We've never been invited to a Halloween party," Gregory says.

"You've never been invited to a party...?" Malleus asks, looking rather surprised.

Then Abigail says, "We're so jealous of the ghosts here. It looks like they have a jolly old time..."

"We want to party it up with the living too!" Christopher says.

Malleus soon begins to think, "...Hmmm."

Then says, "And even if you attempted to take part without an invitation, you would be unable to..."

He continues to think.

Then Malleus says, "You know, I had an epiphany this Halloween. If you aren't invited to a party... Simply hold one yourself."

"What?" The three ghosts say, confused.

"It's not too late." Malleus says, "The students of Night Raven College love Halloween. I'm certain that if you invited them to a Halloween party, they would be overjoyed. Even at this hour."

Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Christopher asks.

"Yes. We shall throw a new Halloween party!" Malleus says.

"A NEW PARTY?!" The ghosts ask.

But Gregory says, "But Halloween will be over in less than two hours!"

"Yes, that's right! We couldn't even begin to put together a party in time," Abigail says.

Then Malleus says, "Then we'll simply keep Halloween from ending."

"What? Can we even do that?!" Christopher asks, surprised.

"The school has long maintained a durable barrier around its premises. Combine that with enough power from ghosts, and it would be possible. And if that's still not enough, I'll lend you my power. I will spare no effort to ensure that everyone can experience the joy of a Halloween party," Malleus says.

Happy, Christopher says, "You treat us so warmly, even though we're complete strangers - not to mention ghosts."

"Oh, how very kind you are!" Gregory happily says.

Flashback Ends:

The ghosts have reached the conclusion of their explanation.

"...And that's the story," Christopher says.

Then Lilia says, "Malleus filled me in when he came back to the dorm. Naturally, I was on board! I reached out to the Ramshackle ghosts as well."

Albert says, "Us ghosts gotta look out for each other. We couldn't leave our fellow spirits all by their lonesome! And since it was gonna be a rip-roaring party, we invited Ramshackle's living residence to join us as well."

And just then, Briar, Sereia, and Trinket walk down from the stairs.

"Hey guys, nice to see you," Briar happily says.

"BRIAR?!" Ace exclaims in shock.