HallowPalooza | MV short story

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

       HallowPalooza did seem like an amazing thing to go to. And it was for the first hour or so.

       Until someone decided to do a really cruel thing and sent everyone into a course of panic. I didn't know if it was a prank or not, but it wasn't funny at all.

       My band and I were sitting on some chairs, all taking a break after we were dancing the night away. Duke was asleep on my lap and my head was rested on Malachi's shoulder as he continued eating the food he set on a plate. I didn't know how many times he went to the buffet table.

       "You tired?" Malachi asked.

       "A bit," I said. "But I'm not even close to wanting to leave."

       "You know what you need?" Malachi asked. "Some fuel. I'll go get you some punch."

       "Thanks," I said, lifting my head off of his shoulder so he could get up.

       Malachi walked to the food table, not only getting me a drink of punch, but refilling his plate of food. I rolled my eyes. That boy loved his food.

       All of a sudden, the lights and music turned off, including the lights by the stage and it was pitch black. I squinted my eyes in the darkness, not being able to see even Duke sitting on my lap. Everyone began muttering in confusion, curious over the sudden black out.

       When the lights turned back on, the music did as well and people were soon getting back into the party, not even questioning the sudden black out any longer. I couldn't help but feel like something was off.

       Genesis suddenly approached us. "Have you guys seen Zander?" she asked. "I hadn't seen him for a while and I'm really worried about him."

       "No, sorry," Otis said. "Where did you see him last?"

       "We went to get us some drinks," she said. "But he's not at the food table."

       I looked at the food table, and that only made me notice something.

       "That's weird," I said. "Malachi was just there." I pulled my cell phone out of my basket, going to text him, but there was no cell phone signal. "Does anyone else have a signal on there phone?"

       The three guys checked their phone, but they didn't have a signal as well.

       Genesis sighed. "Well, thanks for your help," she said. "I swear, this better not be one of Cannon's pranks." 

       When she walked away to go to Cannon, I stood up. "I'm going to go look for Malachi," I said.

       "I'll help," Junior said as he stood up as well.

       We walked all around the room, trying to find Malachi, but there was no sight of him anywhere.

       I sighed, stopping in my tracks. "I just don't get where he could have gone," I said. 

       "He could have simply went to the washroom," Junior said.

       "No, this is Malachi we're talking about," I said. "He would never leave a plate of food unattended."

       "Or not give you a drink when he promised to get you one," Junior said. "Okay, I admit, this is a bit weird."

       I was going to say something else, but I heard Cannon and Genesis talking nearby. "Genesis, I swear this isn't a prank," he said. 

       "Which is what you said last year right before those snakes were let loose," Genesis said.

       "Okay, but this one isn't a prank," Cannon said.

       I gestured for Junior to follow me and we walked to Cannon and Genesis. "What prank?" I asked.

       "Cannon pulls a prank every year at HallowPalooza," Genesis said. "And I'm guessing this year is making people go missing."

       "Genesis, I swear, I wasn't going to pull a prank this year," Cannon said. "And even if I did, I definitely wouldn't choose Zander as a victim when that could put his health in danger."

       Genesis sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about him." She then looked at me and Junior. "You said Malachi was at the food table, too. Did you find him?"

       I shook my head. "No. Junior and I couldn't find him."

       "That's weird," Cannon said. "And my cell phone isn't working either."

       "Same with ours," Junior said.

       Violet walked over to us, holding her and Hunter's son. "Hey, have you guys seen Hunter?"

       "No," Cannon said. "But let me guess, he was at the food table?"

       "Yeah, why?" Violet asked.

       "Zander's missing too," Genesis said.

       "And Malachi," I said. "They were both at the food table."

       There was static noise nearby, so I turned my head to look at one of the TVs hanging on the wall. "Attention, everyone," a voice on the TV said, making everyone stop making noise and look at the TV. On it was a man wearing a pure white mask. "I see some of you have noticed your friends or loved ones are missing. Don't worry. They're fine. For now. And if you want to see them again, all you will have to do is solve a riddle. However, if nobody solves it within ten minutes, we'll grab another one of you. And don't bother looking on your phone because we disconnected the wifi and phone services. Even data won't work."

       We? So there were more than one person doing....whatever it was they were doing.

       "Here's the riddle," he said before his face was replaced with the riddle.

       It read, 'A woman and a man go on a date. On their date, the woman shoots the man, drowns the man, then hangs him. The next night, the same man and woman go on a date and both of them are one-hundred percent fine. How is this possible?'

       The owner of the record label hosting this party, Kevin Millington, walked onto the stage and to the microphone. "Alright, whoever is pulling this prank needs to stop now. My son is one of those missing people his health could be in trouble if he is somewhere he shouldn't be. So, whoever is doing this, stop it now."

       Nobody said anything. Either they weren't in the room, or they weren't going to come forward. 

      It looked like we had ten minutes to solve this riddle.

______________

Noooooo my Malachi. cx 

Lol, I actually might make the next chapter in Malachi's POV so you could see the behind the scenes of what's really happening. cx 

So, as of right now, Malachi, Zander, Hunter, and Munro are missing. I wonder who will be next....

The picture attached is of Otis.

You know, this is the first book I'm writing where I actually visualize who I chose to portray them, and their voices, all the time while I write. I do sometimes for Ryder the Love Expert, and his second book, and Different, but not every chapter. cx