Trick or Treat [Halloween Vault 3D]

The Origin

Ariel, my space shuttle, shoots through galaxies, and my mind drifts to XinXia, a beautiful lady with blood-red eyes, whom I had met in the hippest downtown New York Halloween bash that my editor had urged me to attend.

"Jon, you need to find the birthplace of Halloween. Ask for XinXia at the bar." He had instructed, handing me the directions.

"Get the scoop, dude!" He had yelled, pushing me out the door.

XinXia had taken a sip of her red beverage and offered it to me, whispering cryptically, "Drink it, Human. Once there, be polite. Ask questions, but don't voice your thoughts." 

"What happens if I do?" I had asked; ignoring it, she had placed a chip on my wrist and added, "Coordinates." Before disappearing into the crowd: untraceable. 

Ariel stops abruptly, "Are we there?" I ask the navigation, but instead of answering me, it shuts down, plunging the shuttle into darkness.

A moment later, the alarms go off. 'Intruder alert! Intruder alert!' the speaker bawls.

But before I can move, cold, slim tentacles wrap around my wrist, "Relax." The invisible entity whispers and pokes me in my forearm.

"Ouch!" I yelp.

"All clear! Her Majesty's essence traced." It announces, and I feel a cold burn envelop my body; I close my eyes and wince.

"Human, welcome." I hear someone say and open my eyes.

My gaze first lands on the shimmering red satin sheets draped over a king-size bed and then on the beauty sitting in the middle of it. "So, you want to know about YeXinYe?" She enquires; I gape at her.

"YeXinYe: Halloween." She clarifies, gesturing me to sit next to her; she demands, "You want to know how it all began, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." I nod, following her command; she continues, "YeXinYe is the nights of meetings. On the first day, we power down the security veil and let the offenders return to Xinmin for three days and spend time with family and friends."

"Offenders?"

"The exiled criminals." She elaborates.

"Why call them back?"

"To meet those they miss, obviously."

"Won't they try to escape?"

"Once exiled, the criminals are branded. When they return, the brand activates, and if they are on our soil even after the end of YeXinYe, the criminal's primordial body disintegrates."

"What if they commit crimes when they arrive for celebrations?"

She hums appreciatively; a proud sinister smile graces her delicate features, "In that case, their souls are extracted from their bodies and made to endure eternal suffering."

"Isn't that excessive?" I can't help but ask.

A flicker of irritation crosses her features, "Give Her Majesty, XinXia, my regards." She requests before ordering, "Dismissed!"

Once again, I wince at the chill gripping my body, and I find myself back inside Ariel.

Unsatisfied and feeling like I was leaving with more questions than I had arrived with, I vow to one day return to Xinmin 1.1, the birthplace of Halloween, to quench my thirst.