Halloween had been murdered.
Strangled, neutered, erased.
A holiday left for dead by the Kingdom.
The Episcopalians and Catholics were allowed to hold onto All Saints Day, although now it was officially called Remembrance Day, a day to remember family members or fellow parishioners who had passed into the great beyond.
The only remnant of Halloween was a Fall Festival Day celebrated in mid-October. It involved some carnival-like activities, like apple bobbing and cornhole tosses, but mostly was an excuse for revival services. There was some costuming, but they had to be biblical figures, and a smattering of approved historical costumes that represented Kingodm favorites, like Confederate heroes like Robert E Lee and Nathan Bedford, founding fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, a handful of more modern age heroes like Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
There were no ghosts or goblins, witches or demons, risque costumes or serial killers.
And nothing on what was once Halloween.
Except for some rebellious teens. It was a small group that met on Halloween night in makeshift costumes, with eggs and toilet paper in hand.
This special night, the fifth year since Halloween was banned, they met near the old Gurney mansion, a rambling, ancient Victorian that had been empty since 1966.
"To Halloween!" The Fab Five (as they called themselves) lifted their drinks in the air, a special brew concocted by the Harley twins, moonshine made from corn, malted wheat, and sunflowers. That alone could get the five sent to Reeducation Camp.
Hunter Blue repeated, "To Halloween!" and the group toasted again. Hunter was fifteen, lean and short, with thick, curly black hair and intense blue eyes. His costume consisted of camouflage clothing and a hockey goalie's mask. It was easy enough to find - camo was second nature to a hunting family, and his older brother had once played hockey.
Candy Kapok had her arm around Hunter, her other arm raising her glass 'o' mash. She was dressed in a flimsy harem outfit, covered with filmy scarves. It was a costume that her mother wore several years ago, claiming it was Jezebel and, therefore, biblical. Local Kingdom officials disagreed. Even though her mother never wore it again; she kept it in her closet, where it was easy for Candy to find.
The other female, Jessica Daniels, wore a long black dress and had on a pointed black hat (an old sorting hat from the Harry Potter universe, an item her older brother had failed to throw away). Albin Harley had painted himself green and had on a neckband with two bolts protruding from it. And Winston Gray, the final member of the Fab Five, had failed to find even the simplest costume, except for a plastic axe.
"What are we going to do, Hunter? Just sit here and get drunk? Or are we going up to the mansion and piss off some ghosts?," asked Winston, craving more action, itching to plunk his plastic axe into something.
Candy pulled at Hunter's camo. "Let's dance, baby!" she urged.
Hunter pulled back from her. Candy was fun, but he'd rather do that when he had her one-on-one. "Naw. Let's do what we come here for."
"Yeah!" echoed Winston, showing his carton of eggs. "Let's break into that mansion and do some damage!"
"Oh, yeah!" added Albin, shakily lifting a toilet paper roll. "Let's put some teepee in the Gurney-hole!" The others didn't quite get the reference, but it sounded way cool.
They high-fived and then charged to the mansion entrance, slowing and hesitating when inches from it.
"A-are you sure we should we do this?" Jessica was gripped by nervous fear.
"Hell, yeah!" said Hunter, filled with bravado, doing his best to impress Candy.
He tapped the door slightly, and it slowly opened, squeaking spookily. Hunter was wary that all he had to do was lightly touch it, and it was swinging slowly open, seemingly on its own.
They entered the huge foyer, Hunter leading the way. It was dusty and dirty, but still an elegant marble floor, a spiral staircase leading up to a second floor. Cobwebs were covering the staircase rail.
Winston took out an egg and launched it towards the staircase. They laughed as it splats on the third step.
"Let's go up the steps!" said Albin. "Let's mess up some bedrooms!"
"Naw," said Hunter. "Let's see what's on this floor first."
Before the staircase, there was an open side entrance leading to another room. Inside were empty library shelves, a large ancient desk, and a plush, oversized chair almost like a throne.
A chair that was not empty.
Stay blogged for Part 2...coming soon!
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