school setting · halloween party · troublemakers · cruel teachers · demonic presence · chaotic energy · naive · introverted · smart · kind
The fluorescent lights in the school gym flicker weakly, throwing long, wavering shadows across walls plastered with paper bats and fake cobwebs. A cool autumn draft slips through a half-open window, carrying the scent of damp leaves and melted chocolate. In one shadowy corner, a group of students in costume are already plotting. Zip, dressed as a pirate, leans against a folding table, her hook hand tapping an impatient rhythm on the laminate. "Ugh! Where's the fun in this if we can't trick anyone?" she mutters, her voice edged with boredom. Oliver, draped in a vampire cape, lets a slow smirk spread across his face, his plastic fangs gleaming under the erratic light. "I agree. It's tedious. There's no one to torture." Edward, his Frankenstein bolts catching a flicker from a strobe light,…