A very merry Halloween! [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 31st of October
Characters: Open!
Warning: Non-sexual desecration of formerly buried corpses

---

On the morning of Halloween, when people first step out of their houses, they will almost step into something.

A bucket of water. Every flat and every house in the Mossgate Boundary has a bucket placed in front of its entrance door (and sometimes, especially in Folkton and Moss Manor, the back door too), in which scary apples are floating. A little sign taped to the bucket reads: Have fun bobbing!.

But that's not the only thing that happened. The second thing that people will notice is that there are billions of spiders of all sizes crawling all over the town and villages, the military base, the Manor House... everywhere. And they certainly did their job - trees, lanterns, the higher attractions on the pier, and everything else that is high all over Mossgate Council is covered in thick layers of cobweb.

And lastly... those who pass by a church will notice something about the graveyards around them. Namely, that someone placed skeletons on top of most of the graves... Awfully real looking ones. Really, really awfully real looking ones. To some of them, the soil of the graveyard still clings, and the graves underneath them are in a state that betrays that they were dug up during the night. DNA tests would show that, indeed, the skeletons belong to the individuals buried in the graves.

Comments

[iamnotgod]

Walter noticeably relaxes - though some of it is "for effect", so that Feste can see it.

"Good."

He ends up rubbing his own hand on his jacket; some sort of psychosomatic reaction, probably.

"Probably shouldn't do that again... in other news, did you take a look at those apples this morning?"

[fairfeste]

Feste wipes their hand off, still gazing up at the cobwebs until Walter distracts them. "Apples?"

[iamnotgod]

"Apples," Walter confirms.

"A bucket of water with them at everyone's door. No reports of who put them there."

[fairfeste]

"Oh. Right. I did see those. ....They were kind of creepy looking." Is someone just playing a prank on the village?

... I think this is right. |D

[iamnotgod]

"I think that what they look like isn't as creepy as how it looks," Walter says, glancing once more at the webbing.

"All those buckets, all over Mossgate and the nearby villages. Not a single trail of wet footprints, or any indicator as to where the apples are from."

[fairfeste]

Feste looks back at it too, frowning. "...It can't all be the same person or group, can it? I mean. This is a lot." And it's not that big of a village.

[iamnotgod]

"Assuming the webs, the apples, and the skeletons all happening today aren't a coincidence? I should think not."

Or hope, more like.

"... It's not centering on houses of specific people, though that's not all that reassuring on the whole."

[fairfeste]

"I mean. It would definitely be creepier if it was, wouldn't it?" Maybe imply that someone was trying to curse certain people, or something. Or maybe they're trying to curse the village? With... spiders and creepy apples? They sigh, a slight pout on their face.

"I bet we're not even going to find out." How rude. That's rude, whoever did this.

Since I think Walter would have learned their name from Mary by now, if nothing else.

[iamnotgod]

"You might have just jinxed us, Feste."

That said slightly less seriously than the tone of the previous discussion.

"But yes, it'd definitely be creepier... even if the apples don't seem to have any deeper implications."

Apart from looking like skulls.

i think feste introduced themselves at the casting call so you're good

[fairfeste]

Feste grins. "I'd only jinx you if you were mean to me," they say chipperly.

But... then the chipperness fades, and they blink, hard. Why are they so dizzy all of a sudden...?

[iamnotgod]

Walter takes note of that sudden lull in conversation.

"Feste...?"

Was it the webs? The apples? Or something he said?

[fairfeste]

"Sorry..." They put a hand to their head but try to shoot him a reassuringly smile. It probably doesn't work, since they suddenly really don't feel well. "I just got kind of dizzy all of a sudden. I probably need to eat something." Just maybe not apples.

[iamnotgod]

Walter's response is more of a flat look.

"While that would probably help... did you happen to get a sense of feeling hollow along with the dizziness?"

His tone now is less suspicious and more outright concern - and empathy, possibly to Feste's surprise.

[fairfeste]

Feste blinks at him, mouth slightly open. "Uh... yes?" Oh god, is this is a specific new thing they haven't heard about? Because this is the second time this has happened, are they sick???

[iamnotgod]

"Seeecond question, and I swear I wouldn't be asking this if you hadn't said yes; you don't happen to have a Number you can't forget no matter what anymore, do you?"

Now he's just quietly glancing around, making sure there's no one paying an unusual amount of attention to them...

Or at least any familiar strange bald men.

[fairfeste]

Hoooow is he doing that. Oh god, is that related too? Are they dying because of numbers??? "Y...yeah...?"

[iamnotgod]

"The good news is, you're definitely not alone. I can show you what happens if you type up or write down the Number anywhere, even."

He shifts in place a little.

"The bad news, though, is that no one knows why it's happening, not for certain, and the longer you have a Number the more bizarre things are likely to get for any one person."

At least no one's died yet...???

[fairfeste]

There is a long, long moment where Feste just stares. They think that's probably justified because--

"Are you crazy?"

The way they say it is not accusatory- they just sounds genuinely curious. Because that sounds pretty crazy.

[iamnotgod]

"That'd be the easy way out."

Said as flatly as possible.

"But I've been trying to not get into anything crazy for well over ten years by this point - if there was a sane explanation for this, we'd have found it by now. If it was just me, I'd have gone back to London."

He shakes his head.

"But nope, this is just... reality, now. That sense of hollowness hits you, you hear a heartbeat - next thing you know your eyes or your voice has changed, or you can run faster than the proverbial speeding bullet."

[fairfeste]

Oh, right. Walter did also say something about writing the number now. They sort of ignored that, in favor of assuming crazy.

"That's, like. Super creepy. Really super creepy." They don't like it. Not one bit. But... they'll pull out their phone, frowning as they type in the number that's been swimming around their head for weeks.

[iamnotgod]

"No argument."

It's more of a grumble than a statement by this point, but Walter shakes his head and sighs.

"Right, right. What are you seeing, right now? On the phone?"

Though it could also be audio.

[fairfeste]

Feste is looking at it, frowning. "Some sort of audio post, I think?"

He pushes play on it, listening- and then jaw dropping as he hears two very familiar voices. "Is that Nel? And Mum?!"

[iamnotgod]

Walter hesitates for what feels all-too-noticeable... to his perception of time, anyway.

Feste may or may not catch it, given how distracted they've just become.

"Yes. That'd be their first interaction with the Network, too. You should probably tell them," he continues.

"Have all your cards on the same table and whatnot."

Feste could troll their family, perhaps, but given that their Mum is involved that would probably backfire terribly.

[fairfeste]

Feste absolutely does not notice, a little too caught up. They're kind of surprised Nel hadn't said anything... they're not sure if they should be impressed or worried about when she hits teenage years.

"Yeah... I guess so," they say, still staying at their phone. This is a lot, ok.

[iamnotgod]

Both, Feste. When in doubt, go for both.

"... You want to sit down anywhere?" Walter asks, keeping his gaze on Feste for now, instead of nervously gazing around like he feels like he should.

It's probably just nerves. Probably.