Thread: A Halloween to Remember WHO: Everyone! WHEN: Halloween night, October 31st WHERE: School grounds, the graveyard, the woods, the dorms
Like most Experts, Valentin was not in costume yet. Most of them had taken a moment to dress appropriately to the occasion. The young vampire was in his black leather coat, standing by Alex and Davian. The demon was huddled in a coat which was slightly too large for him, but he had not complained much. Last year, Valentin remembered, it had been raining. He wondered how weird it was for Davian to be here without Ambriel.
It was almost nighttime and a solemn mood had descended upon the people who had gathered in the graveyard: the teachers, standing vigil, and the Experts, for whom it was a tradition to be present when the dead rose from their graves. Most students were too busy to prepare their dormitories for Halloween, but the Experts were always present when the sun went down, as a way to pay their respect to the school that had housed them.
For Valentin, it felt bittersweet to be here. He had been curious about this rite of passage since he was a Standard, but to actually stand here... This would be his last year at the Academy. And, of course, there was the chance of seeing someone he knew among the spirits.
His eyes wandered the crowd, finding familiar faces that all looked appropriately solemn – Lucia, James, Alicia, Clara, Dana, Fred... The teachers matched their expressions: Ms. Stheno with her snakes curled up, Mr. Pheres with his arms crossed, Ms. Edouard, Mr. Kaden, Mr. Farrowe, Ms. Hallowfen and Ms. Menides, her face as inscrutable as always.
The sunlight had grown paler and paler, the world cast in blue twilight. And then, a collective shiver went through the people who had gathered in the graveyard.
They rose like smoke from the graves, strands of thin ethereal white that slowly shaped themselves into human-like shapes of silvery grey and translucent blue. A teacher with a fiddle started playing La Danse Macabre and, simultaneously, a low voice joined in. It sounded like a requiem. But, even though this was a solemn moment, Valentin could not contain his smile when saw that Sorin was among the spirits. He saw the conjurer's spirit wave at him and he quickly waved back.
The spirits - Sorin included - assembled around Mr. Cavanaugh, the singer, waiting for him to finish. Like the living, they were paying their respects. Valentin watched them, these ghosts, these restless souls that had not yet departed for the afterlife. A tall, haughty man in an outfit straight from the Civil War. A sad-looking maid with an apron and a bonnet, her wrists cut open and a silvery light pouring out. A trio of monks, their faces hidden under their hoods.
The song ended and the ghosts started making their way towards the school, following path of the warm yellow lights that would lead them to the dorms and the school buildings. Valentin knew most of them would go to the Pegasus house, where the living and the dead gathered and communed. The living shared a meal while the dead could share their experiences. Valentin hoped everything was in order, knowing they had put in a lot of work to prepare their dormitory.
Like always, the spirits would avoid House Hydra, which had made a proper haunted house. The theme this year was more sinister than most years, a creepy experience in a place where cannibals were said to lurk in the darkness. House Kitsune had been turned into a paradise for AV geeks, with their movies and video games. House Sphinx would be all about the board games, though rumor had it that they’d gone all out with their fox hunt this year, hiding clues and flags all over the castle, even in some of the harder to reach rooms.
And then you had House Ladon, which is where most everyone alive ended up to see the sun rise. It was where they built the bonfire and where the music was the loudest and the most dance-able. Usually, students were the music-makers, the most promising disk jockeys getting about an hour to get everyone dancing. No matter how vigilant the teachers were, there was always some way to get alcohol and this year, they had asked Kitsune to provide them with some more of those excellent cupcakes. Even Mr. Kaden’s presence couldn’t avoid that, though he tried. It might have something to do with the fact that every year, all the teachers gathered in the graveyard during the crucial hour before the festivities started. Ladons weren't known for their intelligence, but when it came to creatively breaking the rules, they were a match for most Hydras.
The living waited until all the dead had begun to leave and then followed, walking over the path that was dotted with little lights. Valentin ran to catch up with Sorin.