Happy Halloween (Prologue)

Ghouls, little devils, robots, witches, all kinds of monsters ran a muck in the chilly autumn night of Jump. Instead of just screams being heard however, laughter also rang through the air. And these so called monsters, were not monsters at all, oh no, they were costumes! Of course! It was Halloween!

As people celebrated the day of Hollow’s Eve, a few teenagers were celebrating in their own way. Instead of carving pumpkins, trick or tricking, or throwing some type of party, these kids were looking for mischief. They guided a newcomer, some new kid they invited to hang out with their little group of troublemakers. They walked quite the distance away from town, yes they did, but for them it was all part of the plan. A not so nice plan to scare the new kid, they called it a type of initiation into their club, even though none of the friends have had to do anything of the sort before. Not nice at all.

“Come on, you go first!” One of the bigger kids shoved the newcomer forward towards the gates that lead to their  destination. And where was that you ask? A giant Manor, run down, and lifeless. The lands were barren, and all the statues that adorned the yard were covered in cobwebs and dust. “A-are you sure we’re allowed in here?” The new kid asked, adjusting the rim of his glasses. “You’re not chickening out now are ya?” “Besides, there’s no one here to kick us out anyway!”
Knowing that he would not be able to escape the grasp of the other three kids, the boy pushed forward. The gate creaked and rattled loudly as it was pushed open, and once the boy was quite a few feet inside the yard, the other kids decided it was safe enough to follow at a close distance.
“So, what exactly are we doing here? Exactly?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot about the story behind this place.” One of the other tall boys chimed in. “There’s an evil spirit locked away in this place.”
“And it’s there’s a riddle that comes with instructions on how to revive it.”
“That’s where you come in new kid! You’re gonna solve this mystery for us.” The kids continued walking towards the entrance of the manor as they discussed.
“A-and what exactly do I have to do?”
“Solve the riddle of course!”
“It goes like this, ‘A dauntless smile carved out its fate, an eternity it will haunt this place, for eventually a soul too brave, will return the light to its hollowed out grave~”
They got to the doors of the manor, and they all surrounded the boy, making sure he knew there was no way out of this. The group leader pulled out a cigarette and held out his hand as one of his buddies pulled out a lighter and placed it in his palm. He lit it and took a swig before placing the lighter in the newcomers hands.
“Now go on, we’ll meet you inside once you’ve scoped out the place.” The group leader egged him on, as his buddy pried open the doors with a crowbar, it was obvious these boys were not strangers to the procedure of breaking and entering. The door was eventually opened and the boy was herded in by the other three. “I-I don’t think this is such a-“
“Good idea? Nahh, come on you’ll do fine!! Besides.” The leader grinned as he shrugged his shoulders cockily. “You don’t have a choice~.” With that he shoved the kid inside who didn’t even have a chance at resisting, with his stature, and the other two teenagers closed the door behind him and barricaded it so there was no escape.
“Come on guys!Let me out! Please!” He banged loudly on the door as taunting laughter was heard from the other side. He soon gave up and turned to face the rest of the house, the only light available was that of the full moon shining through the windows, and of course the lighter he was given. The boy however was too afraid to light it, scared of what the light would awake or unveil. He walked down the foyer, hesitantly, and glanced around. Sheets were draped around most of the furniture, and dust covered every shelf and painting on the wall. The boy made his way shakily, down the corridors, and only the door at the end of the hallway was cracked open,  if he tried the doorknobs of the other rooms he would would find that they would not budge.
He felt something luring him to the room furthest in the back. He slowly pushed the door open and was surprised to find that most of the room was empty, except a single windowsill with a carved jack-o-lantern sitting on the top. It was strange however, a place completely abandoned, slowly eroding, and sinking with time, yet the smiling pumpkin looked and felt fresh.

“A dauntless smile...” he muttered under his breath, reciting the riddle in his head as he pulled out the lighter.  “....return the light to its hollowed out grave...” He lit the wick inside the Jack-o-lantern.

He stared at the flickering flame, nothing seemed different other than the dim light than danced across the room walls. Maybe it had been nothing but a hoax, he slumped his shoulders as he felt a bit more relaxed.
“Hehehehehe.....well done.” The boy stumbled backwards as he heard the low cackling voice. He began to hyperventilate, and crawled towards the the door, his only exit. But just as his hand reached the handle the door slammed shut. He pulled on it violently, trying to escape, but it was no use.
“Leaving so soon?” The boy collapsed to the floor, his back sliding against the door as he landed on his bum. He scanned the room to find where was the voice coming from, but the only thing with him in the room was the orange, glowing pumpkin. The boy’s eyes widened and his fingers scraped the wooden floors in fear as he saw the pumpkin begun to levitate. Vines began to sprout from the bottom of the pumpkin, creating first what looked like a leafy green torso, and then it continued to grow limbs until it had a complete body of its own. “How refreshing.” The pumpkin man turned its hands over and over, clenching and unclenching his fists. He turned his attention to the young boy, who sat still, and who’s were glued on him, stricken with absolute fear.
“So you were the soul to solve my riddle...”
The boy whimpered, and pushed himself back against the door, wanting to move, budge, run away.
“.....How interesting~” He began to cackle again as the room began to fill with a heavy thick fog, if you were outside however, you’d notice that it wasn’t just that one room.

“It’s been a while man, and I haven’t heard a single scream.”
“Come on man, what if he doesn’t come back out.”
“Will you two stop, look, we’ll give the guy a few more minutes. If he don’t come out, you go in after him.”
“Me?! Uh-uh, I ain’t going in there.”
“Why, ha! You scared?”
“No-“
“Then stop your wining....” they all then stopped their conversation abruptly as they noticed the air around them. It suddenly got very foggy. It was thick, and heavy, soon the boys would lose each other. Even as they called out to each other they had a hard time finding anyone. Then all that was heard was the same bellowing laughter that belonged to the sentient pumpkin beast.
“Welcome to my humble abode, boys.” The last thing heard was a scream from the fear stricken males and the continued taunting laughter.