by Tony Ortiz
Katie nodded.
“What kind of pranks?” I wondered hesitantly.
“Jesse, it doesn’t matter. If they come in close contact with you or give you more than a glance, they will know you’re human and kill you.”
CHAPTER TEN
KALA’S FATE
“Jesse, you’ll be fine,” concluded Jacoby. “Just stick with us and don’t make yourselves too conspicuous. They won’t question you two if you don’t give them a reason. Alright?”
It wasn’t alright at all. I suddenly lost all interest in seeing what went on inside the stadium. We could always give the Monster Mash a try. There was even a Magic Potential cubicle, a warlock scholar speaking about the Hidden History of Samhain, and a stage featuring The Magician’s Greatest Bloody Performance. They all sounded like better choices to me than risking my life to see the game. But if we had to go, I had to take precautions. I wasn’t about to just stand there waiting to be killed. I eyed an insurance booth advertising curse security plans as we passed it.
“Jesse, don’t worry,” Jacoby said, sensing my mood, as we walked along the stadium, “no one will even look our way.”
I could see what he meant, as I watched Dorian paying a trembling merchant at a souvenir stand five Red Pops for five black wristbands, with Kala’s name printed on it.
“Cool!” said Katie when he got back.
Dorian handed them out, and everyone tied them around their wrists.
The ground vibrations and noise from within the stadium rumbled more intensely. Just as I looked up, a large bolt of light flashed high up in the air, followed by thunderous BOO’s.
Jacoby came up to one of the entryways, set between the stone legs of a giant spider.
ENTRANCE TO THE LOWER LEVEL
SECTION GHOUL 1-50
“I believe this is the best place to enter,” he told us, touching the side of a cracked urn that rested on the ground.
After seeing Lin touch it, Katie and I did the same thing before entering. The long dark tunnel amplified the roar of the crowd. I could see a section of the stadium seats through an opening ahead. There was another flash of light; this one lasted a lot longer and illuminated the whole tunnel. A huge disfigured creature flew by the entrance, and the sound of a witch’s cackling chased after it.
A hooded skeleton was slumped on a stool by the entrance, mumbling into his collar bone, as if it was a walkie-talkie. When we arrived, he bowed his skull even lower and droned in a tired voice, “Read out loud.”
Written on the wall behind the skeleton was some kind of declaration.
Jack O’Games
I swear to keep my magic inside my pocket. If I get caught, I agree to twenty-four hours of whatever punishment the Haunt House subjects me to. I will not in any way assist the samhain players and understand that the same punishment would apply. I am not a human in disguise. I am a samhain. I am aware that if I enter in violation, I will be killed. May I come in?
Jacoby was just finishing up reciting the inscription. “. . . if I enter in violation, I will be killed. May I come in?”
“Trick or treat?” asked the skeleton.
“Trick,” said Jacoby without hesitation.
“Proceed at your own risk. Next!”
Dorian nudged my stiff body toward the skeleton. I didn't want to go in. How could they risk our lives? We looked human!
The stomping of the crowd outside shook the tunnel, so I could barely hear the skeleton shout, “The proclamation must be read or you may not enter!”
Dorian nudged me again. I read the proclamation, unable to hear myself say any of it. The skeleton didn’t order me to speak louder so I spoke in my normal voice.
“. . . the same punishment would apply. I am not a . . .” I paused. I wasn't going to say “human”. If they caught me, then I could say I never read it. “I am aware that if I enter in violation, I will be killed. May I come in?”
The skeleton couldn’t hear me over the foot stomps.
“May I come in?” I repeated a little louder.
“Trick or treat?” said the skeleton.
“Trick!” I shouted clearly.
“Proceed at your own risk. Next!”
Katie stepped up and didn’t even recite it. She read a note written next to the proclamation about safety tips and candy littering. Lin was even worse. He called the kitis skeletis names and recited stupid limericks. After Lin was done messing around, Dorian read the proclamation. Finally, we were going to enter, but just before the stadium showed itself, Jacoby and Dorian turned down into a stinky tunnel, webbed with rotting vines and glowing algae. It seemed to go on forever. It felt like we were hiking to the center of the Earth. Jacoby spent a lot of time quietly talking to Dorian. I couldn’t make out anything they were saying, even after the foot stomping died out in the distance.
Katie and I stopped before a huge archway with text running from one side of it to the other.
THE game
To secure a victory, the samhain (player 1) must drive Jack (player 2) into the eternal realm (10-meter-deep circular black hole) and have him/her touch the back of it before the 3 minutes are up. The one with the fastest time or most awarded points, will be granted the option to choose who they play for the next round, with the exception of the final three matches, in which players’ positions will be assigned to them by the games’ officials.
Flying or hovering 10 meters above the ground level will result in disqualification. Maiming your opponent is forbidden and will result in being banned from all future festivals. The game will be halted if any player uses magic that threatens the opponent’s life or if potentially dangerous magic not listed below takes place, and a ruling shall be reached before the game may resume. Perpetrators will be subject to Haunt House penalties. Transforming more than twice in the same game will result in disqualification. If a player receives outside assistance before or during the match, the game shall end immediately. Both the player and the abettor will receive severe punishment. The Bellnicsi is considered extreme magic, and anyone who summons it will be killed immediately.
THE code OF magic
The game is over if there is use of the following magic:
*Ugo - invisibility
**Agigian - rapid aging
Lo mosk - severe weight gain
***Masme - memory alteration
****Binlisac - internal suffering
***Endosac - external suffering
**Qualop - loss of a bodily function
Psyclin - transportation
**Treeplex - transformation
****Scienfluke - chronic torture
***Forsili - body control
******Bellnicsi - sound loss
The following three shall be prohibited from playing due to their possession of violent and baneful magic. If any of these three enters in disguise, the penalty will be death.
the woman from Brazil
********Joriylalsecotol - extreme transformation
other extreme magic unknown
Dorian, menala
********Olisvmasian - extreme body control/torture
other extreme magic unknown
Jack Ottaggaemenel
******Blin - vision failure
*********Hauss - extreme mutilation
**********Linelscion - magic loss
other extreme magic unknown
samhains to be screened before entering:
tortics
Unknown - may possibly possess extreme magic
de-moan demons
Unknown - may possibly possess extreme magic
Himalaya
Unknown - may possibly possess extreme magic
Ronald Bass, skool skeletis
Unknown - may possibly possess extreme magic
Jacoby, hakin
Unknown - may possibly possess extreme magic
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“Jacoby and Dorian, you both are on here,” I said in amazement.
Jacoby and Dorian didn’t say anything as they stepped into a lamp-lit chamber.
“Jacoby,” Katie inquired, following them in, “how come they think you’ve got extreme magic? Do you?”
“No. I’m an ordinary halloween, but, because I’m able to look Dorian in the eyes, they consider me to be a possible threat. Most unknown magic occurs in unique halloweens, as for instance menalas or tortics, where there may only be four or ten of their kind. Jack and the woman are one of a kind . . . and so is Dorian, in a way. Right now Lin is the only melflin in Halloween, so he is one of a kind . . . until another melflin enters.” Lin’s ears perked up. “It’s more difficult to determine what magic they possess when there are so few of them. So they get listed as a precaution.”
“Tortics are on the list, too,” I said, worried. “How could they allow them to play then?”
“I guess the panel deemed them admittable. If they obey the rules, I can’t see why not. You can’t discriminate against someone solely because you’re afraid of them.”
“What’s a bell . . . nick . . . sigh? Bellnicksigh?”
“Bell – knee – see,” corrected Jacoby, leaving it at that as he moved between two cells, clouded with dust and gnats. Kala was huddled in the shadows of the cage to our left, drawing endless circles in the dirt with his fingers. He seemed unaware of the gnats crawling all over him.
“Kala,” disrupted Jacoby. “Everyone’s here to support you: Lin, Katie–”
“Where’s Dorian?” muttered Kala, barely lifting his head. “Did he come?”
Kala spotted Dorian and shuffled up to the bars. He looked to be in terrible shape, hunched over, quivering and reeking of sweat.
“Dorian, I don’t want to do this,” he stammered, turning his bleary eyes to the ground.
“Kala, you shouldn’t have accepted,” said Dorian.
Kala’s gaze slipped past Dorian into the darkness of the cage directly across from him.
“But I thought I was going against Mick. I didn’t know he couldn’t continue after his last match. I can beat a fopen mummy. I just wanted to show everyone I had magic like you. Then I heard that the Beneficiary was signed by a–”
“You are like me,” said Dorian.
“I’m not!” said Kala coldly.
“Why do you want their respect when they treat you so badly?”
“But why do they hate me? I don’t have your curse.”
“You must remember they are jealous of who you are.”
Kala waited for Dorian to continue.
“You belong to a menala family.”
“I do?” said Kala, as though this was a revelation. “What about Meesi? She’s a menala.”
“Meesi has isolated herself, but yes, she is family.”
Kala spotted Katie, and his eyes widened with awe. “Katie Pundeff?” he said. He swatted at some of the gnats before he spoke again. “Is that your name?”
Katie nodded.
“I can’t believe it. I knew your father.”
“What?”
“He showed me a picture of your mother. You look like her.”
A silent rustle in the second cage made Kala tense up. Everyone turned around and looked into the shadows of the dusty cage.
“He’s in there somewhere . . .” Kala whimpered from the back of his cage, “waiting.”
Dorian intently eyed the corner of the other cage, lit by an overhead lamp. However, there was too much dust in the air to see clearly. A moment later, a brief disturbance stirred up a flurry of leaves and dirt in a corner. Nothing was seen, but whatever was in the cage was in that corner.
Jacoby turned back to Kala. “Kala, you’ll be fine. They’re not as tough as you think. Remember, now, they can’t break the rules. Kala, please come away from the wall.”
“I’m playing Jack,” said Kala sadly, cautiously shuffling his way back. “He’s going to lay his hand on me. What if he gets angry? He won’t care about the rules–”
“Good luck, Kala,” encouraged Dorian.
Kala must have liked what Dorian had said because he came to life a bit and started swatting at the gnats again. One struck Lin in the face. Lin swatted at it, and it bounced off, in turn hitting Jacoby in the face. He didn’t look as amused about it as I was.
“Good luck, Kala,” I said.
“Good luck, Kala,” echoed Lin. “I bet ten Choco Worms on you.”
“You know what, Kala?” said Jacoby. “You don’t need my luck. You’re more powerful than I could ever be.”
“Really?” said Kala, deeply surprised. “Is that why you don’t like to use magic? Because you don’t really have any?”
Jacoby nodded.
A hopeful smile spread across Kala’s face. “My father’s coming. He’s coming to see me play.”
“You have a father?” I asked.
“Everyone does,” he said bitterly. “He’s my human father. My human mother spoke to him. He wants to see me. He feels bad for leaving us when I died. I told her how he can sneak in. Maybe you can sit with him so he won’t feel so alone. He hates candy, so don’t eat it in front of him. He’ll be dressed like a clown.”
Katie leaned her head against the bars. “Tell me about my father.”
“He . . . he gave me lots of candy and asked me questions.”
“What kind?”
Kala stood there pondering, trying to remember. “He asked me a few. He knew a lot about us. He asked me if I knew a special halloween living in–”
A clanging noise shook the tortic’s cage behind us. Kala leaped away, squealing, almost running into the back wall. We all peered inside the tortic’s cage. But the only sound heard was the sound of the footsteps echoing through a tunnel across the way from the one we went through.
“Katie, we have to get out of here,” said Jacoby, already heading for our tunnel.
Kala started to whimper.
“Kala, stop! You’ll be fine.”
Kala went still.
“I’m staying just a little longer,” said Katie.
Jacoby turned around at the archway. “Katie, this can wait. We can’t be seen here. They’d kill Kala.”
A tall shadow fell on the wall. Katie exchanged sorrowful looks with Kala.
“Katie!” called Jacoby more forcefully on his way to the tortic’s cage. He muttered something in German, speaking in a grim tone that frightened even me. It seemed like he was giving the tortic a threatening message. After he was done, he walked away and headed up the tunnel. Katie and I glanced into the cage one last time, still unable to see the tortic, and then hurried after Jacoby.
We came out in Section Ghoul 44, just above the game floor. It was barely brighter than inside. There were hundreds of oil lamps along the rim of the arena’s forty-foot wall, but it did little to light the seats, keeping the crowd in relative darkness, all light focused on the arena. Below, a mighty dust storm swept across the game floor, with rumbling thunder and glimmering lightning. It was growing stronger and mini magical explosions popped inside, giving us a quick look at the dirt floor of the arena.
The stadium was packed to the last seat. We had no hope of finding five open seats. But Jacoby didn’t seem to care; he and Lin were leaning over a safety railing, peering into the storm, which made the floor seem like miles away.
The crowd gasped and then booed as a dark figure flew momentarily into view. Even after the storm subsided, it was difficult to see what was happening past the lingering veil of dust and air-mine explosions.
“There!” Lin pointed, spotting an opening in the cascading dust.
Hess was being slammed into the wall over and over by someone underneath him. On the last impact, he let out an anguished roar. The crowd moaned ghostly as a large purple tarantula scuttled on top of him and started spinning him into an electrical web.
“It’s breaking the rules,” said Katie just loud enough to be heard over the cro
wd. “They have to stop the game!”
“Some of the rules can be broken, Katie,” said Jacoby. “Since this is the quarterfinals many violations will be tolerated.”
He watched the spider drag the cocooned Hess toward a dark hole in the wall.
“All he has to do is turn to stone,” muttered Jacoby.
“Come on, Hess!” cheered Lin. “Squash her! Joan’s nothing but a bug! You said she was going to be easy to beat!”
The spider braced herself around the edges of the hole with all of her eight jittery legs and hoisted the cocoon up.
I looked up at a clock on a nearby pillar.
2:40 . . . 2:41 . . . 2:42 . . .
The crowd sprang up to their feet. The web had caught on fire, and Hess shot out of it, beating his powerful wings over Joan’s scampering shape, trying to keep her in his sight. He flapped once hard and blasted her to a stop with a horizontal tornado.
“Yes!” shouted Lin. “He’s going to win! . . . He’s going to lose!”
Small spiders were pouring out of Joan’s abdomen by thousands. Hess couldn’t stop them all. He tried everything – flammable spills, flooding the arena, stomping on them with all his might – but they just kept on coming.
“What is this?” yelped Lin, watching a sea of spiders jump on Hess. “She has thousands of helpers! That’s another violation!”
2:49 . . . 2:50 . . .
Hess flew further back, trying to get as far from the hole as he could, and pressed his body against the far wall while countless baneful spiders attached themselves to him. The weight of all of them was getting too much for him to bear. With a painful growl, Hess fell to the ground, and a wave of spiders washed over him. Joan immediately yanked him through the air, thinking that this time she had him, but he quickly turned to stone and tumbled across the floor.