Halloween Dragon

by Liv Rider

  Halloween Dragon

  Liv Rider

  Halloween Dragon

  Liv Rider

  Halloween Dragon © 2019 by Liv Rider

  Cover design by Camberion

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Contents

  1. Cameron

  2. Parker

  3. Cameron

  4. Parker

  5. Cameron

  6. Parker

  7. Cameron

  8. Parker

  9. Cameron

  10. Parker

  11. Cameron

  12. Parker

  13. Cameron

  14. Parker

  15. Cameron

  16. Parker

  17. Cameron

  Epilogue

  A note from Liv Rider

  Special Sneak Preview!

  1

  Cameron

  Halloween was Cameron Norwood’s favorite time of the year. Sure, he liked spring and the sunshine, and summer was okay if it didn’t get too hot. As a night-time receptionist at the Crown Hotel, he wasn’t a fan of any season that came with a lot of demanding hotel guests, so Christmas didn’t make it anywhere near his top five. Where most people were sad to see summer turn into autumn, with colder winds and darker nights, Cameron just got more excited as the leaves turned orange.

  One of the things he liked about Halloween was that it had something for everyone. Kids enjoyed dressing up. Some adults liked dressing up. Other adults liked decorating their house and front yard. Adults who didn’t want to dress up or decorate their house could stay indoors and watch horror movies. And if you didn’t like dressing up, decorating your house or horror movies, everyone liked the candy and sweets.

  Cameron liked all of the above. Okay, he lived in a tiny apartment, so there wasn’t much decorating that he could do, but he did plenty of decorating in preparation for Halloween Fest every year.

  He’d been looking forward to starting the preparations at the Wilson farm all year. Most of the people involved in Halloween Fest were members of LADS, the Lewiston Amateur Drama Society, but there were plenty of people like Cameron, who didn’t care for the theater but did care about improving their Maze of Terror and dressing up as a zombie in the haunted maze to scare visitors.

  They’d finished two weekends so far, and from what Cameron could tell, there were more visitors than last year. They’d done their best spreading news about the Fest through social media, posters, and flyers all over the city—Cameron hadn’t gotten approval to put up a poster in the hotel lobby where they promoted local events, but he’d put some flyers in the brochure display, making sure to put them in front of the flyers from some restaurant down the street. People coming to the hotel passed that restaurant anyway.

  He drove up to the farmhouse around noon. Andrew, who had directed several plays for LADS and considered himself one of the people in charge of organizing the Fest, had emailed everyone involved to come a few hours earlier, because of an announcement. Cameron had no idea what Andrew wanted to announce, and when he’d messaged his friends, they hadn’t had a clue either.

  The jack-o-lanterns on either side of the road leading up to the farmhouse made him smile, as did the lights strung up amongst the trees, their leaves red, yellow, and all shades in-between. Despite years of practice, he still couldn’t manage anything better than the standard crooked grin when it came to carving pumpkins. But others had been more creative and skilled, carving out silhouettes of cats, witches on broomsticks, ghosts, and all other kinds of spooky monsters. It would all look much better at night. He eyed the orange-and-black Halloween Fest banner they’d hung between two of the bigger trees next to the farmhouse. The ropes still looked like they’d hold.

  He walked past the farmhouse and onto the field behind it, where the Fest was held. It was strange to think that the two empty barns on either side of the field would be filled with hundreds of people tonight. He couldn’t wait to get ready for another night in the Maze of Terror in the bigger barn. He walked over to the smaller barn on the right side of the field, where stalls with food and drinks would be. He could hear voices drifting over, and once he got inside, he saw that most of his friends were already there. Some of them were sitting on wooden chairs, others were sitting on tables, and Cameron joined the ones sitting on the ground in the front.

  Andrew was standing about ten feet away from him, holding a sheet of paper in his hand. He gave Cameron a quick, friendly nod, then scanned the room. Next to him were Ted and Dorothy Wilson, the older couple who owned the farm. They were both in their sixties, but still fit as a fiddle and they always helped out with Halloween Fest in whatever way they could, mostly by providing them with food and something to drink while they worked on preparing the field and the barns. Ted and Dorothy had hosted Halloween Fest for the past fifteen years, and they both liked the atmosphere.

  The three of them looked more serious than Cameron was used to, and he turned to Stacy, who he’d sat down next to. “What’s going on?”

  “No idea. Andrew won’t say, and Ted and Dorothy have been quiet about it too.”

  “You think it’s anything bad? They’re not gonna cancel tonight, are they? It’s the last weekend.”

  “I hope not. I’m finally getting my turn in the graveyard in the maze. After two nights dressed as a clown, it’s about time!”

  Cameron laughed. Stacy looked like a typical soccer mom with 2.3 kids and a white-picket fence, but she also loved dressing up as a zombie and giving herself gruesome fake wounds before scaring people in the maze. Her sixteen-year-old daughter Natalie was the same, but during Halloween Fest she mostly acted out ghost stories around the bonfire. “I’m scheduled for the graveyard tonight too, should be fun.”

  “Great, we’ll have to discuss scare tactics later,” she insisted.

  Cameron nodded. “Yeah, and think of a couple of different ones so we can change it up.”

  The graveyard was the final room in the maze, and the biggest. It had fake grass on the ground, fake tombstones with mounds of dirt, and the walls were painted to look like the night sky, including a full moon. Having the full moon also gave them the option to put someone dressed as a werewolf in there, and vampires were always a possibility. Cameron and Stacy both preferred dressing up as zombies. He was sure that with the two of them, they could make people run out screaming.

  Hopefully in terror, but he’d take laughter. People having a good time was the most important part of Halloween Fest for him.

  “What else have you done so far?” she asked.

  “Let’s see, I was at the entrance letting people into the maze on the first Friday, and the other two nights I was the patient in the dentist’s chair.” He still couldn’t believe they’d actually been able to buy an old dentist’s chair from a retiring dentist in Lewiston. Getting everything else to make it look more like a dentist’s office had been a lot of work, but the chair had been the most important part. “So, you know, a lot of flailing while Andrew pretended to take my teeth out.”

  “Always fun,” she agreed.

  “And last weekend I was a clown, I was in the Evil Dead cabin room, and I was on painting duty.” He pulled a face at that. There were hallways between the rooms in the maze, and a few of those hallways had paintings lining the walls. One of those paintings could be moved aside with a loud ‘thunk’ so that whoever was behind the painting could snarl at the people in the hallway. It definitely startled people, but Cameron preferred b
eing in the maze itself. It was more fun.

  The Evil Dead cabin room was his favorite to be in, since Evil Dead 2 was his favorite movie. The room looked as much like the creepy cabin from the movie as they’d been able to manage, including a rocking chair, a desk, a tape recorder, and a mounted deer head on the wall. There was fishing line attached to the rocking chair, which could be pulled by someone outside the room. When visitors were distracted by the rocking chair, Cameron could jump out from underneath the desk and scare them. It was very rare that a visitor spotted him before he jumped out. There were plenty of details and things to look at. A lot of people recognized the room from the cabin, and then elbowed each other excitedly rather than look too closely.

  “That’s all nights so far.” Stacy sounded impressed. “How did you manage that with your job?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been doing this for years, using my days off for it or switching shifts if necessary. I think my boss is just happy one of her employees isn’t desperate for days off during the summer.” Working those busy summer weeks was definitely worth it for the chance to be at Halloween Fest every night. Most of his colleagues didn’t get why Cameron loved Halloween Fest so much, but since he was flexible when it came to taking over a shift when someone else needed it, they were flexible in return.

  “Right!” Andrew’s loud voice started Cameron and Stacy. The older man looked pleased he had everyone’s attention. “All right, everyone’s here, I think. Thank you all for coming, even if you’re not scheduled to be here tonight.”

  “I’d be here anyway!” someone shouted from the back, and Cameron nodded in agreement.

  “Ted and Dorothy have something to say,” Andrew continued. “And I want you all to keep quiet until they’ve finished speaking.”

  Cameron exchanged a look with Stacy, starting to feel worried again.

  “Thank you, Andrew.” Ted’s voice was a little quieter, and he looked at his wife before he looked at the assembled group. “First of all, I want to congratulate you on two successful weekends so far. People have been really enjoying it, and I want to thank everyone for making sure the atmosphere stays safe and friendly for everyone.”

  So far, Ted hadn’t said anything he hadn’t already known, and Cameron waited for the ‘but.’

  “But,” Ted continued, “Dorothy and I have made a big decision. I want you to know this has nothing to do with you, but we’ve decided to sell the farm.”

  Cameron heard murmurs around him as he stared at the couple. “What?” he muttered. What did this mean for the Halloween Fest? Why were they selling? Where were they going?

  “It’s too big for us,” Dorothy added, raising her voice over people whispering amongst themselves. “The farmhouse, the barns, the land…it’s too much for the two of us to keep up with. It’s getting harder every year, and we’re no spring chickens.”

  “Quiet!” Andrew told them, when that led to even more worried murmuring. “Let them finish!”

  “We’ve sold the farmhouse so we can move across the country and live closer to our daughters and grandchildren,” Dorothy explained. “We’ve thought long and hard about this, and we love you all, and the Fest, and everyone who comes to visit, but….”

  “But we can’t keep up with all the maintenance during the rest of the year,” Ted said, sounding resigned. “Not with the two of us.”

  Cameron frowned at that. Surely there were enough people in this room who could help? He’d be willing to help if it meant keeping Ted and Dorothy around. “We can help!” he shouted, earning him a glare from Andrew, but next to him, Stacy nodded, and he heard others mutter in agreement.

  Dorothy smiled at that, and Cameron could see tears well up in her eyes. “I’m sure you could,” she replied. “I’m sure you all want to, but…you have lives and jobs and friends and family. Ted and I can’t schedule everything that needs doing around here the way you can schedule Halloween Fest. It depends on the weather as well, and sometimes there are emergencies. We can’t expect this from you.”

  “If it hadn’t been this year, it would’ve been the next year or the year after that,” Ted added. “We decided to move while we’re both still pretty healthy. Living closer to our daughters…” He trailed off, and Cameron felt guilty for wanting them to stay.

  He’d met both women a few times over the years, since they tried to visit the Fest every year. He knew how much they loved their parents, and how happy Ted and Dorothy were to see them and their kids. He’d heard the older couple mention how hard it was to be miles away when they got pictures of their grandkids going to their first swimming lesson or learning to ride their bike.

  “We wish we could split ourselves in two.” Dorothy wiped at her eyes. “It’s been so much fun over the years. I never expected the Fest to go on as long as it did. I never thought so many people would enjoy it so much.”

  “I never thought you’d allow us to use your land and barns for so long,” Andrew told her, smiling warmly. “We’ve been lucky we were able to do it at the same place for so long.” He turned to face the crowd. “Okay, everyone, I know you probably have loads of questions, but let’s go one by one and raise your hand first.”

  Cameron put his hand up immediately, but Andrew passed him over for someone behind him.

  “Is this the last Halloween Fest?” he heard someone ask.

  Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t want it to be, but we’d have to find another location, and you all know how long it takes to prepare. I definitely want to look into that option, but after this Fest is over and we’ve cleaned everything up around here. Maybe we’ll have to skip a year while we try to find somewhere else to host it.”

  More questions followed, and Andrew kept skipping over Cameron.

  “When do you two move? We’re not letting you leave without a goodbye party!”

  Cameron laughed along with everyone else at that, and Ted and Dorothy smiled too. “We don’t know yet,” Ted replied. “We still need to sign all the papers and set an official date. There’s a lot we still need to finalize, but we both wanted you to know well in advance.”

  While someone else asked Andrew how long he’d known about this—only a week—Cameron could only think of one thing.

  It wasn’t official yet.

  They still had to sign all the papers.

  There was a chance, a tiny one, but a chance, that they wouldn’t sell the farmhouse after all.

  “Cameron?”

  He blinked, surprised Andrew had finally chosen him. “Um.” He tried to remember why he’d first put his hand up. “Oh, right, yeah, who did you sell it to? If that’s all right to ask?”

  Dorothy and Ted leaned closer, talking quietly amongst themselves, and then Ted shrugged. “I don’t see why you can’t know,” he replied. “Nick Everett. He’s a land developer from Lewiston.”

  Cameron snorted in disgust at that. “Right, so some slick money-grubber in a suit.” There was no way a guy like that would let them host Halloween Fest here next year.

  “Cameron….” Andrew narrowed his eyes at him.

  “What? The guy probably is!” Cameron insisted, getting annoyed. “He’s probably gonna tear down this place and build a shopping mall or hideous condos for the filthy rich, like we need more of those!”

  Stacy nudged him. “Cameron, we don’t know anything about Everett.”

  “I bet he’s an asshole,” Cameron grumbled, as Andrew glared at him. “I can’t believe they’d sell to someone like that.”

  “Well, I guess there weren’t a lot of other people interested in buying,” Stacy said, keeping her voice low. “Besides, you heard Andrew. He’s gonna find another location.”

  “Until Everett buys that one.”

  He couldn’t believe it. He understood Ted and Dorothy’s decision, but he wished they’d done something else. That they’d sold it to anyone else. Not to some slick guy in a slick suit who could outbid anyone who wanted to keep it as a farm, or who might be open to hosting Hallo
ween Fest next year.

  He couldn’t even cling to the hope anymore that the sale would fall through. Ted and Dorothy seemed pretty determined, and he’d seen enough businessmen in the hotel to know they didn’t back down.

  He hated having to sit here quietly and listen to dumb questions about logistics while some asshole in Lewiston was probably already scheduling the demolition of the farmhouse and the barns.

  He got up, walking away and ignoring Andrew calling after him to stay. He didn’t want to be here.

  His feet took him to the other barn, and normally the banner with Maze of Terror in red letters would cheer him up, but now he just felt bitter.

  There wouldn’t be a Maze of Terror here next year. There probably wouldn’t be one anywhere else either.

  “Cameron? Hey, wait up!”

  He turned to see Stacy running after him, looking worried. “What?”

  “You’re upset.”

  “Well, yeah.” He scuffed his feet on the grass. “Of course I am.”

  “It’s their farm,” she reminded him. “We were lucky they let us do it here for so long. Fifteen years! That’s a long time to let a bunch of people onto your land.”

  “I know.” Stacy sounding reasonable and making a good point just frustrated him even more. “But they sold it to some douchebag. You just know he’s gonna tear it down and—”

  “Probably, yes. But we’re gonna find somewhere else to do it instead,” she said.

  “Oh please, where? How many other people live on farms in the area who’d welcome us? Andrew’s just being diplomatic.”

  “Look, we’re all disappointed and yes, I’m a little angry too. But we’ve still got three nights of Halloween Fest to look forward to. If you want to be childish about it and sulk all night, be my guest. But staying angry and bitter and pessimistic about it won’t help,” she told him. “It’s out of our hands. But what we can do is make this weekend the best ever, so that a lot of people will want us to keep going next year.”