Hallowed

Part I

Storm clouds seethed around Loneman Peak, ever darkening, ever condensing; moonbeams poured through their vortex, spotlighting the mansion that crowned the monolith. The scattered hamlets, collectively known as Clannstone, flittered across the foothills and valley, far, far below. Only one among its denizens perceived this Halloween night phenomenon.

Clannstone's quaint shops, cottages and narrow streets observed a horde of costumed revellers. Dark robes and pale masks complimented jack o' lanterns' candlelit faces cramming every sidewalk. Slow and steady the revellers danced beneath extinguished street lights; slow and steady the revellers made pilgrimage to their respective hamlet's Wunderkind Candy outlet.

Shutting out the revellers' limbs jolting and writhing at uncanny angles, their indistinct murmurings and the sage-scented incense wisping from those countless jack o' lanterns' faces, The Great Detective crunched down on his cigar in an effort to focus on the files, folders and documents strewn across his desk.

History or legend? Clannstone's first hamlets established themselves on Loneman Peak's foothills and across the valley over the last century. According to records stashed in the public library's archives, the mansion glowered down even at those early settlers. Since those days, the locals acknowledged a primordial instinct suggesting that the mansion's solitude be respected.

The Great Detective banished his scepticism and puffed smoke at the photograph pasted on the topmost folder. Mo-Nocoleez, celebrated philanthropist, Wunderkind Candy CEO, source of Clannstone's revived prosperity and the mansion's proprietor, smiled through dissipating fumes.

In every photograph, Mo-Nocoleez wore the attire defining him as a beloved Halloween icon. His tuxedo boasted plaid, striped, polka dotted and checked patterns patched together in every colour imaginable. His smooth and pointy head resembled an egg. Rectangular sunglasses veiled half his sagging face.

Months traveling, scouring diverse archives, interviewing local and national government officials and blackmailing Wunderkind Candy employees yielded no information regarding Mo-Nocoleez' parentage, childhood, other personal relations, academic records or professional history prior to Wunderkind Candy's establishment. Mo-Nocoleez existed only in present reputation and Halloween speeches held outside the mayor's office.

Boys and girls young, small, grownup, tall!

A night of candy, free for one, free for all!

Really! Just haul along your smiling face!

Anything more's a total waste!

Costumes, bizarre, diverse, a must!

They'll beat last year's we trust!

Jack o' lanterns! Candlelight!

Sage-scent incense! Spirits' flight!

To Wunderkind Candy, sickly sweet!

Come on! Cheat! Trick or treat!

Our Halloween fun's hardly begun!

Try every candy under midnight sun!

Don't mosey away from the candy stick fence!

Laugh and scream and savour the bait!

Over and over Mo-Nocoleez' drone crackled from The Great Detective's tape recorder but still no hidden message emerged. The speech remained unaltered over the years, promising and delivering free and unlimited candy during Halloween night.

The Great Detective extinguished his cigar on his dusty computer screen before flicking it into an overflowing ashtray. He rose. Bloodshot eyes swept over scribbled notes, photographs, thumbtacks and strings studding notice boards to his left, filing cabinets spewing archived folders behind his chair and holographic dashboards scrambling data to his right.