NECROCITY TIMES - Issue #1 - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

WPRS Short - This is #Wattoween

"Oh my God-"

"-Hand? Yeah, she runs us, but she's not here yet. You interrupted our play. But I'm glad that you saw my note. I needed someone to direct."

"What? Me?"

"Yeah. See, no one actually really believes I exist and the Magistra keeps me locked up in the office here at Headquarters so...would you kindly? Please?"

"I don't know if I can."

"Sweetheart, you aren't freaking out like the last twelve students I asked to come. You can believe in ghosts and vampires and life after death, so can you believe in yourself for one night?"

Sasha sighed. A pale woman with hair the color of a shiny raven's feather extended a hand with a toothy, fanged smile. Sasha took her cold hand and stood.

"Okay. I'll be your vessel or...something," she said. She clapped her hands. "Back to positions! Where we left off!"

Everyone scattered to their spot on a rickety stage with painted cardboard props of bushes and gravestones and a haunted house.

"...Like that?" she whispered to Agent #2.

"Perfect! Okay, one, two...?" offered the voice.

Sasha counted out loud and silently sliced the air on three.

I am the book getting into your head
Prose wrote sharp and characters dead
I am the book that is making you care
Never catch a break and pages read bare

Sasha smiled as the actors popped out from behind their props.

This is Wattoween, this is Wattoween
Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween!

The stage hands, dressed in black, waved their arms behind the stage, directing light energy of various colors around the stage. Sasha grinned as the rainbow sparkled in her eyes. Ghosts swooped in on cue.

On this site we call home
Everyone writes to play along
On this site, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise

Sasha cleared a spot on a nearby machine of dust and took a seat, her legs kicking and her head bobbing along to the beat.

"This is great, #2. Though your flyer said it was a party, not a play?"

"Oh. But it's not Halloween yet? We still have a few more hours until the party."

Sasha checked her phone's time. "It said midnight, and it's...12:06."

"You must be in the eastern hemisphere."

"Wait a second, if you're on the other side of the world, how are you here?"

"The world's funny once you realize time is a construct and reality doesn't exist, isn't it?"

Aren't you scared?
Well, that's just fine!

Sasha grinned. "So this is real?"

"As real as you want it to be. If you decide we aren't for you, you can just wake up tomorrow and it'll all be a bad dream."

"That sounds nice, actually."

"...hell of a hangover though."

"Oh."

"Literally."

Read it once, Read it twice
Grab your phone and hit the lights
Read with us in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream
On this night of Wattoween!

Sasha sighed contentedly and brought her knees up to her chest. She didn't feel the chill in the night air, and watched the musical play out before her. She imagined she felt a presence sit next to her that leaned her head on her shoulder and hooked arms.

#2 sounded like a nice lady. She wanted friends but didn't think she'd find them in a lonely abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night.

I am the book on a paranormal case
Pulling you in with leather and lace
I am the book of a witch called Blair
I am the book when you're out of prayers
I am the book of a bloody sprite
Scouring the realms looking for a fight

This is Wattoween, this is Wattoween
Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween!

Creepy novels everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
On this night of Wattoween

Sasha felt little paws scurry over her hands. She yelped and pulled back, and the presence next to her disappeared. The little black rat sitting on the machinery with her looked hurt, its whiskers drooped.

On this site
Don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next update
Magistra Em's always looking for a gem
Things you wouldn't believe
Nothing here is a sin
This is Wattoween, everybody scream!

The rat...winked at Sasha, and jumped off the machine. It scurried over to the stage and hopped up the steps.

Won't you please make way for a very special gal
Our lady is Queen of the Collective batch
Everyone hail to the Magistra, now!

This is Wattoween, this is Wattoween
Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween! Wattoween!

On this site we call home
Everyone hail her all night long!

Many other rats poured out of the props and rushed the stage. They combined with the original and built themselves up into a humanoid shape of twitching whiskers and scaly tails and black fur.

"Oh my god," whispered Sasha into her ear piece. "Is that a Rat King?"

"Just watch," was the reply.

Light shone out from within the rat pile and transformed the mass into a beautiful woman.

"The...the rat king is the Magistra?" whispered Sasha.

"Uh, Rat Queen. Though technically the Magistra doesn't have a gender; we just get too many wrong letters sent to the local judge otherwise."

"Oh my god. Oh, wow, I can't...I can't believe this."

"I know! You'd think they'd look beyond the title, but nooo..."

"No, it's just...doesnt that mean she has eyes and ears everywhere?"

"Oh, yes. I found a couple in the cabinets once."

"Uh...what?" Sasha cleared her throat. "Like an eye or an ear or...?" She shuddered and waved her hands as if to force the thought away. "Nevermind."

"Welcome to the WPRS, pretty girl. I think you'll fit in just fine. Come join the party now, won't you?"

The others, as if hearing #2's voice in their own heads, stood in a circle around the Magistra. The ethereal woman held out a pale hand for her.

Sasha smiled. She was home.