All Hallows Haunt and All Must Have Fun

[concierge]

The fog had begun near the dusk hours, coating all the plants and flowers in the garden. It settled, heavy, and blanketed everything with a new cover that was only matched in mood by the graveyard that had unearthed itself from the grass and the moss. Names were etched on each gravestone, but the most unnerving part was that every few steps, if you stopped and listened very, very carefully, you might hear a knock of a human hand against hard wood. It was almost as if the dead were being called upwards.

The maze stood normal, but inside around the corners, there were things lurking and waiting.

Outside might have become frightening and gloomy, but the contrast to indoors was stark. Inside, carved pumpkins lit with candles turned the ballroom and restaurants into amber-lit abodes, costumed partygoers twirled to the music played by the band in the lobby (while the DJ had set up in the conservatory). Candy and small hors d'oeuvres circulated on the trays of immaculately clad waiters and though outside it was stormy, foggy, and spooky, inside was a delight of themed drinks, delicious food, and the manic and half-crazed mood of people in the midst of their fun.

The party for Halloween had begun.

And there was no telling when it might ever end.

Comments

[roartonrisen]

There are graves out there.

It's dark and eerie and it feels very similar to the night of the Rising, to the degree that Kieren is starting to feel like his heart is performing an anxious tap-dance, except that his heart doesn't beat. He'd managed to get back to Roarton in time for his next dose, but he'd started carrying his things with him after someone told him that doors could bring you back anytime.

Lucky he did, because now he's wandering around a graveyard and remembering what it felt like on the other end of the spectrum. He hears them moving, rustling, and he wonders, wonders if he's going to hear the clock strike midnight. "Simon is never going to let me live this down if there's actually a second rising, oh god," he breathes out, trying to keep his wits about him in this fog and with this noise.

[nebaritralk]

Chiana stood outside, her stance - feet wide apart, head tilted to the side, swaying in place a little - a clear picture of perplexity, when it came to her. When she heard someone come close, she glanced at them before looking back at the stones with names on them. Fog was rolling in from a little way off, but she didn't pay it much attention; it was just fog, presumably. "What's all this about?" she asked, with a nod at the nearest name stone.

[buryyouwithmysound]

"Way cool," Marceline's always been a fan of the dark and spooky, it comes with the vampire queen territory. She floats a few feet off the ground, holding a glass of punch that was red and is fading to gray as she sips out the red.

Maybe she'll find some folks who are scared of vampires. For kicks.

[likepalegold]

It's terribly odd for Jay Gatsby to be standing in the midst of a party of glitters, gold, and more madcap insanity than he's seen in some time. At least, the odd part is that his money isn't responsible for such things, but after his last to-do when he'd realized that Daisy wasn't about to appear as if from a light on the edge of the horizon, he's taken the passenger's seat in such things.

It seems he never had to worry about throwing the party. Whomever is planning the affairs here is doing a fine job. Gatsby adjusts his straw hat, plucking a glass of water from a passing tray as he sips at it calmly. He still walks through the revellers like a man in charge of the party, but he's here looking through the costumes as if he can find a familiar face in just one of them.

More than that, as ever, perhaps Gatsby's searching for friendship, hardly recalled, in the form of his good friend Nick Carraway. Costumes are plentiful here, but friends seem to be few and far between, but possibly that's Gatsby's trouble. Too discerning an eye, too narrow a gaze, and too picky a life.

[the_dawnster]

There was a party, that meant Dawn was there. And the fact that it was a costume party just added fuel to the fire. She had put together her own costume for the most part, one she was most proud of. It was a character from a video game she had played back home, a darker version of Alice Liddel from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The costume fed both the gamer and the book nerd parts of her.

She's in the ballroom, perusing the trays of d'oeuvres and plucking different treats from each to place on a napkin in her hand. Those who know Dawn know she has an insatiable sweet tooth.

While she's enjoying the indoors, she's heard whispers of what's happening outside in the gardens and a graveyard. Maybe Buffy is out there. And maybe Dawn will brave herself up enough to go out there to inspect as well. For now, she would enjoy the party. And despite the very real fake-bloody knife that's a part of her costume, (Summers girls are rarely without a weapon of some sort) she's extremely approachable.

[shes_biochem]

Dressed as Marie Curie, Simmons has come to the party for respite. She's been back home and things are...well, things are what they are. Tense, utterly frustrating, and she keeps feeling a bit uneven. She doesn't have Fitz the way she used to and now things with Hydra in her shadow has made her extremely wary. So she's playing with a small bit of candy in her fingers.

Even her scientific disguise isn't making her feel any better and it's a very sad day when Marie Curie can't cheer her up.

[freezedout]

Outside is doing a number on Isaac's head, to say the least.

His werewolf senses keep picking up on noises that he's pretty sure he knows what they are, and given his previous occupation, it's one of those old recurring nightmares that's hard to shake. Add in that thick, heavy fog, and he feels some of his claustrophobia start to kick in and make him feel unbalanced and unsteady. He's by one of the windows in the main room, peering out past the curtains. He needs it to clear, needs the noises to stop, and if they don't, then he's definitely not going anywhere because if something's coming, then...

Isaac growls lowly, digging his nails into his palm to try and prevent himself from turning against his will.

[legendthatwas]

Martha had dealt with Weeping Angels. She could handle fog and Things That Went Bump In The Night, and general eerieness. It didn't mean she liked it entirely, per se, but she could handle it. Handle it in a smart way.

Handling it meant staying inside, for the most part, and consuming far too much sugar than what was good for her. In fact, she was probably no longer going to fit properly into her Storm costume (this year not the Halle Berry version but the one from the cartoon when she was a kid--tongue in cheek commentary that only she would understand, but she'd live with that).

She flipped the white hair of the wig back over her shoulder and leaned back in her chair, appraising everyone's costume and considering her next move. There was really no need to hurry.

[ourselvesalone]

The world is a strange and curious thing, isn't it?

Victor had thought that London held all the strange things in the world, those wicked things and murders that had plagued the city in the back of his mind. How can he be surprised with the past he bears? And yet, this place does have its odd surprises. He'd been in the maze when the fog had set in and now he's lost and stuck, careening around corners when his breath picks up pace and his heart matches. He starts to leave clues behind him when he becomes increasingly lost, but even that seems to do nothing.

From the sounds of it, it's as if the maze itself is rearranging to keep Victor trapped within. Frustrated and not stubborn enough to deny that he needs the help. "Is anyone out there? Is anyone outside this ridiculous labyrinth?"