*Halosty carefully sneaks onto the set*

Hello. It's... it's been a while. If any of you still come here, it's either because you like my writing, or want to kill me for disappearing (or both). Well, please don't kill me. I happen to have very good guards and-

*A cardboard cutout of a ninja falls over in the background*

Err, well... at least I know Quietus isn't for hire right now.

You might wonder why I am here? Well, it is for a shameless plug of new stuff I'm writing! There isn't much yet, but...

*Holds out hands with a sheet of paper*

Here! http://halostystales.wordpress.com

I've started a wordpress thingy! Hopefully, if anybody sees this and goes there, they will enjoy what I write there.

*Sees some real ninjas sneaking up*

Well, time to go.

*Throws down a side story of Necromancer as a distraction for his escape*

Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Side Story: Halloween

“Mortimer! You interested in playing-”

“Not unless it’s Royal Road or hide-and-go-seek.” Mortimer didn’t dislike Robert, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk today. Robert seemed to take the rejection well, though, since he was currently laughing uproariously.

“I’ve seen, well, not really, but I know about your hide-and-go-seek skills. Actually, I was hoping you could help out with this haunted house we’re running. It’s still a ways off, but if we could use someone to give some people some scares.”

“Why do you think I’d do that? You should be aware that I don’t do anything involving, well, people.”

Robert shrugged. “Fine. I was thinking you might want to see Solara in a costume, but I guess I was wrong.”

“...If I’m not busy.” Mortimer wouldn’t be, if he could help it. He was extremely slightly interested in seeing Solara in some kind of costume.

--------------------------

Mortimer was assigned the role of a ghost. It was the standard bedsheet with holes cut for eyes costume, so it wasn’t particularly impressive. His job as a ghost would be to move around through the haunted house, scaring people. Well, Mortimer didn’t find ghosts and terrible ghost costumes particularly scary, but he’d try.

As promised, Solara was there in costume, not that she knew about that promise. She was dressed up as a vampire, although it wasn’t a particularly flattering costume. Still, Mortimer liked it. Solara didn’t look very intimidating, but the lights would be dim, so that should help. The rest would be up to her acting skills.

Angela was there as well, dressed as a witch. Again, the costume wasn’t particularly revealing, but that just made it more practical for scaring people. Angela smiled in a way that certainly gave shivers to Mortimer, if nobody else.

Finally, Alex was there as another ghost. Obviously, the costume was lacking in production value just like Mortimer’s. Well, maybe they could be scaring buddies, since the ghosts were meant to wander around, although they couldn’t always stay together.

After everyone got dressed, it was soon time for them to move to their respective positions.

--------------------------

Although Mortimer wasn’t afraid of ghosts or terrible ghost costumes, it seemed everyone else was. He didn’t have much trouble making people run off screaming. He almost never even got to the point where he would yell “boo!”, instead, he just got close to people and they ran screaming when they saw him. Well, theoretically screaming was a lot of the fun at a haunted house.

Well, maybe everyone’s reactions were exaggerated. After all, some of the monsters ran away from him too. Alex, Solara, and Angela just jumped when he said hi, but some of the others ran away screaming. Well, maybe they were trying to scare people that way as well.

Mortimer had quite a bit of fun, and he also felt like he got some good practice for his stealth skill. It took some work hiding in a pure white sheet, since it rustled and stood out. Still, Mortimer managed it quite well.

--------------------------

Eventually, the time was up, so Mortimer returned to the dressing room. Then, it happened.

Mortimer, while he would admit to sometimes stalking spying a little bit on Solara, had never even once peeked on her changing, and not because there weren’t chances. He just, quite simply, knew it was wrong, so he didn’t do it.

That is why he could say with full confidence that he didn’t intend to view that scene. He also quickly left. Sure, not as quickly as he could have, but he didn’t linger long. He’d seen Solara in quite skimpy outfits in Royal Road, but something was different in reality. Maybe it was just that it was actual underwear.

As far as Mortimer learned, nobody ever found out about that incident. Well, he could honestly say it was an accident if it was brought up. Not that he planned for it to be brought up.

--------------------------

After that year, there was a story about the haunted house. It hadn’t been very scary at first, just silly jump scares with a vampire, a witch, and a poorly dressed ghost, among other things. However, in that haunted house, it was said there was something different. Terrifying. A real ghost. It snuck through the shadows, and appeared, looking over your shoulder. Nobody knew whether it was a poor tormented soul looking for help, or the remains of a murderer, because nobody wanted to stay to find out. After all, the way it showed up, it was easy to assume the latter.

End Side Story: Halloween