Haunted by the Houses

Lief wasn’t one for the scary festivities which came along with Umbraveil, however she often still dressed up. Most of the time it was for festivities as her friends planned parties and trips which required such.  This year, she dressed as a witch with a tall black hat and a long black cape. She temporarily dyed her fur, painted her claws black, and crunched on berries she knew would dye her mouth black as well. This time she had asked to go out with Io and Valkyrie to travel into the woods. The two were planning to go to a haunted house, a corn maze, and then spend the evening under the stars. The two were much larger than Lief but that was a benefit as the scare actors would see the other two before her and she could avoid being targeted to get scared. When she looked out the window she caught a glimpse of the two approaching, however they both looked off due to their costumes. Valkyrie wore a red cape, with a large hood that covered all but her nose  and was carrying a small woven basket which had a glissray inside of it. Io wore a bright red long sleeved cardigan that had a symbol along his back, a small amount of his hair was tied back in a braid, and his right paw was covered in some kind of metal that made his leg look like it was made of the material.  

As the two approached Lief’s home, she was busy psyching herself up. “You can do this, you can do this.” A couple deep breaths later, “It’s all pretend and not really monsters.” She had always been scared of haunted houses, because while she was a hatchling she had been so scared by ghost stories of what could be in these houses.  This fear stayed with Lief as she swore never to go to a haunted house, but she wanted to face this fear with the friends she had made knowing that they would protect her from the nonexistent danger. There was a gentle knock on the door, after a couple seconds Lief opened the door and smiled at the two to which they smiled back. The trio set off towards a popular haunted house, and one which was deemed “calm” and thus the larger duo assumed it would be the best place to start. They let Lief set the walking pace, and wandered towards the haunted attraction. As they got closer Lief would point out something and stop moving, an obvious distraction but one that the other two fed into hoping it would help keep Lief calm. 

It didn’t take them too long before they arrived at the attraction, they got a “no-touch card” for Lief to put her at ease and then walked on either side of her. As they walked through the house, Lief seemed to relax more, even sporting a small smile as she seemed to enjoy all the decor and even the scare actors after the initial scare of course.  After they left the haunted house, Lief thanked the other two for taking her to a haunted house. The trio then headed to the woods in a nice clearing, and they created a small fire before telling ghost stories through the night.  Lief gained a new appreciation for Umbraveil, and even might consider going to another haunted house in the future… maybe. Only time will tell.