Fantasy * & . 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 .

[lisbeth]

/* ------ start of code -- no need to touch ------ */

/* ------ text box ------ */

Through The Wooden Door.

❝ You do like it here, don't you Coraline. You could stay here forever, if you want to. There's one tiny little thing we need to do. ❞

— Other Mother.​

/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.

 

[irl jo march]

rowan elmhurst.

Rowan loved Halloween.

She took a deep breath of the fall air, a grin coming to rest on her face. It was her favorite season by far. While Christmas was always a classic and Thanksgiving was probably a close second- just because of the food- Halloween was hers. It always had been. She stuck her hands in her pockets, her gaze drifting out across the small town. The sun was beginning to set, bathing the town in a warm glow and sending creepy shadows to rest on windows. It was starting to get a little chilly out, and Rowan was grateful she was dressed warmly.

She was supposed to be meeting her friends any minute now, although it was truly no surprise that she’d been the first one to arrive. They’d planned to meet in the center of town- it was a little easier than just meeting at one of their houses -and Rowan lived the closest. That, and some of her friends had a little habit of being late. Rowan didn’t usually mind; she was used to it. She’d known these people since high school so they weren’t exactly unpredictable, but tonight she was impatient. She let out a huff, folding her arms as the sun continued to sink in the sky. She pulled out her phone to check the time. 7:04. Okay, maybe they weren’t as late as she’d thought originally. She could stand to be a little more patient. Something that she probably needed to remind herself often.

Rowan couldn’t help but smile a little at the lock screen. It was a picture of her and her friends- a blurry goofy selfie where only her eyes were showing, Claire was off to the side flashing a peace sign and crossing her eyes, Elliot was in the back with his tongue out, and Spencer was the blurriest, jumping up to make sure she was in the picture. Because of the way it blurred, she almost looked demonic. It made Rowan laugh every single time she saw it.

It was her friends that kept her going. Whenever this town became exhausting or she failed another job interview, she always had them to rely on. That was the one thing about feeling stuck here that she didn’t mind so much- they were all still together. She didn’t know what she would do if any one of them left.

“You look bored.”

Rowan looked up, her eyes meeting Claire’s. The other woman had a mischievous glint in her eye, as if she knew Rowan was about to berate her for being late. And sure enough, she did.

“Took you long enough,” she said, though she was grinning. “What, did you get lost on the way here?” Claire was notoriously bad with directions. Rowan refused to let her forget the one time she’d promised to drive them to a thrift store she’d found, only to take the wrong exit not once, but twice, and drove around for an added hour and a half.

“I’m here before everyone else,” Claire protested, swatting her friend’s arm. “You’d better give them the same amount of trouble.”

“Oh, I plan on it,” she said, her gaze drifting to the person behind Claire. Elliot was ambling up, hands in his pockets. He let out a laugh at Rowan’s expression and her exaggerated look at her imaginary watch.

“I’m not that late,” he said, approaching them with a grin. “It’s, what, not even ten past seven?”

“You’re still late!”

“Yeah, because you picked a stupid time.” He gestured around them, where there were still kids running around with costumes and trick-or-treat bags. “What are we going to do this early anyway?”

“Wait for Spencer!” Rowan urged, giving him a disapproving frown. “I have some ideas.” There were some things they’d talked about together, but she’d been trying to come up with ideas for this year’s Halloween for weeks now. Once October 1st hit, Rowan went into full Halloween mode from planning things to do on Halloween night, to scaring all of her friends- especially Spencer -and anything else she could do to make the spooky season great. To say that she’d gone overboard for this year was an understatement. She’d researched local hauntings and ghost tours and had really tried to think outside of the box this year. Rowan felt pretty confident that she’d come up with some good ideas, but they’d have to wait for Spencer before they decided what to do.

And right on cue, there she was.

Rowan couldn’t help but watch as she approached, noticing everything from the clothes she was wearing to the way her hair moved in the slight breeze. Time always seemed to slow down when she laid eyes on Spencer. There was just something about her that made Rowan’s heart race and the butterflies in her stomach take flight. She felt her lips curve into a wide grin. Though she knew Spencer would probably never return her feelings- and would hopefully never know about them -there was probably nothing Rowan wouldn’t do for her.

She nodded to herself and took a breath once she arrived, flashing her a bright grin. “Happy Halloween.” After folding her arms, she addressed the group again. “So now that we’re all here, I have a few options I think that we could do. Of course, if anyone has any ideas…” she trailed off, her eyes drifting from member to member, giving them an opportunity to speak up. She didn’t think they would, though; they knew she’d spent time on this. “Okay. We could do the usual, classic Halloween night- watch some scary movies and eat candy. Or we could head to the bar- I know they’ve got some drink specials going for tonight.”

She paused for dramatic effect, her lips pulling into a small, knowing grin. “Or… if that’s not,” she shrugged, “I don’t know, enough, I found a… story about an old abandoned house that’s actually not very far from here.” Her eyebrows rose and she held out her hands as if to say, well? “I think someone died in there. Probably a big place for ghosts.” She grinned, rocking back on her heels.

“So? What do you say?”

mood: feeling excited
location: center of town

internal

© PASTA​