Halloween Event

Halloween Event

It was one of those stressful days, nothing had gone right at work. So once Dustin got home, he took a quick shower, washing the stress off him. He knew how late it was, his wife, Jen, was already fast asleep for work in the morning. He changed into some loose clothes before heading into his game room.

As he opened the doors, soft lights came to life. The walls were covered with posters of his favorite games. His eyes fell on a Zelda one, his favorite. He had paid so much for that poster and he loved it. After a few deep breaths, he let himself fully forget the day at work. Jack would be on his case tomorrow due to the order mistake but there was nothing he could do about it.

A beep brought the computer to life. The dual screens turned on as the lights on his computer hummed. His rig had cost him a pretty penny, but it was so worth it. He turned the lights off on the keyboard once he brought up the game he wanted. He did the same to the montures, not needing them.

He put his gloves on that were his controllers and then picked up his VR helmet. He took one more breath before putting it over his head. In a few moments the game came to life before his eyes.

A soft smile spread across his lips as he saw the words "Welcome back Sir Knight Dragon Killer." He tapped the enter server button. A pop up came up.

"The Halloween event has started and we hope you enjoy it. -Developers."

His smile grew wider as he hit okay. It was a few days early and they had been saying the event was going to be different then the year before. He couldn't wait to see what they had done.

Dustin spawned into the small town he had disconnected in. It was night and the road was covered in Halloween decorations. He walked over to one of the jack-o-lanterns and looked at it. Amazed at the detail they put in it. He swore it looked real and he could just pick it up.

He looked around as he heard a scream for help. As he ran towards it, he pulled his sword and shield out. He saw a pop up on his screen, entering a Halloween World Event.

It disappeared after a few moments and before him he saw npcs running away as an undead horde stumbled after them. A huge smile appeared on his face. They didn't normally do events in the city, this really was different.

He charged into battle, casting Shield Bash to knock one of the zombies away from a woman it was trying to bite. He turned and slashed another in half, watching it fall down before turning to ash.

One tried to walk up behind him but he slammed him with his shield, growing. The horde seemed to grow as he started to cut down each zombie. He took damage from their nails, but not enough for him to worry about.

The zombies were slow and clumsy, and before he knew it, he had killed all of them. He was sweating in real life from all the movement had made to kill them all. Normally the fighting wasn't so intense. He saw a pop up about winning the event and the experience he had gained.

He moved his character to a seat and sat him down before he did the same in real life. He looked around the area as he caught his breath.

The moon was blood red, which he had not noticed before. He thought to himself how cool that was as he felt a sharp pain on his neck and his health went down. He got up in real life and the game, looking behind him. There was a npc that had been attacked.

"Oh shit it's contagious." He said outlook before cutting the NPC down as well. "That sucked. I hate cheap shots like that." He closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them up.

On the top right, next to his health was a debuff with a counter. It had 5 minutes on it. He looked confused because he did not recognize the symbol they had used. It wasn't poison or mana drained.

He opened up his menu to look at the Halloween notes but it said nothing about a new status effect. He was frustrated at the developers not saying anything but it was over in five minutes anyway, he could just explore a little more and see what else they had done.

Walking down the street he didn't really see many other players, though this city wasn't the most popular and it was late.

The timer was down to the last 30 seconds when he decided to head out. He walked towards the teleporting crystal. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! When the timer reached 1 he reached out to the crystal but as he did his brain shot into pain. He screamed and put his hands on his helmet, wanting to rip it off his head but he couldn’t. The pain seemed to sap his strength. His hands fell to his side and his avatar stopped moving...

The next morning his wife Jen woke up, to get ready for work. She was confused when she didn't see her husband next to her. She knew he stayed up late but always came to bed eventually. She got out of the bed yawning and stretching. She got to her feet and walked out of the bedroom.

"Dustin?" She called out into the hall. She checked the bathroom, nope, living room, nope. "Oh please don't tell me you fell asleep on the computer again." She walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker.

Once that was done she headed to the gaming room and sighed as she saw Dustin sitting in his gaming chair with the VR helmet still on.

"You really need to stop doing this." She said more to herself than anything. Slowly she took his gloves off. His hands twitched a little as she did. She put them on the charger, knowing they were dead. She shook her head as she lifted the helmet off his head and placed it on its charger as well. When she looked back she noticed his eyes open.

"Oh, Dustin, are you still awake?" She was very confused. It was very early, but he hadn’t tried to do an all-night gaming session in several years.

Dustin let out a groan as he looked up at her. His right eye looked like the blood vessels had broken, staining it red. His face looked pale, and he seemed to be shivering a little.

Before she could speak he got to his feet and ran at her. He pushed her onto his desk, making everything fall from it. Jen put her hands up to protect herself. The feeling of her husband's teeth biting into her arm made her let out a scream. She had never felt pain like this before.

She pushed him away from her, making him rip some of her skin off her arm. She let out another scream and tried to run for it.

Before she got out of the room she was pushed into the wall, her hands grabbing onto it and pulling the Zelda poster down as she fell to the ground. She rolled over just in time to see her husband's face, covered in her blood, coming towards her.

She brought her arms up to defend her face again, and he bit down on her fingers. She felt his head jerk to the side, and two of her fingers went with it. The pain flashed white-hot for a moment, almost making her faint. With all her might she kicked him between the legs, which made him stumble back and groan in pain.

Jen got to her feet and ran out of the room, heading to their bedroom as fast as she could. There was a lock and her cellphone was in there. She moved as fast as her feet would take her. She could hear Dustin coming after her. He wasn't that fast, it seemed he had trouble keeping steady. Maybe from when she kicked him…?

Once she was at their door she slammed it closed and locked it, just in time as she heard Dustin run into it and groan. The door didn't seem to want to stay. She looked around her room before moving their dresser in the way. She could hear him ramming his body into the door. Jen picked up her phone and dialed 911.

As the phone rang she grabbed a towel and wrapped her hand and arm. What the hell had gotten into him? She thought to herself.

"911, what is your emergency?" A woman’s voice said on the other end. The calm and collected voice made her immediately feel a little better.

"Yes, hello, my husband attacked me. I need the police and an ambulance please." Jend said, trying hard not to let her voice shake as she spoke.

"Okay Ma’am, where do you live?”

“I am at 5742 Evergreen Road.” Jen said as she heard Dustin's body hit the door again, making her shake.

“I have the Police on the way Ma’am. What is your name?”

“Jen, Jen Smith.” Jen said as she held her hand close to her.

“Jen Smith.” The woman said as she typed it down. “Are you hurt?”

“Yes, my husband Dustin bit my arm and then bit off two of my fingers.” She said almost crying.

“Is your husband on drugs that you know of?”

“No, he doesn’t do drugs. He fell asleep on his computer and when I took his VR helmet off, he had his eyes open. Then he attacked me, pushing me into his computer and then against the wall, both times he bit me.” Jen wiped her tears from her eyes. Her voice was shaking as she spoke about what had just happened to her.

Dustin was groaning and kept trying to get through the door.

“He is slamming himself against the door right now. I don’t understand what is happening. Please get the police here soon.”

“They are on their way Jen, and the ambulance as well.” The 911 operator said as calming as she could. “Have you tried to stop the bleeding?”

“Yes. I have a towel around it.”

“Good, now I want you to get something to protect yourself and what room are you in? Is the front door open?”

“I am in my bedroom and the front door is locked.” Jen looked around herself, not really seeing a weapon. The floor was covered in clothes and bed sheets. “I don’t have anything in this room to use as a weapon.”

“That’s okay, then just keep him out.”

Jen nodded. “Okay…” She realized her eyes felt very heavy. Her body was starting to not really want to move. Had she really lost that much blood? “Please hurry, I don’t feel too good.”

“They are getting there as fast as they can, please try to stay awake.”

Jen muttered something, but before she knew it, the world was black, her eyes just wouldn’t stay open anymore.

Officer Mckenzie's night had been an odd one. It was maybe two more hours till he was done with his shift and he was looking forward to falling asleep next to his dog, Chester.

“Patrol car 674, please come in.” Said one of the 911 operators, it sounded like Sarah.

“Patrol car 674.” He answered back.

“I need you to head to 5742 Evergreen road, it will be on your computer now. Domestic Dispute.”

“10-4.” He said before looking over at his partner Collins. He was a good man that was a little newer to the force. “Here we go.” Collins nodded before he turned the lights on and Mckenzie took off down the road.

They flew down the streets. For a while the roads were empty. At first they were making really good time. But they hit some traffic that was stuck due to a red light and everyone had trouble getting out of the way.

By the time they got to the house, it had taken 15 minutes. The operator had told them the door would be locked and also the woman’s name was Jen and she was in the bedroom. Mckensey grabbed the Door Opener as he liked to call it. Collin nodded as he got to the door, knocking.

“Police, open up!” Collins called, his hand on his gun. When there was no sound on the other side, Mckeney came up and pushed the ram against the door and Collins and him used it, opening the door. They let it drop before moving into the house.

It was so dark inside, the blinds were pulled, making the entrance room really dark. It didn't help that the sun wasn't up yet. They both pulled out their flashlights and headed inside, with their hands on their guns.

“Police!” Mckenzie called out this time. They walked into the house slowly, clearing the living room and walking into the kitchen. They could smell the freshly brewed coffee, mixed with a metallic tang. Mckenzie went to the door on the left and opened it. He found a room that was wrecked. The computer was mostly on the ground. He could see blood on a few objects as well as a poster on the ground with blood on it as well. "Clear."

Collins moves to the right towards the small hall that lead to the bedroom. One door was opened, leading to a bathroom.

"Clear." Collins called as he saw no one in the bathroom. As he turned around he could see blood on the walls. He moved slowly following it.

It led to a door that was busted in. Blood covered the door and a terrible sound hit his ear. He hadn't heard it until now, as he grew closer to the door.

As his flashlight flowed into the room he saw a dresser had been pushed out of the way and a man covered in blood. He was eating what had to be his wife. His hands and arms were covered in blood. Collins took a step back in shock. The sound was his teeth scraping against her bones. Slowly the man stopped his eating and looked up at Collins, blood dripping from chin, small hunks of meat stuck to his cheeks.

”Sir, put your hands in the air!” The officer put his hand on his gun as the man started to get up. “Sir this is your last warning!” He called out as the blood covered man started to move towards him. He pulled his gun out and pointed it at the man. “Last warning!”

The man let out a moan before a bullet ripped through his heart, killing him within that shot. He fell onto the ground, next to his wife.

Mckenzie ran over, his gun pulled out as well. “You okay Collins?”

“Yes, I think I killed him.” They could hear the ambulance pulling up as Collins walked over and touched the guy's neck. “Dead.”

When Collins got to his feet and moved back, both of them stared at the scene before them. Jen was almost completely gone, her body mostly eaten or ripped apart. It was almost hard to tell it was a human besides the two feet that had not been touched. The officers looked at each other before leaving the scene.

“We need a forensics team.” Mckenize called into his radio. “We have two dead bodies on scene. Get a coroner out here as well.” They were heading to the front busted door, where the paramedics were rushing up. The officers both shook their heads at them, and Mckenzie held up a hand. “Both are dead and you do not want to go in there.”

The paramedics stopped dead and looked at them. “We really should check though.” One of them said. The officer’s words seemed to shake her, but she knew she had to do her job.

Collins walked down the stairs and bent over the garden as his guts spilled out into the flowers.

“Like I said, don’t go in there. The less scars you get, the better.” Mckenzie said, pulling a cigarette out as he moved out of their way. “Collins, grab the Door Opener when you're done, please.”

Collins gave him a thumbs up as he stood there, wiping his mouth. The paramedics headed back to their truck, getting their gear away. Mckenzie headed to the patrol car before he lit his cigarette. He took a long drag before he started to pull out the crime scene tape. This was not how he wanted to end his shift.

“We have another attack on 77nd street, another on 42nd ave.” Called over the radio. The sunrise was a deep red, like the colour of blood.