Horror at Hallovar

This is for the Rewrite the Night event in my Discord server.

 How It Works:

• At the start of the event, we’ll share one central prompt — the spark.

• Each week, we’ll reveal a new twist that gives the prompt a fresh spin.

Prompt: A trickster spirit plays a prank that goes too far.

Week 1 twist: None

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The radio played its upbeat music while the couple drove toward Kinsington. A sparse town beyond the edge of Volinar's crowded streets, it was quiet, with an almost unsettling stillness. By nightfall, they would be at the Hallovar Festival, with fields blazing with lantern light and music that would carry for miles.

The farther from Volinar they drove, the sparser the trees grew. Branches became long and thin, the leaves disappearing until there were none left. The sun was gone, hidden behind a never-ending cloud, while a light fog grazed the ground.

"Well, this is...spooky...I wonder why they are having it all the way out here," Katie said with a hint of regret already forming in her mind.

"Don't know," Mike responded, munching on his potato chips, "Maybe there wasn't enough space in the city? It is a rather large festival."

"I guess..." Katie said, watching the landscape pass by outside. Although something tugged at the back of her mind that they should turn around, she kept staring out the window. I'm sure I'm just being paranoid... she thought to herself.

When they finally reached Kinsington, they immediately spotted the Hallovar Festival. They followed the line of cars to a parking spot and shifted the car to park. Mike got out quickly, standing up to stretch. He lifted his arms high above his head and arched his back, grunting as he felt the release in his muscles. He gave a big exhale as he lowered his arms back down.

Katie was slower getting out of the car. She took a deep breath as she took in her surroundings. The sparse trees and low fog weren't very welcoming, but the rest of the festival goers were high-spirited, which gave Katie some peace of mind.

They grabbed their overnight bags from the car, hoisting them over their shoulders, and began their trek towards the festival grounds.

"No, leave. Leave now!" an old woman was yelling as they approached the entrance to the festival. "You shouldn't be here. It doesn't like visitors!" She was dressed in tattered clothes and kept waving her cane at incoming festival goers. But no one was listening. "Crazy old lady," someone said as they passed by her. Katie gave Mike a weary look as they walked past the entrance. "Beware the Hollow Keeper!" she said as she continued to yell at the incoming festival folks.

"Come on, let's go find our tent," Mike nudged as he retrieved the site map from the registration booth. He could tell how nervous Katie was and was trying to keep her mind on the present. He put his arm around her as they walked, and he could feel her nestle into him as she slightly calmed.

The festival layout was quite extravagant. Tents were set up in neat, criss-crossed patterns and lanterns hung overhead, glowing with firelight. The stage was enormous, surrounded by pulsing speakers, as the band played. There was a large crowd at the festival, becoming sparser the farther from the stage they were. The lanterns overhead seemed to pulse to the music's beat.

"Oh, good, I'm starving!" Katie exclaimed as she approached one of the counters. "Can I get two burgers with fries and two beers, please?" she asked the woman behind the counter.

"Sure, that'll be $42.88," the woman said.

"Damn!" Katie yelled as she reluctantly handed her credit card to the woman.

"I know, these festival prices are crazy!" the woman replied. "Here you go," she said, handing Katie's card back to her. "You'll be number 74 and can pick it up at the window at the end."

With their food in hand, they found a space to sit and watch the festival.

"How did they get the lanterns to pulse to the beat?" Katie said, looking up at them, mesmerized.

"Maybe they have gas lines running through it set up to start and stop with the beat," Mike guessed.

As the song came to a close, a group of red fireworks popped in the sky. The band looked at each other, uneasy.

"Hey, did you see those fireworks go up?" asked Katie.

"No...hmm," Mike said wearily.

Seeing Mike's reaction made Katie's uneasiness grow.

Pop, pop, pop. The lanterns overhead sputtered with tiny explosions when suddenly they heard a scream.

"She didn't have a face!!" a woman yelled as Mike and Katie approached the crowd around her.

"I'm starting to think we should leave..." Katie whispered.

"I mean...she's probably just drunk or something..." Mike paused. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it. Come on, let's go to our tent for a bit."

Katie reluctantly followed him back to their tent, only to find their sleeping bags unrolled and their clothes neatly folded to the side.

"SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!!!" someone yelled, startling them to turn around, where they saw the woman from the entrance again.

"That's it, we're leaving!" Katie declared.

"Baby, it's alright," Mike said, holding her shoulders to look her in the eyes. "The old lady is obviously crazy, and that woman was drunk and scared by her. And someone just...unpacked our stuff for us... They probably have a person who works here and does that."

"Fine. But if one more weird thing happens, we're leaving," she declared.

"You got it," Mike said, kissing her forehead and pulling her into a hug.

As the night went on, things seemed to settle somewhat. The beer and the late-night hour were enough to make everyone forget the strange occurrences and focus on the music playing.

"Let's go lie down," Katie yawned, exhausted from dancing all night.

They walked back to their tent, turned on their battery-powered space heater, and slumped into their sleeping bags.

Katie's eyes jolted open, awakening her to the quiet night. After a moment adjusting to the darkness, she could make out the shape of Mike next to her, still lying asleep. She checked her phone to find the time, only to find an empty battery screen flashing up at her.

Slowly, she realized it was quieter than it should have been. Even if the band weren't playing, people would still be up talking, drinking, and partying. That's how these festivals are.

She unzipped her tent and peered through the opening. None of the lanterns were lit, there was no stage, and the other tents were gone.

"Mike," she whispered.

No response.

"Mike," she whispered again, nudging his shoulder.

Still no response.

She reached into her bag, grabbed her pocket knife, and stepped outside. She could see their car out past the field on the other side of town, but nothing else was there that would indicate a festival was even scheduled to occur, let alone be going on.

As a hand grabbed her shoulder, she spun around, plunging the knife forward. She saw Mike's wide eyes as he looked down at the knife now protruding from his chest. As he fell to his knees, Katie saw the rest of the festival come back into focus around her.