“Aaand, that should do it!” announced Caitlin, giving the bandages one last loop around Alicia's chest. She punctuated this statement by cutting the bandages off the roll, then fastened the end in place with a safety pin under Alicia's arm, where it wouldn't be seen.

Alicia smiled, stepped back, and did a small twirl. “What do you think? Do I look like a cheermummy?”

She did. Caitlin had made a sort of midriff-baring tube top out of the bandages. Alicia was also wearing a bandage skirt she had made earlier, with hanging, vertical bandages sewn together in a layered way that resembled pleats. She'd even made bandage pom poms, and was shaking them the way a cheermummy probably would.

“Yeah! You do,” said Caitlin. She was dressed as Dr. Cheerenstein, and looked rather professional in her lab coat and glasses, even with her uniform visible through the coat's open front. She reached into the prop box and pulled out some glittery costume jewelry and an Egyptian headdress. “Don't forget your jewels and stuff, though.”

Halloween night had arrived, and the Sunnycrest High girls' locker room was full of giggly, chattering cheerleaders, getting their costumes on. Since they were dressing up for a squad fundraiser, they all agreed to have their costumes related to cheerleaders in some way. Nicole was a cheerleader vampire, Brittany was a hooded cheerleader executioner, Tiffers was a cheerleader witch, complete with wisecracking animatronic black cat familiar, and Victoria was looking strangely adorable as a cheerleader Freddy Krueger.

Lindsey was a package deal with Caitlin, dressed as Cheerenstein's Monster. She was covered head to toe in green body paint with some stitches added in black. Two fake bolts were stuck on her neck. The cheer uniform she wore was an old one she'd saved, dirtying it up and adding some rips and tatters just for this occasion. “You look hot. As soon as Kirk sees you, he's going to want to unwrap you.”

Alicia turned red. “Ew, don't say that."

Chase was sitting on a locker room bench, and Lindsey was leaning over to help her with her makeup. Carefully, she painted lines of mascara down Chase's cheeks, to make it look like she had been crying.

“Tell what am one more time?” asked Chase, confused.

“You're a ghost bride,” said Lindsey. Chase looked the part, wearing a white uniform that had been augmented with some frilly, lacy bits, and a white veil on her head which was presently lifted so Lindsey could work. “You were horrifically slain on the day of your wedding, and now your soul cries out for vengeance, hunting cute couples on Halloween night.”

“Now remember, Chase,” said Alicia, placing the headdress on herself, “You're a monster in the maze, hunting people going through and scaring them, but you're not supposed to actually kill them! Got it?”

“Not kill?”

“No!” said Caitlin. “Just scare them!”

“Scare them,” echoed Chase.

“That should be pretty easy for you, right?” requested Lindsey. She capped the mascara, lowered Chase's veil, then held up a mirror for her. “Especially with your wicked new makeover! Bam!”

Chase looked at her reflection. She had to admit, she looked rather spooky. “Be spook to all but not kill. Maze not for kill.” She nodded. “Got it.”

While Lindsey made a few last tweaks to her costume, Chase looked over at Melissa C., who was a cheerleader grim reaper. Dressed in an old uniform which she dyed black and sewed a hood onto, she was chatting and laughing with Brittany and Samantha, a scythe slung over her shoulder.

Ever since the away game at Paranske Falls, Chase had been thinking about and reexamining her relationship with Melissa C. In Paranske Falls, Chase had fought Serena, a girl who did a bad thing to her friends. In the end her friends accepted her back into their flock, not because it was earned, but because they didn't know the true extent of her crimes. She couldn't help but compare herself with Serena, and Serena's situation with herself and Melissa C.

Melissa C. was her friend now, but that friendship seemed constituent on a great deal of deception and withheld information on Chase's part. What was the difference between her and Serena? Was there one?

Melissa C. took a selfie with Samantha and Brittany. After Brittany asked to hold the scythe (and was almost dragged to the floor with it), Melissa C. came over to Chase and Lindsey.

“Strike a pose, Frankensexy,” she told Lindsey. Lindsey obliged, and Melissa C. took her photo, then took a close-up of Chase's makeup. “Wow. You look amazing.” She showed Chase the picture, and Chase had to agree.

As Chase stood up from the bench, Melissa C. asked her, “Hey, are you doing anything with Torey after this?”

“No, Tor work.”

“Oh, okay, awesome,” grinned Melissa C. “Wanna come over to my house for a scary movie? I'm sure there'll be leftover trick-or-treat candyyy! There's no way they took it all, my mom bought a ton.”

Chase's eyes lit up. “Oh! Yes, will go! Much like film!”

“Can we come?” asked Caitlin, meaning her and Lindsey.

“Yeah! I'm trying to get some people together,” said Melissa C. “You're not doing anything with a guy, Lindsey?”

Lindsey shrugged. “I can fool around with a guy every day. Halloween is just once a year!”

….....

Dead leaves shattered under the wheels of Willard's skateboard. “I dunno. It doesn't really sound like we're missing anything,” he said, coasting at a leisurely pace down the sidewalk. “I'm sure a cheerleader's idea of scary is a lot different from mine.”

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Halloween night was falling. The sun had only begun to set, and already tons of costumed kids were roaming around the suburbs of Sunnycrest.

Flor was skating alongside him. A pair of kids ran past them in the opposite direction, one dressed as a devil and the other dressed as a ghost, carrying plastic jack-o-lanterns for trick-or-treating. The beautifying trees were almost completely bare by this point in the year, leaving lawns they passed patchwork quilts of greens, reds, and browns. Sunnycrest had yet to receive its first snow, and the dry gutters became stripes of red and orange piping to accent the black asphalt of the street. She pushed with her foot and said, “Whatever dude, you know you still wanna go.”

“No I don't!”

“You wanna see what kind of sexy halloween costumes they came up with,” she teased. They ollied over a sidewalk slab which had been heaved up by a renegade tree root. “I know you, man. You can't fool me.”

“Wh-whatever!” Willard said defensively. A cop car turned onto their street, so they quickly stopped and kicked their boards up to carry them. “I wouldn't have anything in common with a cheerleader. It's hard to be interested in someone you can't relate to. I'm just not shallow like that, you know?”

Flor shook her head. “I can't listen to this,” she said, disgusted. “You're so not interested you made a gargoyle for one of them...”

“Th-that was a token of appreciation!”

“I'm sure it was!” she replied, amused. The cop rounded the corner, but they didn't drop their boards back down to the sidewalk. The direction the conversation was going seemed to call for the more measured pace walking would provide. “Just stop, quit acting all cool. You're a fucking guy, you think the cheerleaders are hot. End of story. Tell me which one you think is the hottest. You'll feel a lot better.”

Willard hesitated. “No way.”

“Come on, I'm curious now. I wanna hear what you think.” She teased, “Why don't you just PRETEND you're shallow, if that helps? It's Lindsey, isn't it?”

“It is NOT her,” said Willard.

Flor laughed. “Then who?”

For a second, she actually thought he'd answer. “Wh...what about you?” he deflected. “You're the one who talks about them all the time.”

Flor blushed, surprised. “I do n-”

“Excuse me,” said a voice from behind them.

The teens jumped in surprise. They hadn't heard anyone approach, and the personal nature of their conversation had wound them tighter than they thought. Quickly, they turned around.

Standing before them was an attractive young woman, around their age, with straight black hair. She wore a black suit, and her right hand was resting on the handle of a katana, sheathed at her hip.

“Whoa, cool costume!” said Flor. “Are you from a video game? Anime?”

“I am not from either,” said Agent Han evenly.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“I overheard you speaking of cheerleaders,” said Agent Han. “I seek them. Could you please point me to them?”

Willard was surprised to feel relief at hearing she was looking for someone else. Something about her put him on edge without him consciously realizing. “Oh, you're going to the haunted maze? Sure. It's at the high school, on the football field.” He gave her more detailed directions.

Agent Han took mental note of the directions, then regarded the boy and girl. Kill them...or don't? On the one hand, they had seen her. They could identify her. But on the other hand...there were trick-or-treaters everywhere. Too many witnesses. It just wasn't the time or the place.

“Your assistance is appreciated,” Agent Han told them. She let her hand fall from the katana's handle, then turned and strode toward the high school.

........

When the cheerleaders were finished dressing and taking their pictures (it was already dark outside, so they figured they should take them while the lighting was on their side), they headed out to the maze.

The group had worked until the last minute getting things ready, and now that it was all done, it truly looked creepy. They set up cardboard tombstones out front to make the whole entry area look like a graveyard, and painted the front wall of the maze to resemble old, weathered grey bricks, as if it was the entry to a massive burial vault. They started turning the lights on. They had really gone all out on the lighting, including a malevolent orange glow which poured out of the entrance hall, and a green light which illuminated a wooden sign over the front gate: MAZE OF MONSTER CHEERLEADERS. This was just what was visible from the front gate. Alicia plugged in a fog machine, and once it started doing its stuff it completed the eerie, gothic scene.

Brimming with excitement, psyching themselves up to spook some people, the girls took their positions in the maze. Most of them had an area themed to their costume. The wrong turn could send a hapless explorer into Tiffers' witchy little cottage, complete with a bubbling, glowing green cauldron, or to Lindsey and Caitlin's mad scientist's laboratory, just for example.

Alicia took the first shift handling the money and front gate. By the seven o'clock opening time, quite a crowd had amassed, so Alicia decided to set the mood a little. “So, you fools from the land of the living seek to enter the Maze of Monster Cheerleaders? Hah! Listen, all, and hear my sordid tale! Just two weeks ago, a group of cheerleaders began constructing the maze you see before you, hoping to earn money for spring break! But then...one by one...they all died! One after the other, their lives were cut short, under mysterious, unexplainable circumstances! Some say the souls of these cheerleaders still haunt the maze to this day...more monster than woman, their humanity all but lost! Legend has it anyone who crosses paths with them shall surely perish! Challenge the maze...IF YOU SO DARE! WoooOOOoooOOOO!”

Alicia gave her pom poms a spooky shake, a finale which was met with laughs and cheers. Then, without further ado, she opened the till and began accepting people's money. First in line was Pat and Donna, a couple from their class.

“Oh? Young lovers?” asked Alicia, not breaking character. “You are brave indeed.”

“We are?” asked Donna nervously.

“Oh, yes,” said Alicia. “The cheerleaders who haunt this maze were robbed of that same youth and romance you now enjoy. They have a very special brand of jealousy and vitriol for young people in love. Couples can expect an ESPECIALLY scary time.” Donna giggled and squeezed Pat's arm.

Grinning, the boy paid Alicia for the two of them, and Alicia ceremoniously opened the gate. “Very well then...enter! But don't say I didn't warn you! Ahahaha!”

The crowd cheered as the couple sallied bravely forth into the glowing orange portal. As soon as they crossed the threshold, they were swallowed up by fog.

On the other side, they found the source of the orange light: powerful orange bulbs which were mounted on the walls. They lit up the entire corridor they found themselves in, coloring everything (including Pat and Donna themselves) Halloween orange. On the walls were framed yearbook pictures of the cheerleaders. Pat and Donna looked at them briefly as they passed. There was something eerie about the way the orange light distorted the pictures, and Donna unconsciously grabbed Pat a little tighter. The maze had no roof. Clouds, dimly illuminated from behind by moonlight, were their ceiling.

They followed the corridor until they reached a corner, then rounded it. Another orange bulb lit this hallway, only this one flickered at random, thrusting the couple back and forth between light and split seconds of darkness. Hanging on the wall, askew, was a large photo depicting the entire cheerleading squad. The glass was broken, and the face of every cheerleader was scratched out with black ink.

There was another color in the next room: Red. The following words were written on the wall in big, bloody letters:

TURN BACK...

OR JOIN THEM