Maple woke up with a start.

Something was happening.

Her mattress was shaking, the house was giving off loud creaking noises, like that of icecaps cracking and splintering.

Maple was frightened enough to not notice how bad she was feeling.

At first, that is. Then came the strong blaring headache like an orchestra of chaos consisting of hammering, honking, screeching and drilling. At the same time, her stomach started to twist into a knot of fire burning her up from the inside. Her skin felt cold, dry and raw like thousand of small blades were stabbing and slicing into all of her freezing nerve endings.

Then just as quickly as it had come it was gone.

It felt as something washed over her soothing any aches and warming her fragile body. Exhausted she reached a hand to her forehead trying to cool off a little. Her skin felt hot and clammy, she really needed a bath to cool off in the bathtub but simply did not have the energy to move.

In hindsight, she should have tried calling the doctor. Instead, the fever took over as she curled herself together and once again went back to the world of dreams.

Maple did not know how long she was out, but she awoke to the phone ringing.

The ringing of her mobile had her head pounding along, while her throat was sore and dry and her stomach kept growling.

She quickly found out it had not been her mobile phone that was making a racket...

"Oh right" she thought as she began to once again brave the halls of her new home. Along with the house she had gotten an old landline which was having its own party, probably the first in decades. She had been told it might still be functioning and had thus given her mother the number in case she could not be reached by other means.

The old floor was cold and harsh on Maple's unprotected delicate morning feet.

As she began to speak into the phone a foreign voice entered her ears followed by the concerned voice of her mom.

"Hi, sweetie".

"You sound awful".

"Thanks, mom".

"It was a rough night, I awoke with a fever and some rather severe body aches".

"I think an earthquake as well"

"And now I sound like some rough German guy".

"Yeah, I hear that".

"How are you?".

"I am good thanks".

"Just in the need of a bath and some warm tea to heat up my throat".

"Well, I called to hear how the move went"

"and to try out the landline".

"Is it not rather early for a call, ehh...".

11:23 her phone said after getting it out of the pocket.

"Wow, to think I slept this long"

"and those clouds sure are dark", Maple said as she looked out the windows at the black clouds in the sky. Along with all the foliage no light had reaches her windows.

"Are you doing okay by yourself?".

"Yeah, thanks mom"

"My neighbor Kevin even came by to help with the move"

"What a peach"

"Is he single?"

"You should buy him something".

"Stop mom"

"First of all he is gay, second he is married and third, yes, very handsome"

"and I was thinking of hosting a small housewarming with delicious food"

"Good"

Maple and her mom kept talking for a while as Maple went through some kitchen boxes, made some tea and made a bowl of sweet rice porridge. Maple wanted to cook it in a pot but was lacking gas and had to use the microwave. While the porridge was cooking she was able to sort out the spices, plates, cups, pans, utensils and some common appliances.

She also called the local expert technician to make sure the gas was hooked up correctly, to use the stove. The technician said he would be able to give it a look the next day.

After breakfast, Maple usually did some simple yoga exercises to warm up her body for the day. She still felt sluggish, so chose to skip it, instead she wanted to work on the mental picture she had of each room.

Maple found her drill and started assembling the furniture she needed and had the space for. Soon she was running out of floor space and had to stop but at least she had some vertical space now to unpack a few of her boxes. Naturally she would also need to repaint before unpacking completely, so she had to hold back a lot as it would be difficult to move the furniture later on.

Since Maple had painted the entryway and the dining area, it had been the place to start. After almost two hours she had assembled her coat racks, shoe racks, a dresser in the office, and the chairs and table for her dining room. Then she would move on to the other areas later and see what could be unpacked now.

Maple also missed exploring the upstairs yesterday and thought it was about time as well as a fun little brake after a busy hour and a half. But just as she was about to take the first step up the stairs someone knocked on the front door.

There was not much light due to the dark clouds and the dirty windows, but it was still possible to see the massive shadow of the person knocking. Kevin had already been quite tall, but this guy definitely took the cake, and he might even have trouble getting through the door.

Opening the door Maple was met with a wall of ripped muscle hidden under a thin t-shirt. Looking up at the scarred bald face of Vincent she could not help but think of her brother Jack. They both looked like well-trained military men, along with their matching auras.

"Hello, I am Maple, you must be Vincent" Maple said with a smile. "Do you want a cup of tea?" she asked politely, inviting him into the house as it was raining outside. Other people would probably have tried to get rid of him as fast as possible. Instead, the feeling of familiarity had Maple inviting him inside.

"Sure, thanks" he said walking across the threshold. "Oh.. right, I am here to bid you welcome to the neighborhood and brought a small gift". Reaching behind him, he grasped onto a 40 pound pumpkin that he offered as a Halloween housewarming gift. Looking at the monstrosity, Maple could not help but gape. Shortly after she was clapping her hands. "It is beautiful" she said as she had him put it down on the recently assembled dinner table.

"What tea would you like?" she continued to ask as she went to heat up a kettle of water, get him a towel as well as wipe off the large pumpkin.

"I usually prefer coffee, so maybe a bitter tea?" he replied.

"And by the way wow, good job making it look like a home" he complimented.

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"Hmm.. I do not have any coffee left and thanks" Maple said and continued "I do have a some smoked tea that has some bitter notes". "Do you prefer chocolate or licorice?" She asked while mixed together a tea with some different spices.

Coming back from the kitchen Maple had a small bowl of sweets and two cups of tea.

Vincent did not stay long, but he still told Maple a lot about the town and the upcoming events. It was currently the 30th of October which was why he had brought a pumpkin. We also talked about Halloween, decorations, how to cut the pumpkin and about the trick or treating that might take place since she was now living in the local "haunted house".

After bidding Vincent farewell she made herself another cup of tea and slumped down in a chair. Vincent had reminded her that she might want to prepare for Halloween tomorrow. She did not want to disappoint the kids, so she started brainstorming ideas. She had always enjoyed Halloween herself, so she had a couple of costumes and decorations packed away that might be of use.

Another knocking sounded at the door, so Maple got up and went to get it. But as she opened it she heard the knocking once again but instead of coming from the open door in front of her it came from inside the house. Going back into the dining room she followed the knocking through the kitchen. "Had that door always been there?" she wondered as she continued into what appeared to be her laundry room. The laundry had 3 doors, one on the right, one on the left and on to the back of the house.

Opening the door to the backyard Maple was met by a shocking sight. It took Maple a while to catch up to the situation with a believable reasoning to what she was seeing. 'You are looking at professional cosplayers that are trick or treating' her subconsciousness tried to convince the rest of her brain.

The woman in front was saying something, but Maple did not understand a word coming out of her mouth. It only seemed to strengthen Maple's confusion further as she was overwhelmed both visually and audibly. Tilting her head in confusion it seemed to occur to the woman that she had been lost in some point of the communication.

With a snap of her finger the woman continued unimpeded but now Maple at least started to comprehend the other woman's words unlike whatever language or accent she had been using prior.

"Ah, this should do it".

"Hello neighbor, we are the Blackwood family"

"I am Lara. This is.." introduced the woman, that was most likely the mother of the family. She was rather beautiful with curves in all the right places while slightly chubby and large boned. What stood out though was how pale she was. Her skin even had a slight purple tint which contrasted well with her dark curly hair that cascaded down her back. She was wearing loose clothing with multiple scarfs of different colors. One or two large scarfs acted like a skirt hanging from her waist, another smaller scarf hung on her hip and a sash held together her loose shirt. Over the shirt she had a shawl as well as a scarf that kept her hair together as it ran down her back. The clothing and skin tone made her look like a dead gypsy/fortuneteller. It was a beautiful Halloween cosplay and to top it of she had a third eye in her forehead staring back exactly like the other two.

"This is Dave, my oldest" she said pointing to the skeleton beside her.

"Hi" it said raising its hands in a small wave, while Maple's heart was racing, her throat dry and skin itchy. She had so many questions. If he was her son how would it even work giving birth to a skeleton? Do they grow? Wait, no, how does it even move? Or even talk?

"This is James, my youngest son" she said and laid a hand on the head of a short chubby kid. His skin was the color of a grey-blue concrete, his wide oval-shaped head was rather large for his size and he seemed to be on the sturdier size like his mother.

"Hi" he said with deep bass-like voice that seemed to resonate like thunder.

"This is my Husband, Axel" she said hugging the man beside her. He was probably the most normal of them as he appeared like any standard vampire. Large protruding fangs, pale white skin, red eyes and a black suit.

"The pleasure is mine" he said with a small bow and the common lisp that followed having fangs.

"And last but not least this is Chipp, our pet" she said pointing at the apparition hovering behind her. It was some weird mix between a dog and an octopus that reminded me of Zero from Nightmare Before Christmas but with hovering tentacles. It answered with a "yip" that sounded somewhere between a bark and a slurp, almost like a hiccup or a withheld sneeze.

As they looked back at Maple her brain went into auto gear as she made a small bow and introduced herself "I am Maple and the pleasure is all mine". If not for the many greetings she had done at her former workplace to lessen her troubles. Maple would probably have had a hard time reciprocating their greetings.

As her mind slowly try to exit her subconscious she found herself complimenting them, "You guys look fantastic".

"Oh my. What a charmer and so young"

"Did you move here for the magic schooling?"

It took Maple a while to once again process what she had just heard. And once more her mind just associated it to be roleplaying that would follow along with the amazing cosplay.

"No, I finished my schooling a while back"

"Hoo.. a genius then"

"My son here is 21, and we are thinking of having him attend Maze Academy next year, though I still think it is a little early" she said rubbing James' head.

"Mom.." he complained, as he stamped his foot, creating a low rumble across the earth.

Looking down at the round head of the small boy Maple once again attributed the weird disconnect in what she heard to some kind of roleplay.

"Then why did you move here at this time?" Lara asked. The immediate past had been rather dark, so Maple's confused mind focused on the bad experiences that had occurred the past half a year. It had probably been the first time in the conversation her head had cleared up, and it was due to how clear the memories were.

Before she knew what was happening Maple was pulled into the voluptuous embrace of a caring mother that responded with "Oh.. you poor thing, I am sorry I asked".

"Why don't you come by for dinner?" Lara brightly asked as she straightened her arms to once again get a look at Maple.

Maple had been quite surprised by the sudden embrace of warm emotions and cool skin. Furthermore, she did not have any dinner ready or planned, so she would probably need to go grocery shopping and even then the stove still needed to be inspected by the technician.

"I would love to" Maple found herself spouting before she was able to finish her thoughts.

"Good, I'll send James by in an hour or two to get you" Lara responded and then pointed into the distance "We live right over there".

Maple try to follow Lara's finger, but all she could pick out was how the woods seemed a lot darker in that direction. It was somewhere to the left of a large green tree just outside the house.

Maple gave a nod to indicate that she somewhat got the direction, before they bid each other farewell and Maple closed the door.

With a full of a buzzing questions Maple went to sit down with a warm cup of tea. Her mind started trying to make heads and tails of what she had witnessed. Many things that had been subconsciously ignored started returning as she relaxed. Details such as the third eye, the skeleton, the ghost dog and the large forest in her backyard...