Part three of this adventure. I urge you to go back and read the past two parts, if you haven't already. Part one is called Maze of Terror, and part two is called Horrific Hayride. But enjoy this story!
This is dedicated to my friend The_Story_Nerds Happy birthday bud

Zion set the final lock on his door, the last of 6. No, 7, if you counted the piece duct tape he put across the top, just in case. He stepped back, looking at the row of locks, a contented look on his face. An assortment of deadbolts, sliding locks, and a chain lock was expertly hammered (after a five minute YouTube debriefing of how to install locks) into the door frame and the door, providing extra protection, unlike the two measly locks the door already had.

  It was almost Halloween. Again. He had declined any offer to go to any corn maze, hay ride, haunted house, and even any Halloween parties. He felt bad, but he sternly told Liz and Dashiell that he didn't want to go anywhere during the Halloween weekend. They usually always did something together... but, after the past two years encounters, he decided that he wasn't going to risk anything. Liz looked extremely sad, and Dashiell got that look in her eye where she wanted to hit something, but he knew he couldn't cave in. All he wanted to do was hang out in his living room, alone, enjoy the chicken Ramen he made for himself, and peacefully enjoy watching Demon slayer. Wait no, he'd watch something less scary...maybe kaguya.

  Zion turned away from the door, heading to the living room, when he heard a bang. Was it a bang? The wind blew a fierce gust outside and he shook his head. Something probably just blew in the wind. Tree branch most likely.

  Another bang. This time obviously recognizable as a bang. Zion's heart skipped a beat, as he almost fell over as he whirled around. He dropped to the ground and scooted his way to the wall near the door, pressing his back hard against it, feeling his heart rate increasing. This can't be happening, he thought, his jaw clenched.

  More banging. This time clearly on the front door. He could feel the vibrations through the wall. The handle rattled and the door shook, but the locks held. His body tensed and he hit his head off the window frame above him. The window... his mouth dropped open in horror as he realized. He had fortified the front door, the back door, locked the windows upstairs and in the kitchen, but this small window had completely slipped his mind. He turned his gaze upwards, petrified, as he heard something tap the window.

  Silence.

  Then a slow scraping noise as the window was being lifted. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. His hands were shaking as he pressed them against the floor as he tried to lower his body, or move, but he felt paralyzed, waiting for whatever opened the window. The noise stopped, the window fully open. Then a head suddenly popped through the window, eyes staring down right at him.

"AAAAHHH-" Zion let out the loudest scream he had ever uttered. The person started to laugh as they gazed down at him.

It was Dashiell. Zion felt like he was going to pass out, yet he was relieved at the same time.

"Dang, you look terrified. Did you see a ghost or something? You really should lock your windows. Did you really think we were going to let you be by yourself on Halloween? Cmon, I know how you get. You'd hear a little thud and think someone was out to kill you."

  Zion gazed back at her for a second, not quite sure what to say, as he tried to get his breathing regular, his heart pouding as fast as it could go "Why are you.. the window...what.. we?" He said, his brain processing all she had said.

"Yea! Liz is here too." Dashiell said, as Liz's hand popped through the window and she offered a greeting.

  Zion sighed, rubbing his face with his trembling hands. "I'll open the door for you." He got up and went to the door, unhooked and unlocked the assortment of locks, and opened the door, the duct tape making a ripping noise as it came off the doorframe.

"Wow... you sure took precautions, didn't you?" Liz noted, watching Zion fasten and latch the locks back, and attempt to adhere the duct tape, but it hung down on one side that didn't want to stick.

"You can never be to safe." Zion replied, going and closing the window, making sure to lock it. He turned to look at Dashiell and Liz with a slight annoyed, yet exasperated, expression.

"We figured we'd keep you company!" Dashiell said with a slightly sheepish grin. "Since you said we couldn't go anywhere, we thought we'd come here instead."

"Yea, but... after last year, we didn't really want to go to any Halloween things anyway." Liz admitted.

"Yea." Dashiell added. "It was cool and all... just a little to real for my taste."

"Cool?! It was anything but that." Zion shuddered, remembering last year's event. "But this should be much better anyways. I was just planning on watching anime until midnight anyways. That's when it should be safe."

They went to the living room, as Zion set up the tv, and Liz made more Ramen in the kitchen.

"I've really been wondering...why does the scarecrow want you? Like it knows your name so you're not just a random person it decided to scare." Dashiell questioned, with slight concern on her face.

"I have no clue. But I hope we have nothing to do with it anymore. It's now out for you guys too, so honestly I'm glad you guys came, just in case it..." he trailed off, turning to look down at the romote in his hands, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. Liz came in at that moment, setting down the extra bowls of noodles.

"Oh good!" Dashiell exclaimed, her voice back to it's usual tone.

"Okay now, let's watch some TV and hope it's midnight soon," Zion said, a slight hint of uneasiness in his voice. He glanced at the small clock he had on the mantle, the time reading 9:28. "Only a little less than 3 hours," he murmered, just hoping the time would go fast.

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After who knows how many episodes of Kaguya, and long after the Ramen was gone, they all were bleary eyed and tired. Dashiell already was lying on the couch, Zion sitting at the very end near her head, and Liz sat on the floor in front of the couch, slumped and leaning against one of Zion's legs.

"Is it midnight yet," Liz yawned, leaning her head back to rest on the couch, to look back at Zion.

"It has to be." Dashiell said, reaching up and poking Zion's arm. "Did you fall asleep?"

"No I'm awake. Sort of." He yawned as well, jabbing at the remote to pause the show. Nudging Liz to move, he stood up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he moved closer to the mantle to check the time. It said 3:00.

"It's.. three?" He said, not really believing it, but at the same wanting to. It just seemed like the time passed so quickly.

"Oh good, now we can sleep." Liz had moved up to take Zion's spot on the couch, curling her legs up, and resting her head on the back of the couch.

  Dashiell sat up, confusion on her face. "Three? I swear we only watched like...5 episodes."

"Yea..." Liz said, a slight look of realization crossing her face.
 
Dashiell got up, and took the clock off the mantle. She held it a second, just looking at it. Slowly, she turned it around to face Zion. "It's not ticking." She said in almost a whisper. "It's stopped. At three."

"It's.. what." Zion took the clock from her, putting it up to his ear. Nothing. No ticking noise that he was used to, just silence.

  Liz looked slowly at Zion, then at Dashiell. Zion kept staring at the clock, shaking it, and twisting the knob behind it, desperately trying to get it to work. Dashiell looked at Zion, then at Liz. But she noticed Liz was looking past them, at the wall, a panicked look newly on her face. Dashiell slowly looked where Liz's gaze when, and shrank back, her finger slowly lifting to point.

"Z- Zio-" she gasped. He heard her stutters and turned to look, a sinking feeling in his stomach. A black solution was creeping down from the top of the wall over the mantle. The room suddenly started to get darker as the solution crept over the mantle, and began coming on all on the walls, speeding faster and faster down the falls, racing to the floor.

"No- no! NO!' Zion shouted, the shadows advancing quickly to the floor and rushing towards them. A ringing noise erupted in his head, then his vision went completely black.

To be continued ~