[spookies] The Rumor

“Have you heard about the rumor that’s been going around lately?” Alkemi asked Luvenia while he anxiously glanced around his shoulders.

“What rumor are you talking about?” Luv replied with a curious glint in their eyes.

Once Alkemi felt that their surroundings were safe he lowered his voice into a whisper, “I heard from the town gossip that if you see a snake-like creature covered in red eyes that you’re cursed! Good news is you can break the curse, I just wanted to warn you in case it curses you.”

“What?? Really?! Where is it!” Luv bounced around and peered around objects, hoping to catch a glimpse of the weird creature. “Awe I don’t see the snake monster anywhere.”

‘‘N-NO SSSHHH!” Alkemi tackled Luv and proceeded to cover their mouth while frantically scanning their surroundings once again, “You’ll attract it if you keep running your mouth about it!”

Luv giggled as they pushed Alkemi off, “But you said the curse can be broken, so that means we can make it go away!”

“I knooowwwww but I don’t wanna see anything scary like that!” Alkemi let out a sob while mushing his paws into his face, “I won’t be able to sleep at night. I already feel like I’m watched every time I try to go to sleep.”

The small ento Aramelle patted Alkemi on the back and smiled, “There there crybaby! So how do you break the curse?”

“A symp said that you have to leave some candy outside of your door before going to bed, if it takes the candy it’ll go away.“

“Ooo! So all we need is yummy candy haha!! What happens if you forget to leave the candy?”

“HUH? Are you seriously asking that question??? NAH I didn’t stick around to hear what kind of horror would happen! EEK!” Alkemi covered his own mouth with his paws after realizing his voice had gotten louder. “We need to go to the sweet shop before it gets late to stock up with the curse breakers.”

Luvenia hopped excitedly, “It’s like we’re on a super cool mission to defeat evil! I know just the place that’s closest to us, come on!”

Luv grabbed onto Alkemis arm and swiftly dragged him alongside them as the two sprinted off to the nearest candy shop. Upon arriving, they opened the wooden door that announced their presence with a delightful jingle of bells.

“Hello! What can I get you two on this fine day?” Asked the owner with a polite wave of her hand and warm smile.

“Candies!” Luv responded, “A whole lot of candies please!”

“Sure can do! What kind would you like?”

“Any will do! We just need a lot of freaking candies.” Alkemi blurted out with sweat dripping down his face.

“Oh okay,” the owner's brows raised, slightly taken aback by their anxious behavior, she picked up a large box from a shelf and placed it on the floor for the peculiar Aramelles. “How’s this one? It’s got plenty of sweets and various kinds too! It’s our most popular seller this season!”

“We’ll take it!! How much?” Alkemi asked, getting his wallet ready hurriedly from his satchel.

“25 silver shells! So what are you two planning on doing with all of this candy if you don’t mind me being nosy?” The owner chuckled.

“Nothing really…um…actually,” Alkemi handed them the silver shells, “Have you heard about the rumor that’s been the talk of town recently?”

The symprite tilted her head to the side, “A rumor you say?”

“Yeah!” Luv chimed in gleefully, “There’s a monster that looks like a very scary snake and it curses you the moment you see it! So we need this candy so that we can make it go away if it tries to curse us!”

“Oh that rumor! I definitely have heard of it from other customers, I’ve almost forgotten haha! Guess that explains why my candy products are flying off the shelves these past few days.”

“Are you going to keep some candies for yourself to use for your safety?” Luv asked with round eyes.

“Ah probably not!” The owner scratched her neck, “This rumor was most likely made up since it’s the Lunisolar festival, everyone loves pranking others with spooky scares. But on the chance that it’s true, next time you need more candies you’ll get a huge discount, I hope the candies you’ve purchased will help you both!”

Alkemi suddenly bursts into tears, “THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU ARE TOO KIND!! We’re off now, take care!!” Both Luv and Alkmeki grabbed the large box that was twice their size and scurried off.

The sun was starting to set, and the two made sure to evenly split the yummy treats between the two.

“Remember…all we need to do is put a candy outside our doors and it’ll go away, got it? We can’t waste these precious resources too quickly to try not to eat too many!”

“Yes sir!” Luvenia nodded aggressively, “See you tomorrow Kemi!” They hauled the candy filled bag over their shoulder before running off to the direction of their home.

Alkemi huffed to himself, mustering courage now that he was home and with what he believed would keep the scary monster away. He grabbed a large piece of comet candy and carefully set it on a plate outside of his door. Just as he was about to close the door his eyes quickly widened, “WAIT— What if someone else takes the candy before the monster??? I’D BE CURSED AAAAAUUUUUUUUGGHHH!!!” One of his ears perked up once he got an idea. “OH!!! THAT’S IT! I’ll leave a note next to the plate so that no one else takes it.” Alkemi dashed into his house before returning with a small note and pen, quickly scribbling a message that reads out;
‘Please do not eat unless you’re the scary snake monster! Thank you!’

With a satisfied grin, he walks into the safety of his home, closing the door behind him, letting out a long sigh of relief. However, just as he took a step, a few awfully heavy rounds of knocks came from behind his door. Slowly turning his head, the frightened Aramelle stood frozen in place, unable to move. This can’t be happening, MAYBE IT'S ALL JUST TIMING, RIGHT?

More knocks rang loudly throughout the small house, causing Alkemi’s legs to buckle as he fell to the ground. Just as he was about to pick himself back up he heard the sound of tapping on one of the windows. He swore his heart stopped beating for a good fire seconds when his eyes caught what appeared to be a dark slithery-like silhouette with red glowing eyes scattered all around it.

“PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!! I’LL GIVE YOU ALL THE CANDIES I HAVE, EVERYTHING JUST PLEASE SPARE ME!! I-I have dreams! FRIENDS I WANNA KEEP SEEING!! I’M BEGGING!!!!” Alkemi started to sob uncontrollably until he heard a visible ‘smack’ sound, followed by someone saying ‘ow’. Huh? Did someone hit the snake?

He sniffled away his tears and mustered courage to peek closer to the window, his watery eyes catching a glimpse of two familiar faces.

“Come on guey, you scared the poor little guy half to death!” Armani smacked Ezo’s arm again, when he spotted Alkemi he immediately waved, “Sorry about that!! My friend over here was drawn to the candy you had.”

Ezo rubbed his arm, still visibly chewing on the comet candy Alkemi had left outside his door. “I just wanted to ask about what scary snake monster this little shit was talking about from the note.”

“I s-saw it t-tapping my— my window, did you not s-see it?” Alkemi stammered while opening his window to speak clearer.

Ezo raised a brow before a ghostly smile laced his lips, “Ahh…so that’s what you mean’t. That was me you saw, or more specifically, my tongue.”

“Cabrón, you purposely show your tongue cuz your ass knows it freaks people out!” Armani flicks Ezo’s forehead even if it doesn’t quite do anything due to his tougher scales protecting him. 

“Not my problem what others think, I saw him walk in but since he didn’t open the door I wanted to see why.”

Armani looked back over to Alkemi and chuckled softly, “Again, very sorry about that! If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you just let us know.”

Alkemi felt his entire body become all mushy now that all of his stress had washed away, however, now his face was flushed completely red after finding out that the so-called snake monster rumor turned out to be some Symprites tongue. He felt like an idiot for believing it but was glad it wasn’t real.

“Well…I bought this huge box of candy with Luv earlier to…er…break the curse but it turns out it was all made up. Now I don’t really know what to do with all of it and u-um..I could use some help with eating it.” He hated to admit he was scared of being alone after the scare, and the fact that the red and white symprites presence still made him nervous, but somehow he felt more at ease knowing Ezo was someone who will listen to someone as kind hearted and friendly as Armani. The two symprites eyes almost seemed to sparkle at what he had suggested.

“Hell yeah we can help haha! Whatcha say Ezo?”

“You don't have to tell me twice.” He grinned.