Blood was splattered all over the walls and the ground, where a couple of bloody pom poms were resting.

“O-o-okay,” said Donna, closing her eyes and looking away. “I didn't think there'd be blood.”

“It's fine, it's probably fake,” said Pat. Donna's eyes were still closed, so he held her shoulders reassuringly and guided her through the room. “It's okay. I'll tell you when it's okay to open them.”

“S-sorry,” she said. “You probably think I'm such a baby...I just can't stand blood.”

The hallway beyond was pitch black. Pat cautiously waded out into it, with Donna in tow. “Don't be sorry, it's-”

SHAK! A cardboard panel slid into place behind them, walling off the exit. “Aaah!” shouted Donna, opening her eyes. There was nothing to see but darkness. “What was that?!”

“They locked us in,” said Pat. Donna could hear him groping around in the dark, feeling the panel. “Man, they went all out on this...”

“N-now what?” asked Donna.

“Well, now the only way out is forward,” said Pat. Donna felt him find her hand. Immediately feeling more at ease, she squeezed it gently. “Scared yet?” She heard a reassuring smile in his voice.

She smiled back. “No way. Come on, let's keep moving.”

The couple walked down the winding hallway. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness they noticed dim, barely-there purple lights strung along the top of the walls, guiding them along. Shortly, they came to the first junction in their path. Right or straight? They chose right. They followed a couple of the maze's twists and turns before reaching another junction. Right or left? They had turned around enough that neither were sure which direction they were facing. Pat thought the right path would lead them back towards the entrance. Donna was of the opposite opinion.

They chose left. After traveling a bit in roughly this direction, the hallway opened up into a cramped, candlelit room. It was decorated like the inside of a witch's hut, with shelves of strange jars, a fake raven on a knotty wooden perch, and a broomstick leaning against one corner. Against one wall was a black, antique iron oven, with a pot on it. In the middle of the room was a big black cauldron, glowing green inside and belching white smoke.

“Oh wow, this is cool,” said Pat, looking around. He approached the cauldron. “I wonder how they got it to-”

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEHHHH!” cackled Tiffers, leaping out of the cauldron.

“Aaah!” Pat shouted. He laughed. “Okay, I should have expected that.”

“Hi, Tiffers,” said Donna.

“Nyeh heh heh! Who's Tiffers?” asked Tiffers, in a shrill voice. She got out of the cauldron and walked toward them, arms outstretched. Red lights switched on overhead, turning the whole room blood red. Behind Tiffers, the oven door opened seemingly on its own. Some accumulated fog poured out, almost like drool. “Now don't you look tasty! Come, my dearies! Into the oven! Nyeh heh heh!”

Donna yelped playfully and grabbed onto Pat, and the couple fled the room.

When they were safe, they shared a laugh. “This was a good idea,” said Pat.

“Yeah,” agreed Donna.

They continued through the maze, going this way and that. It was surprisingly huge. The way the tight, tangling corridors wound around and around made it feel much bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside.

Eventually, they emerged in a room that looked like a church. It had rows of pews, an altar, a confessional, and a Hammond organ in the corner. The cheerleaders had cut holes in the wall behind the altar, fitted them with stained glass windows made out of colored crepe paper, and lit them from behind with bright lights, making it almost feel like daytime inside. A flower girl's basket was laying on its side in the aisle, with flowers spilling out. Blood was splattered across the floor and across a three-story wedding cake, which had a knife protruding from it.

“Creepy...” said Donna.

The exit was on the other side of the room. As they crossed the grisly scene, a blaring, deafening note from the organ nearly gave them both heart attacks.

“Aaow!” cried Pat. Donna was digging her nails into his arm.

“S-sorry!” she said, letting go of him. “Holy cow, that really-” More blaring notes drowned her out, a sequence of them playing a dissonant, mournful tune. The organ keys were moving on their own.

“H-how'd they do that?” asked Donna, staring at the organ.

“Some old ones can do that, I think...” said Pat, somewhat unnerved. “There must be a piano roll somewhere inside, or-”

“Aaaaah!” Donna screamed. Chase had popped up from behind the altar. Chase put a hand on it and vaulted over it, her veil and dress fluttering. She landed near the cake, yanked the knife out of it, and ran at the couple.

This time, they both shouted in unison, then turned and ran for the exit. In her haste, Donna tripped over herself. Pat helped her up and half-dragged her to the door.

When they were safe, they stopped and caught their breath. They were standing in a featureless corridor, with black walls and flickering jack-o-lanterns.

Donna was leaning forward, hands on the knees, panting heavily. “Are you okay?” asked Pat, putting a hand on her back.

“Yeah. Yeah,” she said. With a quick inhale and exhale, she straightened.

“This is starting to freak me out,” said Pat. “Let's get out of here.”

Donna smiled faintly. “I couldn't agree m-”

“One, two, Freddy's coming for you! Ha ha ha!” shouted Victoria, reaching out through a camouflaged hole in the wall and grabbing her. Donna fainted.

....

A shocked and apologetic Victoria helped Pat haul Donna out of the maze. Alicia was mortified, and a bit worried that the fundraiser would have to be canceled, but naturally, once everyone saw that somebody fainted inside, it only made them more excited to go in. The cash really started pouring in, and a steady stream of eager Sunnycrest students, plus adults and younger kids from around town, were flowing through the maze. After a couple hours, Chase, Lindsey and Caitlin took a much needed break.

“Having fun, Chase?” asked Alicia cheerfully, handing out bottled waters to them.

“Yes!” answered Chase, taking hers and opening it. “Is much fun to scare and let all live for now.”

Alicia looked from one to the other. “Sooo...anybody ready to change shifts?” she asked, excited to go inside and join the fun.

“Sure,” said Caitlin. “I can work the front for a while if you want to cover our laboratory, Lindsey.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Thanks!” said Alicia. “Now I can go in with Kirk! I'm gonna go find him, I saw him in line just a minute ago! See ya!” She left her post and started searching for him.

“No fair!” said Lindsey. “I didn't know we were allowed to go through the maze ourselves! Now I wanna find somebody to go in with!”

Caitlin had to admit that she wanted to, as well. Unlike Alicia, though, she didn't have anybody.

She found herself looking over at the line, and an idea came to her. What if she just found a guy who looked alone and asked him to go in the maze with her? Would that be weird? Too forward? Well, it didn't have to mean anything. It could just be as friends, right?

Caitlin spotted Foreign Exchange Student Mateo. He was kinda cute. Should she go talk to him?

No, there was no way she could do that. She didn't even really know the guy. But then again, wasn't that was one of the vital functions talking to a person served? Getting to know them? Maybe she was overthinking this...but what if she wasn't? Could she really take that risk? This was too big a decision to make on one small water break...Yeah, she felt this kind of thing really needed to be slept on before any action was taken. Maybe she'd be ready to talk to Mateo in a week or two...

“Whoa, is that Mateo?” asked Lindsey, adjusting her costume a bit and striding toward the line. “Don't mind if I do!”

“Nooo!” shouted Caitlin. “Hold her, Chase!”

Chase grabbed Lindsey. “Ack! Hey, what-?!” Lindsey asked, surprised.

“I-I...” stammered Caitlin, turning red. “I was just about to go over and talk to him, myself!”

“Oh!” said Lindsey. She looked surprised, and then proud. Chase unhanded her. “Well, why were you just standing there, then? Get it, girl!” She slapped Caitlin on the back.

“Yes! Cait get!” Chase concurred.

There was pretty much no way out of it at that point, so Caitlin walked over to him. “Uh, hey, Mateo!” she greeted.

“Oh! Hello!” he replied. “Is Caitlin, right?”

She smiled. “Yeah!” She looked around. “Where are all the other guys from the basketball team? You're the only one who turned out?”

“Am not sure. Thought they would come,” he said. He shrugged and smiled. “Is no big deal. I go through haunted maze no matter what! In home country, is no Halloween.”

Caitlin looked up at him. “Aw, you shouldn't have to go through by yourself...Hey, I know! Tell you what, why don't I be your tour guide?”

Mateo looked thrilled. “Yes! Would like very much!”

Just as Caitlin joined him in line, however, one of the other basketball guys ran over. “Dude! Dude! Mateo!” he gasped, out of breath. “There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!”

“What is up?” asked Mateo.

“The volleyball girls are doing a fundraiser in the parking lot!” said the guy excitedly. “BIKINI CAR WASH, DUDE!”

“They're WHAT?!” demanded Caitlin and Lindsey.

“C'mon man, let's go! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” shouted the guy, grabbing Mateo's arm and pulling him out of line.

Mateo looked excited too. “Okay!” He looked at Caitlin. “Sorry, Caitlin! Next time!”

The two of them ran off. Caitlin sighed and returned to Lindsey and Chase. “Well, I tried,” she said.

“Now what'd I tell you?” asked Lindsey. “The bikini car wash has stuck around this long because it works. It's a guaranteed earner. Fucking volleyball girls.”

Lindsey and Chase returned to the maze, while Caitlin sadly took over admissions. As the night went on, the air grew colder. With a shudder, Caitlin swaddled her lab coat around herself. She was glad she had the sense to pick a costume that would be warm. She couldn't imagine what Alicia and Lindsey were going through.

“Wow. Nice fog,” said Torey.

“Oh! Hey, Torey!” said Caitlin. He was there with some of the other scary kids, including Maxine, Flor and Willard. “What brings you here? I thought you had to work?”

The scary kids were also dressed up for Halloween, of course. Their costumes posed a challenge for Caitlin to identify. She recognized Flor as Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time, but the best she could do with Willard's costume was “like a Power Ranger, but not quite.” Maxine was some kind of goth little dutch girl or vampire little dutch girl, something along those lines. Torey, at least, she could say with confidence was a rather dashing Zorro. “I told my brother what you guys are doing,” he said. “I can't stay long, but he's taking over my shift for a little bit so I can come see Chase.”

“Aw, that's nice,” said Caitlin. “You guys can go through the maze together!”

“Is she around?”

“Yeah, but she's working right now. She's inside.”

“Aw, that's too bad,” interrupted Maxine, grabbing Torey's sleeve. “Well, guess we'd better head back-”

With a wink, Caitlin continued, ignoring Maxine. “I bet she'd like it if you surprised her though!”

“Think I will! Thanks, Caitlin,” grinned Torey, taking out his wallet and handing her some money. He headed toward the gate with a wave. “You're heading back, Maxine? Okay, meet you there later.”

Maxine hesitated. She wavered uncertainly as she watched Torey pass through the gate and enter the maze's eerie orange mouth. Muttering something under her breath, she caved in and pushed some money into Caitlin's hand. “Hey, wait for me!” she called, running into the maze after him.