Site-250 wasn't known for much. They were a small site of just under two dozen people and only a few anomalies. Soon, however, everyone would know of this tiny site in the Japanese wilderness.
It all began on October the twenty-ninth, twenty-thirty.
Shiko Hyuse, the resident eight-year-old, was exploring the building. It was something she had done nearly every day since she came to the site. So it was rather obvious when Shiko came upon one of the rooms decorated in orange and black.
"What's this?" She asked, far too curious for her own good.
Anders, the Site's MTF commander, answered, "We're decorating for Halloween."
Yet Shiko was confused. "What's Hall-o-ween?" Anders gave the child an incredulous stare, uncertain how any child would be unaware of the holiday.
"Halloween is a holiday," Anders began, "It's where everybody gets dressed up in costumes and tries to spook everyone else. And all the little kids get candy." Shiko still didn't fully understand, but her eyes twinkled with excitement. So, she ran back to her father, one SCP-6932, to tell him all about the wondrous holiday she had only just learned about.
She rushed into his pocket dimension and back into the dojo that served as their home. Shiko located her father near the pond behind the building.
"What has gotten into you so suddenly?" The old martial arts master inquired. And so, Shiko reveled in telling her father all about everything she had learned. Shiko's excitement got the old master thinking. He was going to make sure Shiko's first holiday was memorable.
October the thirty-first arrived. And with it, the old master's planning was complete.
Researcher Erickson gathered everybody in the cafeteria, where he had a modest party set up for the staff. The room was covered in decorations, and everybody was wearing a costume. Well, everyone except little Shiko.
However, Researcher Erickson had come prepared for this. When he saw Shiko enter the cafeteria without a costume, he rushed to her.
"Shiko!" He exclaimed, "It's not Halloween without a costume!"
"But I don't have one…" Shiko sighed dejectedly.
"Don't worry, kiddo," Erickson explained. "Anders and I prepared a few for you! If you come with me, you can pick one out!" Shiko was just as excited as when she first learned of Halloween. Erickson led the child into one of the connecting rooms where Anders was waiting for them.
On the nearby table sat six costumes: a wizard, a witch, a broom, a zombie, a martial artist, and a Foundation researcher. Shiko rushed over to the costumes, eyes gleaming as she examined each and every one. She wanted to go as all of them, but eventually, she chose her costume.
Anders and Erickson returned to the group to let Shiko change in peace. The old martial artist had arrived upon returning to the small party, stealing everyone's attention.
"I have prepared a little something to celebrate this holiday of yours." The elderly man stated. "Once everyone is present; we will head into my home."
As his words faded into the chatter filling the room, Shiko returned in her new costume. She was wearing a miniature version of the Foundation research uniforms, but she had taken the wizard hat and staff from the other pile. A beaming grin was plastered across her face as she proudly showed off her costume.
"You're a magick researcher?" Anders asked.
Shiko nodded firmly, "You guys are magick! You should wear a hat like mine too!" The two men beside her chuckled as the old martial artist came to greet his child. His glare at the two men hinted at jealousy.
"Shiko. I see you are having fun." The old man stated.
"Yeah! Mr. Anders and Mr. Erickson gave me a bunch of costumes to choose from!"
The old sensei kneeled, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Would you like to do something else fun?" Shiko perked up even further, nodding aggressively enough that her wizard hat fell off her head. Anders scoped the hat up, placing it back on her head.
"Everyone follow me!" The sensei bellowed, "The surprise awaits!"
Everyone entered the space and was met with a much different view than expected. Usually, the dojo was well-lit, warm, and, well, a dojo.
Now? Now the space was twilight, a few clouds overhead as a cool autumn breeze ripped through the area. Crisp fall leaves littered the ground from the oak trees that now dotted the area, and a dimly lit path lined with pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns led up to what used to be the dojo. Now it was a dimly lit castle that most children would recognize as the spooky black castle they would see every year with bats flying around it.
"Huh, spooky," Erickson stated, promptly earning a slap to the back of his head from Anders.
Shiko was grinning from ear to ear, "This is so cool!" From somewhere in the background, the old sensei chuckled. "Let's go, Mr. Erickson!" Shiko pulled on Erickson's sleeve, nearly dragging him down the dimly lit path.
As they approached the castle, screams were heard. Anders jumped, nearly crashing into the site's medic, McCullum.
"Ooh! The big bad MTF Commander's afraid of the spooky castle?" McCullum earned an identical slap to the one Erickson received. Anders would have said something, but Shiko had already pulled Erickson into the castle.
"What's this?" Shiko asked as she looked at a column with a hole.
"I'm not sure," Erickson began. "It looks like it's big enough to stick your arm in. Why don't you see what it does?" Shiko nodded and stuck her arm into the hole. She felt around a bit, locating a scrap of paper.
Shiko pulled her arm out, only to be grabbed by something. She yelped in surprise but grabbed onto whatever it was and pulled it out. It was the arm of a skeleton.
"Weird. I wonder where Dad got a human skeleton." Erickson winced, checking out the skeletal arm. It was, in fact, a real human arm.
Besides the pair, a grinding sounded as a hidden compartment opened. Inside was a bag.
"A bag? Wonder what it's for?" Shiko stated.
Erickson grabbed the bag, "Why don't you read the paper you got? It might tell us something."
Shiko uncrumpled the paper, reading out loud. "If you want to leave this castle, you and your group must find all parts of the skeleton. Bring Katsuyori back to me in one piece."
"Katsuyori?"
Shiko answered, completely unfazed. "Dad says that's the name of the corpse he keeps on the far side of the pond. I think it was one of his other kids."
"What the fuck, Sensei…" Erickson thought before turning back to the child in front of him. "I guess we need to find the other parts of the skeleton then…"
"Let's go! I wanna get them before the others can!" Shiko exclaimed, handing the hand to Erickson so he could keep it in their bag. "I wonder how Mr. Anders is doing?"
Another scream was heard, followed by the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Anders jumped, now gripping onto McCullum's arm as if his life depended on it. Despite McCullum's outward boredom, he was growing nervous. Something about this place set his nerves alight, and he wasn't having it.
Before long, the pair came to a dead end. The wall was marked with a deep red word: 'BOO.' Both men looked at the stereotypical writing with mild annoyance.
"Help us…" A whisper came from behind. "Heeeelp ussss…." The pair stiffened, slowly turning around. Before them appeared to be two ghostly children. Anders screamed, knocking over McCullum with a yelp. It took the pair several moments before they came to their senses, rushing past the ghostly children and into the rest of the castle. The ghost children followed them.
Anders led the way up a flight of stairs, the clacks of the stones echoing into the near silence. The pair finally stopped when they got to an old wooden doorway. Out of breath, they wordlessly agreed to open the door.
The old door creaked open, revealing a lightless room beyond. Nothing could be seen from beyond the doorway. A particularly foreboding feeling washed over the two men. Two sets of footsteps were coming up the stairs now, nearly reaching the top.
The pair nodded to each other, stepping into the room. The room slammed shut, earning a yelp from the pair. Then a scream as the floor gave out from below them.
Shiko stopped in her tracks when a pair of screams were heard from deeper in the castle. "They sound like they're having fun!"
Erickson chuckled, noticing a door nearby with a note attached to it. "Shiko! Over there!" Shiko ran up to the note and grabbed it.
"The next piece is in this room. You must find your way through the maze to locate it. Beware, for specters are waiting inside." Shiko pondered for but a moment before her grin returned. "Let's go!"
They entered the room.
Then they were in a cornfield, a maze lined with pumpkins and lit by floating lights standing before them. Shiko led, heading into the maze without a second thought.
"Do you know where you're going?" Erickson inquired, mostly amused.
"Nope! But I'm sure we'll find the next piece if we wander around enough!" At that moment, a hand landed on Erickson's shoulder. He yelped, slapping the hand away and turning around. The hand was gone.
Shiko laughed. "What's wrong, Mr. Erickson? Scared?"
Erickson looked around a little more before answering, "No. I was simply startled. Let's get going."
"You are scared!" Shiko teased, once more leading the way through the maze.
From somewhere in the corn came the sound of a chainsaw being revved. It grew louder and louder until it sounded like it was only feet from them. Then, it vanished. From another side came the sounds of cackling as a woman's scream pierced through the newly quiet field.
Erickson was visibly nervous as he spoke again. "I guess the note did say this place was haunted."
"Ghosts aren't a problem for you, though! You lock away all the scary monsters!" Erickson chuckled, amused by the bravery Shiko was showing.
"You're right! Let's get this bone and move on!"
In a dark room sat the old martial artist. Several screens were in front of him as he sipped a cup of tea.
"Excellent." He said in a slow drawl.
Anders found himself in a pile of spiders, yelping and jumping back when he recognized what was around him. The spiders were crawling up his legs, trying to investigate the new creature that had smashed hundreds of their brothers.
He tried swiping them off, but there were far too many for him to do anything about it. He looked around, the tickling taps of the spider legs growing more uncomfortable with every second. He noted a door on the far end of the room, on the other side of what seemed to be a lake of spiders.
Anders grumbled to himself, attempting to work up the nerve to cross the black pit of spiders. "If I get out of this…" Anders began trekking through the black abyss, a sickening crunch accompanying every step. The spiders had made their way up into his hair, not that it was difficult now that the spiders had him waist-deep. Anders only hoped he could get them all off him once he left this room.
McCullum found himself in a pitch-black room. McCullum wasn't the biggest fan of dark spaces like this, but usually, he was able to ignore it. Here, now? He couldn't help the panic crawling into his chest, not after…
McCullum tried to brace himself long enough to find a way out of there and took two steps forward. His face slammed into a wall.
"Goddamnit!" McCullum retraced his two steps, reaching out as he went to what he thought was his right. Another wall. His panic began to rise. Nothing changed when he checked the third wall, and, nearly in a panic, he went to locate the fourth wall. The wall was closer this time, hurting McCullum's wrist when he slammed into it quicker than expected.
McCullum took a few steps back, falling to his knees. "Damn you, Sensei…" it didn't quite come out as bitter as he had hoped, seeing as the medic was trying and failing not to panic.
"Look, Mr. Erickson! There's a hand over there!" Erickson looked to where Shiko was pointing, and, indeed, there was the second Skeletal arm.
"Good job, Shiko! Go get it, and we can add it to the backpack." Shiko rushed off the grab it, having the time of her life. Erickson, meanwhile, was startling to grow jumpy. In the hours they had been wandering the corn maze, something kept reaching out to touch him. He didn't want to bring it up, seeing as Shiko was enjoying herself.
Without warning, a skeletal hand was waving in front of his face. It was more than enough for the researcher to jump. Giggles rang out before him, soothing his nerves just a bit.
"Shiko! Don't do that!"
"Did I scare you!"
"Yes!" Erickson took a moment to compose himself. "Anyway, give it here, I'll put it with the other one, and we can move on." Mercifully, she handed it over without a fight.
"Look, Mr. Erickson! There's a door over there!" Shiko grabbed onto the researcher's sleeve, trying to hurry the man along. "Mr. Erickson, hurry! I wanna explore more!" Erickson sighed but followed the child after a few moments.
The door was no different than any other one in the castle. Yet it sent a chill down Erickson's spine. He didn't want to go through that door, but the fact that Shiko was already in the next area meant he didn't have much choice.
Erickson found himself blinking at the much harsher light after coming out of the twilight of the corn maze. He heard the sounds of children laughing, yet none were in sight. He wasn't even sure where Shiko had gone.
"Shiko?!" His voice echoed off the blank white walls. "Shiko!" Still, nothing. Erickson began making his way through the stark white space, concerned about where Shiko could have gone. The laughter grew louder, though he still couldn't find the source.
Trying to ignore it, he moved on. "Shiko!?" He tried again to no avail. Erickson tripped over something he couldn't see, suddenly feeling the weight of the bag vanish as he hit the ground.
"Well, that's just great…'
Anders grumbled as he finally got out of the spiders. He still had one on him, but he figured it was better not to mess with the one the size of his face. As it was currently content to chill on his shoulder, he was fine leaving it there.
He swung open the door he had finally reached, only to find himself back outside the castle. "What the hell?" The spider on his shoulder rocked in a way that made the man think he was being mocked.
"I don't need this from you." Anders chided. Anders went over his options and decided that instead of dealing with the spiders again, he would just remain outside.
Shiko found herself in a room with twenty other children, though she couldn't recognize any of them. Some of them were playing with what looked to be a pair of legs. A group of teenagers had a ribcage and spine. Shiko's grin only grew as she ran over to the children playing with the legs, intending to ask if she could have them.
"Who're you?" One of the kids asked. "You're not from the orphanage like the rest of us."
"Shiko!" Said child exclaimed, "Can I have those legs?" The children looked between themselves for a few moments before handing them over.
"Have fun with them! Sensei says they're magick!"
Shiko giggled. "I will! Thanks!" She started to walk away, realizing she had no way of transporting them since she had lost Erickson. Just as she pondered this, a bag fell from the ceiling, landing in front of her with a click. It was the same bag Erickson had. Not overthinking it, Shiko shoved the legs in with the arms and put the bag on.
She approached the teenagers, noticing that they had stopped talking as she approached. The group kept their gaze on her, making Shiko just a little nervous.
"Can I have those bones?" She tried.
The oldest of the boys looked her over with a more critical eye. "What do we have here? You want these ribs?" Shiko nodded eagerly, though the boy didn't respond.
"Tell you what, kid. If you can beat me, I'll let you have them." The boy stepped away from the group. "I'm Sensei's best student, so you won't be able to beat me." Shiko grinned mischievously, knowing the boy was doomed despite being twice her size.
So Shiko began a match with the older boy, confident she would be able to win. The pair started, Shiko guarding against every strike from the older boy until she saw an opening. She struck back, managing to knock the boy on his back.
Wordlessly, one of the other teenagers handed over the ribs. "Thanks!" Shiko cheered, stuffing them into her bag with the rest.
"That kid's weird." Someone said as she walked away. Shiko wondered where she should head next.
Sometime later, Shiko found herself standing in front of a door labeled with her name. After a moment of wonder, she pushed it open, being met with the sightless gaze of a skull sitting atop a pedestal.
"Hurray! I found them all!" Shiko cheered, grabbing the bone. A grinding was heard once she lifted it off the pedestal. A few feet away, a stone door was lifting, revealing a large room packed full of various candies. Shiko shoved the skull into the bag before rushing into the room.
"Cool! Dad never lets me have this much candy!" Which was, of course, an understatement as Shiko wasn't allowed candy to begin with. She explored the room with vigor, soon locating a large backpack with a note that read, 'You can have whatever you can carry.' Shiko swiftly grabbed the bag, shoving it full of as wide varieties of sweets as she could, not noticing that the bone bag had long since vanished.
Once her bag was full of as much candy as she could stuff into the space, Shiko returned to the door she had entered, finding it closed. She pouted, hoping it would open on its own. When it didn't, she opened it herself.
It opened back up to the front of the castle. Shiko stepped out into the crisp, cool night air and wondered if her adventure would continue.
"Shiko?" Came Anders' confused response. "Where have you been?"
Shiko was more concerned with the spider on the man's shoulder than she was with the man himself. "Where'd you find Andre? Dad said I had to get rid of him since he was too big."
"I… Andre?! This thing's your pet?" Andre seemed to be laughing at Anders now. Shiko laughed, hardly noticing as several more people appeared behind Anders, all a little worse for wear. Erickson was trying to console McCullum, McCullum was trying his hardest not to have another panic attack, and Anders was still trying to figure out what Shiko had been up to.
Before anyone could get another word in, the old martial artist appeared a few feet down the dimly lit path, more than a little pleased with himself if the shit-eating grin was anything to go by.
"I hope all of you enjoyed yourselves. Now, if you would not mind, I have some things to clean up." The group made their way out of the space, though Erickson stopped to speak with the old man before they left.
The old martial artist sighed to himself, warping the space before him back to its usual form. Where the castle stood, his dojo replaced in an instant. The trees turned back into the Sakura trees that were supposed to be there, and the eternal twilight finally turned to night.
Finally, once everything was back to looking the way it needed to, the old master looked to his next problems. There were the twenty or so children eating mouthfuls of candy that he needed to return to the orphanage and the skeleton he had dug up from the nearby cemetery.
The old master waved to the group of children, chaperoned by a few of his older students, opening his dimension back out onto the street overlooking their orphanage. Many of the children thanked him as they left. He smiled at the group as he left.
Once he was certain there were no longer any witnesses, he appeared outside Site-250 with the skeleton. The old master walked over to the woods, tossing the bones to be transported elsewhere. He smiled to himself, heading back to find his child.
"Did you enjoy yourself tonight, Shiko?" The old martial artist inquired as Shiko shuffled through her bag of candy.
"Yeah! It was lots of fun! Can we do it again!"
The old man laughed. "Perhaps, though it appears it was too much for the Hunters to handle." Shiko yawned, signaling an end to the night's shenanigans. The father picked up his daughter as she began falling asleep, taking her to bed.
Outside those walls, the staff of Site-250 was discussing the night's events. They knew they had a good chance at having the best Halloween party, but the contest was still ongoing. They all got off with only minor trauma, so their entry was still viable.
"We better win this with everything that went on," Anders stated. "Giving McCullum multiple panic attacks because you and I happened to step on Sensei's toes is a bit too far."
"Yeah, no kidding," Erickson stated, glancing over to their now-sleeping medic. "We'll just have to wait and see. Though I do wonder where he got all those children…"
"I don't want to know." Anders glanced up at the clock, noting that it was nearly three a.m. "Come on, it's late, and we have to work tomorrow." Erickson sighed but agreed.