The Witching Hour: an Advance Guard Halloween ghost story

Attempting to clear my mind on the day before Halloween, so here goes with a short lark. I'm writing this on the fly, so please bear with me, and I'd love for any and all to comment. This uses my Advance Guard characters, and takes place after the book. Enjoy!

The Witching Hour

Darkness, the normal terrain of a basement, cracked as the light switched on in the barracks room. The hand on the switch, coated in orange fur, preceded the entry of its owner, Kitty Lazarus. Close behind her followed her teammate and recently-made friend Ariel Vibria, the trailing woman's green, dragon-ish skin reflecting some of the light.

"That was entertaining. Just don't let anyone else know that we did that." Kitty winked back at her companion. "The last thing we need is Admiral Yardley or the Director finding out we're using the briefing room as our own personal screening room."

"The secret's safe with me," Ariel helpfully responded as she handed forward a DVD package. "Here, I think I've had enough zombies for one night."

"Oh come on, girl, it's a Romero classic! How have you gone your whole life without hearing of Dawn of the Dead?"

Ariel chuckled softly. "I guess that comes with growing up like I did. Not a lot of call for home theaters or video rentals on the Rez."

Kitty shrugged, her tail swinging back and forth behind her as she placed the video back in its place on the nearby shelf. "Well, let me know how many other things I've got that you haven't seen before. I'm sure there's plenty."

"How much more Romero, though?"

"How much more? Oh dear, you are a deprived child, aren't you? I've got his entire catalog ... along with some Craven ... some Troma ..."

Ariel shuddered. "No thanks, Kitty. If it's all the same to you, I think I might go to bed."

"Aw come on, you can't sleep after that, can you? The big tradition in my house as a kid was, scary movie gets followed by ice cream. Are you game?"

Ariel almost answered, but the lights suddenly extinguished, leaving both women in utter darkness. The dragon woman kept still, suddenly filled with dread, and yelped when a fuzzy hand grasped her elbow.

Kitty came up close beside her friend. "Relax, girl, just me. This can't be good, if the power's out at the CIA."

"How do you know the power's out?"

"The fridge stopped running. I don't hear any of those mainframes next door. I think we've had a breach somewhere."

"That can't be good. Are there any candles nearby?"

Kitty narrowed her cat's eyes, well-adjusted to the darkness, and spotted two candles on a nearby table. She walked slowly over to retrieve one, handing it to Ariel, who let out a short puff of flame from her nose to light it. Now bathed in the flickering light of the candle, both Ariel and Kitty approached the door of the barracks.

It slid slightly open.

Ariel clutched tighter to Kitty, her heart racing in her throat. Kitty patted herself down.

"Crap, why didn't I take a gun with me?"

"Do you usually take a gun to the movies?" Ariel whispered.

"Oh ha ha, for your information I never go unarmed." Kitty produced a blunt object from one of her pockets. "Don't leave home without your lucky charm."

Ariel's eyes drifted to Kitty's hand. "Um ... that's a pet rock."

Kitty grinned, her sharp cat teeth glinting in the candlelight. "Exactly." She raised her voice to a roar. "COME AND GET ME, JERKOFFS!"

The roar extinguished the candle. In the darkness, the two women heard the door swing further open. Kitty's eyes had trouble readjusting after the candle's light went out, but she swung at the first shape she could see, knocking it over with the rock.

"Owww!" Ariel fell to the floor, rubbing her head. Her next sound was a muffled scream as she was grabbed by the shoulders, something covering her mouth.

"Ariel! Quit screwing around, girl!" Kitty rubbed her eyes, trying to get her night vision back. When she opened them again, a small shape was in front of her, approaching at a fast pace. She dodged the smaller shape but fell into a larger one, which grabbed her securely fast. She wriggled and nipped at the arms holding her, trying to get loose.

"Get off of me! Damn it, stop! Get your hands off of me!" Kitty's screamed echoed off the walls of the barracks, only answered by a low moaning ... a familiar sounding moan.

"Ohhhhhh crap ... crap crap crap!" Her eyesight finally readjusted to the darkness, and before her stood the frightening visage of an aged zombie, blood drooling from his mouth, necrified flesh bunched and peeling off, his hands reaching toward her.

Kitty shrieked. Then she shrieked louder as she felt teeth on the crown of her head. The over-stimulation was too much for her, as she fainted and collapsed to the floor.

Two minutes later, she was aware of someone trying to shake her awake. She moaned softly. "Ohh gawd, what a dream ..."

"Kitty, you all right?"

Her eyes only half-opened as she realized the lights were back on. Not only that, but a familiar voice was inquiring of her, one of her teammates.

"Cyrus? Oh lord, you wouldn't believe what I was just dreaming about ... me and Ariel had just done a little viewing of a zombie flick and then there were zombies here ..."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Kitty." The calm, younger voice of the unit commander, Ken Sharpe, intruded into her range of hearing. "You're safe now. Come on, let's get you to your quarters."

Kitty shook her head to knock the cobwebs loose. She brought herself up to a sitting position, taking an offered hand to help her keep her balance.

A zombie hand. Kitty looked up and shrieked even louder as she saw Cyrus and Ken, both zombified, helping her to her feet. She scrambled upright and zoomed into her quarters, slamming the door behind her.

Ariel walked up behind the two men. "Y'know ... maybe you guys should have taken off the makeup first before you woke her up."

The two men looked back at Ariel then at each other in bemusement.

"Maybe you're right. But y'know, that does free up the briefing room." Ken picked up another DVD from a nearby table. "You guys up for ice cream and Poltergeist?"