The natives of Mystery Island were just too nice. Nobody tried to tell scary stories, nobody tried to decorate their home in a scary way, nobody even tried to scare anyone. The fun of Halloween was taken out. One could argue that it was now boring.

Two cloud Usuls weren't about to let that happen.

"That was the third Neopet I tried to scare in the hour," Ceillana whined to her twin sister.

"I'll be honest with you, Ceil, it wasn't so scary," Reillana argued.

"You saw it coming. Of course it wasn't scary to you." Ceillana crossed her arms. "But did that Tonu really have to laugh?"

Reillana shook her head. "I agree that the response was uncalled for."

Ceillana continued to complain while Reillana thought about getting Mystery Island in the Halloween spirit. It was obvious that scaring the natives wasn't helping - if anything, it was doing the opposite. Something needed to be done to salvage this holiday and Reillana was determined to figure out how.

"Not even one single Neopet into Halloween!" Ceillana went on. Her twin only cared to listen to her incessant complaining half heartedly. Ceillana was always the one to complain, but Reillana had grown accustomed to it. "No decorations, no haunted houses, not even a good costume for sale!"

Reillana got an idea. She looked at Ceillana and said, "Say that again."

"Not a good costume for sale?"

"Before that."

Ceillana snapped her fingers. "No haunted house?"

"That's it. Why don't we make our own?"

Ceillana looked at Reillana. Reillana was often the one who got the ideas between the two. While not all of her ideas were winners, this idea seemed to be a good one.

"Not a bad idea, Reil," Ceillana replied. "But one question..."

"What do you mean?" Reil asked.

"Well, haunted houses are, you know... haunted. Ghouls, ghosts, that sort of thing," Ceil explained. "The only ghost on Mystery Island is the Ghost Lupe, and I doubt he would be amenable to be a part of an innocent Halloween celebration."

"We don't need a real ghost, silly. We just have to make people think there's a real ghost," Reillana replied. "All we need to do is pick a theme, find an abandoned house, set up a few tricks and traps and decorations, and there you have it. Instant haunted house."

Ceillana nodded. That made a lot more sense, but naturally it would also require a lot more work as well. "What kind of theme should we pick? What would scare these people?" she wondered, thinking back to her failed attempts to leap at passersby from the shadows, or make ghostly sounds.

At the same time, both Usuls snapped their fingers and exclaimed, "Geraptiku!"

"It's perfect, they're all superstitious about what's up there," Ceil said excitedly.

"Yeah, we just gather some junk, arrange it around the house, pretend we snuck into the place as a dare and discovered all this stuff. When people go in to investigate, we set things in motion and make it seem like the place has been cursed," Reil replied, equally excited.

"There's only one thing to do now. It's off to Geraptiku..."

"I..I'm not sure this is really a good idea anymore," squeaked Riel.

"Don't be a sissy!" replied Ceil. "Come on, let's go and take a look. Have you forgotten about the haunted house already?"

"N...no! Of course not!" Riel stammered, shaking her head. "Let's just go quickly."

Inside, broken pieces of glass were shattered on the floor. Cobwebs were everywhere and dust covered every inch of the tomb.

"I doubt we need many props to pull this off. Just look at this place! It's a dump!" Ceil exclaimed, pointing at the mess.

"I wonder what happen here." Riel murmured. "It looks like nobody's been here for decades!"

All of a sudden, the girls heard a branch crack directly behind them.

"Who's there?" Ceillana asked. "How did you manage to find us?"

There was a moment of complete silence.

Suddenly, a deep, loud shouted," GET OUT! YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!"

"THIS IS AN UNTRUTH!" the definitely feminine voice boomed. "I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU FROM THE SHADOWS. I CANNOT LET YOU DISTURB THE PEACE THAT IS THE DESERTED TOMB OF GERAPTIKU."

"And why not?" Ceil folded her arms. "Show yourself, coward!"

A Ghost Hissi appeared from the shadows. "I am the sole Neopet inhabitant of the Deserted Tomb. My name is Elmira, Elmira Graves. It is not I to whom this tomb was constructed -- I merely reside here."

Ceil clapped her hands excitedly. "You know what this means?"

"That we have a full-on real ghost here to help us with our haunted house project?" Riel replied, grinning, catching her sister's drift.

"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND," Elmira boomed. "If you do let people in here they run the risk of wakening the one to whom this tomb was constructed... his sleep is least peaceful on Halloween. It is my sole duty to protect his sleep, especially on this very day."

"So..." Riel started, a sly looking coming to her face, "if we set up the haunted house here, you won't like it, right Elmira?"

"This is a truth."

"So, therefore, can we count on you to help scare our neighbours in a haunted house set up elsewhere?" Riel smiled smugly. She saw the ghost squirm, she had her. Blackmail was a powerful thing. "It'll only be for a few hours."

"...Fine," the ghost Hissi said coldly. "But let's hope no one else comes to the tomb in my absence..."

“You speak a truth,” Elmira said, nodding.

“Maybe we should gather some of this junk,” Reil muttered. “Free decorations.” She bent down and began grabbing some molding leaves and spindly looking branches from the tomb floor.

“Yeah,” Ceil agreed. “We should make it look as creepy as possible. Hey, what about these cobwebs? AAAARRRRGGGGHH!”

“What? What is it?” Reil shouted.

“A Spyder,” Ceil shrieked, jabbing the air. “Get it off. Get it off!”

“You must make her stop,” Elmira demanded, directing an intense glare in Reillana’s direction.

Reil huffed impatiently at her sister. “Hold still. Stop screaming. I can’t see anything. Stop being such a scaredy-kad!”

“I feel it! Get it off!”

“You must cease this noise at once.”

Elmira’s warning went unnoticed by the sisters as they bickered. Ceil continued to paw at her fur fervently until a deep groaning echoed softly around the chamber.

Elmira’s eyes widened. “He stirs...”

Ceil and Reil stood completely still not daring to move a muscle or let alone breath.

"You must go, now." Elmira hissed at the Usuls. The twins looked at her in absolute fear, frozen to their spot.

The moaning turned into a terrifying shriek that sent the Usuls running for the door that they had left open upon coming into the house. Just as they reached it the door slammed shut. In a panic the twins desperately tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge.

"Looks like you are stuck here until dawn. Let's hope you can survive the night." Elmira said as the shrieking intensified around them.

They were trapped. Shaking they turned around to face what awaited them...

BOOMCLASHBOOM!

A large figure made their way towards them, its red eyes piercing and haunting. A ghostly mist trailed behind him, his figure towering above the two Usuls. "Me hungry... me hungry," he chanted.

Elmira slithered away into the darkness, as the noises of the shrieking ghostly figures grew louder.

The snakelike creature glared at the Usuls. Reil found herself clinging onto Ceil with all her might, shivering wildly. His hot breath channelled onto their fur.

"I'm so scared," Reil gasped. Ceil felt herself shivering too, "Me too," bickered Ceil. "Don't worry, we'll make it out alive... somehow."

"Remember that technique I taught you Reil... when we were younger. I may never have been as clever as you, but I sure knew how to fool myself into making everything bad, just g-g-g-go away," she stammered.

Reil nodded, her eyes large. The two Usuls closed their eyes, holding hands. "This is a dream, this is a dream... we shall not be deceived," they chanted.

The monster looked down at the two Usuls, his eyes even more intense than before. The shrieking grew, and grew... until the room was unbearable. The Usuls continued, chanting and chanting.

As if by magic, the shrieking died down. The monster looked confused, and slithered off into the depths of the tomb.

A loud hiss could be heard.

"Seeing as it is the time of Halloween, it appears as though the one who sleeps has let you off," Elmira boomed. "You... you are both very lucky to escape."

The Usuls opened their eyes, amazed to see that the room was now back to normal...

Ceil frowned. "What is it?" she said, trying to sound intimidating and upset with how the situation just seemed to be downplayed; but the Usul was still shaking.

"Because this whole thing has been an untruth," the ghost Hissi spoke, showing her fangs.

"What do you mean?" Reil replied, her mouth a neutral line.

And then came out all the Neopets they had attempted to scare on Mystery Island.

The Usul sisters gaped.

"I told you two," Elmira started, "I had been watching you and your situation from the shadows. You two had complained Mystery Island was not scary enough, so I gathered those to whom you attempted to scare and brought them together to show you just how scary this island can be! Each contributed to one of the effects you just experienced."

"But... but..." Reil was dumbfounded. "But..."

"You wonder how I knew to bring them here," the Hissi finished. "Ah, don't worry about the petty details. Scary stories are not always the most coherent."

Ceil blinked twice. "Fair enough."

"We got you good!" said the Tonu from earlier.

Reil blushed.

"And you know what," said another from the crowd, a Gelert it seemed, "it was kind of fun. Maybe next year we should all make a haunted house, or go about doing scary things to people."

"Or just play a trick on the Usuls again."

Even Ceil turned a little pink. "I'd like to see you try!" She then grinned, and noticed her sister was grinning back. It seemed like they really had sparked some Halloween spirit in the natives of Mystery Island.

Elmira smiled too, and winked at the girls. "Now," she said to all of them, "Go trick or treat and have some scary Halloween fun."

"Yes please!" Reil and Ceil said in unison as they led the crowd on the way back to the main part of Mystery Island.

"We'll have to start planning for next year!" Reillana said to Ceillana as they neared the village.

"It is done," Elmira spoke, hovering over the box in which lay the one to whom the tomb was constructed. "I have helped to rekindle the spirit of Halloween on the island."

Good, it seemed to radiate to her. Good...

The End.