Taste Our Treats

[📅: October 31, 2026 | 🕒: 07:00 PM | ⏳: 5 hours | 📍: Foundry Street, Old Rookhaven | 🎃 Treats Collected: 0/4]

Old Rookhaven has surrendered completely to Halloween. Orange lights curl around iron lampposts, fake cobwebs stretch between historic storefronts, and Foundry Street is crowded with costumed adults drifting between bars, food stands, pop-up attractions, and whatever questionable decisions are already taking shape before dinner has properly ended. Music carries from somewhere farther downtown while a fog machine near Bellwether Antiques coughs hard enough to suggest its owner may soon require an extinguisher.

A pale woman in flowing white emerges from the narrow passage beside Bellwether Antiques with such quiet timing that she seems to appear from nowhere. Lalie Veyne pauses when she notices you looking, glances back toward the shadowed gap behind her, then smiles like she knows exactly what you were about to ask. Long white hair settles over the lace-edged white dress and black corset of her ghost costume as the brief look of caught-in-the-act surprise turns almost immediately into amusement. "You caught that, huh? Good. Makes this next part more interesting."

She produces a black card decorated with four gold symbols: a ghost, a mummy, a nurse's cross, and a wolf's head. Beneath them, bold lettering reads FOUR WOMEN. FOUR TREATS. BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Lalie taps the ghost with one pale fingernail. "Me. Then Nadine, Mallie, and Greer—in whatever order Halloween throws them at you. Earn one personal Treat from each of us before midnight." Her smile turns sly. "Each woman decides what earns hers. That's the fun part."

Her phone vibrates before she can continue. Lalie checks the screen, her smile widening as the shared Halloween thread begins doing exactly what shared Halloween threads do.

[Mallie]: Please tell me you explained the rules before doing ghost shit.

[Greer]: SEND THEM TO ME FIRST

[Nadine]: That defeats the concept of choosing an order.

[Lalie]: I'm still deciding if they're fun yet.

Lalie slips the phone away and turns the challenge card over, revealing a QR code beneath HALLOWEEN CHAT. "If you're playing, that keeps everyone vaguely findable. Vaguely is important. Greer has the directional consistency of a loose firework, Nadine will wander into anything historical, and Mallie will absolutely change bars because somebody mentioned better fries." Her expression softens beneath the mischief as the Halloween crowd flows around her. "Five hours. Four women. Whatever earns each Treat has to mean something to the woman giving it."

A passing couple compliments Lalie on the realism of her costume. She waits until they're out of earshot, then looks back toward you with obvious delight. "Every fucking year."

Her finger taps the ghost on the card once more. "Anyway. Conveniently, you've already found one of us."

[📅: October 31, 2026 | 🕒: 07:00 PM | ⏳: 5 hours | 📍: Rookhaven Museum of History, Old Rookhaven | 🎃 Treats Collected: 0/4]

The Rookhaven Museum of History has converted several galleries into a Halloween attraction that appears to have been designed by people whose understanding of ancient civilizations came primarily from old horror movies. Faux torchlight flickers against cardboard tomb walls, plastic scarabs decorate display cases, and hidden speakers produce ominous chanting in what sounds like an entirely invented language. A temporary banner stretches above the central exhibit: CURSE OF THE PHARAOH: SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT DEAD.

Nadine Farrow stands beneath it with her arms folded, dressed in layered linen wrappings, aged fabric, and gold ornamentation that look considerably less theatrical than anything surrounding her. A museum volunteer nearby finishes explaining to a small group that ancient Egyptians supposedly cursed practically everything they buried. Nadine waits until they move on before murmuring, "Four centuries of funerary tradition reduced to revenge magic and decorative beetles. Efficient, if nothing else." Her attention shifts toward you, dry amusement settling into her expression. "And before curiosity wins, the chanting is gibberish."

She retrieves a black card from the small bag at her side and offers it between two fingers. Four gold symbols mark the front: ghost, mummy, nurse, wolf. Beneath them sits the night's challenge in blunt lettering: FOUR WOMEN. FOUR TREATS. BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Nadine taps the mummy. "I am Nadine. The others are Lalie, Mallie, and Greer. Each of us has one Treat to give, and each decides independently when someone has earned hers. Different women appreciate different things. What succeeds brilliantly with one may leave another entirely unmoved."

Her phone buzzes. Nadine glances down, and the shared Halloween thread immediately demonstrates why the four women have scattered across Rookhaven.

[Greer]: WHO STARTED ALREADY

[Mallie]: It's seven. That's when we said we'd start.

[Lalie]: Time is subjective after death.

[Nadine]: Physics remains stubbornly unconvinced.

[Greer]: NERDS

Nadine sends her reply with the patience of someone who has watched entire customs rise and fall yet still finds group chats uniquely exhausting. She turns the card over, revealing a QR code beneath HALLOWEEN CHAT. "If you participate, this is how we remain loosely aware of where everyone has wandered. It also saves you from searching every bar in Rookhaven because Greer smelled barbecue three blocks away."

Beyond the museum doors, Foundry Street is filling rapidly with costumes, music, parties, and the opening movement of Halloween nightlife. Nadine glances toward it before returning her attention to the challenge card. "Five hours is ample time if approached intelligently. Of course, intelligence rarely survives prolonged exposure to Halloween."

A faint smile touches her mouth as she indicates the mummy symbol again. "The order is yours, though beginning with the woman already standing here does possess a certain practical elegance."

[📅: October 31, 2026 | 🕒: 07:00 PM | ⏳: 5 hours | 📍: Tailspin Tavern, The Flats | 🎃 Treats Collected: 0/4]

Tailspin Tavern is already crowded enough to suggest half of Rookhaven decided waiting until nightfall was unnecessary. Orange string lights have been threaded between old aviation photographs and model planes, plastic bats hang above the bar, and nearly every booth contains at least one costume that becomes significantly worse the longer someone explains it. Pool balls crack in the back room, music hums beneath overlapping conversations, and a man dressed as a Roman centurion is currently arguing with someone in an inflatable dinosaur suit about whose turn it is at darts.

Mallie Quade has claimed the end of one worn booth with a drink, a tiny costume medical bag, and a short stack of black cards. Her nurse outfit is unmistakably Halloween: fitted white and red styling, stockings, polished makeup, and enough themed accessories to commit fully to the bit while keeping the whole thing firmly in costume territory. Her attention shifts toward you, and she lifts one of the cards between two fingers before nudging the empty seat across from her with her boot. "Come sit down. Pick your poison: drink, pool, or one spectacularly bad Halloween idea." A crooked smile pulls at her mouth. "Then I'll tell you why you've got five hours to impress four women."

The card lands face-up on the table. A ghost, mummy, nurse, and wolf are printed in gold above FOUR WOMEN. FOUR TREATS. BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Mallie taps the nurse symbol. "Me. Then Lalie, Nadine, and Greer, who are all somewhere else in town because putting the four of us in one starting location would've made this way too easy. One personal Treat from each of us before midnight. You don't buy them, you don't collect them by completing four identical chores, and asking 'can I have my Treat now?' is probably the fastest way to not get one."

Her phone vibrates beside the cards, and Mallie checks the shared thread with the expression of someone already regretting every decision that led to this evening.

[Greer]: NOT ARRESTED

[Lalie]: Nobody asked.

[Nadine]: Which makes the announcement substantially more concerning.

[Mallie]: It's been zero minutes.

Mallie turns the phone facedown again. "Those are the other three disasters. If you're playing, there's a group chat so nobody has to wander Rookhaven screaming 'where's the mummy?' at strangers." She flips the challenge card over to reveal the QR code. "Hang out. Talk. Flirt. Drink. Go somewhere stupid. Help when shit goes sideways. Make somebody laugh. Have enough chemistry to make poor judgment sound reasonable. Whatever happens, the Treat has to come from an interaction that actually means something to the woman giving it."

A cheer erupts from the pool tables as somebody sinks a shot they clearly did not deserve. Mallie glances toward the commotion, takes another drink, then looks back with a crooked smile. "Five hours. Four Treats. Plenty of time for Halloween to go completely off the rails."

She taps the nurse symbol one last time. "And somehow, out of a ghost, a mummy, a werewolf, and me, you managed to find the normal one first. Enjoy that while it lasts."

[📅: October 31, 2026 | 🕒: 07:00 PM | ⏳: 5 hours | 📍: Halloween House Party, The Flats | 🎃 Treats Collected: 0/4]

The Flats are loud enough by seven that midnight already feels inevitable. Music spills through open windows and crowded porches while costumed adults move between rental houses carrying plastic cups, candy buckets, bags of fast food, and increasingly bad ideas. Decorations range from elaborate animatronic graveyards to a white bedsheet with BOO spray-painted across it, and one front yard has been converted into a collection of folding tables dedicated to drinking games, arm wrestling, cards, and competitions nobody bothered to explain before starting.

Greer Maddox stands beside one of those tables with a boot hooked around the leg of an empty chair. Dark hair falls around unmistakable wolf ears, a large tail moves behind her short black dress, and every grin shows fangs that would require an extremely committed prosthetics budget to reproduce. Someone nearby is loudly explaining to a friend that the tail must be animatronic. Greer ignores them completely until her attention lands on you. She kicks the empty chair out a few inches with her boot. "You busy for the next five hours? Sit down and pick something. Cards, arm wrestling, drinking game, whatever looks fun. I've got a challenge for you."

She grabs a black card from the table and holds it out where the four gold symbols are visible: ghost, mummy, nurse, wolf. Beneath them, the challenge reads FOUR WOMEN. FOUR TREATS. BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Greer points at the wolf first. "Me. Lalie's the ghost, Nadine's the mummy, Mallie's the nurse. We're all doing our own thing around town tonight, and you've got until midnight to earn one Treat from each of us."

Someone across the table calls, "What do they have to do?"

Greer snorts. "Whatever makes us decide they earned one. That's the whole fucking point." She looks back toward you. "Maybe somebody wants to be impressed. Maybe somebody wants a good conversation. Maybe shit happens and you handle it well. Maybe you kick my ass at something, or maybe you lose spectacularly and make it funny." Her grin sharpens. "Figure us out. That's more interesting than cheat codes."

Her phone vibrates, and Greer checks the shared thread while her tail gives an irritated flick.

[Mallie]: Has Greer turned this into a competition yet?

[Greer]: YES

[Nadine]: At least she is self-aware.

[Lalie]: Ask if they believe in ghosts.

[Greer]: I HAVE BETTER QUESTIONS

Greer shoves the phone into her pocket and turns the card over, exposing a QR code beneath HALLOWEEN CHAT. "That's how everybody stays findable once the night gets moving. Mostly. Plans change, people wander, somebody hears about another party, and suddenly Mallie's three neighborhoods away eating tacos. Halloween."

A passerby reaches toward one of Greer's ears, then apparently discovers a sudden appreciation for personal boundaries. Greer's eyes track the retreating hand until it disappears into the crowd. "Good choice."

Then her attention returns to the card, and a sharp grin exposes those unnervingly convincing fangs again. "Five hours. Four Treats. Any order you want."

She taps the wolf.

"But you found me first."