Chapter #4Too Much Chocolate! by: Unknown There was something… addicting about the fresh-baked sweets that squirrel lady was cooking. You really hadn’t had anything like them before; even the expensive candy provided at all the houses around here couldn’t compare. You had to have more. Without a word being exchanged between you, you and your friends all agreed, and you rushed back to the counter for a second filling. The pudgy squirrel woman smiled as she saw you returning; she was dressed in what looked like a moderately revealing chef costume, hat and all. Even the smells of her baking were intoxicating to your nostrils as you grew closer. She gestured happily to her supply; she seemed to have an endless array of treats to choose from. “Are you sure I can just…?” You say, looking over the delicious treats in awe.
“Oh, sure, sugar! Eat as many as you like!” The squirrel nodded, and you and your friends eagerly reached for more. “There’s more than enough for everyone!” You chowed down on yet another delicious chocolatey treat… and then another… and then another. You and your friends were grabbing cookies, cupcakes, muffins, all sorts of pastries with reckless abandon, scarfing them down with greater and greater vigor as you lost track of time. Even when your bellies were visibly rounded by the sweets, you still didn’t feel remotely full. As you took a moment to look around, you realized about a dozen other trick-or-treaters were gulping down treats with similar fervor. It was like the pastries were having some sort of… magical effect on you. The squirrel looked on with a smile on her face all the while, encouraging you all with a mixture of approval and amusement.
After about an hour of constant, fervent snacking, the three of you finally convinced yourselves to take a break, out of sheer exhaustion. Your round bellies now distended a full feet or two out the front of your bodies, and yet, you still didn’t feel quite full. If you didn’t know any better, you would assume the tall squirrel lady was just trying to fatten you up for some devious purpose… but that would be ridiculous. Besides, you were way too tired to think about such things right now. You felt about ready to slip into a food coma at any minute. Just as you were about to doze off, you saw the tiger from before walk up to the country, pushing an entire cart full of fresh-baked pastries. “Sorry this took so long! I got a little… sidetracked,” the tiger said, wiping some sweat from her forehead as she began to stock the pastries into the shelves of the squirrel’s stand.
Eventually, the tiger’s face went pale when she noticed Maria sitting there, staring at her incredulously. “Hey! Where’s Hugo?” Maria complained, crossing her arms in anger. “Didn’t you say he shouldn’t be left alone?”
“Oh! Y-your… uh… brother is still… back at the house,” the tiger said, her tone making it obvious she was trying to come up with a lie. “I left him with… my neighbor! Yes! I convinced one of my neighbors to supervise him while I brought these pastries here!” While Maria interrogated the tiger, you were too busy staring at the feline costumer’s belly, which she was rubbing over with one of her ‘paws’, as if trying to placate someone inside. Her stomach looked slightly bigger than it was when you last saw her, though you couldn’t tell if you were just misremembering things. “Wouldn’t want him getting hurt, would we? He’s such a cute little human… and such a good assistant, too!” Just as she says that, you could swear you saw a small handprint press against the side of her furry ‘belly’ for a split second. Of course, that was impossible — she was just wearing a costume, right? You must just be seeing things.
Maria obviously wasn’t satisfied with the tiger’s answer, but before she could ask any further questions, the tiger scampered off, as if busy. The three of you were far too busy to follow her; you were more preoccupied scaring down a few dozen more pastries, trying to get to them before the other trick-or-treaters could. With a dozen rabid hands tearing apart the supply, the squirrel finally ran out. “Oh, dear! It seems you were all even more ravenous than I expected!” She giggled, seeing the desperate looks on your faces. “Well, seems like I’m going to have to wrap things up here. But if y’all are interested, I’ll be offering more pastries at another party across the neighborhood, if you want to stop by…”
It wasn’t even a question. You were all hopelessly addicted to the delicious treats at this point. Thus, when the squirrel wrapped things up and moved on to the next event, she had a big line of fattened trick-or-treaters following along behind her like the pied piper, letting them blindly follow her to wherever she wanted them to go…
┄┄┄
As you walked, the taste of the sweets stopped clouding your mind, and you were able to think about the situation semi-rationally. There were a few things that put you off about all this. The handprint in the tiger’s belly, the way the squirrel seemed to be fattening you all up, the sheer realism of their costumes, the way the other trick-or-treaters seemed to have come from all over the world… it all led you to one grim conclusion; this whole thing was a trap. It was a ridiculous conclusion, of course, and by all evidence, it should be impossible. Still, you couldn’t shake the suspicion out of your mind. “Here we are! Just up ahead,” She smiled, pointing to a house up ahead. It seemed to be one of the biggest houses on the block, and packed with locals in those strange, huge animal costumes.
As you approached, your suspicions grew to the point that they were unbearable. Eventually, you couldn’t help yourself but to grab the arms of your friends. “Hey! Over here,” you said, whispering, as you pulled them into one of the nearby bushes, knocking them out of their trance. “Over here! Hide!”
Since you were at the back of the line, the three of you were able to disappear into the bushes easily. Your friends looked at you wish confusion as the rest of the trick-or-treaters were led into the house. “W-what?” Kevin asked. “What are we hiding for?”
“I don’t think we should just walk in there,” you whisper. “I think the locals are… planning something.”
“What? That’s ridiculous,” Maria raises a brow, as if surprised you would even suggest such a thing.
“Yeah!” Kevin agreed. “And did you taste their cooking? I’m not about to pass that up!”
“Well, there’s no harm in checking things out first, right?” You insist. “Just trust me on this; waltzing in through a stranger’s front door is a bad idea. We should scout this whole thing out first. If it’s safe, we can still get some treats.” Your friends were frustrated, thinking you were just wasting their time, but they knew they couldn’t argue. They begrudgingly followed you as you as you approached the house, hiding under the cover of darkness...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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