it's almost halloween ?

For some time, all you know is black.

Time is a blurry, vague, irrelevant human invention in this state. It could be seconds, hours, weeks, decades. You are not certain, and it does not matter. Nothing matters but the endless black, the inability to escape or even move, somehow knowing that this is not the end, but increasingly pondering the truth of that. Something has ended, you know. What that is, you cannot be sure, but a little voice in the back of your mind tells you that this in-between is not the ultimate end. There is so much more, so far away.

You continue this way for an undeterminable period of time until, unexpectedly yet inevitably, color begins to seep back into your vision. Patiently, you wait as, for the first time since the darkness covered you, the ground solidifies beneath your feet and the sky above your head shifts from the void to a much lighter, inkier black with what appears to be tints of ominous violet. Almost without your knowledge, your eyes are closing, and upon opening your eyelids once more, the world around you is fully formed.

You should be shocked, confused beyond belief, wondering what the hell is happening. Something about it all, though, feels right. You smile fondly at the sight before you and experience the sensation of moving your limbs at long last.

The rhythm of one foot in front of the other takes over as you move. Graves, jack-o'-lanterns, the full yellow moon in the center of the sky; every aspect of this land feels so inherently natural. A tiny smile written on your face, you begin to climb upwards, your grin growing wider as you surmount the precipice and cast your eyes downward briefly to observe the distinctive curlicue beneath its edge. This noted, you rise your gaze to the full moon behind you, spreading your arms wide to encompass this new - yet so, so familiar - place. Squinting, you peer beyond the extensive graveyard to spot a tall, spindly black fence. Clearly, this is where you are to go next. 

The curlicue unfolding before you, you descend down the offered path, taking a long look at the forest before you before turning around to head in the opposite direction. The woods are intriguing, but there are other places you need to be. Several minutes eclipse before you come upon a scarecrow, the words above it telling you exactly where you need to go: Halloween Town. You give it an expectant look, and it turns, pointing you in the right direction. The gate opens without you lifting a finger, and you enter, feeling quite surreal and wondering if you are really here, of all places.

Walking down the darkened, abandoned streets, it becomes increasingly apparent that this is really Halloween Town, and it is where you are supposed to be. Oddly enough (or perhaps not), you feel rather at home here in the cold, sinister atmosphere. Everything from the skittish, malnourished feral cat sprinting down the sidewalk to the lone, disfigured creature painstakingly changing the Halloween countdown from 0 days to 365 days feels correct, like everything is finally in its rightful place. It is almost as if your feet have a mind of their own, and they pass by building after building before finally stopping you in front of a structure that must be the town hall. Upon pushing the door open, what you see inside is the first thing since the world appeared around you that truly shocks you. 

The benches are populated by a grand total of nine people. There are a few things about these nine that you find extremely odd. One, they were all facing where the stage should be (it has been replaced by a sizable screen, exactly like one you would watch at the cinema) initially, but all turn to stare at you as soon as you enter. Two, you are not sure if all of them are monsters or none of them are. Three, they are all you.