#31doh2025

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Hello, I'm here for the interview. Kate Phillips.

The voice was not spoken, but loudly and directly pushed into the intern assistant's head.

The sound made their head snap up, the sight of the owner of the voice causing his eyes to widen.

What the fuck?

They couldn't help the fear that curled round their suddenly straightened spine, heart hammering in their chest.

They swallowed, trying to collect themselves while nodding slowly, sure by the way the… telepathic slime monster seemed to wriggle that it had heard their thoughts. Taking a deep breath, they tried to collect themselves, raising a weak finger to point towards the waiting area.

A waiting area that was already filled with ghouls, beasts, skeletons and all manner of things they had never wanted to know existed. All talking or really growling to one another in practice for their interview. The intern had been trying to block it out, desperately trying not to think about the sharp teeth and claws just meters away from them. Their eyes raced away from the waiting area back to the oozing creature that dripped onto the front desk they were assigned to for the day.

"You can take a seat," they suggested lightly, eyes dropping to the goo that had fallen from it. "Ah, Mr. Chapman is running a bit behind."

The thing turned — god, was that what you called it? It felt like it wasn't looking at them any more. The applicant seemed to shift, jiggling as it looked away from the seated assistant and glanced about the small waiting area.

An audible huff sounded from it as it glanced about the competition. The sound made the assistant wonder how exactly goop could sneer without a mouth or huff without lungs, but the creature definitely was when it looked at the others.

It seemed to recognize some of the creatures before turning back to the human that reeked of fear.

How far behind is Benny?

The assistant who was rethinking their life choices and accepting an internship or any more in the future only blinked at the intrusive voice. Their eyes glanced at the clock and then to the list of names they had been crossing off as they were called.

"He is running about," he frowned, "thirty minutes behind."

Another huff.

Very well. Thank you.

They did not breathe easier watching it trail towards a free seat. Their hand shook, checking off another name but waiting to cross it off until his employer came.

The assistant shook their head, experience was certainly not enough for this. Experience be damned, they wanted cash. Though they doubted there was any amount of money that would be enough, not when it became impossible to block out the growls and snarls as they echoed within the small waiting area. Their heartbeat filled their ears, breath clenching in their chest despite their efforts to calm down. Everyone loudly, and with more and more conviction, was practicing their scariest sounds before being called on.

They rubbed their face, hands shaking, before attempting to go back to the forms they had been sorting. Desperately trying to ignore the cracking of claws, the gnawing of teeth, and the howl of inhuman vocal cords. They just had to wait, their shift was only a few more hours.

Just a few more hours.

"Howdy, here for the interview. Name's Mr. Gaeta."

They took a deep inhale before daring to look up… straight into wide razor sharp teeth, littered with blood and flecks of meat.

Oh, come the fuck on.

— A few interviews later —

"Thank you for your time. We will let you know if we decide to move forward, Mrs. Harker."

"'Hanks so much for de opportunity, Mr. Chapman," a pale hand outstretched and the interviewer hummed as he kissed the back of it.

"Thank you for coming in today. I imagine it was difficult with the sun."

"Yes, dreadful weather today. Quite unexpected. But dat is why we have long sleeves, ah?" She released a laugh. "Good day."

"Ah, good day to you too," he offered a polite smile and a tired laugh at the joke that ran true. "Sleep well."

His eyes roamed around the waiting area and the stares that levelled on him, from eyes, the eyeless, and empty sockets all waiting for their name to be called to his wristwatch and frowning.

"Apologies," a sigh, "for the lateness. I will see everyone regardless of my tardiness," he declared, looking up and at the empty desk.

His brows knitted, wondering if the intern had left or if they had simply met an unfortunate end, the same as their last. He was running late and working through his own lunch at this point.

"Right then," he frowned, glaring over the creatures in the room, wondering if someone was less hungry. "Mr. Gaeta?" He looked over to those still waiting, noticing that some had moved seats, before looking at the wide teeth and scale covered skin.

"That'd be me," the creature, surely some sort of swamp thing or alligator hybrid, walked closer, long claws clacking on the floor while another hand smoothed their tie. "Mr. Gaeta, pleased to finally meet you, Mr. Chapman."

"Ben is fine," his hand went to the other's, Gaeta simply lifted the short arm and waved his long clawed tipped hand. He did not wish to shake it, sure that his all too fleshy wrist would be torn asunder. "Right this way."

He turned and walked quickly back to the small interview room, where he sat quickly with another sigh, desperately wanting another coffee and his sandwich. They had thought the cellar would be an easy position to replace after the sudden loss of their long time live-in haunt, but it seemed harder than he had anticipated to replace Boris. It was proving harder than replacing the attic dweller, which had been left vacant for nearly a year.

"Alright so according to your CV you specialize in… sharp teeth and unsettling growls?"

"Yes, that's right — and I'm used to workin' in small spaces, especially dark wet ones."

"Good to know," he marked something down on his copy. "How are you with confusing echos?" He shifted in his chair, looking from the paper to the other's beady yellow eyes. "Our last cellar employee was quite good at raising fear, and we have become quite accustomed to the moans from below."

Mr. Gaeta's lizard-like hind legs shifted, claws from his toes clicking on the floor as he adjusted his tie. "Well, like my momma used to say: You do your best, and you can do anything!" The grin he gave was wide and sharp, filled with too many bloodied teeth. "I'm sure I could manage it."

"Good attitude," Ben nodded, humming, writing something down once more. "If a wanderer is not frightened away from the cellar, then a staff member may offer you critiques to improve upon. And you must take them, even from a human member," the interview began, watching the other's reaction, studying for any creature tells. "So my question is: how are you at taking criticism? We have a no eating, dragging into the abyss, or maiming staff policy," he stated, eyes narrowing at the odd look that passed the almost alligator’s expression.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Mr. Gaeta nodded happily, thinking about the intern who had run from him before he could even consider eating them. "Restraint and self-improvement are important."

The world outside was not the Detroit he knew. There was no living soul except himself, hell, even one of those fucking androids was nowhere to be seen. Gavin hated those fuckin' things, but maybe they would make better company than complete silence.

It looked like those liminal space tiktok videos. Everything was colorful yet dull at the same time. Gavin checked his phone. No signal.

He looked up again. The entire street was empty. The air felt heavy and metallic, almost like blood-- a scent that he was unfortunate to be familiar with, being a homicide detective.

He began to search the street, just that command, echoing:

Find. Him.

The detective hurried. He felt as if something was chasing him.

And then Gavin suddenly felt a sharp pain, like his head was being pounded repeatedly.

"What the fuck??" he grimaced, bending down from the ache.

More commands echoed, pushing him to run despite his head feeling like it might explode.

Faster.

In here.

Not there.

Down the block.

He is waiting.

Inside.

My head.

Then a flicker of movement caught his eye.

At the end of the street, a boy-- blond and small.

"Hey!" Gavin shouted, his own voice startling him.

The boy turned and bolted.

Gavin ran after him, the urge pounding harder.

Find him. Find him. Find him.

He chased through alleys and across empty roads. He ran and ran, his legs feeling numb but somehow not tired. The silver clouds seemed to be closing in, as if threatening to swallow him whole if he stopped for a second.

Finally, he chased the boy to a dead end.

Still panting, Gavin grabbed the boy's arm. The boy whipped around.

He had no face.

Gavin froze, his heart jolting at the sight. Then the boy thrashed violently, nails slashing across Gavin's skin.

The detective wanted to run, but his feet felt like glue.

"Stop it!" he choked out, but his voice was a whisper.

He thought this was it. His life was at the hands of this creature.

Until--

"Detective Reed?"

Gavin sat up violently, heart hammering in his chest. One of his earbuds had fallen to the table, while the other was still playing the fucking dreamcore playlist in his other ear.

Connor stood over him, half-annoyed but also concerned.

"I know you're tired, but please refrain from sleeping at work."

Asshole, Gavin thought. But for once, it was a welcomed intrusion.

The detective exhaled shakily. "The fuck do you want?"

"Your part of the case report, please. I have messaged you but you didn't reply."

"Yeah, yeah," Gavin replied lazily.

Connor suddenly noticed something, and his eyes widened in alarm. "You're injured, Gavin. I'll get the first-aid box."

Gavin's eyebrows furrowed, staring at the android who hurriedly went away. Then he felt the pain.

He looked down.

There were scratches all over his arms.

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adapted from one of my nightmares.

"Do we really need all these cobwebs?" Jonno asked, trying to separate the individual pieces from the tangled mess of fake cobwebs that Robin had pulled out of a dusty box labeled 'Halloween Decorations'. The Count had decided to come back to Garside to host his annual Halloween party, and naturally all the decorating was left to Renfield. Vlad, Robin, and Jonno offered to help out, which Renfield had very happily taken them up on. He was currently sorting through all the boxes in the attic to find the decorations while the boys started putting them up.

"Yeah," Vlad sighed as he came over to help. "You know how Dad is this time of year."

"Who knew vampires loved Halloween this much," Jonno said.

"Dad was always going on about how important it was to 'celebrate our vampiric heritage' and all that."

"Pretty sure that's not what Halloween's supposed to be celebrating, but whatever," Jonno said. While he and Vlad were untangling the cobwebs, Robin was rifling through another box containing various decorations. He pulled out a skull that looked far too realistic to be store-bought. "This is wicked! Where does your dad get all this stuff?"

"I don't think I wanna know," Jonno said after taking a look at the skull. Robin set it on a bookshelf before returning to the box to see what other decorations were waiting to be discovered within. After about fifteen minutes of work, the tangled clump of cobwebs had finally been separated into individual pieces ready to put up. "I think Renfield said some of these are supposed to hang from the ceiling. Is there a ladder I can borrow?" Jonno asked.

"No need," Vlad said. "Just tell me where you want me to put them." Robin watched in awe as he promptly turned into a bat and took one end of a fake cobweb in his teeth before flying up to the ceiling with it. He hung the cobweb in one corner of the ceiling before flying back down and retrieving another. Jonno began hanging cobwebs on the walls and on furniture as Vlad continued working on the ceiling, with Robin picking out the best spots for them to go. Once every cobweb was hung, Vlad returned to human form and sank down into one of the chairs. "I never get tired of seeing you do that," Robin said, earning himself a small amused laugh from the tired vampire.

"Let's get back to work," Jonno said after taking a minute to rest himself. He opened a box labeled 'Pumpkins', which contained, well, pumpkins. He and Robin began removing the pumpkins from the box and placing them in various locations around the room while Vlad watched from his chair. After a couple more minutes of resting, he rejoined them and started helping out again. Soon enough, the final pumpkin had been set down. The boys looked around the room, surveying their work. "This looks awesome," Robin said. "It just needs one final touch to be perfect."

"What's that?" Jonno asked.

"All we need now is some spooky lighting."

"All sorted," Vlad said. He snapped his fingers and lit a few candles, which cast an eerie glow over the room.