Halloween in Room 410: We All Hang Together

PROLOGUE

My roommate, Celeste, said she wanted to cosplay a Sunshine Sally doll for Halloween.

We laughed at her.

How are you gonna do that? Hang yourself?

Celeste just smiled and said nothing.

On Halloween night, I opened our dorm room door and saw my roommate, hanging.

01

Halloween was just two days away, and Halloway Hall was buzzing with a nervous, excited energy.

Everywhere you looked, people were showing off their costumes, making last-minute adjustments.

Our room, 410, was no exception.

Brooke was meticulously applying glitter to a pair of fairy wings, while Riley was trying to figure out how to walk in the ridiculously high-heeled boots for her vampire outfit.

My own costume, a classic witch, was laid out neatly on my bed, ready to go.

Then there was Celeste Morrow.

My gaze drifted to the fourth bed, the one that had been empty until six weeks ago when Celeste transferred in mid-semester.

She sat on the edge of her perfectly made bed, humming a tuneless, unnerving melody.

In her hands, she was turning over a large square of rough, off-white burlap and a length of thick, scratchy twine.

I tried to keep my voice light, casual.

Hey, Celeste. What s all that for?

Her humming stopped abruptly.

Her movements were stiff, almost doll-like, as she turned to face me.

A Sunshine Sally, she said, her voice a strange, flat monotone. Don't you want to cosplay with me?

She held up the materials, one in each hand, a bizarre offering.

Her face was unnervingly blank, but a slow, wide smile stretched her lips.

It didn t reach her eyes.

A shiver traced its way down my spine.

It wasn't a normal smile.

It was too wide, too perfect, like something drawn on.

02

Oh, uh, no thanks. I ve already got my costume planned out.

I forced a laugh, trying to break the sudden tension in the room.

But she didn t move.

Instead, she rose from her bed in a single, fluid motion and drifted closer.

Before I could react, she was standing directly in front of me, her shadow falling over me.

No, she said, the smile never wavering.

Her tone was no longer a suggestion.

It was a command.

You will all cosplay Sunshine Sally with me. Every single one.

She stared at me, her eyes dark and empty.

For a terrifying second, I felt like if I said no again, she would do something terrible right here, right now.

I nodded quickly, my throat suddenly dry.

I figured I d just agree for now.

It s not like she could force me to wear a burlap sack on Halloween, right?

Celeste seemed to see the thought in my eyes.

Her smile tightened for a fraction of a second.

Then she turned away, her attention shifting to the other two.

03

Brooke and Riley, who had been watching the exchange with amusement, started to play along.

Sure, Cece, we can all be creepy dolls together! Brooke chirped, always the first to make a joke out of something uncomfortable.

So what s the plan? You got the burlap and twine, are you gonna teach us how to hang ourselves for the full effect? Ha!

Brooke and Riley burst into laughter.

Celeste didn t speak.

She just turned her head slightly, that same vacant smile plastered on her face, as if silently agreeing with the suggestion.

My blood ran cold.

While the others were laughing, I was standing right next to her.

And I saw her lips move, just barely, forming silent words that no one else could hear.

But I could.

I can read lips.

Yes, she mouthed, her eyes fixed on me. And you ll all join me.

Then, she turned back to me, her voice suddenly sweet and cheerful again, the shift so abrupt it was jarring.

Calla, you can be last, okay? That way you can take pictures of all of us.

I just nodded, my heart hammering against my ribs.

I pointed a trembling finger toward the small digital camera on my desk, a silent promise that I d be their photographer.

In reality, my mind was screaming.

Celeste finally seemed satisfied.

She turned and glided back to her bed, sitting down with the same eerie stillness as before.

It was like watching a ghost.

04

I tried to rationalize it, telling myself she was just a weird transfer student trying to fit in, maybe with a morbid sense of humor.

But that night, my sleep was a battlefield of fragmented, terrifying dreams.

I woke up with a gasp, my body drenched in cold sweat.

Something was wrong.

A shape was dangling in the darkness above my bed.

It was wrapped in white burlap, a crude smiley face drawn on it in what looked like black marker.

A rope was tied tightly around its neck, and it was swinging, gently, back and forth, back and forth in the faint moonlight filtering through the window.

A scream tore from my throat.

I squeezed my eyes shut, too terrified to look.

A familiar, flat voice cut through my panic.

Calla? What s wrong? Just tell me if the cosplay looks authentic.

The voice.

It was Celeste.

I cautiously opened my eyes.

The swinging figure was gone.

Instead, Celeste was standing by my bed, wrapped head to toe in the burlap sack, the drawn-on smile facing me.

My terror instantly curdled into anger.

Celeste! What the hell are you doing? Get off my bed frame! You have no sense of personal space!

The burlap figure froze for a second, then rustled.

She clumsily climbed down from my bunk bed's upper railing.

Haha, sorry, her muffled voice came from inside the bag. I just wanted you to take a picture, see how it looks.

My anger subsided slightly, replaced by a lingering sense of unease.

She had been on my bed, yes, but the image seared into my brain was of her *hanging* from the ceiling.

I glanced up.

The ceiling was flat, white, and empty.

There was nothing up there.

No hooks, no beams, nothing to tie a rope to.

So how had she been hanging there, swinging?

05

I shook my head, trying to clear the image.

Maybe it was just a nightmare after all.

I climbed down from my bunk, my feet hitting the cold floor.

On my desk, a folded square of burlap and a coil of twine sat waiting for me.

I looked over.

Brooke s desk and Riley s desk had identical sets.

It seemed she was dead serious about this group costume.

A frown creased my brow.

Didn't she understand that we were just placating her?

That it was just an awkward joke?

Celeste, still in her costume, nudged me from behind.

Calla, come on, hurry up.

I let out a sigh, resigning myself to getting this over with.

I picked up my camera, switched it on, and aimed it at her.

The image on the small screen was unsettling.

Stand up straight, Celeste, I grumbled, pressing the shutter button.

Click.

I looked at the photo.

Something was off.

Straighten your back. You re slouching.

Click.

I looked again.

My frown deepened.

Seriously, just& stand still for one second.

Click.

The more pictures I took, the tighter the knot of dread in my stomach became.

In the photos, Celeste stood there, a bizarre figure draped in burlap, the standard smiley face of a Sunshine Sally doll staring back.

It looked authentic.

Too authentic.

Because in every single picture on my camera screen, she had no legs.

From the bottom of the burlap sack downwards, there was nothing.

She was just& floating.

A perfect, real-life Sunshine Sally doll.

06

A tremor ran through my hands, and I almost dropped the camera.

Celeste, completely oblivious, shuffled impatiently.

Are you done yet? I just wanted to see a few test shots. What s taking so long?

She drifted towards me, and before I could stop her, she snatched the camera from my trembling fingers.

Hey! Give that back!

But it was too late.

She was already scrolling through the pictures.

Ooh, these look great! she chirped, her voice muffled by the fabric.

My hands started to shake even more violently.

Because as I stood right next to her, I watched in horror as the crude, black-marker smile on the burlap sack twisted and widened into a look of genuine, satisfied pleasure.

Later that afternoon, I cornered Brooke and Riley in the common room, my voice a hushed, frantic whisper as I told them everything.

The hanging figure.

The impossible physics.

The photos.

The moving smile.

Brooke shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Then, her fear twisted into fury.

I knew it! I told you guys she was some kind of freak! she hissed.

She s not right. She s some& some *thing*.

I looked down at my shoes, not knowing what to say.

I remembered when Celeste had first moved in.

Our dorm room, which had always been a cozy space for the three of us, suddenly felt& invaded.

We tried to be welcoming.

But as night fell, a strange, giggling sound would drift from her corner, especially when the wind blew through the ever-open window by her bed.

Brooke had been convinced from day one that it was something else.

Riley and I had talked her down, telling her not to escalate things.

Now, looking back, I wasn't so sure.

Celeste was always wearing that shapeless white smock.

She insisted on keeping her window open, no matter how cold it got.

She was a living Sunshine Sally doll.

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