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From: Firestarter
July 1999:
Three youths, residents of Victoriana Manors, get the idea to prank their place of residence with smoke bombs on the morning after Halloween, fueled by the urgings of an enthusiastic adult they met that evening at the arcade down the street. They know that they will save any smoke bombs with red stripes for the penthouse floor, should they reach it.
That same evening, the proprietor of the arcade was reinforced with the idea that should a package arrive for these three boys on Halloween week that he should give it to them without opening it. Of course, the proprietor is extremely honest, and would never dream of doing any less.
August 1999:
A pretty girl passes by the arcade where the three boys are again spending a hot summer Texas night. A person lingering outside has a wonderful idea: that she should go in and talk to the boys, flirt with them a bit and talk to them about Halloween, pranking, and smoke bombs in the penthouse floor where they all live.
Early October 1999:
While at the grocery store, the wife of the Head Custodian of the Victoriana Manors gets an undeniable urge to have a really big Halloween party. A fellow shopper was talking about the fact that they were going to have the biggest Halloween party imaginable, and invite everyone they knew, and *suggested* that she should do the same. She was quite taken with the idea, and returns home that night with many makings of a huge All Hallow’s Eve bash.
One week before Halloween 1999:
A FedEx package containing stolen military surplus magnesium flare smoke bombs and key labeled ‘penthouse stairs’ arrives at the arcade addressed to the three Victoriana Manors boys. The honest proprietor delivers the package to them promptly.
Halloween Night, 1999:
The head Custodian of Victoriana Manors and his wife host the biggest Halloween party that they could afford, as her imagination outstripped their budget. Most of the staff of the Victoriana Manors attended.
Morning Nov 1, 1999:
The Head Custodian and the Assistant Custodian of Victoriana Manors call in late for work due to illness. Some outside doors will remain locked until the keys arrive. There is no rush, as these doors are not normally used this time of year. The fenced in pool that is 10 stories below Rebecca Martin’s apartment has been closed for a month, and so the locker room and weight room doors leading out to that area have had little use.
The three boys wake, meet, and run through the halls and stairwells with smoke bombs received on Halloween night. With their key, they unlock the door at the bottom, and then at the top of the penthouse stairwell. Laughing, they throw smoke bombs with red stripes into the penthouse level from the top of the stairwell. After about 2-3 seconds, they flare and start to burn. The kids flee, not expecting this to happen. The guards on that floor pull the fire alarm. Carpet and wallpaper starts to scorch a bit.
Inside Rebecca’s penthouse, the fire alarm awakens Eric, her protective ghoul lover. He MUST get her out… MUST get her out: It is the FIRE ALARM. He MUST get her out. Fire WILL DESTROY her. He knows that vampires do not like sunlight, but KNOWS that it DOES NOT harm them. He scoops the slumbering Rebecca up in his arms. She hardly stirs. With one fluid motion he is on the balcony and over the rail. He will die for his beloved, but she is strong and will survive. Their last embrace is... not right. She is crisping as they fall. She starts to flail and scream. ‘Why?’ His question is punctuated with a slam onto the concrete at terminal velocity. The quickly blackening vampire has barely impacted as she starts to flee in immortal terror. Eric watches his dear one, his sweet lady of the night pound once, and twice against the locked metal door. The echoes of her shrieks linger past her final death. His world goes black... twice. Eric dies of internal trauma. He dies of a broken heart.
Fin.