School was a paranoia pit at Halloween, the deaths from trick-or-treat pranks involving poison, toilets, & chainsaws were no joke. But Mazie et al needed candy. Costumed in anonymous sheets, they robbed the tuck shop. Bonanza. Only Ezz got killed.

 

 

 

In the downpour, Mazie barely saw an inch in front of her. Hair stuck to her face & neck, her sneaks squelched. Spooky tendrils of mist rose from the undergrowth & prickly-leaved bushes snatched at her coat. That eerie scream from behind?

The art of living is the avoidance of death. It strikes naturally–anorexia, meningitis, accidental falls from flagpoles–but mostly from fierce grade competition. Faculty hide as students with bullet & blade assert their worthiness for an A.