A/N Hello all! It's that time of year again! Time for a new Halloween story! I know, I already gave you Coming To The Tree earlier this year, which I had intended to be my Halloween story, but My mind just keeps turning out more and more stories. This one is inspired by the made for TV movie The Midnight Hour, from 1985 that starred LeVar Burton, Shari Belafonte, Peter DeLuise, and Lee Montgomery, among others (If you look very closely, you might spot a very young Macaulay Culkin in his first non credited screen appearance). I hope you enjoy this! I'll post one update per week between now and Halloween!

Reviews always welcome!

…

The Substitute

Halloween night, 2010

It was all Holly Holliday's fault, Kurt decided as he swung the pick ax again. If she had just stuck to the lesson plan set forth by Mrs. Ledderman, and taught them algebra like she was supposed to, none of this would have happened. But of course the capricious teacher couldn't just teach them math. She had to go and bring up Lima's dark secret, the one they all knew, but no one dared talk about.

If it hadn't been for her dramatic retelling of the story of Lima's infamous witch, Lucinda Lopez, who had been hanged over two hundred years ago, Kurt would probably be bored out of his skull at Rachel's Halloween party right now. Or better yet, at home, passing out Hershey's Bars and Tootsie Pops to the trick or treaters.

Instead, he was backed into a corner of a marble mausoleum, fighting off the hordes of demons, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures unleashed by the spell they had unknowingly cast...

…

Nine hours ago

Kurt tried to stifle another yawn as he went over his algebra homework one more time before class started. He was exhausted, and wished he'd stopped and gotten a mocha before school that morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep that weekend. He'd been busy working at his dad's garage all weekend, and when he wasn't working, he'd been busy with extra Glee practice for sectionals, and the teachers had all given them tons of homework for the weekend. He'd already dozed off in one class that morning.

If he could just stay awake for two more hours, he could run to the Lima Bean after Glee and get his caffeine fix before he had to get ready for Rachel's Halloween party. Why he had let himself be talked into going to what was sure to be the lamest party in town, he'd never understand, but all of New Directions would be there, along with a few others who had been badgered, blackmailed, or threatened with bodily harm by Santana in order to get them to agree to come.

He frowned when he glanced at the clock, noting that Mrs. Ledderman was ten minutes late. That was very strange, as the thirty something teacher was always very predictable.

"I say if she isn't here in five minutes, we ditch," Puck said, smirking at Santana. "We could hang out under the bleachers."

"You wish," The dark haired girl said, rolling her eyes.

Kurt kind of hoped the teacher didn't show, so he could sneak out and get his coffee a little sooner, but his hopes were dashed when the door swung open, and a familiar voice called out cheerily. "Hola, clase! Mrs. Ledderman has run off with the school janitor, leaving her husband and her students behind."

The woman who entered wore a long black wig and a dress straight out of a history book. Even with the disguise, there was no mistaking McKinley's most flamboyant substitute teacher, Holly Holliday.

"Allow me to introduce myself! I'm Lucinda Lopez, and over two hundred years ago I was hanged for witchcraft! Before that, I was a servant of Nathaniel Hummel, with whom I fell madly in love!"

Kurt groaned and slumped down in his seat. Nathaniel Hummel had been the brother of Kurt's great great great grandfather, while Lucinda had been distantly related to Santana's great great great grandmother. Why did she have to bring this up? Apparently he wasn't the only one to have this thought.

"Uh, Ms. Holliday?" Finn said, tentatively. "This is algebra class, not History."

"Right you are, Mr. Hudson, but it is also Halloween, a night that plays a huge part of my story! Besides, I suck at algebra." She slipped back into persona, and continued her tale. "After Nathaniel rebuffed my advances on All Hallow's Eve, I placed a curse on the town of Lima, calling forth all the demons of Hell and every evil creature to destroy the town and all who lived here! But I was defeated by Nathaniel, who managed to reverse the curse at the stroke of midnight, and lay to rest all the unholy creatures I had called forth! I was hanged that very night. This dress I am wearing is an authentic reproduction of the gown I died in. The original is on display at Lima's museum of local history, along with the clothes worn by Nathaniel Hummel that night."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt could see the wheels turning in Puck's head, and saw him whisper something to Santana that had the Latina smiling lazily. This could not bode well.

…

"You want to steal the clothes from the museum?" Kurt said incredulously, glaring at Puck and Santana as they sat in the Lima Bean after school. Finn sat with them, but was too busy eating to really be involved in the conversation.

"Not steal," Puck said, shrugging. "Just borrow them for the party tonight. We'll return them tomorrow."

Kurt rolled his eyes. It still sounded like stealing to him. He took a long drink from his Grande Non Fat Mocha, and set the cup down. "And you need my help why?"

"Cause the old lady who runs the place likes you. You can distract her while Santana, Finn and I snag the outfits."

It was true, the old half Filipino woman who was the museum's curator did like Kurt, and after she had found out Kurt was gay, had kept trying to set him up with her grandson, who went to some fancy prep school in Westerville. While Kurt had been interested to learn that he was not, in fact, the only openly gay kid in Ohio, he hadn't been interested in being set up with some guy he'd never met, and who would no doubt turn out to be some snobbish bore with no sense of fashion what so ever.

Normally, Kurt wouldn't even have considered helping Puck with anything he knew could get them in trouble, but didn't want the other teen to wind up back in juvie for a stupid stunt. Kurt knew his dad was probably going to propose to Carole any time now, and knew she'd be very upset if Finn got in trouble, too. He knew that if he didn't help, the three of them would more than likely try to "borrow" the clothes anyway, and probably get caught.

"You swear you are taking them back first thing tomorrow?"

"I'll even have them dry cleaned, if that's what you want."

"And what do I get out of it if I help you?"

"Name your price." Puck said, knowingly.

Kurt pretended to think about it for a moment. "Convince Rachel and Mr. Schue to let me have a solo at Sectionals."

"You're on."

"Fine, but you need to be fast. I need time to get ready for Rachel's party myself, you know."

…

"...and my grandson will be in town tonight, his friend from school invited him to a party at his cousin's house. He'd really like to meet you."

"That's great, Mrs. Grenville, but I've already been invited to a party at my friend Rachel's house. Perhaps another time." Kurt replied distractedly, as he watched Santana and Puck slip into the room where the wax figures of Lima's most famous and infamous inhabitants were. Finn would be parked on the far side of the building, where the other two would toss the clothes out the back window. "What I really need right now, though, is some information on Lima's involvement in the Underground railroad for a report I'm working on."

It wasn't a lie, he did have a paper due on the Underground railroad. He just didn't mention the fact that he had already finished it over the weekend. He spent fifteen minutes speaking with the older woman when he spotted Santana and Puck slipping out of the wax figure gallery. He frowned when he noticed the small wooden chest the taller boy was carrying. It was about the size of a bread box, and appeared intricately carved.

Kurt waited a few more minutes before making his own exit, walking around the building and slipping into the back of Finn's mom's car.

"What the hell is in the chest? And why did you steal it? You were only supposed to take the clothes!"

"Chill-ax, dude, it was just a few additional accessories. We'll return them with the clothes first thing in the morning. I promise."

Kurt let out a non committal grunt, and turned to look out the window. A frown furrowed his features when he realized where they were. "Why are we cutting through the old cemetery? It's no where near my house. You promised to drop me off immediately so I'd have enough time to get ready."

"You've still got over three hours before the party starts, you'll have plenty of time." Santana said as Finn pulled to a stop in the center of the old graveyard. The burial ground hadn't been used in over a hundred and fifty years, not since the new cemetery, the one where Kurt's mom was buried, had opened. "We're just going to divvy up the loot. I can walk home from here."

The four teens got out of the car, and Kurt felt a shiver crawl up his spine in the chill autumn air. He glanced around, an uneasy feeling settling over him. Somewhere in this old cemetery, Nathaniel Hummel was buried. The uneasy feeling grew as Puck set the chest on the hood of the car and opened it, the sound of it's rusty hinges seeming unnaturally loud.

Kurt frowned when he recognized the stylized H engraved on the lid. It was the Hummel family crest. Curiosity got the better of him, and he moved forward to examine the contents.

"That was Nathaniel's signet ring," he muttered.

"Yeah, it will go great with the clothes," Puck said, slipping on the ring with the same stylized H on it, along with a stylized sword. There was also a woman's bonnet and a necklace inside the box. As Santana reached in to remove them, Finn tripped over his own feet, knocking the box off the car and onto the ground with a loud cracking noise.

"You broke it!' Kurt shouted, panicking as he rushed forward.

"I'm sorry, dude!" Finn said, sounding worried. "Can we fix it?"

Kurt carefully lifted the pieces, frowning as he noticed the bottom panel had separated from the rest of the wood. Something that looked like rolled parchment was protruding from what must have been a hidden compartment.

"What is that?" Puck asked, snatching at the mystery object.

"It's a scroll, sealed with Nathaniel Hummel's ring." Kurt tried to take the parchment back, but Puck turned so he couldn't reach it. "Hey, careful, that may be a valuable artifact!"

"Relax, I just want to look at it!"

"Don't break the seal!" Kurt said, trying to grab it again, but it was too late, Puck had already cracked the wax seal, and was unrolling the scroll.

"It written in a funny language, and it looks like it's written in blood!" The Mowhawked boy said.

"Blood?" Finn asked, looking a little green around the gills.

Puck continued studying the writing. "I think this is Lucinda's curse!"

Santana scoffed, and snatched the parchment from him. "It's in Latin, moron! It says;

Tartara testor omnes animi

Surge igitur et vocatio ore exíbit gládius acútus

Egredietur extra velum

Ego præcipio tibi et oriri Romam reuerterunt!"

"Stop!" Kurt whispered, but the girl continued.

"I call on all spirits of the Underworld, arise and heed my call! All manor of demon, all manor of creature, all manor of dead, rise, rise and do my bidding!"

"Stop!" Kurt shouted this time, pulling the parchment from her grasp and rolling it up.

"Oh, come on Kurt, you don't believe in all that witchcraft nonsense, do you?" The Latina taunted.

"Of course not!" The pale boy denied. "I just don't want the parchment to be ruined! It's a historical document!"

She rolled her eyes, and picked up the dress and other items that had belonged to Lucinda Lopez. "Fine. I'm going home to change. See you all at the party!"

They watched her walk off through the woods beside the cemetery in the direction of Lima Heights, before the three boys gathered the rest of the items and got back in the car.

Kurt had a very bad feeling, but he wouldn't admit it out loud. He didn't believe in magic, but he couldn't help thinking that something very bad was about to happen.

…

Wind whistled between the old headstones as mist began to crawl across the ground. Near the back of the cemetery, a marble figure stood against the setting sun, the name carved into it long since eroded away. A low moan rose from the ground, and dirt began to bubble up as something began to push up from beneath. All through the cemetery, grey, rotting forms began to crawl forth...