After William and Henry's pizzeria failed, Henry was coerced into turning it into a haunted house, to surprising success. Over the years, it grew and grew...and g r e w. At some point after William was out of the picture, Henry had a masterpiece on his hands, one that he worked on hard with family and friends alike. It bloomed into a massive, family-friendly horror attraction with technologically advanced animatronics, a scare house, an arcade, a game series, good food, walkways that at night held lurking scare actors, and the main attraction - a grand building filled with rooms upon rooms of fancy, thrilling scares. And the best part? At night, it turned into a spine-chilling, interactive story. It's a staple in their family and inner circle, and has brought many closer together, on top of being a global success. It's a family business, despite the size and popularity, and Henry intends to keep it that way. There are many large teams of employees now, but still several are from the family and/or close to members of it.
The main characters of this AU are Michael, Charlie, and their family. After many hardships, they've ended up with a nice life for themselves. Childhood friends, Michael and Charlie fell in love as they grew older, and after marrying, agreed to adopt and help children in need of good, caring families. Both were passionate about it and somehow ended up with five adopted children by the end of it, from various situations. Then, they were shortly hit by an unexpected biological child. Their family now is perhaps strange and chaotic, but very close and happy, despite normal life struggles. Not only with each other, but many others.
(Detailed info about the kids below, if you're curious)
First, there's Cassidy (Age 16 or 17; ages will be different, depending on when a particular fic takes place.) A pale teenage boy with fluffy, blond hair, the tips dyed black. It nearly covers the right of his blue eyes, and he typically wears mostly black, with accents of other colors. Especially yellow, one of his favorites. He has some issues, a troubled past, and is of course sometimes a bit of a moody teenager, but he has a love for writing, music, and teasing his siblings relentlessly. Despite his appearance and his grouchy moods, he has a softer and fun-loving side reserved mostly for his family and close friends, whom he loves wholeheartedly.
Then Jeremy (12 or 13), a Latino boy with floppy, dark brown hair, chocolate eyes, and glasses. He wears a lot of sweaters, t-shirts, or both, usually in tones of blue. He's the quietest and most nervous of the bunch, particularly when it comes to, ironically, things like scare houses or horror movies. But he's kind, sensitive, has a good sense of humor, and secretly likes mischief more than he lets on.
Susie (11 or 12), a young fair girl with bundles of golden blonde curls and wide blue eyes. She loves to accessorize with bows, barrettes, and bracelets. She also typically wears cute outfits themed off her favorite video games, with gaming being one of her favorite things to do. She's energetic and sweet, but more mischievous than one might expect. One of the calmer siblings, but on the naive and oblivious side.
Gabriel (9 or 10), a black boy with poofy black hair that he likes to secure with cool baseball caps. He wears a lot of sweaters and graphic tees, depending on the season. His hobbies mainly include reading and enjoying all things geeky. He loves to keep to himself and read in peace quite a bit, but other times? Ever energetic and sociable, he'll pal around and chat with anyone, even get into chaos. Especially with his pretend twin, Fritz.
Fritz (9 or 10) a boy with fluffy, strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and heavy sprinklings of freckles across his fair skin. He wears loose clothes, especially with short sleeves. All his pants have rips and the knees blown out, from how much stuff her gets into. He's quite a strange child, but well intentioned, despite chaotic tendencies, a goofy (but also oddly quiet) personality, and some lacking of awareness. He also has a bit of a stutter, which used to bother him, but he's since gotten better with it. Of the adopted children, he and Cassidy are the only ones actually related, with him being the teen's little brother.
Gregory (7, 8, or 9), the only biological child, Gregory is pale with a rather round face, a mess of fluffy brown hair, big orange-brown eyes, and is very much on the short side (earned from his father, who's only 5'5.) Gregory constantly wears spooky clothes, adoring the family's horror attraction, Halloween (which his birthday is directly before), and simply all things spooky. His skin is also constantly covered by various band-aids and stickers. To Gregory, stickers are just an extra accessory (and he's accident prone.) He's a sassy gremlin with an attitude, but unshaken loyalty, determination, and dedication to anything he loves.
