"Back so soon?"
Lad shrugged out of his sweatshirt, smoothed it out against his stomach, and hung it on the rack next to the door.
"Not much out there this year." He called back. He took off his shoes and placed them in line with the others against the wall, then removed his mask and tossed it on the rack with his sweatshirt.
"What about your little friends?"
"Hold on." He said.
He stalked down the hallway to the living room. His father sat in his customary armchair next to the fireplace, wearing only a robe and large red slippers. Their dog, Fenrir, was sprawled out on the rug, dozing in the waves of heat that rolled from the fire.
"So?" His father said.
Lad blinked. "What?"
"Your friends. You've got, erm…the one in the skull mask—the little fat boy in the pig outfit—the…tiger, or some-such thing—"
Lad rolled his eyes and flopped into the smaller armchair next to his father's. The noise was enough to startle Fenrir, who opened a pair of eyes and sniffed at him before returning to sleep.
"Mr. Kitty, dad." Said Lad. Then, as an afterthought, "His costume's kind of gay, but we try not to say anything about it."
"Ah. Right."
His father adjusted his glasses and peered around the room. Lad arched a brow and waited for him to finish his search.
"So…no candy this year?"
"Nope."
His father shook his head. "Any good tricks at least?"
"Not really. The folks were pretty stiff this year; not many pranks to pull."
"Ah."
He picked up the paper he'd folded on his lap, re-opened it and began reading. Lad stared into the fire and listened to its lulling cracks and shrieks as it flared up the flue. A glance at the clock told him that it had been forty-five minutes since he left Turgid Meadows.
Any minute now, then.
Finally. Something shifted in the air; it was a small change, but Lad's gaze immediately shifted in the direction of the large iron door to his home. His father's focus had settled there as well, and they exchanged a knowing look before a sound loud as thunderclaps echoed through the house. Lad sighed, hopped from the chair and padded across the coal-dark floor towards the hallway.
The door yawned open at his approach. Mr. Kitty screamed like a girl as the heavy chains criss-crossing it fell away, nearly clocking him on the head. They were too distracted by the chains to notice his approach, but when Pig-Pig finally looked up and saw him standing there, he made a sound befitting his costume.
Lad leaned against the door jamb and raised a hand in greeting.
"Yo."
Finch stared at him, wide-eyed. He was being awfully calm about the whole thing, Devil Lad thought, but then again, Finch was the thinker in the group.
"Devil Lad?" Finch asked, finally.
Lad smiled.
"So you finally get to see my house."
Mr. Kitty's head snapped left and right to take in his surroundings before his panicked gaze returned to Lad.
"Are we—is this—?"
"Yup."
Judging by the smell, Mr. Kitty shit a load about then. Moochie was on him a moment, screaming "Unclean, unclean!" and wielding the bloody knife she'd used to take out the king of chocklit monkeys. Mr. Kitty screamed and bolted down the pathway with Moochie behind him.
"Right." Finch said, clearly no longer affected by the madness of his younger sister. He turned back to Lad, then looked past him and at a point several feet above his head.
"Hey…Is that…you…umm…?"
Lad twitched his head back without turning. "Yeah. That's my dad."
Pig-Pig was curled into a ball now. Lad's father fixed the full weight of his gaze on them, and even Finch retreated a few paces.
"So…I guess we should come in," Finch said at length.
He snatched at Moochie's collar as she darted past and succeeded in restraining her struggling form against his chest. Mr. Kitty fell panting to the cobblestones of the path; he looked up after several moments and gave a low groan at the sight of the man looming over Lad.
"Might as well." Lad drawled, stepping aside to grant his friends entrance. "And please make yourselves at home."
He grinned; it was all perfect teeth, and contrary to his manners there was nothing friendly about it.
"After all, you're gonna be here a while."