Max Dennison stared at himself in the mirror, less than pleased with the image in green that stared back.
"I can't believe you're actually making me do this."
His nine-year-old sister tossed her hair over her shoulder and grinned devilishly from her perch on the bed.
"You promised," she reminded him.
Max sighed. "I know."
Dani rolled her eyes. "C'mon, it won't be that bad! Besides, it's not like you need to impress any girls this year."
Max considered pointing out that having a girlfriend didn't mean he was suddenly okay with making a fool of himself, but instead he sat next to Dani and gave her a serious look.
"Are you sure you want to do this? We don't have to go out tonight."
Dani squinted suspiciously. "You're just trying to get out of the tights."
Half-honestly, he shook his head. "I'm not. It's just, after what happened last year…"
She rolled her eyes. "For the thousandth time, I'm okay. Really." She frowned. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
For a moment, Halloween 1993 loomed unspoken between them, but the memory was interrupted by Dani's cat trying to climb Max's leg.
"Argh! Stupid cat!"
Dani scooped the black feline into her arms and gave her brother a reproachful look.
"He's just trying to say that he likes you."
Max rubbed his shin. "Then why doesn't he ever treat you like a tree?"
Jinx had been Dani's birthday present in March. She'd wanted to name him Binx, but Max convinced her that was just a little weird, and she'd settled on the rhyming term instead.
Before Dani could answer, they heard their mom calling from the bottom of the stairs.
"Max! Allison's here!"
In a flash, Max wrapped himself in a blanket, hiding his costume from view and ignoring his sister's knowing smirk. There was a light knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in!" Dani called.
Allison poked her head in, grinning when she caught sight of her boyfriend.
"You can't go Trick-or-Treating like that."
"I shouldn't be going Trick-or-Treating at all," he grumbled.
Dani skipped across the room and clung to Allison's arm, bouncing up and down. "Where's your costume?"
Allison held up a backpack. "I've got everything I need in here."
"Great! Let's go get ready and let Max sulk by himself."
Allison waved as Dani pulled her from the room. "You can't hide forever, Max!"
When the door closed behind them, Max let the blanket fall to the floor and took another skeptical look at himself.
"Well, Max, this is what happens when you decide to be a good brother." Sensing eyes on him, he glanced at the bed to see Jinx gazing at him disdainfully. "What are you looking at?"
Shaking his head at himself—this one doesn't talk, Max— he opened his dad's old rucksack to check its contents for the third time. He wasn't planning on collecting candy tonight. Instead, his bag held a container of salt and three cruxifixes. If Dani found out she'd probably make fun of him, but at least they would be prepared. He knew he was being paranoid, but the witches' spellbook had gone missing after last Halloween, and Max wasn't taking any chances this year.
"Knock, knock." It was Allison, and Max hastily pulled his blanket shield back over himself.
"Yeah!" he called, and she slipped inside.
Max had tried to convince his girlfriend to dress up as Tinker Bell, but she was set on being Captain Hook. He had to admit, she looked the part in her long red coat, black boots, and big feathered hat. A plastic sword hung at her side, and she held a hook in one hand.
"Arr, where be that scurvy Peter Pan?" she drawled, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and her eyes twinkling with amusement.
He couldn't help grinning back. "Promise you won't laugh?"
Allison put the hook over her heart. "I solemnly swear."
Max let the blanket fall to the floor for the second time. When he gathered the courage to look at his girlfriend's face, he was gratified to see she wasn't laughing and surprised to recognize the look that meant she wanted to kiss him, and maybe more.
Grasping for something to say, he settled on: "Thanks for coming along. You didn't have to."
"Are you kidding? And let you two have all the fun?" Allison cocked her head to one side. "You're missing the hat." She spotted it on the bed and snatched it up, plucking at the feather before setting it on his head. "There. Now you're Peter Pan."
The feeling of her so close still made happy shivers run down his spine, even after a year together. "You know, traditionally Captain Hook is a guy." Foot, meet mouth. He braced himself for one of Allison's lectures on gender stereotyping.
Instead, she propped her hands on her hips and gave him a sultry look. "Are you saying you don't like my costume?"
Max shook his head, relieved, and stepped forward, fingering a tress of his girlfriend's hair. "I love your costume."
She put a hand on his chest and leaned in. "It's really sweet of you to do this for Dani."
"It's what I promised her I'd do if she let me hang out with you last year."
Allison cupped Max's chin in her hand and leaned in for a kiss. "Worth it?"
He grinned, pulling her closer. "Totally."
The moment was interrupted by gagging noises.
"Ew." Dani did not look impressed. "Come on, let's go or all the good stuff'll be gone."
They met a slight delay when Mrs. Dennison insisted on taking pictures.
"You three are so adorable!"
Dani finally put a stop to the photo shoot by walking right out the front door. Max and Allison scrambled to catch up as the parents waved.
"You kids have fun! Your mom and I will be at the party 'til late."
"Hopefully not as late as last year," Max said under his breath. Allison snorted.
:
The streets of Salem were packed with miniature ghouls and goblins. Max and Allison walked with Dani to the end of every driveway and waited as she collected candy in a pillowcase ("I can't take the pumpkin this year, Mom. It doesn't go with my costume").
Max tried not to feel self-conscious. Fortunately, it seemed like everyone was having too much fun to pay attention to some random teenager in tights, and he discovered he was actually enjoying himself as he and Allison made a game of counting the Power Rangers they passed. They'd reached sixteen when Max heard something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Come, sisters!"
He spun around, reflexively reaching for his bag and the supplies inside, but the sight that greeted him wasn't the terrifying scenario his imagination had conjured up. It was three females, and they were undoubtedly dressed as the Sanderson sisters. But they were also about eight years old and skipping down the street, trailed by their parents.
"Max?" Allison took his hand. "What's wrong?" Her gaze followed his to the costumed trio and her face tightened almost imperceptibly. "It's not them."
He laughed weakly. "I know."
"Guys, that house had the best candy!" Dani's exuberant voice trailed off as she noticed their expressions. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Allison said smoothly as the 'Sanderson Sisters' disappeared into the crowd. She grinned. "The best candy, huh? Well, let's see it!"
Dani eyed them suspiciously, but let the issue go in favor of showing off her king-size Kit Kat bar.
Three houses later, they ran into trouble. The school bullies had camped out in someone's front yard and were harassing passersby, as usual. It was too late to choose a different route; they'd been spotted. Dani squared her shoulders and marched straight ahead, and the two teenagers had no choice but to follow.
"Wow, Hollywood!" Ice whistled as they approached. "Nice tights!"
Heat rushed to Max's cheeks, but he steeled his shoulders and kept moving until Jay stepped right into his path.
"Aren't you going to say hi?"
Max raised an eyebrow. "Hi," he said dryly. "And goodbye." He made to push past Jay, but the taller boy shoved him back.
"Isn't Peter Pan usually played by a girl?" he sneered.
"Isn't it a little weird for you to know that?"
While Jay tried to think of a comeback, Ice reached for Max's bag. "You got any good candy?"
Max pulled away, and Dani stepped forward angrily.
"You better leave us alone!"
Ice laughed. "Or what?"
By now, they'd drawn an audience, so when Allison drew her sword and pressed the plastic tip against Ice's jugular, there was a collective gasp.
She smiled, not nicely. "I heard the police found you two in the old Sanderson house last year, bawling your eyes out and babbling on about witches and magic spells and a talking cat."
It was Jay's turn to blush as the small crowd surrounding them laughed. "It was the candy, man. I'm telling you, there was something in it."
"Right." Allison was unimpressed.
"Get lost," Dani told them.
Perhaps fearing further humiliation if they stuck around, the bullies slunk away. Allison turned to Max, an almost worried crease dividing her forehead.
"Still worth it?"
He took her hand. "For the record, that was really hot."
:
By some unspoken agreement, they wandered to Old Burial Hill. Dani wrapped her fingers around the cemetery gate and looked questioningly at the other two.
"Can we go in?"
Max and Allison exchanged a look. Max didn't really want to, but he also didn't want to explain why or be shown up by his kid sister. Deciding that the chance of zombies popping out of the ground was minimal, he shrugged.
"Sure."
They followed Dani as she confidently wove her way through the tombstones. Max had avoided the cemetery the past year, but it was clear Dani had been here since, and more than once. The thought did not make him feel any better. They soon reached Billy Butcherson's grave, and Dani waved as they passed.
"Hi, Billy! Happy Halloween!"
They stood in a semicircle around Emily Binx's crumbling tombstone; or, more accurately, the crude wooden cross stuck in the ground beside it. Before leaving the year before, they'd dug a hole next to Emily's grave and buried Binx's cat body in it, marking the spot with two sticks tied together with the remnants of Max's ruined sweatshirt.
"We should have brought flowers," Dani lamented. She knelt down and touched the cross. "Hi, Binx! It's me, Dani, and Max and Allison, too. We miss you, but we know you're with your family now. And guess what - we got a cat!"
As Dani prattled on, Max found his gaze drawn to the clearing nearby where Winifred Sanderson had turned to stone before exploding into green sparks.
He thought he could hear a faint cackling, and his stomach started to ache like he'd just been hit with the witch's lightning. His sister and Allison faded, and the ground fell away beneath his feet. Suddenly it was a year ago, and he could feel the life draining from his body as Winifred's sour breath fell on his face.
"Max!" Dani was screaming.
Max struggled weakly, but he couldn't feel his legs. Numbness slowly crawled up his body and he closed his eyes, waiting for the end…
A hand fell on his shoulder, and Max snapped out of the flashback like he'd been doused with cold water. He'd fallen to his knees at some point and his fists were clenched around tufts of grass. Allison was crouched next to him and Dani stood a few feet away, looking frightened.
He couldn't even find the energy to be embarrassed. "Sorry," he croaked.
Allison pulled him to his feet. "Come on. Let's go home."
:
Max didn't remember walking back to his house, but when the world finally came back into focus, he was sitting on his bed with Allison.
"You okay?" Allison rubbed slow circles on his back.
"I don't know what happened," he said sheepishly. "One minute everything was fine and then…"
"You had a flashback," Allison guessed.
"Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair. "God, I feel so stupid."
She shook her head. "Max, what happened last year - what we went through - would be enough to freak anyone out. Last week, I had a dream I was trapped in the pottery oven at school while a boombox played 'I Put A Spell On You.'"
Max blinked. "You did?"
"Yeah. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to drag all that up. But I should have. I mean, it's not like we can talk to anybody else about it. They wouldn't believe us. So when things get overwhelming, we have to talk to each other, okay?"
He put an arm around her shoulders. "Okay."
"Max?" Dani stood uncertainly in the doorway, holding Jinx tightly.
Max sighed. "I'm sorry, Dani. Guess I ruined Halloween two years in a row."
She shook her head quickly, dropping the cat and running to wrap her arms around her brother.
"You didn't. Why didn't you tell me you weren't ready?"
"I wanted to think I was. I'm your big brother; I should be able to handle this. I just keep telling myself it's over and I need to move on and forget about it."
Allison laughed abruptly. "One year ago, we found out that magic is real. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that."
"I don't want to forget," Dani said. "Look, besides the whole being chased by witches thing, last Halloween was the best! I got to hang out with my big brother all night, and there was a talking cat, and we ended a three hundred year old curse. It would be cooler if I could actually tell people about it, but…I don't know. I had fun."
Max smiled at Allison. "Yeah, I guess there were some good moments."
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's watch a movie."
"A scary movie?" Dani asked hopefully.
Max smiled. "As long as there's no witches."