Miku woke from a deep slumber, shoulders heaving, heart racing, and eyes wide. She strained to peer into her darkened bedroom but the fire, now only a few glowing coals, immersed the room in overexaggerated shadows. She jolted as a series of rapid thuds suddenly echoed through the room. Her eyes shot just past the foot of her bed to the window pane as it violently thumped and shook, but thoughts of a hellish midnight intruder faded as she registered the source of the alarming sound- nothing more than a cold autumn wind howling between the trees and hitting against the glass. The girl relaxed with a quiet laugh, and feeling the chill in the air, quickly had her quilts wrapped tightly around her body. Soon the rattle of the window pane and the howling wind was nothing more than ambient noise, but as the minutes drifted past, Miku found herself unable to sleep.
A deep, familiar sense of nostalgia wrapped itself around the girl's heart, leaving her desperate to remember her dreams. Nights like these weren't uncommon, and though she always knew she'd been dreaming, she never could discover what they were about. Though she painstakingly wracked her brain for answers, the content of her dreams remained a mystery and frustrated the girl to no end.
Knowing she wouldn't be getting back to sleep that night, Miku reluctantly crawled out of bed. She shivered as the cold air seeped through her nightgown and hurried to the other side of the room. In the middle of the wall was a fireplace, and she wasted no time in stoking the coals that had burned down in the night. Once she was satisfied with the the low fire forming in the hearth, Miku turned to the left and regarded the darkness outside her window, wondering how many hours it would be until sunrise. With a quiet sigh, Miku turned to the opposite wall and eyed the doorway, wondering if she should prepare some tea and breakfast. Not wanting to disturb her family, she turned to a short table that stood against her wall, just to the right of her door. Upon the table stood a porcelain wash basin and pitcher set, a white washcloth, and a silver-plated hair brush.
Miku picked up the pitcher and poured some water into the basin. Setting the container aside, she quickly dipped her hands into the icy water and scrubbed her face. A few moments later she shot up with a gasp, quickly reaching for the towel, and dried off her face. Feeling freshened up, Miku turned and headed to the corner of the room where her wardrobe stood. She opened the heavy wood doors and peered inside. With the fire now burning, Miku's room was bright enough to allow her to make out some of the dresses and accessories arranged throughout the armoire. Keeping the weather in mind, Miku pulled out a long sleeved, knee length black dress with a high, ruffled collar. She quickly slipped off her nightgown and stepped into the dress, wasting no time buttoning up the back, tying the sash tightly behind her, and securing the ribbons on the decorative secondary sleeves that stopped just above her elbows. After slipping on a pair of black stockings, the girl padded back over to her wash basin. Staring into the mirror that hung over the small table, Miku picked up the hairbrush and began guiding it through her long, silky turquoise locks. As she brushed her hair, her mind wandered back to the strange, unshakable feeling of nostalgia. Whatever she was trying to remember had a feeling of familiarity and companionship that she longed to experience again, mixed with a tinge of loneliness, as if something were missing. Still racking her mind, she went back to her wardrobe and selected a few small accessories. Bringing the objects back to the mirror, Miku quickly tied her hair into her usual twin tails, and secured each one with a bright red ribbon. She picked up the last accessory, a small fabric rose, and secured it to her dress, just over her heart. Satisfied with how she looked, Miku turned to face her room. With no hints of daybreak coming anytime soon, Miku turned to her left and headed for the bookcase. She carefully scanned the titles as she looked for something that interested her, eyes suddenly falling onto the bright spine of a book of fairytales. Having not read them in years and hoping to ease the sense of nostalgia still tightly clinging to her, Miku selected the book and walked to the rocking chair that sat across from the foot of her bed, just under the window. Curious to see what lay within the book of tales, Miku opened the book and flipped at random until she found the beginning of a story. She smiled warmly as she read the opening sentences of Hansel and Gretel, instantly remembering reading those exact words over and over as a young child, and continued on. As odd as she knew it may seem, she'd always felt a strange camaraderie with the protagonists she could never place. Reading about the bravery and cleverness of Hansel and Gretel made the story one of her favorites growing up, though even at the age of sixteen, she still felt pity for the siblings' bad fortune and shuddered when she thought of the villainous witch and her candy house.
Miku shrieked and covered her head as her window suddenly burst open, clattering against the wall with force. The wind tore into the room, howling and biting at Miku's ears and freezing her to the bone despite her layers. With the sudden surge of air, the fire came to life in the darkness and flickered violently. Miku rushed over, trying to force the window shut as the fire flared and distorted shadows and light danced across the walls. As she struggled with the panes, she made out another sound, like children's' cries in the pauses between pained shrieks of wind. The girl waited for the wind to die down, straining to confirm her suspicions as her hair whipped around her face and obscured her view. As the wind momentarily calmed, she could just make out the faint calls of a child in the woods. Miku firmly forced the windows shut and secured the lock with shaking fingers, the fire regaining its composure and crackling heartily in the hearth. Ready to rush to the fireplace, Miku stopped for a moment to peer through her messy hair. As she struggled to fix her tangled bangs, she paused, something catching her eye in the darkness. In the middle of the forest two bright orange lights bobbed and flickered amidst the trees. Connecting the desperate cries to the glow of lantern light, Miku quickly rushed to the door, grabbing a thick, black cloak off a hook on her way out as thoughts of Hansel and Gretel lost in the woods flickered through her mind.
In the hallway, lanterns lined the corridors, bathing the dark wood that filled the home in a rich, orange glow. She hurried down the stairs, careful to avoid making the floorboards squeak as she padded into the parlor in her stockings, the flickering lantern her only light in the darkness. At the main door, Miku pulled on a simple pair of black boots and quickly laced them up. She pulled the door open just enough to slip out, and closed it firmly behind her before the wind could rip it open and wake the whole house.
~x~
She rushed towards the woods, her echoing footsteps drowned out by the howling wind, praying that her lantern wouldn't get snuffed out in the darkness. She struggled to keep herself upright in the stormy night, her body trembling as the cold bit through her clothes and her hair whipped against her face and hands. She silently thanked the rows of houses for taking most of the brunt the wind had to offer her as she ran, avoiding blown out jack-o-lanterns that crowded the walkways. The girl soon found herself on the edge of town, clutching her cloak closer to her chest as she peered into the woods standing before her. In the darkness, she could make out the same glowing lanterns flickering between the trees. She stepped onto the path, the lantern's small flame allowing her very little visibility in the dark woods. With the trees serving as a slight break to the wind, Miku would have found herself feeling a bit less cold had her body not already gone numb from the biting wind. Her teeth chattered as she stumbled forward, constantly scanning the trees. In the distance she could make out the two lights, bobbing precariously in the wind. When a break in the incessant howling occurred, she took her chance.
"Behind you!" Miku screamed, lifting her lantern into the air. "I'm over here!"
She smiled in delight as the two travelers seemed to pause and turn. Miku tried to call for the strangers again, but her voice was drowned out in the gale. She followed after them, yelling as loudly as she could. Unable to take any more, the lantern's light was snuffed out in the wind, leaving Miku in sudden and utter darkness. She looked around desperately, a feeling of dread engulfing her as she realized she'd strayed off the path in her efforts to reach the lost wanderers. Like a moth drawn to flame, Miku headed towards the only source of light, which now seemed to be erratically moving from side to side rapidly as the people searched for where she could have gone. She struggled on, hair whipping around her, clutching her cloak as it billowed behind, her skirt plastering itself to her legs and making it difficult to move. In a panic she began to run towards the lights, only to trip and fall. She dropped her cloak in time to catch herself on one hand and winced as she felt a sharp sting shoot up her hand and bloom over her knee. Dropping the lantern, she cradled her wrist in her good hand, but cried out as she felt her cloak get plucked off her body. Now entirely exposed to the elements, Miku tried to ignore the pain as she scrambled up to catch her cloak, to no avail. Even if it hadn't been carried off in the wind, she could never find it in the darkness of the forest without any illumination. Panic rose in her throat and tears pricked her eyes as she saw the lights, now glowing dimly in the distance, ready to blink out of sight behind the trees in another moment if she couldn't find a way to contact whoever was out there.
In desperation she screamed as loudly as she could over the wind. "Please! Help me!" she sobbed hoarsely, clutching her wounded hand to her chest as tears blurred her vision and ran down her cheeks.
Unsure if it was pure luck or if the strangers had found their bearings, Miku watched in hysteric anticipation as the lights began to hover, then slowly move towards her.
By the time the pair found her, Miku had mostly calmed herself down. She was still trembling from the cold, and the sharp aches in her wrist and knee pained her, but otherwise she was unharmed. The unnavigable blackness was now consumed in a warm orange glow as the travelers approached her. Miku looked up and tried to catch a glimpse of who she'd come across in the woods so late in the night.
Before her, two people stood, their glowing lanterns flickering and bathing their faces in light and shadow.
-x-
MY FAVORITE MONTH IS FINALLY HERE, YESSS! Hello to anyone reading this, hope you enjoyed Chapter 1! The oncoming chapters are about to get longer and way more plot oriented, I just haven't had much time for bulking up the first chapter as much as I'd have preferred (I've been spending a lottt of time at doctors' offices and hospitals in the past few weeks, so blame that). Trick and Treat is going to be updated every Saturday throughout the month of October, with the final chapter being released on Halloween, so don't forget to follow/review if you like it!
My good friend SparkyBubbles is also releasing a Trick and Treat inspired fic called "Pumpkin Lamps" very soon, so be sure to follow her for more updates on that. I'm sure it's going to be amazing!