A/N: This is just a quick creative piece with Halloween in mind. Hope you like it. May not be my best but wanted to get some feedback, thanks! Here's part 1...
Sam Radley looked up from the papers on his desk to be met with friendly hazel eyes.
"Hello," the man said, "is Fenton Hardy in?"
Sam stared at the young man, slightly taken back by his forwardness. Blinking once he replied politely, "May I acquire who you are?"
"Oh, excuse me," the man said in a courteous tone that Sam felt to be overdone, "My name is William Hardy, Fenton's nephew."
"I didn't know he was expecting anyone," Sam said.
"He isn't. I was...in the neighborhood and haven't seen Uncle Fenton in years, so I thought I'd stop by."
The strange man, Sam surmised, seemed to be in his early twenties, with brown hair and striking blue eyes. He looked to be of Hardy decent and Sam realized that William must be Fenton's late brother's son. Actually, he thought, this must be the Will I met when Frank and Joe were only in grade school, at least ten or twelve years ago.
William Hardy must have been thinking the same thing because his smile grew more confident as he studied the older man's face.
"You're Sam Radley. I believe we met the last time my father and I visited Bayport," Will said.
"You've really grown up since the last time I saw you. You, Frank, and Joe must have only been six or seven years old," Sam smiled, finally feeling more comfortable to make conversation with the stranger.
"Yes," Will said looking off into space slightly as he thought of his younger cousins, "It will be good to see them."
* * * *
Two hours later Fenton Hardy and his nephew stepped through the doorway and into the house on the corner of Elm and High.
Laura Hardy was the first to greet William and fawned over how much he had grown and changed. After their father had called them, both Frank and Joe darted downstairs to welcome their cousin.
They hadn't seen William Hardy in years. The last time he'd visited Bayport was with his late father, and Fenton's brother, Robert. He wasn't more than eight years old. Robert had raised Will as an only parent after his wife had passed away of cancer when Will was three years of age.
The brothers hadn't heard much of their cousin, but knew he had been sent to multiple foster homes for the duration of his pre-adult years.
"It's good to see you again Will," Frank said, although the younger Hardy was a little more standoffish.
Frank noticed his brother's apprehensive smile. Joe, Frank knew, had an amazing extrasensory way about him. He could read people like books, that's what made him a good detective, even if we're still considered amateurs, Frank mused. If Joe felt something was not right with Will, then he was probably correct.
Though Joe seemed uneasy, he still greeted Will with a warm smile and open arms. But there was still something about his cousin that had him on edge the rest of the evening, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
* * * *
Spending the night in the Hardy's guest bedroom put Will on edge. He felt the burning hunger bubble up in the back of his throat, but couldn't do anything about it.
No. It was just too risky. He would just have to wait.
Of course William Hardy didn't know how long he could go...before he went crazy, deadly crazy.
* * * *
The next day, Friday, October 31st to be exact, was a fairly normal day in the Hardy household. Talk of the Morton's annual Halloween party buzzed around the kitchen before Frank and Joe left for school. The boys were going with Callie and Vanessa, while their parents would meet them there later.
Will told his aunt and uncle that he had some personal matters to take care of that day, but would enjoy it very much if he would be able to spend Halloween night with his favorite relatives.
Laura Hardy was perfectly overjoyed to have her nephew spend even more time with the family, as was her husband. However, Fenton, being the detective that he is, couldn't help but momentarily feel something strange in the air between him and his late brother's son.
But eventually he dismissed it as his imagination and went about his day as usual. Without a second thought to what William's "personal matters" could be.
* * * *
"I love Halloween," Joe said coming down the stairs and jumping from the landing to hard wood with a thump, his black vampire cape floating behind him.
"Yeah, but aren't we a little old for this," Frank asked as he came down the stairs with slightly less vigor as his sibling, dressed in a black victorian suit with a silver paisley vest.
"You're never too old for Halloween. Besides," Joe commented, hiding a smirk, "We had to dress up for the Morton's party didn't we? By the way, nice costume big brother.
"Hey, no laughing, Callie picked it out to match her dress," Frank said as he walked out the door trying to ignore Joe.
"I didn't say anything bad about it," Joe laughed which got him a smack upside the head and the back seat of the van.
* * * *
After picking up Callie, who was dressed in an elegant and spooky, black gown, Frank drove out to the Bender's home, a short drive from the Morton's.
Just as Joe reached the entryway, Vanessa opened the door with a smile on her makeup filled face. Her lips were colored black as well as the circles around her eyes. Her skin was made to look pale and her blond hair had a black tiara in it. She wore a black leotard and a dark pink tutu around her waist. Her pink ballet slippers had ribbons that laced up to her knees. She was the epitome of a ghoulish ballerina.
"You look like a regular fright," Vanessa commented with a twinkle in her eyes while she took in Joe's appearance.
"So do you," Joe replied. She smiled and laughed under her breath.
"Flattery will get you know where," Vanessa whispered leaning up for a kiss when Frank laid on the horn at the curb.
"C'mon Romeo and Juliet we're going to be late!" Callie called from the front seat of the Hardy's black van, rolling her eyes at the younger couple.
"Coming, coming," Vanessa said as she wrapped her arm around Joe's and the couple hurried down the sidewalk.
* * * *
William Hardy listened to the police dispatches on Fenton's police scanner later that evening. He would have to leave for the Morton's soon with his aunt and uncle, but for now he wanted to check on his handy work.
What a day it had been. The police were baffled by the missing persons case that turned into a homicide. No witnesses, no suspects, no evidence of anything. But that was always how it was.
It was getting close to eight o'clock and Will was feeling much better with himself. He was stronger and his willpower was almost overwhelming.
"Soon it will be time," he whispered to himself as he gazed at a photograph of Frank that sat next to him, "Very soon."
* * * *
When the Hardys and their dates arrived, the Halloween party was already in full swing.
The open floor plan was decorated in black and orange streamers and decorations. In the corner of the living room sat a huge bubbling cauldron complete with dry ice. It was a known fact that the Morton's Halloween party was always over the top.
As the four made there way through a group of conversing adults they spotted two of their closest friends, Biff Hooper and Hope Peters, standing by a large display of glowing jackolanterns. Their costumes were fit for the roaring twenties.
Hope's dress had a black velour top section with a plunging "V" neckline. A gold sequin applique graced the center of the dress, and the skirt section was made of gold satin. She had her shoulder length golden hair in tight curls with a black velour cloche hat pinned on top. Biff wore a grey, pinstriped suit with black and white Oxfords and a fedora hat.
"Happy Halloween!" Hope said bouncing over to us and admiring Vanessa and Callie's costumes.
"How are you two?" Frank asked the couple.
"Excellent," Biff smiled, "So where's Will? Been wanting to meet him."
Joe shrugged, "Said he had some things to do, but would come to the party later."
Just as Joe finished speaking a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He spun around to come face to face with Will Hardy, and for the first time since seeing his cousin, he actually felt a cold shiver run through him.
"Hey Will," Frank greeted. Introductions went around the circle of friends until everyone was aquatinted with the oldest Hardy.
"So," Joe started, once conversation had moved away from Will, "What did you do today man?"
Although Joe knew that his cousin had nothing to hide, his detective's instincts were still on high alert. There was something...off, about Will. Joe was sure that it was just nerves or an overactive imagination, but he couldn't help but feel awkward around him.
"Just had to take care of some...things," Will replied with a toothy grin. Joe could see his canines and incisors, sparkling white in the dim light, "The views were lovely though. After the sunset, Ursa Minor was spectacular," Will muttered under his breath, not knowing that Joe was still listening.
After a few more moments of small talk with his friends, Frank was pulled away from the group by his cousin. Unlike Joe, Frank didn't care for listening to his instincts. He was much more for logic. So the illusive feelings he might have had about his cousin, were not even relevant in his mind at the moment.
"Frank, I was wondering--my truck--I'm not really much of a mechanic, but I think somethings wrong with the engine...transition maybe...like I said I'm not good with anything like that. Could you give me a quick hand," Will asked with a grin.
"Oh, Joe's much more of a mechanic, I'm sure he'd be glad to help--"
"But I'd rather have your help Frank," Will cut him off, his grin, now slightly more eery widened. Frank was taken back by his cousin's...directness. But assumed that Joe probably just rubbed their cousin the wrong way. He knew that Joe was a bit standoffish, maybe Will was misinterpreting it.
"Uh--sure--just a sec," Frank said slightly hesitantly. Will nodded and Frank walked over to his friends to let them know of his short absence.
William watched his cousin. Watched him with warm, glowing, hazel eyes.
Soon Frank was deciphering the problem with the engine. Just a loosed distributor cap. Nothing much. But still Will insisted that they take it for a test drive, just to be sure nothing else was wrong.
Unsteadily Frank complied, not sure of his cousin's actions, but dismissing his paranoia as superstitious jitters. After all, it was Halloween.
As he joined Will in the truck cab and he pulled away from the Morton's, Frank caught sight of an odd heart shaped birth mark on his arm.
* * * *
"Dad, something's not right about Will," Joe confronted his father as he saw Frank get into the truck with William.
"Not right? What do you mean Joe?" his father asked, slightly annoyed by Joe's fast accusations.
"Dad. I saw Will. I know Will. That is not Will. Besides, I don't remember him having a large birthmark on his arm."
"Wait what? He-he doesn't have a birth mark on his arm," Fenton said, confused and now slightly worried.
"Dad, Frank just got in that car with a complete stranger!"
"Now don't jump to conclusions," Vanessa told her boyfriend. She, Callie, Hope, Chet and Biff had been listening to the whole conversation.
With a grim face Fenton dialed his sister, Gertrude who lived an hour away from Bayport. She'd know if Will was away from home or not, right?
To his unfortunate surprise, she confirmed Joe's suspicions.
"Yes but he's living in Oregon currently. In fact, I just spoke to him last night. He hasn't been out to Bayport in years," Gertrude Hardy had told him. He related his conversation to his wife, Joe and the other teens.
"Wait. If Will is in Oregon then--" Laura began, but Joe knew what she was thinking.
"Who is Frank with?"
* * * *
Frank stared at his cousin. It struck him light a bullet. William Hardy didn't have a heart shaped birth mark on his right arm. He would definitely remember that.
"Y-you're not my cousin Will."
"So. You've finally figured it out. Well I guess my little charade wasn't going to last very much longer anyway," 'Will' said as he swerved the large truck onto the road heading North.
"W-what are you doing? Who are you?" Frank was paralyzed in shock and fear.
"Oh Frank, I've been watching you for a long time and now I've gotten to know you even better."
"Frank, we're practically flesh and blood already. It won't take long for you to adjust."
"Adjust to w-what?"
"To being my brother. My blood brother."