Halloween

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. DUH.

Ponyboy Curtis pulled the sheet over his head and peered through the eyeholes his mother had cut out.

His father was currently poring over the bills, muttering to himself under his breath. Ponyboy sneaked as quickly and as quietly as he could until he was just behind his father's chair.

"BOO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His father spun around, his startled look relaxing into a smile.

"Ooh, you really got me there, Pony," he said, pretending to be scared. Sodapop ran by in his devil costume, which had been Darry's last year.

"Arrgh!" he bellowed. Mr. Curtis put on a look of mock-terror.

"Oh dear, oh me, oh my! Spooks and ghouls running all about this Halloween night!" he exclaimed.

Sodapop pulled up his mask. "It's only me, Daddy. Don't be scared," he said sincerely. Mr. Curtis chuckled and ruffled his son's dark gold hair.

Darry strode by. "And just what are you supposed to be, Junior?" his father demanded.

"Nothing," Darry said. Mr. Curtis' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Nothing?" he echoed in disbelief.

"Nothing," Darry said firmly. "I'm eleven and therefore too old for trick or treating."

Mrs. Curtis entered the room. "Ready to go, boys?" she asked. Ponyboy and Sodapop nodded eagerly. "Darry, where's your costume?" she said upon spotting Darry.

"He's too old for trick or treating," Soda explained. Mrs. Curtis nodded seriously, although an amused light danced in her eyes.

"Alright, Darry," she said. Soda and Ponyboy ran off to grab their trick-or-treating sacks and Darry disappeared for a while. He reappeared just as Mrs. Curtis was seeing off Ponyboy and Sodapop.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she demanded. "I'm going out with some friends," Darry said uncomfortably, shuffling his feet.

Mr. Curtis raised his eyebrows at his son's bulging pockets. "Going out for a night of throwing eggs and shaving cream at people's houses, eh?"

Darry said nothing, but his bright red face gave him away. Mr. Curtis grinned. "Have a good time, son!"

Mrs. Curtis made a disapproving noise and rolled her eyes. "What?" demanded Mr. Curtis. She just shook her head and left the room.

"Thanks, Dad," Darry said gratefully. They could hear Ponyboy's and Sodapop's delighted screams down the street as they joined up with Two-Bit, Johnny, and Steve.

"Don't get in too much trouble!" Mr. Curtis hollered as an afterthought. All he got in response was the sound of the door slamming as Darry left.

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"Johnny, we got matching costumes!" Ponyboy exclaimed happily. Johnny warily lifted his sheet to see Ponyboy.

"Yeah, but at least you can see through it," Johnny pointed out. "My mom and dad would kill me if I cut holes in anything."

"Why do I agree to your dumb ideas, Soda?" Steve groused. "I look like a doofus! I look like a blasted pansy. Why couldn't I be the devil?"

"Because I didn't fit into that costume, remember?" Soda reminded his best friend. "Stop complaining. I think you make a very pretty angel."

Steve wished he knew some bad words to say as his halo fell off again. Two-Bit broke the tension, as usual. "I'm a clown!" he announced proudly.

"Hey, Two-Bit," teased Soda. "The point of Halloween is that you're supposed to be something that you're not everyday."

"Where's Dally?" Johnny asked suddenly. Two-Bit shrugged. "He said he had better things to do on Halloween night than trick-or-treat. I think he went with Tim Shepard."

The boys started off. Three houses later, Steve got a wicked idea for some scary Halloween fun. "Hey, Ponyboy," he said.

"Yeah?" Ponyboy said in his childish voice. "You know that old house down the next street your mom says we can't go to?" Steve said softly.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ponyboy wanted to know. "It's haunted," Steve whispered right in Ponyboy's ear. Ponyboy felt chills run up and down his spine and goose bumps erupt on his arms.

"It is not," Ponyboy said, though uncertainly. True, the real reason they weren't allowed up there was because a group of drug dealers were hiding from the fuzz in that old abandoned place, but Steve wasn't about to let Ponyboy in on that information.

"It is," Steve said. By now, Johnny, Two-Bit and Soda were listening, fascinated. "There was a guy and a girl that lived up there years ago, but now the place is abandoned. The guy killed the girl. He shot her. And now she haunts the place!"

Ponyboy was wide-eyed with fear. "A ghost?" he exclaimed. Steve rolled his eyes. "No duh, genius," he said obnoxiously.

"There's no such things as ghosts," Soda said confidently. "Dad says so," he added, as if that settled the matter.

"Dally says he saw a ghost, once," Johnny said, lifting his sheet so he could see. Up until then, he had been clinging to Two-Bit to keep from banging into walls or lampposts.

Everyone turned towards Johnny. "He said he saw the ghost of a lady up at that old house," Johnny went on. "She had wavy brown hair and she wore some old-time dress. Dally said she smiled and waved at him and then turned and walked through a wall!"

"Is that the lady that got killed there?" Ponyboy asked, turning to Steve. "Of course she is," Steve lied. He had no idea, but he wasn't about to let that show.

"Let's go up there!" Soda announced loudly. "Mom says we can't!" Ponyboy protested.

"But it's Halloween! We have to have more fun than just eating candy!" Soda said. "C'mon, you know you want to," he said enticingly. "What if we get in trouble?" Johnny said.

"We won't," Two-Bit said confidently. "You don't have to go…if you're too chicken," he teased. That did it.

"Alright! Off we go!" Soda cheered.

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Darry sped down the streets to the vacant lot. He stopped at the edge and whistled a long low note that ended suddenly in a high note. He received the same whistle in return and he hurried over to where the whistle was coming from.

"Didja get everything?" Dally whispered. "Yeah," Darry whispered back. "Good. So everybody knows the plan?" Tim Shepard whispered. The small gaggle of boys, of which Tim was the leader, murmured their hushed agreements.

"Okay. Let's go," Tim whispered. The boys all set off on their adventure, which was to begin at the abandoned, crumbling house on the next street.

As they hurried noiselessly down the street, Darry wondered briefly why he got involved in these sorts of things anyway. When I'm older, I'll use my head, he promised himself firmly.

When they reached the house, they were silent and solemn. "Keep it down," Tim advised. "If the freaks inside catch us, we're dead meat."

Wordlessly Darry started handing out all the materials. Tim boosted up his brother, Curly, to look inside the window. "They're sleeping," Curly whispered softly. "All clear."

"Stoned sleeping or regular sleeping?" Tim demanded. Even at age ten, Tim Shepard was well aware of things most kids up to five or six years older than him weren't aware of.

"Stoned." Curly was knowledgeable about most of what Tim was. Tim turned to the band of restless boys.

"Ready?" Hushed murmurs of agreement and nods. Tim grinned evilly. "All right," he said. "Let's have some fun."

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"Soda," Steve was saying irritably. "The point is to keep quiet so the ghosts don't hear us!"

"I can't help it. I'm excited!" Soda announced, jumping up and down. Two-Bit was of no help, as he was accompanying Soda in bouncing everywhere happily.

Ponyboy was starting to feel afraid. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet this ghost. But it was either that or Steve think he was a baby, and that was what Ponyboy wanted the least.

They settled down and crept quietly along as the house came into view. They were quieter than a group of cats at a dog show, and went unnoticed to the troublemakers hiding in the shadows.

Soda and Two-Bit each hoisted up the two younger ones, leaving Steve to scramble up onto a ledge to look in the window.

"Whaddya see?" Two-Bit hissed. "Nothing," Ponyboy said truthfully, "just a bunch of sleeping guys."

"Great ghost, Steve," Soda said, clearly disappointed. But he had spoken too soon.

Johnny screamed. "It's a GHOST!" he yelped, pointing. Ponyboy screamed too. Steve fell off the ledge and screamed because he scraped his knee. Soda screamed because he was scared, and Two-Bit screamed because everyone else was screaming and he felt left out.

The five boys ran from the spot, hollering and frightened out of their wits.

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Meanwhile, Tim, Dally, Darry, and the other boys leapt up at the sound of screaming. The drug dealers were miraculously still asleep.

"Quick! Let's split!" Tim hissed urgently. The boys leapt out through the window and sped off into the night. All but one.

The wind spun it's silent, eerie chill through the empty streets. The full Halloween moon cast silver light, and the last remaining boy stepped out of the old abandoned house.

He dropped to the ground in agony as the moonlight hit his body. He cried out in pain as fingernails grew into claws, teeth transformed into fangs, and black fur sprouted out on his face and arms.

The cry of pain changed rapidly into a piercing howl. He howled again, throwing his head back and crying to the full moon. He snarled, saliva dripping from his canines. He was hungry.

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Meanwhile, the drug dealers had awoken from their stoned sleep. They may have been drug dealers, but they weren't stupid. They knew what the night was, and the current lunar position.

As soon as they heard the werewolf's cry, they leapt out and ran in the other direction as fast as they could, praying that the monster wouldn't hear them.

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The five unfortunate trick-or-treaters heard the howl as well. Two-Bit yelped, "It's a monster!" Ponyboy cried in terror, running close to Soda.

They weren't close enough to home, but just close enough to the abandoned house. They were heard by the wolf's acute ears and smelled by his sensitive nose.

Steve heard footsteps behind him. He turned and gasped in disbelief. Soda looked where Steve was gaping and his jaw dropped. The same could be said for Two-Bit, Johnny, and Ponyboy, who was too terrified to scream.

The werewolf grinned as well as a wolf could. Here, finally, was fresh meat to satisfy his insatiable appetite. He leaped…

Steve looked around wildly and spotted a broken pop bottle on the ground. He scooped it up and flung it as hard as he could at the animal.

It hit the wolf square in the face. Dark red blood trickled down, and he howled in pain.

The boys took this opportunity to run wildly back to the Curtis house.

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The door slammed and Soda, Ponyboy, Johnny, Two-Bit, and Steve all leaned against the door, panting.

"What happened to you boys?" Mrs. Curtis demanded, scrutinizing the boys. Ponyboy was shaking, Soda was comforting him, Johnny was white as a sheet and Two-Bit's face held a look of shock.

"It's a long story," Steve muttered.

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Two hours later, Darry came home. "You're home awfully late, son," Mr. Curtis remarked, turning to face his son. "Goodness, Darry, what happened to you!"

Darry's hand flew up to the gash on his cheek. He could imagine how bad it looked with all the dried blood.

Right now, though, he didn't much care about how he looked. He had experienced something totally new, totally terrifying…and yet exhilarating. It had been a very unusual journey of self discovery.

"I, uh…" He searched for an excuse. "Socs," he finished lamely. Mr. Curtis frowned. "Be careful," he advised, turning back to his work.

Darry grinned, heading upstairs. He ran his tongue across his teeth one more time, just to make absolutely sure they were normal again.

This had definitely been the most interesting Halloween of his life. He couldn't wait until next Halloween.

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Silly, cheesy, pointless? I know. But it was fun to write.

Happy Halloween! Review, please?