Chapter 2 – All Hallows Eve

It was around six thirty on the morning of Halloween and Annie Sawyer was already busy in the kitchen. She laid Closer magazine on the kitchen counter and started to thumb through it to the recipe she had seen the day before; it was for Halloween cookies.

Upstairs Mitchell awoke with a jolt; he'd been having a nightmare where the faces of every person he'd killed had appeared in front of him and he lay on top of the sheets in a cold sweat. He lay staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to steady his breathing and then he sat up, hanging his legs off the edge of the bed. He leant his elbows on his thighs and ran his hands through his sleep-tousled hair, trying to physically rub the screaming images from his mind.

George woke with a start as a loud clatter erupted from downstairs. He got out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown, almost falling over in the process, and bounded down the stairs. In the kitchen Annie stood in a small cloud of white powder – flour. She saw the look of terror on George's face as he took in the mess: the large pot bowl, their only pot bowl, lay in pieces on the floor, spilling flour everywhere. Amongst the flour were two eggs and a wooden spoon. Annie raised her flour-covered hands in surrender, "It slipped out of my hands, sorry".

George raised his hand to his face to remove his glasses but realised he wasn't wearing them. He placed his hand at his side and began to help Annie to clear up the mess.

When the mess had been tidied away Annie started again; she weighed the flour and the sugar and poured them into the bowl and added what she imagined was a pinch of salt. She then added the eggs and stirred thoroughly, smiling to herself as she did so.

At about quarter to twelve Mitchell shuffled into the kitchen, Annie turned to him, her face covered in flour and grimaced at the sight of his drawn face, "God you look terrible, are you okay?"

Mitchell looked at her with drooping eyes and scratched at his stubbled face, "Yeah, I just need some coffee". Annie got to work making his coffee as he lowered himself into a chair next to the kitchen table. She glanced at him as she poured the boiling water into a mug and handed it to him cautiously,

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Mitchell took the coffee with less than stable hands and took a long gulp of the piping hot liquid. He closed his eyes as the coffee slid slowly down his throat, only to be met with those screaming faces again. His eyes shot open and he put the mug down carefully. He sighed and, in doing so, inhaled the sweet aroma of whatever it was Annie had in the oven, "What's that?"

Annie blinked, "What?"

"That smell", he sniffed deeply, "Christ it smells divine". Annie blushed and went to check on the cookies she had placed in the oven; they were golden brown and seemed to be ready so she slid them out carefully and placed them on the side to cool down. She turned to return to where Mitchell sat but he was standing right behind her and she walked straight into his chest. Her arms shot up in front of her and Mitchell laughed quietly, "Sorry. I came to see what you'd made".

Annie stood for a moment with her hand on the vampire's chest and then turned to face her creation. The cookies were not-quite-round circle shapes with what seemed to be random holes gouged into them. Mitchell reached for one and Annie slapped his hand away, "Hey! They're for tonight!"

Mitchell pursed his lips and eyed the cookies warily, "What are they? Moons?"

Annie's mouth fell open and she swung round to face him, flicking her hair in his face in the process, "No they are not moons! They're pumpkins!"

Mitchell's brow creased and he cocked his head to one side as though that would help with the cookie's identification, "Really?"

"Yes really!" Annie pushed Mitchell aside and stormed into the living room where George was watching Top Gear on the TV. She crossed her arms and flopped onto the couch next to him. Mitchell followed slowly and sat down in the armchair with his cup of coffee.

"What's going on?" George glanced from ghost to vampire and back again.

"Mitchell doesn't seem to think my cooking skills are up to his standard", Annie pursed her lips and glared at Mitchell who was sitting, half asleep, in the armchair. He responded with a frown and continued to drink his coffee. George looked at his friends in confusion and crept into the kitchen, away from the argument.

George saw the golden brown cookies on the counter and picked one up with his thumb and forefinger. He sniffed it feebly and popped it into his mouth. As he bit into the soft yet crunchy texture he began to feel the salt creeping across his tongue. He retched and spat the remainder of the cookie into the sink, wiping at his tongue with his hand. Annie stood behind him with hoping eyes, "So? What do you think?"

George turned and smiled, crumbs lining his lips, "Mmm, yes. Lovely".

*****

The next agenda on Annie's list was to decorate the house; she began by hanging streamers on every available wall and even managed to rope Mitchell in to help. He complained but held the streamers still as Annie tacked them to the wall. She forced George to go out and buy three pumpkins and then coaxed the boys into carving them with her.

George carved an odd looking face into his that Mitchell described as "Pinocchio on crack" and Annie carved a very cute smiley face into hers. Mitchell simply sat at the table and stabbed his pumpkin continuously with the potato peeler, smiling slightly as he did so. When they were finished Annie placed them on the doorstep, with the exception of Mitchell's, which she put in the corner of the living room.

At around seven thirty there was a knock on the door and George answered it, looking very sly as he approached the door. He took a parcel from whoever it was and rushed upstairs. Mitchell, who was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine, raised an eyebrow and looked at Annie sceptically, "Costume?"

"Costume", Annie agreed, "Speaking of which", she blinked out of sight and returned a moment later with a large white sheet over her head with two large eye holes cut into it. "Ta da", she raised her arms, "What do you think?"

Mitchell couldn't fight back the smile that spread across his lips as he watched Annie parade around in her sheet, "You're a ghost?"

"Well duh", she walked over to the sofa and perched herself next to the vampire, making sure as to not crease her sheet, "I wonder what George is going to be-"

Before she could finish George appeared at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing a skin tight leather playsuit that gripped in all the wrong places and he had two triangles stuck on his head, ears Mitchell assumed.

Annie giggled, "You're a cat".

George placed his hands firmly on his hips, "No, I'm a bat"

Mitchell bit his bottom lip and grinned, "No, you're a cat. You've got a tail for Christ's sake!"

George spun around desperately trying to find the tail on the costume and his shoulders sagged as he realised his mistake, "But- I- He- I specifically asked for a bat costume! I very manly bat costume!"

Annie let out a snort of laughter and waved a sheeted-hand at Mr Cat, "Its fine George. You can be a very-", she giggled again, "-manly cat".

Both Mitchell and Annie fell into a fit of giggles and George marched back upstairs to get changed. He returned ten minutes later red-faced, with the cat ears firmly placed on his head. Mitchell switched on the television, where Fright Night was playing, and Annie snuggled into him as they lay on the couch.

It was half past eight and something pointless was happening in the film when someone knocked on the door. Annie jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen to get the cookies. She brought them to the door, took a deep breath and opened it. Outside stood two small girls dressed as witches, they chimed "Trick or Treat?"

Mitchell groaned and pressed his hands against his eyes, it's begun he thought.

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