Genere: Suspense/Horror
Charater(s): Dave L., Mindy M.

Mako's Message: Happy Halloween everybody!

This story... I had to rewrite a number of times, but I read to a good friend of mine and he said it was good, so if it sucks it's his fault. That's right Dalmar. I'm gonna blame YOU.

Anyway. there are a couple scene's in here I think you'll like. And if you gues the twist SHHHHH Shut up! Other people might not see it coming. Don't spoil it.

So... Enjoy!

On a chill autumn night Kick-Ass and Hit Girl walked down the street. Though they went largely unnoticed as children and young adults in costumes were to be found everywhere up and down the streets. Though, the few times they were acknowledged Kick-Ass would wave or return a high-five. Hit Girl rolled her eyes at her friends antics

They passed a young man and a girl walking down the street who weren't in costume. The girl was walking close enough to him that they occasionally brushed against each other, and as they passed the young man smiled and waved, "Hey Kick-Ass looking good!"

Kick-Ass smiled and gave a thumbs up. Hit Girl's eyes rolled skyward.

The girl stopped and pointed at Hit Girl, "Hey, the belt is supposed to be pink, not yellow!" Hit Girl snorted and rolled her eyes, giving the finger over her shoulder as they walked away, "Well, at least she's got the attitude right."

Dave laughed and took a notepad and pencil from his pocket, "So that's one more for each of us."

"Which doesn't help you catch up," Mindy smirked.

"Yeah, well your costume is easy to pull off. Not every guy is willing to go out in a wetsuit or spandex."

"Very true. And you do fill out your suit very well," she said with a sidewards glance and a raised eyebrow.

This time it was Dave's turn to roll his eyes, "Anyway, you really shouldn't make such a big deal when people don't copy your costume perfectly. I mean, would you really want people going out in an exact copy of your suit?"

Sighing, Mindy agreed, "You're right. I just wish so many people didn't feel the need to slut up my costume."

"Holy shit, look at her."

Mindy looked in the direction Dave indicated, spotting a girl with blond wavy hair that had leaves artfully stuck in it and a dress so short it barely came down past her hips walking towards them on the other side of the street. She turned to Dave, her expression a mixture of annoyance and disgust, "You can't be fucking serious. She looks like she's younger than me."

If she'd known it was that easy to get his attention she'd have worn a skirt like that long ago.

"No," Dave said, pressing his palm to his forehead, "Look at her feet."

Mindy looked again, and realized that aside from wearing a short, light dress, "She's barefoot? It's like, forty degrees out!"

Dave nodded, "That is some serious dedication to the costume." After watching her for two houses, Dave's curiosity got the better of him, "I"m gonna go talk to her."

"What? Why?"

"I want to know what she's dressed as and why she's not wearing shoes."

"You're serious," she said as he walked away. "You're going to look like a pedo!"

"Already do."

"Oh shut up," Mindy said as she caught up to him, "you do not."

Dave shrugged, "People see us and think we're brother and sister or that I'm committing some crime."

"So, does hanging out with me bother you?"

"If it did, I wouldn't. Besides, I'm not doing anything wrong. We're just friends."

Mindy stopped and muttered, "Don't remind me," under her breath as Dave finally caught up with the girl.

"Hey, aren't you cold?"

The girl looked up at him and gave him a closed mouth smile, "The cold doesn't really bother me. My mother says I must be hot blooded."

Dave laughed, "Maybe you've got a real super power."

The girl's grin almost split her face in half, "Maybe. I think being able to fly would be more fun though."

"Heh. I think I'd prefer rapid healing, like wolverine."

Mindy chose that moment to, literally, elbow her way into the conversation, "So, what are you supposed to be anyway?" she asked while Dave grimaced and rubbed at his side.

"Oh, I'm a dryad. Ya know, a tree spirit."

Mindy didn't like this girl. After getting closer to her she could see that she was actually really pretty and she didn't like the way Dave was talking with her. If he was going to be all smiley and flirty with an underage girl it'd better fucking be with her.

"Ah. I thought you got pushed into a leaf pile or something."

The girl smiled and shrugged, "It was my boyfriends idea. I was just going to wear a wreath."

"Pretty simple costume."

"Oh, well, I put a light green makeup all over my skin, but I guess I doesn't really show up well in this light."

Mindy hooked her arm around Dave's and started pulling him away, "Well, guess you should have gone for a darker shade. We have to get going now."

Dave resisted for a moment, until Mindy's tugging became insistent. When they were out of earshot of the girl he gently pulled his arm out of her grip, "What is wrong with you? We're in no hurry and she seemed interesting."

Mindy snorted, "Interesting to you maybe."

It took Dave all of two-point-three seconds to figure it out, "Holy shit, you're jealous. You're upset that I wanted to talk to her. Seriously Mindy, did you really think I'd go for her?"

Mindy didn't look at him, "She was really pretty."

"For a twelve-year-old maybe."

"So you really didn't have any interest in her?"

"I really didn't. I actually was starting to think you might like her. It couldn't hurt you to make another friend ya know."

"I don't need any more fri- don't change the subject," she said and punched him in the arm.

Dave laughed, "She wasn't prettier than you, okay? Is that better? So when is Angela doing her birthday party?"

Mindy kept her face turned away from Dave so he couldn't see her smiling, but she still thought the girl was prettier than her, "Probably this weekend."

As they reached an intersection, Dave asked, "Which way do you want to go?"

Mindy looked down each road in turn, weighing their potential. The moment she opened her mouth, a shrill, piercing, scream ripped through the night.

Dave and Mindy said in unison, "That way," before running down the street.

The screams continued as they ran, and several other people moved towards the sound as well. They were lead to a house, but the screams seemed to be coming from the back yard. The gate was open so they had to push through the crowd of people until they finally came to the source.

A middle aged woman stood at the back steps, her screams finally dissolving into sobs as she collapsed onto the steps.

In the center of the yard a man lay dead in a pool of his own blood. The cause of death was obvious; his throat had been torn out.

The two stared at the body for a moment.

Dave ran his fingers through his hair, "Shit."

Mindy pressed her fingers into her eyes, "I thought we were fucking done with this shit."

They walked back through the house. "Did you see the fountain?" Dave asked.

"Yeah. It was covered in blood."

"But the body wasn't near the fountain."

"Like someone cleaned up in it."

"But blood stained clothes aren't that easy."

"Would it matter on Halloween?"

"It might to them if they bothered to wash off in a fountain."

"You think they ditched their clothes?"

"Maybe their shoes too."

Mindy paused for a moment, thinking, "That was pretty skimpy for a dress, especially for a girl her age."

"More like something you'd wear under a dress."

"And there were leaves all over the yard."

"What do you think?"

"I think we both know age means nothing."

"Wanna try and track her down?"

"She didn't seem in a hurry. Doubt she got far."

"Unless she ran when she heard the screams."

Without a word they broke into a run.

At the first intersection their quarry would have come to after they left, if she'd even continued that way, they stopped and looked in all directions. Mindy grabbed a boy, "Did you see a girl, little younger than me, in a dress that was too short?"

The boy shook his head and she let him go. As he ran off a girl spoke up from across the street, ""Uh... I did. She went that way."

"Thanks!" Dave called as they ran off.

Fortunately, for their pursuit, it wasn't long before the shriek of a young girl pierced the air.

Dave and Mindy doubled their pace and managed to be first on the scene.

In a driveway near a door to the house the girl they sought stood stock still with her back to them in the light from a flood lamp. At the edge of the light a body lay on the ground, fresh blood still pooling around it.

"Hey, don't move!" Mindy yelled.

Slowly, the girl began to turn around. She kept her head turned away from them until the last moment. The blood covered the front of her, but especially her face. Her eyes were wide and panicked. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Then, finally, "I-it's...It's all...over...me."

They stared at her, as she stood there, covered in blood and shaking.

She didn't do it.

Dave walked over to her and crouched down so he was at her eye level, "You're going to be okay."

Mindy examined the body, careful not to get too close to or step into the blood. There were several streaks of blood that lead to the girl, and a smaller drip trail leading away to a fence that had a bloody hand print on it. The girl had just walked in on the murder and got caught in the arterial spray. "I'm gonna call Marcus," she said as she headed through the forming crowd back to the street.

Dave nodded to her then turned back to the girl, "Will you come with me back to the street?"

The girl was still trembling, but she nodded and allowed Dave to steer her back out to the curb where she sat down. Dave took his jacket off and placed it around her shoulders, but she didn't seem to notice, just continued to stare at nothing.

Dave was hesitant to leave her, but he needed to make sure nobody got too close to the body. It took him a minute to pull the few freaks who wanted to touch the body away and herd everyone a good ten feet back from the blood. By the time everyone understood they should stay in place, Mindy had finished her call, "The police are already at the other scene. The're going to send some over here to block it off and talk to her."

"Good. She looked- wait," Dave ran over to the curb where his jacket lay on the ground, "Where is she?"

Mindy jumped up trying to see over the crowd as two police cruisers pulled up. The crowd began to disperse as the officers got out. Two started to make their way to the body, telling the people to leave as they went, while a third came over to Mindy, "So, where's our witness?"

"We don't know," Mindy said as she pushed someone aside, "She wandered off."

"Wandered off? Why weren't you watching her?"

"She looked catatonic!" Dave said as he continued looking for her, "I just stepped away for a minute to get people away from the body."

"Are you looking for that girl that found the body?" a boy asked.

"Yes," the officer said, "She witnessed the murder."

"Oh. Shit. She got up and went that way right before you pulled up."

"Thank you!" Dave and Mindy said as they ran off. The officer yelling for them to come back before getting back into his cruiser and heading after them.

He pulled up next to them as they ran and yelled out the window, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Finding your witness!"

"This is Police business! Stay out of it!"

"You'll find her faster with our help!"

"We don't need you mucking shit up! Stay out of it!" and with that he pushed on the gas and pulled ahead of them. He reached the end of the block and stopped in the middle of the intersection for a moment before continuing down the street. Halfway down the cruiser screeched to a halt and he jumped out, yelling for someone to stop as he ran between the houses.

Seconds later he let out one loud, agonized, scream.

Mindy and Dave arrived to late to see anything but the officer laying on the ground, gurgling through a ragged hole in his throat and two gashes running across his face. Blood rapidly pooled around him before his eyes rolled back and he lay still.

"Fuck."

Mindy grabbed the officers radio, hit the button and spoke, "Officer down. Repeat, officer down," as Dave quickly looked around the houses.

Suddenly they heard startled cries from the street. There was a moment of indecision between them, their eyes flicking between the officer on the ground and the direction of the shouts, before they ran off again.

Across the street and a few houses down, two figures struggled across the ground. It took them only a second to identify one of the combatants as the girl. She rolled across the ground, struggling to shake a man off her back.

They were on them in an instant, Dave tackling the man off of her and Mindy pulling the still wildly thrashing girl away.

"Let go of me!" she snarled.

"It's okay! You're safe!" Mindy assured her.

The man was strong and gave Dave a hard time. Dave was unable to get a solid hold on him, and eventually the man slipped out of Dave's grip, leaving him holding only a bloodstained jacket.

Mindy had better luck with the girl, and managed to keep a tight hold on her until she'd calmed down.

Dave swore before looking over at Mindy, "You okay with her?"

"Yeah. Go."

Dave nodded before running after him between the houses.

The girl asked Mindy, "You going to let me go anytime soon?"

"You okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright." She said, releasing her from the hold, "Now, the police will want to- HEY!" The girl bolted after Dave as soon as she was free of Mindy's grasp.

Dave had nearly caught up to the man when he heard footsteps catching up to him. He expected Mindy would follow, but not this quickly, and just as the girl caught up to him, he thought it was, but she passed him by like he was walking.

The shock brought him almost to stop, but when he heard the man cry out in shock and pain he broke into a run again.

He came around a corner to find an empty street. He stopped and looked around, wondering where they could have gotten to this time. After a moment of looking around, he spotted a drag trail through the grass and leaves. He followed it across the yard and as he came around the garage he could hear rustling leaves and then a sudden flapping sound like a flag in the wind.

At the far side of the backyard, next to a bush, a mans body lay on the ground. The throat had a ragged hole torn into it, but unlike the others, this one was leaving barely a trickle of blood.

The girl was nowhere to be found.

When Mindy caught up to him a few minutes later, he was sitting on the back steps of the house, with his phone hanging from his fingers and staring at the body.

"Another one? Shit. You called it in?"

"Mm-hmm."

She looked around again then said, "So, where's the girl?"

"She's gone."

Mindy's face showed her confusion, "You let her go?"

"Couldn't find her."

She looked at the body again, "So, she did it after all."

"No."

"What do you mean 'No,'? Was there someone else you didn't grab?"

"No. She did this one. Not the others."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm sure."

"Why?"

"The blood."

Mindy looked at the body again, where a small puddle of blood had collected around the head and shoulders.

"What do you think?"

He was silent for a minute before a small smile cracked his somber expression, "I think this case needs Mulder and Scully, not Kick-Ass and Hit Girl."

Mindy laughed once before slapping him gently on the shoulder, "Come on. Let's go out front so it'll be easier for the cops to find the place."

Later that night, after Dave and Mindy had given their stories to the police and they had headed back to the apartment, Dave sat on the couch, thinking over the events of the night again.

Mindy called to him from his bedroom, "You still thinking about it?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. It's just so... unreal."

"Well, I think I've got something to take your mind off of it," And with that she stepped out into view. She now wore purple thigh high boots, her usual skirt, a purple sleeveless jacket that was only zipped up half way, elbow length gloves, her wig, mask, and a smile.

Dave took this in for a moment before saying, "Weren't you saying something earlier about people slutting up your costume?"

"It's my costume." she said, walking over to him, "I'm allowed to slut it up," and kneeled on the couch beside him.

He looked her up and down again before looking her in the eyes and saying, "Take it off."

Her face lit up, and then he said, "And put something normal on. We'll watch a movie."

Mindy scowled and slumped into the couch as he reached for the remote, "So... what do you think happened to the girl?"

"Part of me wants to know, the other part is happy not knowing."

Meanwhile, in another small apartment somewhere in the city, a boy entered entered carrying a large cooler. He set it down in the kitchen and began unloading it into the fridge as a young girl walked into the living room, toweling off her long blond hair. "Oh hey," he said as she sat down on a stool across the counter from him, "I thought you'd be out later than this."

"I thought you'd be home earlier than this," she said as he came around and gave her a kiss.

"I had some problems at the hospital. They were really busy." he looked into the bathroom and saw the blood stained dress in the sink, "And I guess you were too."

She stared at the floor for a second, "I killed two people."

He groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead, "Ah-bee-"

She put her hands out to stop him, "No, the first one was a total accident I swear. This guy was running around attacking people by biting their throats out. And he attacked me cause I saw him do it. So... I killed him."

He sighed and asked, "And what about the accidental one?"

Abby looked away.

"Abby?"

"A cop caught him trying to attack me... he tried to break us apart and I accidentally slashed his throat open."

"A COP? Abby, come on, we just got settled in here, I don't want to have to move again."

"I think they'll just blame the guy for that. Or someone else."

He sighed and sat down, "So... I guess you didn't bring any back?"

Abby smiled, hopped off the stool and walked into the bathroom where she picked up two packs of Now and Laters off the sink, "You lucked out, these were the only two left when I went back for my bag."

His face broke into a wide grin, "Sweet. Thanks Abby, you're the best," and kissed her again.

She smiled shyly again, "Just remember, only taste them. Don't swallow anything."

"Yeah yeah, I know. After thirty years you'd think you'd stop reminding me."