AN: Happy All Hallows Eve.

"The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting." ― J.K. Rowling

"No, NO! DAMN IT!"

A loud crash echoed through the house, shattering the peaceful atmosphere Alison had lost herself in as she worked on her latest quilt design. She looked up at the ceiling as the occupant of the room above stomped across the floor, and she had to suppress a sigh as she left her quilt on the floor and went upstairs to see what was wrong.

"Max?"

He was pacing across the attic room floor, muttering under his breath as he glared daggers at the computer as he went. Alison spotted the blank open document on the screen, and quickly realised the source of her husband's frustration.

"Don't tell me you're stuck again…"

Max threw her a dirty look.

Alison went over to the computer and had a look at the work that had taken up much of Max's life for the past few months, and she quickly realised why he was having such difficulties. Images flashed before her eyes, and for a moment she was a teenager again… trapped in the caves beneath the Town Hall running for her life…watching Elizabeth beg the Medicine Man to spare them from the Hunt for the Demon…

She gave herself a mental shake to stop her thoughts going down that particularly dark path, and looked at her exhausted husband in alarm as she realised how much darker the circles around his eyes had become.

"Okay…you need a change of scenery. Grab your coat."

"Huh? No, I-I can't go, I have to-"

"You have to what? Stay up here and have a tantrum the whole neighbourhood can hear? No, get yourself downstairs and grab your coat. You're coming out with me."

Alison could see he wanted to argue, but after a few moments her husband sighed loudly and went back to the computer to save his incomplete work. She went back down the stairs to grab her shoes and coat with a sullen Max in tow, and the pair left their house and went out into the late autumn sunshine.

"Max, act your age not your shoe size! We're going for a walk, not to your execution."

"Alison, I don't want to go for a damn walk! I want to go back and finish that chapter-"

"A chapter you have been struggling with for over a week, and all you've managed to type out is the damn title. Now, shut up and come with me!"

She dragged him through the streets with purpose, ignoring his protests about being led by the hand like a child.

If you're going to act like a brat, then I'll treat you like one Max!

The townspeople were busy preparing for All Hallows Eve despite it still being several days away, hanging up decorations and setting up pumpkin displays outside their houses and shops. Even the church was getting in on the act this year, with a large display of carved pumpkins leading down the path to the main entrance. The pair usually tried to avoid the town centre at this time of year, but Alison wanted to try and face her fears this year and had dragged Max along for the ride.

Perhaps, one day they would be able to enjoy the holiday again…rather than lock themselves away at home with a small stockpile of salt on hand.

"This is stupid…"

"You've been stuck inside the house for over a week, Max. You only came out of the house on Sunday to visit the cemetery with us...people are beginning to wonder if I've buried you in the back yard or something."

Max laughed, and Alison felt a grin of her own stretch across her lips.

"Oh? So this 'intervention' of yours is just to show me around town and confirm I'm still alive?"

"Maybe…but I was serious about you needing to take a break from the book. The kids are worried about you, especially when you stay up all night and turn up at breakfast looking like death warmed up…"

"I know…it's just-"

Max's voice trailed off as something further down the path caught his attention.

Alison followed his line of sight, and the pair came to a stop as they both looked at the Old Burial Ground gate. Alison could still remember climbing over it with Billy trying to grab her from below, with Danni screaming at him to leave them alone while she tried to kick him through the bars on the other side of the gate.

It was one of the few memories she could look back on without fear, as she knew now with hindsight that Billy had meant them no harm. But at the time she had been freaking out that a zombie was trying to get her and the book she was carrying, and even now she could feel her heart speed up as she remembered her frantic climb.

Max made an aborted step towards the graveyard, before he looked back at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Can we-?"

Alison nodded.

"Sure. We need to make a pit stop first though…"

The pair set off again down the street, heading towards the Old Gallows Hill Flower shop where their weekly order of flowers was waiting for them. If the elderly owner was surprised they had come a few hours earlier than normal to pick up their order, she thankfully kept her questions to herself as she ran up the purchase on her register.

"You'll want the special orders for Halloween, right dear?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll pick them up before you close that day."

"Fine by me. Send my regards to that husband of yours…and tell him to get some rest. He looks like a panda with those circles around his eyes."

"I'll slip him some Night Nurse if he doesn't. Thanks again!"

Max became the designated pack-horse as she left the shop, holding the three bundles of brightly coloured flowers in his arms as Alison led them back towards the Old Burial Ground. She took a deep breath and pushed the gate open, leaving just enough space for her and Max to squeeze through before she closed it quickly behind them.

It was a habit they both were guilty of possessing, much to the annoyance of their children who hated how their parents insisted that they lock or at least close every door they came through behind them 'just in case'. Alison knew they were owed at least some kind of explanation as to why their parents acted that way…but the words would always stick in her throat, and she would leave them with a simple 'we'll tell you when you're older' excuse before running out of the room.

Maybe, when the book is finished…they can read it for themselves.

As usual, they were the only visitors to the graveyard that afternoon. They wove their way through the old headstones; stopping briefly at Billy's grave to remove the withered flowers and replace them with one of the new bunches.

"There you go, Billy. We'll see you again on All Hallows Eve, okay?"

Several rows away from Billy's grave sat the pair of stones marking the final resting places of the Binx and Taylor siblings. Alison took a bunch of flowers from Max and headed towards the Binx grave, removing the withered flowers and brushing away the fallen leaves before putting the fresh flowers into the vase. Max did the same on the Taylor grave, before making himself comfortable on the grass in front of the stones.

"You know… every time I sit here, I keep expecting Elizabeth to fly down and perch herself on top of the gravestone. Or Binx will show up and tell me off for sitting on top of Emily and Ruth's graves…"

"They wouldn't mind if you did. Remember what Emily said before they went? 'Do not be sad, only our bones lie beneath thy feet. Our souls are with the Lord…' If they had a problem, they would find a way to let you know it, Max."

"True…"

The pair of them sat there in silence for a while, listening to the wind blow through the trees around them. Autumn was her favourite season, and she loved to watch the leaves change from green to their autumnal colours of brown, gold and red before they fell. She and the children would walk through the carpet of leaves, kicking them up into the air as they walked to the school while hunting for conkers on the pavement.

Not even the Sandersons had been able to rob her of her love for autumn, but they had impacted her ability to share her children's enthusiasm for All Hallows Eve. She and Max would always watch them go off with their friends and their parents to go trick or treating, knowing full well that they were unhappy that yet again Mom and Dad had refused to take them out themselves.

The flowers also swayed in the breeze, blowing their scent towards them as they sat there lost in their own thoughts. Alison took a deep breath and tried to focus on the wind, instead of the guilt pooling in her stomach as she thought about their children's disappointment.

Eventually, Max was the one to break the silence.

"I don't know how to write the next chapter. That's what was upsetting me earlier."

Alison slowly turned her head towards him.

"You mean what happened to us down in the Caves?"

"Yeah. I've got up to the point where we were about to enter the tunnels, but then…the words just won't come out the way I want them to."

"Okay. So you've got to the part where we are stood in the sewers…Binx has led us to the tunnel entrance, and I remember we went in quickly as we heard a noise behind us and we thought it was Billy."

Max nodded.

"Yeah, then we got really lost in the tunnels as Elizabeth and Thackery got into an argument as to which turn we should take. They were fighting like an old married couple…"

"I really thought she was going to peck his eyes out when he told her to be quiet. It's a good job we got distracted before she got the chance to do it."

"I suppose. It was just nice not be the one she was mad at for once…"

Alison had to resist smiling when Max absentmindedly rubbed the faint scars on the back of his right hand left by Elizabeth's talons.

"I'm sure it was."

Max coughed uncomfortably.

"Anyway, I can write it up to that point. But then…I get stuck. And it annoys me, because I know what I need to write but I can't make it sound right. And then that pisses me off-"

"And we have to listen to you yell and stomp around the attic while you have a tantrum. I think you're having problems because you're simply overthinking it."

"I suppose…"

Alison sighed and grabbed his hand.

"Look, if you're really having issues with writing it…why not let me do it?"

"Huh?"

Max looked at her in confusion, and she had to resist the urge to laugh as his expression was simply adorable.

"Look, how does this sound? I'll try my hand at typing up what happened in the caves, and then you can come in and edit it to make it fit the rest of your book. And all I ask for in return is an acknowledgement in the title page, deal?"

Her proposal was met with a grateful kiss.