A/N: Is it wrong that I'm glad I'm ill so I can stay off uni and write this instead? I think so lol. Anyway, I decided to get cracking, can't have you lovely people waiting around any longer.
Remember; read and review please! It makes me smile.
Disclaimer: Hannah Montana is not mine *sigh* I did however make up the Swamp Monster song so MUWAHAHA! It is mineee, all mineee!
Fate
Her face twisted into a grimace as she plunged her hand into the cavity and pulled out a handful of slimy flesh. She threw it onto the countertop and hesitated before plunging both hands in and scooping out more, pulling hard as it resisted. The stringy veins snapped sickeningly and wet trails ran down her arms. It collected in sticky puddles at her elbows and began to congeal beneath her finger nails but it was almost done. One more handful was all it took. She reached for the butcher knife and started to hack away at the skin; creating sad eyes, a nose and a downturned mouth. Lilly set the knife down and flicked her hair out of her eyes before admiring her handiwork. Her pumpkin was going to look great. She grinned as she carried it into the sitting room and placed it on her coffee table which sported a black skeleton cloth. The pumpkin took pride of place in the centre and she hurried to add the final touches. She trailed a handful of pumpkin innards out of its gaping mouth and onto the plastic cloth. She placed an empty whiskey bottle on its side next to the pumpkin and then put a lit candle inside it. At last her drunken pumpkin was finished. It was a design she had come up with at university and had recreated every year since with various poisons. Her favourite had been the year with the tequila bottle; she had added a little sombrero and a marker pen moustache. It didn't take her long to clean up and she was soon on the sofa with a lollipop and the Goosebumps marathon. The sky outside was dull and grey but Lilly had a few lamps and her pumpkin to light her house. She had swapped the normal bulbs for coloured ones which cast red, purple and green glows over her decorations. She had gone a little crazy again but it was her favourite holiday. Outside, she heard her witch cackle and saw her animatronic vampire lurch from his coffin. Someone shrieked and began to hammer at her door. Lilly giggled as she went to answer it, she knew that shriek. Miley still had her fist raised when Lilly opened the door; her narrowed eyes were locked on the vampire's coffin.
"BOO!" Lilly grabbed Miley's waist and the brunette shrieked again as she tore her eyes away from the coffin. She beat Lilly off with the bag she was holding in her left hand and scowled at her.
"Lilly! That was evil; ya scared me half to death."
"Oh come on, it's Halloween!"
"True but that vampire was far too real." She shuddered and cast it another glance. "Ya goin' to let me in or what?"
"It should look real, I paid good money for that thing and that depends whether you brought tricks or treats..."
"Erm... treats and maybe a few tricks. But the good kind!" She thrust the open bag at Lilly who peered inside.
"Oooh gummy worms and face paint. Welcome to Tricky Truscott's House of Horrors!"
Lilly bowed low as she gestured Miley inside. The girl stepped over the threshold nervously and examined the ceiling before moving into the lounge. She knew what Tricky Truscott was like, once she had rigged up a bucket of plastic bugs to fall on her just because she had wanted to 'get into the Halloween spirit!' Miley was relieved to see that there were no buckets but she still examined the room carefully; there could be hidden tricks behind the cobwebs, rubber bats and broomsticks. Her eyes were drawn to the life size coffin in the far corner.
"Don't worry..." A voice in Miley's ear made her jump and she span to face a grinning Lilly. "There's nothing in that one. Well not nothing but nothing scary."
"What is in it then?"
As an answer Lilly strolled over to it, grinned at Miley and then jerked the heavy lid open. It swung to the side and revealed shelves set into the red satin lining. On the shelves were rows of liquor bottles, glasses and cocktail shakers. Miley watched; mouth agape as Lilly folded down a panel to make a table and set a glass on it.
"Fancy a drink?"
"Oh my gosh Lils."
"Like it? Or is it a little weird?"
"It's very weird but... it is pretty cool."
"I saw it online and I thought it would be so cool at Halloween. This is its first so we should christen it. Whiskey?" She held the bottle up and waited for the nod from Miley.
"It's only noon Lilly."
"So? It's Halloween! I was just about to make my toffee apple cider. Besides we can drink now and sober up in time for the kiddies' party and then get drunk again tonight. It's what makes Halloween so fun after all."
"I guess so. Fine, but ya have to let me help with the cider!"
"Sure thing cowgirl." She poured two shooters of whiskey and handed one to Miley. "I'll even let you stir. Okay, so a toast to my awesome coffin cabinet; may it bring years of spookatcular parties. Happy Halloween!" They threw back their whiskey and put the glasses on the cabinet's shelf.
"Spooktacular?" Miley raised an eyebrow.
"What? It's a fun word."
"Ya say it every Halloween."
"I know." She grinned at the brunette and left the cabinet open as she skipped into the kitchen. Miley followed, rolling her eyes and dumped her bag on the kitchen counter. Lilly was already putting a large cauldron on top of her stove; it sat over the centre ring as it was the only one large enough.
"A cauldron?!"
"Yup."
"Where the hell did ya find a cauldron? Actually, don't tell me. Same place that did the coffin drinks cabinet right?"
"Wrong. It was from a shop back in New York, they did all sorts of witchy stuff. Cool right?"
"Very cool. So ya make your cider in it?"
"Yup, thought it looked spookier than a pan." They chuckled. "So you want to help?"
"Sure!" Miley leapt off the counter where she had been perched and stood at Lilly's side. "What should I do?"
"Okay well first you can pour in the cider." Lilly pointed at the 2litre bottle on the side. I'll turn the gas on so it starts to heat." Miley uncapped the bottle and started to pour. Lilly fiddled with the stove's knobs and a ring of flame ignited around the bottom of the cauldron. It was made from stainless steel which had been coated black so it didn't take too long to heat up. The last few drops of cider made it into the pan, which was close to full and Lilly handed Miley a bottle of dark rum. Miley followed her instructions and added the measures. It was supposed to be roughly two shots per cup but she added a few more for luck. Lilly added some vanilla extract and then her favourite ingredient; toffee sauce. She grinned as she squeezed it out onto a spoon for measuring. It wasn't long before she got impatient and just squeezed half the bottle in. The cider turned a light brown colour as Miley began to stir it. Lilly was distracted by the task of licking the toffee sauce from her hand. Miley stirred excitedly as the cider began to bubble.
"Hubble bubble toil and trouble..."
"... fire burn and cauldron bubble!" Lilly let out a witchy cackle and offered Miley the toffee coated spoon that she had already taken a lick of. "Want a lick?"
Miley grinned devilishly as she leaned slowly towards the spoon in Lilly's sticky hand. Her eyes were locked on the blonde's and as she slowly licked the spoon with the tip of her tongue Lilly's eyes went wide. Miley drew back, grinning and resumed stirring.
"I think the ciders ready."
"Yea-yeah?" Lilly shook the dazed expression off her face and cleared her throat.
"Yer."
"Okay, I'll turn the heat down and get the mugs."
Once the heat was lower and they had their drinks they trooped into the living room to watch Goosebumps and, in Lilly's case, inhale an entire bag of gummy worms. They were on their second mug of hot toffee apple cider by the time the next episode started. It was 'Welcome to Dead House" and Miley cringed; she hated this one.
"This one freaks me out."
"Why?"
"The kids... they're dead but not dead."
"I was always confused as to whether they were vampires or zombies or some sort of weird hybrid."
"I'd say weird hybrid which just makes them scarier."
"Wimp..."
Miley scowled at Lilly but raised her mug to her lips instead of retaliating. She let the warm alcohol wash over her taste buds and sighed. She knew it was a Halloween tradition in the making.
"Like it?" Lilly glanced at Miley.
"Yer, can we make it every Halloween?"
"Sure and anytime in between." They shared a smile before turning back to the TV.
They finished their drinks just at the episode was finishing and when Miley stood up she felt a little dizzy.
"Woah! I feel kinda tipsy, that's bad. I only had two."
"It's because it's hot, I think it makes it a littleee stronger."
"I guess, and the extra shots of rum probably didn't help." She grinned wickedly at Lilly.
"Ooh bad little Miley. Want another? I think there's enough for a few more."
"Great. Oh what costumes are we going to wear? I kinda forgot about that until now."
"Oh yeah. Hmm... guess it's time to break out the costume box."
Ten minutes later and they were in the kitchen nursing another mug of cider while inspecting the contents of Lilly's costume box. They had it spread out over the counter in the centre of the room and Miley held up a pair of tiny, gold PVC hot pants with her thumb and index finger.
"Um Lils..." She raised her eyebrows and looked at the blonde. "Care to explain?"
"Oh!" Lilly started to laugh. "It was a Rocky Horror Picture Show themed house party. I went as Columbia, y'know I can't sing but I did bust a few moves in those things." She watched as Miley examined the pants again and grinned. "Maybe I'll show you sometime..."
"Wha-" Miley's head shot up at her words and she started to turn scarlet. Lilly met her eyes before turning back to her own pile of clothing; pay back was always fun.
"Wouldn't it be funny if we went as Hannah and Lola?" Lilly pulled a blonde Rapunzel wig on and added some shades. "I totally look the part."
"Christ that would be one eventful dance. Besides, I can't pull off neon pink wigs and mismatched clothes like you can Lillypie."
"No one can, I am the queen of unco-ordination."
"Is that even a word?"
"No idea." She threw the wig and shades onto the counter.
"Ooh! How about witches?" She pulled a pointed hat on. "Come here my pretty; let me turn you into a frog." She crooned evilly and tried to do a cackle.
"That would be cool; you could paint your face green! Not sure if twin witches is a good idea though, mainly because there's only one hat."
"Awrrr..." Miley pouted, she looked ridiculous in her hat.
"It's cool I'll go as... a vampire!" Lilly whirled a black sheet around her shoulders and wiggled her eyebrows at Miley. "I vant to suck your bluuddd!"
"No!" Miley shrieked as Lilly dove at her, aiming for her neck. She started to tickle the southern girl mercilessly until all she could do was gasp for air. "Lilly, ya evil, evil little dork. No vampires!"
"Fine." Lilly threw the sheet down and jumped onto her stool. She folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "Meanie."
"Moody." Miley knew she was only kidding but she still didn't like Lilly looking sad. She sifted through the pile and found a white sheet. "How about a ghost?" Lilly just pouted harder so Miley threw the sheet over her own head and started to creep towards Lilly making wailing noises. She couldn't see a thing through the sheet so she had no idea where she was going. "Woooo! I'm a ghost. Woooo-OW!" Miley's shin collided with something hard but she heard Lilly giggle.
"Oh I'm sorry Miles; are you ok?" Lilly pulled the sheet off Miley and brushed her hair out of her face.
"I'm fine." She grinned at the blonde, just glad that her goofing around had broken her sulking. "Wanna be a ghost?"
"I'll be a ghost but no sheet."
"But its classic! How can you be a ghost without a sheet?!"
"Easy, I'll just wear all white and shove my head in a vat of flower or something."
"Ooh we can find you some chains!"
"Chains? You want to chain me up Miles?" Lilly wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Miley's shot up to meet her hairline.
"Oh shut up, you wish. Do you have any?" Miley tried to ignore the blush that had blossomed over her cheeks.
"Erm... yeah!" Lilly grinned, knowing it sound a little dodgy. "There's some in the closet under the stairs."
"What?" Miley followed Lilly to the stairs and watched as she rooted through a box, she practically had her whole head in there before she let out a muffled "Aha!"
"I knew they were here somewhere." She turned around with a big chunky, plastic chain in her hands with two sets of shackles. "I didn't know where to put them today. They went on my skeleton but he had a little too much fun last Halloween and ended up taking a trip down the garbage chute."
"Niiice."
"Ok, let's get changed!"
"It's not even three yet! We don't have to be there until six."
"I know but I like dressing up." She winked at Miley before running up the stairs. "Come on, I'll find you something witchy to wear."
Miley wasted no time in following and soon found herself in Lilly's bedroom. While the blonde buried herself in her closet Miley took the time to admire her room. She quickly spotted pictures of them on Lilly's wall along with some of people she didn't know. On her shelves there was the Planet Hollywood hat, Finley the toy shark and a hell of a lot of books. There were also several framed posters that were signed by various cast members; they were obviously the ones Lilly had written and worked on. Just as Miley was about to investigate further Lilly came out of the closet clutching a pile of white and black clothing to her chest. She flattened it down with her chin and blew a stand of hair from her face as she walked to her bed and threw the clothes down. Together the examined the scattered clothes until they had decided on suitable outfits, then Lilly grabbed her stuff and headed to the bathroom to change. Miley quickly stripped and pulled on the plain black dress and long black cardigan Lilly had found. Miley's own boots were tan and so she had borrowed a pair of Lilly's black pixie boots. She was just examining herself in the full length mirror when Lilly called through the door.
"You decent Miles?"
"Yer come in." Lilly stepped in carrying her clothes under her arm. She was now wearing white skinny jeans a white long sleeved blouse and white converse.
"Ooh lookin' gooood Miles. Want me to paint your face?" She chucked her clothes in the laundry hamper and picked up the green face paint.
"Sure, though I reckon it'll run off by the time we have to go."
"Don't doubt the staying power of Snaziroo face paint my dear. If it does we'll just touch it up." With that she set to work greening Miley's face, hands and some of her neck; as the dress had a high neckline that wasn't much. The paint dried quickly and Miley was soon no longer leaving smears of green wherever she touched. Lilly outlined her eyes in black and gave her purple lips before touching up her nail varnish. It had already been black but it had a few chips. While Miley was flapping her hands around Lilly began her own face. She painted her face, neck and her slightly exposed chest white before doing her hands. She joined Miley in flapping around and even had a bit of a mad dance with her before doing her eyes black with grey shadows and then doing her lips grey.
"Not bad."
"Just your hair now and you'll be a real ghostie."
"To the batcave!" Lilly ran to the door but stopped to look at Miley who was looking confused. "I meant the garden."
"You're such a dork." She shook her head as they made their way outside, stopping in the kitchen for a giant bag of flour. When they were out of the grass Lilly bent over and began to slop handfuls of flour onto her hair. The slight breeze sent flurries of flour all over the grass. Half of the bag was on Lilly's head before she turned to Miley for approval.
"Very good, ya look terrifying."
"Awesome!" She pumped floury fist into the air before dusting herself off and heading inside to cook pizza and watch more TV.
Two hours, two pizzas and two Goosebumps specials later, the girls were getting ready to leave for the dance. Miley was touching up her lipstick while Lilly was re-flouring her hair in the garden. She came inside, a trail of flour behind her and grabbed the hair spray off the counter. Miley shook her head as Lilly became blurry through a haze of hairspray and came into the living room coughing. She had backcombed her hair so it now resembled a big white bird's nest. Miley picked up the little light up cauldron she had brought with her and watched Lilly put her shackles around her ankles and wrists. It was going to very interesting to see her walk.
"You're going to fall on your pasty little face with those on." The witch gestured to the ankle shackles.
"Yeah we'll see about th-" The ghost had taken two steps and then stumbled into the sofa. She looked at her companion nonchalantly before removing the ankle shackles and tossing them aside.
"Better." The witch's eyes ran over the ghost's outfit once more. "Maybe you should wear that white cardigan we found in the costume box. It's pretty chilly."
"No way! Ghosts don't wear cardigans! We are far too spooktacular for that." She picked up her little flashing pumpkin and headed for the door, stopping to stow her keys and money in her jean pockets.
"Fine, it's your funeral." The witch stepped outside as the ghost raised an eyebrow at her comment. She smiled smugly as she saw the ghost shiver at the cold breeze. "Silly Lilly..."
"Come on Mystic Meg, we have kiddiwinks to scare." She stopped laughing evilly at the witch's glare. "I meant erm... we have kiddiwinks to y'know... stuff with candy?"
Miley the witch just rolled her eyes and started towards town, her ghostly pal Lilly running to catch up as her chains clinked.
The barn was truly 'spooktacular.' Outside they were greeted by pumpkins, scarecrows and a foggy graveyard. The door was decorated with cardboard gate posts with a sign saying "Enter at your own risk!" Lilly grinned manically as she pushed it open and got her first look at the inside. Her eyes grew wide as saucers and Miley quickly saw why. The rafter hung with bats, cobwebs and a witch compete with a broomstick. Someone had even painted a large moon with an evil face on the roof. Along the far wall there were tables of food and drinks, the punch was in cauldrons a bit like Lilly's. The pumpkin carving contest was being set up, people were just beginning to arrive and place their pumpkins on the table to be judged. The back wall had numerous creepy cardboard cut-outs of castles and forests which would serve as a background for the winner's pictures. Games; such as pin the tail on the werewolf and of course, bob apple were along the other wall and at the very back was the stage. It was decked out like a graveyard and several instruments were sitting amongst the tombstones. The witch and ghost made their way over to a scarecrow who was at the pumpkin table.
"Hey Ryan, happy Halloween!" Lilly grabbed him from behind and he jumped a foot in the air.
"Jesus! Ya scared me."
"Don't worry she's been hyper all day." Miley gave him a reassuring pat and grinned as his costume malted a few strands of hay.
"Well I guess it is Halloween and the kids do get awfully excited..."
"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Lilly tried to pout but was distracted by the arrival of hundreds of orange and black balloons. "Oooh balloons!"
Miley and Ryan just shared a look as Lilly watched the balloons being loaded into a net that had been lowered from the ceiling.
"So ya best head over to your stall, I'll see ya later probably. Besides the kids are only here til ten then we can party."
"Sounds like a plan. I'd better drag our pale pal away before she steals the balloons." She grabbed Lilly's arm and started to steer her towards the wooden barrels of water under the "Apple Swamp" sign.
"Um Miles, what are we- oh. Right, apples."
"Apples!" A crowd of excited kids started to gather as soon as they had taken up their posts. The girls gave each other a grin before turning to the kids and starting the mayhem.
"Right kids, who here wants a nice juicy apple?" There were shouts from all around as Miley started to count heads and apples.
"Good! But, to get an apple you must be brave and fish for it in this big barrel of swamp water!" Lilly put on her best storytelling voice as she took over from Miley.
"Ewwwwwwwww!" The assembled kids yelled excitedly.
"Slimy, yucky things swim in the swamp. You have to be quick or they might... NIBBLE YOUR NOSE!" She let out an evil laugh and wiggled her fingers at the nearest kids who shrieked and giggled.
"Lilly!" Miley looked at her in horror but relaxed when she saw the kids laughing.
"Who wants to go first?" None of the kids stuck their hands up. "Ok twiglets, shall we make Miley go first?" She pointed at the witch to her right.
"No, no way Lilly!" But the more she protested the more the kids cheered and so Lilly dragged her towards the barrel and plonked half a dozen apples into the water, which was clear and very, very cold. She gave Miley a smile which was returned with a murderous glare. "I'll get ya for this Lillian."
"Now, Now Milean, not in front of the children! Hands behind your back please andddd... GO!"
With a loud cheer from the kids Miley gritted her teeth and lowered her head into the barrel. She set her eyes on a nice red apple that was floating stalk up and angled her head towards it. She took a snap at it but it bobbed below the surface and she managed to splash herself. The kids cheered and laughed harder so she decided to fool around a bit. She made a big show of snapping like a maniac for the apple and each time she would miss and splash herself a little more. Finally, after splashing herself a little too enthusiastically she grabbed the stalk in her teeth and straightened up. The kids cheered like crazy when they saw the apple in Miley's mouth and she tried to grin around the fruit. She took it out of her mouth and grinned at Lilly who offered her a towel to wipe her face on. She dabbed gingerly, afraid she had washed her face paint off but to her surprise there were only a few smears on the towel. She turned to face the growing crowd and watched Lilly begin to let the kids get their own apples. Something in her chest went fuzzy as she watched Lilly joke around with the kids and lead them in a silly song about a slimy swamp monster.
"Down in the swamp where nobody goes
There's a slimy swamp monster nibbling on toes
With a nibble chomp here and a nibble chomp there
If you go down there you better beware!"
Miley chuckled and joined in when they sang it through again. She placed a hand on the small of Lilly's back and smiled at her when she looked around questioningly.
"Ya sure are somethin' Lilly."
"I know, you sure are something for putting up with me."
"I know, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of more kids and another rendition of Lilly's swamp monster song. At ten minutes to ten Miley and Lilly had the last batch of kids in front of them. They were all happily munching on their apples and Lilly was singing yet again. As she finished Miley looked at the last remaining apple and a sly smile slide onto her face.
"Look kids, it's nearly time to go home but I know there's one person who hasn't won herself an apple yet." Lilly looked at her in horror, she knew Miley was up to something. "Lilly! Quick you'd better bob and see if you can get the last apple. Give her a cheer kids!" As the kids started to chant Lilly's name Miley threw the last apple into the barrel and pulled Lilly towards it. Lilly glared at her once before shrugging and plunging her head into the barrel. She grabbed the apple in record time and came up dry. She plucked it from her mouth and started to do a happy dance.
"No fair..." Miley grinned evilly. "She didn't get wet! Quick, get her!"
"What- NOOOOOO!" Lilly shrieked as Miley flung a handful of cold water in her face, soon the kids caught on flicking tiny handfuls at her. Lilly was a good sport, squealing dramatically and finally chasing Miley around the barrel. "Come here Miles! What, don't you want a hug? Don't you love me anymore?"
"Not when you're all soggy and floury I don't!" She couldn't keep away forever though and Lilly soon caught her and wrapped her in a bear hug. The kids cheered like crazy and gave Lilly hi-5's before their parents came to take them home. The adults took one look at Lilly and Miley before they started to laugh and thanked them before heading home. Miley wondered how many times their kids had sung the swamp monster song in that short time.
"They're going to kill ya Lils."
"Huh? Who? What? Why?"
"The parents, you've gotten that swamp monster song stuck in their kids' heads. I bet they've sang it constantly on the way home." She handed Lilly a towel and chuckled as the blonde dried herself.
"But it's such a good song!" She chucked the sopping towel at Miley's face but she dodged it. "You're not the only one who can write hit's Hannah."
"Shush!" She looked around and was relieved that everyone else seemed to be on the dance floor or at the newly set up alcohol table. "Anyway, Lola, you're shirts gone see though."
"Wha- oh my god! MILEY!" She tried to shield herself with one hand while her cheeks turned scarlet and swatted her friend with the other.
"No wonder all those dad's were smiling at ya..." She sniggered as Lilly grimaced in horror. "Bet ya wish you'd worn that cardigan now don't ya?"
"No! I mean yes! Eurgh! I'm going to kill you Miley Ray." Lilly grabbed a white table cloth from the lucky dip table and attempted to turn it into a cape.
"Ooh ya double named me, now I'm in for it." Miley gasped in mock horror but took pity on her friend and helped her cover herself up. "Don't worry it'll dry pretty soon."
"Best had or I'm going to... to..." Lilly paused in thought as Miley watched her with a raised eyebrow. "... do something really bad to you!"
"What flour me to death? Come on pasty, let's dance." She grabbed Lilly by the chain attached to her shackles and dragged her onto the dance floor. The band began to play their own version of Monster Mash and someone set off the fog machines. It billowed over the graveyard stage and crept out into the dance floor. Soon their feet disappeared under a thick layer of it and it began to swirl around their knees. The night wound on and soon Lilly discarded her makeshift cape, she returned to find Miley dancing with a scarecrow, Frankenstein and a werewolf. Ryan, Hank and Earl started the time warp off and soon the whole barn was shaking. The next song was much slower, a cover version of The Spill Canvas – This Is For Keeps, and Lilly wrapped Miley in a dry embrace. She felt Miley smile into her neck and then sneeze as she inhaled a few pounds of flour. They laughed and smiled at each other with their eyes locked. Finally, after waiting all night, Lilly got what she wanted. The remaining balloons were freed from their net and fell onto the slowly swaying crowd. Lilly almost let go of Miley to grab one. Almost.