Halloween Hijinks and Horrors

Chapter 8

Wesen Halloween party

Characters: Tanner Howe (OC), Diana, Kelly, Julie (OC, Kelly's wife), Chuck (OC, little brother), Catherine (OC, little sister), Amanda Prentice (OC, step sister), Anna Porter (OC, Cousin), Nick and Adalind, Monroe and Rosalee, Elizabeth Lascelles

Approximately 25 years after the finale.

2.3k words 10/9/20 r1

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Tanner Howe smiled as Diana paraded both her new fiancee, and the ring past everyone at the annual Burkhardt family Wesen halloween party.

Adalind was a champion party planner and their annual Wesen Halloween Party was her very favorite "public" event of the year. She absolutely cherished bringing all their Wesen, Grimm, and Hexenbiest friends together for a big bash where they could all be themselves. The party was unique in the Wesen world. What started with one Grimm invited to the house of one Bludbad grew legs and blossomed into perhaps the only place Grimms, Hexenbiests, and Wesen came together for fun and friendship. Tanner didn't know any of that, though.

He watched as people walked in the door and transformed themselves into monsters. Werewolves, different canine monsters, different feline monsters, reptile and bug monsters, a bunch of miscellaneous strange monsters, witches like Diana, and even a few mermaids joked, poked, inspected, questioned, and laughed together.

He reached his hand into a bowl of treats by the door, he had a soft spot for candy corn. These felt softer than normal candy corn. Marshmallow! He popped a few of the marshmallow candy corns into his mouth and started chewing, expecting sweet halloween goodness. Instead, bland, chewy, rubbery foam greeted his palate.

Kelly liked Tanner, but never missed the opportunity to take a cheap shot at one of Diana's boyfriends. He clapped Tanner solidly on the shoulder, laughed, and loudly proclaimed "Hey Diana, your fine fiancee here is eating our ear plugs."

Everyone suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked quizically. Tanner's cheeks turned red as a handful of orange, yellow, and white foam ear plugs dribbled out of his mouth into Diana's waiting hand.

"Honey, they go in your ears." Diana rolled her eyes at him, laughing.

"Ear plugs? Bleah. Honey, why do we need ear plugs?"

A half dozen massive concussive blasts rocked the entire house in quick succession as the words came out of his mouth. Tanner found himself ducking down, white eyed, ears ringing, gripping Diana and reaching for ear plugs as Kelly, Chuck, Catherine, and their cousin Anna Porter laughed.

Kelly giggled in anticipation to Catherine and pushed his wife Julie towards the back door "Hey, Grandmother Elizabeth and Maria must be here! Let's go grab a broom ride!"

"A what? Honey, did he say broom ride? What kind of Halloween party is this?" Tanner asked Diana, surprised. "And was that a bomb outside?"

"Nah, just my Grandmother and her friends." Diana giggled. "They've been wanting to meet you. Put your ear plugs in and we'll go catch up."

Another round of thunderous blasts rocked the house as Tanner hurriedly stuffed ear plugs deep into his ears and followed Diana out the back door.

The instant his foot crossed the heavy concrete threshold into the asphalt paved yard, a huge shock wave caught him off guard and nearly threw him back through the open door. Stunned by the blast, he looked around, confused. Suddenly nervous, Tanner's skin crawled and every single hair stood on end from electricity as small sparks skipped and jumped all over the pavement.

Another giant blue bolt of lightning launched out of the back yard, snaking it's way up into the inky sky and rocking him back onto his heels. The jolt sent hundreds of sparks slithering and crackling across the ground. The blinding flash illuminated the darkness around him and left blue spots in his vision. He suddenly noticed Hexen-Diana nonchalantly chatting with a half dozen ancient witch corpses, all wearing pointy black hats. Chuck, Catherine, Anna, and another girl who looked like Catherine but had feline features and black eyes laughed and chatted along with them. Hexen-Catherine joked with the other girl and blasted gigantic blue, white, and yellow bolts of lightning out of her hands into the inky, wet Portland sky. The blast sent another giant shock wave through him and left his whole body tingling from the electricity.

Diana mouthed something to him and motioned with her hands, but his ears were ringing. He couldn't tell what she said over the blasts and crackling. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the group of witches. The ancient witch carcasses all laughed, drank sweet fruity wine, traded stories, and hats.

"Tanner! So good to finally meet you! I'm Diana's grandmother Lascelles." An ancient witch carcass with a black, pointy hat on her head took him by the hand and ground bony, mummified jaws with a smile. She gently laid a curled, dried, leathery hand against his face, paused, and flashed her empty eye sockets bright, fiery blue. Her witch face lit up in a huge smile. "Diana! You found one!"

Thoroughly confused, Tanner looked at Diana "Found what?"

Hexen-Diana smiled, flashed her eyes purple, and kissed him on the cheek "You."

Elizabeth looked at Diana "Of course we've got to take him for a ride!"

Suddenly, the sound of a woman arguing interrupted the mirth, fireballs, and lightning bolts. "I don't understand why you would think Hexenbiests ride brooms? What kind of crazy stereotype is that?"

Diana and Catherine rolled their eyes. Kelly's "wife" Julie argued with him about everything, seemingly on principle. Kelly shook his head and grumbled "No, I'm serious, we've all been riding brooms on Halloween since we were kids."

Julie stomped her way angrily back towards the house when Maria, Elizabeth's friend, zoomed up directly in front of her. "Go get your hat and I'll take you up."

Hexen-Julie stopped short and stared up at Hexen-Maria hovering on her broom, shocked. She started to protest that her mother's Amazon Hexenbiest tradition didn't use hats when Diana flopped a hat on her head. "Here, use one of mine. I always bring a couple spares."

Maria took her hand and pulled her up on the broom. "Now hold on honey! Let's go." Off they rocketed into the night.

Tanner stared, open mouthed. "Uh, wait, did she just fly off on a broom?"

Kelly laughed a hearty laugh, patted him on the shoulder, donned a witch hat, and zoomed off on a broom after them.

Suddenly another giant lightning bolt rocked the back yard, showering Tanner with sparks. Another witch carcass suddenly swooshed down beside them. Tanner realized Hexen-Anna just flew in on another actual broom, and greeted her cousin with "Your turn!"

"This is the best! Come on!" Diana grabbed him by the hand, flopped a spare hat on his head and ran over to Anna. Anna got off the hovering broom and Diana sat down on it. "Ok, you ready?"

"For what? Wait, is this a broom?

"Of course honey, what do you think we do with them? You know I don't sweep."

She flashed her eyes purple and he found himself climbing on the broom behind her.

He heard Diana yell "Hold on tight" an instant before a giant orange fireball silently rolled up out of the back yard and congealed into a huge, glowing, orangey pumpkin, flaming eerily, high in the sky

A giant green blast of fire roared up into the shape of a ghost next to them as they rocketed off the ground, and wound their through the lightning and fire, into the sky.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he looked down on the brightly lit city of Portland, from the safety and security of an old wooden wooden broom stick, whizzing through the sky, five thousand feet up.

He looked back at the giant lightning and firestorm raging miles behind them and reveled in the silence. He whispered in Diana's ear as the cold pacific fog left wetness on his face "I can't believe how quiet it is up here."

He watched them zoom past a flock of geese squawking through the night sky and looked down on millions of twinkling lights.

A tap on his shoulder shocked him out of his silent awe. He turned to see Kelly flying on one side and Nick, with Adalind holding on behind him, flanking the other. A giant smile filled Diana's face and she rocketed the broom much faster, rolled over upside down, then blasted straight down through the clouds towards the city below with Dad, Mom, and Kelly tight on their sides.

They pulled up inches from fences and shrubs and shot through yards, zoomed between trees, and rocketed down alleys at breakneck speed. They wove and twisted, flashing through neighborhoods, and then finally raced into the park. Suddenly, Diana pulled straight up, climbing through the tree tops and back into the heights of the foggy night sky.

They flew out over the pacific. Tanner looked out at the miles of white capped waves crashing against beaches and saw whales breaching and blowing below them.

Soon they turned back home. Minutes later they weaved and twisted straight down through hot plumes of multi-colored fire and crackling lightning bolts before finally screeching to a halt in the back yard.

He looked over and saw a grinning Hexen-Julie pulling on Kelly to take her up on another broom ride.

He couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he walked back into the house. Diana circulated through the crowd, showing off both her engagement ring, and her fiancee.

Diana introduced Tanner to the dark curly haired, lion faced girl with black eyes who looked strikingly like Catherine. Now, he realized she must be several years older than Diana. "Amanda, this is my fiancee, Tanner Howe. Tanner, this is my sister Amanda Prentice."

"Call me Mandy. Diana! Let me see that rock! You're so lucky to finally find a good one." She signed heavily "I just can't find a decent guy. You know how it is, Kehrsite guys think I'm nuts and the Wesen guys are all convinced I'm going to murder them."

Diana winked at her playfully "Well, sis, I never thought you would want to settle down. Just tell me when and we'll set you up."

Diana was a champion matchmaker. Amanda cringed and groaned as she considered spending another holiday season alone. Amanda loved and trusted Diana, her closest sister. "You know what, I'm ready. Get with me tonight when you get a chance or we'll catch up this week on the phone."

Diana touched her on the hand and smiled brightly "Let's sit down with Grandmother before we leave and get the ball rolling."

Next they met up with Monroe and Rosalee. "Hey! Tanner, how's your first Wesen Halloween party?"

"Super fun. Hey, you seem to know a lot about this stuff. What's the big deal, I mean why do they have a name for this?"

"Huh, come again."

"Everybody here is just going as themselves. I think I'm the only one here in a costume."

Monroe sat there in silence for a minute "Do you see people turn into monsters?"

"Of course not, there's no such thing as monsters."

"Huh, well, do you see some people's eyes change black, like Kelly or Nick?"

"Nope, never, they're just always black."

Diana looked at him surprised and said what she had always been taught to say "Dad's eyes are blue like Mom's"

"Huh, their allergies must be really bad or something, because their eyes are always black like your sister Amanda's."

Monroe realized what was going on before anybody else. His thirty years of immersion into Burkhart family weirdness gave him a different perspective. He remembered exactly that same conversation with Diana and all the rest of Nick's kids. He thought back to the first time Diana asked "Uncle Monroe, why does Mom say Dad's eyes are blue?"

"Tanner, do you see people's faces change sometimes, like if they get mad or emotional?"

"Of course. Doesn't everybody?"

"And do they sometimes change to look like animals or other things besides people?"

"Yeah, all the time."

"So my face, how would you describe it now?"

"I don't know, kinda furry, sort of maybe canine? I guess?"

"And Amanda's face?"

"Less furry, sort of feline, maybe, with big black eyes."

"So you can see Wesen?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"We're Wesen. We can change to another nature."

"Huh, I don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why is there a special name for this?"

"Huh?" Now Monroe was confused.

"It's so common, maybe 30% of people are like this. Why does it have a special name?"

Luckily Monroe already went through almost this exact conversation with five Burkhart children, and one Porter child. Given the family, a few more would probably be ready here soon. He remembered Kelly's disappointment that his face might be like his father's and *not* change like his mother's, Monroe's, or Rosalee's face. He remembered trying to help Adalind coach the kids to tell people their dad's eyes were blue and not black. "Well, that's just what we call ourselves. I'm a Bludbad. My wife, Rosalee, is a Fuchsbau. Diana is a Hexenbiest, like her mom. Her dad is a Grimm like Kelly."

"Weird, well, I'm just a normal person."

"Trust me, you might be a lot of things, but 'normal' ain't one of them. This family is weird even by Wesen standards, and you seem to fit right in."