The Gate
Chapter 1
Kid, Law and Luffy noticed an increase in the amount of creepy-crawly decorations as they walked down the darkened street. There were the usual spiders and cobwebs hanging off tree boughs and streetlamps, and then there were the more unusual coffins and graves on the other side of the gate. It should have been a hotspot for trick-or-treaters, but they were the only ones there.
"Last house tonight!" Kid ran towards the rusty cast iron gate, banging his wrench against the bars. The clanging echoed in the large expanse and Luffy covered his ears even though it wasn't that loud—the creeping fig twisted around the gate cushioned most of the impact.
It wasn't so much a house as a haunted mansion that they stood before. The only sound they heard was the sound of insects buzzing around the lone streetlamp they stood under. They were the only trick-or-treaters in the street. Everyone else had been too scared ever since The Incident three years ago when children burst from the mansion screaming about narrowly escaping death.
"I don't wanna go in there." Luffy nervously looked left and right. The silhouettes in the fog did not look inviting and he swore he could hear the voices of the wind as they swept through the tree branches, telling him to stay away. "I don't like it. My brothers said it's dangerous."
"Don't be such a wuss." Kid laughed. "It's not like the Moriah family are going to string you up, cut you open, put your guts in a jar and steal your soul. That's what Trafalgar does."
"You're hilarious, Eustass-ya." Law fiddled with his scalpel, wondering how much damage it would do. His father had taken the precaution of blunting the edge, but it could still make a considerable amount of damage. "Are we knocking or not?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
Kid ran up to the buzzer and pressed it three times in quick succession. They waited ten, twenty, thirty seconds but no-one answered.
"Maybe no-one's home."
"On Halloween? No way!"
"Doesn't matter." Luffy gave a relieved smile. "Let's go back and eat our candy."
But just as he said that. A loud clunk caught their attention. Law frowned and pushed the creeping fig out of the way as he inspected the lock.
"It's unbolted," he said.
Kid kicked the gate and it swung wide open. A grin broke out over his face and he rubbed his hands together.
"No, no, no!" Luffy cried, his brothers' words echoing in his mind.
"Yes, yes, yes." Law grabbed the younger boy's wrist and pulled him along. "Come on, Luffy. We're taking this chance to explore the Thriller Bark mansion."
And with that, the three of them entered the Moriah family's home.
A.N.
A little kiddy fic to celebrate my first Halloween, because we don't celebrate it here in Australia. Many thanks and hugs to jdsempai for the plot skink!