This is just a small piece I threw together to mark Halloween this year. The story is fully written and will post every Wednesday and Saturday until the end of the month. It's based on a prompt you can find over on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy it.

England, 1998

"Dad! Dad! Dad!"

When there was no response to his calls, Killian poked his head around the doorframe and found his older brother Liam sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework.

"Where's Dad?"

"How should I know?" Liam shot back, without bothering to lift his head.

"I'm hungry."

"Then make yourself something to eat," Liam snapped, flicking his books closed and pushing back his chair.

"Dad said I wasn't allowed to use the sharp knives alone."

"You don't need the sharp knives to make a sandwich, Killy. Dad's so lazy he buys everything pre-sliced."

Killian considered his brother's words for a moment before he nodded and made his way over to the fridge. While he had his head buried inside of it, grabbing the spreadable butter, ham, cheese, and mayonnaise, Liam busied himself with gathering up his books.

"Where are you going?" Killian asked, setting his ingredients down onto the table before he began pushing one of the chairs over to the counter so that he could reach the bread bin.

"Upstairs. I have a test to study for." And with that, Liam left his little brother alone to make his own sandwich.

The young boy took his time buttering each slice of bread, covering them in far more of the luxurious spread than his brother or father ever would – but at least it was evenly distributed and pushed all the way up to the crusts. Killian placed a slice of ham down onto one of the pieces of bread and then reached for the mayonnaise. Apparently, his father's laziness had reached new levels as instead of a spreadable jar, Killian found himself holding a squeezy bottle.

"New-Men," he declared, attempting to read the label wrapped around it. This wasn't their usual brand of mayonnaise, and Killian's young mind was a little confused by it. "New-Men? What's a New-Men?"

His tummy rumbled again and the little boy shrugged off the question as he gave the bottle in his hand a couple of vigorous shakes, and then flicked open the lid.

It only took one small squeeze for Killian to decide that he liked this new mayonnaise far more than any of the others his father had purchased. With nobody to supervise him, he set to work turning his sandwich into his latest masterpiece. Recently, he'd become obsessed with the stars and how sailors used them to navigate while at sea, so this felt like the perfect time to draw one of his own.

The lines of the white condiment flowed this way and that as he tried his best to form the two triangles that would make a star, like the ones he'd seen Liam doodle in the corners of his notepad before.

"There," he whispered to himself, as he finished joining the lines. It wasn't perfect, and there was an odd squelch of mayonnaise in the middle of his design, but when he was finished, Killian felt oddly proud of himself. It was a shame there was nobody around to see how well he'd done.

A sudden clap of thunder outside of the windows made him jump and drop the bottle to the floor. It was followed by a flash of lighting that created dramatic shadows inside the room. Killian turned around to look behind him and his heart leaped into his throat. His mouth was already open to call for his brother when he realised that it was just the coat stand that he'd seen, and not an intruder lurking in the darkness. He gave the lounge one last thorough look before he turned back to his sandwich, and jumped in surprise once more.

"Oh!" he squeaked out, as his eyes took in the form of a woman standing in his kitchen, leaning back against the countertop. She was dressed in one of the black business suits he'd seen some of his teachers wear before, and her short hair fell with a slight wave around her face. She looked just as confused to see him standing there as he was, and somehow, that confusion felt a little reassuring.

"Did someone in this house just summon me?" she asked.

"Who are you?" Killian countered.

She continued to peer around the kitchen, almost like she was expecting someone to jump out at her, until her eyes landed on the sandwich on the table.

"Did you make that?" she asked.

Killian puffed out his chest and nodded his head. "Yep. All by myself."

The woman in his kitchen chuckled fondly as she turned his plate around to face her and then traced the lines of his mayonnaise creation.

"This is very well drawn, Kid."

"Thanks." Killian rocked back on his heels as a blush coloured his cheeks. His dad would probably have yelled at him for wasting food, but the pretty lady liked his work, and that was all that mattered. "I can make you one too, if you'd like?" he offered, suddenly remembering his manners.

The woman in his kitchen seemed to hesitate for a moment before she finally nodded her head. "Thank you. I'd like that."

"Cool."

Killian made his way back over to the counter and climbed the chair he'd left there to reach the bread bin once again.

"Where are your parents, Kid?" the strange lady asked.

"My mum died when I was little," Killian explained, "And I don't know where Dad is. He's probably at work… or at the pub… or something."

The woman frowned as she watched him liberally butter both slices of bread. "Does that mean you're home alone?" she asked.

"Nope. My brother's upstairs. He's in high school so he's allowed to watch me."

She seemed to relax a little at his words but continued to watch him closely while he carefully arranged two slices of ham on top of the bread, and then reached for the mayonnaise that was still lying on the floor.

"Not for me, Kid," she said, reaching out to gently grasp his wrist and stop him from grabbing the bottle.

Killian frowned a little - because he couldn't understand having a ham and cheese sandwich without mayonnaise - but when she released his hand he diverted his attention towards the cheese slices instead. After placing one on his sandwich and two on hers, Killian squashed the last pieces of bread down to finish their snacks, and then slid a plate across the table towards her.

"Thank you," she said, pulling out a chair to take a seat across from him.

Killian didn't bother trying to move the one beside the counter. Instead, he pulled himself up onto the seat that his brother had abandoned only moments before.

"What's your name?" he asked, after swallowing down his first bite. The mayonnaise was a little over-powering, but the idea of eating his own creation drowned out his displeasure with the taste.

"Amaline," she replied, and at his confused look, she hurried to add, "But you can call me Emma."

"Okay, Emma. I'm Killian."

"It's very nice to meet you, Killian," she offered, holding out her hand for him to shake.

The odd pair lapsed into a comfortable silence as they ate their sandwiches. Emma finished hers first, but only because Killian kept pausing every now and then to stare at her. There was something about the woman sitting across from him that felt a little off, even to his young and trusting mind.

When she was finished, Emma pushed her plate away and then sat back in her seat to wait for Killian to catch up.

"Do you work?" the little boy asked, when he'd finally swallowed down his last bite.

Emma gathered up their plates and set them into the bowl in the sink to be cleaned a little later, before she re-joined him at the kitchen table.

"I do."

"Are you a business lady?" he pressed. "Daddy says most ladies dressed like you are business ladies, and business ladies don't have time for kids like me."

Emma looked down at her black suit like she was a little surprised to see herself in it, and then back over to the boy's curious face.

"I guess you could say that," she agreed. "I make a lot of deals in my line of work. But I think you'll find that your father is wrong, Killian. Most people will have plenty of time for kind children like you."

"Really?" he asked, as his eyes widened with delight. "My dad says he makes a lot of deals too, but Liam says he's a conman, not a businessman. He won't tell me what that means, though. Will you?"

Emma's expression dropped as she cast around for another subject that would be a little easier to cover. When her eyes landed on the pumpkins beside the bread bin, she realised what time of the year it must be on Earth.

"Are you planning to carve a pumpkin for Halloween?"

"Oh, yeah," Killian agreed eagerly, as all thoughts of conmen disappeared from his mind. "Liam and I always have a competition to see who can carve the best one. I've just gotta wait for daddy to have a night off first because I can't use the sharp knives without his help."

Emma nodded her head in understanding while internally thanking Satan that the boy's father seemed to care enough to at least set those limits for his child.

"Well, I look forward to swinging by on Halloween to see the final designs."

"Where do you live?" Killian asked. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you new or are you visiting someone? Oh – did you get lost? Is that why you're here?"

"I'm uh… I'm not lost," she assured him, "But I should probably get going, I'm afraid. I have a lot of people I need to see today." She could already feel that familiar pull in her gut, telling her that she needed to leave soon, and for the first time in her existence, Emma resented it.

"Oh… okay." Killian's expression fell a little, and as it did, Emma's anger began to rise.

"But um… if you ever need anything, you know how to reach me now," she offered, fixing on her best smile.

"I do," Killian agreed enthusiastically, nodding his head as Emma pushed back her chair and rose to her feet.

"It was nice meeting you, Killian." She extended a hand in his direction and the little boy gave it a surprisingly firm shake. "Thank you for the sandwich, and take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will," he promised, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Killian turned his head left and right to look for where she'd disappeared to, and then made his way through to the lounge, just to check and see if she had decided to explore in there.

"Emma?" he called out.

There was a noise upstairs and the little boy's heart soared as he realised that she must have needed to use the bathroom… until he saw Liam's face appear at the top of the staircase.

"Who are you talking to?" his brother asked.

Killian's heart sank to the floor when it became clear that Emma was gone, and he started trudging his way slowly up the stairs, suddenly feeling the need to be alone. "No one," he mumbled, pushing past Liam to head into his bedroom. He closed the door on his brother's confused face and then turned to fling himself down on the bed, but something caught his eye before he could move.

Killian smiled happily to himself as he snatched up the Pikachu plushie in the middle of the duvet and cuddled the toy close to his chest. He'd been asking for that exact toy for almost two years now, and the closest he'd ever gotten was a knock-off last year for Christmas, that had fallen apart before New Year's Day.

"Thank you, Emmeline," he whispered to the ceiling.

Three thousand miles away, the demon known as Amaline smiled to herself as she heard a little boy's whispered prayer, before she turned her attention back down to the middle-aged man cowering in front of her.

"Well, do we have an agreement?" she asked.

Her eyes flashed a demonic-red as he reluctantly slipped his sweaty palm into her own, and gave her hand a firm shake, sealing their deal.

Emma/Amaline's look here is based on Jen's look for the SAG-AFTRA screening of Sun Dogs on the 13th April, 2018

Thanks for reading and reviewing.