Sorry about the delay, I had a little writer's block on this one.

Happy Halloween guys! (Even though it's not technically Halloween yet. But I'm super busy trying to prepare for my exams next week so I figured I may as well just post it now)

...OH MY GOSH. How the heck have we reached these statistics? Over 1000 reviews, 300 faves and follows. You guuuuys *teary eyed* Thank you so much for all your continued support! :3

Disclaimed.

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Trick or Treat

...

Jamie glanced between the two spirits standing before him. The one on the right was a face he had gotten very used to seeing, and who had promised to take him and Sophie trick or treating – Jack Frost, his favourite Guardian, spirit, uncle… well, probably his all round favourite guy. The one on the left… Jamie had never seen him before but apparently he was the spirit of Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern.

He supposed it was only fitting – it was Halloween – but he never would have expected Jack to bring the guy and ask if he could come trick or treating with them.

Normally, Jamie wouldn't have even hesitated about saying 'yes' but there was something about Jack-O that unsettled him. Maybe it was that his pumpkin hat was glowing from the light of a flame, or maybe it was the sinister grin on his face. Jamie didn't really know, but he was having a hard time disassociating the creepy dude from Pitch Black.

"So what do you say, Jamie?" Jack-O asked, smile stretching even larger. "Can I come?"

Jamie returned his attention to Jack. The winter spirit didn't seem to have a problem with it, so the guy couldn't have been bad, right? Judging from the expression on Jack's face, he would accept whatever decision Jamie made. Jamie was grateful.

"Ooh he's scared of me," Jack-O cackled, turning to Jack. "I like this kid. He's got his priorities sorted."

"I'm not scared of you," Jamie frowned.

"No? Hmm, I'll have to try harder then."

"You can come, but only if Sophie's okay with it," he decided. The last thing he wanted was his little sister to burst into tears when they were supposed to be having fun.

"I can accept that," Jack-O nodded. "Where do we find this Sophie?"

"She's probably in her room getting ready."

"Speaking of which, you probably should be, too," Jack pointed out. "How about you do that while we go see how Sophie's doing?"

Jamie might have been worried about leaving his sister alone with the two of them had it been anyone other than Jack Frost. But he trusted the winter spirit with his life, and he trusted him to take care of Sophie. "Yeah, okay." He watched the two disappear out into the hallway before heading over to his wardrobe.

It had taken him weeks to finish it, but he was quite proud of his Jack Frost costume. He'd had some help from his mom, though, of course. He quickly threw on the outfit and did his best with the wig before going off to look for Sophie and the two spirits.

He found them all in her room. Jack had Sophie on his shoulders, telling her that Jack-O only looked scary because his costume was really good. Sophie stared at the Halloween spirit warily, but at Jack's reassuring she seemed to be slowly persuaded. Jack-O looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Sophie, unlike Jamie, hadn't really known what she'd wanted to dress up as that year. She had on a pair of bunny ears, but also a fairy costume complete with wings and a wand. Jamie supposed she must've been a bunny-fairy or something.

Everyone in the room turned to him as he entered. Jack-O really did laugh, then, almost doubled over in his mirth. Jack was staring at him with wide eyes. His dumbfounded expression quickly became a grin. Jamie shifted self-consciously.

"You guys," Jack-O wheezed, "you guys really don't get Halloween, do you?"

Jack elbowed him. "Don't listen to him, Jamie. You look great!" He turned to the still laughing spirit beside him. "You probably don't know this since you usually stay in your pumpkin patch but Halloween has become a fun holiday. It's really different to what it used to be."

Jack-O abruptly stilled. Suddenly serious he said, "I'll have to fix that."

...

...

Despite her initial misgivings, Sophie must've been okay with Jack-O tagging along because in no time the four of them were heading down the street. There were heaps of kids around, all in costume. Jamie expected they'd run into his friends sooner or later.

Jack-O was surprisingly quiet, his brow gently furrowed like he was lost in thought. But the smirk ever-growing on his face made Jamie nervous. Jack must've noticed it, too, for he put a comforting hand on Jamie's shoulder and murmured, "Don't worry, he's a little weird but relatively harmless."

Somehow Jamie didn't find 'relative harmlessness' all that reassuring.

When they reached the first house, Sophie was the one to ring the doorbell (with a boost from Jamie, of course). A blonde woman answered the door and the two kids chimed the usual 'trick or treat'. Or, at least they would have, if Jack-O hadn't chosen that moment to morph his head into that of some kind of devil and roar at the lady. Sophie squealed and hid her head in Jamie's side.

The woman was obviously oblivious to the Halloween spirit's antics. "Aw, a little shy, is she?" she cooed. "Here, sweeties," she grabbed a jack-o-lantern shaped bucket from somewhere beyond the doorway and shoved a handful of candy into the two kids' own buckets. "And who are you dressed as?" she asked Jamie.

Jamie forced himself to tear his eyes away from Jack-O, who looked incredibly disappointed. "Jack Frost."

The woman smiled indulgently. "Well you look wonderful. Have a good night, you two."

Jamie said thank you on behalf of both himself and a still spooked Sophie and they retreated up the walk.

"What was that?" Jack hissed.

Jack-O heaved a sigh. "How does one get believers?"

"You okay, Soph?" Jack asked the girl, ignoring the question.

Sophie peered up at him, still clinging to her brother, and nodded. Jack smiled at her before rounding on Jack-O again.

"Could you go easy on the scaring thing? We're here to have fun."

"Oh come on, Halloween is my thing," Jack-O defended. "And people have completely forgotten what it's all about!"

"Scaring people wasn't what it was about either, you know," Jack rolled his eyes.

"Pfft," Jack-O waved him off. "If we're reinventing what my holiday is about then surely I should be the one to pick."

"Well could you save it for your party?"

Jack-O heaved an over-exaggerated sigh. "You can't stop me from pranks, though," he said. "I mean, pranks are a tradition."

Jamie wasn't sure how true that was, but Jack had gone from angry back to his usual cheerful (and mocking) self.

"Except that nobody can see you," Jack pointed out, leading the group towards the next house.

"That just makes it more fun!"

"I think you and I have a very different definition of fun."

When the owner of the next house – an older gentleman this time – Jack-O grabbed Sophie around the middle and started spinning her around. The little girl's initial cry of panic quickly morphed into peals of laughter. The poor guy looked gobsmacked. Jack looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or reprimand the other spirit.

"Uh, trick or treat?" Jamie said.

The old man hurriedly handed over a pile of candy and slammed the door. Jack-O cackled as he released Sophie. She looked up at him imploringly.

"Next house, kid," Jack-O winked at her.

"If you scare everyone off we won't get candy," Jamie pointed out. He was starting to feel like he was the most responsible one there.

Jack-O sighed dramatically. "Fiiiiiine," he whined. "I'll be more subtle." Jamie thought he might have heard 'kill joy' uttered under the man's breath but he couldn't be sure.

Jamie wasn't sure how waltzing into people's houses and moving things around counted as 'subtle', or knocking on walls and doors to freak people out, for that matter, but at least the effects sunk in only after they'd gotten what they'd come for.

They were starting the second block when it happened. Jamie had never, in all his years as a trick or treater, had to deal with such a situation. They'd knocked on the door of a highly decorated house on the corner and a snarky looking teenager had answered. Looking highly amused, he'd responded to the twin calls of 'trick or treat?' with 'trick'.

Jamie and Sophie stood dumbfounded for a moment, slowly registering the response.

"Oh, I like this guy," Jack-O said lowly. "And I'm going to like him even more when he's scared out of his mind."

Jack looked a tad uneasy. "Hey, go easy on him," he said.

"Jamie, may I borrow you?" Jack-O grinned, ignoring Jack.

Jack glared at him.

"What for?" Jamie asked. The teenager in the doorway stared at him funnily.

"Well, our friend over here asked for a trick. I propose we give him one." At Jamie's still suspicious expression, he added, "All you have to do is look impressive and repeat after me. I'll take care of the rest."

Jamie and Jack shared a look. The latter shrugged and Jamie heaved a sigh, nodding. He had a feeling he was going to regret this, and an even stronger one that Jack-O would have proceeded with his plot whether Jamie agreed to help or not.

"Excellent!" he beamed. "Now face our victim, try to keep your face and voice blank, and say this."

Jamie turned back to the teenager, who appeared to be about to speak, no doubt wondering why Jamie had been talking to nobody. Jamie quickly cut him off by repeating the words Jack-O recited. And was it just him or did the area around them start to grow darker?

"Were you expecting some pathetic party trick? A card trick or some impressive feat? You ignorant soul, you know nothing of the truth of Halloween. So you want a trick, do you? I'm sure the master of All Hallows' Eve would be happy to oblige."

As he spoke, the Halloween decorations around the yard started to become animated. The giant spider on the wall stretched its rubbery limbs, the skeleton hand poking out from the front of a false grave started pulling itself free, a ghost hanging from the veranda billowed about in a breeze that didn't exist, and jack-o-lanterns opened their mouths wide and laughed, little tongues of flame darting in and out.

The teen stood with eyes the size of dinner plates, a small 'eep' escaping him. In his panic, he practically threw a pile of candy at Jamie.

"Jack-O-Lantern sends his regards," Jamie said as the teenager slammed the door in their faces.

As soon as he was gone, the decorations returned to their normal states, as innocent as they had been before the quartet had arrived. Jack-O was laughing so hard he was wheezing. Jack, who had covered Sophie's eyes with his hand, looked simultaneously amused and exasperated as he tried to send a frown of disapproval at his fellow spirit. It wasn't long, though, before he too was laughing.

"Stupendous! Marvellous!" Jack-O managed, catching his breath and wiping a tear from his eye. He grinned at Jamie. "I'll make a spook of you yet!"

"No you won't," Jack cut in. "I will not have you turn my favourite believer into a zombie."

"Ah, well," Jack-O sighed. Winking at Jamie he said, "Maybe when you die, then."

Jamie shifted uncomfortably.

"Onwards!" Jack-O bellowed, spinning on his heel and marching back towards the footpath. "We have more people to scare!"

"Is he always like this?" Jamie asked.

"Pretty much," Jack shrugged. "When he's awake, anyway. He sleeps for most of the year. C'mon," he grabbed Sophie's hand and started after Jack-O. "We should probably keep an eye on him. And we're bound to find your friends soon."

Jamie cast one final fleeting glance to the closed door behind them before making to catch up. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Guest Review Responses:

Guest: Four days?! Oh my gosh are you okay? XD Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm super glad you've been enjoying it :P And I have no intentions of stopping writing anytime soon

(Another) Guest: (Ch.38:) Naw thank you! Love that sadism ;) (Ch.39:) They're quite fun to write XD Oh really? Thanks for pointing it out (I'm super lazy though so I probably won't fix it, but I'll keep it in mind for future reference). I wish I could give it more attention, but unfortunately real life gets in the way - especially university. I've got exams literally around the corner and they're a teensy bit more important than fanfic (it physically pained me to write that) (Ch.40:) Hahaha nice pun :P He is fun to torment, yes ;) Thanks for the concrit! (Ch.47:) Thank you! I don't intend to (for a while, at least)

(Another?) Guest: (Ch.38:) Hahaha thanks XD