"On sleazing extra candy," Xander instructed, "Tears are key! Tears will usually get you the double-bagger!"
Buffy and Willow watched with tolerant smiles as their friend paced up and down the lines of kids in his army fatigues, having divided their charges into three squadrons of mini monsters and petite princesses. They had agreed to do about half of their rounds together, starting and ending in one big group, but splitting up a little in the middle to cover more ground and get better goods. After they dropped their kids off back at the school, they would stop at Buffy's to do a quick candy swap, and then head to the Bronze for some more grown-up fun.
"Ok troops," Xander said, doing an about-face, "let's move out!"
Buffy and Willow followed the marching troops, Xander falling back to walk with them and letting the kids lead the way. Trust the little ones to know where the good candy was; that was their philosophy. Buffy's groups consisted of three girls, the smallest of which was a tiny third grader dressed as a sunflower. She had spooked when Buffy had first smiled at her, forgetting that she was sporting a mouthful of sharp teeth, but Buffy had quickly calmed her, taking out her fangs and letting her touch the bumps on her forehead, assuring her that they were just pretend. The moment had earned her a fast friend, and Buffy watched happily as the little girl trotted along ahead of them.
"This is nice," Xander said, linking an arm with each girl. "An easy night off, free candy, good friends; who could ask for more?"
"Oh, I see where we rank," Willow laughed. "Third. After a night off and free candy."
"Nah, just after the candy," Xander smiled, jostling the ghost with his shoulder. "You know how I feel about chocolate. Besides, I bet the Buffster ranks a night off pretty high too, right Buff? Buff?"
Buffy jumped. "Huh?"
"You ok?" Willow asked.
"Oh. Um, yeah, fine." She'd been daydreaming, wondering when Angel would show up, what he would think of her costume. Dusk was falling, it shouldn't be long now. As she squinted towards the edge of town, watching the sun set, an odd tremor ran up her spine. "Just… enjoying my night off."
In a small, darkened room, a gray-haired man in a hooded robe lit black candles, one on each of the point of a pentagram. In the center of the chalked symbol stood a pedestal, atop of which a ceramic statue stood; a grotesque figure with two faces twisted in grimaces of anger. Kneeling before the statue, the man dipped a finger into wooden bowl, painting his eyelids with a sticky red liquid like blood before drawing the mark of the cross on his forehead. Placing his palms together, he began to chant.
The first hour or so had gone smoothly; Buffy, Willow, and Xander only getting a few hairy eyeballs from people who thought they were too old to be going door-to-door for candy. Mostly they were just smiled at indulgently by parents who thought they were volunteers and not Snyder's hostages, and their kids were behaving well, staying in sight and giggling happily. When the group came back from a door with toothbrushes in their fists and disappointment on their faces, they decided it was time to split up for a quick run through before finishing off their rounds. It had gotten dark, and it was almost time to start heading back to the school.
"Alright," Buffy said, smiling down at the sunflower, who had put her hand into hers, "Let's hit a few more houses. We still have a few minutes before we have to get you back. Xander, want to start at the other end of the street? Will, you take the left side, and I'll take the right. Meet in the middle?"
"Sounds good," Willow agreed from under her sheet.
"Affirmative," Xander replied. Rounding up his group, he headed off up the road.
Willow gave a small wave before splitting off as well. Waiting on the sidewalk while her kids rang doorbells, Buffy held her pillowcase full of candy tightly in her fist. As she followed the group slowly along the row of houses, keeping pace with Willow's on the other side of the street, she began to feel a strange sense of unease on the back of her neck. She knew that Halloween was supposed to be the one night of the year that all things Big Bad stayed home, but she was getting the feeling that something was about to happen. Suddenly a chill wind gusted by, chasing dead leaves and candy wrappers along the gutter, and Buffy had the sudden terrible knowledge that whatever was coming, they were out of time. Opening her mouth to call for Willow, the only sound she could make was a cry of pain. Across town, thundered rumbled and a spell was cast.
"Trick or Treat!"
Willow smiled, watching her group of kids hold up their bags and pails to the little old lady who answered the door. She was surprised at how good they had been that night, listening to her and her friends, being polite, and staying within view of their supervisors. She had gotten a pretty good haul of candy herself, even better than Buffy and Xander, no doubt because no one could see her face. They probably just thought that she was an unfortunately large child.
A clamor brought Willow back to attention, and she gasped in horror at the sight in front of her. The little boy who'd dressed as a green monster had grabbed the old woman by the throat, lifting her from the floor with an incredible strength.
"What are you doing?" she cried.
Three of the other kids screamed in fear, darting past her and running into the street. Another little boy, a pink horned demon, lunged at the green monster, who dropped the old woman. The two began to snarl at each other, slapping and striking out.
"Stop it!" Willow shouted, grabbing them by the shoulders and pulling them apart. She let go as if she were burned, taking a step back. Their masks. Their masks were gone. As if they were… "What's going on?" she gulped.
Suddenly her breath was gone, and she was gasping for air, clutching at her throat. Falling against the side of the house, she tried to drag fresh air into her lungs, but it seemed that her body had stopped working. A scream of pain rang out from across the street, and Willow looked up just in time to see Buffy drop to her knees, her hand out in Willow's direction as if to warn her. Willow took a step in her direction, struggling to maintain consciousness, before she too fell to her knees.